Recent Posts

126

Living Room / Re: Show us a photo of your mutt or other creatures..

« Last post by Stoic Joker on January 12, 2020, 12:22 PM »

(Just adopted from Humane Society) New addition to family, Maggie:


She is a 3 year old Boston Terrier/spring... That has been following me around the house since she got here.

127

Clipboard Help+Spell / Re: Maybe someone can help with regular expressions

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 09, 2019, 06:43 AM »

I've never used RegEx frequently enough to be good at it, but I have found WildGem handy for getting through it from time to time. It's a freeware graphical RegEx query builder utility written by one of the members here at DC.

128

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

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 05, 2019, 01:59 PM »

I went to register a product on Panasonic's site.  Had to enter date of birth.  When I got to the year field, accidentally pressed End.  The site's response had a certain lack of making connections about it...

-rjbull (December 04, 2019, 02:41 PM)

Y2k v2.0?

129

Living Room / Re: where to buy a new puter? some style and spec issues

« Last post by Stoic Joker on November 22, 2019, 06:57 AM »

Given all of the side channel attack issues, I'd avoid referbs these days

-Stoic Joker (November 20, 2019, 06:57 AM)

Presumably this some real low-level OS or firmware malware?  Hard to detect.

Do we have any reports of this happening in the major refurb channels.

-Steven Avery (November 21, 2019, 10:21 AM)

I was referring to Specter, Meltdown, and friends. The original S&M patches took quite a few of the older machines right down to their knees performance wise...other's could not even be patched. And now - almost 2 years later - there are still new variants on this theme (like row-hammering) coming out constantly. So for my money, I'd go with a latest generation CPU in the hope of being able to patch it, without crippling it, when the next wave of shenanigans hits the wild.

130

Living Room / Re: where to buy a new puter? some style and spec issues

« Last post by Stoic Joker on November 20, 2019, 06:57 AM »

Given all of the side channel attack issues, I'd avoid referbs these days and go with one of the latest processors in the hope of ducking the next wave of shenanigans.

I'm also a huge Dell fan (like above), but went with an HP Z440 workstation for my last machine due to (60% off) employee discount option.

Machine is a few years old now, but:
16GB of memory
Intel Xeon E5-1650
256GB NVMe SSD OS drive
2TB NL SATA RAID5 storage drive.
AMD FirePro W7000 video with 4 DP outputs - standard option in the Z4xx workstations.

With the VM's on the RAID array, I can run 3 or 4 VM's before it starts to noticeably slow down.

131

Living Room / Re: CafePress security incident 2019-02-19

« Last post by Stoic Joker on September 26, 2019, 07:16 AM »

Shit, LatestHackingNews.com had an article about this back in August - But I didn't make the connection back then.

Sorry Mouser.

132

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: VideoProc/Digiarty of WinXDVD Fame - ST FREE 4K/HD Capture/Edit/Download/Convert

« Last post by Stoic Joker on August 20, 2019, 06:42 AM »

Is this one of those "shrink-wrapped" deals that has to be installed before the clock runs out, or can I sit on it for a bit until needed?

133

General Software Discussion / Re: Fun and Games with 2fa Lockout Problem

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 18, 2019, 06:47 AM »

Thanks guys. The owner is a classic end user (I'm being nice, and leaving off the 'L'), and did not bother with making a backup of the recovery code. But they did manage to get back into the account by contacting the site (CoinBase) directly.

So... Crisis averted. ...I can only hope that they make a backup of the recovery codes this time.

Or not... *Shrug* 

134

General Software Discussion / Fun and Games with 2fa Lockout Problem

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 17, 2019, 12:58 PM »

Okay, so here is the deal The owner had setup the Authy 2fa app on there phone to access their account at (for simplicity sake, let's call it) a banking site.

And then they lost their phone...

So... now, after reinstalling the Authy app on their new phone. They cannot add the site to the authy app - to get access to the site - without scanning a QR code from the site, that is apparently only on the site, that they cannot access... Did you just think of a word that rhymes with firetruck??? I did.

Which for me...begs the question: Is this kind of idiotic catch 22 level circle jerk "normal" for these (security theater fad) 2fa authentication schemes?!?

And is there any - hopefully simple - way of reuniting this poor sole with their funds?



Also (to prevent this from sounding too easy): in the long version of this story, this is not a conventional banking institution that has a brick-and-mortar storefront that someone can enter while brandishing a drivers license in front of an actual human to resolve the issue. Oh hell no...it just can't be that easy...no, this is Crypto stuff.

