Recent Posts

2651

Screenshot Captor / Re: This program should be avoided like the plague!

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 04, 2012, 06:43 AM »

Am I the only one here who believes in the cleansing goodness of a good curse filled rage-based primal scream?

-mouser (October 03, 2012, 09:41 PM)

(I'm with ya!) Catharsis is a good thing. To many people these days try to internalize things (usually with medication...) instead of just letting go and getting it out of their system.

One time I was on such a loud tear that the neighbors come over to find out if someone was being murdered in my apartment.
I explained to them: "No, I'm a computer programmer."

-mouser (October 03, 2012, 10:07 PM)

Don't have neighbors that close...but I been there.


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


Respect for letting the guy vent. Although it would behoove him to return with a calmer tone  - (hint to OP) - so that an amicable resolution could be reached.

2652

Living Room / Re: AWESOMENESS * 99^9999999!!! Meets Douchebaggery.

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 03, 2012, 12:02 PM »

I think their biggest problem was that they were too open with the wrong information.  If he had not *named* the printer company, I don't think they would have come after him.  It's the *knowingly* part that got him in trouble.

-wraith808 (October 03, 2012, 11:53 AM)

Perhaps. They could just as well ignored him though. He's not doing anything illegal.

-Renegade (October 03, 2012, 11:57 AM)

The mere appearance of impropriety is enough to send some scampering back into the shadows as if they were burned by flame.

2653

General Software Discussion / Re: In search of ... RAMdisk opinions

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 02, 2012, 06:54 AM »

Perhaps it's a reaction (read CYA maneuver) to the historical tendency of manufacturers to be skimpy with the RAM. Kind of a (pass/fail) visual indicator for the can you do it, yes...should you do it, no hardware choices question.

A bunch of cheap RAM 3-5GB works ok, but trying to skimp with 1 or 2GB of top shelf RAM does not tend to fair well.

2654

Living Room / Re: Shooting Handgun Underwater - "Tactical Flowers"

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 02, 2012, 06:29 AM »

He must load his own rounds with reduced powder, otherwise the overpressure from the water in the barrel would cause the barrel to explode.

-Tinman57 (October 01, 2012, 07:54 PM)

The shorter barrel on a pistol would mitigate that some...but yeah, I'd be inclined to at least hope he would go that route. Otherwise with the repeated excessive stress placed on the chamber failure is definitely an option.

2655

General Software Discussion / Re: Software to suspend HDD ?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 01, 2012, 04:05 PM »

You would have to hit something that was really hard, really hard, at just the right angle (A seriously one-in-a-million shot) to cause any damage to the hard drive. Chances are you'll much more likely crack the screen with a bad hallway bump. Now if you drop it off a 2nd floor balcony... 

2656

General Software Discussion / Re: Software to suspend HDD ?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 01, 2012, 03:29 PM »

Dropping it could kill the hard drive. Bumping into a door/wall not so much. It would have to be a really freak accident, with somebody running full speed into a solid object at just the right angle..

Forcing the drive to park while the OS is running OTOH ... That could do some damage.

2657

fSekrit / Re: fSekrit not working on an old XP PC

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 01, 2012, 02:56 PM »

FSekrit should run just fine on anything from Win2000 up.

2658

Living Room / Re: Multiple ripoffs

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 01, 2012, 08:57 AM »

Unfortunately, for some people, their overall disgust with all things related to patents makes them equate legitimate attempts to enforce a valid patent on something with patent trolling. An attitude which hurts legitimate inventors almost as much as the patent trolls do.

-40hz (October 01, 2012, 08:33 AM)

We were just trying to conserve our outrage...

...Sorry, couldn't resist...don't shoot me.

2659

General Software Discussion / Re: Software to suspend HDD ?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 01, 2012, 07:13 AM »

Hot-Docking shouldn't be an issue as long as it isn't done violently.

2660

Living Room / Re: Multiple ripoffs

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 01, 2012, 06:59 AM »

I think it falls into the same category as DRM, Patent, and Copyright to be honest.

