Recent Posts

2751

Living Room / Re: Am I the only person that has a real big problem with software like this?

« Last post by 40hz on October 05, 2013, 10:09 AM »

I wish you guys would distinguish in your arguments between the case for monitoring a child's cellphone/gps with vs without their knowledge.  To me this is the critical factor distinguishing appropriate from inappropriate.

-mouser (October 05, 2013, 09:38 AM)

I politely disagree. To monitor is to send a message you don't trust the person being monitored. And that is corrosive to a relationship regardless of whether the distrust is open or covert. And doing whats "legal" (i.e. what you can get away with) is not the necessarily the same thing as doing what's right.

Much like the NSA's repeated insistence that everything it does is "within the law" it's still all word games.

The fundamental distinction is whether or not you believe someone can be trusted. Once that decision has been made it just becomes a matter of choice of which preemptive actions will be taken plus some spin control afterwards.

I'm still old fashioned enough to not accept somebody needs to "prove" their innocence or integrity in advance. I judge a person for what they've done or not done. Not for something they might someday do. And I flat out reject any attempt at prejudgements based on a hunch or act of imagination fueled by paranoia and one's personal hangups or grudges.

2752

Living Room / Re: Sci-fi novel now available from DC member kyrathaba!

« Last post by 40hz on October 04, 2013, 08:11 PM »

Personal problems

-kyrathaba (October 04, 2013, 02:28 PM)

Wow! Sounds like you have a pretty full plate right now. Hang in there.

2753

Living Room / Re: Jazz Recommendation Thread

« Last post by 40hz on October 04, 2013, 02:12 PM »

Can't believe I forgot to recommend this: Dave Holland's latest group Prism. (Dave Holland: bass; Craig Taborn: piano, Fender Rhodes; Kevin Eubanks: guitar; Eric Harland: drums.)

Awesome stuff in a more modern style - which I usually don't like. But I really like Prism.

Dave Holland needs no introduction to the jazz world. He's THE bassist's bassist.

2754

Living Room / Re: Sci-fi novel now available from DC member kyrathaba!

« Last post by 40hz on October 04, 2013, 01:45 PM »

Next installment! Next installment! Next installment!

(Pretty please?)

2755

Living Room / Re: Am I the only person that has a real big problem with software like this?

« Last post by 40hz on October 04, 2013, 01:28 PM »

Interesting note:

Although the AlternativeTo webpage talked about monitoring children, I didn't see any mention of that on the product's decidedly unusual website. In fact, there was little mention of what it should be used for.

Sounds like an excellent tool for jealous significant others, jilted lovers, closet pedophiles ("She's not my 18-year old daughter daughter officer! She's only my live-in girlfriend's daughter!"), psychos, pervs, big-brother employers (on company issued smartphones), rogue police officials, wacky politicos, whistleblower-hunters, shady private investigators, and a raft of other weird types as well.

I know it's easy (and sometimes accurate) call all technology a double-edged sword. But some technology makes certain types of unacceptable behavior easy to the point where it almost encourages it.

I personally think the child-monitoring "suggested use" for this product got tacked on - either as an afterthought - or with the intent of deflecting criticism and/or to defuse some potential legal complications for the developer down the road.

I say this because "protecting our children" might be the only (in some people's mind) acceptable use for a product like this. As opposed to the hundred or so unacceptable uses that might spring too readily to mind.

Dunno. I think I'm calling "Bullshit!" on this developer.

2756

Living Room / Re: Silk Road Seized - Dread Pirate Roberts Arrested

« Last post by 40hz on October 04, 2013, 01:06 PM »

what I don't want to see is a libertarian world. Because I fear that a lot too, a whole lot.

-rgdot (October 04, 2013, 01:00 PM)

Understandable. But what exactly is a "libertarian world" anyway? From my experience, most self-proclaimed libertarians seem to be having a good deal of trouble reaching consensus on exactly what a 'libertarian' world should look like.
 

