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10176

General Software Discussion / Re: DoubleCAD XT Free

« Last post by 40hz on June 15, 2009, 05:42 PM »

Grabbed and used it to replace my aging copy of TurboCad. I'm just getting my feet wet with it. Looks to be a very nice CAD package.

10177

General Software Discussion / Re: linux hater is back?

« Last post by 40hz on June 15, 2009, 04:00 PM »

One more frustrated 12-year old with a DSL connection, absolutely nothing to say, and way too much time on his hands. Small wonder he's so popular with the ladies. N'est-ce pas?

10178

Living Room / Re: is this how you can tell if a powerstrip is bad

« Last post by 40hz on June 15, 2009, 03:43 PM »

@Hey 4wd!

Shoot. If I knew you were going to write the book, I wouldn't have bothered to write the book!

 

10179

Living Room / Re: is this how you can tell if a powerstrip is bad

« Last post by 40hz on June 15, 2009, 03:38 PM »

Although it's not a hard and fast rule, I'd be suspicious of using any power strip with a burned out indicator light.

Your surge strip has two main components - a power distribution bus, and a surge suppression circuit. It is not uncommon to lose surge protection, but still have the strip continue to provide power to the sockets. So just because your strip continues to distribute power doesn't mean it's ok to use.

The surge protection component in your power strip uses one of two protection mechanisms - either a varistor or a 'gas discharge' arrestor. Most of the lower power (and lower priced) strips go with the less expensive varistor (also called an MOV) component.

These components age over time, and suffer varying degrees of damage each time they clamp down on a voltage spike. One big hit will kill them outright. But they can be also damaged, over time, by a series of much smaller hits. And once the damage to the varistor reaches its failure point, the component can fail catastrophically. You might hear a pop, and maybe even get some smoke, or find scorch marks on the casing should that happen. If it does, junk the strip immediately.

Although there is probably some risk of a fire following a catastrophic failure, I wouldn't be overly concerned about that happening. Any surge hot enough to fry your strip, and start a fire, will probably take out your house's service panel and power mains. If that happens, a baked power strip will be the least of your fire risk problems.

Fortunately, most strips don't fail catastrophically. Instead, they fail quietly, and just stop working. At which point, your "super-deluxe computer grade power management strip" becomes nothing more than a very pretty extension cord.

Which brings us to the little power light...

Unless your model has an indicator light showing the status of the surge protection component, you'll have no way of knowing whether or not it is working properly. Not having such an indicator light can be a real problem because it isn't possible to make that determination visually. Better surge suppressors have separate power and protection indicator lights. Some even have additional indicators for missing ground connections and hot/neutral lead reversal problems. If you have a less well engineered strip, all you'll probably have is a light built into the power rocker switch. And from a diagnostic viewpoint, that light could mean anything - or nothing much at all.

What you will need to do is locate some documentation for the strip you own. Each brand does things differently. On some strips, protection is working when a light is on. On other strips, a lit protection indicator means the protection circuit has failed. Browse the manufacturer's site and locate the user guide, or e-mail their tech support people if you can't find anything.

If your strip used to have a lit power indicator, and now it doesn't, something isn't right. It could be something as minor as the neon light inside the switch has burned out. But it could also mean your surge suppression circuit is no longer working. And it could also indicate some other problem as well. I've seen some surge strips have that light come on because of a bad plug ground connection. Try plugging the strip into a different outlet and see if the light comes back on. If it does, you might want to have somebody take a look at the outlet you originally had it in. Surges can damage wall outlets just as easily as they can affect what's plugged into them.

My Dad trained as an electrician when he was in the Navy. He had a rule of thumb for anything that got plugged into a wall:

"When in doubt - have it checked - or throw it out."

Over the years, I've learned that's pretty good advice.

10180

General Software Discussion / Removing Pulseaudio from Ubuntu 9.04

« Last post by 40hz on June 14, 2009, 11:35 PM »

For those of us who use Linux for soundwork, one of the bigger annoyances we've had to contend with is Ubuntu's recent insistence on installing Pulseaudio as its default sound server. Unfortunately, removing Pulseaudio in Ubuntu is not as simple as firing up Synaptic (or issuing a sudo apt-get remove command) to get rid of it.

