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1776

Developer's Corner / Re: newsletters - how to do them properly

« Last post by app103 on August 11, 2012, 06:25 AM »

Found this comparison of newsletter services: http://www.digitalfa...ices-comparison.html

And there is a handy table comparing features: http://www.digitalfa...omparison-table.html

And then there is this review of AWeber vs MailChimp: http://wpmu.org/aweber-vs-mailchimp/

They seem to suggest that starting out, MailChimp would be the best option, but once you outgrow their free service, moving to AWeber would be the best option.

And some tips for running a successful newsletter: http://www.wahm.com/...ail-Newsletters.html

1777

Living Room / Re: Staple of people from State and Europe !

« Last post by app103 on August 11, 2012, 04:48 AM »

The state has ZERO business in telling people what they can and cannot eat. None.

-Renegade (August 10, 2012, 05:57 AM)

They don't. They have never told people what they can and can't eat. You are free to buy your own cow and milk it and drink all the raw milk you want. There is no law in any state in the US that would stop you from consuming raw milk from your own cows.

However, there are laws in a lot of US states that forbid you from selling that milk to other people without it being pasteurized first, and a federal law that forbids transporting it across state lines unless it is heading to a pasteurization facility.

And all the crap you spouted about how safe raw milk is isn't going to console the parents of the children that became sick after 2 kindergarten classes (about 30 kids) went on a trip to a small old fashioned organic dairy farm in NJ (early 90's) where the kids got to watch the cows being manually milked, and each child was given a small cup of raw milk, fresh from the cow, in violation of state law. The entire group of kids got sick, with many of the kids being hospitalized, and a few deaths. A lot of those kids will suffer life long health problems over a shot glass worth of raw milk. Go tell the parents of the kids that died, just how safe raw milk is and see what they say. See how they feel about the laws in our state that forbid the sale of raw milk.

Pasteurization, discovered by Louis Pasteur in the late 1800s, is the rapid heating and cooling of a product in order to kill bacteria while keeping the nutrients in place. In fact, the vast reductions seen in infant mortality, birth defects and premature death since the 1900s can be directly linked to the widespread use of pasteurization.

State laws allowing for raw milk go back for decades and are mostly antiquated structures of a bygone era. In the states that continue to allow raw milk for human consumption, the incidence of dairy-related foodborne illness is much higher than in states that do not allow raw milk sales. The same is true for countries. France, known for its raw milk products, has three times the amount of dairy foodborne illness as does the United States.

Despite all the potential harm behind raw milk, it still does have its advocates. One of their key arguments is consumer choice. No one disputes the fact in a free society such as ours people should have the independent ability to make choices on what they consume. However, the most common victims of raw milk illnesses are children who do not have a choice on what their parents feed them. Government routinely makes laws to protect the most vulnerable in our society, with a specific focus on kids. We require children to wear bike helmets, prohibit parents from smoking in cars with their children, and new moms cannot take their child home unless they have a car seat. This situation is no different.

http://blog.nj.com/n...ld_not_legalize.html

1778

Living Room / Re: It's Official: Many DC'ers Are Psychopaths~! :P

« Last post by app103 on August 10, 2012, 11:20 PM »

You can't win if you are willing to believe the articles. You either don't have a Facebook account and it means that there is something wrong with you, or you do have a Facebook account and it means there is something wrong with you. Either way, there is still something wrong with you.

http://www.dailymail...low-self-esteem.html

-app103 (August 09, 2012, 11:08 AM)

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!

Oh god... It only gets better~!

Even George Carlin would have had a tough time keeping up with the hilarity~!


But seriously -- +1 for the good observation about "there's something wrong with you". A bit telling, perhaps?

-Renegade (August 09, 2012, 11:51 AM)

The best part is how my link is from one of the sites you linked to in your first post. 

1779

Living Room / Re: Staple of people from State and Europe !

« Last post by app103 on August 09, 2012, 02:26 PM »

Fresh, raw milk has a far higher nutritional content, but is illegal in many places. (I wonder why that is...?)

