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1526
Developer's Corner / Re: No .NET Framework, no problem!
« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 20, 2014, 12:20 PM »
An alternative is CrossOver:

http://www.codeweavers.com/products/

While I'm not entirely clear on how this related to the thread, it does look like it might be a real nice fit for a Windows software needed on a purely Mac OSX network issue that just got dropped into my lap last Friday.

Thanks!
1527
I didn't so much say not to try to solve people problems with technology as I said not to confuse or conflate a technical problem with a people problem. It's a small but important difference. You can always "solve" a people problem with technology through the simple expedient of using technology to eliminate "the people." There's been enough cases of deliberate genocide in the last thirty years to indicate it's becoming a popular option in some places.

I aware of the distinction, I was just having a bit of fun poking you with a stick. :D


I don't see "animal" instinct or cosmic levels of "evil" when I look at most of what is going on. What I do see is a lot of laziness, refusal to take responsibility, lack of civility, fear (as in angst), impatience, and sloppiness in our own behavior, and our behavior towards each other. I think we sometimes wish it were a "law of nature" that we be that way - because that would provide a convenient excuse for all sorts of bad behavior - and a justification for all sorts of pre-emptive and repressive responses on the part of those in power to prevent or mitigate them.

I'm not implying it is a copout/excuse for anything. I'm simply pointing out that the societal tendency as of late to sweep it under the carpet is destined to backfire.


So I don't think I'm glossing over bad behaviors or certain people's proclivity to indulge in them.

Didn't say you were ... But society is.


People do bad things. No argument from me on that point. But what I do disagree with is that any of this is beyond our personal ability to control when it comes to our own behavior. To say "it's human nature" means it can't be changed. And I don't see that. The human brain is like a piece of putty. People change their thinking all the time. And other people often change (or at least try to change it) for them.

...

So no...I don't think we're animals, or monsters, or rabid rabbits that need to be penned in and watched lest we all kill each other. I just think we get lazy, and tired, and impatient, and afraid - and we do counterproductive things to ourselves, and each other, as a result.

...And that result is a tendency to fall back to our baser instincts.


Here's the thing. You are equating "animal" with "Monster" ... Which has abso-freakin-loutly nothing to do with my usage of 'Animal'. Animals do not kill for sport, humans however do. And that is simply because of our delusion-ally arrogant assertion that we humans are somehow superior to these lessor beings ... So it's somehow ok. In the bad behavior department, humans are by far the stupidest parasitic infestation this planet has ever suffered.

Animals OTOH, have a much better understanding of the usage of a measured response when it comes to the fighting half of the fight of flight reflex. An animal will kill in defense of family, territory, or survival (e.g. food) and there is nothing wrong with that. As will we, except that in the interest of maintaining a thin veneer of civility we - or more specifically or leaders in power - will also concoct any manner of bullshit story to facilitate the necessity of pursuing things even farther for the purpose of more ... Not need...just more. An animal will break off the attack the instant the threat passes. Humans...OTOH...not so much.

Tomos actually nailed where I'm coming from with his assessment of society not scaling well. The larger a crowd of people becomes, the harder they are to keep on the same page. So more and more silly assed rules - like you can't walk your alligator in the town square - get enacted for the purpose of "maintaining order". And that's when the clic's start taking over the pecking order.

See you are trying to equate animal instinct with violence, I on the other hand am not. I'm speaking to the predatory nature that is so prevalent today in how power is badly wielded in all aspects of our sad joke of a civilized society. If you take a mans life in an alley, that's bad. But if you use a 900lb gorilla of a legal tiem to destroy a mans life with some bullshit trumped up patent trolling ... Well... *Shrug* ...That's just how the system works. Yet the predatory intent was the same. We just like to kid ourselves that we're - "Civilized"... - better than the other animals because we didn't leave a literal bloody carcass laying in the street after the fight.

How high are the bodies stacked due to some corporations desire to "protect" their shareholders? If the shareholders found out, would they  really care? ...You know...after the cameras were turned off.

