Recent Posts

1951

General Software Discussion / Re: AdBlock Plus To Not Block All Ads

« Last post by app103 on December 13, 2011, 01:19 PM »

Should an ad blocker perform as described and block ads? Should they treat all ads equally? Should they decide for me which ads I should or should not see?

If I install an ad blocker, it's because I want to block ads, not just block ads the developer finds objectionable.

You wouldn't put up with a word processing application that only saved some documents, not saving the ones that the developer finds objectionable.

You wouldn't put up with a media player that refuses to play your favorite mp3's because the developer hates your taste in music.

You wouldn't put up with a photo editor that wouldn't allow you to crop a photo of your cat because the developer hates cats.


A word processing application should save all documents without discriminating.
A media player should play all songs without discriminating.
A photo editor should edit all photos without discriminating.
An ad blocker should block all ads without discriminating.

If the AdBlock Plus developers do not feel good about blocking ads, all ads, they shouldn't be in the ad blocking business.

Also, here's some food for thought - If you block ads, then aren't you being immensely selfish? After-all it means you are leeching a service while happily off loading the cost of your usage onto your fellow netizens who don't block the ads. You are using them to subsidise your own gains.

-Eóin (December 13, 2011, 11:58 AM)

Is it unethical for a person that already knows they will not click a pay-per-click ad to block them? The site only gets paid if a person actually clicks the ads. Pay-per-action ads only pay out if someone not only clicks, but also buys. If I know in advance that I will not be interested in any ad that attempts to drag me to a site where they will try to sell me something, am I wrong for blocking them? The site will not get paid either way, whether I allow them or not.

No, I don't think it is unethical.

On the other hand, if I know of an ad network in which the ads are pay-per-day, and the amount the webmaster makes is based on their total traffic (in other words my eyeballs count), and that ad network actually carries ads in which I may be interested, ones that will not try to sell me something, ones that lead mainly to blogs and web comics, should I go out of my way to unblock them?

Yes, I should and I do. I do not block Project Wonderful or Entrecard ads, for example.

I also do not block Facebook ads. Even if I will not click them, I do often find them amusing. Plus Facebook does give you a way to opt out of specific ads for various reasons. Facebook allows me to click a little X on all religious ads and tell them that I do not want to see them because they are in opposition to my views. They also allow me to report misleading, repetitive, or irrelevant ads the same way. I don't have to be subjected to ads for Farmville, diploma mills, weight loss products, baby products, BP, Bank of America, Justin Bieber's latest album, or political propaganda for the GOP.

But that is my decision to make, not the decision of the developer of the ad blocker I use.

1952

Living Room / Re: The plot thickens - iPhone and iPad sales banned in Europe ...

« Last post by app103 on December 10, 2011, 01:00 PM »

On a more positive note, is this article which discusses the issue of "obviousness" as it relates to Apple's iPad. This article is probably one of the most interesting I've seen in quite some time. Hopefully, a judge with a brain (along with the appeals court that Apple will file with if sanity and common sense prevails) will read and digest this article along with the links found within. A must read for Apple friend and foe alike.

-40hz (December 10, 2011, 12:30 PM)

And then there is this proof of concept from 1969:

And then there is this.

Not to mention the many tablets that actually existed for real world use prior to the iPad. And the whole idea is nothing more than enlarging a PDA, any way. And PDAs have been around for quite a long time.

Does one mean to say anyone could just take anything small, supersize it, and get a patent on it merely because it's bigger?

Can I patent a giant roll of toilet paper, bigger than the world has ever seen? Could it have a real world use, perhaps cleaning up oil spills?

1953

Living Room / Re: nice personal message just received from a new friend

« Last post by app103 on December 09, 2011, 04:33 PM »

Hmm...why does a crack at that $12.5M somehow seem more believable than the above offer? 

-40hz (December 09, 2011, 02:34 PM)

Cody magic? Makes everything that comes through DC seem better.

1954

Living Room / Re: The plot thickens - iPhone and iPad sales banned in Europe ...

« Last post by app103 on December 09, 2011, 03:00 PM »

Motorola Mobility...isn't that what Google bought?