-Renegade (July 17, 2012, 09:26 PM)

Because Brucella, Campylobacter, Listeria, Mycobacterium bovis (a cause of tuberculosis), Salmonella, E. coli, Giardia, Shigella, Streptococcus pyogenes, Yersinia enterocolitica, and norovirus are not nice things to end up infected with and steps should be taken to keep them out of our food supply. One way of doing this is the pasteurization of milk.

In the US, from 1998 through 2009, 1,837 people became sick from drinking raw milk, 195 became sick enough to require hospitalization, and 2 died. And that's just the cases that were recognized and reported to the CDC as being caused by raw milk consumption. There were probably many more cases that went unreported.

And raw milk does not have a "far higher" nutritional content. If you need the amount of additional nutrition provided by raw milk, just taking an extra sip of the pasteurized stuff should more than supply it. And if you want that "beneficial bacteria" then just eat a probiotic yogurt made from pasteurized milk...all the beneficial stuff without any of the harmful bacteria, viruses, or parasites.

http://www.cdc.gov/f...answers.html#rawmilk

And historically speaking, Diphtheria was also something that could be acquired by drinking raw milk. And with the number of irresponsible parents that are shunning vaccination out of fear of autism, we could see a return of that disease if unvaccinated children start drinking raw milk.

1780

Living Room / Re: It's Official: Many DC'ers Are Psychopaths~! :P

« Last post by app103 on August 09, 2012, 11:08 AM »

You can't win if you are willing to believe the articles. You either don't have a Facebook account and it means that there is something wrong with you, or you do have a Facebook account and it means there is something wrong with you. Either way, there is still something wrong with you.

http://www.dailymail...low-self-esteem.html

1781

Living Room / Re: How Blogging (or Coding) Can Rot Your Teeth

« Last post by app103 on August 09, 2012, 10:27 AM »

So... By that logic, sleeping must also be bad for ones teeth. Unless of course they talk in their sleep.

-Stoic Joker (August 09, 2012, 07:10 AM)

It would explain the morning breath phenomenon.

Who is most likely to need-a-drink? Some one waiting in line alone? Or someone giving a speech??

-Stoic Joker (August 09, 2012, 07:10 AM)

Don't confuse dry mouth with dry throat. One doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the other.

I don't think this dentist's advice could hurt you if he's wrong and could only help if he is right. I do know the habit a lot of people have of guzzling a lot of sugar loaded soft drinks, tea, coffee, etc while working can't be good for your teeth, so just the act of replacing that with water could do a lot of people's teeth a lot of good. And don't forget that even if you use a sugar-free sweetener in your tea or coffee, if you are adding milk, it still has sugar in it.

1782

Living Room / How Blogging (or Coding) Can Rot Your Teeth

« Last post by app103 on August 09, 2012, 12:19 AM »

I know this isn't something that most computer users think about, but spending a lot of time at your computer can be harmful to your teeth. Fear not though...there are things you can do to prevent the damage.

http://weblogbetter....-can-rot-your-teeth/

1783

DC Website Help and Extras / Re: DC Mug/TShirt Designs that would be nice to have an artist for..

« Last post by app103 on August 06, 2012, 04:27 AM »

For Coding Snacks, I was thinking of a lunch truck (maybe in a hippy van sort of style), with Cody at the window, either as the vendor (inside the truck) or as the customer (standing on the outside, placing an order). Where a lunch truck would usually have the name of it displayed, above the window, it would say "Coding Snacks". Depending on how comical one would want to make it, the text above the window could be done to resemble sloppy hand painted letters.

1784

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012 Release: GoogolBar

« Last post by app103 on August 06, 2012, 04:13 AM »

Okay... Got this sucker working on Windows 7 (x86 & x64), as well as XP (x86, x64) with full theme support.
Finishing it up now then will ship the binaries back off to app103 (April) to release

-LaKraven (December 27, 2011, 01:52 PM)

-so, what happened? LaKraven's post was dated 27 Dec, but the available zip file is dated 20 Dec.

