Recent Posts

1226

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

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 09, 2015, 03:50 PM »

George Adams - Blues for Monet

1227

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

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 09, 2015, 03:46 PM »

George Adams

1228

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

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 09, 2015, 12:56 PM »

Wes

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General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 10 Announced

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 08, 2015, 10:12 AM »

I can hear everyone singing The Stones "Hey!  You!  Get me offa' this cloud!" 

MS is determined to drag your ass kicking and screaming to the cloud.  Rainy days lie ahead.

1230

Living Room / Re: When you make your 100'th Post

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 08, 2015, 08:27 AM »

Personally I like this "Miles-stone"! I wrote a lot of assembly code for my Atari on the 6502. I fondly recall a whole library of string handling subroutines in hand-assembled relocateable code, stuffed into short characters strings that I could call. Ahh, those were the days! :-)

[ Invalid Attachment ]

-x16wda (December 07, 2015, 07:00 PM)

I didn't get in on the Atari scene.  But after basic I started messing around with 80x86 asm.  MASM and TASM on the Leading Edge Model D XT clone.  The big thing was writing directly to video memory.  My first PC had the venerable Hercules Graphics Card in glorious amber on 12" monitor.  I remember being tempted to get the 8086 replacement chip as my system only had the 8088.  The chip was a 3rd party CMOS CPU but I forget the name of it(edit: NEC V20).  I got 128KB of ram instead to max it out at 640KB.

1231

Living Room / Re: When you make your 100'th Post

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 07, 2015, 06:34 PM »

^^^ Not the most cheery milestone.  Heh heh

Maybe on my millionth post it will be me bragging about hitting the Lotto?

1232

General Software Discussion / Re: MilesAheadSoftware source only future?

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 07, 2015, 06:10 PM »

@TaoPhoenix thanks for the suggestion.   

1233

General Software Discussion / Re: MilesAheadSoftware source only future?

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 07, 2015, 12:28 PM »

I got an email from HawkHost support saying what they consider proof is just a note from me that I am the author/maintainer of the file in question.  Then they say I can keep the download on the page(presumably somebody tries the program to see if it is nasty I suppose.)  But that still doesn't address the issue of an ever growing list of self-appointed content guardians spewing slander.  Seems like there's a need for Congressional action.  Although this isn't the 60s/70s anymore and once that bear wakes up it might do something really counterproductive.

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General Software Discussion / Re: MilesAheadSoftware source only future?

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 07, 2015, 11:44 AM »

You can keep your own domain but host your (zipped) executable(s) on GitHub? Either directly in your repo or better yet as releases, let them foot the bill for the downloads :-)

-Lintalist (December 07, 2015, 11:38 AM)

Thanks for the suggestion.   

1235

General Software Discussion / Re: MilesAheadSoftware source only future?

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 07, 2015, 11:24 AM »

DC can host your software.  Those false antivirus alerts are so painfully annoying (still have to figure out a way to solve that no matter where you host).

-mouser (December 07, 2015, 11:11 AM)

Yeah, these things are popping up so fast.  If you look at the list in VirusTotal it's almost like a McGuffin list.  They wave a blank diskette/CD/USB and say it has the nuclear secrets/spy list/whatever.  I think this list is growing just to discourage submitting a false positive report.  Like how many times are you going to go through the mumbo jumbo when some other scanner comes out the next day and you are back to square one?  How can these things make money?  Where are they coming from?

I don't think Hawk Host will kick me because I deleted the zip file.  But they say I can send them "proof" if I think the report is a false positive.  But they give me no information about the report.  Who made it?  What was used to flag it?  Nothing but a filename.  The burden should be on the one making the assertion that there's a problem.  I don't have any complaints by users that such and such a thing  happened.  But I'm supposed to chase phantom reports of problems that don't exist for freeware.  It's  a bizarre notion.  There are shops in downtown Miami with a sign on the wall "All Sales are Final."  If I buy a suitcase and the wheel falls off when I roll it outside the door, I own it.  But I have to guarantee a free product for a fault that hasn't happened?  Pretty weird.

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General Software Discussion / Re: MilesAheadSoftware source only future?

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 07, 2015, 11:14 AM »

Hope you get to sort something out Miles (dc!) -- but yeah, it's a pita...

For those who want to stockpile the zip files on my page, now is a good time to use DownLoadThemAll. 

