Recent Posts

1376

Living Room / Re: An article on the slow death of Google by Lauren Weisman

« Last post by wraith808 on October 11, 2018, 10:34 PM »

I don't know about the bleakness of the article but one example of change without regard for quality but only with regard to change and adding 'features' is the new gmail that was forced unto users last month. I am seeing issues like this and for something as basic as email, gmail no less, this is frankly crappy and ridiculous (attached is taken from tweet to @gmail)

If dumping G+ frees up resources for realistic (G+ was never going to be a FB killer) projects it is a good thing, not that it will but one can hope.

-rgdot (October 08, 2018, 11:15 PM)

They aren't dumping to free up resources.  They're dumping because they were caught out.  And dumping didn't even save them the scrutiny that they feared.  Also, glad to see that I'm not the only one that dislikes the new changes to the interfaces.   I hate the fact that once I scroll to the bottom of my labels, there's now no way to get back to the inbox other than to scroll all the way up.

1377

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: copy my wallpaper's full title

« Last post by wraith808 on October 11, 2018, 10:29 PM »

Sorry, 4wd, I missed to see your post. 
Of course you had the proper solution. Thank you! 

-Curt (October 11, 2018, 05:25 PM)

Ah... I didn't see he had posted that before either.

1378

Post New Requests Here / Re: copy my wallpaper's full title

« Last post by wraith808 on October 11, 2018, 04:48 PM »

Curt,

I think I found the answer to your problem at https://www.winhelpo...ile-path-windows-10/.  Note the link there to https://www.winhelpo..._Curr_Image_Name.zip

KodeZwerg,

hey, i am just using what microsoft offers, if it dont fit i am sorry.

-KodeZwerg (October 11, 2018, 11:51 AM)

As you've seen, it doesn't work in windows 10.  You can check for OS version.  If windows 10, you can check the following:

%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Themes\CachedFiles or %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Themes\TranscodedWallpaper

Appdata should be a special folder you can get from winapi call.

You can also check the registry under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\TranscodedImageCache or HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\Wallpaper.

The transcodedimagecache is actually the binary representation of the filename- it apparently might be multiple ones; I guess if there are multiple screens.

Hope that helps one or both of you!

1379

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: WizNote (a PIM from China) - Mini-Review + Provisional User Forum

« Last post by wraith808 on October 10, 2018, 04:32 PM »

It would be interesting to see if after a bit of time, urlwolf is still usibg it and still feels the same, though

1380

Living Room / Re: My first excel macro

« Last post by wraith808 on October 09, 2018, 01:57 PM »

You really should consider to put your nose in a book.
If this is too expensive for you to learn, how about a visit to the public library?

Those are my Hints.

-KodeZwerg (October 09, 2018, 10:26 AM)

It's better not to answer, and let silence speak for itself, rather than to post snark, in my opinion.  DC remains a very open and inviting site, and some do seem not to help themselves.  But our responses to them can scare off others that we really could help.

1381

Living Room / Re: An article on the slow death of Google by Lauren Weisman

« Last post by wraith808 on October 09, 2018, 01:55 PM »

But, it's not just G+.  It's endemic to the way that they do everything now.  It reminds me of Yahoo right before its fall.  Yahoo had it all to lose but did because of several factors and similar unforced errors.

1382

N.A.N.Y. 2019 / Re: NANY 2019 - Idea for an app synchronizing web service

« Last post by wraith808 on October 09, 2018, 01:53 PM »

You could actually just do it on AWS.  As more users start using the project, no matter the platform, it will require more resources though.  That's the major downer to me when I first did this on one of my instances- for me, it's almost nothing.  But could I really afford to offer that to more people?  The answer for me was no.

1383

Living Room / An article on the slow death of Google by Lauren Weisman

« Last post by wraith808 on October 08, 2018, 09:30 PM »

Love him or hate him, I think that Lauren Weisman says some pretty compelling truths in this article.

