Recent Posts

1076

Developer's Corner / Re: Announcing .NET 2015 - .NET as Open Source, .NET on Mac and Linux

« Last post by Renegade on November 14, 2014, 05:19 AM »

I'm a bit surprised most of the discussion is about the legal implications, instead of the technical implications of this announcement, here on donation lawy.. ähm coders.

-phitsc (November 14, 2014, 03:00 AM)

I'm not surprised in the least.

Throw heavy chains on anyone, and they'll notice. It's hard to focus on important things when you have non-stop distractions that can ruin you.

1077

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

« Last post by Renegade on November 13, 2014, 04:40 PM »

The story behind Star Wars from the Empire's perspective...

1078

Living Room / English Retail Sites Block Access from Quebec (self-censorship?)

« Last post by Renegade on November 13, 2014, 04:27 PM »

This is a bit bizarre. English language online retailers are blocking access from customers in Quebec. This isn't the ISP blocking, and it isn't the government forcing ISPs to block access, and it isn't some kind of a router-level blocking -- it's the retailers themselves blocking access due to language laws.

http://www.huffingto...uebec_n_6153182.html

Either under pressure from Quebec’s language watchdog or on their own initiative, numerous English-only retail websites have blocked access to shoppers from Quebec, several Montreal news sources report.

CJAD radio reports that Williams-Sonoma, the upscale kitchen supplies retailer, is telling customers they have blocked access to their website because it runs afoul of Quebec’s language law.

The retailer reportedly told a customer the company ships to 87 different countries and “this is the first time we've ever had any problems.”

Williams-Sonoma owns a number of other retailers, including West Elm, Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids, and all these sites are being blocked in Quebec at the moment, according to the Montreal Gazette.

Talk about chilling effects meeting the Twilight Zone.

1079

Developer's Corner / Re: Announcing .NET 2015 - .NET as Open Source, .NET on Mac and Linux

« Last post by Renegade on November 13, 2014, 07:27 AM »

Huh?!? I just about creamed myself there.

Embrace. Extend. Extinguish. Once again. 

-40hz (November 13, 2014, 05:24 AM)

This I worry about. We'll see though.

However, this time around it won't be so obvious. We'll need to be much more alert.

If it does turn out to be genuine, I will be a very happy camper!

1080

Living Room / Re: How The Internet Was Born.

« Last post by Renegade on November 13, 2014, 06:41 AM »

Thought this was cool enough to share here

-Stephen66515 (November 13, 2014, 06:16 AM)

Definitely!

But did anyone notice how it goes very quickly from "HEY! We can communicate!" to "HEY! We can blow up and kill people!"?

Side note: Anybody know what Sputnik has do with any of this?

-Stephen66515 (November 13, 2014, 06:16 AM)

Sputnik scared the US. Keep in mind that the entirely justifiable red scare was going on at that time.

Remember, the communists had murdered between 5 and 10 million Ukrainians between 1932 and 1933, and a lot more afterwards. The US (and most of the world) was terrified of the widespread mass murder of communists.

The US had actually handed over prisoners of war to the Soviets at the end of WWII. They were never seen again. They were shipped off to gulags, and the allies knew what would happen to them when they turned them over.

The technological advance of Sputnik in that scenario was utterly terrifying. Imagine a completely insane, homicidal juggernaut gaining an important technological advantage over you that you couldn't overcome --- that was the Sputnik scare.

However, the allies had captured most of the German scientists at the end of WWII, and brought them over to the West under Operation Paperclip.

We have not even begun to scratch the surface...

1081

General Software Discussion / Re: Music Identification via Sound Card

« Last post by Renegade on November 11, 2014, 08:13 AM »

There is an open-source music recognition project called (appropriately) "My Music Recognition" that is currently looking for testers:

'Testers wanted' announcement:
http://newsletter.so...,2ocb,7opb,1zwy,l1rr
Home site:
http://sourceforge.n.../mymusicrecognition/
GHacks review:
http://www.ghacks.ne...gs-playing-computer/

-Edvard (November 05, 2014, 06:50 PM)

--- stream of consciousness thread warning ---

Well, I've been trying it out, and so far... jack all.

Some of the songs I've been playing/testing:

Led Zeppelin:

Rock and Roll
The Ocean
Good Times Bad Times
Whole Lotta Love <--- Didn't get no love!

Judas Priest:

Defenders of the Faith
Breaking the Law <---- The most recognisable metal riff in history!