2757

Living Room / Re: Am I the only person that has a real big problem with software like this?

« Last post by 40hz on October 04, 2013, 10:16 AM »

It sounds like you're raising your kids to be adults. Props to you!  :Thmbsup

-Renegade (October 04, 2013, 08:07 AM)

I agree. That's a far better approach than to take the easy way out and teach them that stealthed electronic eavesdropping and surveillance are to be expected - and a normal and necessary part of what constitutes American life.

Sad how far so many of us have fallen. And even worse, how blissfully unaware (when not in active denial) we are about it.

But it's been said before: The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

And right now it looks more and more like we're saying: "The heck with a road! Let's build a superhighway to get us there."

2758

Living Room / Re: Silk Road Seized - Dread Pirate Roberts Arrested

« Last post by 40hz on October 04, 2013, 06:29 AM »

I'm sure it only took this long to arrest him because the FBI (and god knows who else) first wanted to be sure they had the details and names of everyone else involved. That and coordinate with other countries for arrest warrants and additional seizures.  

Regardless of your business or politics, it's not a very wise move to (allegedly) set up the contract killing of a federal witness with an undercover FBI agent.

If he's 'lucky,' they'll put him on jail. If he's unlucky, they'll turn him loose and make it a point to announce he "cooperated fully" with the investigation.

Either way, this boy is toast.

2759

Living Room / Re: Am I the only person that has a real big problem with software like this?

« Last post by 40hz on October 03, 2013, 09:13 PM »

I have no problem with it at all.

-edbro (October 03, 2013, 08:39 PM)

Interesting. Wonder if this is one of those "regional" things.

2760

Living Room / Am I the only person that has a real big problem with software like this?

« Last post by 40hz on October 03, 2013, 07:57 PM »

Recently saw this on the alternativeTo website:

MobiPast
Free with limited functionality by Pierre Fontaine

Remotely monitor your children's mobiles. MobiPast allows you to secretly check the copy of their activities directly on mobipast application! Free functions: - GPS locations (FREE) See the GPS locations of the mobile device on a map. - Internet (FREE) Receive the history of websites visited from the mobile device. - Contacts (FREE) Receive the list of contacts saved on the mobile device. - Passcode (FREE) Capture the passcode to access to the mobile device...

 

2761

Living Room / Re: The issue of Ad-Blocking in our browsers.

« Last post by 40hz on October 03, 2013, 11:16 AM »

I'd be happy to pay for good content I'm interested in. I've paid for site access before, am paying some sites now, and remain completely open to paying for more content in the future.

Too bad there's so little content out there I personally consider worth paying for.

I suppose that's my acid test: If a certain site switched to subscription only - would I buy a subscription? If the answer is "no" then it's nothing I won't walk away from in a heartbeat if the "monetization" strategy the site is using becomes too obnoxious.

The sad truth (IMHO) is that very little of the information buffet making up today's Internet is worth paying for. Most of it is amateurish, badly researched (if researched at all), poorly presented, and painfully shallow.

If the Internet is a vast info-ocean, it's an ocean that's 10,000 miles wide - but only about a quarter-inch deep in most places.

Or so it seems to me.

2762

Living Room / Re: Silk Road Seized - Dread Pirate Roberts Arrested

« Last post by 40hz on October 03, 2013, 10:31 AM »

Popehat has yet another good write-up on the Federal indictment & complaint that was filed. Read it here.

Worth the read. Learned a few things about how something like this works. For instance, I didn't realize there are actually two separate mechanisms that can be used to charge somebody with a crime under US federal law. Never knew that a 'criminal complaint' and an 'indictment' are two completely separate things. Either one of wihch can land you in court.

Most interesting...

2763

Living Room / Re: Blacked Out Government Websites Available Through Wayback Machine

« Last post by 40hz on October 03, 2013, 05:34 AM »

This involves the post-911 US Government, therefor yet more opera.  