Google is dying. It may be possible to save the patient, but it’s also quite possible that Google has already passed the point of no return, especially with the array of forces now attacking it from all sides and from within. Since this situation has been largely enabled by unforced errors committed by Google itself, the prognosis can only be described as bleak.

Unfortunately, I have strong doubts that Google is capable at this time of making the kinds of “lifestyle changes” that would be required to truly save themselves. I would love to have these doubts proven to be incorrect.

A company named Google and its parent Alphabet will continue to exist for the foreseeable future, but for all practical purposes the Google that we all know appears to be in a kind of terminal decline, even as the money continues rolling in for now.

more at https://lauren.vorte.../the-death-of-google

1384

Living Room / Re: Google finds Vulnerability in G+ API. Sunsets G+ in response.

« Last post by wraith808 on October 08, 2018, 04:51 PM »

Interesting news.

I know that it never really caught on... did anyone else use G+?

-wraith808 (October 08, 2018, 03:18 PM)

I used it a lot when it was new, and tried to get others I knew to join me there (or forced them to if they wanted to see my posts/pictures/whatever). But I've hardly touched it for the past 2-3 years or more.

At this point the news of it shutting down can only make me respond with "it's about time."

-Deozaan (October 08, 2018, 04:25 PM)

What real alternative is there, though?  If you want to do the whole social networking but don't want to give all of your info?  A couple of my communities created FB groups, but... FB.  A couple of others were mentioned... WeMo, Mastadon, Discord, Slack... but they all seem to be different animals.  The only real thing for public communities that opposed it was pretty much G+.

1385

Living Room / Google finds Vulnerability in G+ API. Sunsets G+ in response.

« Last post by wraith808 on October 08, 2018, 03:18 PM »

The most damning thing?

Google did not initially disclose a Google+ security bug when it first discovered it this spring because it feared regulatory scrutiny and reputational damage, according to a Wall Street Journal report citing documents and people briefed on the incident.

(from https://www.cnbc.com...s-of-plus-users.html)

Google is shutting down Google+, a social media service it launched in 2011 that few people used. Google made the announcement the same day that the Wall Street Journal published a story about a bug in the unpopular social media service that allowed outside developers to access users private data. According to The Wall Street Journal, Google first learned about the breach in March of 2018, but quietly patched the bug and decided not to tell anyone for fear of a regulatory backlash.

(from https://motherboard....g-exposed-user-infoc)

Google's statement can be found on its blog at https://www.blog.goo...rity/project-strobe/

G+ was actually the only social network that I used.  I liked the fact that even though I didn't trust Google, they didn't really require much to register.  My account used was a throwaway account, so the security breach didn't matter.  I also liked the fact that they were pretty open with communities, for those times that I really didn't feel like signing up for yet another forum to discuss another niche subject.
 Facebook requires you to sign up to see anything and requires your personal data, so I have a different feeling towards them.  As a result, I had several communities that I used on G+, but avoided any on Facebook.

I know that it never really caught on... did anyone else use G+?

1386

Living Room / Re: The Big Hack: How China Used a Tiny Chip to Infiltrate U.S. Companies

« Last post by wraith808 on October 08, 2018, 08:18 AM »

At this point, someone is going to be in a lot of trouble.

https://www.engadget...upermicro-tampering/

In a letter to Congress, Apple reiterated that it found no evidence of microchip-based server tampering by Chinese agents that was reported by Bloomberg Businessweek. The company, along with Amazon and server manufacturer Super Micro, had previously released forceful denials of suspicions that its servers contained malicious components. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and UK cybersecurity officials had also chimed in, saying they have no reason to doubt Amazon and Apple's denials.

Apple VP for IT security Goerge Stathakopoulos sent letters to both the US House and Senate Commerce Committees, according to a Reuters report. "Apple's proprietary security tools are continuously scanning for precisely this kind of outbound traffic, as it indicates the existence of malware or other malicious activity," it stated. "Nothing was ever found."

