Recent Posts

1301

General Software Discussion / Re: Frustrated Mom Creates ‘Ignore No More’ App To Get Teen Kids To Return Calls

« Last post by 40hz on August 17, 2014, 08:49 AM »

Her son Bradley, however, likes the idea, but not for himself. “Um, well I thought it was a good idea, but for other people, not me.”

-Renegade (August 17, 2014, 12:41 AM)

Brad sounds like yet another one of those "Um, yeah, but uh...it shouldn't be like that." kids.

Good luck with your prodigy Ms. Standifird.

Note: I take a pretty dim view of using just technology to discipline and socialize children. That's why I never would take a request from anyone to put "use monitoring" or other"nanny/spy" software on a child's computer. (Lost a damn good client once because of that policy too!)

In this case, I would have liked it more if she came up with something that sent an autoresponse back to let her know the phone had received the message - and then let her little darling know that if HE didn't also respond within a reasonable amount of time, he was grounded.

There's always the chance of an emergency where placing an immediate call, text, or taking a photo/vid is time critical. Like when you went someplace and/or did something you weren't supposed to - and ended up in a situation where it was imperative to contact Fire Rescue or the police as quickly as possible. Or to photo/video document something for legal reasons.

In an emergency, seconds often count. Especially if Mom is not available to immediately answer the call and unlock her kid's phone. (I can predict more than a few parents might decide not to answer a tardily returned call. They'll just play the old "tit for tat" game and 'punish' their kid by deliberately not answering and leave their kid's phone locked out. Teach em' a lesson that will!)

So having to call or text Mom back first could have dangerous unintended consequences.

FWIW I have little faith in deploying restrictive technology that "only the parent" (or employer - or the government?) can supposedly use. Because if it's out there, somebody will hack it and put it to unintended uses.

And the kids will discover (and share) ways get around it soon enough.

So... Ms. Gainer? You're a parent. Why not adopt Google's public mantra of: "Do no evil." since you like Android so much.

You can start by raising your own kid and not depending on Uncle Android to discipline him/her/it.

It doesn't take a village (or a multi-billion dollar corporation) to raise a child. Just a patient and responsible parent.

1302

Living Room / Re: What *Should* We Be Worried About?

« Last post by 40hz on August 16, 2014, 10:57 PM »

...There is such a right.
And it has been argued in some jurisdictions (and agreed to by certain US judges) that a refusal to speak to police officers may be construed as sufficient grounds for suspicion of wrongdoing that that (by itself) is justification for arresting someone.
On the topic of "remaining silent" look here and here.
______________________

-40hz (August 16, 2014, 11:41 AM)

Well, on the basis of that, silence seems to have been judged as a reasonable basis for cause for the police to arrest someone on suspicion, however that does not seem to indicate that it contributed to the proving of their guilt in any subsequent court of law.

-IainB (August 16, 2014, 07:15 PM)

Silence is always your best bet - as in say absolutely nothing other than "I want to speak to an attorney - and I do not consent to any searches.

 

1303

Living Room / Re: Homebrewing

« Last post by 40hz on August 16, 2014, 04:42 PM »

Even without the alcohol, soft-carbonated (and preferably unsweetened) lemonade is a treat on a hot day.

Learned about that one from a expat French client of mine. I understand it's big on the Continent.

-40hz (August 12, 2014, 12:15 PM)

Interesting...never tried it sugarless.  Any recommendations on brands?

-superboyac (August 12, 2014, 05:46 PM)

The one I had was made by a French company and marketed under the Lorina label.

Since it's the only brand I ever tried, I don't know of I'd call this a recommendation. But it was awfully good.

1304

Living Room / Re: HDMI cables

« Last post by 40hz on August 16, 2014, 04:32 PM »

+1 on HDMI video cables from Monoprice.

They're pretty much all I buy for myself or my clients.

Never had a single problem with their product or service.  

1305

Living Room / Re: What *Should* We Be Worried About?