In the AA they like to say that the first step is to admit that there is a problem. And we need to do that ... Instead of pretending that the predatory animal nature does not exist in the core of our being.
1528
Man! What an ugly world some of you are living in. Sure glad I don't live there!  ;D

That's life in the big city, the law of the jungle, life on the streets, or just me being wordy and pragmatic at the same time. You yourself have said not to try solving a people problem with technology ... And that too agrees with the other. Because the problem lies with the wanton desire to circumvent the system...not the system itself. Sure it's human nature to be curious and explore the limits. I just think it's incredibly foolish to keep trying to gloss over and ignore the existence of the predatory aspects of human nature.

Kind of like C. S. Lewis' famous quote:
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. Their very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be ‘cured’ against one’s will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals.
-C. S. Lewis

...Now why do you recon that keeps happening? Is/was it a flaw in the "system" ... Or maybe was it (human nature) just us?
1529
No. It's not so much people suck as they get weird - and do weird things - around money.

I don't think that it's money.  I think it's the same thing that everything has been rooted to before money even existed as a concept- power.  All else is just an expression of this.  Power corrupts- and all of the expressions of it also.

+1

+2 - I gotta go with wraith on the power corrupts/people suck assessment also. Humans are the most savage animal on the planet, we also suffer the most self-righteous desire to inflict our will on our surroundings. So regardless of how sophisticated a machination may be orchestrated - rules and guidelines get woven into ropes - by those in the know (e.g. control). Making it at its core (intent...) simple savagery as the weak get consumed to achieve a goal.
1530
Damn it Shades, now you got me started thinking about junkyard design options.

First of all, a domain would be your best bet. An old PC with a properly configured Untangle (or similar product) might do the trick as well.

This actually has potential, but I'll come back to that.

However, if macguyvering is your only option, you could think about the following concept and steps to take (fooling your users a bit).
Make a virtual LAN on your switch that is not allowed internet access. I do hope you have a DHCP server that "parks" every known and unknown computer/smartphone" in that virtual LAN. Then there should be a script available to anyone that should suggest it has to run to grant internet access. That script should then assign (hard-coded) IP numbers in a different subnet with internet access on a first come, first serve basis. With 20 or so users that shouldn't be too hard. This script should also disable HomeGroup (as 4wd has shown you) and whatever else you need/want.

Okay, bear with me as I play devil's advocate/hacker here. An isolated VLAN isn't going to stop devices from accessing a hot spot. The DHCP angle also goes up in smoke due to it only having the ability to control devices that ask it for an IP address. The problem child hotspot has DHCP capabilities too. Then there is the 20 users x how many devices x at least 2 NICs = how many MAC addresses needing to be tracked? *Shudder*

Here's the problem, even if you completely lock down all but one network adapter/path there still is one. And that one can be modified to do what ever someone wants it to (like connect to multiple networks) if they know how. Now the really horrific part is that if the don't know how and try to give it a go anyway ... And/or follow a "reasonably tech savvy" friends advice they could easily end up creating a vortex that sucks the entire network into the Chinese petting palace universe. This scenario -which I've seen play out many times - with local administrative rights is really the biggest danger IMO.

HomeGroup membership at this point actually becomes rather irrelevant when the thing you're really trying to block is the (technically completely unrelated because it is on a totally different layer of the OSI model) TCP/IP network connectivity to the internet.

But we're not totally screwed ... Yet!

Untangle is based on Linux and its web-interface makes management tasks quite easy.

Getting back to the gateway fortification method. If the users do actually need to be connected to the internal network to perform their jobs. We can leverage that in our favor with a wee bit of static routing based shenanigans.

Here's the thing. Have you ever encountered a Cisco VPC client install that was setup by a hyper paranoid asshole that blocked access to everything except the remote target network? It's both infuriating to troubleshoot...and - being ephemerally session based - exactly what we want. Because all you really need is a DHCP server that will toss in a few rather restrictive static routes, and nothing the users do or try will allow them to get to anything while they are on the company network because the IP routing table won't allow it. Sure they can connect to anything, within a first hop broadcast zone ... But any attempt to go past that will - via the routing table - auto-magically fail.

