Recent Posts

2776

Living Room / Re: Scandalous Intel

« Last post by Renegade on August 17, 2013, 05:57 AM »

Sigh...

Unfortunately, building defects into products remains a standard practice in modern industrial societies. After all, the best mousetrap doesn’t make a man rich – it’s the mousetrap that you need to buy 50 times that makes a profit. And CPUs with shorter life expediencies destroy second-hand markets.

2777

Found Deals and Discounts / H. P. LOVECRAFT Bundle! Pay what you want!

« Last post by Renegade on August 17, 2013, 05:12 AM »

H. P. LOVECRAFT? BUNDLE? OMG! STFU!

http://vodo.net/hplbundle

Pay what you want for our H. P. Lovecraft bundle

films + games + books + more

BOUGHT IT!

But hurry - only 2 days left as of this posting...

2778

DC Gamer Club / Pet Peeves in Language in Games?

« Last post by Renegade on August 17, 2013, 01:25 AM »

Anyone have any pet peeves (or general complaints) about the language they see in different games? I'm curious to hear from people.

e.g. Grammar problems, spelling, wrong word used, too simple language, too long to read, etc. Whatever you have noticed.

2779

Living Room / Re: *Email privacy and security survey*

« Last post by Renegade on August 16, 2013, 10:18 PM »

Why can't they create a new user for you?  That's what I do in those cases.  And if she knows how to use cpanel, then that's not that big of a deal to do.  Same for wordpress.

-wraith808 (August 16, 2013, 10:10 PM)

Because:

...Dum-Dum...

-app103 (August 16, 2013, 07:58 PM)

I'm currently using Plesk, but if CPanel is remotely similar now (haven't used it in over 10 years), then asking a mere mortal to sift through it is akin to demanding a kindergarten class invade Pluto. Just finding functionality in Plesk is a daunting task. Using it? Oh god...

Wordpress is organized much better, though still could present a problem for a lot of people.

2780

Living Room / Re: *Email privacy and security survey*

« Last post by Renegade on August 16, 2013, 10:10 PM »

Never underestimate the intelligence of dolphins. I am pretty sure they would hack your website, if given the chance...and your password.

-app103 (August 16, 2013, 09:37 PM)

Insidious creatures, they are! I don't know why we tolerate alien invaders, even if they're supposed to be "observers" or whatever. And same goes for white mice... Grrrr... 

2781

Living Room / Re: Edward Snowden's Email Provider Shut Down Rather Than Comply With Feds

« Last post by Renegade on August 16, 2013, 09:11 PM »

This is not over yet.

http://www.techdirt....wn-his-service.shtml

Feds Threaten To Arrest Lavabit Founder For Shutting Down His Service

from the either-you-help-us-spy-on-people-or-you're-a-criminal dept

The saga of Lavabit founder Ladar Levison is getting even more ridiculous, as he explains that the government has threatened him with criminal charges for his decision to shut down the business, rather than agree to some mysterious court order. The feds are apparently arguing that the act of shutting down the business, itself, was a violation of the order:

 

Are.you.fsck.ing.kidding?

Ahem... There's this thing that's illegal in the US and pretty much everywhere else in the world.

It's, uh, called "slavery".

"Slavery" is when you force someone to work for you against their will or where you steal someone's labour against their will.

Rather than become a slave for these criminals, he shut his business down. Now they're trying to say that not becoming a slave is illegal?

We are so fscking deep in shit if this is the kind of thinking we have in our governments... We are completely and truly fscked.

2782

Living Room / Re: Knight to queen's bishop 3 - Snowden charged with espionage.

« Last post by Renegade on August 16, 2013, 09:00 PM »

Ok... Now I've seen it all.

You know how just when you think that you've seen the most Orwellian, dystopian crap in the news, and that there is nothing that could possibly surprise you? Not even mass executions?

I've been surprised.

Shocked beyond all remote thoughts or possibilities.

The impossible has happened.

Hell has officially frozen over.

http://www.techdirt....out-this-issue.shtml

Public Concern Over NSA Spying Increasing Rapidly As Congress Discovers Their Constituents Care About This Issue

People have started giving a shit! 

2783

Living Room / Re: Google: Gmail users shouldn't expect email privacy

« Last post by Renegade on August 16, 2013, 08:53 PM »

More of my drivel about email being broken

I would very much like to see the system fixed, or completely thrown out in favor of something better.

-app103 (August 16, 2013, 08:41 PM)

Email is fundamentally broken. There is no salvation for it. It cannot be fixed. Something entirely new is needed. PGP could help, but has anyone ever actually tried to get it working? Messy at best. Then there's the spam problem...

2784

Living Room / Re: *Email privacy and security survey*

« Last post by Renegade on August 16, 2013, 08:27 PM »

I really don't think there is a truly secure way of sending passwords. You can try encrypting it sure...but then what do you do with the encryption key (Infinite loop anybody?)??

