Recent Posts

201

Living Room / Re: Why GOD has not updated the world ?

« Last post by 40hz on January 20, 2016, 11:35 AM »

Um...so... has Curt resigned or something? I'm not sure how to interpret his new forum signature.

202

Living Room / Re: Why GOD has not updated the world ?

« Last post by 40hz on January 19, 2016, 02:33 PM »

Because there's no need to do regular (or even any) updates now that The World has gone over to a subscription model. 

203

General Software Discussion / Re: Is Windows 10 a trojan?

« Last post by 40hz on January 18, 2016, 10:13 PM »

I just spent about 5 straight hours with a fresh install of Widows 10 this afternoon doing the "tech thing."

I was so completely unimpressed (when I wasn't getting completely enraged) by it that I think the last remaining and most miniscule misgiving I might have still been harboring about distancing myself from Windows has finally gotten exorcised once and for all.

To those who either choose to (or must) remain in Micro-zaftig's fold, I wish you luck. 

204

DC Website Help and Extras / Re: Official CMS Migration Progress Thread - September 2017

« Last post by 40hz on January 17, 2016, 10:00 AM »

I definitely think supporting markdown would be great. I'm a big fan of that. Simple, sweet, and gets the job done.

205

Living Room / Re: The hilarity of utter ignorance

« Last post by 40hz on January 14, 2016, 12:07 AM »

And considering where Mr. Comey usually parks his head, I'm sure he knows a thing or two about dark places.

206

General Software Discussion / Re: Is Windows 10 a trojan?

« Last post by 40hz on January 14, 2016, 12:00 AM »

@40hz:
Signals transported over the 40hz frequency band can go very far...but are prone to interruptions, so don't expect fast communication

Bad joke, I know.

-Shades (January 13, 2016, 06:59 PM)

LOL! And true. 

But that's fine by me. Most of my friends hear most of what I say as a very low and faint background note than anything else. Think truck tires crossing a steel decked bridge at 60 MPH.

I can't say I blame them either. 

207

DC Website Help and Extras / Re: Official CMS Migration Progress Thread - September 2017

« Last post by 40hz on January 13, 2016, 04:28 PM »

I will quote mouser here: "We need to embrace tedious"...never have truer words been spoken haha!

-Stephen66515 (January 13, 2016, 02:44 PM)

LOL! If there ever was a koan for dealing with information systems, I think Mouser just coined it! (That beats the old "Seek simplicity. Embrace complexity!" - which is also equally true.) 

208

General Software Discussion / Re: Is Windows 10 a trojan?

« Last post by 40hz on January 13, 2016, 01:56 PM »

This whole Windows 10 thing is yet another classic example of a piece of good software being totally wrecked because of a corporate agenda that goes beyond what is needed - and works at odds against the functionalities required (or even requested) by its userbase. It's just the old "It doesn't matter whether you want this new & improved version - you're going to get it whether you like it or not."

The software world is littered with once fine programs that self-destructed that way.

If Windows 10 weren't an OS that comes pre-installed on 99% of all PCs sold, it would never get away with half the things it's trying to strong-arm it's customers into. When did "Where do you want to go today?" become "Here's where you'll go today."

I mustn't have been copied on that memo...

209

DC Website Help and Extras / Re: Official CMS Migration Progress Thread - September 2017

« Last post by 40hz on January 13, 2016, 01:43 PM »

Glad to hear it's still in the works. This is the one thing I'm probably more interested in seeing come to fruition than almost anything else here.

It's been talked about and discussed for so long. And now it looks like it will actually be happening. Go DoCo! And the folks who are making it come to pass.

210

Living Room / Re: Recommend some music videos to me!

« Last post by 40hz on January 12, 2016, 03:56 PM »

January 10, 2016.

211

Living Room / Re: Movies you've seen lately

« Last post by 40hz on January 11, 2016, 10:24 PM »

The Revenant



I utterly HATED Leonardo many years ago in the "Titanic" era.

But dammit! He's a bloody great actor.

This movie is long, but it is a good story. Totally predictable, but still... a good watch.