Pink Floyd:

Goodbye Blue Skies
Wish You Were Here


The installation was smooth enough, but it took forever to enter an API key as the software froze up with every action. I managed to struggle through the pain, but it was horrid. Once the API key was entered, it seemed to run ok, but I got zero results from it.

So... I guess I'm back to my original position. This isn't stand alone software that you can simply write and give out. This is a major friggin' effort to get this done sanely.

Oh crap...

It just recognized "Wish You Were Here" now! And "Money"!

WTF?!?

Ok... giving it a bit more of a chance...

And now it's recognized "The Ripper"!

Trying "Breaking the Law" again... And it got it!

"Rock and Roll" again...

Nailed it again.

Seems that it needs to "warm up".

Checking on "partials" now... (Which I did before above...)

7 minutes into "Stairway to Heaven" and no recognition... not good... Finished and no recognition.

Back to "The Ripper"... 1:20 into it and no recognition. At 2:25 it got it, but the song is only 2:51 long.

Sorry. But I'm giving this a "fail".

The entire point to audio fingerprinting is to take a snapshot and then return a result. This doesn't do it reliably.

Cripes! Now it got "Drugged and Driving" by the Dayglo Abortions at 1:00!

Bizarre...

I don't know what to make of this.

One last test from Youtube here:

https://www.youtube..../watch?v=eimUHl8rbts (Fair warning - the content of the video will upset some special snowflakes.)

There's some background music there that I don't know what it is, and I'd really like to know... which got me started on this post...

The music starts at around 3:05 or so.

No luck.

Fail.

It seems to be able to identify some songs on disk (which are probably already known), but not reliably, and not quickly, and also can't identify music set against speech in a video.

I guess I'm back to the online solution not really working all that well. I guess Gracenote charges for a reason.

1082

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

« Last post by Renegade on November 11, 2014, 07:01 AM »

Amazon Echo: What Amazon says about their new whatchamacallit thingie - Amazon Echo is designed around your voice. It's always on—just ask for information, music, news, weather, and more. Echo begins working as soon as it hears you say the wake word, "Alexa." It's also an expertly-tuned speaker that can fill any room with immersive sound.

Here's a funny remix that shows what Echo might do.

Jim

-J-Mac (November 10, 2014, 12:29 AM)

Hahaha! That was very cute!

I worked on a large AI voice project a while back. It was fun, but I didn't exactly get to work in anything quite like what was in that video. (Though I really would have LOVED to have gone FUBAR on some things! I had countless thousands of ways to generate responses...) But, I actually ended up sanitising a lot of potentially offensive stuff... Not that I wanted to... sigh...

1083

Living Room / Re: Call to arms on net neutrailty

« Last post by Renegade on November 11, 2014, 06:48 AM »

Sen. Ted Cruz equates "Net Neutrality" with Obamacare. (see attachment in previous post)
The Oatmeal's response: http://theoatmeal.co.../blog/net_neutrality

-nosh (November 11, 2014, 02:00 AM)

I'm no fan of Ted Cruz. I can't say what I think of him here because it's... uh... very very not nice. (I'm trying to be civil/kind here.)

But he's about right on this. (If Ted Bundy told you that 2+2=4, he'd still be right...)

And while I actually really do like The Oatmeal... he's full of baloney. (I have one of his posters on my wall to my left. I really do like The Oatmeal a lot.)

This is a damned if you do, damned if you don't scenario. The public will LOSE. The people will LOSE. Customers will LOSE.

There is little competition in the telco industry because it is heavily saddled with regulations that stifle innovation and strangle competition.

ASIDE: Telcos and mobile manufacturers have been colluding for years to extract as much money from you as possible. I've read their internal communications. We are nothing but cows to be milked, and you can thank regulators for creating the environment where they collude so easily.

Just look at the quality of telephony on your land line or mobile phone - it's the same crappy quality that it was 50 years ago. Nothing has changed. You can thank regulators for that. Remember how 56k was the fastest that modems could transmit data? There's a reason for that -- zero improvement over decades and decades and decades and decades.

Now, listen to the pristine quality of telephony that you get through VoIP applications like Skype. They're insanely clear. But the Internet has been largely unregulated and innovation and (some) competition (not telcos, but software, etc.) has flourished.

I refuse to talk on the phone for more than a few seconds. It's painful. But I can talk over the Internet with VoIP very easily and no discomfort. (I need a full dynamic range to make out what people are saying.)