Because of all the audio hassles I was experiencing with Pulse, I eventually abandoned Ubu 9.04 and went back to 8.04. Recently, however, a solution to the 'pulse problem' has been identified by Dave Phillips over at the Linux Journal website.

While reading Dav's review of Ubuntu Studio I happened to notice this:

(Link to full article: http://www.linuxjour...ts-ubuntu-studio-904 )

Ubuntu Studio employs Pulseaudio as its default sound server. Unfortunately this employment stands in the way of directly using JACK, and any Linux distribution that advertises itself as an audio production system will assuredly be using JACK for its audio server, not Pulseaudio. The typical solution would simply remove Pulseaudio, but Ubuntu doesn't let that happen without removing the GNOME desktop, a rather drastic operation. Worse, the Pulseaudio daemon is persistent, so killall pulseaudio works only until the next call to the audio system, when the daemon reloads itself and remains in the way of a successful launch of JACK. Fortunately I discovered an excellent HOWTO titled Keeping The Beast Pulseaudio At Bay by a user with the handle of idyllictux. Thanks to his instructions I safely disabled Pulseaudio, and I recommend his advice to anyone who wants to put aside Pulseaudio.

After having read a large number of (mostly useless) forum posts on fixing Ubuntu's implementation of Pulseaudio, I was almost afraid to hope that this was finally going to solve my problem. But it did! Keeping The Beast Pulseaudio At Bay had the working solution for how to correctly remove Pulseaudio from Ubuntu Jaunty Jabberwocky Jackalope.


Here's the direct link:

http://idyllictux.wo...t-pulseaudio-at-bay/

Your mileage may vary. But if you're struggling with Pulseaudio on Ubuntu, why not give the above solution a try? It worked for me!


"O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! He chortled in his joy."

10181

General Software Discussion / Re: Help/Advice with TrueCrypt (and free space wiping)?

« Last post by 40hz on June 14, 2009, 05:38 PM »

P.S. In the United States, judges can and do order defendants in criminal (and some civil) investigations to unlock files that they have password protected. So if you're "keeping company with naughty men," as Captain Malcolm Reynolds would say, your password "won't protect you much from Lawman."

-40hz (June 14, 2009, 03:51 PM)

Which is why a hidden volume was created. You can hand over the decryption keys to the outer volume and there's no naughty data at all. Wikipedia: Plausible deniability in cryptography

-akx (June 14, 2009, 04:59 PM)

Except there's still one little problem....

There's no such thing as a secret if it's really not a secret. And an "open secret" is just another oxymoron.

Since the makers of TrueCrypt were so good as to write an essay about "plausible deniability" with regard to the hidden volume feature, any investigator or prosecutor worthy of the name is going to make an argument for "reasonable cause" to believe that there is a "very strong likelihood" of such hidden volumes being present on any PC that has TrueCrypt installed.

Should that happen, you will be asked (under oath) whether there is such a volume on your drive. And at that point, you'll be faced with two alternatives:

• Deny there is one, and risk facing a perjury or contempt charge   -or-
• Admit that there is one, and very likely be ordered to decrypt it

So either way, it doesn't much help you. In fact, having TrueCrypt on your machine might sway the authorities to give you even less slack than they might have. Especially since your behavior could be interpreted as "going to extraordinary lengths" and/or "using sophisticated means" to hide something on your hard drive.

Like f0dder so aptly said: "You're pretty much SOL already"

 

10182

Living Room / Re: Good TV series. What do you watch? I used to watch Lost to unwind need successor

« Last post by 40hz on June 14, 2009, 04:04 PM »

off topic:
@40Hz
no signal? init 0?
You lost your muse?

-Shades (June 13, 2009, 01:07 AM)

Oh. Sorry. I just updated my avatar to use a small animated gif that amused me, and forgot that feature has been disabled in the forums. (Kinda dumb of me. Especially since I put my tuppence in when it was previously discussed.)

Re: My Muse :
Nope! Didn't lose her. She's sitting right across from me, jamming along on guitar with an Alvin Lee CD as I'm typing this.

10183

General Software Discussion / Re: Help/Advice with TrueCrypt (and free space wiping)?

