Recent Posts

1226

General Software Discussion / Re: 2013 Version: Browser Wars

« Last post by app103 on May 29, 2013, 04:07 PM »

Just for curiosity I installed Maxthon but I almost never use it. Can someone explain at least one reason to use it?

-Giampy (May 29, 2013, 03:20 PM)

Government websites, that break in other browsers? (it's IE in a prom dress, so it's very likely to work in cases like this)

1227

Site/Forum Features / Re: Some guidelines and rules about posting on the forum

« Last post by app103 on May 29, 2013, 01:23 PM »

What he is really referring to more than anything else is uploading to image hosting sites and then inserting that into a post with the bbcode they give you. The image is here today and gone later on, leaving readers to wonder what the broken image once was.

Attached to the post and uploaded here, it's a whole lot less likely to disappear, and some screenshot that perhaps might actually be able to help someone troubleshoot a problem will still be here, even 3 years from now....and all the NANY mug photos will still be here, etc.

1228

General Software Discussion / Re: Best method for a dead simple web site?

« Last post by app103 on May 29, 2013, 09:42 AM »

The only real advantage to, say, WordPress.com, is automated security updates, but that can sometimes break your site.

-barney (May 28, 2013, 07:21 PM)

And that's why every self-hosted wordpress site I set up takes 3-5 hours, just for the security checks and enhancements, setup of automated update notifications & off-site backups. 

After that, your site notifies you by email, when it needs you to update something, at which point it's one click to make an immediate backup of database and all files, so you can roll back if the update breaks things, till you can figure out a solution.

I have become an expert in setting this stuff up.

I had the OP's best interests in mind: how to get your computer illiterate wife off your back, sorry, make her more independent  And surely it must be less hassle to just select a log-on and password and a theme on Wordpress.com, then to have to get into the whole business of downloading Wordpress, getting server space, uploading it, installing it, and then regularly having to update it (however much that appeals to DoCo's techie audience  ). It's just more work.

-dr_andus (May 29, 2013, 05:06 AM)

Which is why I offered to do most of the work for him if he wants my help. Then it's just a matter of picking a theme and setting up WLW for her, leaving the rest to me. 

1229

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

« Last post by app103 on May 28, 2013, 02:02 PM »

Tineye displayed copies of both of the original images that were used to create this, listing the one of Nancy, first.

https://www.tineye.c...92730468463f10c7b42/

1230

Living Room / Re: Cute jokes' thread

« Last post by app103 on May 28, 2013, 01:36 PM »

-hmmm... the link is working, but differently from how I expected.

-Curt (May 28, 2013, 12:52 AM)

You can't use html in forum posts.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Best method for a dead simple web site?

« Last post by app103 on May 28, 2013, 01:22 PM »

Any blogging platform that is supported by Windows Live Writer that you can set up and configure for her (Wordpress (self hosted), Wordpress.com,  Blogger, etc.)

It a lot easier than dealing with built in web based post editors and especially fantastic for inserting images.

Lot of options for resizing, borders, positioning, linking, and whether it links to full size or something else, and whether it opens in a new window, watermarking, etc. You can even set up defaults for her so it does exactly what she wants when she drops an image into a post. On the first post, just set everything on an image and click to make those setting the default.

It feels just like typing right onto your blog page (theme aware), And it supports drag & drop of images, right from Explorer. And when she is finished and has the page just how she wants it and clicks the publish button, it can even be configured to open the page she just published in the default browser so she can check it (and edit more in WLW and republish it, if necessary)

The only thing it really isn't good for is attaching files for download to posts (zip, exe, pdf, etc.) For that kind of stuff, I recommend dropbox, which one can drop the files into a folder and then right click the file to get the URL to link to, for visitors to download it.

It really is the best desktop blog editor that exists, though...so easy to use, and amazing that it's free. It's also the best way to prevent beginners and non-techies from getting themselves into trouble. 

If she has plans on doing this for a long time and being serious about it, I recommend self hosted Wordpress. You get more control, can do things you can't do on wordpress.com (like use javascript, more theme options, put ads on your site, run a shop complete with shopping cart and payment gateways, etc), But most important, you can have a copy of the database and can move your site to another host much easier. If you go with wordpress.com or Blogger, there is a certain amount of lock-in that occurs, even if you use your own domain name with it. You'll never get a copy of that database for moving or restoring your site, if anything happens to it, or if you run out of the allowed storage space.