And ultimately that is really what is needed. An environment that will transparently allow them just enough room to realize that they have failed...so that they give up and go back to work.
1531
Living Room / Re: Looking for a 6U rackmount atx chassis.
« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 16, 2014, 05:53 PM »
This is for a gigging computer.

 :-\ Working with only a vague grasp of WTH that is...I'm going to guess that it doesn't really need to be in a rack ... Yes?

For quiet cooling of a portable machine I would recommend the exceptionally well made and durable Antec 900. I originally bought one about 8 years ago primarily because of the 200mm fan in the top of the case. I'm more than a little bit hung-up on the heat rises bit...so that appealed to me. And it has been running whisper quiet 24/7/365 for the past 8 years. The PSU goes in the bottom of the case and blows its heat outward so it isn't sharing heat with the CPU like most cases that cram them both into the top corner where heat rises to and airflow sucks.

It is a (full sized case) bit heavy, but worth it I think considering all of the fans have 3 position speed controls so you can have a large volume of slow moving air keeping things cool and a bit cleaner to since dust isn't getting vacuumed from across the room and packed into the components by tiny overworked high speed fans that are doing their best to over inflate the cabinet. :D
1532
Posting From Linux Lite running in Hyper-V on Windows 8.1

Linux Lite.jpg


...I can't really say I'm excited about it, but it does at least run. It also appears to have some native provision for the Hyper-V extensions as it's not capturing the mouse and forcing me to break it out with a hot-key when I transition from guest to host.

 :Thmbsup:
1533
Living Room / Re: Animal Friends thread
« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 15, 2014, 03:11 PM »
"As it should be", but far from all cats do that. A whole lot of them just go "ho hum, look, it's a burglar. I think I am going back to sleep now."

Yes...but that's not the same thing. A burglar isn't going to be perceived as a threat to the cat (or the cat's "family"), unless the burglar steps on the cat's tail (or tries to swipe the kibble dish). But when a member of ones perceived inner circle is being eaten alive ... Well, that tends to elicit a bit more direct response.
1534
Living Room / Re: Animal Friends thread
« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 15, 2014, 11:43 AM »
She's very laid back and tolerant of the kid.  Makes it all the more amazing to see her run in and launch herself at the dog in the first video

No it doesn't. Animals are generally tolerant of those that they have bonded with. It's their way of acknowledging a family unit. Now if a member of that bonded family is threatened - since they don't suffer any of the idiotic societal notions we people have concocted - the response, quite predictably, is and will be sudden, hostile, and without warning ... As it should be.
1535
Brraaaiiinnnsss... Tehehe Zombie humor. love it!
1536
Find And Run Robot / Re: Running Windows 8.1 apps
« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 13, 2014, 03:40 PM »
I'm thinking the Windows Apps (sandboxed) isolation is an intentional/integral part of the design that isn't supposed to be accessible from the desktop. This is why all the 'How to access the Windows Apps directory' tutorials involve modifying permissions on the C:\Program Files\WindowsApps directory.

I could be wrong, I'm just thinking out loud here. But I do seem to recall mention of loosening up the access restrictions between the two "worlds" in future versions of 8.1 in update 2 (I think).
1537
I remember at one restaurant someone mentioned his background saying it like "porch chew geese."  This provoked the mechanic to sit at their table and lecture them that the proper reference was "port a gee" phonetically.

While I have heard that before - having been raised in the south... - I usually pronounce it closer to the first way (por cha geese).

But then again I also use both lollygagging and gallivanting quite frequently ... I have a rather confused heritage.
1538
Can I get ^that^ in poster size for my office?
1539
I see only two ways to do this, with a domain, and the wrong way.

You will waste an excruciating amount of time trying to duct tape 3rd party solutions together in an attempt to gain control. A domain based solution OTOH would be comparably cheap if you look at the long term cost savings in just man hours of administrative overhead alone.