« Last post by 40hz on June 14, 2009, 03:51 PM »

- A single-pass zero-overwrite will be more than sufficient for wiping anything other than nuclear weapon authorization codes.

- DBAN is probably the easiest and most effective full drive nuke utility. I'd go with the "quick" option, since even that is overkill. I agree with f0dder regarding the so-called "military grade" wipe options: Don't waste your time or put unnecessary wear & tear on your drives/USB keys.

- For zapping free space on a drive I like SysInternal's SDelete ( http://technet.micro...ernals/bb897443.aspx ). Eraser does the same, gives you a nice GUI, and also does it a bit more thoroughly.

Modern-day forensic data recovery software is making remarkable strides in being able to recover data on drives that have been wiped. However, if you come across someone with such software and they have a keen interest in what is on your encrypted volume you will have far larger worries than worrying about someone checking out your passwords.

As long as you are not doing anything illegal you should be fine with a standard wipe. I recommending using DBAN (Darik's Boot And Nuke).

-Innuendo (June 14, 2009, 12:34 PM)

+1 on that.  

If you are doing something sufficiently "interesting" to garner the attentions of somebody with access to that level of technology, you're probably already under surveillance, so I doubt your hard drive is going to tell them anything they don't already know.

Suggestion regarding passwords - don't enter the passwords into your database in their true form. Always transpose the last three characters, add some bogus ones to the real password, or otherwise hash/obscure them. That way, should somebody crack your password container's master password, what they see still won't be the real passwords.

P.S. In the United States, judges can and do order defendants in criminal (and some civil) investigations to unlock files that they have password protected. So if you're "keeping company with naughty men," as Captain Malcolm Reynolds would say, your password "won't protect you much from Lawman."

.

<EDIT-- Whoops! WC! You got in your reply before I posted. Feel free to disregard all of  the above except for the password tip. >

10184

Living Room / Re: Tech News Weekly: Edition 24-09

« Last post by 40hz on June 14, 2009, 01:07 PM »

#2 we could promote some 'new' words?

-tomos (June 14, 2009, 12:57 PM)

Yeah. I miss the days of Sniglets. Let's bring them back. Care to start a new thread for it Mr. T?

Re: #6 -  It's 2009 guys! I don't know which is more newsworthy: the fact that they're finally going to "allow" it; or the fact that they haven't done so already.

(And this is the state that believes it leads the rest of nation in social and technical innovation? )

10185

General Software Discussion / Re: Free Pdf server?

« Last post by 40hz on June 14, 2009, 12:56 PM »

Gotcha. Bullzip doesn't do it automatically. But since I let it auto open the PDF it created just to be sure it looks ok - all I need to do is hit <Alt-P> <Enter> to print, immediately followed by an <Alt-F4> to close Bullzip, so it's not too a big a deal for me.

I also seldom need to print the entire PDFs I've created at one time, so in a way, not going directly to the printer is a plus for me. But I can see where autoprint would be a nice feature to have.

I've just sent a suggestion over to the authors asking them to add "Print to Default Printer" to their list of available post processing options.

10186

General Software Discussion / Re: Free Pdf server?

« Last post by 40hz on June 14, 2009, 11:31 AM »

This is what I currently use.

http://www.bullzip.c...roducts/pdf/info.php

10187

Living Room / Re: Stop-motion videos

« Last post by 40hz on June 12, 2009, 01:34 PM »

Well... it's been a while since somebody posted to this topic so I thought I'd start it up again with some new stuff that's been making the StoMo rounds.  

Here's a clever video using Post-It notes as the raw material for a "pixel-art" animation. It's called Deadline, and it's up on YouTube. Fascinating to see it in motion. (The stills below do not do it justice.) There's also a companion "making of" vid available if you want to get a look behind the scenes.

FYI: it took 3 months to plan, 4 days to shoot and 6000+ Post-Its. By my calculations, that's approximately $1,100 just to buy the Post-Its. You could score a full copy of Adobe CS for less than that!

(Thx to the folks over at TechLifeWeb for this find! )

Links:

DEADLINE post-it stop motion http://www.youtube.c.../watch?v=BpWM0FNPZSs 

DEADLINE the making of   www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArJYvaCCB3c&feature=channel






 

10188

Living Room / Re: Good TV series. What do you watch? I used to watch Lost to unwind need successor

« Last post by 40hz on June 12, 2009, 01:13 PM »

I don't know if this pricing is available nationwide, but I noticed WalMart where I live has the first 4 seasons of 24 on sale for $20 each.

