Recent Posts

151

General Software Discussion / Re: Freemake Software: Help With A Service

« Last post by worstje on July 24, 2011, 11:06 AM »

I agree with mouser.

Besides, think about it: how can that service know when those servers are least busy? Right, by connecting to them. But once you start connecting, you might as well send that crash data already, since unless we are talking Windows or SAP-like monstrosities, those reports can't be more than say, 1mb.

Doing that stuff when you start the program is more than good enough in my opinion.

152

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012: Got Space? Disk Utility.

« Last post by worstje on July 23, 2011, 04:16 PM »

It seems to work correctly now. Great job!

Something I'd like to see (although it might need a reworking of your current logic stuffs...) is quicker start times. Or to be more precise, faster discovery. Maybe it is just odd on my computer and nobody elses, but starting the application takes 5 seconds before the window appears. Refreshing the view locks the application up for 5 seconds. I suspect the reason is two-fold: I have a lot of devices, and you test them all one by one. My guess is that if you did each drives discovery in a seperate thread, it would take less than a second. (Of course, once you get 26 drives in your machine, it might seem a bit taxing in the threads department for a second, but given that it is pretty much all I/O blocking there ought to be no problems with a mere 26 threads.)

The reason why I'd like this is because I think this app really has a lot of potential. I have a habit of running out of diskspace on some drive or another, and the explorer Computer window is annoying with all of its disks that don't matter to me in that situation. Additionally, assuming you don't have plans already, I'd suggest doubleclick opening the drive in question and the rightclick on an item translating to a rightclick in Explorer. (The right-click stuff I can help you with; I've got experience with those APIs from my Cautomaton entry last year.) Oh, and how about a volume names column?

153

Living Room / Re: Are we allowed to avoid the "My Docs" mess in Win7?

« Last post by worstje on July 23, 2011, 03:58 PM »

This topic is exactly why I don't use any of the default Windows folders. It's sad, but true. My documents are my documents, don't dump files or directories there without my asking!

There is only one exception to the no-windows-folders rule, and that is the Downloads folder Windows 7 gives me. It is exactly where I expect it to be, and that place is a natural-mess-with-dates-for-reinstall-purposes anyway.

154

Living Room / Re: Why ebooks are bad for you

« Last post by worstje on July 23, 2011, 01:18 PM »

Unlikely as CodeTRUCKERs example is, I have to agree that corrupted data is possible. I once had a broken down router (someone knocked it down by accident without telling me) and ever since then it randomly flipped bits in everything that came through it. Images especially had some really interesting artifacts. The safety systems in the TCP protocol or any of the other layers that are supposed to watch out for corruption so that it does not happen clearly failed as none of the hooked up devices were aware of any isses. Bits simply flipped.

If knocking something down can do that, I have no clue what a SEMP can do. Common fiction says they are supposed to toast electronics - so I counter that you only need to toast the one single but essential part to royally screw things up.

(This reminds me of a book I once read, involving a futuristic space mission and a saboteur and deadly accidents. Very intense repair efforts failed because a read-out display showed the opposite of what it ought to show for one tiny transistor-like thingy. You can't ever protect against corruption/brokenness for 100%, you can only approach it.)

155

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012: Got Space? Disk Utility.

« Last post by worstje on July 22, 2011, 04:05 PM »

If the Lacie is an external USB drive, why is it getting classified as a Local Disk??

-Stoic Joker (July 22, 2011, 12:14 PM)

I just turned on an external WD USB (NTFS) drive, listed in properties as a USB device, which turned up in GS as local. Same thing with a WD MyBook (NTFS).

-cranioscopical (July 22, 2011, 03:56 PM)

I've got a WD MyBook too, I forgot to mention. It is drive F in the screenshot I provided, and you'll see that one behaves just fine. (Which hopefully helps in ruling out that it isn't some weird fluke specific to my computer.)

156

Developer's Corner / Re: Aviation Business Project using a Flight Simulator

« Last post by worstje on July 22, 2011, 03:43 PM »

They serve different purposes. PHP is for the logic, MySQL is for the data (and thus also the relationships between the data).

