Recent Posts

2676

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by 40hz on October 26, 2013, 10:57 AM »

^I think we 're past the point where just "speaking out" is going to be sufficient to extract us from this quagmire.
 

2677

Living Room / Re: Yay! New Laws for Crowdfunding!

« Last post by 40hz on October 26, 2013, 07:52 AM »

Please name some regulation that isn't bad. But before you tell me what it is, ask yourself if there isn't already some law to deal with the situation already in place. It's harder than it sounds.

-Renegade (October 23, 2013, 10:26 PM)

<crickets />

-Renegade (October 25, 2013, 11:01 PM)

Not so much crickets as this is borders on a debate over what amounts to an almost religious belief on the part of some.

I don't have the energy (or gluteal stamina) to get into that sort of a discussion in text these days.

I'll save that for a F2F (over drinks or coffee) at the first Annual DoCo Gathering of Geeks.

2678

Living Room / Re: How Much Do You Trust Wikipedia?

« Last post by 40hz on October 26, 2013, 07:45 AM »

^Are we at all surprised?

Whenever two or more have gathered together in hopes of accomplishing something worthwhile, it's only a matter of time before the jerks show up and try to take it over.

 

2679

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by 40hz on October 26, 2013, 07:25 AM »

5 ozt of silver is sweet, but 1 bitcoin is much sweeter!

If you don't have any bitcoins yet, here's your chance to get 1!

-Renegade (October 26, 2013, 01:20 AM)

And in addition to your chance to win a free bitcoin, your name will also be automatically entered for a 'chance' to be selected for the IRS's ever popular "randomly selected" high audit probability list!!! So nice of you to out yourself as a troublemaker...



( Sorry. Not trying to go OT or scare people off. But my current campaign is pointing out the dangerous implications and possibilities for official abuse now that we live in a surveillance state here in the good ol' USA. If the thought of what this technology can be used for finally starts to worry people...well...they need to be worried.)

2680

Living Room / Re: Best Roku channels?

« Last post by 40hz on October 25, 2013, 02:25 PM »

Alex and I have a bunch of Roku channels loaded.

What we mainly watch is something we usually found on:

• Netflix
• TED
• Hulu+

But we're more the full movie and educational/science show types so YMMV.

2681

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by 40hz on October 25, 2013, 11:45 AM »

"The Street finds its own uses for things." - William Gibson



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


According to BleepingComputer, the ransomware CryptoLocker does...

Known Bitcoin Payment addresses for CryptoLocker

CryptoLocker allows you to pay the ransom by sending 2 bitcoins to an address shown in the decryption program. Bitcoins are currently worth over $200 USD on some bitcoins exchanges. Earlier variants of CryptoLocker included static bitcoin addresses for everyone who was infected. These static addresses include:

    https://blockchain.info/address/18iEz617DoDp8CNQUyyrjCcC7XCGDf5SVb
    https://blockchain.info/address/1KP72fBmh3XBRfuJDMn53APaqM6iMRspCh

Newer variants of CryptoLocker appear to be dynamically generating new bitcoin payment addresses for each instance of an infection. You can use the links above to see transactions into the wallet and out of the wallet.

How thoughtful of them to make it so easy to pay up in order to ransom your files back!

2682

General Software Discussion / Re: Sandboxie lifetime license discontinued

« Last post by 40hz on October 24, 2013, 03:44 PM »

Probably mostly moot at this point. With the advent and improvements in VM implementations for the desktop, I'm thinking traditional sandboxing's days as a viable (if kludgey) technology are numbered.

2683

General Software Discussion / Re: Collectorz' bold new subscription-based update plans - brilliant? or suicidal?

« Last post by 40hz on October 24, 2013, 09:04 AM »

^Exactly so. He should make it either or: low monthly subscription fee|pay significantly more for single upgrade

2684

General Software Discussion / Re: Collectorz' bold new subscription-based update plans - brilliant? or suicidal?

« Last post by 40hz on October 24, 2013, 08:23 AM »

^What's the alternative then for the developers?

Apple seems to think it should be pay once, use forever - or buy it all over. Their app store has no provision for upgrade pricing. It's either list, universal discount, or free.

I have no objrction to what pricing model a software developer uses. As long as it's rational, consistent, and (by my own assessment) fair to all parties involved.

Too many small and indy developers put themselves out of business by selling for too little that something new needs to be tried from time. The alternative is endless cycles of feature bloat to justify a more expensive upgrade every few years. I'd rather pay smaller amounts on a periodic basis in order to be sure of ongoing QC and prompt bug fixes.