-Curt (August 04, 2012, 05:40 PM)

The binaries LaKraven sent me, I considered unacceptable due to a bug that wouldn't allow me to even test the 32-bit XP version on my PC because I keep my taskbar on the right side of my screen, and not the top or bottom. Since they were all from the same source, I assume the same bug exists in all versions he compiled. I told LaKraven about the bug but either he wasn't able to resolve it or he lost interest in the project.

Basically you can consider this a dead project with only a binary that will work in 32-bit Windows, up to and including XP, but not beyond. And there will be no future toolbars produced by me for any purpose, at least not until I am running a 64-bit OS I can test it myself with, and resolve my own bugs, and compile the binaries for distribution, myself.

I am really sorry. 

1785

Living Room / Re: Typing Speed Competition!

« Last post by app103 on August 05, 2012, 07:00 PM »

Typed entirely with my right hand:

1786

Living Room / Re: What do you desire from your job?

« Last post by app103 on August 03, 2012, 07:02 PM »

My top priority for a job isn't even on that list. 

1. The job (or the commute) should not cause me physical pain that makes me wish I were dead.

2. High income, which at this point for me is higher than people are willing to pay me, but lower than what most people I know make.

3. No danger of being fired. Being out of work could very well mean losing everything I own and ending up homeless.

4. Work important and gives a feeling of accomplishment... but more importantly, I need to feel appreciated.

5. Working hours are short; lots of free time - this would require a lot higher pay rate than previously stated. And one thing I can't handle is too much free time on the job. I need to be kept busy or it's likely to become extremely anxiety inducing, accompanied by feelings of incompetence, which could push me into quitting.

6. Chances for advancement -  I am not into hollow titles that are more prestige and more work without a suitable pay increase...been there, done that, and quit over it. I won't put up with being in charge of 10 departments and getting paid less than the girl that was hired to kill feed the fish and overwater the plants, ever again.

1787

Living Room / Re: New version of Chrome can WATCH and LISTEN

« Last post by app103 on August 01, 2012, 06:27 AM »

How else are they going to get enough research data to develop the coffee mugs that display contextually relevant advertising based on your real life conversations with friends, family, and co-workers? 

1788

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by app103 on July 26, 2012, 10:12 PM »

A cardiologist died and was given an elaborate funeral.

A huge heart covered in flowers stood behind the casket during the service. Following the eulogy, the heart opened, and the casket rolled inside. The heart then closed, sealing the doctor in the beautiful heart forever.

At that point, one of the mourners burst into laughter. When confronted, he said, "I'm sorry, I was just thinking of my own funeral. You see I'm a gynecologist."

At that point, the proctologist fainted.

1789

Site/Forum Features / Re: About the Basement (Soap Box) Section

« Last post by app103 on July 23, 2012, 07:43 AM »

that now we have the Basement, and the sort of things/subjects that suit that place - about proposing another section called maybe the Attic (or Loft in American ?) where members could post threads about  Happy  things, stories or events, things that make you feel good, things that make the "World" a better place for everyone ... ???

-joiwind (July 23, 2012, 07:01 AM)

That stuff is suitable for the Living Room, is it not?

1790

Site/Forum Features / Re: About the Basement (Soap Box) Section

« Last post by app103 on July 21, 2012, 06:23 PM »

A forum I used to frequent has an unmoderated free speech section, where anything goes (as long as it wasn't spam or illegal), where people posted some of the most vile content, images, discussions, and language...and they called it "The Cesspool". It was their version of the Living Room. This was where all the politics, religion, drama, personal attacks, and off topic stuff went (they were an unofficial support forum for a P2P application, set up to keep the "help me" people from annoying everyone in their chat room).

