Recent Posts

1601

General Software Discussion / Re: Deduplication, encryption, security and... Dropbox

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 17, 2011, 05:10 PM »

But if the data is supposed to be encrypted by a private key ...

1602

General Software Discussion / Re: Deduplication, encryption, security and... Dropbox

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 17, 2011, 03:34 PM »

Who are the 'executive staff' andc how do they bypass their own security system?

1603

Developer's Corner / Re: A very good (and free) captcha class in PHP (Recommendation)

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 16, 2011, 02:38 PM »

Lists are easily broken if they are in common use - but how about  individual lists designed for a specific website?

You could have a long list of very stupid questions like:

what colour is blue grass?

To a human the answer is obvios but not to a computer. If that question appears on one website how long is it going to take a bot to crack it?

If the website is not intended to be for locals only then you cold ask very specific questions that only locals can answer.

1604

Developer's Corner / Re: A very good (and free) captcha class in PHP (Recommendation)

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 16, 2011, 12:13 PM »

Rather than using annoying captchas why not have a random general knowledge question from a list. Choose one word answer questions that anyone with half a brain knows the answer to but bots can't do. Helps the visually impaired than because they can use a screen reader to work out what is required!

1605

Living Room / Re: Salaries of Charity CEOs

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 15, 2011, 03:03 AM »

But this does not mean that no money is required for the internal/external upkeep. You would not believe (no pun intended) the cost involved to keep those old buildings standing. And how much the work of the required level of expertise in masonry/woodworking/metalworking costs nowadays.

-Shades (April 14, 2011, 01:51 PM)

That's all very true BUT there is also a huge amount of wealth inside the church (beyond the buildings and land) - esp. the Roman Catholic Church which has billions in art treasures.

Personally I think all the old buildings should be given to communities to use for community purposes (then there would be a reason for people to pay to maintain the buildings). The point of the church is (or at least should be) religious belief - not land and building management. They can always rent a hall for services and then focus on what is important rather than fund raising for ancient stones.

1606

Living Room / Re: Thoughts on switching to IPv6

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 12, 2011, 07:08 PM »

It's going to be interesting to see what happens to ISPs that hand out free routers (like most of them in the UK). If they suddenly have to provide their whole infrastructure with new routers there will be a lot of bankruptcies but if they don't offer free routers there will either be a massive shift around ISPs by customers looking for a freebie or all ISPs will have to start charging!

I see BT is now releasing BTHomeHub version 3 to new customers but they want existing customers to cough up £46 for a less feature rich router and no it doesn't seem to be IPv6 compat. - surprising really! If I am going to spend £46 on a router I will buy something a bit better than that offering.

1607

Developer's Corner / Re: Partial (corrupted) downloads from a server (Not a valid win32 application etc)

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 12, 2011, 06:50 PM »

Just tried http://carrolld.dcme...craft/2011-04-07.png in IE8, Firefox 3.6.16, Chrome, Opera and Safari and it loaded in each with no problem.

I have to say I have come across this problem before with client machines that won't complete downloads but I have often found other machines download them fine - even on the same WiFi network.

It's strange and I have never found an acceptable answer to the problem.

Could it be something to do with faulty caching at ISPs when it is a more general problem?

1608

General Software Discussion / Re: How Apple “Lost” the PC Wars

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 08, 2011, 11:25 AM »

Never read such a biased bunch of tosh in my life.

Apple’s computers are simply ridiculously good compared to its rivals

Says it all really!

Original machines from Apple (including Apple II which was recognised as a good machine) were all "also-rans" in the market place at the time. All the machines produced around that time were pretty mediocre - esp. with the benefit of hindsight!

1609

General Software Discussion / Re: Why I was wrong about Microsoft (by Glyn Moody)

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 08, 2011, 05:07 AM »

I find all this fairly hilarious.

MS themselves are one of the biggest patent infringers of all time:

DOS was a rip off (literally ripped off and tweaked for a rush job for IBM)
Windows as we know it was an amalgam of ideas from Mac, GEM, RiscOS and Xerox operating systems. Almost nothing that MS have added over the years has had any innovation - generally they steal someone else's idea, claim a patent and then sue the originator on patent infringement grounds if they have the temerity to use their own ideas for commercial gain (or even in not for profit settings!).