« Last post by 40hz on August 16, 2014, 11:41 AM »

I recall that in UK contract law, silence can not be taken as an acceptance of an invitation/offer to treat.
Are you suggesting that In US law silence may be taken as an admission/implication of guilt?     
Wasn't there a 5th amendment right to silence in the US Constitution, or something?

-IainB (August 16, 2014, 11:27 AM)

There is such a right.

And it has been argued in some jurisdictions (and agreed to by certain US judges) that a refusal to speak to police officers may be construed as sufficient grounds for suspicion of wrongdoing that that (by itself) is justification for arresting someone.

On the topic of "remaining silent" look here and here.

1306

Living Room / Re: What *Should* We Be Worried About?

« Last post by 40hz on August 16, 2014, 11:29 AM »

This from Popehat:

Cops, and prosecutors, and other public employees in the criminal justice system have power. It is the nature of power to make people believe that they are better than the rest of us, and entitled to privileges the rest of us do not enjoy.

The question is this: are we so addled by generations of "law and order" and "war on crime" and "thin blue line" rhetoric that we'll accept it?

Read the full article here.

1307

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

« Last post by 40hz on August 14, 2014, 09:55 PM »

A bit too trip-hop/space-pop (damn these mongrel genres...) for me, but she obviously knows what she's doing.

-Edvard (August 14, 2014, 07:12 PM)

Feel the same about it myself. Even with the current crop of players such as performer and co-founder of the New York Theremin Society, Dorit Chrysler. She has a number of videos up on Youtube. Here's her with Jon Coulton doing a weird intro to the Portal game song Still Alive. (It seems like she's not too happy with her performance on this one.) Sara Quin delivers an absolutely uninspired vocal on this one too:

1308

General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox Extensions: Your favorite or most useful

« Last post by 40hz on August 14, 2014, 06:23 PM »

It's pretty.

But it's slow.

I guess you could say "it's pretty slow." 

1309

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

« Last post by 40hz on August 14, 2014, 06:14 PM »

Joe Gore (Tom Waite's guitarist) performing his arrangement of the Allegretto Pizzicato movement from Béla Bartók's Fourth String Quartet complete with his trademark hat and blank expression stage face.

Joe's CV

Joe's recording and performing credits include Tom Waits, PJ Harvey, Tracy Chapman, Marianne Faithfull, DJ Shadow, Courtney Love, Flea, Les Claypool, the Eels, and many other artists. His music appears in many films and TV shows. Joe helps develop musical products for various companies, notably Apple, where he is a major indie developer for the GarageBand, Logic, and MainStage platforms. He's written literally thousands of articles about music and musicians, and is senior editor of Premier Guitar magazine.

And yeah...that's a self tricked out $99 Hello Kitty model Squire Strat he's using for part of it.

This guy is a trip. Check out some of his other videos here.

1310

Living Room / Re: Do you use a Portrait mode monitor?

« Last post by 40hz on August 14, 2014, 04:06 PM »

I had a paper white rotatable portrait monitor for my Mac IIsi.

I found it easier to write using that monitor and enabling typewriter sounds on my keyboard. 

Brought back college memories. And also subconsciously resurrected some of the skills that allowed me to author 50 page technical papers without breaking a sweat. 

Sometimes you just need to plug into what's most and "oldest familiar" to get things done.

But that's me. 

1311

Living Room / Re: Everyone is brokenhearted.

« Last post by 40hz on August 13, 2014, 02:47 PM »

^And people seldom change the channel at the commercial break as long as they're pissed off about something they just saw, according to a TV producer I know.

And the sad thing is, he hates playing that game as much as the rest of us.

1312

Living Room / Re: Movies or films you've seen lately

« Last post by 40hz on August 12, 2014, 02:09 PM »

Spoiler: The film does not end well

-Paul Keith (August 12, 2014, 01:20 PM)

Neither did the real thing.

1313

Living Room / Re: Laptop Battery Record!

« Last post by 40hz on August 12, 2014, 02:06 PM »

hmm,

are you sure you're not thinking of a hard drive rather than a battery??
 

