Recent Posts

1001

Living Room / Re: Thoughts on "Piracy".

« Last post by 40hz on November 23, 2014, 09:43 PM »

I am not trying to advocate piracy..more...give my reasoning behind why I do it

-Stephen66515 (November 23, 2014, 08:26 PM)

That's fine. I also appreciate the candor.

I'm just giving my reasons why I don't.

But here's the thing. If I want something I don't have the money for - and it's non-negotiable - I walk away.

Once you get clear of the hoarding/consumer "gotta have it now!" mindset, it becomes easier to just let it go. I'm constantly amazed how little I actually need - or really want.



I'm even more amazed how long it took me to realize that. Better to wake up late than never, right?

1002

Living Room / Re: Thoughts on "Piracy".

« Last post by 40hz on November 23, 2014, 06:30 PM »

I don't know where the notion of 'piracy' leaves off and 'entitlement' begins.

I decided it was better for my inner self if I just didn't go there.

• If I want something, or use something, I'll buy it.  Always.
• I'll always prefer to sample or trial some things first. But if that's not possible, the burden of my satisfaction rests entirely on the shoulders of the seller.
• If I don't like it - or feel it was misrepresented by the seller - I'll return it and ask for my money back.
• If I can't have a refund, the person I paid is welcome to what they got. It's the last they'll ever get from me - and I'll  bad mouth them to everyone I know plus anybody else who will listen.
• Conversely, if I do like what I get (and the way I was treated) I'll freely recommend them and their product(s) whenever asked, or when it's otherwise appropriate.

I make it a point to always act in good faith. And I make a far better friend and admirer than I do an adversary.

I think the same can be said of most of us here at DoCo.

Wise businesses know that.

1003

DC Gamer Club / Re: GamerGate: 'Press must tackle misogyny,' says developer

« Last post by 40hz on November 23, 2014, 06:16 PM »

Like they suggested on The Well way back at the dawn of the online discussion era:

Try not to offend.
Try not to be so easily offended.

 Amen!

1004

Living Room / Re: Do we have any musical people on DC?

« Last post by 40hz on November 23, 2014, 11:12 AM »

However, I must admit, I couldn't find anything cool on the French horn...

-Renegade (November 23, 2014, 09:01 AM)

No? How about Entwhistle's french horn on the Overture of Tommy? Or in Dr. Jimmy and Mr. Jim from Quadrophrenia?

For those too young to know or remember:

Note: lyrics NSFW

BTW - which french horn? There are a few different types.

1005

DC Gamer Club / Re: GamerGate: 'Press must tackle misogyny,' says developer

« Last post by 40hz on November 23, 2014, 10:58 AM »

This says pretty much everything I think and might say about Gamergate. Since somebody (Ken White) went through all the trouble of writing it up, I won't duplicate effort by doing my own version.

1006

Living Room / Re: Do we have any musical people on DC?

« Last post by 40hz on November 23, 2014, 07:48 AM »

Once a rocker, always a rocker. 

-bit (November 22, 2014, 11:43 PM)

Pretty much. (For better or worse!)

1007

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Ashampoo Office 2012: $5

« Last post by 40hz on November 22, 2014, 08:49 AM »

Does Ashampoo still carpet bomb you with junkmail once you get something from them? They used to.

1008

General Software Discussion / Re: Can anyone advise this developer on commercial licensing?

« Last post by 40hz on November 22, 2014, 08:41 AM »

That said, maybe open source is an option

-mmike (November 21, 2014, 05:19 AM)

Based on some other things you're saying, releasing as open source (which I assume you mean under one of the established FOSS licenses) would not be a viable option since you seem more concerned about defending yourself against possible litigation. A FOSS license won't help you there.

More importantly, a FOSS license won't allow you to retain control of who uses your code, or how it gets used. Once it's released, it's out there for all to use/modify/incorporate as they see fit. It's also what FOSS licenses specifically encourage them to do. Because that's the entire point of FOSS. It's altruistic and primarily for the user's benefit - not the developer's.

FOSS licensing is done "for the good of all mankind." Which is not a good thing if you eventually plan on releasing your product commercially.