The idea behind the name was that "The Living Room" sounded like a nice place to be and encouraged people to go there, but "The Cesspool" sounded like a rank, vile place you wouldn't want to visit, a place to post all the crap (pun intended) that didn't belong or wasn't suitable on any of the other boards....and it was. You needed to be pretty thick skinned and have a dark, twisted, sick sense of humor to participate in any of the discussions there, very much like their chat room on the P2P network. And in the beginning of the forum's life it was located at the very bottom of the board list to take focus off of it, and carried a warning that mentioned something about naked pictures of one of the chat room members that was intended to make you shudder and stay away. (Years later when the forum lost it's popularity as a support site, which had nothing to do with anything posted in that section,  "The Cesspool" board became it's main focus, an extension of their free speech, anything goes chat room.)

So, picking a name that sounds like somewhere you wouldn't want to visit, and implies "trash", "crap", or any other type of content you probably wouldn't want to read, sounds like a good idea if you want to keep people away. (But we don't have to go so far as making it an unmoderated, free speech, anything goes section, full of vile stuff likely to cause animosity between forum members, like my friend's forum section is.)

1791

Living Room / Re: Is Linux just a hobby?

« Last post by app103 on July 19, 2012, 07:37 PM »

I don't think it can get that large

-jgpaiva (July 19, 2012, 07:17 PM)

Yes, it can get that large, at least in Ubuntu. But unfortunately, it doesn't mean more room for more icons. It can only hold the same amount, but the icons resize themselves to be HUGE!

why would anyone want it like that?

-jgpaiva (July 19, 2012, 07:17 PM)

Some people hate wading through menus looking for the apps they want to run, hate all the clicking to get to the folders and files they use often. Some people don't like remembering where those files and folders are located. And some people have never used the taskbar any other way. And for some people, the preference may be genetic. (3 generations of my family prefer their taskbar this way)

1792

Living Room / Re: Is Linux just a hobby?

« Last post by app103 on July 19, 2012, 06:18 PM »

-- Which desktop environment you like, even if you want it to perfectly mimic Win7 or OSX!

-zridling (May 22, 2012, 02:02 AM)

And exactly which one are you referring to that perfectly mimics the Win7 desktop, including the Windows taskbar in all it's glory? I want that taskbar, it's all I want. I can not be comfortable or productive in any OS that doesn't have a good impersonation of the Windows taskbar that can be configured in the way I am used to using it .

1793

Developer's Corner / Re: Don’t Understimate Language Issues

« Last post by app103 on July 16, 2012, 05:07 AM »

The video version allows a better understanding:

The Italian Man Who Went To Malta

-insert_nick (July 16, 2012, 03:44 AM)

Have you tried turning on captions and translating that video to English? 

1794

Developer's Corner / Re: Don’t Understimate Language Issues

« Last post by app103 on July 15, 2012, 11:43 PM »

It all reminds me of this language barrier related bit of humor, that was given to me many years ago, by an Italian immigrant friend of mine. (hand typed, in all caps, on a piece of grease stained paper)

http://readmyemail.b...went-to-detroit.html

The first time I read it, I could imagine my friend telling the story, hearing his voice (Italian accent and all) in my head. 

My friend has since passed away, but every time I read it, I can still hear his voice. I think that's why I kept that silly piece of paper all these years. 

1795

General Software Discussion / Re: Used Software Can Be Sold, Says EU Court of Justice

« Last post by app103 on July 08, 2012, 02:25 AM »

Going hypothetical for a moment, if you buy the software in the USA, (physical/downloaded), and then sell it in the EU - is it illegal ?

-4wd (July 06, 2012, 09:12 PM)

you (someone) could make a bit of money like that - e.g. adobe software is a lot cheaper in the states.

-tomos (July 07, 2012, 05:43 PM)

You might want to hold off a few months before deciding to get into that line of business, at least here in the US.

Supap Kirtsaeng was a student that discovered that the textbook publishers were selling the same books in other countries much cheaper than they did in the US and decided to start a business, having his family buy and ship textbooks from Thailand to the US, which he sold on Ebay, for a profit.

When he was sued by a publisher, who claimed what he was doing was copyright infringement, he ended up losing the case when a judge decided that the First Sale doctrine only applied to goods sold in the US that were manufactured for the US market.