-Cuffy (August 12, 2014, 01:35 PM)

nope. Li battery.

http://www.wikihow.c...-Dead-Laptop-Battery

1314

Living Room / Re: Laptop Battery Record!

« Last post by 40hz on August 12, 2014, 12:55 PM »

^If you're trying that freezer trick to revitalize a battery, I'd just put the battery (not the entire laptop) inside two freezer bags - and put that in your freezer. Let the battery chill for 24 hours. Then remove it, take it out of the bags, and let it gradually come up to room temp over a 48-hour period outside the laptop. That will avoid creating any excessive condensation that actually could fry your laptop.

FWIW I've never known it to work. I suspect it's at least 80% urban legend.

1315

Living Room / Re: Movies or films you've seen lately

« Last post by 40hz on August 12, 2014, 12:47 PM »

You Are Here: A Meta Detective Story



A great little Canadian indy where I'm not 100% sure what to make of it - other than to say I like it. A lot.

"You Are Here" starring Tracy Wright (Me and You and Everyone We Know) is a Borgesian fantasy composed of multiple worlds, circling and weaving around each other in always unexpected ways. At the centre of this narrative labyrinth is a reclusive woman who searches for meaning in the mysterious documents that keep appearing to her.

Her investigation begins when she finds a tape recording of a man giving a bizarre lecture: calming and sinister at the same time, he instructs how to "get where you need to go". Is this a random find, or a message to her? Another strange document presents itself, and another... Swiftly her home becomes an archive brimming with enigmatic texts, images and sounds.

This is another one of those movies you'll either love or hate less than 10 minutes into it.

1316

Living Room / Re: The REALITY of Virtual Flight and Other Simulators (Not Just For Simmers)

« Last post by 40hz on August 12, 2014, 12:22 PM »

Getting back to the original post, this kind of question has been discussed by philosophers who work in areas of artificial intelligence.. At one point does a simulation of a mind (or society) become a first-class thing deserving of the kinds of things we believe are due to living animals..

-mouser (August 12, 2014, 08:12 AM)

Yikes! The  big A-Life Question



That's one of the thorniest questions in the discipline. Made even more complicated by the fact we have yet to reach full consensus on how that applies to naturally occurring instances of "mind" and "being."

And please don't get those gals and guys started on viruses - or the newly identified 'super' viruses or we'll never get out of this conference.

-----------------------------------------------

Note: the picture is of a Mediating Morus in case anybody's wondering. More on that here.

1317

Living Room / Re: Laptop Battery Record!

« Last post by 40hz on August 12, 2014, 12:18 PM »

Sorry, I can't accept your challenge!

-Cuffy (August 12, 2014, 12:11 PM)

Oh, I wasn't challenging. I was ceding to you. (I agree.  A dead battery and a screwed up power management module isn't at all the same thing.)

Better luck next time! 

Yeah...I get that a lot.

1318

Living Room / Re: Homebrewing

« Last post by 40hz on August 12, 2014, 12:15 PM »

Even without the alcohol, soft-carbonated (and preferably unsweetened) lemonade is a treat on a hot day.

Learned about that one from a expat French client of mine. I understand it's big on the Continent.

1319

General Software Discussion / Re: Panamax: Docker Management for Humans

« Last post by 40hz on August 12, 2014, 12:02 PM »

Now that I have got to play with...

Thanks for the heads-up!

1320

Living Room / Re: Laptop Battery Record!

« Last post by 40hz on August 12, 2014, 11:57 AM »

That runs longer than this Dell I'm using right now.

It flatlines immediately after you unplug it.  Runs just fine on AC however.

(And yes, I put a new $70 battery in it. That lasted for about a month before it was as NG as the one it replaced. Dell says it's a mobo issue - and since it's out-of-warranty, running it on AC will be just fine, thank you.)
 

1321

General Software Discussion / Re: Fastest note taking tool?

« Last post by 40hz on August 12, 2014, 08:16 AM »

Try Softvoile's Flashnote.  Available here.

Or CintaNotes if you prefer something along the lines of Evernote. Available here.