1955

Living Room / Re: What were these architects thinking?

« Last post by app103 on December 09, 2011, 02:06 PM »

The smaller the image of the building gets, the more it looks like the WTC disaster, but I supposed the larger it gets, right on up to standing outside of it, the less it looks like it.

1956

Living Room / Re: nice personal message just received from a new friend

« Last post by app103 on December 09, 2011, 01:03 PM »

On confidence of patent recovering

Perhaps it was really he who patented the iPhone, and you all get your money if he recovers his patent. 

-cyberdiva (December 09, 2011, 01:00 PM)

I misread that. I thought he said patient.

1957

Living Room / Re: nice personal message just received from a new friend

« Last post by app103 on December 09, 2011, 12:24 PM »

my late client,who died of kidney cancer

-nudone (December 09, 2011, 12:08 PM)

On confidence of patent recovering

-nudone (December 09, 2011, 12:08 PM)

Does that mean we only get the money if the guy that died comes back to life?  

1958

General Software Discussion / Re: Microsoft goes all Apple with a Kill Switch for Apps under Win8

« Last post by app103 on December 09, 2011, 08:36 AM »

Some day you will purchase a low powered device incapable of any type of data storage. It will come with a built in RDP-like client, which will load and ask you for a credit card number the first time you boot it up. There will be nothing else available. You will not be able to build your own. Every member of the family will need their own device. You will not be able to share.

You will pay a monthly fee for the feature package you desire. Users will have to pay for the standard basic package designed for the purpose of content consumption. Developers will have to pay additional fees for a developers package designed for creation or they will not be allowed to develop software, websites, or anything else.

The actual OS, all the apps, and all your data will be in the cloud. If you have ever used a Windows Server 2003 or 2008 machine remotely from an old Win9x box, it will be a lot like that, except without the Win9x.

Only approved software will be available, for which you must pay for a license, and will also be on a monthly fee.

There will be no more malware, there will be no more piracy, there will be no more obtaining anything from unapproved sources. Customizing options will be limited. There will be no more tinkering and breaking things.

Apps purchased will be updated automatically. The OS will be updated automatically. This will all be at the server level. A developer that fails to keep up with things and make necessary changes will have their software wiped from all user accounts.

The RIAA will love the idea that you can only acquire their music through official sources, they will love the idea that independent artists will not be able to get their music into the hands of the consumer without them again. They will love the return to the days when they had a monopoly.

The MPAA will love the idea that you will never own another DVD again. You will only have access to pay-per-view to stream through official sources.

Adobe will love the idea that nobody will ever be able to pirate Photoshop ever again. Everyone that wants to use it will have to pay for it, monthly.

Users that are tired of malware and tired of losing their data when their hardware dies will love it as well. They will love always having the latest and greatest version of all the software they pay for. They will find the new "Pay" button on their keyboard very convenient. They will feel secure knowing that nobody that isn't authorized, will be able to accept payments through the use of that button. No more phishing worries.

The banks will love the rise in consumer debt, the interest they will get to charge and collect.

Freeware developers will hate it.
Poor people will hate it.
You will hate it.

This will be your Apple device.
This will be your Microsoft device.
This will not be your Linux device. You can not install Linux on it.

I said this 3-4 years ago. It is my computing nightmare. Let's see if it comes to pass. It has already started.

1959

Developer's Corner / Indie Game Dev Bundle from Envato

« Last post by app103 on December 05, 2011, 07:33 PM »

From the latest issue of Envato's newsletter:

Indie Game Dev Bundle — Get it Now!

3DOcean, GraphicRiver, ActiveDen and AudioJungle are proud to announce the release of the Indie Game Dev Bundle! Containing more than $500 of the best game development resources; 3D models, Unity game starter kits, textures, audio packs and more for only $20!

Limited Time Offer

This offer will only be available until 12pm on Monday the 12th of December, AEDT. So secure your copy of this unbeatable deal now and get your game on!

http://3docean.net/bundles/indiegamedev

1960

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012 Pledge Teaser: Web Link Captor, aka LL Robot

« Last post by app103 on December 03, 2011, 03:02 PM »

Oh, that sure is a teaser. I wonder if anyone can guess what this actually does, yet. 