His appeal will come up in front of the Supreme Court this fall, and the decision they make could have some far reaching implications concerning the resale of used copyrighted goods manufactured overseas (think used cars whose computer systems contain copyrighted software written abroad.) and libraries lending foreign books they may have stocked on their shelves.

http://chronicle.com...ll-Hear-Case/131568/

1796

General Software Discussion / Re: Used Software Can Be Sold, Says EU Court of Justice

« Last post by app103 on July 07, 2012, 06:18 AM »

So it's simultaneously copyrighted and THEN licensed as Creative Commons!?

-TaoPhoenix (July 07, 2012, 04:39 AM)

Attaching a CC license to your work in no way forces you to give up your copyrights.

With a Creative Commons license, you keep your copyright but allow people to copy and distribute your work provided they give you credit — and only on the conditions you specify here.

-http://creativecommons.org/choose/

1797

General Software Discussion / Re: Unity Desktop (Ubuntu)

« Last post by app103 on July 06, 2012, 11:04 PM »

Choose Ubuntu Classic when logging in and you won't have to deal with Unity. It will be like nothing changed. (that's what I did)

1798

General Software Discussion / Re: Used Software Can Be Sold, Says EU Court of Justice

« Last post by app103 on July 06, 2012, 07:02 PM »

I thought I remembered something about a court case involving the sale of secondhand software in the USA: Court smacks Autodesk, affirms right to sell used software

-4wd (July 05, 2012, 05:14 AM)

That case involved software originally sold on physical media, and the original physical media was being resold. The exact same copy that was originally purchased was resold. No reproductions were made. Once the physical ownership changed hands, there was still only 1 copy and the original owner no longer had it in his possession.

In the US, First Sale doctrine only applies to sales in which once you sell the item, you don't have it any more.

It doesn't work the same with digital downloads in the US because you can't transfer ownership of the exact original copy that you downloaded. Transfer of ownership of downloaded digital goods involves reproduction. You upload it to the buyer, and now there is the original file you downloaded, which you still have in your possession, and now the person you sold it to has a copy too, leaving you both in a position to be able to sell the file again and again and again, with the number of copies existing increasing with each sale. That's why First Sale doesn't apply.

1799

General Software Discussion / Re: Used Software Can Be Sold, Says EU Court of Justice

« Last post by app103 on July 04, 2012, 10:45 PM »

So is the US version saying that you have trouble selling "that particular copy" because if it was a download on to a HD it can never be the same file if you put it anywhere else for the buyer? What if the original download was on a removable medium?

-TaoPhoenix (July 04, 2012, 06:35 PM)

You should have read the next paragraph:

Most computer software is distributed through the use of licensing agreements. Under this distribution system, the copyright holder remains the "owner" of all distributed copies. For this reason, alleged infringers should not be able to establish that any copies of these works have been the subject of a first sale.

When you buy a book, you own the physical book, you can legally sell it if you want. First Sale doctrine applies.

But when you buy software, you never actually own it under US law. You have only bought for yourself a right to use it. The copyright owner still owns the software, so you can't sell it. First Sale doctrine doesn't apply because a first sale was never made.

1800

General Software Discussion / Re: Used Software Can Be Sold, Says EU Court of Justice

« Last post by app103 on July 04, 2012, 04:49 PM »

In fact it's a bit like a step towards a severe correction to the tendency towards copyright "absolutism".
Who knows, it could even be opening the door to the possibility of the abolition of copyright?

-IainB (July 03, 2012, 07:13 PM)

Seems more like extending the application of First Sale Doctrine to downloaded digital goods. First Sale Doctrine limits the copyright holder's rights to the first sale and allows resale of used goods. First Sale Doctrine is what currently allows you to sell, gift, or lend your used music CD's, movie DVD's, and printed books, and allows libraries & rental businesses to exist without violating copyright law. Previously, digital goods were not included in that because unlike copyrighted goods sold on physical media, transfer required reproduction of the digital goods.

Here is another good read to explain the issues with reproduction and First Sale Doctrine, under current US law, and why the doctrine doesn't apply to software in the US: http://www.justice.g.../title9/crm01854.htm