-Renegade (January 10, 2016, 01:45 AM)

Agree. Good and totally predictable. Kinda the movie equivalent of "comfort food." I really enjoyed that picture. Well worth watching.

212

Living Room / Re: Movies you've seen lately

« Last post by 40hz on January 11, 2016, 10:22 PM »

Balkan spy
Airplane!
Fantastic planet

-panzer (January 11, 2016, 08:46 AM)

Fantastic Planet is a trip and a half. What an amazing animation! Boy do I miss the days when they were still doing hand drawn animated works of art like that.

213

Living Room / Re: Recommend some music videos to me!

« Last post by 40hz on January 11, 2016, 07:40 PM »

^Incredible void in the music landscape he left behind.

Rest in peace, Starman.

A revised version of David Bowie's Space Oddity, recorded by Commander Chris Hadfield on board the International Space Station.

Composition: “SPACE ODDITY”
Written by David Bowie
Published by Onward Music Limited

(Note: This video cannot be reproduced and is licensed for online music use only.)

With thanks to Emm Gryner, Joe Corcoran, Andrew Tidby and Evan Hadfield for all their hard work.

214

Non-Windows Software / Re: Dan Gilmor on moving to Linux

« Last post by 40hz on January 10, 2016, 10:21 PM »

Journalist Dan Gilmor (...) moved to Linux.

-xtabber (January 06, 2016, 09:32 AM)

Wow! Now that's hella interesting stuff! Are the movie rights for this very discussion-worthy story sold yet?

...

"I moved to Linux" is the new "I am a vegan", huh?

-Tuxman (January 10, 2016, 03:08 PM)

Hmm, you think it could be another Hunter S. Thompson in the making? 

-MilesAhead (January 10, 2016, 07:31 PM)

@Miles: Could be. Trash talkin' is soooooo 70s. And it's so "been done" that it's about due for a revival right about now don't you think? 

215

Living Room / Re: Movies you've seen lately

« Last post by 40hz on January 10, 2016, 02:56 PM »

If you're a big Star Wars fan, it's not to be missed. But why am I bothering to say anything if you if you are?

-40hz (January 07, 2016, 08:26 PM)

Because you care, of course! 

-Renegade (January 10, 2016, 01:48 AM)

No I don't. My girlfriend Alex does. She's the only reason I went. Or more correctly, allowed myself to be dragged.

You've probably seen it twice already and are planning on going back at least once more, right? 

-40hz (January 07, 2016, 08:26 PM)

Nope. Haven't seen it yet. Haven't had time. I'll wait for the online version. But, I still really like Star Wars a lot. Even if I don't have posters of it all over the house, and dress up like SW characters...

Honestly... A lot of Star Wars and Star Trek fans are just frikkin' nuts.

Agree.

And FWIW, I personally don't like either franchise all that much. I probably wouldn't bother at all (other than to oogle Marina Sirtis) except I've found it enjoyable when it occasionally gets tongue-in-cheek. (The series episode that ends with Worf sitting naked in a communal spa mudbath along with the rest of the equally naked command team was priceless. Especially when he incredulously asks: "Are we supposed to just sit here?")

And while we're on the subject, I thought the latest "alternate universe" StarTrek was the pits. Even Benedict Cummerbatch couldn't save the abomination that is Into Darkness. All he did was provide some almost painful contrast once he demonstrated what a real actor can do for a motion picture. That newgen cast is pitiful. (Absolutely pitiful.)

216

General Software Discussion / Re: Is there any alternatives to Backupify

« Last post by 40hz on January 10, 2016, 02:44 PM »

Looks like we have a little astroturfing going down here folks!

217

Non-Windows Software / Re: Dan Gilmor on moving to Linux

« Last post by 40hz on January 10, 2016, 02:37 PM »

I think most people like to kid themselves about just how much they need from their software and operating system - as well as how much of those huge feature sets they actually use. And I find that true for Windows, OSX and even Linux.