If you're a fan of 24, maybe now is the time to stock up?

10189

General Software Discussion / Re: Need to downsample multiple page .tiffs - any suggestions??

« Last post by 40hz on June 10, 2009, 09:20 PM »

If all else fails, ImageMagick ( www.imagemagick.org ) will do that using the following command line:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
convert -resample 300x300 original_filename.tiff new_filename.tiff
------------------------------------------------------------------------

This command basically says: convert the designated TIFF file by resampling it @ 300X300 DPI and saving it with the supplied new name. This ation will not affect the image size. If you start with an 8½ x 11 image @ 600DPI, you'll end up with an 8½ x 11 image @ 300 DPI .

Note: ImageMagick is a bit on the geeky side (i.e. command line) so I'd definitely go with Curt's suggestion and try IrfanView first. Especially since setting up a script to do batch processing in ImageMagick might be a chore if you don't have much scripting experience. IrfanView is a lot easier to get a handle on, and has a fairly straight forward batch conversion feature.

Plus, it has a GUI! (Yay!)

Luck!

10190

Living Room / Re: Good TV series. What do you watch? I used to watch Lost to unwind need successor

« Last post by 40hz on June 10, 2009, 01:27 PM »

+1 on Weeds. Especially the first and most of the second season. It went a little over the top after that and (to me) it felt like the screenwriters lost control of the plot. I stopped watching it after that. I don't know if they got it back later in the series.

10191

Living Room / Re: Good TV series. What do you watch? I used to watch Lost to unwind need successor

« Last post by 40hz on June 08, 2009, 12:52 AM »

But that show was razor-sharp. Beyond all the surrealism there was some smart writing with clever plot devices that have not been seen before or since.

-Innuendo (June 07, 2009, 01:50 PM)

Yeah, every time I have the misfortune to deal with hospitals, health insurance, yadda yadda, I think of the sequence where Zev blows up the moon behind the hospital satellite and all of a sudden they offer health care pro bono! Wish I had me one of them big bugs sometimes.

-MilesAhead (June 07, 2009, 03:58 PM)

Or if not a bug, at least Zev. Based on her design spec and function, I'm sure she could take your mind off everything except one thing.  

10192

Living Room / Re: NSFW - The website is down!

« Last post by 40hz on June 08, 2009, 12:30 AM »

I never read BOFH, mainly because it's all just such a mess (different years and chapters etc...wtf is 2k then?), that I couldn't even figure out where the beginning was. Is there a place where you can find the whole lot in chronological order or something? Maybe the entire thing in a zip/pdf or something?

Ehtyar.

-Ehtyar (June 07, 2009, 04:30 PM)

"Mess" doesn't quite do it justice.

AFAIK, this is the official archive for all the pre-2k stories:

http://bofh.ntk.net/Bastard_Indexes.html

The Register is the official repository for everything post-2k.



---

There used to be sites that had zipped archives of the stories. But that was before Plan Nine Publishing started issuing paperback collections. Once that happened, Simon Travaglia was forced to get a little more serious about his copyright.

Plan Nine isn't currently publishing BOFH books. Or anything else AFAIK. (I'm guessing they're probably gone for good.) Used copies can be found on Amazon or E-Bay if you're desperate. The Register currently has the first two collections available:





 

10193

Living Room / Re: The Retro Avatar Fad

« Last post by 40hz on June 07, 2009, 06:15 PM »

I'm so retro I have never used an avatar on a forum ever.

-Innuendo (June 07, 2009, 05:45 PM)

Brilliant!

10194

Living Room / Re: Weird Window When Computer Boots Up

« Last post by 40hz on June 07, 2009, 04:36 PM »

I have the WINDOWS XP CD and it was in a sealed pack but when I opened it there was a message that says "THE CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY LABEL HAS BEEN REMOVED BY YOUR PC MANUFACTURER AND ATTACHED TO YOU PC".
Well, I have got a new case for my computer since then and I don't see that label anywhere.
Does that mean I can't use it????

