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3051

Living Room / What the future may hold for all of Amercia will soon be seen in Oakland, CA

« Last post by 40hz on July 31, 2013, 01:50 PM »

From ArsTechnica, this disturbing article:

OAKLAND, CA—At a regularly scheduled city council meeting last night, the Oakland City Council unanimously accepted a $2 million federal grant that would create a round-the-clock "Domain Awareness Center" (DAC) in the West Coast port city. In doing so, Oakland thrust itself into the forefront of the national debate about surveillance and its limits—and two dozen vociferous protestors shouted "shame, shame, shame!" as the council voted after midnight to accept the money.

A May 2013 DAC slide (PDF) from a presentation by the Port of Oakland shows that the system would combine not only existing surveillance cameras and thermal imaging devices at the Port of Oakland, but also the Oakland Police Department's license plate readers, ShotSpotter gunshot detection devices, CCTV cameras, surveillance cameras at Oakland city schools, and dozens of other cameras from regional law enforcement agencies, including the California Highway Patrol. According to that schedule, the DAC should be fully operational by the end of June 2014, and it will aggregate more than 1,000 camera feeds.

"Currently, the system is activated in times of emergency. If it is completed by July 2014, then we would be looking to staff the facility on a 24/7 basis," Renee Domingo, the city's director of emergency services and homeland security, told the council.

Time is running out folks...

Oakland skipped step 4 and proceeded to step 5

3052

Living Room / