Recent Posts

176

General Software Discussion / Why I stand up for Stallman

« Last post by zridling on November 04, 2011, 12:22 PM »

Nice pieces by Jack Schofield and another by Dave Winer that get attention earlier this week:

"Stallman set out to write a free clone of Unix, single-handed, in 1983, and wrote the free Emacs editor, GNU C compiler and debugger and other programs -- a prodigious feat. He also founded the Free Software Foundation, and developed the GPL (GNU Public Licence) under which a great deal of free and open source software is released. GNU and the GPL have been hugely influential, and in this context, complaining about the fact that (say) Stallman likes parrots is ridiculously small-minded and conformist. Harmless eccentricities should be celebrated, not disallowed."


________________________________________
Leave Richard Stallman alone
by Jack Schofield
http://www.zdnet.co....lman-alone-10024721/

Why I stand up for Stallman
by Dave Winer
http://scripting.com...ndUpForStallman.html

177

Living Room / Siri in a year [humor]

« Last post by zridling on October 30, 2011, 11:26 AM »

Siri in a year


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178

Living Room / Re: Stupid Murderers and Computer Search Histories =D

« Last post by zridling on October 28, 2011, 01:59 PM »

Casey Anthony got away with it. All this tech has ruined the detective TV genre. Columbo don't need no stinkin' DNA, he'll just bug you until you confess!

179

Living Room / Re: Google Publishes Government Take Down Requests

« Last post by zridling on October 28, 2011, 01:56 PM »

Only crooked cops hate to be taped, yet in many parts of the US it is a felony to tape a cop doing his job. "If they have nothing to hide...."

180

Living Room / Re: Apple Patents Unlocking Touchscreen

« Last post by zridling on October 28, 2011, 01:55 PM »

All the more reason the public should have a voice and vote on patents before they're approved. I figure Jobs probably submitted 10,000 more patents before he died, among them "air," and "finger."

181

General Software Discussion / Re: personal favourites start page

« Last post by zridling on October 28, 2011, 01:49 PM »

I created this type of page, which I've revised a lot since. Very simple and includes every good link I need for reference, banking, photos, tech, et al.:
https://www.donation...ex.php?topic=21530.0

182

Living Room / Re: Apple Patents Unlocking Touchscreen

« Last post by zridling on October 27, 2011, 12:46 AM »

Apple will soon be nothing more than a lawsuit factory (wait, it already is!). And they still attack people for their unlawful interpretation of their Apple trademark. This is the same company who used the Beatles' record label name and is now running around the entire globe suing anyone using any form of apple logo in their business. Here's the German cafe story from this week:
http://www.techdirt....ll-german-cafe.shtml

183

Living Room / Re: Albany City & NY State Police refuse orders to arrest peaceful protestors

« Last post by zridling on October 27, 2011, 12:41 AM »

The Shocking, Graphic Data That Shows Exactly What Motivates the Occupy Movement
http://www.alternet....movement?page=entire

____________________________________________

Oh, there won't be any EU or anything else in 50 years worth of time - we'll all be Chinamen by then, so no worries. I don't plan on sticking around for that long anyway

-f0dder (October 26, 2011, 02:54 PM)

I turned 50 yesterday, which means I'm living on free time from here out. The sooner I check out, the easier life gets from here on. I'm one of the very few people I know who doesn't want to live forever. The planet just added its 7 billionth person this week and that's too damn many people belching, farting, and texting.

184

Living Room / Re: Albany City & NY State Police refuse orders to arrest peaceful protestors

« Last post by zridling on October 26, 2011, 02:33 AM »

The Albany District Attorney was on TV Monday evening saying, "If the people can't peacefully assemble without being harassed, then democracy is a sham." He also pointed out that the state courts' dockets are full and don't need another 2000-12000 cases for legal assembly.*
_________________
This hasn't stopped every city in the country from establishing labyrinthine -- and virtually secret (even the cops can't interpret them correctly) -- permit policies that trick and trap protesters at every turn.