1961

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Firefox add-on - MAFIAAFire now adds "PirateBay Danciing" - quick review

« Last post by app103 on December 03, 2011, 10:57 AM »

I also have a Sherlock search plugin for Firefox that I made for RIAA Radar years ago, but you have to manually install it by dropping the files in the correct folder (and I can't remember which folder that would be). Never made a way to install it from the web, but when I finally get around to rewriting my site, I probably will (and add some of my other search plugins, too).

http://appsapps.info/mozillasearch.php

1962

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Firefox add-on - MAFIAAFire now adds "PirateBay Danciing" - quick review

« Last post by app103 on December 02, 2011, 08:52 PM »

And then there is the lovely RIAA Radar to help you avoid purchasing any music produced by any label that is a member of the RIAA. No extensions or plugins needed, works in any browser. Just pop in an artist, album, or label name into the search box and it will tell you what is safe to buy and what is not. Good for if you really care where your money is going.

But if you want to make it even easier, there is a greasemonkey script available that will put the status right on albums at amazon.com.



Just install the 2nd one listed here (first one is a dud): http://www.riaaradar...elp.asp#greasemonkey

1963

DC Website Help and Extras / Re: Donations

« Last post by app103 on December 02, 2011, 02:01 PM »

If a user really wants to donate money but has no money to donate, I would feel better if they went to either MyPoints and visited a few sites a day for 5 points each, or MySurvey to fill out legitimate consumer product surveys. They are both much more reputable sites than things like Gambit.

When they have enough points to get a "reward" they can convert them to cash and have it deposited into their paypal account. Then they can spend it anywhere they please, including donating it here, if that is what they choose to do.

I happen to use both MyPoints and MySurvey myself, and been paid quite a bit over the years in the form of cash and gift certificates. Yes, it does take awhile to build up enough points for a reward, but I am averaging at least an extra $50/year between the 2 of them that I wouldn't have had otherwise.

How about Bitcoin ?

-mahesh2k (December 02, 2011, 01:18 PM)

I have no faith in Bitcoin and won't until some site like Amazon.com accepts it as a form of payment.

Besides, it costs money to generate Bitcoins. Running your PC 24/7 uses extra electricity that you have to pay real money for and overworking your computer shortens its lifespan, causing you to have to spend real money to replace it, sooner than you should. If you can afford the increase in your electric bill or afford to replace your computer more frequently, why not just set aside that amount and donate the real money instead? At least that can be spent in the real world.

Seems odd to me that the very first post someone makes on the day they join DC is to suggest we get involved with gambit's survey thing. Sorry if I sound suspicious...but I am. Especially since there's a few sites (clothing, games, etc.) just found via Google that do the 'survey thing' and are all prefixed with 'Xile.'

-40hz (December 02, 2011, 01:27 PM)

I am not as suspicious about it since it is a reasonable question that deserved an answer, in case others wondered why we don't do such things here. The original poster wouldn't likely have anything to gain if we did adopt such an approach, unless he works for Gambit, which would not be likely if he is running sites that give merchandise to people that fill out surveys and install crapware on Gambit.

Also +1 w/App. I looked at these things about a year ago for a client. Neither one of us were impressed or comfortable with how they worked. Conclusion: Very Bad Idea.
 

-40hz (December 02, 2011, 01:27 PM)

Which is another good reason to answer the OP's question, just in case there are developers considering using a service like that.

1964

DC Website Help and Extras / Re: Donations

« Last post by app103 on December 02, 2011, 01:05 PM »

Alertpay and Okpay is a good option for those who can't use paypal or amazon. I think mouser should consider them on this site.

-mahesh2k (December 02, 2011, 12:46 PM)

The OP wanted us to consider methods of making donations without the user having to transfer actual money...a way for broke people to "donate" with actions rather than cash.

There are services that will allow users to fill out surveys, install software and browser toolbars, join websites, sign up for newsletters, and other "free offers" instead of actually paying money. The service gets paid for the actions of a user and transfers a small percentage of that to the referring site.

