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1051

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on January 07, 2015, 04:45 PM »

On Tuesday, the currency traded even lower at 285.67 per US dollar.

Um... more like $254 from what I was watching. I really don't know how much longer I can stay in at these rates ... As 'Sunny Optimism' isn't really my 'Strong Suite'..

1052

Living Room / Re: Can anyone help break "router block"?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on January 05, 2015, 11:50 AM »

As a rule I tend to stay as far away from all things "Parental Control" as possible. They always seem to end up being a performance robing maintenance nightmare ... But then again I also primarily do business networks. I am however a huge fan of OpenDNS.

As far as Netgear's stuff getting bad reviews, I've never seen any consumer grade 802.11n class device get consistently good reviews from any of the manufacturers anywhere, ever. Netgear's tech support I only needed to use once with a new device on a really bizarre issue, as their available online documentation is really quite good.

I've dealt with several Netgear routers (like the FVS318) in SMB applications that have survived for years without incident. Hell our office wireless has been running off a Netgear WNR2000 v2.0 for so long I forgot where the damn thing is..

So yeah...I guess I kinda like'em

1053

General Software Discussion / Re: patchpae

« Last post by Stoic Joker on January 03, 2015, 11:08 PM »

Forcing PAE into an OS isn't going to help with software that isn't designed to use it.

This just strikes me as a bit silly...and patching core OS files is really quite dangerous.

1054

Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"

« Last post by Stoic Joker on January 02, 2015, 12:28 PM »

Clues In Sony Hack Point To Insiders  The Security Ledger

-Arizona Hot (December 31, 2014, 12:46 AM)

Way more believable than the official version.

-Stoic Joker (December 31, 2014, 07:45 AM)

I think it's a combination, truth be told.

-wraith808 (December 31, 2014, 11:57 AM)

Meh, disgruntled ex employee spun into publicity stunt makes way more sense than North Korea giving a shit about some silly assed movie..

...Just saying man ... Walks like a duck...

-Stoic Joker (December 31, 2014, 11:31 PM)

North Korea has already said they cared about the movie... and considered it an act of war.

-wraith808 (January 01, 2015, 11:58 AM)

Yeah, the usual diplomatic (street punk on the corner style) BS posturing for the 6 O'clock news team. But do they really care? I seriously doubt it.

Any rational person would agree with you.  But the leadership of NK isn't exactly rational right now.

-wraith808 (January 01, 2015, 11:58 AM)

Think about that one for a second man - crazy-as-shit only really works as a strategy if it's an act.

1055

Living Room / Re: Want to be in my story? See inside.

« Last post by Stoic Joker on January 01, 2015, 10:18 PM »

I'm game.

But I detest trying to describe/define myself, so you'll have to wing it.

-Stoic Joker (December 30, 2014, 10:14 PM)

stoic...any chance you are a female (sorry! i don't know!).  I need more female characters, so they get priority.

-superboyac (January 01, 2015, 04:41 PM)

Nope, I do have long hair...but I'm a guy.

1056

Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 31, 2014, 11:31 PM »

Clues In Sony Hack Point To Insiders  The Security Ledger

-Arizona Hot (December 31, 2014, 12:46 AM)

Way more believable than the official version.

-Stoic Joker (December 31, 2014, 07:45 AM)

I think it's a combination, truth be told.

-wraith808 (December 31, 2014, 11:57 AM)

Meh, disgruntled ex employee spun into publicity stunt makes way more sense than North Korea giving a shit about some silly assed movie..

...Just saying man ... Walks like a duck...

1057

Living Room / Re: Happy New Year! =D

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 31, 2014, 11:26 PM »

Happy new year!

1058

Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 31, 2014, 07:45 AM »

Clues In Sony Hack Point To Insiders  The Security Ledger

-Arizona Hot (December 31, 2014, 12:46 AM)

Way more believable than the official version.

1059

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 30, 2014, 10:36 PM »

There are 137 more pictures at the link. Anyone want to admit to looking at those?

-Arizona Hot (December 30, 2014, 11:15 AM)

After reviewing all 162 pictures in that series, I have decided to vote yes to eugenics...as a large percentage of those people must definitely be prevented from breeding.

...Now if you'll excuse me I have to go bleach my eyes..

1060

Living Room / Re: Want to be in my story? See inside.

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 30, 2014, 10:14 PM »

I'm game.

But I detest trying to describe/define myself, so you'll have to wing it.

1061

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for Windows Email Server Options

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 27, 2014, 02:56 PM »

For anyone else that might be shopping this question, I did also run across this: POP3 Server for Windows Server 2008/2012.