If you decide to go with self hosted wordpress and need some help setting it up and configuring it, let me know and I'll help you. (I am in the process of getting tomos set up with a wordpress powered portfolio site on free hosting, free domain name, etc., and it would be trivial for me to do the same for you, too)

1232

Living Room / Re: Gadget WEEKENDS

« Last post by app103 on May 26, 2013, 01:42 AM »

Can you people resize your images to sane resolutions? IMO these images don't need to be larger than, say, 800x600 or so. The thumbnails are a bit too small, but the fullsize are just way too huge.

(Didn't notice there was a new page where Stephen actually posted sanely sized images until after I submitted this)  

-Deozaan (April 26, 2013, 03:17 AM)

  For a forum, 800 X 600 which works out to be approx. 11.11 X 8.33 inches, is still too large.  640 X 480 pixels (8.889 X 6.667 inches) is about the right size.  Of course, this is only MY OPINION!  And we know what those are worth, eh?  

-Tinman57 (May 25, 2013, 08:13 PM)

Really? Since you bothered to take the time to actually measure, so did I...and on my screen, the 800x600 measurement is about the same as the one you gave for 640x480. I am guessing your resolution is lower than 1280x1024? That would definitely have an effect on your opinion. Now imagine what the opinion of most people, that have even higher resolutions than I have, would be.

I remember when 800x600 was HUGE...the size of most people's desktop wallpaper. It was my opinion that creating artwork that was larger than that would be an unnecessary waste of disk space. I have since retracted that opinion and re-released all my old desktop wallpaper art under a CC-BY license and encourage people to chop and crop away and try to make them useful for something, since they are no longer useful as wallpapers (because of their small size). I wish I had made them twice the size, now. I really miss some of them a lot, and they would be impossible for me to recreate. Amazing how a little bit of time and progress can easily change one person's opinions.

1233

Living Room / Re: Gadget WEEKENDS

« Last post by app103 on May 25, 2013, 08:28 AM »

One of the key things about the digitial scales is that you can zero them out after you put a bowl on them -- the manual ones like the one you have their app make it harder to compensate for weight of container.

-mouser (May 25, 2013, 07:49 AM)

That's actually the easiest of the issues to deal with. The hardest is keeping the container from sliding off the tiny platform while you do it. Or just sliding off, in general. Then there is the inaccuracy issue. 

1234

Living Room / Re: Gadget WEEKENDS

« Last post by app103 on May 25, 2013, 08:23 AM »

After my "bag holder opener" gadget post, DC members ewemoa, app103, and I were brainstorming about ways to use existing kitchen tools to hold open bags more effectively.

-mouser (May 25, 2013, 08:15 AM)

That was a fun game. We need to play it more often! I love brainstorming and "inventing stuff". 

1235

Living Room / Re: Gadget WEEKENDS

« Last post by app103 on May 25, 2013, 07:41 AM »

I need one of those kitchen scales, but it has to be husband-proof (indestructable). Hubby is a diabetic and not very good at using my ancient, cheap plastic scale to measure portions that need to be measued by weight.

1236

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

« Last post by app103 on May 23, 2013, 05:05 AM »

Monday morning:

-Giampy (May 22, 2013, 06:31 PM)

  I recognize that album cover.....

-Tinman57 (May 22, 2013, 07:19 PM)

I recognise that monday morning . . .

-tomos (May 23, 2013, 02:52 AM)

That's just morning, in general. 

1237

Living Room / Re: Quick blog/site (for images) where I'm contactable *without having to join*

« Last post by app103 on May 20, 2013, 03:30 PM »

How about using Wordpress and it's actual contact form for contacting you. It goes into an email which is sent to you and not published publicly on your blog.

Or you can use any website, and a Google Docs form, like the one on my father's Blogger blog. Any data submitted from it goes to a spreadsheet on Google Docs and he gets an email when a new message is added.

Pick a template you like and modify it till it's just what you need. Once you are finished, add the code they give you to any web page.

1238

Living Room / Re: Did you know DonationCoder has a Wikipedia article?

« Last post by app103 on May 20, 2013, 01:18 AM »

And being the founder of DonationCoder, mouser had his own Wikipedia article at one time...but some at Wikipedia thought he wasn't notable enough to deserve it and so it was deleted.

1239

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

« Last post by app103 on May 19, 2013, 05:25 PM »

Somehow seemed almost cannibalistic though, what with him being vegan and all.