1009

General Software Discussion / Re: Can anyone advise this developer on commercial licensing?

« Last post by 40hz on November 22, 2014, 08:20 AM »

This despite the fact that I had publicly released my fully working software years before he claimed to have had the idea.

-mouser (November 22, 2014, 03:22 AM)

Unfortunately, US patent law was recently changed (3/16/2013) to match that of the rest of the world. Which is to say that the first to file, NOT the first to invent is awarded the patent.

First to file (FTF) and first to invent (FTI) are legal concepts that define who has the right to the grant of a patent for an invention. The first-to-file system is used in all countries,[1] including the United States, which switched to a first-inventor-to-file (FITF) system on March 16, 2013 after the enactment of the America Invents Act.[2] There is an important difference between the strict nature of the FTF under the EPO and the FITF system of the USPTO. The USPTO FITF system[3] affords early disclosers some "grace" time before they need to file a patent,[4] whereas the EPO does not recognise any grace period, so early disclosure under the FITF provisions is an absolute bar to later EPO patent.

More on that here.

Bottom line: Have an idea? File early. File often.

All the big companies and patent trolls do.

1010

Living Room / Re: Do we have any musical people on DC?

« Last post by 40hz on November 21, 2014, 08:00 PM »

I found it has been far easier on the budget to use my woodworking skills to supply him with the different guitar types he needs

-tjbray (November 21, 2014, 06:23 PM)

Awesome! How about some pix and technical details? I've done some building myself and I'm always interested in what fellow guitar makers are doing.

1011

Living Room / Re: Of Superheroes, Remakes, Flashbacks/Forwards/Sideways and more

« Last post by 40hz on November 21, 2014, 05:42 PM »

Semi-OT since this character is far from being a superhero. He's more the eternal Everyman.

But Marvel is planning on bringing Howard the Duck back. Yay!

He's got a whole new look:



Maybe a little too anthropomorphic this time around, but there you go.

Too bad Disney sued. I thought the original cigar smoking Donald Duck version was priceless:



Details here.

1012

Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"

« Last post by 40hz on November 21, 2014, 04:04 PM »

 (see attachment in previous post)
Artist Reimagines Superheroes in 17th-Century Flemish Portrait-Style

super flemish series sets heroes + villains in the 17th century

-Arizona Hot (November 21, 2014, 03:34 PM)

That is brilliant. Riffs on these costumes and theme will be the next big thing for cosplayers. 

I would have put Iron Man in enamelled Milanese armor however, and the Joker in a more jester-like costume.

1013

Living Room / Re: Of Superheroes, Remakes, Flashbacks/Forwards/Sideways and more

« Last post by 40hz on November 21, 2014, 09:42 AM »

^Delta Green is great! Best modern Cthulhu/Conspiracy stuff to date. Extremely clever and logical reconciliation of the Lovecraftian Mythos with modern government conspiracy and UFO theories presented as a techno-thriller. The companion fiction collections are all good reads.

FWIW, it any scenario involving Cthulhu, there are NO superheros. Cthulhu is IT. Period. You either have a copy of (or know how to make) the Elder Sign or you don't. If you don't, you're finished. If you do, you get a brief respite since the sign can hold Cthulhu temporarily at bay.

But tomorrow is another day. And Cthulhu, being multidimensional and immortal, has all the time and space he/she/it needs to deal with anybody. And Cthulhu never forgets.

1014

Living Room / Re: Of Superheroes, Remakes, Flashbacks/Forwards/Sideways and more

« Last post by 40hz on November 20, 2014, 08:38 PM »

The people concepts tend to be pretty simple.

-TaoPhoenix (November 20, 2014, 09:58 AM)

True...however...

Where would you classify characters like the modern Batman and Iron Man? Wayne and Stark are both normal humans. Perhaps a lot more technologically sophisticated and wealthy than most people. But their 'super' powers derive mainly from the technology and powered bodysuits they employ. If they have any super power it's their high IQs.