2764

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

« Last post by 40hz on October 02, 2013, 11:16 AM »

This next isn't a video. It's a trailer for The Invisible Lighthouse - an interactive movie/solo-performance by Thomas Dolby. Currently touring the USA October 2013. Info on locations and dates here.

I saw Dolby perform live some years ago and was totally blown away by the blend of fine music wedded to absolute technical sophistication. This gentleman is definitely worth seeing of you get the chance.

Getting back more firmly on topic, here's the EP single of Ocenea, a haunting song which figures in The Invisible Lighthouse.

And for those who wonder just how well Tom Dolby could handle what he does solo in a live venue, here's a live solo performance of Europa and the Pirate Twins to give you some idea of what you can expect.

 

2765

Living Room / Re: The Earworms Music Thread!

« Last post by 40hz on October 02, 2013, 10:11 AM »

I almost hesitate to post this one since doing so has started it looping in my head. Probably for the next 12 hours...

Eur-o-pah! cha-kuh cha-kuh cha-kuh cha-kuh

2766

Living Room / Re: When will the trademark madness ceace

« Last post by 40hz on October 02, 2013, 08:51 AM »

If they're smart, they'll let Techdirt know about this nonsense.

2767

Living Room / Re: The Earworms Music Thread!

« Last post by 40hz on October 01, 2013, 08:26 PM »

Barely even an actual song. More like an extended riff. But it works brilliantly.

 

2768

General Software Discussion / Re: wont boot normally!

« Last post by 40hz on October 01, 2013, 03:37 PM »

One giveaway for overheating issues is spontaneous rebooting. Also lockups or chkdsk/bad sector warnings on bootup. If the problem is thermal and it's occurring on boot, odds are pretty good theres already damage to a component or components so it may be too late for a cleaning to help.

2769

General Software Discussion / Re: wont boot normally!

« Last post by 40hz on October 01, 2013, 08:47 AM »

Definitely sounds like an HD issue. FWIW your regular 4 to 5 minute boot time is not normal for XP either.

I'm guessing something about your WinXP restore is confusing XP or the BIOS about your drive configuration on boot-up. Until that gets sorted your boot will be delayed significantly.

If it's something in software, running msconfig.exe from the run dialog will allow you to disable everything but native Windows startup items. If you're lucky, it will boot much more quickly - after which you can turn your startup items on one by one and reboot after each to determine which is causing the problem.

Also check your BIOS and let it know your "OS is plug&play" if that option is available.  If you're running Windows the OS should be allowed to handle all hardware identification and configuration by itself.

Also check your boot device priority sequence. Make sure you don't have nonexistent devices preceding the HD in the lineup. If you don't have a floppy, remove it from the choices. If you only rarely boot from a CD or USB device, put those choices after your HD in the boot device list. And if an option to boot from the network is on the list, move it to last place or disable the option completely. (Most PCs won't ever use that feature - and you'll already know if you actually do need it.)

2770

Living Room / NASA puts first Curiosity Rover scientific papers behind a paywall?

« Last post by 40hz on September 30, 2013, 03:23 PM »

This is an interesting one. NASA has published the first 5 papers on it's Curiosity Mars Rover. But they did it through Science Magazine - which promptly locked them behind their paywall - and demanded $20 for a one-day pass to read them.

Fortunately, biologist Michael Eisen of UC Berkeley is a little more up on copyright rules and relevant laws for US Government projects than either NASA or Science Magazine apparently are. Michael 'liberated' and put all 5 article PDFs up on his blog site for download along with a rather pointed essay discussing why NASA should know better (from both a legal and a public relations perspective) than to try something like that.

NASA paywalls first papers arising from Curiosity rover, I am setting them free
By Michael Eisen | Published: September 26, 2013

The Mars Curiosity rover has been a huge boon for NASA – tapping into the public’s fascination with space exploration and the search for life on other planets. Its landing was watched live by millions of people, and interest in the photos and videos it is collecting is so great, that NASA has had to relocate its servers to deal with the capacity.