The people in favour of "Net Neutrality" completely ignore the chains that saddle the telecommunications industry. And this is what The Oatmeal does. He doesn't address the problem - he addresses a symptom.

This isn't about "freedom" like The Oatmeal claims. This is about "freedom inside of a tiny box that we've decided is good for you". Get rid of the box and the entire "Net Neutrality" issue will disappear because there **WILL** be companies that arise to deliver services that people want with zero censorship and zero throttling.



Oh... And while I don't like seafood, you all go for all the crab tacos that you want!

Or lobster tacos... or whatever...

1084

Living Room / Re: Stephen Fry's eloquent response to Grammar Nazis

« Last post by Renegade on November 10, 2014, 05:31 PM »

My major f'ing psychotic hatred (as opposed to a pet peeve) is not spelling or grammar, but the inability to communicate with a sufficient degree of precision with the fallout being ambiguity or meaninglessness, and then having someone get upset because I've asked for clarification because what was previously said was unintelligible.

-Renegade (November 10, 2014, 04:16 PM)

Marklar!

-Stoic Joker (November 10, 2014, 05:20 PM)

Shazbot!

1085

Living Room / Re: Stephen Fry's eloquent response to Grammar Nazis

« Last post by Renegade on November 10, 2014, 04:16 PM »

My major f'ing psychotic hatred (as opposed to a pet peeve) is not spelling or grammar, but the inability to communicate with a sufficient degree of precision with the fallout being ambiguity or meaninglessness, and then having someone get upset because I've asked for clarification because what was previously said was unintelligible.

Spoiler

But, FWIW, just to be pedantic...

"...the old pedantic me would have insisted on 'none of them is of importance'."

Errr... "they *are* not important"?

(You'll find that both the plural and singular forms there have advocates.)

Clarity is good. Ambiguity is for politicians and poets.

Here's some more Stephen Fry for y'all.  

Also...

http://www.gutenberg...les/12/12-h/12-h.htm 

'And only ONE for birthday presents, you know. There's glory for you!'

'I don't know what you mean by "glory,"' Alice said.

Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. 'Of course you don't—till I tell you. I meant "there's a nice knock-down argument for you!"'

'But "glory" doesn't mean "a nice knock-down argument,"' Alice objected.

'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.'

'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you CAN make words mean so many different things.'

'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master—that's all.'

Alice was too much puzzled to say anything, so after a minute Humpty Dumpty began again. 'They've a temper, some of them—particularly verbs, they're the proudest—adjectives you can do anything with, but not verbs—however, I can manage the whole lot of them! Impenetrability! That's what I say!'

'Would you tell me, please,' said Alice 'what that means?'

'Now you talk like a reasonable child,' said Humpty Dumpty, looking very much pleased. 'I meant by "impenetrability" that we've had enough of that subject, and it would be just as well if you'd mention what you mean to do next, as I suppose you don't mean to stop here all the rest of your life.'

'That's a great deal to make one word mean,' Alice said in a thoughtful tone.

1086

Living Room / Re: Any fans of the TV Sci-Fi show "A Town Called Eureka"?

« Last post by Renegade on November 09, 2014, 07:54 PM »

I rather liked Eureka. I never really was annoyed much by much going on in the show as it developed. There were a few characters that I didn't like at all, and others that were fantastic. Fargo was hilarious and really helped make the show what it was.

Warehouse 13, well... as it went on, I started to get annoyed by some of the characters. They morphed into, well... I just didn't like some of them. Claudia... She was such a wonderful, fun character to start with, but become this nasty, jaded shell of her former self later on. I really started to hate Claudia. Steve and Pete on the other hand... Always fun characters. Even when Steve is whiny and desperate (which was still a bit annoying).

Especially scenes with Felicia Day in them.

-40hz (November 06, 2014, 12:02 PM)

Felicia Day plays some of the most brilliant, wonderful characters! She's also in Supernatural from time to time, and those episodes are always fantastic. She just brings a whole new level of fun and energy to whatever show she's on.

I think the first time I saw her was on Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. That was a brilliant show! The long promised sequel has yet to materialise though.

One show that really never should have been canceled so unceremoniously was Farscape. It really was fantastic for building its own, unique universe, similar to how Eureka and Warehouse 13 build their own worlds. Still... Farscape did a much better job at universe building than either Eureka or Warehouse 13.

But hey, why create a profitable masterpiece when you can have low-budget reality shows that insult your intelligence and are enough to drive any sane person to suicide simply to escape from them?