-tomos (May 19, 2013, 04:55 PM)

I guess it would depend on why he was a vegan. Most vegans I know are against raising and slaughtering animals as food (meat), or keeping animals as slaves for the purpose of food production (eggs & dairy). When you consider the fact he didn't raise rabbits as food and he in no way was responsible for that animal's death, you can understand why he viewed it as guilt-free meat.

1240

Living Room / Re: How to prevent screen flickering when scrolling chrome? (nvidia issue)

« Last post by app103 on May 19, 2013, 01:51 PM »

So, you have set this laptop up and optimized it to be the perfect environment for making music. Has the thought occurred to you that this machine should be dedicated to making music, and nothing more? This may be one of those situations where that would make the most sense, since any updating would interfere with making music, and not updating would interfere with doing anything else.

1241

Living Room / Re: Internet Sales Tax Passed

« Last post by app103 on May 19, 2013, 01:13 PM »

I hate sales tax not because of taxes per se, but because I personally think it's idiotic that no-one has the fecking common decency to tell me how much a thingamabob is after taxes until it's already rung up and I've committed to purchasing the item.

-Edvard (May 17, 2013, 08:12 PM)

This always puzzles Europeans, among others. Here all prices include tax. You pay what is on the tag.

-michaelkenward (May 19, 2013, 11:59 AM)

That would seriously complicate things, if a customer was the holder of an exemption certificate. Also, a re-pricing nightmare if the tax rate changes.

1242

Living Room / Re: Internet Sales Tax Passed

« Last post by app103 on May 17, 2013, 10:47 PM »

As Heritage President Jim DeMint has said, this violates the classic American principle of “no taxation without representation.” Retailers would be forced to act as tax collectors for states in which they have no voice. 

http://blog.heritage...-internet-sales-tax/

Such online sales tax proposals are taxation without representation. The proposed federal law tells businesses that there is no escape from the clutches of tax-hungry politicians. That concept is antithetical to our federalist system, which promotes competition among our states for the best economic policies.

http://online.wsj.co...559414267708728.html

-Tinman57 (May 17, 2013, 08:33 PM)

Merchants are not being taxed by a state in which they do not have representation. They are not paying the tax. They are collecting it. (big difference) Their customers are the ones being taxed, they are the ones paying it, and they do have representation in the state in which they live.

1243

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

« Last post by app103 on May 17, 2013, 10:29 PM »

This is a photo of some place I used to live, that had a serious squirrel problem. It was so bad that the post office notified all residents in this part of the complex that they would have to pick their mail up at the post office, because the mail carriers were too afraid to deliver it.



Now why would they be afraid? Because these were some very bold squirrels that were known to attack people. My own daughter was almost attacked in her stroller, but I had the sense to grab the cookie that she was eating and throw it.

The owner of the property has since removed most of the trees, bushes, and ivy, and the place is much safer...but now looks like hell. (Google street view image)

1244

Site/Forum Features / Re: Google ad test

« Last post by app103 on May 17, 2013, 10:06 PM »

Never heard of #3 - might be some legitimate reason for it, but it definitely does sound like something that can track.

-f0dder (May 17, 2013, 08:15 PM)

Ed Bott did mention that his site is now supported mostly by those that buy his book (from Amazon), which is most likely the source of the tracking mentioned in #3.

And things get really fun when you combine #1 and #3, in the form of targeted ads for Amazon products, based on where you have been, in the sidebar of Facebook...right down to the very color of a teapot you may have been viewing on Amazon, or a gazillion ads for Zappos showing similar styled boots that you may have viewed on any site that has Facebook powered comments or Like buttons. They are not only tracking, they are sharing data with each other.

1245

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

« Last post by app103 on May 17, 2013, 06:51 PM »

(see attachment in previous post)
From this page: http://mashable.com/...hacker-weev-appeals/

I am very surprised that nobody has mentioned it in the comments.

-app103 (May 17, 2013, 02:22 PM)

I guess I am whooshed. That the two guys look similar? Or did he write his own news story under a pseudonym?

-TaoPhoenix (May 17, 2013, 05:59 PM)

Yeah, they look enough alike that one might get the idea he wrote his own news story, or wrote the story about his twin brother. 

1246

Living Room / Re: Internet Sales Tax Passed

« Last post by app103 on May 17, 2013, 06:10 PM »

Does selling from one state to another count as an export?  Because if so, my son pointed out that this tax would be unconstitutional:

Article I, Section 9, Clause 5:
No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.