But to each their own.

2685

General Software Discussion / Re: Collectorz' bold new subscription-based update plans - brilliant? or suicidal?

« Last post by 40hz on October 24, 2013, 05:38 AM »

My understanding is they wiill be honoring their existing lifetime licenses.

You will need to sign up online for one of their user accounts like everyone else. That is no longer optional. But your account will be enabled to receive permanent free program updates.

---

@Ren- it's not really running as a service. Their apps download and run locally. It's their update mechanism that requires a subscription. It's more like a paid WSUS. You also don't need a web connection to use the app itself. Once the license gets validated you never need to go online to Collectorz again if you don't want to update it..

2686

Living Room / Re: Yay! New Laws for Crowdfunding!

« Last post by 40hz on October 23, 2013, 11:29 AM »

The problem is when businesses like Canonical start soliciting $32M via Indiegogo that the SEC starts getting concerned. And rightly so IMHO. Especially now that there are so many clueless people flocking to crowdfunding sites.

Many would-be investors have noted how it's relatively easy for a fraudulent person to pre-seed a kickstarter with large personal pledges (in order to create the appearance of project momentum) only to pull them later on. This trick has been seen more than a few times on both Kickstarter and Indiegogo.

So if anything was ever ripe for scamming, it's crowdfunding. And to add to the fun, we're already starting to see major corporations now looking at crowdfunding solicitations as a way to circumvent regulations designed to prevent investor abuse.

Then there's those game devs that have a successful Kickstarter campaign only to mysteriously become hard to find afterwards. (See here and here.)

Not all regulation is automatically bad.

2687

General Software Discussion / Re: So-called upgrades that ruin good programs

« Last post by 40hz on October 23, 2013, 09:08 AM »

@tomos - re: Win 8.1

Like Darwin I'm seeing unexplained freezes, driver issues (although I expected some of that), and network connectivity issues.

8.1 feels more like a mid-stage beta rather than an RC to me. just my
 

2688

General Software Discussion / Re: So-called upgrades that ruin good programs

« Last post by 40hz on October 22, 2013, 09:05 PM »

Windows 8.1...

-Darwin (October 22, 2013, 08:10 PM)

This.

2689

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by 40hz on October 22, 2013, 09:03 PM »

@Ren - your inner Libertarian is showing again. (kidding!)

2690

Living Room / Re: Movies or films you've seen lately

« Last post by 40hz on October 22, 2013, 08:58 PM »

FAIL-SAFE
Enjoyed it with breakfast last Thursday.  It framed my thoughts in a surreal way.  As relevant today as it was on its premiere.  Should be a mandatory annual world-wide viewing for all military "Brass" and politicians*.

-CodeTRUCKER (October 22, 2013, 08:05 PM)

+1 Still a classic and still relevant. The ending is nothing short of brilliant.

A decent modern treatment of nuclear brinkmanship can be found in the 1999 film Deterrence.

And a very good post-Cold War ballistic missile submarine treatment that's well worth watching is the tense 1995 action thriller Crimson Tide. Here's a clip

2691

Living Room / Re: Movies or films you've seen lately

« Last post by 40hz on October 22, 2013, 08:27 PM »

Gravity 3D.

Not bad - although nothing special either. IMO the admission ticket is a bit pricey considering how lightweight a script this film has.

George Clooney is in there doing his George Clooney shtick. Like always.

And Sandra Bullock is lovely and endearing as ever, even if her character is fairly two dimensional and predictable.

Some nice earth orbit scenery and effects even if I still can't say I much care for 3D films. At least 3D made some sense for this type of movie.

In many respects it reminded me of Space Cowboys, although that film had a vastly better plot, a sense of humor, and decent character development. I thought the space scenes in Space Cowboys (especially the scene where the Russian satellite goes active) were far better than those in Gravity.

Might be worth a visit to a theater.

2692

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows Networking, help me understand.

« Last post by 40hz on October 22, 2013, 12:17 PM »

I can't stand the damn things either, I run a domain on my home network. But I do try to allow for the possibility of there being a right environment for things of that nature. I'd wager that you think they suck for the same reasons I do ... The granular control we're used to just isn't there to afford us a comfort zone. But if mom, dad, and the kids want to toss a few files back and forth it's a workable solution that only require following a few - hand holding wizard driven - steps. So it's not a bad solution...for them.  

-Stoic Joker (October 22, 2013, 11:38 AM)

That's about it. I don't like wizards because thy tend to toss the baby with the bath water - and then you never learn anything because it's all FM.