-MilesAhead (December 07, 2015, 07:34 AM)

^ I took this advice, thanks

-tomos (December 07, 2015, 10:56 AM)

Thank you for downloading them. 
The nasty look went off my face right away. 

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General Software Discussion / Re: MilesAheadSoftware source only future?

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 07, 2015, 10:40 AM »

Perhaps you could talk with mouser about hosting it on a user page?

-wraith808 (December 07, 2015, 10:27 AM)

That's an idea.  But what concerns me is that these scanner databases can be fed some string generated by your code as a trigger.  It just looks bad if 35 out of 50 scanners say your program is evil.  Then how could it be left up?  It is just fear mongering.

Maybe I need a change anyway.  Instead of coming up with small utilities when I don't have a test setup that approaches the norm anymore(more and more people using multi-monitor setups just to mention one aspect.. pun intended) maybe I should pursue another angle.

It just seems like every time I buy a new T-Shirt with my domain in the front, the domain gets pulled.  If I switch away from downloadable binaries maybe I can head that trend off. 

The main danger is people would be subjected to me blogging or something equally scary. 

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General Software Discussion / Re: MilesAheadSoftware source only future?

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 07, 2015, 10:12 AM »

More and more it seems the web is more hassle that it is worth.  It's nothing more than a shopping catalog it seems.

-MilesAhead (December 07, 2015, 08:35 AM)

Amen to that!
 

-cranioscopical (December 07, 2015, 10:05 AM)

Just for chuckles you may want to purge your browser cache and read my page.  I am sure my diatribe won't do any good but it made me feel better to post it.  I notice more and more of my files and being flagged by more av scanners in the VirusTotal posse.  I guess the one man programmer wasn't dead enough.  Now they are going after the zombies too dumb to have gotten out of this a long time ago. 

http://milesaheadsoftware.org/

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General Software Discussion / MilesAheadSoftware source only future?

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 07, 2015, 08:35 AM »

I got a complaint from my web hosting provider today about a download showing as malware.  I tried recompiling it with the latest version of AutoIt3 stable release.  It still trips VirusTotal.

Going through the list of zip files on my site it seems that quite a high percentage run afoul of one or more of the scanners that glom onto VirusTotal.  This leaves me with the choice to either chase my tail registering programs as false positives, in which case another scanner can just pop up out of the woodwork to make me endlessly submit this crap. Or I will have to only post source code.

The trouble with source code is include files.  If I use any routines written by someone else, now I am in the predicament of being dependent on their code availability, updates, breakage etc..

So the short of it is the handwriting on the wall seems to indicate the direction will be posting utilities in source code only written by myself that can be contained in a single file.

Since most people want to download things and use them, this will likely reduce to a fraction those who will use my programs.

Alternatively, I can continue to put stuff on Softpedia, and just chuck the web hosting.  But then I have no site of my own to point to.

Such fun giving stuff away ain't it?

It looks like as far as my own page goes, it will likely be that the surviving downloads will be single file source code in AHK.  I don't relish endlessly rescanning every executable I have hosted to see what passes VirusTotal that day.  More and more it seems the web is more hassle that it is worth.  It's nothing more than a shopping catalog it seems. 

1240

General Software Discussion / Browser Bunch 1.4.2.2 pulled

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 07, 2015, 07:34 AM »

Note that BrowserBunch.zip download has been pulled from my download page

If  you still see it there hit the refresh key. It should disappear. 
It seems there is no easy fix such as recompiling the source with the latest version of AutoIt3.
I tried it and it still shows 2 red flags on VirusTotal.  Since these av scanners keep coming out of the woodwork and generally have a cumbersome process to register a program as having false positives, it is not worth the hassle to go through that for 50, 60, 70 ad infinitum  scanners, it amounts to "if someone complains I have to pull it."  There are other downloads with red flags.  So I expect the number of downloads to dwindle soon.

For those who want to stockpile the zip files on my page, now is a good time to use DownLoadThemAll. 

In this particular case I found I wasn't using BB myself anymore anyway. 

1241

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

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 05, 2015, 03:42 PM »

Mark Whitfield - True Blue CD

1242

Found Deals and Discounts / faxzeo still works

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 05, 2015, 07:38 AM »

I had to send a fax yesterday and search turned up faxzero

I see it has been mentioned a couple of times over the years on DC.  Last mention I found was May this year.  Just thought I'd note it does still work.  The one stumbling block for someone with a Laptop and no phone is it will not send a fax unless you enter a valid phone number.

