Recent Posts

10501

Living Room / Re: Proposed IP Treaty declared a 'National Security' Secret

« Last post by 40hz on March 13, 2009, 06:25 PM »

Ahhh...National Security!

That argument worked for Stalin. It worked for Saddam Hussein. It worked for Bush & Son.

And now it's working for Barack...

The Who said it best:

I'll move myself and my family aside
If we happen to be left half alive
I'll get all my papers and smile at the sky
Though I know that the hypnotized never lie
Do ya?

There's nothing in the streets
Looks any different to me
And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left
Are now parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
Don't get fooled again
No, no!

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss
   

 

10502

General Software Discussion / Re: "Enable advanced performance" - the optimization that isn't

« Last post by 40hz on March 13, 2009, 12:28 PM »

Turns out that this feature have been renamed and given a new description in Windows 7, perhaps to avoid confusion?
 (see attachment in previous post)

-Dirhael (March 13, 2009, 09:23 AM)

- about time. Still shouldn't be in the GUI though, and the description is still missleading.

-f0dder (March 13, 2009, 12:11 PM)

Yeah. Would that more technology had functional names like "Space Shuttle" and "motion detector." What they're named is what they do.

I don't have a problem with potentially dangerous settings being controlled via a GUI. The most I would suggest is that they require Administrator privileges, and possibly a second (i.e. 'Are you sure?') confirmation before the new setting takes effect.

There's a limit to how much we should be expected to shield fools from acting foolishly.

10503

General Software Discussion / Re: Tool to monitor in background & report on memory needs and other tweaks

« Last post by 40hz on March 12, 2009, 06:46 PM »

But imho, 1GB of memory should be just fine for XP systems that aren't running extreme memory hogs (firefox doesn't even come close).

-f0dder (March 12, 2009, 10:43 AM)

FWIW: I'm running with 1.5GB of PC3200 on XP-SP3, and my system hardly ever has memory issues, no matter how much I have open.

(Disclaimer - I don't do video editing, nor am I a big time gamer, but I do have some fairly 'heavy' apps concurrently running more often than not.)

10504

General Software Discussion / Re: "Enable advanced performance" - the optimization that isn't

« Last post by 40hz on March 12, 2009, 05:55 PM »

Well, imho the writeback delay for EXT4 is a bit on the insane side, but it's still the other software that's broken, not the filesystem. That this huge delay smokes out some of the bad software (especially when it's as high-profile as KDE!), I think it's worth keeping for a while. It's amazing when developers don't read the documentation, that you don't get any sync guarantees without a fsync call is pretty well-documented

-f0dder (March 12, 2009, 04:27 PM)

That's an excellent point. I'm 100% with f0dder on this one.

A lot of application programmers tend to blame the operating system for their coding errors and general sloppiness. The complaints about EXT4's write-delay reminds me of those Windows developers who use undocumented system calls and then complain when Microsoft changes something which breaks their app.

The open source people have no excuse for not reading the docs and looking at the underlying code they're calling - because it's available. That was the whole point of open source.

Here's part of developer Ted Tso's comment up on Cannonical's Ubuntu Launchpad about the problem:

Link: https://bugs.edge.la...g/317781/comments/45

So, what is the problem. POSIX fundamentally says that what happens if the system is not shutdown cleanly is undefined. If you want to force things to be stored on disk, you must use fsync() or fdatasync(). There may be performance problems with this, which is what happened with FireFox 3.0[1] --- but that's why POSIX doesn't require that things be synched to disk as soon as the file is closed.

[1] http://shaver.off.ne...cers-and-curveballs/

So, why wasn't this a problem before in the past? Well, ext3 by default has a commit interval of 5 seconds, and has data=ordered. What does this mean? Well, every 5 seconds, the ext3 journal is committed; this means that any changes in since the last commit are now guaranteed to survive an unclean shutdown. The journalling mode data=ordered means that only metadata is written in the journal, but data is ordered; this means that before the commit takes place, any data blocks are associated with inodes that are about to be committed in that transaction will be forced out to disk. This is primarily done for security reasons; if this was not done, then any newly allocated blocks might still contain previous data belonging to some other file or user, and after a crash, accessing that file might result in a user seeing someone else's mail or p0rn, and that's unacceptable from a security perspective.

