Recent Posts

226

Official Announcements / Re: Big News: New DonationCoder Server

« Last post by Stoic Joker on January 16, 2018, 02:09 PM »

I have solved the problem.  Only took 6 hours of screaming at the screen.

-mouser (January 15, 2018, 10:56 PM)

Finally, you're behaving like a professional 

-cranioscopical (January 16, 2018, 08:37 AM)

Indeed! ...A true professional would maintain a steady cadence of profanity in a blended cross between magical incantation and mantra. It's all part of the process and greatly assists in focusing ones rage (er...) energy towards guiding the hammer blows to their best effect.

  At least that what I tell the wife..

227

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 10 free upgrade loophole closing in December

« Last post by Stoic Joker on January 15, 2018, 06:59 AM »

Weird. Now I'm not denying you experience the problems you experience, but it is the first time I heard of it and I have been using Windows 7, XP, 8.1 and Server 2012 machines to connect through VPN to RDP to Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Server 2008 and Server 2012 machines for hours and hours on end, without any issues of any kind. And yes, that includes even sessions where I VPN/RDP to one system to another system in another network on a different location and then need to use Citrix to access yet another computer in another location. A mish-mash of connections that I sometimes have to go through, because of a legal minefield that do not allow me access directly.

But no crapping out of RDP through VPN in any combination.

-Shades (January 14, 2018, 07:32 PM)

Same here ... However I did run across an issue with one client that kept having repeated issues with the target machine locking up due to an issue with the print spooler. It's a rare but known issue with certain printers and RDP that seems to manifest most often if one is coming from a slow/overloaded network (e.g. like from a hotel). Disabling the connect to local printer option for the RDP connection mitigates it for the most part.

There is no existing list of known problem child printers...however I do suspect that anything that is host based on either end of the connection would be a prime suspect (just a hunch..).

228

Living Room / Re: How a researcher hacked his own computer and found 'worst' chip flaw

« Last post by Stoic Joker on January 10, 2018, 07:36 AM »

I do find the timing rather interesting with all the folks being so happy with how well Windows 10 runs on older hardware ... That now have an entirely new holy-shit-class reason to have to run out and buy brand new bleeding-edge hardware which will of course be priced to match accordingly..

But I'm never-the-less obligated to schlep through the process in the name of due diligence. Because it only takes one enterprising asshat to pair this with a broadcast based delivery system to get it into some low hanging fruit internal server from a workstation email (ala CodeRed) to turn the whole thing into a big steaming shit show.

229

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 13, 2017, 01:51 PM »

Christ my luck is shit these days... Just found out that the Multibit BTC wallet has been killed off - And my current Multibit wallet has become seriously unstable. So...

With the need for importing/exporting private keys and such...(BCH stuff)...what is a good Windows desktop wallet to use these days??

230

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

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 13, 2017, 06:46 AM »

@panzer - Thank you, I really needed a laugh this morning. I'm about to be forced into a job change and haven't even smiled in over a week ... That actually made me laugh out loud.

231

General Software Discussion / Re: Need some (security/virus-related) advice.

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 11, 2017, 03:21 PM »

Actually I think he'll be served perfectly well with a notebook with passwords written down. I love KeePass but I don't see my Dad dealing with such a system.

-ayryq (December 11, 2017, 11:54 AM)

I've long been a fan of the phrase "The old ways are the best" ... Because it does rather frequently seem to prove true. However...

Given the many exploits currently in the wild - many of which have lengthy dormancy periods - it would probably be best to roll his machine back to a restore point prior to the incident before doing a through offline scan to ensure nothing is waiting until the coast is clear...or just quietly monitoring some C&C channel awaiting instructions.

232

Living Room / Re: How can I blank out my laptop camera?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 11, 2017, 03:06 PM »

Just put a piece of that lightly frosted scotch tape over the lens. It will still show as video, but appear badly out of focus ... Emulating an "equipment issue". 

233

General Software Discussion / Re: Help Recovering Windows 7 password

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 07, 2017, 06:58 AM »

I've always used the Trinity Rescue Kit

234

General Software Discussion / Re: Chrome on Windows Phone

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 01, 2017, 07:27 AM »

Well poo...

I'd already tried most of those the other day, and none of the few remaining options worked either. And this particular web interface - which is trying to AppCache for offline use - is construed as mission critical by our micro management team ... So it looks like a forced jump to Android phones to get to the straight Chrome (spyware) browser.

Thanks for checking.

235

General Software Discussion / Chrome on Windows Phone

« Last post by Stoic Joker on November 28, 2017, 10:59 AM »

We just did an update on our business software and ran into a bit of a glitch. The web section of the software now requires Chrome to access. And a large enough to be a real problem portion of our staff are currently using Windows Phones.

So does there exist any Chrome/Chromium based browsers for the Windows Phone?

