Recent Posts

1076

Living Room / Re: Selling Something? Go to Jail! That's copyright infringement... :-/

« Last post by Tinman57 on October 24, 2012, 07:39 PM »

The crazy Supreme Court case that could make it illegal for you to sell the things that you own is coming up.  Make your voice heard before it's too late.....

Well, the court hearing is set for this Monday, October 29th -- and we need you to join us in a day of online activism.

If we lose this fight, practically anybody who wants to resell products they bought -- from Macbooks and iPhones to our clothing and textbooks -- will have to ask copyright holders for permission first. And they'll have the right to deny it!

The forces that lined up in support of SOPA -- Hollywood, the recording industry, and other huge corporations -- are urging the Court to rule against consumers.

So we're going to fight back -- just like during the SOPA fight -- by using our websites to sound the alarm. Please take part!


Remarkably few people have even heard about this case, and it's time for us to change that.

Win or lose at the Supreme Court, we expect to have a legislative fight about this issue on our hands by January, and we need to push people to contact their members of Congress before Big Business gets them to side against us.

So we've built a variety of ribbons and ball-and-chain icons that you can put on your site on Monday to help make sure the whole world knows about this horrendous case.

You can view them all here, and sign up to use your site for activism on Monday -- we really need your help.

Participation from a few hundred sites -- or even a few dozen -- is almost certain to get the media's attention as they cover the Supreme Court hearing.

Everybody is welcome to join in the day of action, but your friends who sell things online will probably be especially interested.

Whether they use Craigslist, Ebay, Etsy, or just a personal site or a blog, they'll want to know that their right to keep selling could be in grave jeopardy.

http://www.youvebeenowned.org/#alarm

Demand Progress.org

1077

Living Room / Re: Don't You Want to be "Safe"?

« Last post by Tinman57 on October 24, 2012, 03:15 PM »

WTF business is it of the UN? 

-Renegade (October 23, 2012, 11:04 AM)

  Just like it's not their business to try to get guns outlawed in the U.S., but that don't stop them from trying every year.  The U.N. is a big joke that waste our tax dollars every year for bs like this....

1078

Living Room / Re: Amazon closes woman's account and wipes her Kindle

« Last post by Tinman57 on October 22, 2012, 07:09 PM »

I know I'm going to sound like a broken record, but... don't buy anything that has DRM, and do what you can to prevent others from doing so as well. If you must have the content and can't find a non-DRM source, pirate it - and do what you can to convince others that this is an acceptable thing to do. There's only one way to get rid of DRM: vote with your wallet.

As for ebooks on ipad: Calibre + Stanza. Fsck the horrid itunes crap.

It's a shame Amazon are being so stupid, as the kindle is a nifty little device, and e-ink is much better on your eyes than a TFT screen. But so be it.

-f0dder (October 22, 2012, 03:50 PM)

  Not going to be so easy now with the new ISP spies.  You would think they would need a search warrant to do this, but then again, who needs a warrant nowdays?

Downloaders note-ISP Copyright Alert System rollout begins
Internet service providers are now rolling out a system to warn or punish
users who download and share copyrighted content.

http://www.techhive....-rollout-begins.html

1079

Living Room / Re: People Turning on Trolls?

« Last post by Tinman57 on October 22, 2012, 06:46 PM »

I can recall less than 20 ish really negative replies I have received to 5000 posts I have made on the web.

-TaoPhoenix (October 22, 2012, 08:47 AM)

20ish?  That's all???  Your lucky.  I've found it don't matter how neutral you try to be on a subject, there's always a herd of schittheads that make it their personal agenda to write something negative in response.  There's always someone that will pick apart whatever you say and try to turn it into something out of context, with the main agenda to pick a fight or bully.  You know.....Trolls.

1080

General Software Discussion / Re: What's your preferred File Manager

« Last post by Tinman57 on October 21, 2012, 07:42 PM »

  I got hooked on CubicExplorer (free) and haven't looked back.  I've never used any of the others, so I can't say which is better.

1081

Living Room / Re: 3D Printing Under Attack

« Last post by Tinman57 on October 21, 2012, 07:01 PM »

And the FSF steps into the foray:

http://www.techdirt....y-that-matters.shtml

-Renegade (October 21, 2012, 07:00 AM)

  I knew the 3D printer was going to be targeted before it even made it to the mainstream.  A lot of people don't know, but your regular printer prints a code into every graphic printed so your printer (and you) can be identified for DRM infractions and counterfeiting money.  And how do they track it back to you?  If you sent in a registration for the printer, or had it factory serviced.  Some places like Best Buy actually scans in the printers serial number when you buy it, so it makes it into the records there as well.....  And of course if you buy an extended warranty, they got you....