-Stoic Joker (August 16, 2013, 06:54 PM)

Go scuba diving in an underwater cave with a grease pencil and board to write on. Oh, and a good memory as you don't can't do this twice. Erase the board after you're done then set charges and blow up the cave after you leave - NOT before you leave! Important point there - AFTER! Not before!

2785

Living Room / Re: Chocolate Medicine

« Last post by Renegade on August 16, 2013, 12:33 PM »

The patent lies in the extraction, isolation, manufacture and 'tweaking the dose'. 

-Edvard (August 16, 2013, 12:23 PM)

That's not quite true. What you've described isn't patentable. You can't patent orange juice. However, if you alter the chemical composition of orange juice, you may be able to patent that. Simply creating extracts isn't "non-obvious" or "innovative". e.g. Taking something that works, then creating some random bastardization of it that still kind of works isn't innovative, but it's non-obvious, because most people aren't twisted or demented enough to realize the genius of creating an inferior product is actually an innovation and very profitable.

2786

Living Room / Re: good Videos [short films] here :)

« Last post by Renegade on August 16, 2013, 12:24 PM »

6 minute video about food - no words - video only.

Clear the room of people with any sensitivity to cussing, as you'll be saying "holy shit" pretty regularly.

http://vimeo.com/57126054

2787

Living Room / Search for Devices - Then Pown them...

« Last post by Renegade on August 16, 2013, 11:42 AM »

I subscribe to Tinman's newsletter, and in it he had this article:

http://www.techhive....leeping-toddler.html

EXTREMELY creepy. It gets worse... linking from there I find this:

http://www.shodanhq.com/

A search engine to find devices that you can then try to exploit.

Good grief. It's been around for 2 years.

If you're not scared, then 1 of 3 things:

• You're a competent IT pro and have hardened your system
• You didn't understand any of the above (no shame in ignorance)
• You're an idiot (lots of shame in willful ignorance)

The amount of open information out there is just astounding.

2788

Living Room / Cody Wilson Interview on Idea City (3D Printing & Defcad)

« Last post by Renegade on August 16, 2013, 11:16 AM »

Cody Wilson did an interesting interview with Ideacity.

He brings up some interesting points, and also mentions crypto-anarchism. Those interested in privacy will likely find crypto-anarchism interesting. But he also goes on about other topics, including The Pirate Bay and a mention of Edward Snowden.

Here's a quick list of general topics he hits on to help you decide if you want to spend 14 minutes watching.

• 3D printing
• The Pirate Bay
• Edward Snowden
• Legislation - a good deal on this
• What is happening to him
• Crypto-anarchism
• Police state
• Freedom
• Politicization of 3D printing
• Leftist activism/politics (this is surprising and probably NOT what you're thinking)
• Why did you choose a gun to 3D print?
• General item printing - distributed manufacturing
• Rights and weaponry
• Lots more...

He talks about other things, but that's a quick list.

Here's the BIG picture - he talks about 3D printing as a revolution. You can't casually watch - you need to pay attention. It's a pretty heavy interview.

2789

Living Room / Re: Gadget WEEKENDS

« Last post by Renegade on August 16, 2013, 09:57 AM »

Got a KVM switch so I could switch between an old and new machine while using same monitor, keyboard, speakers:

http://www.amazon.co...S932UB/dp/B002TQYSN8

(see attachment in previous post)

The darn thing actually works (surprised me)!

-mouser (August 16, 2013, 05:33 AM)

KVMs rock! I had a 2-port and a 4-port KVM that I used to use years ago, but I only use 1 or 2 and rarely 3 computers now, and use Synergy - a software KVM. Different use cases though. But they're not DVI... both VGA.

At the moment, my current plan for my next machine is a server running a virtual environment and then VMs running inside. A different way to get around the issue of multiple machines.

2790

Living Room / Re: Google: Gmail users shouldn't expect email privacy

« Last post by Renegade on August 16, 2013, 09:50 AM »

I'll just leave this here...
 (see attachment in previous post)

-app103 (August 16, 2013, 08:29 AM)

Good point. I think a lot of us take that for granted, but I doubt many people who aren't in tech or don't operate email systems know that.

That would be a bit more applicable if security is what we were talking about.  Security =/= Privacy, though they have many of the same concerns.

-wraith808 (August 16, 2013, 09:44 AM)

Yeah, but if it's not secure, it can't (or is harder to) be private. They're related. If you can lock things up better, you have a better chance at privacy.

But honestly, does anyone here think that email isn't fundamentally broken? I've been harping on this for years off and on.

2791

Living Room / Re: Manning Verdict in: guilty on all counts but one

« Last post by Renegade on August 16, 2013, 12:06 AM »

And Techdirt has the humour and irony in it all:

http://www.techdirt....actually-cause.shtml

Bradley Manning Apologizes For The Harm Everyone Admits He Didn't Actually Cause
...

2792

Living Room / Microsoft Censors OpenOffice Download Links

« Last post by Renegade on August 16, 2013, 12:02 AM »

Presented without comment...

http://torrentfreak....wnload-links-130814/

Microsoft Censors OpenOffice Download Links

In its efforts to take down as much infringing content as it can, Microsoft has started to censor legitimate links to competing software. Hoping to remove pirated versions of Microsoft Office from the Internet, the software company has sent several DMCA takedowns to Google, listing copies of its open source competitor Open Office as copyright infringements. An honest mistake perhaps, but also a terrible one.