Proper database design is a course on its own, and I really can't begin to explain the finer points. A good one to keep in mind however is that you should never duplicate data (example: storing John's birthdate twice, once for his passport and once for his birth certificate), and that a field can only describe a single thing (example: list of hotel rooms on the fourth floor should NOT be a comma seperated '401,402,404,405' but instead the proper database relationships should be used so such information can be stored and properly queried). Finally, it also pays to keep in mind that a table should be considered to represent the blueprint of an entity, and a record in said table is such an entity.

To be honest, I am way too tired to go into your specific project. But I'd imagine an airplane table (which describes the aircraft), pilots (describing pilot qualifications), flights (which describes flights of different aircrafts with different pilots), pilot_log (storing dated log entries for all the pilots), etc. Just try to work out in your mind what sort of relationships the various pieces of data have to each others. One on one? Many on many? One on many? Etc.

Try looking at the various images on this pagae for inspiration and a better understanding of what I am trying to get across. If you split all the data up sensibly, a proper SQL query can be launched from PHP at any time to get exactly the data you need. (Example: All of Pilot CodeTRUCKERs log entries between April and July, 2011. Or the amount of flights flown by him in Cessna model aircrafts.) The better your database schema, the easier the more difficult stuff becomes. (Comparitively speaking, anyway.)

157

Living Room / Re: PHP... is the name self-realizing?

« Last post by worstje on July 22, 2011, 03:25 PM »

Wikipedia has the answer:

While PHP originally stood for "Personal Home Page", it is now said to stand for "PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor", a recursive acronym.

158

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012 Pledge: De-stress

« Last post by worstje on July 22, 2011, 02:47 PM »

Once I get working on it. I keep putting getting started on it off because I'm worried about problems I'll face after two weeks of working on it.

Perfectionism is a curse. Mind you, it's a gift too. But mostly, it is a curse.

159

Living Room / Re: AWOL

« Last post by worstje on July 22, 2011, 02:39 PM »

I don't know your letter, but the fact you posted here like this made me feel like I ought to read it. And regardless of the contents, I am glad I did.

Welcome back.

160

Developer's Corner / Re: Aviation Business Project using a Flight Simulator

« Last post by worstje on July 22, 2011, 02:34 PM »

Your plans sound ambitious and complicated. Therefore, I say go with a proper database and thus a table within said database. That way, no matter how complicated it gets, you already have a place where you can stow all the stuff. One-to-many relationships are tough in plain text, nevermind many-to-many ones which are a complete hell.

161

Living Room / Re: Why Are Hackers Becoming So Angry?

« Last post by worstje on July 22, 2011, 02:02 PM »

I think it is short-sighted to say that if someone hacks a website and releases a small part of the data as proof of doing so is bad. Hackers have been criminalized again, again and again. There's very few ways for them to work in the system. When one finds a leak and report it, often it gets ignored - be it by idiots misinterpreting the seriousness of the matter or be it due to miscommunication. When they step into the media, they get charges filed against them with the police, or directly sued if their identity was known.

Commercial institutions only have one interest, and that is covering their own ass. Hackers that reak into their systems, no matter how well-intentioned and good-mannered in wanting to protect the privacy of the users of said systems, are the one to blame. Saying the evil hacker is the wrong party fixes that. Employing professional security analysis to find holes like those costs serious money, so all in all, it is a thankless job.

Mind you, I am not condoning hackers immediately publishing entire databases without regard for law or proper moral justification. But if you take five minutes to look into the media, you can find countless examples of hackers that played nice yet got into serious trouble for it. Look at that, and you'll find working within the system to improve said system is a very difficult job for people with these insights and skills.

162

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012: Got Space? Disk Utility.

« Last post by worstje on July 22, 2011, 12:23 PM »

Throwing HDTune at it I got...

Firmware version: CR100-10
Serial number: S0MUJ13P*******  (stars are all numbers, I doubt you need that part.)