However, this had the side effect of essentially guaranteeing that anything that had been written was guaranteed to be on disk after 5 seconds. (This is somewhat modified if you are running on batteries and have enabled laptop mode, but we'll ignore that for the purposes of this discussion.) Since ext3 became the dominant filesystem for Linux, application writers and users have started depending on this, and so they become shocked and angry when their system locks up and they lose data --- even though POSIX never really made any such guaranteed. (We could be snide and point out that they should have been shocked and angry about crappy proprietary, binary-only drivers that no one but the manufacturer can debug, or angry at themselves for not installing a UPS, but that's not helpful; expectations are expectations, and it's hard to get people to change those expectations, even when they aren't good for themselves or the environment --- such as Americans living in exburgs driving SUV's getting shocked and angry when gasoline hit $4/gallon, and their 90 minute daily commute started getting expensive. :-)

Maybe, when the whiners stop whining, they'll come to realize it's a blessing in disguise.



---

BTW: I couldn't get into the Slashdot link. (Possibly because it's been slashdotted? ) but here's a link to the original article Slashdot is quoting in case anybody's interested.

http://www.h-online....n-Ext4--/news/112821

While you're in there, take a peek around the rest of Heise's H-Open website. It's a great resource.

 

10505

General Software Discussion / Re: Tool to monitor in background & report on memory needs and other tweaks

« Last post by 40hz on March 12, 2009, 05:53 AM »

Windows has a built-in performance tool that can be set up to create the log files you're looking for.

Basic information can be found in Windows Help file. Microsoft also has extensive documentation on their website for using this tool.

Using Performance

The Windows Performance tool is composed of two parts: System Monitor and Performance Logs and Alerts. With System Monitor, you can collect and view real-time data about memory, disk, processor, network, and other activity in graph, histogram, or report form. Through Performance Logs and Alerts you can configure logs to record performance data and set system alerts to notify you when a specified counter's value is above or below a defined threshold.

Open Performance.

 Notes

To open Performance, click Start, click Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Performance.
For information about using Performance Logs and Alerts, in Performance, on the Action menu, click Help. For information about using System Monitor, in the console tree, click System Monitor, and then, on the System Monitor toolbar, click the Help button.

10506

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Free Zinio eMagazine for 1 year

« Last post by 40hz on March 11, 2009, 05:49 PM »

IMHO if Zinio comes along for the ride, it's not worth it. I have had nothing but hassles with that particular piece of software.

10507

Living Room / Re: The Agreeable Cat - Never be Bound By Online Legal Agreements Again

« Last post by 40hz on March 11, 2009, 11:35 AM »

(Glen "Tuna breath" Willow? Excellent credit rating? Now that's one smart and successful cat IMHO. )

-40hz (March 11, 2009, 10:23 AM)

So that's what happened to Steve Martin's cat! All those years of wearing the bunny ears with the fake arrow through the head and forging Steve's signature in order to cash his cheques must have paid off 

-Darwin (March 11, 2009, 11:28 AM)

Actually, after an unsuccessful attempt by a group of admirers (of whom the less said the better) to get him on Newton MA's ballot (as an independent candidate), I understand Glen went on become the absolute dictator and "President-for-Life" of some small country somewhere.

I'd suspect it's a place where they also can tuna.

Rumors say, for his next career move, he intends to take over all of Asia once some "minor personnel changes" are completed.

"Do not be afraid. Be very afraid."
 

10508

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: 1 free PageFour license (and one only)

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

Would you care to do a review about PageFour for us?

I'm always looking for new writing/idea tools. (It's a hobby of mine.)