So what does NASA do to reward this outpouring of public interest (not to mention to $2.5 billion taxpayer dollars that made it possible)? They publish the first papers to arise from the project behind a Science magazine’s paywall...<more>

Apparently NASA got the message. Because the JPL has since re-published the same articles and made them freely available from their own website - where they should have been released to begin with.

Mike's blog post is really interesting and informative. There's several points he made that may be handy to remember if you're ever in a position where some government agency is attempting to freeze you out of reports and information you already paid them to produce with your tax dollars.

Read it here.

(With thanks to Boing Boing for spotting this!)

2771

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

« Last post by 40hz on September 30, 2013, 11:28 AM »

^ That would be a Zydeco Rubberboard or Frottoir if you speak Cajun French.

Can't say I've ever seen one...um...modified quite like Janiva's however...

Ah, the French! Always jus' a leetle bit diff'ren...



And Janiva Magness was always a trip and a half when onstage.

2772

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

« Last post by 40hz on September 30, 2013, 09:02 AM »

A fav of mine for down and out blues. Seasick Steve doing I Started Out with Nothing (and I Still Got Most of It Left!)

 

2773

Living Room / What to do if threatened by a defamation suit

« Last post by 40hz on September 27, 2013, 12:00 PM »

Sooner or later it happens. You posted what you felt was an honest and candid comment about somebody or something. Next thing your know, you're receiving shrill emails from somebody (not even somebody necessarily mentioned in you comment) who is threatening all sorts of legal action against you. Or even scarier, you made a negative remark about some company's product or service, and you receive an email a few days later from some law firm demanding you remove your post, issue a public apology, and turn over your domain to them (possibly with a certain number of dollars for their time and trouble) - or face banishment, a bad haircut, total destruction of all you hold dear in your life, and permanent revocation of your town library card.

What to do? What to do?

Attorney Ken White (chief ogre over at Popehat) posted a very good article on how to handle yourself - and what to do (and even more importantly not do) if you're ever receive a threat that somebody intends to file a "defamation" or "libel" suit against for something you (supposedly) said or posted online.

Link to the article is here. Ken has requested "no scraping" from his site. But I think I'm ok with quoting one brief section from his much longer article which I recommend reading in full.

...Criminal defense attorneys like me tell our clients about something we call the Martha Stewart Rule: lots of people get into trouble not because the did something wrong, but because they heard they were being investigated for doing something wrong, and they panicked and started lying and deleting files and setting cabinetry on fire and making angry statements to the press and generally venting their agitation. They go to jail for stuff they did when they lost control over themselves, or they go to jail because in their panic they generated new evidence of prior wrongdoing....

 

2774

Living Room / Re: Jazz Recommendation Thread

« Last post by 40hz on September 26, 2013, 01:38 PM »

+1 w/Miles on the spiderweb strategy. It works well for the listener since (like SB) that's how I discovered who I liked.

 I understand that's also the way a lot of those performers first learned about each other and decided who they wanted to work with. No web back then, and very few "real jazz stations" on the airwaves either. So LPs were how you stayed on top of the genre back in the day. Talk to an old jazz musician and he can quote you chapter and verse on who played with who, when, where, and on which albums.

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

As far as mainstream jazzers go, I'd strongly recommend listening to just about anything by Thelonious Monk. Brilliant improvisational madness.

Monk was one of the early practitioners of a style that eventually evolved into a style generally known as: Bebop. Other notables in the bebop style were Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker , both of whom are well worth listening to.

2775

General Software Discussion / Re: Why 24-bit/192kHz music files make no sense - and may be bad for you!

« Last post by 40hz on September 26, 2013, 08:48 AM »

I do hope they come up with a better form factor for the Pono than that triangular shaped thing Neil was carrying around for show & tell when/if it ever gets released.