1322

Living Room / Re: The REALITY of Virtual Flight and Other Simulators (Not Just For Simmers)

« Last post by 40hz on August 11, 2014, 08:29 PM »

There are no real consequences for doing something stupid and dying in the 'virtual' world.

-Edvard (August 11, 2014, 06:50 PM)

Well...I suppose you could always wire an explosive charge to your chair and have it go off if you augured in. Would that be realistic enough?

1323

Living Room / Re: R.I.P. Robin Williams

« Last post by 40hz on August 11, 2014, 07:03 PM »

One of the few genuinely funny comedians. And even better in his serious roles.

Vaya con Dios Robin.

1324

Living Room / Re: Current web-based RSS readers - What is your pick?

« Last post by 40hz on August 11, 2014, 06:50 PM »

None of the above unfortunately. I don't like any web-based RSS reader I've tried so far.

For the moment, I'll stick with the FF Sage extension for RSS and continue to use gPodder to aggregate RSS's close cousin: the podcast.

1325

General Software Discussion / Mitro: FOSS alternative to LastPass

« Last post by 40hz on August 11, 2014, 06:32 PM »

With the assistance of the EFF, Mitro will hopefully soon be making the transition to a FOSS model.

Although I'm still very uncomfortable with the entire concept behind remote mirrored storage of passwords, if I absolutely did need to do it, Mitro would probably be the one I'd be least reluctantly inclined to use. And that's probably as close as I'll ever get to semi-trusting this sort of product. But that's me. YMMV

This from the EFF:

July 31, 2014 | By Peter Eckersley
Mitro Releases a New Free & Open Source Password Manager

Good security practices require us to use different passwords for most or all of the websites and services we interact with. For accounts of any significance, those also need to be strong passwords of one form or another. But if you combine those two requirements (one password per site, most or all passwords are strong) then remembering all of your passwords requires an inhuman display of memory. Of course, when we need to perform inhuman tasks, we use software. And in this case, we use password stores and generators of various sorts. There are a lot of options for password managers out there, but if like us you prefer all of your security-sensitive code to be free, auditable software, then the choices are more limited.

Today, the team from a password manager startup called Mitro will be joining Twitter. As part of the deal, Mitro will be releasing the source to its client and server code under the GPL. We're very pleased to see this happening, and will be advising the Mitro team on how best to turn their startup's code into a sustainable free/open source software project.

Mitro is distinctive amongst free/open source password managers in that it's architected around cloud storage. For security, the online password databases are encrypted with client-side keys derived from your master password. For availability, they are mirrored across three cloud storage providers. With this design (documented here), passwords can be synchronized across all of your computers and devices with minimal effort. They can also be shared across teams and organizations. For those reasons, we're excited about the possibility that Mitro may turn into a valuable piece of infrastructure for the community.

Mitro has committed to funding continued operations of its servers until at least the end of 2014. If their code proves to be secure and popular with the community, we will be advising them on how to create a sustainable home for that infrastructure.

Mitro is already quite a mature and usable system. You can try it today and if you like it, tell your friends.1
Hacking on Mitro

Mitro will succeed if it has an enthusiastic userbase and developer community. Aside from trying out the software, there are lots of things you can do to contribute:

Report any problems — there is a new bug tracker on github, so if you run into a bug or a web site that doesn’t work reliably, please let them know. You can also always tweet @MitroCo.

Review the code, fix bugs — Mitro is free and open source; if you know Javascript or Java, you can improve it. Mitro has had some professional security auditing in the past, but if you're a security researcher, extra eyes looking for and reporting vulnerabilities are valuable.

Contribute documentation — Mitro has some limited documentation on Github. The Mitro team would welcome any contributions to help others use it effectively.

Update, 2014-07-31: revised post to link to Mitro's announcement, and clarify that while the Mitro team is joining Twitter, Mitro itself will continue as an independent corporation.
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    1. For the time being, we don't recommend using the Android variant of Mitro; the Android app is likely to be vulnerable to password theft by malicious apps because of security problems that follow inherently from its use of the Android clipboard. We are presently researching ways to work around this problem.

You can find Mitro info and downloads here.