1087

General Software Discussion / Re: Music Identification via Sound Card

« Last post by Renegade on November 09, 2014, 07:32 PM »

There is an open-source music recognition project called (appropriately) "My Music Recognition" that is currently looking for testers:

'Testers wanted' announcement:
http://newsletter.so...,2ocb,7opb,1zwy,l1rr
Home site:
http://sourceforge.n.../mymusicrecognition/
GHacks review:
http://www.ghacks.ne...gs-playing-computer/

(The sourceforge site is offline at the moment; give it a few...)
EDIT: (sourceforge is back up)

As an alternative, I've heard bits here and there about Tunatic:
http://www.wildbits.com/tunatic/

-Edvard (November 05, 2014, 06:50 PM)

I gotta admit, I'm a bit surprised to see someone create a single application with this lone functionality. It makes sense for some larger applications, but a dedicated one? I'm surprised.

1088

Living Room / Re: Ripple - When the Good comes back

« Last post by Renegade on November 09, 2014, 07:42 AM »

Stephen: This lady worked hard for the money...what she did next will astound you!

-Josh (November 08, 2014, 09:05 PM)

 

-Stephen66515 (November 08, 2014, 09:15 PM)

 

-Josh (November 08, 2014, 09:17 PM)

Yeah yeah...love you too! haha 

-Stephen66515 (November 08, 2014, 10:16 PM)

But there are 8 results!  

(I'll make ya famous!?)

1089

Living Room / Re: Gadget WEEKENDS

« Last post by Renegade on November 09, 2014, 04:25 AM »

Possible inspiration? 

1090

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

« Last post by Renegade on November 09, 2014, 01:01 AM »

(see attachment in previous post)
Which Thanksgiving food are you?

I'm mashed potatoes.

-Arizona Hot (November 08, 2014, 03:01 PM)

I am Brussels sprouts.

-app103 (November 08, 2014, 08:04 PM)

I'm a cannibal!

1091

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

« Last post by Renegade on November 08, 2014, 07:30 AM »

"We Must Fight The Net." - PDF page 10, document page 6, US Department of Defense "Information Operations Roadmap":



Source:

http://news.bbc.co.u.../27_01_06_psyops.pdf

Is it any wonder the treaty freaks are alway at it? At least the military speaks a bit better English so that not everything is newspeak.

1092

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

« Last post by Renegade on November 08, 2014, 12:13 AM »

DEATH FAKERS!

Jim Morrison = Rush Limbaugh
River Phoenix = Mark Dice
Bill Hicks = Alex Jones
Jonathan Brandis = Adam Kokesh
Brandon Lee = Christopher Greene

Rush Limbaugh is Jim Morrison 100% Proof

Autoplays a Youtube video. >> River Phoenix, Bill Hicks, Brandon Lee, Jonathan Brandis, All Faked Their Deaths

http://alexjonesisbillhicks.com

 

Just. Wow.

I now wonder what buddy thinks about the moon landing, Atlantis, and Area 51! 

1093

Living Room / Re: The Rant Thread!

« Last post by Renegade on November 06, 2014, 11:54 PM »

Basically, I've been getting network speeds that would make Renny froth at the mouth and be mistaken for having rabies!

-TaoPhoenix (November 06, 2014, 03:27 PM)

Who said I don't have rabies!

1094

Living Room / Re: Recommend some music videos to me!

« Last post by Renegade on November 06, 2014, 11:28 PM »

The definitive answer to "Does down-tuning REALLY make a metal song 'Heavier'?":

-Edvard (November 06, 2014, 09:33 PM)

Um... Yes?

 

1095

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for Software KWM

« Last post by Renegade on November 06, 2014, 08:23 AM »

the only problem I have with Synergy is that I can not test it before I buy it.
Spending $10 and then recognizing that it is the wrong tool is not an option for me.

-OLLI_S (November 06, 2014, 08:09 AM)

I hear ya. If I can't try it, I certainly won't buy it. Period. It's often better to set up a VM then download a warez version and try that. (Or just move on and try something else.)

I've downloaded the Win-64x and OSX-10.9 installers and uploaded them for you here:

http://cynic.me/ Synergy.zip

Let me know when you've downloaded them so I can remove the file.

1096

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for Software KWM

« Last post by Renegade on November 06, 2014, 07:30 AM »

I've been using Synergy for a long time now, and it's worked quite well.

Synergy is also GNU/GPL, and people are free to distribute it.