Someone makes a phone, and says that no one else can make theirs look anything like that, and sues if someone does.

Someone makes a plastic brick with raised dots, and says that no one else can make theirs look anythinng like that, and sues if someone does.

What's the difference in those two scenarios?

-wraith808 (September 30, 2012, 06:07 PM)

That is precisely the direction I was pondering earlier. Thanks for stating it more clearly.

2661

Living Room / Re: Shooting Handgun Underwater - "Tactical Flowers"

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 01, 2012, 06:43 AM »

That can't possibly be good for the gun. I'll be keeping mine out of the pool...but thanks for sharing.

2662

Living Room / Re: Multiple ripoffs

« Last post by Stoic Joker on September 30, 2012, 12:57 PM »

I really can't get that upset about the Lego thing. Maybe the original was ahead of it's time, or maybe it just wasn't marketed well enough...I don't know. But it brings to mind the Google history of the zipper article. The zipper went through 3 or 4 people before it actually became a "hit". Partially because it wasn't refined enough, and partially because it hadn't found the right application. In the patent mad world of today that would never have been tollerated.

*Shrug* ...Just thinking out loud.

2663

Living Room / Re: Home server upgrade meanderings

« Last post by Stoic Joker on September 30, 2012, 12:26 PM »

+1 for Intel ... But I'd spring for at least one of the 6 core Xeons.

I've got two 3.0 Xeons in my (6yr old) home server ... 'cause I'm nutz basically. 

2664

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

« Last post by Stoic Joker on September 29, 2012, 12:12 PM »

Civet coffee - right... -  If the "Fine Dining" experience that the upper crust is so enamored with seems to mainly consist of bug bits and weasel shit ... Then I'm just flat-out tickled to death that I do not have said "refined" pallet required to "appreciate" said "delicacies"..


Now a 26 foot OTOH, that's impressive!

2665

Living Room / Re: Computer Rental Places Spying on Customers

« Last post by Stoic Joker on September 29, 2012, 08:28 AM »

Um... Wow! ...Looks like big brother's little brother is a total perv.

2666

Living Room / Re: Home server upgrade meanderings

« Last post by Stoic Joker on September 29, 2012, 08:23 AM »

^ Understood. But my "home" network is also part of my business so I can't afford to let it be down. Even temporarily.

-40hz (September 28, 2012, 05:33 PM)

Me too...but I cheat. My "home" network is a partial mirror of the company network. So if one or the other goes down (shIT happens), I can (manually) fail over to the other system and still have access to all of the IT management info necessary to support our clients.

For site work they're really both just options to get a good look at the external surface of a network from inside it.

2667

Living Room / Re: Home server upgrade meanderings

« Last post by Stoic Joker on September 28, 2012, 04:06 PM »

As long as the one you get is easy to find parts for... Availability isn't a huge issue on a home network ... And most of the test stuff is ephemeral. Hell I've only got one (that runs three) now.

2668

Living Room / Re: Barebone server: what else do I need to complete it?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on September 28, 2012, 04:00 PM »

C'mon people[/i], this is for a freekin' server - lets get real shall we?

-40hz (September 28, 2012, 12:50 PM)

Understood. But I continuously end up walking into a place - because tragedy struck" (oh surprise...Not!) - with all of their mission critical data on a "Working" server running a client OS...that they bought at BestBuy 5+ years ago.

I try not to scream ... But I die inside, just a little, each time it happens. 

2669

Living Room / Re: Home server upgrade meanderings

« Last post by Stoic Joker on September 28, 2012, 02:18 PM »

It's getting tricky for me lately because of all the choices. There are two schools of thought I'm flopping back and forth between. They come from the world of robotics. Once school says build one comprehensive thing and be done with it. The other says to think "small, cheap, and out of control."

-40hz (September 28, 2012, 01:50 PM)

Meh... To cut and dried for me. I say firmly straddle the fence! Get one big(ish) scalable rig and then virtualize everything. Anything not needed at the time can be shutdown letting the CPU idle down a bit farther.