It looks like a great product, but I did not take the time to try it (it is dependent on the MS SMTP). And after experiencing the ease and simplicity of the hMailServer setup I don't feel bad about it either. Why, you may ask? Simple. The hMailServer cleanly did the one thing that the MS SMTP server never did want to do properly. Masquerade the Email server's actual internal name.

1062

Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 27, 2014, 02:43 PM »

^Hay, at least it was just the one file. I've seen worse...much (much...) worse. Prior to XP SP2 blank passwords were allowed for network access. I've actually had to fight against disabling that policy to get an owner to "suffer" the "anguish" of typing their own initials - all lower case mind you ... And it was a knock down drag out fight to get them to use all three of them (Yeah, that's right...they wanted a 2 character password).

My father was often fond of saying: "Sympathy is in the dictionary...right between shit and syphilis". And I will love that quote till the day I die, because ... Some people really do deserve to get hacked.

1063

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for Windows Email Server Options

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 27, 2014, 11:14 AM »

Okay... So it took a metric forever for me to finally get around to doing this...but it is now done.

The old Windows Server 2003 POP/SMTP has been officially decommissioned, and I'm now running hMailServer on Server 2012 std.

The hMailServer setup was completely painless, and the administration is about as self explanatory as it can get. I'm currently running full logging to see how much of what the built-in spam filter actually kills, and so far it's all good.

1064

Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 27, 2014, 11:01 AM »

I hear Ya ... I just like to watch shit run up hill on the odd occasion it happens.

And yes, I document everything. I also make frequent comments regarding/referring to said documented issue ... Just to make sure nobody get/has/even thinks about pretending to "forget" why something exists.

1065

Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 26, 2014, 10:17 PM »

Because those IT guys are toast. And deservedly so IMHO.

-40hz (December 26, 2014, 01:17 PM)

While it is tempting to jump there, I think the point of initial access should be considered. Because if some 'C' level suit decided to use fluffy1 for their password ... Then it ain't IT's ass that should be on the line.

I say this because I'm sure we've both been in situations where someone was throwing their weight around to get something really stupid (like a 3 character password) put in place.

1066

Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 25, 2014, 01:36 PM »

Unless I hear it's an unusually well done picture, worth watching for that alone, I probably won't.

-40hz (December 25, 2014, 09:09 AM)

Me either. This whole fiasco is looking more like a publicity stunt to me. Because any halfassed intelligent (truly independent) hacking group would have known better than to risk triggering a Streisand effect stampede to the ticket booth.

1067

Living Room / Re: For better security, maybe it's time to abandon e-mail?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 24, 2014, 12:45 PM »

Unfortunately, people have evolved to the point where they are much akin to electricity in that they will always take the path of least resistance.

-Innuendo (December 24, 2014, 09:03 AM)

This IMO is indeed the crux of the problem.

Until the 'responsible professionals in our field' can come up with something new while at the same time come up with something that makes every insecure method more inconvenient for the end users that will cause them to jump ship to the new method, nothing will change.

-Innuendo (December 24, 2014, 09:03 AM)

Okay, this part made me giggle. Not because it's wrong...because it isn't. But because of the above stated issue ... People are lazy. The classic AOL class End (L)user wants to simply click on the magical 'Deliver me from all evil nastiness that is or will ever be' button one time when the computer comes out of the box. ...And then that should - and is to must be - the absolute complete and most utterly totally impenetrable shield of magical protection that is defended by winged demon monkeys that instantly fly to the rescue while they blindly click on any and every idiotic god damn thing that flies across the screen.

I'm on vacation ... But never the less I get an email from the brass who's in panic mode because of some browser window that appeared making them think someone else was looking up stuff on their workstation. My "responsible professional' response... was simply to state that this is why it is recommended to lock a station before walking away from it so we don't ever need to have conversations like this. It ain't like I haven't mentioned this little nuance like 14,000 times in the past ...(high-five for guessing why)... Derp!

Security is something that is practiced. It cannot be installed, or baked in to any degree of absolution (pun intended). Computers will never be totally secure, for the same reason that the roads will never be perfectly safe. Because no matter how much protection you build into the vehicle, you still can't compensate for the fact that the pilot is freaking stupid.

1068

Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 23, 2014, 01:06 AM »

20 Gifs That Teach You Science Concepts Better Than Your Teacher Probably Can - StumbleUpon

I'd not seen all these collected together in one place before.

-IainB (December 23, 2014, 12:39 AM)

So... Are you going to share your C:\ drive with the rest of the class ... Or do you have a different link we should be using..