-moranacus (June 07, 2009, 03:04 PM)

Sorry to say, but it all depends...

Here's the deal.

If the installation program asks for the product key (which is usually printed on the certificate of authenticity) you'll be out of luck and not able to install unless you have it written down somewhere - or there's a separate card, or a sticker inside the CD case that has a copy of that information.

However, if the CD has been setup by the manufacturer as a "Restoration Disk" (which usually says something like "product recovery CD" and does not look like a an over-the counter Microsoft product) then there's a very good chance you won't need to enter a product key - nor will you need to "activate" once it's been installed. Microsoft did allow certain manufacturers to "preauthorize and pre-activate" their product recovery disks. So if you have one of these, all you'll probably need to do is boot from it and tell it to reinstall WIndows.

Unfortunately, if you have replaced a bunch of hardware, you'll still need to get the appropriate drivers for anything that didn't come with your machine. Neither a generic Windows CD nor the recovery CD will have working drivers for everything you've since installed on your machine. Expect to do some web browsing to download everything you'll need.

One other thing, which I'll bring to your attention since I've run into this issue in the past. If you had your motherboard replaced by anyone other than the original manufacturer, you can forget about using their OEM recovery CD. Those CDs are almost always keyed to look for the original manufacturer's mobos, and will not work if they can't find one.

Examples:

Case 1: You have an old Dell and you replaced everything except the original motherboard. (The Dell recovery disk should work.)

Case 2:  You have an old Dell and you replaced nothing but the Dell motherboard with a board from a different manufacturer. (The Dell recovery disk will not work.)

Also bear in mind that once you get your copy of Windows reinstalled, you'll still need to download and install all the updates and service packs which have been released since your CD was mastered. Windows Update Service will handle that part for you, but the total download size (especially if it includes service packs) will be huge. So you'll need at least a DSL or cable connection to the Internet for it to be  practical. Don't even try it on 56K dial-up unless you can afford to give it a few days to get all the downloads.

Hope this helped.

10195

Living Room / Re: What annoys you to no end?

« Last post by 40hz on June 07, 2009, 02:24 PM »

PBS is in trouble. Back in the days before cable they filled a niche, but their niche has been over-run by the Discovery & History Channels and others like them. NPR stopped being relevant when all of their broadcasting was overcast with a "We're going to teach you the right things to think in order to be a 'properly' enlightened person."

I haven't listened to NPR in years...and haven't watched PBS in *decades*.

-Innuendo (June 07, 2009, 01:45 PM)

Actually, I think they're in trouble more beause they abandoned their high quality and standards in order to become what they believed would be "more appealing to a younger audience." Not only did that attitude alienate their old viewers, it also insulted their so-called younger audience by implying they were either too stupid or immature to appreciate and understand the original goals of public broadcasting.

As far as History and all the other edu-channels stealing PBS's thunder is concerned, I think that's just an excuse. The cable "smart channels" might have been a threat when they first came out. But not any more. There's as much (or more) pseudo-science (ghost hunting, crypto-zoology, UFO conspiracy theories, "ancient" prophesies, etc.) programs as there are real history and scientific shows. And while Top Gear may be a pretty cool show, I still wonder why my cable provider is running it on the Discovery Channel.

PBS's problem is that their shows are simply not as good as they used to be. Even such perennial favorites as Nova have become spotty at best. And with the exception of a few specials, most of the news "reporting" is about as in-depth as a CNN "Special Report." And the same goes for NPR.

BTW: I never got the impression NPR was ever  in the habit of telling you what to think. The only time I ever heard that advanced was as a "talking point" by the emerging neo-conservative movement back in the Regan Era, who succeeded in getting virtually all government support pulled from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for such "controversial and inflammatory" programs as Death of a Princess. But to each their own, I suppose. Some people see other people who ask difficult questions as a threat rather than an opportunity.
 

10196

Living Room / Re: NSFW - The website is down!

« Last post by 40hz on June 07, 2009, 11:52 AM »

Deleting all traces of the email about not shutting down the webserver from his inbox - and his manager's outbox - was absolutely priceless.

That was a true BOFH move if there ever was one. Speaking of which...

The full Bastard Operator from Hell archive can be found over at The Register website.