10509

Living Room / Re: The Agreeable Cat - Never be Bound By Online Legal Agreements Again

« Last post by 40hz on March 11, 2009, 10:23 AM »

I love the idea. I had...um...a friend that used to use his cat's first and last name for all sorts of things. After a while, Mr. Glen Willow even began to get mail addressed to him personally.

One letter stated: due to your excellent credit rating we are making you this exclusive offer...

(Glen "Tuna breath" Willow? Excellent credit rating? Now that's one smart and successful cat IMHO. )

Still, I was curious as to what the ramifications would be if something like that ever hit the fan. I figured everyone would just have a good laugh about it. Unfortunately, I ran this concept past an attorney I know while we were having lunch (thereby avoiding a consultation fee ).

She said that the idea, while very funny, would still constitute an act of fraud on the part of the person sending in the cat's name. In the USA, it's illegal to use a fraudulent name, or the name of anyone not legally qualified, to enter into a contract. That would include minors, fictitious characters, and pets or other non-human entities.

She said that if you ever got hauled into court, and argued that your cat signed the contract instead of you, you'd very probably get you butt handed to you by the judge. And the fact you knowingly used a fraudulent name with the intent to deceive the other party would leave you open to possible criminal charges as well.

When I pointed out that it was only meant to be a joke, she just smiled. "Stunts like that are only funny until you land in court," she said.

Freekin' lawyers are such killjoys... 

----

Of course they gotta catch you first...

10510

General Software Discussion / Re: Making the switch from Windows to Mac? Read this first.

« Last post by 40hz on March 10, 2009, 05:43 PM »

Good to see so many people here moving to Mac! 

-justice (March 10, 2009, 10:27 AM)

You like seeing people moving to overpriced hardware and an even more tightly controlled closed ecosystem than Windows?

-f0dder (March 10, 2009, 10:29 AM)

Null set for me. I never take what somebody else is using personally.

Life's short enough as it is.

10511

Living Room / Re: Asus ships Eee Box PCs with malware

« Last post by 40hz on March 09, 2009, 09:44 PM »

Well, at least Asus recognized it and owned up to the mistake.

-zridling (October 10, 2008, 01:28 PM)

And that is saying something these days.

I don't expect perfection from a company. But I am always impressed (and will continue to do business with) a company that admits an error and then makes good on it.

10512

Living Room / Re: adding memory to my Dell Precision 380

« Last post by 40hz on March 09, 2009, 09:39 PM »

Head over to www.crucial.com and have the scan tool there get the info for you. I've bought all my RAM upgrades there (minus one that was incompatible) and they all work perfectly

-wreckedcarzz (March 09, 2009, 06:35 PM)

+1 on crucial.com

I purchase virtually all my RAM (for personal and business use) through them. Been doing so since 1998. I have yet to have a problem with anything I've gotten from them.

Highly recommended.

10513

General Software Discussion / Re: This site compares over 40 different online To-Do lists

« Last post by 40hz on March 08, 2009, 01:20 PM »

I just had the impression that it was going to be an actual comparison.

-J-Mac (March 08, 2009, 11:28 AM)

I'd have to agree with you on that point. I was a little disappointed too, although I did learn about a couple of products I had never heard of before.

I probably should have written the DC topic line say "lists" instead of "compares."

Next time I won't be so lazy and copy the link's title verbatim.  

10514

Living Room / Re: The Greatest Graphic Novel of All Time: Watchmen

« Last post by 40hz on March 08, 2009, 01:11 PM »

I typically don't like watching movies based on a book that I've recently read, because Hollywood always tends to add change the story. 

-Mizraim (March 08, 2009, 09:15 AM)

Boy do I know that feeling.

Sometimes (rarely) it works - the Bourne films & Chocolat are actually better IMHO that the original books.

But most times it doesn't - LOTR The Two Towers & Return of the King being two of the most obvious screenwriting screw-ups.