1069

Living Room / Re: For better security, maybe it's time to abandon e-mail?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 23, 2014, 01:03 AM »

Depends on the jurisdiction I think. Here it only applies to "covered" communications. Many US corporations are now operating on a minimal retention policy. They only retain as much and as long as the law requires. With the exception of regulated securities-related communications; and tax documents and/or communications with government revenue services - which I have been told need to (or should be) be retained indefinitely.

-40hz (December 22, 2014, 01:21 PM)

BINGO!

Not to mention that legal issues are frequently exacerbated by excessive documentation. Like Sony who obviously could have massively benefited from a teensie bit more delete button action. Sure, it might piss a judge off a bit ...(if he knew about it)... But if there are no incriminating/scandalous records...then there's no reason to be talking to a judge.

You just need an established policy, that allows enough latitude, to let folks delete their junk mail ... Savvy??

1070

Living Room / Re: For better security, maybe it's time to abandon e-mail?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 22, 2014, 09:18 AM »

A secret is safe with three, if two are dead. This is the only thing that struck me regarding the Sony/Email fiasco.

The message format/fact that it was an Email is IMO irrelevant. Because... If there exists a document, that contains damning/damaging information - that you have within your power the option of destroying with impunity - what the hell did you save it for?!?

This to me is a people problem.

1071

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 14, 2014, 08:59 AM »

Keep in mind that oil prices dipping like this could be a signal for a crash.

-Renegade (December 13, 2014, 05:16 PM)

Highly doubtful...unless it being intentionally orchestrated. The Oil Err... "Energy Companies" are simply running out of bullshit excuses for keeping the prices jacked up to crippling rates. Last I heard the US is producing 80+% on its own oil so the middle east boogie man (blame game) shenanigans don't fly anymore. They've fracking well known (pun intended) for years they could drop the price to a reasonable level and still rake in mountains of cash per minute - just like they still are right now - without vimpirically draining the economy for fun and profit Ferengi style.

This kind of crap is precisely why these elitist market ghouls need to be publically executed (by the public) as a warning to others.

Canadian housing prices just dipped for the first time in 5 years. Spain & Greece have 50% youth unemployment. The Japanese economy is a shambles.

-Renegade (December 13, 2014, 05:16 PM)

Blah Blah Blah - Global Economy... Yet another daffy excuse for pillaging the middle class ... Who for some odd reason always seen to get obligated to take the brunt of the damage in the interest of protecting the aristocratic 1%.

 

The US has 0.34% cash to debt (near zero liquidity), which indicates that they have a lot of market power.

-Renegade (December 13, 2014, 05:16 PM)

"Zero Liquidity" (e.g. no cash) equates to "Market Power" how exactly?? If you're broke, you're supposed to stop buying shit ... Unless you're intention is to star in one of the many blond jokes that end with "But I still have checks left?!?"..

The oil price crash is likely part of a broader economic war on Russia. GATA was right about the PM market being manipulated. They all are. Legislation is in place to bail-in the banks (i.e. steal money from people to cover bank losses). New legislation on derivatives went through. The derivatives market is 20x (or more) the size of the world economy. Will pension funds be raided? Can we say "bubble"?

-Renegade (December 13, 2014, 05:16 PM)

The key to Russian Roulette, is you're supposed to point the gun at your own head when the trigger is pulled...not the head of guy next to you. Which is why we need to bring back the guillotine (French style) to assist in educating the aristocracy on what constitutes 'acceptable risk' - for the greater good...

That could push people to put their savings into assets that aren't affected by traditional economic factors, and Bitcoin fits the bill.

-Renegade (December 13, 2014, 05:16 PM)

Or more likely push people into putting their savings into something that is dependent on an infrastructure that can be pulled out from under them at a moments notice in the interest of national security, or some other totally fabricated bull shit "reason".

Right now with the price like it is, it seems like a buy & hold or buy & spend (with some holding) price. It's pretty cheap now.

-Renegade (December 13, 2014, 05:16 PM)

Nothing is ever "cheap"...if it's all you have.

1072

Living Room / Re: We Are the Idiots

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 13, 2014, 03:54 PM »

Something to ponder over: Many men and women have switched from smoking to chewing.

-crabby3 (December 13, 2014, 09:18 AM)

I've actually no idea how this is related, but after smoking for ~35 years I'm currently doing the E-cigs. Been at it for 9ish months...and it seems to be working quite well.

Vehicle doors (on either side) could open at any moment.  Any season and almost any speed.
Great 'opportunity' to clip the handle bar, lose some fingers or just a leg.

