Recent Posts

2276

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

« Last post by 40hz on February 27, 2014, 05:36 PM »

@ Curt - Lovely woman, both sonically and visually. I generally don't care too much for Emo, but she's certainly talented. (FWIW I liked her song Like the Sunrise too.) Wish her success for me!

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Living Room / Re: Against TED talks

« Last post by 40hz on February 27, 2014, 10:18 AM »

^Oy! The spirit of Cotton Mather is heard throughout the forum!

2278

Living Room / Re: Against TED talks

« Last post by 40hz on February 26, 2014, 05:07 PM »

Probably a bad comparison. The world would be a better place without the UN.

-Renegade (February 26, 2014, 02:42 PM)

No. I think a public forum where an idea can be presented, or an argument entertained, is better than no public forum at all.

As far as the UN goes, the world would be a better place without a lot of things political. Unfortunately, most proposals I've heard are 'solutions' that are worse than the problems they hope to address.

 

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Living Room / Re: Netflix Mocks Amazon's Drone Delivery with Video!

« Last post by 40hz on February 26, 2014, 04:32 PM »

^Well...it might not be extortion so much as it's mutual accommodation, to wit: let's you and me make it look like I'm caving when we're actually setting up an arrangement that helps squeeze out the competition for paid streaming media without giving the Feds grounds to get involved.

Truth is, I don't quite trust Netflix about this... Especially when you consider how suddenly they shut up and dropped their whole throttling argument. And they haven't been too vocal on neutrality either.

With the net "neutrality" issue still up for grabs (and not likely to be resolved one way or another for at least another year) why cut such a deal now? Although the outcome is fairly predictable (with this government) - it's still not a completely done deal.

Methinks a deeper game's afoot.

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Living Room / Re: Against TED talks

« Last post by 40hz on February 26, 2014, 11:52 AM »

^  +1

(and without a funny picture! )

-wraith808 (February 26, 2014, 10:27 AM)

It's fixed now. 

2281

Living Room / Re: My pop/imap Android experience

« Last post by 40hz on February 26, 2014, 11:32 AM »

@SB- I've never mixed using POP and IMAP protocols for the same email account. I don't think it should make a difference (other than anything sent from POP won't replicate on the email server since POP is essentially a one-way street) ...but again I've never done that.



FWIW, the settings I'm using for GMail are as follows. They're pretty generic.:


ID & password same as always. (i.e. {name}@gmail.com)

Inbound server   = imap.googlemail.com | SSL/TLS | Authentication=Normal Password | Port = 993
Outbound server = smtp.googlemail.com | SSL/TLS | Authentication=Normal Password / Port = 465

I understand imap.gmail.com & smtp.gmail.com also work as the server names.

See anything different from your settings?

2282

Living Room / Re: Netflix Mocks Amazon's Drone Delivery with Video!

« Last post by 40hz on February 26, 2014, 08:57 AM »

Can't wait to see the comeback where Netflix gets ridiculed for voluntarily paying off Comcast for what amounts to a network shortcut to stream Netflix to Comcast customers. (This even though Comcast denies it ever throttled Netflix - and furthermore, insists this deal doesn't get Netflix any preferential treatment from them. Yeah right! :/) )

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Living Room / Re: My pop/imap Android experience

« Last post by 40hz on February 26, 2014, 08:39 AM »

Just curious, since it seems you've already got your mail in gmail, what does the gmail client app lack that K9 is giving you?

-CWuestefeld (February 25, 2014, 03:44 PM)

Local message folder storage and offline capabilities.

Of the two, local data storage is probably the most important considering Google's record for abrupt terminations of product offerings and the frequent changes made to their TOS.

I doubt Google would play games with something as established and major as GMail. But you never know when it comes to Google.

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Living Room / Re: Against TED talks

« Last post by 40hz on February 26, 2014, 05:40 AM »

I'm sure TED instils a feeling of inadequacy in many people. It does me sometimes.  



But if that inspires or motivates more people (like me!) to start thinking and doing, that can hardly be a bad thing.  

Most real lessons life teaches us aren't very pleasant. Or even comfortable to learn.  

I often come away from TED thinking, "Wow! Why not me?"  

And that's an important question only I can answer: Yeah...why not me?  



----------------------------------------------------

BTW, I actually did go over and talk to that little red-haired girl  back when I was a freshman in high school.
It worked out well. We've been together ever since. )

2285

Living Room / Re: Stephen Wolfram's Long Demo of the Wolfram Language

« Last post by 40hz on February 25, 2014, 09:39 PM »

Hoo boy! I'm not sure what to make of this one...

One thing for certain. It's not a programming language in the sense we usually use the term. It's more of an environment or framework. Sorta like Smalltalk and Lisp got wedded to EMACS, put on steroids, and then sent into the world with two lines of coke up its nose.

I see a couple of potential problems with some of the paradigms. And the vast lexicon it appears to have violates every principle of language design I was ever taught. But maybe with today's hardware (and the ubiquitous presence of the web) some of those design concepts need revisiting...