I hope that's what you needed?

Edit: And no, nothing special. Simply direct USB, no extension cords or whatever else.

163

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012: Got Space? Disk Utility.

« Last post by worstje on July 22, 2011, 12:03 PM »

Here you go. Good luck!

164

Living Room / Re: Why Are Hackers Becoming So Angry?

« Last post by worstje on July 22, 2011, 08:22 AM »

I've been reading articles originating from this article for the past 30 minutes. I always knew the world was screwed up, but this only emphasizes it.

Why don't they use all that money spent sueing to pay off debt? I bet that if one gave it a decade, the entire system would come to stand under a lot of stress, eventually leading to lower costs. (Then again, politicians would consider it an excuse to spend even more money they don't have...)

165

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012: Got Space? Disk Utility.

« Last post by worstje on July 22, 2011, 07:23 AM »

FAT32, 500gb. It's the only partition on the device to my knowledge.

166

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012: Got Space? Disk Utility.

« Last post by worstje on July 22, 2011, 07:06 AM »

If you want screenshots of My Computer or other windows that might be relevant for you in testing this, let me know.

167

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012: Got Space? Disk Utility.

« Last post by worstje on July 22, 2011, 06:31 AM »

Ok, so I tried out the latest version. Looks good, but eh...

Why is it saying that my external Lacie USB hard drive from a few years ago is substed? Good sir, I am afraid you've got a bug somewhere.
Also, the OK button in your settings dialog is broken, meaning that I can't try any of the other views.

168

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012: Got Space? Disk Utility.

« Last post by worstje on July 21, 2011, 01:55 PM »

Feature request:
I have a subdirectory of my D: drive, SUBSTed to drive F:. This shows them both of type Local, with all the same figures. Could the type show 'Subst' or 'Mapped', and optionally where it is mapped to?
 (see attachment in previous post)

-Ath (July 21, 2011, 01:47 AM)

Just looking at that screenshot, the diskspace calculations for that drive also need to be re-examined for the SUBSTed case. Rather than doing FreeSpaceOnSubst = OriginalDriveCapacity - SubstedTreeSize, it should completely depend on the original partition for for as far 'free size' is concerned. This would break an intuitive idea where Capacity = Used + Free for the subst drives however, thus making that row of numbers look weird. Then again, a substed drive is little more than a small mirage, so I'd be in favor of just noting '-' as the Capacity just to get rid of any confusion regarding the matter. Otherwise, one might erroneously try to add up the total disk capacity in the computer and count the same drives capacity multiple times.

It looks like an awesome tool, by the way. Great job!

169

Finished Programs / Re: Open with Script

« Last post by worstje on July 21, 2011, 07:08 AM »

I was even planning to go as far as to suggest removing the default handler for .pdf files so that the Open With... menu would pop up, but it seems lanux128 beat me with better suggestions.

170

Developer's Corner / Re: md5 / sha1 hashes What's the point?

« Last post by worstje on July 20, 2011, 04:07 AM »

However, in this case the author and others would presumably NOTICE that the web page hash values had suddenly changed.  So it would greatly increase the chance that the manipulation was noticed.

-mouser (July 20, 2011, 03:44 AM)

It would be the 'others' more-so than the author, and not because the hash value changed but because the software acts up. As you say in the paragraph following that one, the original hash being posted as multiple locations is where the safety comes from - not from people mysteriously noticing a random string of hexadecimal digits changed.

You most likely can't even tell the first letter of the hash of the current release of some program, even if it were the only one you offer. Hell, if donationcoder.com got hacked and someone put an innocent <!-- mouser is a mouserer! --> in the source of a specific page - would you notice?

171

Developer's Corner / Re: md5 / sha1 hashes What's the point?

« Last post by worstje on July 20, 2011, 03:34 AM »

Hashes are a poor mans tampering/correctness test, as you said. It is mostly useful when the downloads are located on a different system than the actual announcement place.

If you want real security, you sign the package to get cryptographic blahblah on your side. Or maybe you can just sign the hash. I'm unsure, to be honest.