185

Living Room / Common Hiding Places for Passwords

« Last post by zridling on October 24, 2011, 08:58 PM »

Yep. via LifeHacker.


http://lifehacker.co...-workplace-passwords
____________________________
When I was an IT admin, I had the pleasure of dealing often with people who would submit urgent service requests and then leave for the day, leaving their office empty and computer locked by the time I could get there to help. Fortunately, I was often able to fix their problem while they weren't there. Why? Their password was somewhere on their desk in one of these easy-to-find locations.

186

General Software Discussion / Re: The Glorious Return of Shell Extension City

« Last post by zridling on October 24, 2011, 12:39 PM »

Man, haven't heard from that site in years. They win "Comeback of the Year" award.

187

Living Room / Re: What happens after a Cloud changes Types?

« Last post by zridling on October 24, 2011, 12:17 PM »

It's not lock-in, but Google is using a velvet rope approach to luring you to use their expanded services. That's why they let you take your data with you, and that's good, assuming the next cloud service will allow you to upload it. It's also best to have at least two google/gmail/plus accounts, for when one gets hacked. (And it's free backup.)

188

Living Room / Re: Wikileaks says financial 'blockade' could put it out of business

« Last post by zridling on October 24, 2011, 12:11 PM »

...Guess we know who's really in-charge now, huh?

-Stoic Joker (October 24, 2011, 11:35 AM)

So true. In case you missed this article everywhere online last week:
http://boingboing.ne...ds-total-wealth.html

189

Living Room / Re: Newb - Question about monitoring activity on a network

« Last post by zridling on October 21, 2011, 02:28 PM »

I'm a linux guy, wouldn't know. You might try unplugging the PS3 and see who whines the loudest! 

190

Living Room / Re: Newb - Question about monitoring activity on a network

« Last post by zridling on October 21, 2011, 09:16 AM »

First, tell us which operating system you're using. Then let's go from there.    (and if you're using Windows, which version)

191

General Software Discussion / Re: Google+ Extensions thread

« Last post by zridling on October 20, 2011, 05:46 AM »

Various groups of people who are in Shared Circles on G+:
https://docs.google....E&hl=en_US#gid=0

192

Living Room / Re: Wow: Google insider explains why Big G may lose the Internet wars

« Last post by zridling on October 19, 2011, 12:03 PM »

The only thing G+ needs in my opinion is a way to save articles to read for later, a la Read it Later or InstaPaper; though I can click through on the ones that are link sharing, sometimes there's something directly on G+ that I want to read later.

-wraith808 (October 19, 2011, 11:36 AM)

Create a circle, name it .Save (".Read Later," ".Keep These," or whatever) with a period at the beginning so that it will show up first. Copy yourself to that circle. Then simply 'share' those posts you want to revisit later. (Although it'd be nice if there were a button for this. I think there's an extension, but I didn't try it.)

193

Living Room / Re: Wow: Google insider explains why Big G may lose the Internet wars

« Last post by zridling on October 14, 2011, 11:51 AM »

I personally have to give him credit. Having worked for Fortune 500 (and in once case Fortune #5) for a number of years, I can appreciate the balls it took to call it like he saw it - even if it was intended for internal consumption. I've seen guys with 20 years in (and a family to support) escorted out through personnel with pink slip in hand for saying less while in a closed staff meeting.

-40hz (October 13, 2011, 06:48 PM)

Indeed, and to Google's credit. Trick is, if they want to keep guys like Steve Yegge, they need to listen to him, not just nod and walk away. I worked for one [wealthy NASDAQ] company for years and watched them escort the best people out the door for merely wanting to modernize the code, the UI, documentation, etc. It was a ugly situation. Now, no one will work for them unless they're highly overpaid. Usually corporations don't suffer karma!

194

Living Room / Re: Wow: Google insider explains why Big G may lose the Internet wars

« Last post by zridling on October 13, 2011, 08:24 AM »

Yegge makes some very good points, and while many journalists thought this inflammatory, I thought it was helpful. In any company/corp./organization big enough, you're going to have large differences, and this is a good one. That he felt secure enough to air this out and not get fired tells me something about the company. Now only if they'd listen. Essentially he's saying, let's build a foundation and stop with all the neat new widgets we're throwing at the wall and seeing what sticks. You want an 'ecosystem'? Then you need a proper platform on which to build it.