-Edvard (May 14, 2013, 08:56 PM)

It's not an export tax at all, not even in the states that have a sales tax. It's quite the opposite. It's an import tax on out of state goods that only applies to the residents of that state. It treats goods bought from all states, equally. It does not tax good from any state, only goods to a state that has a sales tax.

So, good bought by residents of state A that has no sales tax, from state B that does have one, still would not be taxed. And goods bought by residents of state B, regardless of where they are from (in state or out), would be taxed.

And as far as being unconstitutional:

Section. 8.

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
[...]
To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;

-http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html

Which means Congress has the power to enact laws affecting interstate commerce, and this one that allows states to force other states to respect their sales tax laws, and collect the taxes their residents owe on purchases made in another state is perfectly constitutional. In fact, this is why we have a Congress, in the first place.

Survey: US residents oppose Internet sales tax

05.13.2013 2:03 PM

Sixty-one percent of U.S. residents surveyed by online postage vendor Endicia said they don't support the Marketplace Fairness Act, which would allow states with sales taxes to collect those taxes from large online retailers.

http://lm.pcworld.co...73/5571255/362474/0/

-Tinman57 (May 14, 2013, 08:13 PM)

LOL! The pole results only suggest that sales tax evaders are dumber than the average criminal.

Ask any other bunch of criminals if they oppose a law that would make it harder for them to get away with their crimes and you would most likely get much higher results. 

1247

Developer's Corner / Re: Some thoughts on the Project Wonderful Ad Network and web advertising in general

« Last post by app103 on May 17, 2013, 03:39 PM »

I have been a big fan of Project Wonderful for a long time. After hearing mouser's repeated complaints about Google Adsense over the years, I am glad to see he finally decided to take my advice and give Project Wonderful a try. I knew he wouldn't have the same complaints he had about the quality of advertisers and lack of control that he has with Adsense.

The quality of the advertisers is so high, that I have come to regard the ads on my sites as more of a "sites of the day" feature that I get paid to display, rather than just mere ads.

My only complaint with Project Wonderful isn't really their fault and would probably be fixed in part by them becoming much more popular. And that is, you just can't earn as much displaying their ads, compared to other ad networks.

But they are the only ad network where I have actually placed ads of my own because they are the only one that doesn't seem like a rip-off. The transparency, amount of information available about the sites you can advertise on, the data available about the performance of your ads, how they have eliminated most of the fraud by not using the traditional pay-per-click or pay for impression models, doesn't leave me with the feeling of handing my money over to a "used car salesman" with a big gold tooth grin saying "trust me".

I think most of mouse's advertising wishes would probably be satisfied if he were to roll his own, and accept direct advertising through this site, rather than trying to rely on a 3rd party ad network. He could also encourage DC members to contribute more of their credits towards supporting the site by making those credits the only accepted method of payment for advertising. Maybe then he might not feel so negatively towards ads on the site, if they were mostly ads for sites owned by supporting members. I have discussed this with him a little, privately, including the idea of DC using something like this to advertise our own apps on the site, to call attention to lesser known projects of merit, advertise fund raisers, and events like NANY, when there are no paying advertisers to display. (That was why he switched the default ad on Project Wonderful, to point to our About page)

It might be something to think about for DC 2.0.  

1248

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

« Last post by app103 on May 17, 2013, 02:22 PM »

From this page: http://mashable.com/...hacker-weev-appeals/

I am very surprised that nobody has mentioned it in the comments.

1249

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Counter request +1/-1

« Last post by app103 on May 17, 2013, 10:54 AM »

hi app103, interesting tool, but no hotkeys for +1 or -1 makes it more a passive tool, what I had in mind was very in the moment counting tool.

Definitely in the right direction though!   

-Brian_IT (May 17, 2013, 12:22 AM)

It can be added though, which is why I mentioned it. 

I was already thinking of adding a little more to it, for adding more than +1. From my own use of it, it's kind of annoying if you need to +20, having to hit the button 20 times. Even adding a hotkey for it wouldn't help that. While I am doing that, adding -1, hotkeys, and allowing for use without a goal can also be added. (that way it acts as just a counter, the way you wanted)

1250

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Counter request +1/-1

« Last post by app103 on May 16, 2013, 09:19 PM »

I don't have global hotkeys set on it and it doesn't count down, but is this something like what you had in mind?

https://www.donation...ex.php?topic=11170.0