135

General Software Discussion / Re: Out, damned WiFi spot! Out, I say!

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 15, 2019, 06:39 AM »

There is a cell phone app called WiFi Analyzer that will give you the signal strength, MAC address, and manufacturer of the device transmitting. It also has a large single network focused meter that you could walk around with to see when you are getting close(er) to it. That might help narrow down the device in question.

136

General Software Discussion / Re: Out, damned WiFi spot! Out, I say!

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 12, 2019, 07:13 AM »

So maybe it is a currently active network nearby that is being redetected..

1) Would redetected networks show up with the specific names that I'd allocated to them? I'll trawl the registry and see if and where those names are still present.

-cranioscopical (July 10, 2019, 08:50 AM)

If it is a popular in the area ISP generated name, then it could be the neighbors just close enough to look the same SSID.

2) If other machines on my network retain the names of the defunct connections, would that 're-infect' the machine from which the names were expunged?

-cranioscopical (July 10, 2019, 08:50 AM)

While I'm really tempted to say no here …(at the risk of throwing gas on the fire)... It does occur to me that there was a feature similar to that built into Windows devices that shared a Microsoft Account login.

But I believe the act of deleting it from one should also be shared with the others as well. I never played with it because I hate the vary idea of a locally used (Microsoft Controlled) Microsoft Account...I just vaguely recall running across the feature once many moons ago.


Also I really like Ath's angle above.

137

General Software Discussion / Re: Out, damned WiFi spot! Out, I say!

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 10, 2019, 06:51 AM »

At the moment I can't rid my Android phone of them either.

-cranioscopical (July 09, 2019, 11:02 PM)

So maybe it is a currently active network nearby that is being redetected..

138

Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 03, 2019, 08:10 AM »

Meh... If people are stupid enough to ruin an event for themselves by trying to document how much "fun" they are (not) having because they are too focused on trying to get the shot right … Then they deserve to suffer.

Best memories I have are fuzzy because you could literally get shot just for having a camera at those events … But I wouldn't trade a single one for a polaroid of a damn thing.

Life should be lived, not documented.

139

General Software Discussion / Re: some useful but less-known software. share your list!!!

« Last post by Stoic Joker on June 19, 2019, 06:43 AM »

Only got one that I've been using extensively hear lately: Nartec IIS Crypto

In spite of the name, it's not just for IIS, it's for any Windows computer that you want to get control of the SSL/TLS protocol versions for. Simple clean interface lets you disable or reenable any of the security protocols that are being exploited in the wild.

Why reenable the problem protocols?? ...Sometimes they are required for older (mission critical) software that has to be used (i.e. MSSQL 2005 requires TLS1.0).

IIS Crypto distinguishes between client and server side and easily allows you to turn on/off needed or needed rid of older security protocols.

Oh Yeah … And it's free!

140

Living Room / Re: Why do I need a router?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on June 07, 2019, 07:23 AM »

What IP Address did the ISP's router assign to your laptop? If it is a private range address (like 192.168.x.x) then you are fine. If it is a public range IP Address, then the above is quite dangerously true.

141

General Software Discussion / Re: Mozilla shoots itself in foot

« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 06, 2019, 08:17 AM »

Only FF extension I use is ABP, and v66.0.4 has it working again...so I'm good with it.

But then again I still like IE.. 

142

Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"

« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 03, 2019, 10:47 AM »

Today's XKCD is an exploration game in the comic

https://xkcd.com/1608/

-wraith808 (May 03, 2019, 08:47 AM)

Holy time vampire Batman! Return to game playing area... Ha!

 

143

DC Website Help and Extras / Re: Why do people keep requesting DonationCoder license keys for Pokemon Go??

« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 02, 2019, 08:19 AM »

*FacePalm* Oh god ^He's^ probably right...

144

Living Room / Re: Need Video Doorbell Options

« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 01, 2019, 09:27 AM »

My front doorbell is just out (think there's an electrical problem) so I want to put another bell out front that can ring inside and downstairs.  As I'm currently in a rental (always best IMO to rent when you first move), I don't really want to deal with the landlord or an electrician over this...

-wraith808 (May 01, 2019, 09:18 AM)

Understood... I've heard good things about the Ring devices (that's the one with the 6 month battery IIRC), and they will push the video to/through Alexa or dump it on an onboard SSD.

145

Living Room / Re: Need Video Doorbell Options

« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 01, 2019, 09:20 AM »

@Shades - Holy crap man, you never disappoint!