195

Living Room / Re: Angry birds in the wild

« Last post by zridling on October 13, 2011, 08:20 AM »

Oh that's good, ath, real good! 

196

Living Room / Angry birds in the wild

« Last post by zridling on October 10, 2011, 01:05 PM »

These are some pissed off birds. Or maybe they just have indigestion, I don't know.
http://laughingsquid...y-birds-in-the-wild/

197

Living Room / Re: Steve Jobs is dead.

« Last post by zridling on October 10, 2011, 04:13 AM »

Sing on, RMS:
http://www.muktware.com/news/2618

198

General Software Discussion / TOP 25 MOST POPULAR CHROME EXTENSIONS AND APPS FOR GOOGLE PLUS

« Last post by zridling on October 10, 2011, 03:13 AM »

TOP 25 MOST POPULAR CHROME EXTENSIONS AND APPS FOR GOOGLE PLUS
https://plus.google....27/posts/9b1oBPGxZm5
These are the most used extensions and apps dedicated to G+. No doubt some are redundant.

1. Extended Share (75,616 users) - http://goo.gl/mijZv
Extends Google+ to share to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and many more.

2. +Photo Zoom (60,487 users) - http://goo.gl/rHIEP
Easily zoom photos and profile pics from your Google Plus Stream.

3. Facebook Friend Exporter (51,651 users) - http://goo.gl/MFNy3
Get your data contact out of Facebook to Google Contacts or CSV, whether they want you to or not.

4. Scroll To Top Button (41,868 users) - http://goo.gl/1KFqm
Adds a scroll to top or bottom button.

5. Replies and more for G+ (39,957 users) - http://goo.gl/Zv8WJ
Adds reply and reply-to-author buttons to Google+ comments and a number of other enhancements.

6. Surplus (37,774 users) - http://goo.gl/vRlPE
Google Plus Integration for Chrome

7. G+me (35,532 users) - http://goo.gl/JgR2Z
Collapses the Google+ stream while keeping live updates: collapses posts, hides comments, etc.

8. Google Translate for G+ (26,898 users) - http://goo.gl/PjSrQ
Translate your Google+ stream using integrated, inline, Google Translate support.

9. Usability Boost for G+ (26,301 users) - http://goo.gl/CLnUG
Greatly improves readability on Google Plus, ability to star posts to read later and some other useful features

10. Google+ Ultimate (16,759 users) - http://goo.gl/Q6xd3
This extension for Google Plus adds functionatility and themeing for the site.

11. Google Plus Directory (13,618 users) - http://goo.gl/iAdXC
Find your G+ is a Google Plus person directory, where you can meet new people, start making new friend circles and more for Google+

12. -1 Minus One for G+ (12,274 users) - http://goo.gl/WYuf6
Minus one (-1) button in Google+ (Post & Comment), Notifications.

13. More for Google Plus (7,996 users) - http://goo.gl/JzwVL
Loads more content as you reach the bottom of the Google+ page.

14. Google+ Tweaks (7,601 users) - http://goo.gl/x00Pw
Tweaks to the layout and features of Google+ (Google "Plus") Full width, thumbnails only, etc.

15. Notification Count for G+ (7,487 users) - http://goo.gl/Zml0f
Extension for displaying unread notification count for Google Plus

16. Helper for Google+ (7,136 users) - http://goo.gl/lNbSX
Add extra functions the Google+. Get desktop notifications on new posts. Share Posts via twitter. Translate posts with Google Translate. Bookmark posts faster for reading later (also to delicious.com). Linked #hashtags. Search in posts and profiles directly from your omnibox.