The letter also repeated press statements from Apple that it never discovered any backdoor components that could compromise user security. Apple originally said that it "conducted rigorous internal investigations based on [Bloomberg's] inquiries and each time we have found absolutely no evidence to support any of them." The company also noted that the story was based on 17 anonymous sources, with some allegations based on even fewer unnamed sources.

As a reminder, Bloomberg's report stated that Amazon and Apple found suspicious chips on widely used Super Micro servers that could relay information to foreign agents, who could then possibly initiate more intrusive attacks. Since publication, however, the companies involved have forcefully pushed back. Bloomberg said the investigation was "top secret" and that it stood by the article.

1387

Living Room / Re: "If you don't steal [from the commons] you are stealing from your family".

« Last post by wraith808 on October 06, 2018, 02:29 PM »

All I have to say to that article is wow.  I couldn't believe that it wasn't fiction.  Thanks for sharing!

1388

General Software Discussion / Site to see the historical DNS records for an address

« Last post by wraith808 on October 06, 2018, 01:14 PM »

Need to find the historical data for a site in regards to DNS records after they've already changed?  This site was a lifesaver!

https://securitytrails.com/

Why would you need it?  A service that I was using went down unexpectedly.  I'd even anticipated it, as I asked them "How do you make money" and they never responded.  But I used it anyway, and my data was stuck after their domain expired.  I went there, looked up the domain, and found that their previous IP was still up- it was just that the Domain had expired.  I put the domain name in my hosts file with one of the old IPs and was able to get in and retrieve my data.  After that, I figured I'd post it here in case anyone else had a need for it in the future.

1389

Living Room / Re: The Big Hack: How China Used a Tiny Chip to Infiltrate U.S. Companies

« Last post by wraith808 on October 06, 2018, 11:51 AM »

Interesting quora post from someone who thinks the article is wrong:
https://www.quora.co...answer/David-Seidman

-mouser (October 06, 2018, 05:51 AM)

Thanks!  That was really interesting, and he made points there that I'd not considered, and think are completely salient to the situation, e.g.

Apple's statement[2] is really quite extraordinary. They unequivocally deny the entire story and strongly criticize Bloomberg. You just absolutely couldn't do that if you weren't telling the full truth. It would completely destroy your credibility when the truth came out, which it definitely would. Your lawyers would not let you make a materially false statement. And your auditors would demand access to verify your public statement, as I imagine they are indeed currently doing.

Leading to:

Apple's statement isn't full of weasel words. They flatly state that everything about the article is false and deny several specific allegations individually. Our lawyers were reluctant to let us make flat denials even when we were 100% right.

Leading to:

Lying to investors about a breach of this magnitude is a “go out of business” level offense, and the officers of the company would go to jail.

...

... getting hacked like this doesn't put you out of business. In most cases it doesn't even hurt very much. Nobody expects Apple to be perfectly secure against a government, and that's good because it's not possible. Every single big tech company has been breached at some point.

That line of reasoning about those at Apple and the weight of the possible consequences... It just makes sense.

1390

Finished Programs / Re: DONE: Append/Concatenate/Merge text files, but prepend filenames

« Last post by wraith808 on October 05, 2018, 07:48 PM »

That site is so cool!  Thanks for it!

1391

Living Room / Re: The Big Hack: How China Used a Tiny Chip to Infiltrate U.S. Companies

« Last post by wraith808 on October 05, 2018, 07:31 PM »

Bloomberg now spreading "fake news" : where are the proofs ?

-YannickDa (October 05, 2018, 12:04 PM)

I wouldn't go so far as to label it fake at this time.  But I definitely have a hard time believing it without proof or corroboration, and the government isn't going to corroborate the vector by which they were hacked if indeed they were.  It's a hard place to be in, journalistically.

1392

Living Room / Re: I'm getting married, wish me luck!