Preferably looking for something that someone has tried/knows will work.

236

General Software Discussion / Re: Cool Retro Music Devices

« Last post by Stoic Joker on November 27, 2017, 10:56 PM »

I've got a 30 year old Curtis Mathis stereo in my garage (for shop music) does that count?

237

Living Room / Re: Happy Thanksgiving to DonationCoder folks - 2017

« Last post by Stoic Joker on November 23, 2017, 08:54 AM »

Happy Thanksgiving all!

238

Coding Snacks / Re: SHORTCUT SHMORTCUT

« Last post by Stoic Joker on November 22, 2017, 03:14 PM »

I don't know how to create that as a fully-functioning shortcut/link in any folder elsewhere though. I mean, I created it elsewhere, but it doesn't function, nor does any shortcut made to it.

-IainB (November 22, 2017, 12:02 PM)

Really?
I just copied the Desktop (create shortcut) file to the desktop, dropped an exe file on it, and it created a new shortcut on the desktop that worked just fine.

Quick way to get to the folder is Win+R (run dialog) and then type shell:SendTo, press enter and it pops right open.

I had to look it up...so I thought I'd share..

239

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on November 21, 2017, 06:12 AM »

However, make sure that you are very careful with your private keys, as if anyone sees them, all your coins are GONE

-Renegade (November 20, 2017, 05:02 PM)

In what context are we using "see"? IRL Shoulder Surfing/Trojan upload, or potential exposure on the chain during the transaction?


Hay, did I mention it's great to see you back?

240

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on November 20, 2017, 01:21 PM »

Thought this might be interesting to some: Successful completion of the first off-chain atomic swap.


Hay, does anybody know how the hell you're supposed to get the BCH from the BTC fork back in August?? I had some coin in an old Multibit wallet back then, but I gots no clue on how to jump the fork (for lack of a better/correct term) with it..

241

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 10 Announced

« Last post by Stoic Joker on November 17, 2017, 10:59 AM »

^Yes true, will see if it improves. Overall seems slightly more sluggish but will see that too.

-rgdot (November 17, 2017, 07:35 AM)

Be interesting to see what happens. Between home and the office I have 2 nearly identical HP Z440 workstations, both are configured with the exact same CPU & RAM. But the home machine has an NVMe drive, and the office machine has a mechanical SATA drive. Software type, amount, and configuration is also almost identical.

Office machine using Windows Update in Settings took almost 2 hours to complete the 1709 update.
Home machine using the Windows update/media creation utility took about 15 minutes.

Download time not included, this is time back to desktop after initiating reboot.

After install both run fine ... Except for the office machine blowing the Hyper-V switch apart, which the home machine did not do (even with the same configuration).

Talk about random... Damn.

242

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 10 Announced

« Last post by Stoic Joker on November 17, 2017, 06:49 AM »

Updated to 1709 on my laptop today. Only few minutes so far, the only thing I have noticed so far is Settings is slower to open, noticeably slower, not sure why ....

-rgdot (November 16, 2017, 04:58 PM)

THat's bad as it was already very slow on my desktop to open.

-wraith808 (November 16, 2017, 05:32 PM)

Seems to me that they're always a bit sluggish when they first (OOBE) boot until it gets everything sorted out (/cached straight), especially with a mechanical drive. Disk activity will hit the ceiling in a flash on those things.

243

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 10 Announced

« Last post by Stoic Joker on November 16, 2017, 03:42 PM »

1709 through Windows Update killed my Hyper-V virtual switch. Couldn't find/delete the old one, and couldn't create a new one I had to dig up a MS FixIt to get the thing back online. But the FixIt did work ... It's apparently a fairly common problem.

244

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: pCloud

« Last post by Stoic Joker on November 16, 2017, 06:37 AM »

I [...] encountered the one thing that immediately set it apart to me.  It created a drive on my machine- a virtual drive that does not store files locally.

[...]

So the 14GB that I have from pCloud shows up as a drive on my PC, but doesn't take up space on my PC.

-wraith808 (November 15, 2017, 05:03 PM)

Isn't this what OneDrive used to do, then Microsoft removed that feature, and now they've just added it back again last month in the latest version (Fall Creators Update) of Windows 10?

-Deozaan (November 16, 2017, 12:11 AM)

I don't know; I've never had a virtual drive installed by OneDrive. A couple of others had the feature but they weren't sync clients exactly. I use OneDrive pretty extensively, and haven't seen that option, but then again, I haven't gone looking for it.

How would you do that in Windows 10?

-wraith808 (November 16, 2017, 05:10 AM)

A virtual drive I've not seen in OneDrive, but it does act as a virtual folder that will let you pick and choose how much of what (if anything) will get synced to the local machine (Account tab--> Choose folders button).