To give a bit more (non) detail... The situation is playing out live so the solution is in reactional flux based on randomly changing factors**. One of which was resolved by one of my - very non technical/biker type - friends who came up with a brilliantly simple low tech solution that had me in tears laughing last night due to its (in retrospect) obvious simplicity. I'll not say what it was, primarily because it's a tad embarrassing that I didn't think of it before.

So for the full (and future) system I will (at this point...) probably go with a wired with DRV type setup that won't need a doorbell cam. Which leaves the immediate need - as a stop gap measure - being an economically good quality video doorbell that can be repurposed later at a different location/project/etc.. That also bell transformer powered, and works with the Windows version of the software you mentioned above. I did not think about that part before (Rush jobs bad - Yikes!).

I hope this makes sense as I'm (at work...) really pressed for time and trying to rush.

Thank you,

Stoic Joker


Shortest explanation I can muster: It involves family, a woman, and it's perfectly legal (so far..). Savvy?

146

Living Room / Re: Need Video Doorbell Options

« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 01, 2019, 08:24 AM »

I'd be interested in this too... I've been looking for one that works on batteries rather than requiring it to be hooked in, but all of the ones that I've seen require that.

-wraith808 (April 30, 2019, 05:50 PM)

TBH I'd be a huge fan of the batteries idea if they actually worked as a live option 'B' (so it could transmit/record if the power went out**), but everything I'm seeing is posed as a powered by (exclusively) one or the other … And I'm getting to old to be (interested in) fiddling with something that needs to be futz with on some random schedule. e.g. I know I'll end up forgetting and it'll be dead-as-a-doornail the one time it is needed..

Motion activated with battery that lasts up to 6 months...right... My luck is it will trigger constantly on the neighbors wind blown shrubbery and be dead as hell in a week.





**There are parts of the story I'm leaving out for reasons I can't exactly mention … But let's just say "tamper proofing" this initial solution is a (Um...) factor.. 

147

Living Room / Need Video Doorbell Options

« Last post by Stoic Joker on April 30, 2019, 03:30 PM »

So I'm in a situation where video surveillance is becoming required, and initially it looks like a video doorbell may be a good fit … If, I can find the right one. I've been looking into these things, and all I'm ending up with is - frequently - more questions. So my hope is that someone here is familiar with this type of kit, and can guide me towards some viable options.

Current "requirements"  are:

• Wireless connectivity for video transfer and management.
• Runs on wired power, that is delivered by the doorbell transformer - I gots zero interest in swapping/charging batteries (I don't care how long they last..).
• Video stored on remote share - it can be cloud also (both is fine) - but dumping local is a must.
• Motion sensitive recording only - I shudder to think of sitting through 300 hours of still frame waiting for something to happen..
• Low light/Night vision recording - this part is rather key, and it's ~100ft to the street.
• Android app that allows live viewing and audio - This assumes that audio is also recorded with the video as well.

And price is of course always a factor … I'm looking for a (quick-N-painless) solution not an investment. A full video system quite probably will be in the works eventually. But for now I'm needing a quality Band-Aid to mitigate fecal oscillator disbursement issues..


Thanks in Advance,

Stoic Joker

148

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

« Last post by Stoic Joker on April 11, 2019, 06:53 AM »

Have had it several times already that offices move from one building to another and that I had to pull all the network cabling from one location to install this into the other location....and that I wasn't allowed to spend extra time to cut cables to size where needed. Because cheaper. Which is shortsighted as any future maintenance becomes more time consuming because of the "puzzle factor" that that any cable mess introduces. and there is only so much you can do to keep (much) too long cables out of each other's way. Lack of storage space for the surplus cable makes it not fun to work in patch rooms/server rooms in such cases.

Ah well, it is as it is.

-Shades (April 10, 2019, 09:05 AM)

I here ya man. I do work for a local school, and the first time I went in there they had 100+ cables on their rack all of which were 6+ feet longer than they needed to be … And all of the server/VoIP VLAN/backbone/etc. were also all the same friggin color.

$300 worth of color coded 1 & 2ft patch cables -and 5 hours of trace/replace - later the Admin almost cried when he saw what I did with it.

149

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

« Last post by Stoic Joker on April 10, 2019, 07:12 AM »

^This^ explains much of what I run into in the field..

150

DC Gamer Club / Re: Stadia Google

« Last post by Stoic Joker on March 21, 2019, 08:44 AM »

^Nailed It!

(Ultimate Corporate Cloud Control) Anything can be taken away at anytime for any reason … But the consumer can keep on a payin', because it's all being done - by the mothership - "for their own good"...