17. G+ Count in Title (5,411 users) - http://goo.gl/dANji
Adds notification count to the document title in the page tab.

18. +1 Button (5,256 users) - http://goo.gl/h67bs
Plus one every page you like with only one click, directly from omnibox, without any annoying popup

19. Uncircle+ (5,022 users) - http://goo.gl/VqDLu
Google+: Find and Remove Inactive People in Selected/All Circles. Inactivity = No Public/Private Posts At All or Since a Chosen Date

20. +Everything (4,590 users) - http://goo.gl/0lYlx
Adds the Google+ bar to all websites.

21. Auto-Colorizer for G+ (4,220 users) - http://goo.gl/kRbLi
Colorizes Google+ and Facebook based on the user's photo.

22. Google Plus Friend Finder (2,803 users) - http://goo.gl/rTcEZ
Google Plus Friend Finder it's a web application wich helps you to find your friends by city, country, occupation and even more.

23. G+ Stream Pause (2,600 users) - http://goo.gl/tKSFC Allow's you to pause your Google+ stream so you can take your time reading or watching videos posted

24. Golden View for Google+ (1,275 users) - http://goo.gl/scoaD
Google Plus enhancements: (optional) modules: User Mute, Default Circle, Hide Images, Hide comments, & Search w/ Google.

25. Hangout Auto Try Again for G+ (1,066 users) - http://goo.gl/sQkAx
Tired of clicking the try again button for Hangouts? Then install this.

________________________________
If you like this post, you might also like:
10 Great Tips to Help Photographers on Google+
http://goo.gl/4wBNc

Google plus tips and cheat sheets
http://goo.gl/uGWCn

How to track your google plus statistics
http://goo.gl/X1XYY

Google plus id shortener
http://goo.gl/LFhtQ

199

Living Room / Re: Steve Jobs is dead.

« Last post by zridling on October 08, 2011, 03:54 PM »

Eric Raymond will probably get flamed for this take on Jobs.
http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=3790

-- Jobs was uncannily perceptive about the interface design and marketing of technology, but he was also a control freak who posed as an iconoclast – and after about 1980 he projected his control freakery on everything he shaped. The former trait did a great deal of good; the latter did a degree of harm that, sadly, may prove greater in the end.

-- It’s easy to point at the good Steve Jobs did. While he didn’t invent the personal computer, he made it cool, twice. Once in 1976 when the Apple II surpassed all the earlier prototypes, and again in 1984 with the introduction of the Mac. I’ll also always be grateful for the way Jobs built Pixar into a studio that combined technical brilliance with an artistic sense and moral centeredness that has perhaps been equaled in the history of animated art, but never exceeded.

-- But the Mac also set a negative pattern that Jobs was to repeat with greater amplification later in his life. In two respects; first, it was a slick repackaging of design ideas from an engineering tradition that long predated Jobs (in this case, going back to the pioneering Xerox PARC WIMP interfaces of the early 1970s). Which would be fine, except that Jobs created a myth that arrogated that innovation to himself and threw the actual pioneers down the memory hole.

-- Nearly a quarter-century later Jobs would repeat the same game with the iPhone. The people who did the actual innovating in smartphones – notably Danger with their pioneering Hiptop – got thrown down the memory hole by Jobs’s mythmaking (though in this case some of its principals would later achieve a kind of revenge by designing Android). And the iPhone “ecosystem” became notorious not merely for the degree of control and rent-seeking it imposed, but for the Kafkaesque vagueness and arbitrariness of Apple’s policies.

-- The velvet glove over Jobs’s iron fist was thinner that second time around; like most people who attract a cult following, he became increasingly convinced of his own infallibility. It was an error that eventually killed him; the kind of pancreatic cancer he had was essentially curable with early surgical intervention, but Jobs insisted on treating it with “alternative medicine” that didn’t work.

200

General Software Discussion / Re: The confusion about the term "lifetime license"

« Last post by zridling on October 07, 2011, 05:33 PM »

Since only biological beings -- in this case humans -- have "life," software doesn't technically share the same quality. Lifetime means my entire life, not until the software stops working. Oh crap, this is yet another reason it's so liberating to run Linux: this issue never comes up, ever.