Apple are no better - all they have done in latest MacOS is add a skin to an exiting operating system, early versions owe a lot in look and feel to Gem and Xerox

Both of them developed 'style guides' for user interfaces to add consistency to the user interface and not only do neither adhere to their own style guide they end up suing anyone else who uses it on the basis of 'look and feel'.

When are people going to call their bluff and point out that really there is nothing new under the sun.

My only regret is that Alan Turing isn't alive today as he proved mathematically that all computers (however large and complex) are all functionally equivalent to a "Turing Machine". If he had patented it and sued MS and Apple tactics he would now wipe the flaw with all computer manufacturers.

1610

General Software Discussion / Re: Buying/installing/experiencing Adobe - PIA

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 07, 2011, 06:51 AM »

The only problem you might have is if the serial number is geocoded and you might not be able to activate the software from a UK IP. You could always use a US proxy to activate the product.

It breaks the distribution policy for sellers to sell outside the US but it is not illegal to buy a copy in the US and then bring it home with you - which is effectively what youa re doing if you get it sent to your sisters house and she sends it to you!

1611

Living Room / Re: Please kill me now - just bought an iPad off of eBay

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 06, 2011, 07:37 AM »

nudone on form as usual - you must have a contract for reselling your unwanted eBay purchases

1612

Living Room / Re: Please kill me now - just bought an iPad off of eBay

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 05, 2011, 11:31 AM »

i've just pulled the muscles in my back by reaching to plug the iPad into the mains power.

-nudone (April 05, 2011, 05:49 AM)

I should start a class action quick - obviously the iPad is not designed properly!

1613

General Software Discussion / Re: Ever Have a Download Site Blow You Away?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 05, 2011, 06:37 AM »

I agree that tricking and scamming is the only way to make money out of advertising (which is why I hate advertising).

Being deliberately deceptive does nothing to improve your relation with customers though. You might make a few dollars but you are hardly likely to attract a loyal customer base and you are highly likely to piss off many people in the process.

It doesn't alter the fact that Google allows its ad users to abuse their own policies and systems and the only way to stop that happening (unfortunately) is to police all clicks via their ads in a more aggressive manner and ban people from using Google Ads if they abuse the system.

Given that will cost a lot of money Google has the option to enforce a system such as I suggested which would also solve the problem.

Ironically I am much more likely to respond to advertising when I am not being scammed than when I feel tricked.

Trickery has two effects on me:

1) I don't purchase items I am scammed into looking at
2) I avoid websites that scam me into looking at things.

This behaviour on websites is no more moral or acceptable than pure email spammers - it is precisely what they are doing.

I have just got off the phone to a client who has been scammed by a telephone call "from Microsoft" about how her computer is infected. She even let the caller use LogMeIn to access her computer (stupid yes - but I have come across this scam on more than one occasion). Using the argument above is similar to saying that it is OK for people to run a 'business' like this because it is the only way they can make money! Actually what they are doing is illegal - but really what is the difference.

One of the most common problems I am fixing these days is fake antivirus. As far as I can tell most of these seem to come from exactly the method you think is reasonable - ie. people clicking on misleading and undisclosed adverts (often Google Ads too).

1614

Living Room / Re: Please kill me now - just bought an iPad off of eBay

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 04, 2011, 03:59 PM »

Why not buy one from the US eBay then? They can't be charging over $100 for postage and most sellers will mark it as a gift.

1615

General Software Discussion / Re: Ever Have a Download Site Blow You Away?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 04, 2011, 08:06 AM »

@iphigenie

That screenshot is pretty damning...

-Renegade (April 03, 2011, 12:40 PM)

Actually I think that screenshot is less damning - at least the first thing on the page is "your download will start shortly" and there is a clear direct link if it fails to start. The Webroot Ad is clearly an advert and has a clear statement to that effect at the top of it.

I find other download sites more difficult to defend (including the one promoted by this thread) when it is difficult to actually find the download link you are looking for and large "Download" buttons head you off to different products obscured behind huge google ad links without any warning.

At least SourceForge are up front about their advertising and it is very clear what is going on. Whether you like the companies who sponsor them or not is a matter of opinion (and with WebRoot I agree with your assessment) but at least I know it is a sponsored ad - and actually I have heard of WebRoot as a company. On Softoxi they are pushing disguised ads and I don't even know who is really behind them.