From where I sit and from what I've seen (and after all these years in IT and tech support, I've seen plenty!) most users are nowhere near as "expert," "saavy," or "power user" as they like to pretend. Most of what passes for "expertise" on the desktop user level is little more than having a large collection of tips & tricks gleaned from reading various blogs and magazine articles. It's like a big bag of pretty beads without a string holding them together.

Transitioning to Linux is no big deal. It works well. And NIX, along with the standard productivity apps it supports, fits 95% of all use cases for 99% of all PC users. If it didn't, it wouldn't get used anywhere near as much as it does.

Some random thoughts on apps:

As far as Photoshop goes, it's a very capable graphics app. GIMP is not the same as Photoshop. There are many functional and feature similarities between the two. But the target users and design philosophy driving each of them are very different. So it's hardly surprising one size doesn't fit all when it comes to that category of app. As a pure paint program I always though PaintShop Pro versions 6 and 7 were far better and more focused than the bloated Swiss Army knife Photoshop increasingly came to resemble - if you wanted a paint program. As did a lot of designers I knew who often started a project in something like PaintShop Pro and later moved their files over to Photoshop when they needed a feature only that could provide to "finish up" - or if they were doing final prep for traditional press printing. But this is old news to anybody who actually does this stuff professionally. And FWIW, if you really need Photoshop - and you're running nothing but Linux (and god only knows why if you heavily rely on Photoshop for your work)  - you can always set it up in a VM, where it runs just fine as long as you have a capable CPU and sufficient RAM. ANd a lot of RAM and a powerful chip is something you should have in order to effectively run Photoshop natively anyway. Because that app is a resource gobbler if there ever was one. That sort of power always comes at a price where system resources are concerned.

Word vs Writer is largely a tempest in a teapot. If you need full MS Office integration (and in a corporate job environment you very likely might) then Office is your oyster. If you don't Writer will do you just fine. If you do a lot of writing, or do it professionally, you probably have already changed your work flow and use a so-called distraction-free writing environment to do your early drafts anyway. That trick works so well that Microsoft eventually incorporated its own "full screen viewing" with a minimal toolbar setting starting with Word 2010/2011. So for straight ahead wordsmithing, either app should work equally well for you. If you want full suite integration (i.e. pulling charts and tables in from other apps in the suite, data sharing, etc.) MS Office holds the edge. And for the price being charged for it, it damn well better AFAIC.

Outlook is an interesting app. If it's wedded to an MS Exchange back-end (as it's intended to be), there's very little it can't do. If you don't need enterprise features - or have to integrate and coordinate your communications and schedule with several dozen team members or coworkers - it's utter overkill. It's a nice PM to be sure. But few people need that degree of organization to do their work or live their lives. If you are one of those people however, by all means use Outlook. It'll do you proud. But if you're more an ordinary civilian type, there are lots of other capable and simpler alternatives you could just as easily use.

I really dislike Publisher. Same goes for PowerPoint. The reasons are personal and philosophical and not worth going into in the context of this thread. So all I'll say about those two apps (along with their Libre counterparts) is: If you like 'em - use 'em.

Excel has carved out a rather unique niche for itself. In many respects deserved. IMO it's the finest product in Microsoft's catalog, even if I do think they barfed it up royally with that ribbon bar. It's also important to accept that Excel has become the de facto standard for this category of software. So if you're sharing (or expecting to someday share) spreadsheets with other spreadsheet users (who are using Excel) - do yourself and them a big favor and just use Excel. You can run it in a VM. But I think it's just easier to keep a Windows machine on hand if you're a big Excel (or MS Office for that matter) user. Hardware is cheap enough these days. And having two PCs on your desk isn't that uncommon anymore. FWIW, Excel is the one and only reason I'll probably always have a Windows laptop somewhere in my house, no matter what.

Maybe I'm not happy about that since I transitioned over to Linux for my own uses quite a while ago. And I really dislike the direction and future Microsoft is steering it's users towards. But that's not a battle I'm willing to get dragged into as long as I have an alternative. And I do. So to me it's one of those "Render unto Caesar" things. And hardly something worth getting into a tizzy over. I just occasionally flick a small coin or two into Microsoft's tax coffers, smile my most insincere smile at the two suspiciously frowning legionnaires who are standing nearby, and go on my merry way.