Yes, I'm admittedly biased ... But it's based on experience. ;)
1540
Living Room / Re: Apple Patents Making You SHUT UP!
« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 13, 2014, 06:43 AM »
Okay, so the next question is when are they going to start farming out the remote burn functionality built into smart phones? It works regardless of whether or not the phone has access to a carrier so it can be transmitted over a local WiFi network, and it erases everything on the phone. It dovetails with the above as a nice backstop for those times when the curtain doesn't go up quite fast enough..
1541
40, thanks for the advice.  One reason I'm thinking the next class I take should be Conversational Spanish is that it can be a deal killer if you no habla Espanole around Miami.

Excellent point, I'm like 200+ miles north of you in central FL and the need for Spanish here is becoming increasingly apparent. Which is a bit embarrassing for me considering that I'm half Portuguese and can't speak a word of it. *Shrug* I just tell people that yes, I'm Hispanic...but I'm not any good at it.
1542
General Software Discussion / Re: Are Recovery Disks Brand Specific?
« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 12, 2014, 03:47 PM »
They probably only really gave it significant mention in the partner channel communiques. (And I don't get those any more.)

But I do ... And have no recollection of its mention. However  there is a good bit of pompoms oriented signal to noise ratio in there too.


I do have a tendency to reflexively gloss past certain - draconian corporate - terms that conflict with my definition of fair use...
-Stoic Joker (May 12, 2014, 01:48 PM)

Yup. And I'm sure they're hoping most people will continue to do just that... :-\

Because the devil is in the details. And the rabbit punches and "liver jabs" are often found in the fine print. Usually somewhere halfway down on page 88 of 173. :tellme:

Primary detail IMO is how practical is it to actually have an attorney available to read, decipher, and explain the nonsense contained in the average EULA. Nobody in the SOHO/SMB space has the time or money for that. And I don't have a law degree, so I'm not about to try understanding the inane level of doublespeak contained therein.

- The party of the first participle shall for all eternity henceforth and forthwith be subject to all covenants not to be confined only to the herein but also to include that which is felt to be subject to any and all implied whims of the holding issuer -

Not to mention the chronically reserved right to change the content at any future point to retroactively apply to the signature acceptance of button clicking back when. So I prefer to reserve the right to error on the side of the client regarding what is to be considered fair and reasonable usage.

My 25 words or less rule you see, is strictly enforced. ;)
1543
General Software Discussion / Re: Are Recovery Disks Brand Specific?
« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 12, 2014, 01:48 PM »
Well, shit. I never generally pay much attention to news about HP, as most of it's marketing crap and I figure if it's really that important they'll tell us. But this would have been handy to know back before the deadline so a few things could have been saved while still accessible. :-\

...Then again I could have just missed it. I do have a tendency to reflexively gloss past certain - draconian corporate - terms that conflict with my definition of fair use... That and I make it a policy not to trust anyone that uses terms like synergistic fiscal lubrication.

But thus is the appeal of the dark side, where things really do just work...because that's the way they were made - or remade as the case may by.
1544
General Software Discussion / Re: Are Recovery Disks Brand Specific?
« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 12, 2014, 11:46 AM »
And there's also a new issue that may become problematic down the road. HP has started a new policy of restricting free and open access to driver and BIOS updates for their servers. If you don't have a support subscription - no driver downloads for you! It will be interesting to see if other manufacturers follow suit - or if the practice spreads to desk and laptop models.

 :huh: ...Are you talking about this error popping up on a driver search??
HP DL Error.jpg

I've been running across it for a year or so, but generally found it to be an erroneous error that basically implied either the search was bad, or the site was flaking out (again..). Given that HP's site is always flaking out somewhere to some degree...the latter was the most popular assumption.

HP is also notoriously touchy about which number you use to lookup a device. If I try typing in ProLiant DL380, I get a bunch of scattered older generation stuff that is useless. If I try to be more specific and type ProLiant DL380 G8, I get one useless result for a riser card. However if I type in the (much preferred...) HP part number 670853-S01 what I'm after then magically appears with no restrictions. But HP has always been a bit funny that way.

Or did you read something else that said they were instating a policy shift? Dumping driver download onto the support staff sounds like a great way to inspire a revolt to me.