Link: http://www.theregister.co.uk/odds/bofh/

If you've never heard of the legendary BOFH series, check out the write-up on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bofh

Excellent geek laughs for anybody involved in running, fixing, or just being driven mad by the network they live with. Read it for chuckles - and (if you're a NetOp!) maybe even for a little inspiration? (nudge-nudge wink-wink)

Highly recommended.

 

Addendum:

If you are inspired by the BOFH series, but still not up to becoming a genuine psychopath in real life, relief is at hand. Zork and BOFH fans rejoice! There is now an interactive fiction BOFH game available for free via download that will let you indulge in your fantasies without: losing your job, going to jail, burning in hell - or all of the above.

The Bastard Operator from Hell: Interactive Fiction Edition

You are a newly-initiated BOFH who must establish yourself among your fellow Bastards.  Starting in your office, you must get a super-high-priced travel request to Las Vegas approved by your boss, teach a technician a lesson about overcharging for terrible service and show a co-worker why taking your parking space was a VERY bad idea.  And then you are off to Las Vegas only to discover that your three room deluxe suite at the Venetian was cancelled by your vindictive boss.  In typical Bastard fashion you not only get your suite back but do so while driving 5,000 or so hotel employees to the brink of madness.  You win the day in style as any good BOFH should.

If you visit The Register and/or have been in the Information Technology Sector for a few years then you probably heard of the BOFH.  The BOFH is the epitome of the IT professional who is at the top of his game.  Not cowed by an overbearing and clueless boss, self-serving co-workers with an agenda or ruthless vendors looking to shaft the public at large, the BOFH reigns supreme in his company!

Download and info here: http://www.malinche.net/bofh.html

10197

Living Room / Re: What annoys you to no end?

« Last post by 40hz on June 07, 2009, 11:32 AM »

NPR & PBS Fundraisers.

Look, I know they depend on contributions. (And I do contribute BTW.) But these constant "mini-drives" and program "hostage-taking" tactics are just flat-out infuriating. Especially when a segment isn't getting the numbers they're looking for and the announcers start getting a little confrontational with their tone and their comments.

And it's especially annoying to listen to yet another fundraiser (in February, March, and June!!!) when you already contributed during what was called the "annual drive" back in January.

I know a bunch of people who have since stopped supporting NPR and PBS because they got sick and tired of the constant begging and program disruptions.

I long for the good old days when they did a single (month-long) annual fundraiser.

Just my 2¢

10198

Living Room / Re: Good TV series. What do you watch? I used to watch Lost to unwind need successor

« Last post by 40hz on June 07, 2009, 11:07 AM »

Plus, let's not forget one of the freakiest TV shows of all time, LEXX.  Talk about weird! It's bad enough to have a contract put out on you but for some reason I don't want to be killed by a dead assassin.

-MilesAhead (June 07, 2009, 10:47 AM)

Truly weird series. Especially the first season with the original cast.

(I also thought Eva Habermann did a better portrayal of the character Zev than Xenia Seeberg did. But maybe that's just me. )

10199

Living Room / Re: Weird Window When Computer Boots Up

« Last post by 40hz on June 07, 2009, 10:56 AM »

Me too, that's how I got to where I'm at now. But the guy's story sounded (and later proves to be) a incorrect media licensing issue. Which the "Tech" should have known better and never created. So foisting an angry consumer on them to further their (Um...) education seemed the more "profitable" route (did I mention I have a mean streak?) in the long run.

-Stoic Joker (June 07, 2009, 09:47 AM)

  I like your mean streak SJ! 

But then again, where would I be without disgruntled chain-store tech service customers? I've gotten quite a bit of business around where I live thanks to them screwing up royally on business customers.

(Personally, I hope they never learn. )

10200

General Software Discussion / Re: set external TFT's brightness etc. with software?

« Last post by 40hz on June 07, 2009, 10:50 AM »

Might not be what you are looking for, but some manufacturers have software that you can use to control all the facets of monitor adjustment using your mouse and keyboard instead of having to resort to using the sometimes klunky controls built into the monitor.

-Innuendo (June 06, 2009, 05:54 PM)

Actually, quite a few do. Web over to the manufacturer's site and search for downloads for your particular model. I have a few Samsungs. I was quite impressed with their software.