1082

Living Room / Re: Warrantless Wiretapping

« Last post by Tinman57 on October 20, 2012, 08:07 PM »

Just how insane does this all get? 

-Renegade (October 19, 2012, 09:33 PM)

  I fear we have only seen the tip of the iceburg.  When our own government refuses to follow the Constitution of the U.S., we have become a police state.  Sad how the gov't and rich can get away with it, but yet any average Joe goes against the Constitution and he/she goes directly to jail.

1083

Living Room / Presidential Campaigns Mining Your Data

« Last post by Tinman57 on October 19, 2012, 08:40 PM »

Presidential Campaigns Mining Your Personal Lives

The New York Times reports that both the Obama and Romney campaigns are mining voters' personal data "at a scale never before imagined."

https://www.nytimes....to-get-out-vote.html

1084

Living Room / Warrantless Wiretapping

« Last post by Tinman57 on October 19, 2012, 08:27 PM »

EFF Opposes US's State Secrets Claim (Again) in Warrantless Wiretapping Case

EFF filed its latest brief in the Jewel v. NSA case, aiming to stop the government from engaging in mass warrantless collection of emails, phone calls, and customer records of ordinary Americans. The matter is set for hearing on December 14, 2012 in federal court in San Francisco, on the question of whether these Americans will get their day in court.

https://www.eff.org/...te-secrets-jewel-nsa

1085

Living Room / Fusion Centers Useless

« Last post by Tinman57 on October 19, 2012, 08:23 PM »

Senate Report: "Fusion Centers" Invade Innocent Americans' Privacy and Don't Stop Terrorism

The Department of Homeland Security's 70 counterterrrorism "fusion centers" produce "predominantly useless information," "a bunch of crap," while "running afoul of departmental guidelines meant to guard against civil liberties" and are "possibly in violation of the Privacy Act." These may sound like the words of EFF, but in fact, these conclusions come from a new report issued by a US Senate committee.

https://www.eff.org/...sm-centers-dont-stop

1086

Living Room / Re: Outing the Internet's worst troll.

« Last post by Tinman57 on October 18, 2012, 07:16 PM »

I found an interesting comment on a follow up article, and thought it good food for thought.

'Remus Shepherd' is not my real name.
In 1996, I was publicly outed for my sexuality. I chose to flee from the net and all contact with people. I lost my job and many friends, but I survived.
In 2000, a friend of mine was publicly outed for his sexuality. He was the owner of a business and could not vanish the way that I did. He chose instead to take his own life.
Stripping of another person's anonymity is a vile tactic, no matter how flimsy that anonymity may be. If you suspect someone of a crime then yes, out them to the authorities. Let the legal system work. But publicly shaming people for activities with which you do not agree is a tactic used by blind mobs and righteous zealots. Outing is used to prevent rape victims from speaking out, it is used to harass and kill homosexuals and other minorities, and it is used to enforce social dogma on those who are merely different. It cannot and must not become an accepted tactic. The consequences on the weak and vulnerable will be far worse than any good that may come from using it.

-wraith808 (October 18, 2012, 03:14 PM)

  As sad as that is, it will never end.  People are just too damned nosy and have to insert themselves into everybody Else's business, no matter how big or small.  And if that isn't enough, then they have to go a step further and ridicule anyone that's "different" to the point of either trying to change them or ruin their lives.  They can't just live and let live.
  People like that are either so unhappy with their own lives and try to make everyone Else's life miserable (misery loves company) or they think they are above reproach and need to command everyone to their line of thought.  You know, full of themselves.

1087

Living Room / Re: The Apotheosis of The Pirate Bay

« Last post by Tinman57 on October 17, 2012, 05:48 PM »

The first comment at TPB:
 (see attachment in previous post)
Which reminded me of a trance CD I have - the band's name is "Apotheosis". Being as TPB has ascended into the cloud, never again to be molested by the fuzz, it seemed like a divine choice of words for a heavenly site that causes hell for the MAFIAA.

-Renegade (October 17, 2012, 07:12 AM)

Renegade, your a Trancer too?  I've got bunches of trance mods.....

1088

Living Room / Re: What A Different World Than What I Grew Up In :(

« Last post by Tinman57 on October 16, 2012, 08:50 PM »

  I've stood up for people being bullied when I was in school, and usually wound up getting my ass kicked in the process.  But you'll notice that the majority of the bullies hang out in a gang of bullies, they're too chickenshit to attempt it on their own unless the person is tiny and meek...

1089

Living Room / Re: Outing the Internet's worst troll.