I'm just curious, because I've heard nothing about this ... And you'd think that kind of think would get mentioned in the news letter...Ya know?
1545
Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"
« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 10, 2014, 07:29 AM »
AV's new roll in IT
-Stoic Joker (May 08, 2014, 07:13 AM)

roll or role?   Don't take it hard. Be stoic.
-Arizona Hot (May 09, 2014, 08:03 PM)

Shit ... I was thinking dice roll/crapshoot and tripped over the fact I can't spell worth a damn. :D

Oh wait, I'm supposed to be 'stoic'... :-| ...Better?
1546
Just to emphasize something: Many of us on this thread are fans of using multiple partitions for the OS and data, etc. when you have a large drive (or putting them on different physical drives).  It's just that when you have a small hard drive like this, the downsides far outweigh any upsides.

+1 - Quite true. For an OS the size of XP on an 80GB drive I'd cut it into my usual 3 partitions for OS, current workspace, and long term storage. But for OS's the size of Vista/7/8 80GB just ain't enough room to play with once you start adding a few largish applications. Hell at the Office I had a 84GB OS partition on my workstation. It seemed like plenty of room years ago when I first set it up with a clean load of Vista. But towards the end it got really cramped trying to fit everything in that tiny space.
1547
Third vote for a onesie! :D

...If you think splitting it is scary...wait till it overflows and you got to put it back together with zero free space (eek!).

One is safer.

Now if you just can't resist...(some folks enjoy danger)...shrink C: first, and then add the data part.
1548
People need to not be so eager to put their life stories on the internet. Your facebook is the easiest possible way to have your identity stolen, because anyone can get the info they need to social engineer their way into your accounts from it.
-SeraphimLabs (May 08, 2014, 01:04 PM)

+1 - I swear it's like some kind of drug or something. I have a FaceBook account that I setup under a pseudonym about a year ago, just to see if I could. I never did anything with it; no pictures; no profile; no content. I just checked it...and I have 7 friend requests. Seriously??

...Are they trying to draw me out of my shell or something??

Zoiks.
1549
Developer's Corner / Re: T-Clock 2010 x64 timer countdown
« Last post by Stoic Joker on May 08, 2014, 12:24 PM »
When a timer is set it will get added to the T-Clock Timers menu. Clicking on the timer will bring up the timer watch window, where you can watch multiple running timers. They can also be canceled or just removed from the watch window by highlighting them and pressing the delete button on the keyboard.
1550
...
-Stoic Joker (May 08, 2014, 06:54 AM)

I guess I am a bit confused. As a feeble student of the magician's art of misdirection, you'd want at least two cracks at a "mark's" password and def looking at hands on the keyboard rather than the screen. So since very little software I've seen actually displays the password as you type it, depending how fast they are, you're guessing if the approx letters they are typing coalesce into a word, or if they are of the "d6keLr#" variety.

Of all the weird security concerns out there, shoulder surfing for passwords hasn't been one of mine. Either I get my back to a wall in a net cafe, or else suspecting co-workers leads down spirals of paranoia.

I hear ya man, it's not one of my top ten either ... But it does come in oh so very handy every now and then..

(an example)
You're on site to do a job for a client that centers around a anal-retentive user that doesn't wish to share their password with you (even though you're there to resolve their issue). It truly is astonishing how many people will happily give you complete unsupervised access to their machine (And. Its. Data...) for service...but will then staunchly refuse to share the password - including a temporary one... - for "security reasons".

The resolution requires frequently rebooting the computer as various configurations are tested...and the user keeps wandering off, so you end up wasting most of the diagnostic time tracking their silly ass down to get logged back into the machine.

They of course quickly get pissy about the game because you are rudely interrupting their screw off time with your constant nonsensical need to get the friggin job done.

Play time is now over. :D

First pass objective is first character, key count, and last character.
Second pass objective is second character, and another crack at last character (if missed on previous step).
etcetera... ;)

At all points the sum total of hand movements and locations are taken into consideration for the purpose of ascertaining what if any numbers, special characters, and capitols are used (helps with word guessing too). Close attention is to be paid to the shift keys, and for a quick make'em type it twice bonus caps lock can be pressed before they get to the keyboard.

Carefully worded casual conversation about key items (like pictures) on their desk can also help yield clues to what the target password might be.
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