But yeah, the real use for them has eluded me too. Automated integrity tests seem like the only use to me.

172

Living Room / Re: Want to see impressive numbers?

« Last post by worstje on July 18, 2011, 09:25 PM »

I hate politicians. Why? Because they do not understand debt. Normal people understand debt, but they don't. Why is that?

Debt needs to be paid back!

Sure, I am not versed in economics at all. And I am sure there are tons of really smart people who make the system work as it does within its limitations. But the only part politicians have in this system is to compound on problems they have no solutions to, figuring that in the future some smart person might be able to solve it.

Who cares if that debt is balanced against current GDP or whatever else? The amount of debt has only been going up, and countries do not even consider paying it back anymore. At some point, 'GDP or whatever else' is not going to go up anymore, but it will crash. Trust China and other upcoming economies for that. But the debt will remain.

If you compare those numbers to the ones in the year 2000, you can see some of them have more than tripled in 10 years time. And what for? A war against terror which still lasts on and lasts on. At one point, all that debt is going to bite back, and the terrorists will laugh.

For companies, it is called bankruptcy with very angry victims. For countries, it is a disaster. Given the importance of the financial system in our world, I say you might rather have a nuclear meltdown on your hands - at least you can evacuate areas. Once the USA implodes on itself, I believe it will take half the world with it. (And for those saying I make light of the people in Japan, I am not. Hospitals will go broke, resources will be scarce, people can't pay for healthcare, and that alone will claim thousands of victims.)

[/end-rant]

173

General Software Discussion / Re: BrowserID - Mozilla's solution to the password problem

« Last post by worstje on July 16, 2011, 09:57 AM »

Anything that makes it too easy to store and use my passwords with some service, I do not use. I use Keepass v2 right now and it works just great. Sure, it is a huge bother to stick the thing into my PC, and to type my master key... but it feels way more secure.

I have (some) control over my USB stick being stolen. I have the same control over where I plug it in, and what PCs I trust not to have keyloggers or other malware installed. However, I do not have control over the Cloud and their leaks and the big targets they make for 'hackers'. I feel similarly over biometric security: fingerpad scanners are technically very unsound, and matches are easy to create (for anyone with a bit of determination) so they can get access to whatever they want.

So yeah, I'm not trusting something as fickle as a browser that needs upgrading every week to protect my data. They are more interested in version numbers than a stable product, which speaks volumes by my book.

174

General Software Discussion / Re: Annoying experience with non-pirated software

« Last post by worstje on July 16, 2011, 09:48 AM »

Ugh, that sucks jgpaiva.

The reason that Steam actually has higher prices than other outlets is because otherwise other outlets would not be able to make a profit on them. If Steam has the lowest price, people have no reason to buy it anywhere else unless they want a physical box. Don't forget Steam is pretty much its own advertisement platform once you have it installed. And in the end, there's big money involved in letting other major retailers sell games like Portal 2.

175

Living Room / Re: Am I alone in not using or wanting to use the "Cloud" ...

« Last post by worstje on July 16, 2011, 09:39 AM »

I want to expand a bit on my previous post...

Backup-wise, I would trust the cloud if I spoke for a company and a proper contract was involved. Whatever the data is, it is financial in nature and depending on their booboo it can be recovered according to the risk assessment a competent IT department/head-honchos would have made.

But not as a consumer. Consumers get shafted. If a consumer even backups, they'll likely only do it to one place. Consumer-level facilities have one single purpose only: that of a cash cow. If you end up shafted, you can try to sue but usually the contracts will get as little attention as the gum under your shoe because you assume it will be okay when setting it up. (Companies on the other hand can't afford that, and pay people to read those contracts properly.) And what do you lose? Personal stuff monetary reimbursement cannot ever replace.

The Cloud sucks for consumers. I just hope people realize that before harddrives are outlawed for anything but a boot drive because it encourages piracy. (Yes, I just made that one up on the spot, but I dare you to deny that it is scarily well possible.)