Or Doc Savage? His powers derive mainly from a physical and mental developmental training program that started when he was conceived. No super anything with Doc. The implication is he's just a more 'realized' human potential. And that what he is, you could be too.

Where do these characters fit into the general superhero continuum?

1015

Living Room / Re: Of Superheroes, Remakes, Flashbacks/Forwards/Sideways and more

« Last post by 40hz on November 20, 2014, 06:01 PM »

The Homeland tech is largely irrelevant in this case, as it will - and is -  only used for targeting crime/criminals with high political (e.g. vote generating) value. This way they don't have to run the risk of exposing how thoroughly they spying on everyone

-Stoic Joker (November 20, 2014, 03:08 PM)

+1

Prosecutors will even withdraw evidence from a trial in some cases just to avoid revealing how they obtained it.

Spoiler

<link>

Baltimore Prosecutors Withdraw Evidence of Cellphone Tracking because of FBI Non-Disclosure Agreement
Thursday, November 20, 2014


The federal government’s blanket secrecy on cell-phone tracking technology provided to local police may wind up jeopardizing criminal cases aided by the equipment.

In Baltimore, police were suspected by a defense attorney of using the StingRay system, which mimics a cellphone tower and can capture information about cell phone calls and users, to collect data about their client.

So the lawyer pressed Detective John L. Haley in court about how the department obtained certain evidence against the accused. Circuit Judge Barry G. Williams sided with the defense and compelled the officer to answer the question, threatening him with contempt of court. But before that could happen, the prosecution withdrew evidence, including a handgun and cellphone, from the case so they wouldn’t get in trouble with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

An attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union agreed with the judge’s decision. “You can’t contract out of constitutional disclosure obligations,” Nathan Freed Wessler, who has been tracking these kinds of cases, told The Baltimore Sun. “A secret written agreement does not invalidate the Maryland public records law [and] does not invalidate due process requirements of giving information to a criminal defendant.”

The FBI has provided StingRay to law enforcement agencies around the country as long as they agree not to discuss it with anyone.

“Law enforcement officials in Maryland and across the country say they are prohibited from discussing the technology at the direction of the federal government, which has argued that knowledge of the devices would jeopardize investigations,” the Sun’s Justin Fenton wrote.

A similar case came before Williams in September. Again, a suspect was traced by means that the prosecution would not disclose and the state was forced to drop the evidence gained via that search.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

1016

Developer's Corner / Re: New EU VAT rules change the game for digital businesses

« Last post by 40hz on November 20, 2014, 03:34 PM »

How is it working in the States -- are there any states successfully implementing their own sales tax for suppliers from outside that state?

-tomos (November 20, 2014, 03:27 PM)

Amazon is cooperating. That alone yields a massive amount of tax revenue. Most of the big online merchants are cooperating too.

In the US it's a little more complicated since each state has it's own "sales & use" tax regulations. So there are at least 50 different tax rates and exemptions. Some locales also assess county and local sales taxes on top of the state tax. There isn't a national VAT here. But there are federal excise taxes. States and localities can also assess excise taxes. Excise taxes most commonly get placed on luxury items and commonly used goods and services such as public event tickets, hotel rooms, and gasoline. Cleverly, they're usually built into the price charged to the consumer, so many people aren't aware they exist. Which makes excise taxes very popular with politicians looking for revenue opportunities.

1017

Living Room / Re: Mandatory Work Activity (UK) - Stupidity Beyond Belief. [DEBATE]

« Last post by 40hz on November 20, 2014, 10:50 AM »

And for taking jobs away I've heard in the US there are a lot of "customer service" phone banks being run out of private prisons.  Tough to compete with a prisoner who has room and meals provided by the taxpayer but is only getting a paltry hourly stipend.

-MilesAhead (November 17, 2014, 04:32 PM)

It's more widespread than that. I understand California has more recently been using some inmates for hazardous duties like fighting forest fires. I don't know how 'voluntary' the participation was or if there were special 'incentives' offered to participating inmates. I suspect it was "completely voluntary" and there were likely some incentives given considering this was a program ripe for Watergating if there ever was one.