Life is too short to get into battles over software choices. Or at least so I think. YMMV.

218

General Software Discussion / Re: license key

« Last post by 40hz on January 10, 2016, 01:25 PM »

What software is available of this nature offered through donation coder. Thku for ur input

-jaklogan (January 09, 2016, 08:21 PM)

Nothing through Donation Coder as others have mentioned.

If you're looking for system cleanup utilities, start by looking here and here.

219

Living Room / Re: "Open" is really gaining traction

« Last post by 40hz on January 09, 2016, 09:51 AM »

^Um...I do remember  you do your own effects. We corresponded on that via PM not that long ago. I haven't forgotten. 

And in Tillman's defence, he never called it a 'Tillman' Amp. He's never called it anything but a Discrete FET Preamp. Nor did he ever claim (or even infer) it was an original design. Even on his own website. That "Tillman" moniker is something the music sites and musician rags started calling it. Probably because it has a better "ring" and is much more memorable than Tillman's own mouthful of a name for it. 

220

General Software Discussion / Re: YNAB moving to a subscription model

« Last post by 40hz on January 08, 2016, 09:09 PM »

Yes, I am thinking of it in terms of personal productivity, which I have been tracking for some time, to understand patterns.

One thing I did figure out is that the "unit" is a very complicated thing. What needs to be budgeted is not just time but a unit of "attention" or "concentration" (some kind of mental energy, though it depends on physical energy as well), which is not equally distributed across time.

My ability to concentrate and produce high quality work solving difficult problems is the highest on Monday morning, then it drops after lunch, might go up a bit in the late afternoon, and then goes down in the early evening. And this resource gradually depletes across the week. So it might take 2 or 3x as much time on a Friday to to produce the same quality of work as with 1 hr of Monday morning time (if at all possible).

-dr_andus (January 08, 2016, 05:15 PM)

Yeah. Your individual productivity/attention/energy curve seems somewhat similar to a seasonal business cycle with it's slow and busy periods. We always followed that and scheduled things like training and enrichment activities - or vacations - whenever possible during slow months.

On a daily basis it's even more important to be aware of your own personal cycles and get a handle on them.

I'm like you. I'm most productive between 5:00AM and 1:00PM. Afternoons are generally not a good time for me. I'm usually sagging between 2:00 and 7:00PM. I'll get an upswing around 9:00PM however. That's my best time for creative things like music composition, long-range/strategic planning, non-technical writing, or graphic design. And as long as I don't break momentum on something, I can easily go from 9:00PM into the wee hours of morning if I'm fully engaged. I need to balance that out against my morning schedule's requirements. But as of now, I can get away with less sleep than I'd like (or should get) for about two or three  days in a row before it becomes a real problem for me. It's still something I try to avoid. But it's also nice to know I can do it if I need to without suffering too much of a physical or mental backlash as long as I don't make a habit of it.

So yes. Cycles definitely need to be taken into consideration because some hours are more "golden" than others.

(@dr_andus: Have you experimented at all with blind testing biorhythm charts against yourself? I've tried it and the results were mixed as far as their accuracy and usefulness is concerned. I definitely think there's a chance there might be something to it. But not in the simplistic form it presently has.)

221

General Software Discussion / Re: YNAB moving to a subscription model

« Last post by 40hz on January 08, 2016, 02:06 PM »

This is a bit off-topic, but related: taking the maxim "time is money," has anyone tried to apply the YNAB philosophy to time management itself? Could this be replicated by let's say using two Google Calendars, one for the "budget" and the other for "actual"?

-dr_andus (January 08, 2016, 11:48 AM)

I agree with Wraith that not only could it work, but may be interesting to try.

FWIW, I always planned for billable time in my companies. And I actually created an inventory item called "tech hours" for each of my techs and contractors.