They are quite popular with developers of games and apps on sites like Facebook and Myspace, but I have not seen any such service that does not contain a plethora of scams or malware, so I do not recommend them to anyone that cares about their users.

I think anyone that sends their users to such a site is selling them up the river for a few pennies. It is just as bad as putting bundled crapware in your installers.

1965

Living Room / Re: Building XP SP4 !

« Last post by app103 on December 02, 2011, 11:26 AM »

Consider something like a 320G WD Passport drive. (I own a 500G and I love it!) Newegg has one for $60.

You can store the updates and service packs for multiple versions of Windows, along with your collection of necessary software tools, utilities, scripts, etc. all on a single drive. Yes, the physical size is larger than a thumb drive but not so large to rule it out. It can still fit in most pockets.

And if you buy 2 of them, the spare one can come in handy if you have to copy a user's data for backup/restore purposes, when a system is so botched that a format + rebuild is a better option than repairing. WD does make these little Passport drives in sizes up to 1TB and slightly larger physical sized My Book ones up to 3TB.

http://www.wdc.com/e...s/catalog/?segment=2

1966

DC Website Help and Extras / Re: Donations

« Last post by app103 on December 02, 2011, 10:45 AM »

The problem with using survey sites as an alternative means of donating is that most of the survey sites (gambit included) are over-run with scams, malware, and privacy disasters.

As well as viruses and malicious software.
This site features "offers" from "sponsors" that are often questionable in nature for websites, such as Gaiaonline.com, and on applications for Myspace and Facebook. Many of them ask for personal information -even for a simple survey. Many users at Gaiaonline.com have found that the "offers" do not award the credit they are suppose to (usually citing that the offer "didn't log your information correctly" or that "they couldn't verify your information") and that most of them install spyware, malware, and viruses on your computer when you visit the site or download anything for the "offers".

I personally wouldn't want to subject anyone to that and don't feel it would be in the best interest of our community to send DC members there for an alternative method of donating to the site. I would not be able to sleep peacefully knowing that someone gave away personal info or installed malware from one of those sites in order to fund one of my projects.  I have even talked a few Facebook game developers out of using Gambit for alternatives to paying them money for game perks.

If you can't afford to donate money, it's OK. Enjoy the free key and consider contributing in other ways...like perhaps donate your time to help test software and give feedback, contribute to discussions, spread the word about the site, our software, and community.

Money isn't the only thing that counts around here. We appreciate help and participation just as much. Most of us have adopted the donationware model for funding our software precisely because we know that not everyone can afford to pay and feel that those that can't afford it should not be forced to do so.

1967

Skwire Empire / Re: Trout playlist contextmenu bugs?

« Last post by app103 on December 02, 2011, 08:09 AM »

By the way, according to that Windows setting, the underlines should show if I hit the Alt key. That doesn't happen. Hitting either Alt key closes the menu rather than displaying the underlines.

Also, with that setting activated, you do not see the underlines when right clicking to view the context menu, but you do see them if you hit the menu key on the keyboard. (weird)

1968

Skwire Empire / Re: Trout playlist contextmenu bugs?

« Last post by app103 on December 02, 2011, 07:58 AM »

They are there on my system so I will assume you have the "Hide underlined letters for keyboard navigation until I press the Alt key" option set on your computer as described here:

http://www.ehow.com/...etters-keyboard.html

-skwire (December 02, 2011, 07:51 AM)

Never knew about that setting, nor did I know I had it activated, as I always saw the underlines in other applications despite it being checked. 

Everything works fine on the menu now, except the Ctrl+A, Ctrl+U issue. That still does not work with the menu open.

1969

Skwire Empire / Re: Trout playlist contextmenu bugs?

« Last post by app103 on December 02, 2011, 07:43 AM »

I am running XP sp3 on a Q6600 with classic themes, and I can confirm what AEN007 is saying. Just tested it and I am having a similar issue with the context menu hotkeys.

There are no underline markers to show what the &hotkeys are, so I can't tell what to hit to jump through the menu.



Additionally, other hotkeys as shown on the menu, do not work with the menu open (Ctrl+A, Ctrl+U). Hitting those should close the menu and perform the desired action. That's not happening. Works fine if you close the menu and hit those hotkeys, though...just not while the menu is open.