1018

Developer's Corner / Re: New EU VAT rules change the game for digital businesses

« Last post by 40hz on November 20, 2014, 09:58 AM »

Citation? 

-40hz (November 20, 2014, 09:39 AM)

Advanced Search, We luv ya! *

http://wordsthatchan...m/2014/eudigitalvat/




* When my standby Startpage Advanced missed this, I was forced to go to the Evil G. So per some of my other posts, I don't know what database they are pulling from, but this is yet another hole.

-TaoPhoenix (November 20, 2014, 09:48 AM)

Yeah, read that one. Short version: this is serious but nobody knows precisely how it's gonna work or who/what is covered yet.

Typical for new tax legislation. Which is unfortunate. Because the devil is always in the detail when it comes to tax law.

1019

Developer's Corner / Re: New EU VAT rules change the game for digital businesses

« Last post by 40hz on November 20, 2014, 09:39 AM »

Citation?  

UPDATE: Never mind. Found it. All 92 pages of "explanatory" notes. Download link here.

1020

Living Room / Re: good Videos [short films] here :)

« Last post by 40hz on November 20, 2014, 08:56 AM »

And now...the awful truth about LOL cats. And what is going on while you're enjoying the latest LOL cat video...

1021

Living Room / Re: good Videos [short films] here :)

« Last post by 40hz on November 20, 2014, 08:12 AM »

Bibo - by Anton Chistiakov & Mikhail Dmitriev

1022

General Software Discussion / Re: Outline 4D >>50% off sale<< (only $50)

« Last post by 40hz on November 19, 2014, 09:08 PM »

^I think a lot of it depends on how structured your usual thought process is. 4D is usually my first choice whenever I'm taking on a new project since I'm a list maker and schema creator by nature. If you think in terms of (for lack of a better term) outline structure (I do!) 4D can be used for many things beyond just writing. What it doesn't do well is act as a junk drawer for snippets and things you grab from other sources. Or obviously lend itself to the 'free association' or 'serendip' thought processes. Although it can. At least IMO.

Fortunately, there are other tools designed to do exactly that.

I personally don't find OneNote's paradigm or approach all that useful. Probably because I don't really 'grok' it. But that's me.

1023

Living Room / Re: good Videos [short films] here :)

« Last post by 40hz on November 19, 2014, 08:46 PM »

A classic 1960 animation of Jules Feiffer's tale about bureaucratic cluelessness - and a 4-year old draftee by the name of Munro.

 

1024

Living Room / Re: Still weird: The mouse is more accurate than a finger

« Last post by 40hz on November 19, 2014, 02:56 PM »

I still find it weird that the mouse is still more accurate to use than a finger.  I've been using a touchscreen for a while now, and it's not even close.  Touching the screen with a finger should be intuitively more better...I mean, you're just touching the actual thing you want to touch.  Yet doing it with the mouse is far easier, faster, accurate.  Is it because of the finger-pad being too big?  Would it be different if my finger ended in a needle-tip?  I don't think so.

-superboyac (November 18, 2014, 05:59 PM)

"Thick fingers" is a known issue with smartphone touchscreens, so yes finger size and the degree of callusing or "pad thickening" might be a major factor. There's also the varying conductivity, capacitance, and temperature of different fingertips. So depending on how you're tracking them, that can also be an issue. Musicians frequently have problems with touchscreens because the pads on their fingers tend to be thicker from playing. I have occasional problems on my iPhone with either hand. I have to use more of the ball of my finger rather than the tip to get good response. My GF has trouble using her fretting hand on hers.

Besides, what's more precise than a laser beam? Definitely not a fingertip.

1025

Living Room / Re: Still weird: The mouse is more accurate than a finger

« Last post by 40hz on November 19, 2014, 02:46 PM »

As for the mouse-typing switch, just figure out a way to toggle between data-finger and typing-finger for the keyboard.

-TaoPhoenix (November 19, 2014, 10:11 AM)

Isn't that what already happens when you plug a mouse into a laptop and don't disable the trackpad - or tell it to defer to the keyboard when typing?

Looks like OS support is 90% in place - or already there. All you'd need is the glove and the driver.