The lack of encryption with OneDrive makes me a bit nervous ... I've been thinking of scrapping mine.

245

General Software Discussion / Re: Recommended Windows 10 app - "Dynamic Theme"

« Last post by Stoic Joker on November 14, 2017, 03:38 PM »

The problem which I was trying to solve was the removal of the click-bait captions on the Windows 10 lock screen pictures. Windows downloads these (often beautiful) images for the lock screen but then covers them with these little spammy captions/links like "You'll never believe where this island is..." and baloney like that.

-ayryq (November 14, 2017, 08:39 AM)

How to Disable Ads on Your Windows 10 Lock Screen.

and/or enable the press Ctrl+Alt+Delete requirement - This removes the 3 anchor text dots also.

I loved the MS Lock Screen pics, but hated the annoying/distracting messages on the pictures - So the text is gone now.

Folder path to LS pictures: C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState\Assets

Copy elsewhere and rename all to *.jpg to save/use/view normally.

246

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on November 10, 2017, 02:49 PM »

Well... BTC is certainly taking a Red Candle ride through the freaking floor now..

247

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on November 10, 2017, 06:54 AM »

one question - does that fee go up exponentially -- if someone wants to transfer more bitcoin, will it cost proportionally more?

-tomos (November 10, 2017, 04:49 AM)

Not exactly. It depends more on how many coin fragments are involved in the transaction. Much like the difference in paying for a $10 with a 10 dollar bill vs. paying for the same $10 item with a huge pile of unrolled change. The pile of change - representing the various fragments of BTC making the total - will take much more work (e.g. larger transaction size) and will therefore "cost" more to get done.

...It once took me almost 4 weeks to get a pile of mining dust transferred to an exchange, because of all the tiny ("sub") transactions/confirmations involved in getting it there.

248

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on November 08, 2017, 05:52 PM »

But now the recommended fee is 300 sat/byte to get your transaction included quickly.

-Deozaan (November 08, 2017, 04:43 PM)

Since I wrote this, I just went back to that tab to close it and the recommended fee has increased to 310 sat/byte.

1 satoshi/byte is about 1.7 cents per 226 byte transaction at current prices, or about 7.7 cents per kilobyte. Imagine if your ISP charged you 7.7 cents for every kB you transferred. That's ~$78.64/MB, or ~$80,530.64/GB, or ~$82,463,372.08 per TB.

-Deozaan (November 08, 2017, 05:44 PM)

Hm... Yeah, I gotta switch pools to get in on that action me thinks..

249

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on November 08, 2017, 05:30 PM »

PMIIUC the cost in satoshis per transaction hasn't changed. It's just that with the rise in the coins value the # of satoshis the transaction cost are worth more. So technically we've always paid the same...it's just more noticeable now.That's not (entirely) correct. You could always customize the amount of satoshis per byte you paid with your transaction, and there used to be a time when you could set the fee to 0 and still get your transaction included within a few blocks because there was extra space for it. But now that blocks are full, you have to pay more satoshis per byte to get your transaction included or else risk having your transaction stuck in limbo for days.That said, it is true that the increasing value of each BTC is making the fees more noticable in USD amounts. Even if you only paid 1 satoshi per byte on a regular ~220 byte transaction, that's still about 1.5 cents at today's current price.Back when I first got into Bitcoin toward the end of 2015, I sent a test transaction to Renegade after he sent me what was then just a few dollars worth of BTC (now worth almost $200! Wish I had kept it...). I paid 5 sat/byte for that transaction, which at the time was less than 1 cent. But now the recommended fee is 300 sat/byte to get your transaction included quickly.

-Stoic Joker on Today at 04:54

-Deozaan (November 08, 2017, 04:43 PM)

Well that makes sense ... Now that you mention it. I do recall it being stated that certain pools were starting to pay out (to the miners) for the transaction fees. Because as the coin per block drops (which it has drastically) the transaction fees are the only incentive the miners get/have to continue mining. Which is important due to the fact that if they stop mining there is no more network for the coin to travel across. The hashing power that keeps the network strong/resilient/decentralized comes from the miners.

0.62 BTC is a pretty good haul at current prices.

-Deozaan (November 08, 2017, 05:14 PM)

Kinda, but it seems a bit low (to me) for the 6 months the (11.5TH) S9 has been running.

I'm toying with switching pools...I'm just not sure which one to jump to.

250

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on November 08, 2017, 03:54 PM »

I still try to follow the news, and I still have some BTC, but I hate to use it because it's just so expensive these days.

-Deozaan (November 08, 2017, 02:55 PM)

IIUC the cost in satoshis per transaction hasn't changed. It's just that with the rise in the coins value the # of satoshis the transaction cost are worth more. So technically we've always paid the same...it's just more noticeable now.

And it costs nothing to sit on ... In the hopes it will "hatch".