2670

General Software Discussion / Re: Antivirus-less setup

« Last post by Stoic Joker on September 28, 2012, 11:54 AM »

I gotta toss this EMET thing on top of my to-do list. It does look quite interesting. Any common hiccups to watch/look for in a network sized rollout of this that you know of?

-Stoic Joker (September 28, 2012, 11:21 AM)

Probably plenty - at least if you have any badly programmed (or übernazi-softwareprotectioncrapped) software installed. If you've got stuff that doesn't like DEP, it's probably gonna break bad on EMET

-f0dder (September 28, 2012, 11:42 AM)

Sweet! ...I'm a huge DEP/NX fan - It runs for all programs enterprise wide - So if I can use it as a behavior baseline deployment should be a breeze.

Draco says it's DEP or die period on our office network ... And I'm Draco.

2671

Living Room / Re: Barebone server: what else do I need to complete it?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on September 28, 2012, 11:40 AM »

The real truth probably falls somewhere in the middle.

-40hz (September 28, 2012, 09:13 AM)

hehe Doesn't it always...

So...I'm still inclined to spec ECC for a server. But I'm an "old guy." So maybe some other people might want to put their tuppence in in this one?

-40hz (September 28, 2012, 09:13 AM)

I was just going to vote 'Old Guy' and shutup ...(because I'm "pushing Fifty")... But I figured what the hell...I'll tell on myself. Whle I too usually go for ECC, I have skipped it on a few occasions (to cut project costs) where I was dealing with a really small operation with 10 or less client machines, minimal processing requirements, and no reall need for planning to scale up in the near future.

2672

General Software Discussion / Re: Antivirus-less setup

« Last post by Stoic Joker on September 28, 2012, 11:21 AM »

^+1 

So to reinforce Stoic's earlier point about the first 50,000 who get hit by something new, it doesn't ultimately matter if you're one of them. But with hundreds of millions pf PCs in  the world, odds of you being in the first group to get hit are extremely slim.

-40hz (September 28, 2012, 10:29 AM)

...and if you install EMET, you further reduce the risk of being one of those lucky 50.000. Mitigation, baby, mitigation <3

-f0dder (September 28, 2012, 11:01 AM)

I gotta toss this EMET thing on top of my to-do list. It does look quite interesting. Any common hiccups to watch/look for in a network sized rollout of this that you know of?

2673

Living Room / Re: Barebone server: what else do I need to complete it?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on September 28, 2012, 07:23 AM »

Note: rackmount servers are heavy, noisy (as in 747 takeoff noisy) and run hot. So think about where you're gonna put it. Server rooms

-40hz (September 27, 2012, 01:34 PM)

+1 x 10 I just got a great deal on an off lease Dell (1U rack mount) data center server. On start up that thing will flat-out wake the freaking dead! - (Think locked it a closet with 19 vacuum cleaners) - Hell, even with the fans at 'idle' it gave me a headach after sitting next to it for a few hours.

@SB Supermicro does make some great stuff. My home office's main server is a supermicro box that has been running rock steady 24/7 for about 6/7 years now. Unless you have a basement you're not using ...(seriously it really is that loud)... Go for a tower server with an external array.

2674

General Software Discussion / Re: The Demise of the Desktop (Free ALTools licenses too!)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on September 28, 2012, 06:53 AM »

I'll just say it here, all SAAS services strike me as that scene in Total Recall where some guy charged for air and turned it off when he didn't get what he wanted.

-TaoPhoenix (September 27, 2012, 07:35 PM)

 

...I'm sorry, it seems that due to a billing error...your existence has been deleted. If you like you can file a complaint with our proof-of-life department (to open a new account). Would you like me to transfer you there now??

2675

General Software Discussion / Re: Antivirus-less setup

« Last post by Stoic Joker on September 28, 2012, 06:47 AM »

Heuristics be damned, even with AV running on full KiLL the first ~50,000 that encounter a new bug/exploit are effectively, completely unprotected. While I am currently still running MSE, before starting that experiment I ran without anything other than common sense and the 80/20 rule.

Security is something that is practiced...not installed.