« Last post by Tinman57 on October 16, 2012, 08:37 PM »

Here's one of his:

Warning: Graphic, NSFW, VDA

http://metareddit.com/r/PicsOfDeadKids

-40hz (October 16, 2012, 04:43 PM)

  That's some sick shit.  The people that collect that kind of crap are really twisted....

1090

Living Room / Re: Faster Than Light Math

« Last post by Tinman57 on October 16, 2012, 08:25 PM »

Now all we need is Zefram Cochrane to make us a warp drive!

-TaoPhoenix (October 16, 2012, 06:59 AM)

  That is if you can get him off the bottle and out of the rock n roll bars...   

1091

Living Room / Re: Tracking Brainwaves to Protect Our Borders

« Last post by Tinman57 on October 16, 2012, 08:15 PM »

Sigh...  Just unreal. Completely surreal. I don't know whether to vomit in disgust or cry in despair.

-Renegade (October 15, 2012, 11:19 PM)

  Well Renegade, you pretty much said everything that I was thinking when I read this article, just wanted to get someone elses opinion, which you did quite well I may add.
  If anyone needs to remember that famous quote you have in your tagline "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. -Benjamin Franklin", it would be the idiot author of that article.

  The really scary thing about people like that is, they VOTE

1092

Living Room / Re: Do Not Track

« Last post by Tinman57 on October 16, 2012, 08:00 PM »

Does DNT+ cover all the flash cookies and stuff? That's the main reason I ever used Ghostery past the first year, after I knew who was on what page - I didn't think reg. AdBlock dealt with flash cookies.

-TaoPhoenix (October 16, 2012, 06:51 AM)

How can users prevent Flash cookie tracking?
Like normal cookies, Flash cookies are represented as small files on users' computers. To prevent Flash cookies from being placed, users can adjust preferences on a per site basis in the Macromedia Website Privacy Settings Panel http://www.macromedi...tings_manager06.html. Using this tool, Flash cookies can be completely disabled or allowed on a per domain basis.
To get to the settings panel, right click on any Flash movie, click settings and then advanced. Macromedia has published a walk through guide http://www.macromedi...ndex.cfm?id=52697ee8 to help users disable Flash cookies.
Users can get rid of the current Flash cookies and their tracking information simply going to the correct folder (see below) and deleting them. The Flash cookies are organized in folders according to the site that placed them, so users can choose which objects to keep.
Firefox users can use Objection http://www.yardley.ca/objection/ , a recently developed extension that adds a LSO deletion tool to Firefox preferences.
Where are Flash cookies stored?
Flash cookies are stored in a special directory depending on the operating system on the client machine. They are arranged in directories according to the site that placed them on the computer (look for a file with a .SOL extension):
Windows C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash Player
Macintosh OSX /Users/[username]/Library/Preferences/Macromedia/Flash Player
GNU-Linux ~/.macromedia

1093

Living Room / Re: Do Not Track

« Last post by Tinman57 on October 16, 2012, 07:47 PM »

http://www.abine.com/dntp/faq.php#q17 - "There are good cookies and bad cookies, and we add the good kind to your browser. They’re called “opt-out cookies,” and they signal to advertisers that you want to opt out of receiving target advertising (it's like the "Do Not Call" list for targeted advertising)."

-f0dder (October 15, 2012, 08:25 PM)

  Ah yes, weedhopper, but read further and see "You do have the option to turn off these opt-out cookies entirely when using DNT+, which would leave you with the functionality that blocks tracking and targeted ads."
  Also note that "DNT+ has the best available blocking, stops more than 600 trackers."

1094

Living Room / Re: Internet freedoms restrained - SOPA/PIPA/OPEN/ACTA/CETA/PrECISE-related updates

« Last post by Tinman57 on October 16, 2012, 07:35 PM »

I could be wrong, of course, but I thought Canada had long ago given away a lot of its civil liberties/freedoms, especially freedom of speech.

-IainB (October 16, 2012, 01:24 AM)

Pretty close. Policy in Ottawa is mostly imported from Washington D.C. So, it usually takes a little bit longer for Canadians to have their freedom stripped than it does for the Americans, though that's not always true. Our Prime Minister is currently selling off large chunks of Canada to China. Not sure whether we'll be Chanada or Chinada in the near future. But, y'know... All the typical stuff that treason is made of, that's our PM.

-Renegade (October 16, 2012, 02:21 AM)

  Welcome to the China Syndrome.  The U.S. sold out to China years ago.  We were sold out by greedy politicians.  And all this time I thought Canada was better than that.....