Yeah. I'm definitely going to be watching and playing with this one even though I'm somewhat sceptical about what its long-term prospects are going to be.

But like the saying goes: "Theory be damned. If it works - go for it."

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Living Room / Re: The Voynich Manuscript -- Serious Progress Decoding it

« Last post by 40hz on February 25, 2014, 05:36 PM »

@tomos - Thx. Got it. Had to do a reset on my DSL or some odd reason. After that, all was well.

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Living Room / Re: The Voynich Manuscript -- Serious Progress Decoding it

« Last post by 40hz on February 25, 2014, 03:26 PM »

Has anybody successfully downloaded the Bax PDF here? I can only get to about 91% before the download hangs no matter how I try to pull it over.

2288

Living Room / Re: My pop/imap Android experience

« Last post by 40hz on February 25, 2014, 02:27 PM »

Imap@gmail has too much room for improvement in ease of use and configuration on various devices. Good luck making it work on your dad's windows phone, by giving him directions over the phone.

-eleman (February 25, 2014, 12:19 PM)

I didn't run into that on my iPhone. I told it to provision a new email account, selected GMail from the list presented, entered my existing address and password, and it defaulted to an IMAP set-up without being told. Apparently if you've set your GMail account up to use IMAP, the iPhone mail client is smart enough to figure it out.

2289

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by 40hz on February 25, 2014, 02:04 PM »

Hardly unexpected. Where there's money, there's games being played. It was only a matter of time before one of the big players stumbled. It happens to banks. It happens to businesses. It happens to governments. Why should BItcoin exchanges be any different?

BTC robs the authoritarians of the possibility of knowing what people have, and further robs the kleptocrats of the possibility of stealing people's money.[/b][/size] (Oh certainly they create laws to call their theft "legal", but it's still theft.)

-Renegade (March 26, 2013, 08:41 PM)

Got news! It ain't just the authoritarians and kleptocrats that rob people blind. Surprise!

Y'know, I just had a thought: if the powers that be really wanted to hurt Bitcoin, right now all they'd need to do is shrug and say "Oh well!" about the theft - and decline to get involved or open an investigation...Looks like Japan has already decided to do exactly that.



Consider: It's private and anonymous by design. There's no transaction trails. No provable ownership of accounts. No direct path of responsibility. No insurance or regulatory requirements in place. No laws broken...so where could the regulators or police possibly step in to assist? AMF-YOYO!

And lacking any sort of official status, how do you even establish a legally recognized monetary value for the claimed loss? It's only what the Bitcoin community has chosen to say it's worth. So an argument could be made that despite the claimed value, bitcoins have no real monetary value. Which raises an interesting question as to whether a theft has even been committed.

Such are the risks of going off on your own and insisting on complete independence from any established societal frameworks.

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Living Room / Re: Against TED talks

« Last post by 40hz on February 25, 2014, 01:36 PM »

There's a lesson to be learned there, I think...

-wraith808 (February 25, 2014, 01:10 PM)

Couldn't agree more. Everything has it's Golden Age. TED, originally organized as a one-off event, is certainly past its. But, like the UN, I still think (in the absence of anything better to take its place) it's important that a gathering like TED continue to be around.

2291

Living Room / Re: My pop/imap Android experience

« Last post by 40hz on February 25, 2014, 10:22 AM »

I'm running K9 using an IMAP setup for access to a general purpose GMail account from a Nook without incident or problems.

This same account gets accessed under IOS, Linux and Windows by at least three different (and ever changing) email clients. No problems so far. Wonder if the problem you're experiencing originates with your provider's mailserver...

2292

General Software Discussion / Re: Book Tracking

« Last post by 40hz on February 25, 2014, 08:19 AM »

The only real challenge is having an app to grab book data and artwork from Amazon (or other sources) via an API. Once that data is pulled over and put in a tab-delimited file, it can be easily imported into almost anything.

If it's just a locally hosted Windows-native tracking database that's wanted, there's easily a half dozen DBMS apps (i.e. Access, et al) that will let you set one up very easily.

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Living Room / Re: Against TED talks

« Last post by 40hz on February 25, 2014, 07:29 AM »

I've found some gems among the junk. Mostly the names of people or things I wanted to do my own research on.

Not to defend TED (even though it's become 'the thing' to diss it lately), but IMHO it's an easy thing to adopt a habitual stance of being "above it all" or "tolerantly amused" by almost everything. It's the hipster attitude. And it's a dangerous one that encourages knee-jerk cynicism and makes those who would innovate, or dare to dream, wonder "why even bother?"



Funny how for every TED presentation there are a hundred Reddit habitués all sitting around smirking and tossing out catty comments, secure in their absolute belief they could do it SO much better if only they could get off their asses and actually DO something (for once) instead of merely talk about it.

Or so I'm thinkin'  

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Living Room / Re: The Voynich Manuscript -- Serious Progress Decoding it

« Last post by 40hz on February 24, 2014, 11:13 AM »

@Mouser- Thx! Looks like I've got 48 mins of viewing time blocked out for this evening...