« Last post by wraith808 on October 05, 2018, 07:29 PM »

All the best!  It's definitely an adventure worth taking!  Congratulations, and I wish you all the best on your upcoming nuptials!

1393

Screenshot Captor / Re: Grab selected region

« Last post by wraith808 on October 05, 2018, 08:20 AM »

Excellent detective work -- and thanks for sharing -- hopefully this will help someone else who encounters the same problem.

-mouser (December 10, 2017, 05:01 PM)

Sadly, as soon as I rebooted my computer, the zooming issue when capturing screenshots has returned.
If I reinstall video drivers, it fixes it until I reboot again, and it starts all over.  So, at this point I'm just lost , and there doesn't seem to be any way to 'disabled' the zooming.   Doing a full print screen zooms, doing a print region zooms, and you can't 'move' the zoomed region. It just auto pics a place and zooms in.  Only way to get out of the zoom is then to hit escape.

-Evanrude (December 17, 2017, 07:01 PM)

Didn't see this, but yes, I could tell you that nothing really solves it.  I've resolved to making the capture and restricting the region in the post-capture dialog.  You can't screenshot the issue, so I've despaired of being able to give Mouser any useful input on the problem.

1394

Finished Programs / Re: DONE: Append/Concatenate/Merge text files, but prepend filenames

« Last post by wraith808 on October 04, 2018, 11:29 PM »

Guess that’s a no on mine. Well I tried 

I’ll delete the download.

-c.gingerich (October 04, 2018, 10:11 PM)

Always good to have alternatives in case needed.  He seems to go with the first solution, which makes sense.  All of the rest of them unless something is wrong with the first solution end up being noise, but not useless.

1395

Living Room / Re: The Big Hack: How China Used a Tiny Chip to Infiltrate U.S. Companies

« Last post by wraith808 on October 04, 2018, 11:27 PM »

None of that has been proven though.  It's going to be a big problem- Bloomberg is not giving out sources, and no one is confirming.  Could end up with egg (and the SEC) on Bloomberg's face if this is proven to be false.

1396

N.A.N.Y. 2019 / Re: N.A.N.Y. 2019 Announcement

« Last post by wraith808 on October 04, 2018, 03:21 PM »

And I'm behind my schedule!

-Tuxman (October 04, 2018, 02:21 PM)

At least you've started!  I'm behind schedule because I haven't even had a chance to start on my idea yet!

1397

Coding Snack Guidelines / Re: AutoHotKey script to assign mouse button to Esc playing Gems of War

« Last post by wraith808 on October 04, 2018, 02:08 PM »

Many games actively sense if AutoHotkey is working period.  If you can get your mouse software to remap, that would be your best option.  What kind of mouse do you have?

1398

DC Gamer Club / Re: Latest GOG Giveaway

« Last post by wraith808 on October 04, 2018, 11:07 AM »

Woot!  That's the one I voted for

1399

Finished Programs / Re: DONE: Append/Concatenate/Merge text files, but prepend filenames

« Last post by wraith808 on October 04, 2018, 10:04 AM »

I like PowerShell because it reminds me a lot of ARexx on  Amiga, you can write off the cuff small bits of code that leverage the system and other programs, run them instantly, and get reasonably non-cryptic error messages back when you screw up.

-4wd (October 03, 2018, 05:30 PM)

I was going further back to the source in my memories, i.e. REXX^w on OS/2

Plus it's part of the system, I don't need to install IDE, compiler, etc, etc.

-4wd (October 03, 2018, 05:30 PM)

Yeah, there is that too.  I use csc quite a bit for that reason too for simple things- no external dependencies.  The right tool for the job 

1400

General Software Discussion / Re: Anyone using Blackbird?

« Last post by wraith808 on October 03, 2018, 05:46 PM »

Paste your command line here, and perhaps someone can help you with it, or at least verify that it's not your machine.