But that's only because I occasionally forget I do this for a living, so I can easily justify putting the time in, whereas somebody who has a "real job" (or just wants to get something done) couldn't care less how this stuff actually works. And probably rightly so.

I won't argue since I can use the weak job security deliberate ignorance on the part of the client provides me with.

2693

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows Networking, help me understand.

« Last post by 40hz on October 22, 2013, 12:12 PM »

I know. I was just having a bit of fun tossing out a setup line to see who'd run with it (you were supposed to yell at me btw (hehe)).

-Stoic Joker (October 22, 2013, 11:38 AM)

Not me. You know your stuff. Any differences we have on tech are probably a matter of differences in personal prefs and IT administrative style.

2694

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by 40hz on October 22, 2013, 12:07 PM »

It's very much like gold, IMO, and the reason that we moved away from the gold standard (and the reason that I think it was a good thing to move away from it).

-wraith808 (October 22, 2013, 10:53 AM)

Errr... uh, I'm not so sure about that being a good thing. Look at people's purchasing power over the last 200 or 300 years or so. The last 100 years have been a train wreck.

-Renegade (October 22, 2013, 11:50 AM)

I'm not so sure about that.

If anybody today thinks the economy and standard of living in the western world during the 1800s was preferable to that of the 1900s, you'd have to turn a blind eye to most of the history of the 20th century.

The increase of total money in the system is what led to much of the economic advances the western world experienced. Even the depression in the 20s wasn't enough to tank the economy permanently - or seriously slow it down.

Just sayin'

2695

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by 40hz on October 22, 2013, 10:24 AM »

^Again, if Bitcoin is officially supposed to be a currency alternative and not an investment, why does it's constantly spiraling value keep being touted as a proof of concept?

Currency needs to maintain a fairly stable and predictable value in order to be a usable medium of exchange. Otherwise it gets dumped whenever it drops and hoarded when it's rising. Neither case is good for a given currency, or the the economy which said currency gets used in.

2696

General Software Discussion / Re: So-called upgrades that ruin good programs

« Last post by 40hz on October 22, 2013, 08:31 AM »

+1 x 10E2 on TrueImage.

Version 8/9 used to be my go to imaging tool until they broke it - and then refused to accept it was  their (rather than their now mostly former customer's) responsibility to fix it.

2697

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows Networking, help me understand.

« Last post by 40hz on October 22, 2013, 08:22 AM »

If you say it one more time I might shoot you!

-J-Mac (October 21, 2013, 11:40 PM)

I won't shoot you but I may chip in for ammo.

-Vurbal (October 22, 2013, 04:21 AM)

There's just so much love in the room..

 

-Stoic Joker (October 22, 2013, 06:42 AM)

Well...I just dissed homegroups a little in my OP.

I never said anything about shooting anybody.

Truth is, if homegroup works for  you, so be it. My real objection is over the (to my mind) odd and half-assed way it was implemented. But that's me.

Wana get me really snarly? Talk about the way AD or policy objects were implemented.
 

2698

General Software Discussion / Re: So-called upgrades that ruin good programs

« Last post by 40hz on October 21, 2013, 05:15 PM »

Echos my feelings about PaintShop Pro.

Version 6 was brilliant.  Version 7 still ok. 

It was nothing but annoying after that. At least AFAIC.   

2699

General Software Discussion / Re: Free ebook available for download from Microsoft

« Last post by 40hz on October 21, 2013, 05:08 PM »

^It is annoying. So do what I did. Open a new Microsoft account - and lie!

-40hz (October 21, 2013, 12:05 PM)

There is no profit in encouraging bad behavior. If you lie, the Corporate Masters only see that their draconian mandate is being accepted as the list of signed up sheeple names grows.

-Stoic Joker (October 21, 2013, 03:20 PM)

That's only a real issue if Windows is your primary or choice of operating system.

It's neither for me. I just provide tech support for clients these days. What Windows machines I still have (most of which are now VMs) are kept in "the lab" and connected to their own network. They're totally isolated from my penguin pond - which is where my stuff lives these days.   

 

2700

Living Room / Was the iOS 7 "look" created using Microsoft Word?

« Last post by 40hz on October 21, 2013, 12:35 PM »

This is just too clever for words - and also goes to show how much you can accomplish with how little provided you know your app inside out. Uber-designer Vaclav Krejci shows us how.

Ahoy*, my name is Václav Krejčí, and I have this crazy idea:

"Explain graphic design to everyday users using software they are already familiar with"