1097

Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"

« Last post by Renegade on November 05, 2014, 11:23 PM »

Infographic with timelines for what it took to create the iPhone. (Could be any modern smart phone, but, whatever.)

http://quartsoft.com...-history-infographic

Way too big to post here.

1098

Living Room / Re: Recommend some music videos to me!

« Last post by Renegade on November 05, 2014, 10:03 PM »

But, every now and then there are some seriously cool ones. This music video falls into the AWESOME category! 

-Renegade (November 04, 2014, 07:31 PM)

Reminds me of this one, which was written when scientists said there were only 3 forms of matter:

Then after scientists decided there was a 4th form of matter, they wrote this one:

-Deozaan (November 04, 2014, 10:20 PM)

The funkiness never ends. A current theory on why Jupiter has an electro-magnetic field is that at its core it has super-heated hydrogen that has collapsed into a metallic form with an ordered, crystalline structure, and that metal contributes to the EM field.

Metallic hydrogen. Is that light metal as opposed to heavy metal? Could Yngwie play that?

1099

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by Renegade on November 04, 2014, 10:43 PM »

If you are in Melbourne (or Victoria), THIS is THE event of the year to come out for!

http://www.meetup.co...ne/events/217722162/

The Bitcoin Address with Andreas M. Antonopoulos

Monday, November 24, 2014
6:30 PM to 9:00 PM

1/41 Stewart Street, Richmond (edit map)

Join us for the highlight event of the year and hear from the brightest minds in the bitcoin community. It’s free, it’s open to the public and it’s catered.

CoinJar is proud to present The Bitcoin Address in Melbourne and Sydney in conjunction with partners College Cryptocurrency Network and Bitcoin Association of Australia. The event is a free, open-to-public bitcoin meetup featuring international speakers from the bitcoin community, including crypto expert Andreas M. Antonopoulos and entrepreneur Tatiana Moroz.

Whether you’re completely new to bitcoin or you’re a bit of a bitcoin enthusiast, this event will educate and inspire you about the currency of the future. Our speaker lineup is well-known by the bitcoin community worldwide, and they’ll give you valuable insights on using bitcoin for the everyday and the extraordinary.

“I’ve been looking forward to visiting Australia, as it has a vibrant and active bitcoin community. Australia’s high tech and entrepreneurial culture combined with its young population make it fertile ground for bitcoin.”
- Andreas M. Antonopoulos

"I have always dreamed of visiting Australia. It represents this raw adventurous spirit... I know that bitcoin has some really solid support and interest in the community, but I also know that just like in the states, there will be plenty of people who don't know about it yet! In between hiking, swimming, and checking out the sites, I hope to have many opportunities to share how bitcoin has improved so many lives around the wall and is a truly international phenomena."
- Tatiana Moroz

About the event
World-renowned crypto-currency expert Andreas M. Antonopoulos will cover current issues and emerging trends of bitcoin in his keynote address.

You’ll hear from Bitcoin law expert Pamela Morgan, who will discuss how bitcoin is being used globally in innovative ways. Entrepreneur and musician Tatiana Moroz joins our speaker lineup to share her experience of spreading the use of bitcoin amongst the artistic community.

We’re expecting a big crowd, with limited places, so invite your friends and RSVP now.

Andreas is a mind-blowing speaker. Off the hook. Crazy amazing.

There is NOTHING that will prevent me from going, short of death.

If you are thinking about it, you MUST RSVP NOW! The RSVP list is ballooning very quickly, and space will likely run out very quickly.

I've RSVP'd +1 for a friend, so if he can't go, I've got 1 space reserved for a DC'er if you couldn't RSVP in time.

1100

Living Room / Re: Regexp help

« Last post by Renegade on November 04, 2014, 09:25 PM »

Yeah... generally you can be pretty sloppy when checking for IP addresses though as they're unlikely to be reported badly, and few other strings will match improperly, e.g. version numbering with major, minor, revision, and build -- 10.23.34.987.

Here are some URLs for regex to actually do IP addresses properly:

http://www.shellhack...in-a-File-Using-Grep

http://www.mkyong.co...-regular-expression/

http://stackoverflow...-strings-using-regex

They're kind of ugly with a lot of pipes.

@4wd - Your regex there is elegant and terse. It's one of the things that I tend to avoid as I find it's simply easier to read when being a bit more verbose. I also try to avoid a lot of special matching characters as in general as a lot of the regex I use are in EditPlus, and it's not really the best there, so it encourages being verbose rather than elegant.