Actually maybe google should step up to the challenge - how hard would it be to put up a page after the link saying "you are now being directed to a sponsored link - if you prefer to go back click here" which would at least let people know they are being driven to a fund raising partner site rather than what you are actually looking for. Google shou;d make something like this part of Google Ads as standard as it would also force websites using Google Ads to be clear that the link is a Google Ad as pissed off people won't allow the click to go on and they won't get their income from the link!

1616

Living Room / Re: Please kill me now - just bought an iPad off of eBay

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 04, 2011, 04:28 AM »

I love it - now I'll have to get an iPad - just to turn it into an Etch-a-Sketch.

Now all we need is someone to get the dials to work the way they did on the e-a-s 

1617

Living Room / Re: Please kill me now - just bought an iPad off of eBay

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 04, 2011, 03:43 AM »

In the meantime I'll just put the iPad in a brown paper bag when I'm using it so that no one sees me. If anyone asks what I'm doing I'll just say I'm stroking a deceased rat or something.

-nudone (April 04, 2011, 02:22 AM)

Why not go one stage further ... spray the case black and put a Linux sticker over the Apple - then everyone will think you are cool!

Seriously - the comparison between Apple and its products and the explosion in coffee based drinks is very good. Call something latte and you can charge 3 times the price for it as a coffee with milk ... call someting an iThing and ...

You only have to look at other brands such as the BBC in the UK who think it is cool to have iPlayer ... I'm amazed Apple haven't sued them yet.

1618

Living Room / Re: Please kill me now - just bought an iPad off of eBay

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 03, 2011, 05:46 PM »

And of course once you have an idea it has to be done yesterday  

Why not wait 6 months? There will be at least three more generations to choose from by then and iPad version 1  will be down to 50p as the white box brigade scrabble and queue for version 5. Version 5 will come in an even whiter box that is so minimal you have to send it back to Apple to open it for you (only $99 for service plus packaging and VAT). It will have a prettier picture of an Apple on the back with an audible subliminal message to send all your money to Jobo. One of the newest features will be that it doesn't work at all unless you hold it 143 cm from the ground and titled to 27.3 degrees to the horizontal - unless you fit an expensive gel jacket to it - but then you can't touch the screen, a new security feature).

1619

Living Room / Re: Please kill me now - just bought an iPad off of eBay

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 03, 2011, 04:42 PM »

Personally I am not in the least surprised with you penchant for buying all sorts of crap off eBay - let's hope this toy at least works

1620

General Software Discussion / Re: Ever Have a Download Site Blow You Away?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 02, 2011, 08:58 AM »

Haven't looked at that specific page/product you mentioned but personally after looking at a few other products I find the site to be as confusing and badly laid out as most download sites, and none of the products had the features you described. (Actually I did find a video link in tiny print after scouring the page for a while).

I find it particularly irksome when I see large prominent download buttons that are linked to a totally different product and the actual download you are looking for is less than obvious.

Here is a typical page I found ...

I can see download links to numerous other products (most obviously AVS Video Converter which is the standout link on the page) but where is the actual link for Peony Converter ??? Is it behind the blue button with the less than transparent URL:

http://googleads.g.d...v2b-b1/gppc&nm=3

I don't really feel inclined to click it to find out ...


No it isn't it is an insignificant little link in the middle of everything else that takes you to a page with an irritating visual captcha box!

Strikes me the whole reason for the site is to get as much revenue from google ads as possible (mostly by accident because it isn't always clear where the link is actually going) whilst making it difficult to find the actual download you are looking for.

1621

General Software Discussion / Re: Can't wait for Flash to die!

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 27, 2011, 10:14 PM »

I'd rather have Flash than anything Apple comes up with - look at the hell and bloat iTunes causes on Windows boxes!!!

Apple only produce stuff for Apple and seem to go out of their way to make sure that on any other platform it works badly, crashes, doesn't follow style and design guidelines and is basically a total PITA. Add to that all the DRM they will throw into it and ...

Flash needs to go but personally I think an open source HTML based solution is the answer and if HTML 5 can do all that is required why bother adding more crap to browsers?