Navigating the menu with the arrow keys and selecting with the enter key does work fine for me, though.

1970

General Software Discussion / Re: Easy Remote access to another PC?

« Last post by app103 on November 29, 2011, 03:22 PM »

I ran into a problem with troubleshooting - I am unable to see uac demands for password at their end (more accurately, I'm not able to see the password dialogue itself) - so I'm not able to do anything requiring admin rights from within their user account. I guess this would be a problem with any method....
I guess the only solution is have someone there the whole time to fill in the password, or to use an admin account.

-tomos (November 29, 2011, 01:23 PM)

I think not being able to take over the UAC prompts may be by design -- if a remote control program could "click" them, then any local badware could as well. I don't know if you can choose to run the client with higher privileges to avoid it.

-Jibz (November 29, 2011, 02:01 PM)

running as admin uses a different desktop space (not sure of the terminology) so I presume that's why I dont see it - and yeah, I presume too that this is part of the design/security

-tomos (November 29, 2011, 02:11 PM)

I believe the server app would also have to run as a service for you to see them. This was an issue with the older version of TightVNC on Vista/Win7 systems, which I believe was fixed in v2.

1971

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Facebook Security Advisor

« Last post by app103 on November 29, 2011, 03:05 PM »

The problem with this is that to accomplish this the app has to be able to access your facebook profile, and it could only do that as a facebook app. This would require the coder that creates it to host it and make it available to the public. That could be quite expensive if millions of facebook users decide to use it.

Additionally, it would only have access to what facebook makes available to app developer through its API, which doesn't include things like privacy and security settings, so it couldn't be fine tuned to share things only with certain people.

A facebook security app can only do an all or none approach with privacy related issues, and only in relation to publicly accessible information. It would have no way of knowing if photos can be seen by family only. It can only tell if it can see your photos, either with your permission through facebook's api, or outside by viewing your profile as the public would see it.

So, you only have the option of checking if what you are sharing can be seen by the public. There is an app for that already...Bitdefender Safego...and it will check your profile for anything that may be leaking out to the public that you would have control over. Just look at the bottom of the left sidebar within the app.

It was developed by a well known antivirus company, and it will also check the links you and your friends post and alert you to any malware/spam/scam links that you guys might not be aware of.

1972

General Software Discussion / Re: clock

« Last post by app103 on November 28, 2011, 04:22 AM »

I cannot get it work my 2nd monitor

-The Noobiset User (November 27, 2011, 06:44 PM)

I never tested it with multi-monitor and have no way of doing so. If it doesn't work, I am sorry for that.

1973

General Software Discussion / Re: Easy Remote access to another PC?

« Last post by app103 on November 27, 2011, 07:35 PM »

My first choice is Microsoft's RDP, second choice is TightVNC...good for use in situations where there isn't much bandwidth available, such as using over dialup. Also light enough to run on old low spec systems.  I have successfully run v1.3 in server mode on my 14 year old 9x snail (233mhz Pentium I, 64mb RAM) over 33.6k dialup.

There is also a portable version available in case you want to preconfigure it for your clients, rather than trying to walk them through the settings over the phone or IM. It's the older v1.3, which does have some limitations on Vista/Win7, most notably that you can't run it as a service.

1974

General Software Discussion / Re: clock

« Last post by app103 on November 27, 2011, 06:31 PM »

It does show the date when you hover your mouse over it.

Right click the clock for a menu with customizing options: size, colors, hourly chime, and an option to hide the tray clock.

There are also other things accessible from the menu, such as displaying system uptime , copying time, date, or system uptime to the clipboard, access to additional tools (timer, stopwatch, todo list)

The border matches your Windows theme. Change the color of your theme and the border will change color to match it. Mine is purple.

1975

Living Room / Re: Tip - workaround for Windows 7 disappearing Systray Icons bug

« Last post by app103 on November 26, 2011, 04:51 AM »

The missing icons issue in XP was what prompted me to write Lacuna Launcher. I figured out that if all the tray icons aren't competing to get into the tray at the exact same time, they will have a better chance of all making it there.