-crabby3 (December 13, 2014, 09:18 AM)

I know ... But the pack - of 6 vehicles - I was referring to was doing about 55 (in a 70..) when I chose to violate their airspace. So door opening wasn't a likely factor, and nobody was going to be doing any lane changing given their alignment. For the below 10mph crowd it's usually easier to just take the sidewalk to a side street to slip around any congestive obstructions.

If your DC contributions suddenly stop...   I'll always remember you as the Male Trinity from The Matrix Reloaded.

-crabby3 (December 13, 2014, 09:18 AM)

I confess ... I've never been able to watch that scene without giggling, because much of it reminds me of my youth..

1073

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 13, 2014, 02:18 PM »

Right now the market is once again being manipulated, as bulls and bears battle it out with the charts as the scoreboard.

-SeraphimLabs (December 13, 2014, 09:03 AM)

Yeah, well the greedy pricks can tickle their ass with higher numbers just as easily without crippling the average Joe who's just trying to get by.

The news last night mentioned that the Wall Street vampires were having a hissy fit because of the "Horrifically low" price of gas these days ... Which is in an antithetical contrast to all of the other news reports that say that the economy is finally getting its crippled ass up out of the gutter because of gas prices dropping below the viciously gouging anal rape price range.

...And yet they sit there all baffled looking because the common man wants to have them burned at the stake...because they don't "understand" what they're doing wrong. Much like the French ruling class right before the advent of the guillotine fad back in he day ... We need to do that again.

1074

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 12, 2014, 10:58 PM »

I'm more concerned with its value dropping than its mainstream increasing. Cripes it's down to $350 USD now ...(that shit's making me nervous)... They need to dropkick it back up to at least the 500's..

1075

Living Room / Re: We Are the Idiots

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 12, 2014, 02:33 PM »

Do they allow lane splitting in CT?? ...Remember I'm on a motorcycle.

-Stoic Joker (December 12, 2014, 12:25 PM)

No. (I think CA is the only state that does - or used to if my biker day memories are correct.) But people do it here anyway.

-40hz (December 12, 2014, 01:31 PM)

It's still allowed on CA - According to my brother (who lived there for many years).

Unfortunately, in slowdowns where I am we have an uncommonly large number of lane switchers and breakdown lane runners. They cause more than their share of accidents. They smear more than a few unfortunate lane splitters too. Problem here is the splitters tend to fly in order to get through as quickly as possible.

-40hz (December 12, 2014, 01:31 PM)

Yes, one of my favorite pastimes is to do YouTube searches for (funny) motorcycle fails - Many of which feature lane splitting boo-boos that could have easily been avoided with a smidgeon of common sense. But having ridden since 1977...I have more than just a bit of a 6th sense about reading traffic to know when the odds are in favor of whatever stunt I may be contemplating..

In the meantime, almost anybody can be expected to suddenly lug out of their lane at any time without signaling.

-40hz (December 12, 2014, 01:31 PM)

I live in Florida ...(e.g. Snowbird State)... The only thing turn signals signify is what they're not about to do.

They do this to "get a better look ahead" because they're stuck behind an 18-wheeler; switch to a lane they think is moving faster; or they're just trying to get off one of the too many exits we have to take local roads.

-40hz (December 12, 2014, 01:31 PM)

Yepper, that's pretty typical of anywhere. This is why the splitting lanes at a high rate of sustained speed is basically idiotic, because it deprives you of the time necessary to read traffic and keep a viable escape route available. OTOH I have split small packs at 120mph on I-95 more than once ... But don't tell Crabby3..

In a dinky state like CT nothing's that far away from anything else so local roads aren't anywhere near the hassle they are in some places. And with entrances to '95 only (at most) a few miles apart, it's easy to get back on if you change your mind.

-40hz (December 12, 2014, 01:31 PM)

 Ay yes, the proverbial picking of ones battles. While I seldom use surface streets, I will - in a pinch - switch to them quickly if an accident or other issue causes traffic to backup to much to allow maneuvering.

FWIW, if I were still riding I wouldn't take my bike up on I-95 around here. Not even on a bet. In the 70s, my buddy and I would ride our bikes all the way up to Boston for school in September, and back home again in May, and not think twice. But these days? I wouldn't even consider trying it.

-40hz (December 12, 2014, 01:31 PM)

Understood, but I would. Now I ain't saying I'd enjoy it...but I'd do it ... Even if it was just to say I did.. (eek!) Mind you having 35+ years of contiguous riding experience is a really good cheat in those types of situations.

One of Clint Eastwood's less famous movie quotes was "It's good for a man to know his limitations". And oddly enough IMO he's right ... Which is why I do on the odd occasion err on the side of caution and take the truck. But that's usually when I get one of those funny feelings that I learned long ago it's best to trust.