10515

Living Room / Re: The Greatest Graphic Novel of All Time: Watchmen

« Last post by 40hz on March 08, 2009, 12:54 PM »

Anyone seen the movie yet? Everyone I know who might go with me is 15 or younger (my kids are 4 and 6), so I haven't had a chance to get out to see it 

-Darwin (March 08, 2009, 08:55 AM)

Suggestion: wait 2 weeks and then go to see it on a Tuesday or Thursday night around 8 PM.

I don't know if this works everywhere, but doing it that way where I live gets me an almost private screening. I seldom share the theater with more than ten people.* And most of them are adults who came for no other reason than to actually sit and watch the picture.

Gotta love that! 



* (When I saw Constantine, Hellboy, and Sky Captain it was just me and my girlfriend. There were six people when we saw Sunshine, five for Hellboy II, three for Pan's Labyrinth, about a dozen for each of the Lord of the Rings installments...the list just goes on and on!)

10516

Living Room / Re: Tall tale or true?

« Last post by 40hz on March 08, 2009, 11:09 AM »

Reading the comments is almost more fun than reading the blog post! A whole lot of "Stepford" fans there.

-J-Mac (March 07, 2009, 11:37 PM)

Being a resident of CT, I'm with you on that.

Sometimes I think he ought to rename the site The Cult of Helios.

10517

General Software Discussion / Re: This site compares over 40 different online To-Do lists

« Last post by 40hz on March 08, 2009, 11:03 AM »

It is more than two years old, and IMO it doesn't tell me anything at all about the various To-do list apps - it just lists them and shows a few (very few) sharing options, like "RSS, email".

Or am I missing it?

-J-Mac (March 08, 2009, 12:02 AM)

Other than that some of us might still find it a useful set of links?

10518

Living Room / Tall tale or true?

« Last post by 40hz on March 07, 2009, 01:44 PM »

Well sports fans, here's the latest from Ken Starks over at the Blog of Helios.

When it comes to Linux geeks, Ken Starks either leads one interesting life, or possesses one of the better imaginations out there.

In this latest post, Ken is allegedly assaulted by an employee of one of the big national support providers. And Ken responds like a true Ninja!

Sunday, March 01, 2009
Tempers Flare as Recession Creeps into Tech Industry

Putting fuel in my truck was the last place I expected to get into a confrontation. Especially concerning Free Open Source Software. I mean, come on..

Link: http://linuxlock.blo...ion-creeps-into.html

Must be really cool to be Ken. I've been doing the 'FOSS thing' for a number of years now. Stuff like this never happens to me!

----

For those of you who don't know about Ken or his blog, he gained quite a bit of notoriety some time back when he published a letter from a teacher accusing him (and Linux) of all sorts of dastardly deeds. There was some discussion of it here ( https://www.donation...ex.php?topic=16136.0 ) and also a lot of other commentary up on the web, which later led to an apology of sorts from Mr. Starks to the teacher in question. ( http://www.theregist...linux_texas_teacher/ ).


<<edit: minor rewrite of the 3rd sentence to correct the dangling modifier.
My GF said she couldn't quite follow "who was who and what was what" from the way it was originally written. >>

10519

Living Room / Re: What's your favorite food snack?

« Last post by 40hz on March 07, 2009, 12:02 PM »

• Triscuits
• Anjou Pears (I prefer the red variety)
• Any high quality well-aged sharp Cheddar
• 'Natural' Peanut Butter

10520

Living Room / Re: Netvibes - What do you think?

« Last post by 40hz on March 07, 2009, 11:59 AM »

At the risk of sounding totally retro, I use the Sage extension under Firefox.

10521

General Software Discussion / Re: Why Windows must go open source

« Last post by 40hz on March 06, 2009, 05:52 PM »

Open source will not save Windows, POSIX compatibility will.

-electronixtar (March 06, 2009, 05:57 AM)

I don't think it's that much an issue considering something like under 20 OSs are fully POSIX compliant. 