2295

Living Room / Re: Jazz Recommendation Thread

« Last post by 40hz on February 23, 2014, 06:54 PM »

Just spotted this on YT. Every time I hear this performance I end up sitting, shaking my head, wondering how anybody could ever come up with a piece like this one...

2296

General Software Discussion / Re: The Best Security Suites (2013/2014)

« Last post by 40hz on February 23, 2014, 06:50 PM »

After uninstalling it and re-installing Avast! things seem to be back to normal. So, yes, my mileage varied, though it's a bit of a mystery to me what exactly was going on.

-dr_andus (February 23, 2014, 05:04 PM)

Yes indeed. Similar things have happened to me as well. Can't really say "why" or "what" that much these days. All most of us can really say is what works for us this week.

Sad state of affairs, but there you have it.

2297

Living Room / Re: When you make your 100'th Post

« Last post by 40hz on February 19, 2014, 03:57 PM »

+1! Go Ath!

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

« Last post by 40hz on February 18, 2014, 02:31 PM »

"Discovery" Channel. Yeah right! First it was Pharaohs and mummies. Then it was the Shroud of Turin. Then it was the Mayans. Now it's Vikings....

Is anybody else sick of hearing about the Vikings? (Joe Cartoon is.)

2299

Living Room / Re: Tips Thread Personal Finance

« Last post by 40hz on February 18, 2014, 01:42 PM »

http://www.youneedabudget.com/method

-Deozaan (February 18, 2014, 01:17 PM)

+1! One of the absolute best.  The beauty of it is how simple and easy it is to get started and actually use the YNAB approach. Nothing esoteric or complicated. It's basic prudent money management (such as our grandparents used to practice) that makes even more sense to follow today. Wish I had something like this when I was first starting out.

You don't even need to get their software to benefit. They offer free webinars that will walk you through the YNAB methodology they've come up with. That's really all you need to use it.

I've bought several copies of this app. Mostly for relatives, plus an occasional young-un I happen to like and respect. The ones who made use of it are doing considerably better than the others because of it.

 

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General Software Discussion / Re: The Best Security Suites (2013/2014)

« Last post by 40hz on February 18, 2014, 11:00 AM »

40hz, question:
Why did you go with Bitdefender AV over MSE?

-superboyac (February 17, 2014, 05:35 PM)

@SB - it's very light on its feet and the free edition protects better the MSE IMO. My GF had a few niggling things get through MSE a short time ago that didn't get spotted until her weekly MBAM scan. Happened about three times. Since I put the freebie Bitdefender on her PC MBAM comes up completely clean.

I like Bitdefender. It's been around forever and earns consistent high detection scores in tests. I especially like their small business and enterprise products. They've always worked well for me in a client setting. YMMV.

Note: I've used (at one time or another) AV solutions from:

Avast
AVG
Avira
Bitdefender
CA
ESET
F-Protect
Kapersky
McAfee
Norton
Symantec

Of the above, I would still consider using Kapersky. And possibly AVG since it seems to really be at home with Windows 8 (which is coming whether we want it or not). Even has a pretty 'Win8-look' to its dashboard. The clients I have that use AVG are happy with it, even if I think it's feature set is bulking up alarmingly with each new release. (Note. AVG's customer service can sometimes be a little hard to deal with - so keep good track of your license keys and customer ID in case you do need to talk to them.)

Most of the other products I thought were great at one time. Or at least I did until they mucked them up with feature bloat. I'll also +1 w/Mouser on ESET. Their NOD32 antivirus was one of the absolute best products available - until they broke it.

I generally don't have much need for local firewall (or related features) on my home PCs. The firewall, along with antispam and privacy controls, are handled by my gateway for the entire network. So on the local machines I just run Bitdefender + the Windows built-in firewall and call it a day. I also keep a copy of the free versions of SuperAntispyware and MBAM on each machine for additional on-demand checking - and a bootable Kapersky USB key and restoration images in case some mega-disaster ever strikes.

Outside of that, keeping Windows religiously updated, and my other software regularly updated (mostly ) constitutes my Windows security regimen.

"That's the way America does it! That's the way 40hz does it! And it's worked pretty well so far..."

------------------------------
UPDATE:

Note: one of my cronies just pointed me to this. It has info and links that allow you to legally obtain a fully functional "one-year trial" copy of AVG Internet Security 2014. Can't vouch for it since I didn't try to install it - but the download links on the webpage still appear (as of today 2/18/2014) to be working. A similar offer appeared on the Most i Want website recently. See it here.

AVG Internet Security 2014 Free Download with 1 Year Trial Serial Key

AVG Internet Security 2014 is normally priced at $54.99 for a 1 year 1 PC serial number/license key. And it comes with a 30 days trial version like other security software. If you don’t like the usual 30 days trial then here is an promotion offer to download a trial version of AVG Internet Security 2014 with an in-built serial key for 1 year (364 days) at no cost. It doesn’t say how long this offer will stay free, so get it while it last!

This free 1 year trial is actually intended for Huawei dongle users but it works for everyone lol. And in terms of features and protections, there are no differences between a trial and a paid license — you get all the same features, updates, and protection.