That time "inventory" got budgeted and monitored just like any other expense/sale item for planning and control purposes. And it was easy to do. You had an employee/vendor hour at a fixed cost of $X with a related sell price of $Y. And an average available pool of 2000 potential billable hours, since 50 weeks times 40 hours is 2K hours for an employee. Unbilled (or unliquidated if you prefer) hours are the equivalent of "spoilage" since once the week goes by, those hours are lost forever. Just like a barrel of apples or anything else with an expiration date. Any hours used purely for company purposes get "billed" to the company.

By looking at hours as a "product" with an opportunity sales value and a fixed cost, you can get an immediate feel for how effectively you're utilizing your marketable time resources. And even more important, you're able to track and analyze using some solid numbers for management purposes.

You could also do the same with your personal time. Just think of it as an inventory item, with an expiration date, associated cost, and sell price and you're on your way.

One other thing to keep in mind. Accounting is not just about actual dollars. It's about discovering patterns and trends. The dollars on the books don't always represent actual money. They're just markers used for convenience. And since "everything has it's price," money becomes a common unit of measure that actually works quite well for management purposes. But you could assign "happiness" or "fulfillment" points - or whatever else makes sense for you - to do the tracking. All that's important is that you understand your unit(s) of measure and consistently apply them. AFter that, budgeting and determining whether you're "gaining" or "losing" becomes relatively easy to do.

Here's a grossly oversimplified simplified way of looking at how you might do it with a computer tech. (In a real business case, these projections would involve the use of historic data, industry trends, business seasonality variables, statistical analysis, and some modeling.)

Assumptions:

Available billable hours = 2000 per 12 month period.

Estimated billable hours best case: 1600 hrs.
Estimate billable hours worst case: 600 hrs.
Expected billable hours average case: 1200 hrs.
Projected billable hours based on above: 1166 hrs per 12 month period

Costs:
Salary $75,000
Benefits: $6000

Total annual cost of labor: $81,000 (essentially fixed for most purposes)
Total cost per hour for 2000 hr. year: $40.50 (81,000/2000)
Average billable hour rate: $90 (I'll skip how that number might be determined.)
Breakeven hours on annual basis: 900 billable hrs. (81000/90 = 900)

Projected profit: (projected billable hours x average billable hourly rate - cost of annual salary and benefits)

Best case: $63,000
Worst case: <$27,000> (loss!)
Expected: $$27,000


You'd need to do this for each employee or vendor. If people are paid hourly, it gets a little more complicated and involves a little more educated guesswork. But it's still very doable.

With all this worked out, yo can project a fairly decent estimate of your expected profitability from time. But you'll need to offset that by operating and fixed expenses. So this is just the tip of the iceberg. But it's a good place to start. Because doing this exercise helps you decide if it's even worth getting into a specific service type business. Maybe you can sell all your hours. But the projected profitability may not cover expenses. Or be worth it to you even if it does. Many times you'll realize that there's a lot of people who opened a small business  - but aren't operating a business in the truest sense - they merely "bought themselves their job." Because most barely pay the owner and cover expenses. Which is why they fail so often the minute there's a downturn in the economy or they hit a snag. There's no buffer to cover contingencies or tide them over a lean season.

So it goes.

Ok. End of lecture. 

Now here's an extra credit exercise: How could the above concepts be applied to personal time management when not thinking solely in terms of financial opportunity and cost?  Why would it be worth it for you to start thinking of it that way? How would you do it if you decided to?

222

Living Room / Re: "Open" is really gaining traction

« Last post by 40hz on January 08, 2016, 11:49 AM »

^Bad day huh?

re: Tillman.

Wire one up and give it a listen if you haven't already. Tweak it a little just for kicks while you're at it. Compare the sound and roughly 300 hrs of battery life to some of the more "improved" circuits out there.

I did. And the Tillman is all I'll use. Cheap, good sounding, and I enjoy screwing around finding the best sounding J201 and component values. I just do them up for myself and friends so it's not like I need a high degree of repeatability since I'm not manufacturing in quantity. Besides, it only takes about 5 minutes to put a Tillman together.

As far as the rest goes, the journey is the bulk of the reward with this sort of DIY thing.