2793

Living Room / Re: Google: Gmail users shouldn't expect email privacy

« Last post by Renegade on August 15, 2013, 11:48 PM »

Blah - I should note there that you'd need a pretty complex way to "vote" as you'd have to have it very fine-grained with voting/liking/starring down to the point level. It's certainly not impossible, but it's not like you could simply "vote on Bill ACME-456". Sure, you might want to pass legislation to make rocket-skates legal everywhere, but you sure as guns don't want to outlaw hunting road runners.

2794

Living Room / Re: Google: Gmail users shouldn't expect email privacy

« Last post by Renegade on August 15, 2013, 11:07 PM »

@rgdot - Something like that would be very interesting to see. I would worry about the typical way that legislation is done though. e.g. The 2012 NDAA slipped in a trojan horse to allow for the indefinite detention of anyone, and they whined about how they had to pass it anyways. The same thing happens with other legislation, i.e. Create something non-controversial or something that you have to pass thanks to a crisis that you've created, then slip in a trojan horse.

2795

Living Room / Re: Google: Gmail users shouldn't expect email privacy

« Last post by Renegade on August 15, 2013, 11:00 PM »

To my mind, the only question remaining is: How soon before it's tried - and by whom.

-40hz (August 15, 2013, 10:33 PM)

1) As soon as they possibly can.
2) The same people who have orchestrated the whole show to begin with.

I think I should stop there.

2796

Living Room / Re: Manning Verdict in: guilty on all counts but one

« Last post by Renegade on August 15, 2013, 10:24 PM »

From Nuremberg to Manning, the US government/Justice Department just made the case in favor of the Nazis. "I was just following orders! I had no duty to report human rights crimes that I witnessed or was ordered to participate in."

Slow clap for the evil bastards. You can now rewrite the history books and explain how the world was wrong to oppose the Nazis. Manning's a hero, as is Snowden. That's the people's verdict, and always will be.

-zridling (August 15, 2013, 09:16 PM)

Yep.

Spoiler

'Cause that's how we roll here in 'DC!

Nothing is more vindictive than a hypocrite and liar being caught out by his/her own hypocrisy and lies.

Our current regime has been caught out.

-40hz (August 15, 2013, 10:08 PM)

Politics 101 in BASIC:

10 Lie
20 Deny
30 Punish
40 Goto 10

Expect neither justice nor mercy for Mr. Manning.

-40hz (August 15, 2013, 10:08 PM)

What are these things "justice" and "mercy"? I'm now getting 404's...

2797

Living Room / Re: Why I Idolize Larry Ellison...

« Last post by Renegade on August 15, 2013, 08:08 PM »

Ya know...normally... For something like this ... I'd say to alert the authorities, because obviously we're under some type of attack. But these days there's really no point in wasting the dime...because they're obviously behind it.


So... If somebody would be kind enough to flip on the bat(shit crazy)-signal, to dispatch an Anonymous deprogramming team to Ren's place ... That would be swell.

-Stoic Joker (August 15, 2013, 12:56 PM)

Oh my god! What was I thinking?!? Thank god my wife saw my bizarre behaviour when I was taking apart the microwave, blender, a set of speakers, and reassembling them into an intergalactic brainwave transducer and thought transmogrifier.

Luckily she was fast thinking and put my tinfoil hat back on! I am now again impervious to their mind-control beams, and back to normal... We have the extra-strength tinfoil at home here, so even if they crank up the juice, I should be safe!

Funny though... I still have this unusual urge to SELECT, UPDATE, and DELETE something...

2798

Living Room / Re: Chocolate Medicine

« Last post by Renegade on August 15, 2013, 12:37 PM »

it may also be useful in cancer prevention. At least one current patent covers this potential use.

Sorry for veering off-topic, but: can simply a use of something natural, ['potential' or not], be patented? Of course, in fairness, it could be much more complicated than just take-three-times-a-day...

-tomos (August 15, 2013, 12:32 PM)

Well, kind of. Aspirin is a bastardized and patented version of a natural substance. They basically just find what works, create a bastard mutant, then patent and market that. I never changes. Patents create an incentive to create shittier versions of what already exists.

2799

Living Room / Re: Why I Idolize Larry Ellison...

« Last post by Renegade on August 15, 2013, 12:32 PM »

I get mine from the neighbor's dog. 

-Vurbal (August 15, 2013, 12:26 PM)

Huh? Does that work? I thought it was only cats.

2800

Living Room / Re: Why I Idolize Larry Ellison...

« Last post by Renegade on August 15, 2013, 12:22 PM »

I don't know... I was thinking to check for something a little more psychotropic.

-wraith808 (August 15, 2013, 12:13 PM)

Hey, it's called "Oracle" for a reason. Where do you think the visions come from?