Windows, Linux, and most of the popular BSD variants (which account for the bulk of all deployments) aren't fully compliant, although they can all be made so (or mostly so) with a bit of fiddling.

POSIX always struck me as something akin to Cobb's relational database model. Both are great ideas - in theory. But since 99% of the benefits can often be gained by only being partially compliant with either, most software vendors don't bother.

And outside of academic circles, hardly anyone seems to notice - or much care.

10522

General Software Discussion / This site compares over 40 different online To-Do lists

« Last post by 40hz on March 06, 2009, 10:55 AM »

It would seem that organization (as a verb) is a perennially popular topic at DC.

There is a short article with a pointer to a nice list of to-do type applications on Gizmo's Tech Treats page.

http://www.techsuppo...cle-type/tech-treats

Compare 40+ Online To-Do Lists
Fri, 03/06/2009 - 01:31 — Rhiannon

    * Tech Treats

This site compares over 40 different online To-Do lists.

One of the neat things about this site is that it lists the additional features of each program other than the standard options most to-do's have, like creating and deleting things, editing, and adding lists and tasks.
The list includes some of the most popular online to-list sites such as Backpack and Remember The Milk. Also listed are many that look useful but that I haven't heard of.

If the perfect online to-do list hasn't dropped into your lap yet, have a look here.
 

Comparison of Online To-Do Lists

 

Signing off,
Rhiannon

Link to Gizmo article: http://www.techsuppo...-online-do-lists.htm

Direct link to reference list: http://www.makeuseof...o-list-gang-exposed/

10523

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Paragon Drive Backup 9 Special Edition For Free!

« Last post by 40hz on March 06, 2009, 05:55 AM »

Still works as of 6-Mar-2009!

App download is slooooow...but I got the e-mail with the license key in under 5 minutes.

 

10524

Living Room / Re: The Greatest Graphic Novel of All Time: Watchmen

« Last post by 40hz on March 05, 2009, 06:40 PM »

Any fans of Heavy Metal magazine?

-CWuestefeld (March 04, 2009, 07:49 PM)

Still got some from it's first year in the USA. Used to have all of them from the first 5 years. Lost them in a move to a new apartment along with a lot of other stuff that somehow 'disappeared' in transit. But I guess that's to be expected when you have friends of friends of friends helping you move.

Girard/Moebius' Arzach...Bode's Cheech Wizard inspired Sunpot...boy were those ever eye-opening strips for a kid who grew up with the much tamer offerings from Mad Magazine, DC and Marvel comics.



 

My all time favorite cover was the punked-out white-haired motor cycle rider decked out in red leather with "Papa Noel" tattooed on his knuckles that appeared on one of the December issues.

I thought the first few years were the best. As time went on it seemed to undergo a transformation from "experimental with a heavy dose of erotic" to "frankly pornographic." I've got nothing against that per sce, but it gets boring after a while. At least it did for me.

I haven't looked at Métal Hurlant's cousin for several years now. Has it gotten good again?

10525

Living Room / Re: The Greatest Graphic Novel of All Time: Watchmen

« Last post by 40hz on March 05, 2009, 06:47 AM »

I have never been into comic books/graphic novels but I thoroughly enjoyed Broken Saints. I'll even admit that near the end this one had me in tears. I wholeheartedly recommend it!

Link: Broken Saints.rar (186 MB)

-Deozaan (March 05, 2009, 01:41 AM)

Excellent, excellent, excellent recommendation Deo! 

That is still one of my absolute favorites. Solid storyline, good characters, a poetic narrative style, and a moral of sorts. It doesn't get much better than that.

I even went so far as to buy the 'enhanced' edition on DVD thru Amazon, although I must admit I liked the the original 'classic' version better.

I used to loan it out constantly until last year when it didn't come back.

I keep telling people how great Broken Saints is - and they keep telling me they can't find it.

Thanks for so generously hosting the archive for download. Looks like I'll be burning and passing out some CDs to friends in the near future.