It does allow adding up to 3 pages.  Not bad for a free service.  I have no scanner but I used my Laptop webcam to take snapshots and convert the jpgs to pdf for faxing.

1243

Found Deals and Discounts / Atlantis Word Processor [gotd]

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 04, 2015, 07:41 AM »

Since wordpad switched to the ribbon interface I have been using Atlantis Nova, which is the free version of Atlantis Word Processor.  AWP is on GOTD today.  It installed and activated fine.

I don't use word processors much.  Mostly I use text editors for programming.  So I cannot critique this word processor's features, performance etc..  But what I can say is it has the traditional menu at the top.  If you just need something to dash off a quick rtf file then you may prefer Atlantis Nova.  It snaps open much faster. 

Atlantis Web Page

1244

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 10 Announced

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 03, 2015, 12:37 PM »

Should you use one finger for banking, and a different one for social media?

-Stoic Joker (December 01, 2015, 03:12 PM)

It's nothing new, I've been using one finger for Windows for some time now.
 

-cranioscopical (December 03, 2015, 11:46 AM)

If not the one finger, then the three finger salute. 

1245

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 10 Announced

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 02, 2015, 06:55 AM »

They get the information and then hold you alive until they verify it.

-wraith808 (December 01, 2015, 10:37 PM)

If they have hold of you for the long term, I seem to remember reading that in the gulag the technique was to start with your autobiography.  Like your entire life from as young as you can remember.  Then as they go along, months later they quiz you on tiny details.  Tough to remember what bs you gave them 18 months ago when you can't remember what year it is.  If you get the details wrong it's physical discomfort of the extreme variety until you remember the right information.  You can't fool someone across 5 or 10 years of interrogation.  Not unless you are Bill Clinton at least. 

1246

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 10 Announced

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 01, 2015, 04:42 PM »

It sounds to me like an argument for not setting up facial recognition in the first place, so you don't get into a situation where someone wants to grab you by the neck and hold your face to the camera (or chop your fingers off).

-dr_andus (December 01, 2015, 03:48 PM)

I agree.  Half way through my reply I became convinced by what you wrote.  I just wanted to add the bit about G. Gordon Liddy I ain't.  Hold my hand in the fire?  What are you crazy?  To paraphrase Fats Domino, "I'm talkin' yes siree, I'm talkin', as you can see.  You ain't got to water board on me!"

1247

Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 01, 2015, 04:37 PM »

About beer & drinking in the US:

http://www.businessi...ers-by-state-2013-10

A couple fun infographics there.

-Renegade (October 15, 2013, 11:00 AM)

If Blue Moon is Americas favorite "beer" than it's only because they've been slamming placements for it in half the shows on TV ... Because it tastes like orange flavored Windex (e.g. shit).

I call BS on this one.

-Stoic Joker (October 15, 2013, 01:06 PM)

When I see ads for any kind of light beer and remember that any I ever tried tasted like fluid a panther is better off eliminating,, I have to figure the lousier the stuff tastes the more they have to push it.  Why?  Because people try it once and drop it except for a few brainwashed individuals who think being thin is worth any sacrifice.  A similar requirement must apply to low quality fast food restaurants.  A new sucker has to be created to take the place of the person who tries it and never goes back.

1248

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 10 Announced

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 01, 2015, 01:44 PM »

[ Invalid Attachment ]

How Windows 10 Could Kill Passwords Forever

-Arizona Hot (December 01, 2015, 11:47 AM)

Is this more security or less security? It means someone could force you to log in against your will, by holding your face to the camera by force, which they couldn't do if you refused to give them the password.

-dr_andus (December 01, 2015, 12:17 PM)

Let's face it.  If someone is going to use brute force I am going to give them the password.  I forgot all my Green Beret training, having never been in the military.  But now that I think of it, I would rather tell someone the password rather than have them take my thumb or my face with them when they left.  It is still losing face, but at least not literally.   

1249

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Advanced Recent Access [free]

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 01, 2015, 01:41 PM »

I just uninstalled because it bogs the bootup and I found I wasn't using it for anything.  It does not seem to allow delayed load.  Otherwise I would have just had it load last.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Alert on File/Folder Access

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 01, 2015, 06:55 AM »

Computers being way faster than humans... - there is no way you will be able to react fast enough to anything other than be the first one on scene with a mop..

-Stoic Joker (December 01, 2015, 06:41 AM)

Heh heh.  Like the "duck and cover" defense against nuclear attack.  Get in the doorway, grab your ankles etc..