1095

Living Room / Tracking Brainwaves to Protect Our Borders

« Last post by Tinman57 on October 15, 2012, 08:23 PM »

Surveillance: Tracking Brainwaves to Protect Our Borders

 Ever wonder what it would be like if the person who you are talking to could suddenly read your true thoughts? I know I have and have been very thankful that my thoughts were my own private treasure trove not open for public scrutiny. Well, that one private area of our lives that we have often thought untouchable by others may become a target of our war on terrorism. One might wonder why this is necessary since it seems that Homeland Security has done a fairly good job, since 9/11, of securing our borders. In fact, it seems that our nation is employing an increasingly vigilant military personnel as well as private contractors equipped with the latest in cameras and sensors to actively watch our borders.

http://www.lockergno...tracking-brainwaves/

[I guess the next thing on the agenda is "The Dream Police", and I'm not talking about Cheap Trick either....]

1096

Living Room / Re: The Next "They Live" - "Branded"

« Last post by Tinman57 on October 15, 2012, 07:36 PM »

Idiocracy is hilarious.  I've got it on DVD....

1097

Living Room / Re: Do Not Track

« Last post by Tinman57 on October 15, 2012, 07:31 PM »

Re Ghostery & Trackerblock (from another thread):

I ... switched out Ghostery for TrackerBlock, on the theory that even if "less evil", Ghostery is run by an ad company, and hopefully PrivacyChoice.org ... isnt?

-TaoPhoenix (October 06, 2012, 07:46 PM)

-tomos (October 15, 2012, 07:31 AM)

PrivacyChoice is also a commercial entity - I dunno if I'd choose one of the two over the other... and something about PrivacyChoice seems fishy (not the least running a commercial site on a .org address), but opt-out cookies? I am to trust that anybody respects those? LOL! In general the addon seems to be focused more on cookies, than to keep from executing javascript or loading tracking beacon images, which is what Ghostery does.

-f0dder (October 15, 2012, 11:19 AM)

From what I understand, PrivacyChoice is geared for the publishing companies, where Abine, the makers of Do Not Track Plus is a security company.  Kind of makes you wonder where PrivacyChoice's loyalties lie...

DNT+ don't use "Opt-Out" cookies, they actually "Block" tracking of all kinds.  I think opt-out cookies are worthless.  It's the fox guarding the henhouse.  I want to block all the tracking crap, not flag them with a useless cookie...

  But, to each their own I suppose.  lol

1098

General Software Discussion / Re: Does the browser Opera suck?

« Last post by Tinman57 on October 14, 2012, 07:07 PM »

Does the browser Opera suck?

Yes.

-Tuxman (October 13, 2012, 02:36 AM)

Very enthralling answer. Your deep insight has inspired me. Please, share more?

-Josh (October 13, 2012, 08:40 AM)

I would like to interject with an equally exciting answer...

No.

-Renegade (October 14, 2012, 04:38 AM)

  Can I throw a "Maybe" in there?   

1099

Living Room / Re: The Man Who Made The First Supersonic Parachute Jump, Just Not On Purpose

« Last post by Tinman57 on October 14, 2012, 07:01 PM »

...but how in the world can you control an aircraft without any air flowing over the control surfaces?  Methinks this was a little exaggerated.

-Tinman57 (October 13, 2012, 06:13 PM)

No, I think there must be quite a lot of free air in space, else how could the soundwaves from spaceships reach you? I mean, you can hear them swishing or humming past in all the space movies.   

-IainB (October 13, 2012, 08:56 PM)

Bwahahahaha!  Those space movies were kind of daft in that regard, with the exception of the new Battle Star Galactica, but a lot of people don't know those "little" facts.  All of the fly-by's and battles in the new BSG were all muffled to be barely audible to make it more scientifically realistic.
  I did read that there is a lot of air/gasses in outer space, just not enough to carry a soundwave.  Perhaps in one of those gas giants it's possible, but who could live there to find out?  LOL

1100

Living Room / Re: Do Not Track

« Last post by Tinman57 on October 14, 2012, 06:48 PM »

Anyone here using DNT Plus instead of Ghostery, anyone trust it in the light of the posts in this thread ?
I have/am trying/using both and they generally both give the same results (although sometimes DNTPlus finds more than Ghostery) - but there remains the question about op-out cookies (I did read somewhere on the Abine site that they will be phasing these out in the near future).
So, comments please ?

  I gave up Ghostery for DNT Plus when DNT+ came out.  It does a lot more than Ghostery and is configurable.  Only caveat is if you want to configure it, you have to "Read The Docs".  lol

  Depending on how you have your cookie handling set up in your browser, you really don't need cookie handling in DNT+.  I have mine set up to block all 3rd party cookies and not to allow persistant cookies.  DNT+ takes care of the tracking cookies for me.....