The biggest problem is that it will take 50+ years to make all the Flash based websites compliant with new browsers and the only way to ensure it happens is to make new browsers incompatible with silly pointless add-ins.

1622

General Software Discussion / Re: which is the best free virtualization software?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 19, 2011, 04:10 PM »

Probably if you legally own another copy of the hardware...

-Renegade (March 08, 2011, 03:24 AM)

Probably got clauses that you have to send the hardware back to Apple to get it installed/upgraded and then they wipe your data and send back a reconditioned machine.

All those people who do their own installation/updates are probably illegal ... and I bet if you reinstall from clean at any point you probably have to buy a new machine 

1623

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 18, 2011, 04:45 PM »

Here you go Carol: just hit "Alt + Shift +Control + S" and you can toggle between the dark interface and the light interface from Xara 5 and earlier...

-Darwin (March 18, 2011, 12:46 PM)

Thanks - I'll try that when I get home.

1624

Living Room / Re: England Is Grinding To A Halt.

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 11, 2011, 03:40 AM »

(see attachment in previous post)

-Stephen66515 (March 10, 2011, 07:54 PM)

Isn't that David Cameron?

On a serious note it always make me laugh when you hear people in London complaining about public transport!

London is one of the few places in the UK that actually have a public transport system. Whenever I visit London I use the public transport system (I may drive to somewhere within reach and then take the Tube into the city). Having driven in London in the past no one in their right mind would choose to do so now.

Personally I have always found the Tube pretty efficient and my experiences haven't been any more smelly or dirty than public transport anywhere else.

I know that Londoner's generally don't believe there is anyone or anything outside the M25 but they should try getting a bus outside the city.

To my mind the only place that ever got public transport right was Sheffield in the 80s. One fixed, and very low (IIRC it was 10p), price for all journeys and frequent buses/trams everywhere. It took Margaret Thatcher's style of fanaticism (not to mention fascism) to kill off Sheffield's public transport system.

1625

Living Room / Re: England Is Grinding To A Halt.

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 10, 2011, 03:47 AM »

The trouble in the UK is that they raise tax to cut car use in overcrowded cities (at least that is what they say - right?) but where do you get the cheapest fuel? In the cities of course where public transport is most abundant. In rural areas where there is almost no public transport in many areas the fuel price get an extra mark up because of the inability to sell in large quantities.

To give an idea of how silly public transport can get a number of years ago I had a job interview in Bradford and they agreed to pay for transport costs to attend on the basis that they would only support public transport costs - not private car. To get to the interview from where I live is about a 50 minute drive but to use public transport would have taken 3 days and 2 overnights in a hotel. Needless to say they agreed to pay private car mileage when I pointed this out.

I remember years ago turning up at a rural bus stop to see that a bus was dues in about 20 minutes - I felt very fortunate because it was raining really hard. Lucking at the timetable I realised just how lucky I was as that particular route only ran once a day but only  on the first Tuesday of the calendar month and only between May and October each year. I happened to turn up on the first Tuesday in May, 20 minutes before it was due. WTF kind of public transport is that - and is it any wonder that the bus was empty apart from me and the driver!!

With all the local government cuts this year  local authorities are now clamouring to remove the burden of public transport subsidies on non-profitable routes. Where I live (in a remote rural area) this means they will be cutting ALL non-profitable bus routes in the evenings and at weekends (in other words for most people it means there will be no buses after 6pm or before7.30am, and none at all on Saturdays and Sundays). For many people who travel long distance to get to limited work opportunities they won't be able to get to work or home from work by public transport as they will arrive outside the hours. You have three options: drive, scrounge lifts off neighbours and friends or become housebound (walking and bicycles are not an option - esp. in winter).

For those of us with cars public transport is so stupid that even taking into account ridiculous fuel costs, wear and tear and exorbitant parking costs it is still usually cheaper to use a car on your own than to catch a train (unless you plan your journey 3 months in advance!). And trains are so unreliable it is often the only way to guarantee you get there at all.

I know of a number of people who for various reasons cannot drive (either age or disability) and they will effectively be unable to go out of their home outside office hours.

We are supposed to live in a liberal democracy - but who the heck voted for this sort of idiocy - no one because neither party in the coalition even hinted it was their intention.