If you just want a powerful ultra small amp go buy a Hotone micro. They come in several different models, each with its own signature sound, and run between $100-$150 street. They're great little amps with full tone stacks, and a lot of input and output options - including an effects loop. If you just want to shop bang for the buck and get a micro amp, a Hotone is the only way to go.

223

General Software Discussion / Re: YNAB moving to a subscription model

« Last post by 40hz on January 08, 2016, 05:09 AM »

^Hey SB!

Nothing serious to hold them back other than whatever deal they have with their stakeholders or potential buyer.

Keeping a classic destop version while trying to sell a online service version isn't too practical however. The desktop version really needs a full rewrite to get away from its Adobe Air dependency. So that's time and money and hoping peoplle will buy the rewrite now rather than wait till they have to. Which is exactly what their problem is right now.

It also works at cross purposes to them trying to sell people on a transition to the online version.

So eiher way, I think them doing an updated desktop version along with an online subscription version isn't likely to be in the cards for them. I think going online looks to them to be their easiest way out of their current dilemma from a technical and practical viewpoint. From a business and marketing viewpoint, it's an entirely different matter however.

Selling their existing users on it is a whole 'nother story. Especially considering the rather surprising amount of bad feelings and pushback they're getting so quickly following their announcement.

I wish them luck. But as things stand I suspect they've jumped the shark with this one.

Is it just me, or is that really Another One Bites the Dust playing faintly in the background right now?

224

Living Room / Re: Movies you've seen lately

« Last post by 40hz on January 07, 2016, 08:26 PM »

The latest installment of Star Wars Part {some number}- the Yadda-yadda-yadda Whatever. (I'm not a big fan of George Lucas's space opera, as you can probably guess.)

That said it was entertaining enough, if a little short on story and plot. (Like all of them are IMO.) It struck me that this outing is mostly a rehash of a previous episode - except with a bigger and more sophisticated CGI canvas to draw it on. Or so I thought.

I saw it in 2D rather than 3D at a Tuesday matinee. So it only set Alex and me back just shy of $20 all in - extra large popcorn included. If we dropped $14 each to see it at an  evening screening (with 3D glasses) I probably would have felt it was largely a waste of money - even if the cinematography and scenic design was impressive. Actually, it was quite beautiful in some places. (And FWIW I'd like to see Ms. Daisy Ridley in a movie with a better script. She's got a little of that Rhona Mitra sci-fi vibe going for her. And I think she has the makings of a decent major motion picture actress if they give her half a chance.)

If you're a big Star Wars fan, it's not to be missed. But why am I bothering to say anything if you if you are? You've probably seen it twice already and are planning on going back at least once more, right? 

225

General Software Discussion / Re: YNAB moving to a subscription model

« Last post by 40hz on January 07, 2016, 08:06 PM »

One thing I don't quite understand though is that if YNAB4 is working fine and might work fine for years to come, why are so many die-hard YNAB4 fans (like Macdrifter I linked to or the above open source developers) looking for alternatives already?

-dr_andus (January 07, 2016, 05:15 PM)

It's called "getting ahead of the problem," I think. The "problem" being YNAB has overstepped what many of their existing customers think is acceptable behavior on their part. These people are now looking for alternatives outside of what YNAB is plannoing to do. Most of them also assume (and I'm inclined to agree with them) that YNAB has got something in the works (probably a sellout to some other entity) that they're not talking about. And whatever it is, their present user base suspects it probably isn't going to be too happy seeing it come to pass when it does.

From a technical standpoint, YNAB runs on Air. AndAir is a dead-end technology that's just waiting to tombstone. The minute a major update to Air breaks YNAB, your options will be to "upgrade" to whatever web-based product YNAB is currently planning to offer - or to find another desktop alternative. As of right now, there's nothing (AFAIK) that does exactly what YNAB software does in quite the way it does it. It is a pretty sweet app in it's present form. Sorta like so many other apps that started of clean and focused and then got wrecked thanks to feature bloat, being repositioned as an online service, or both.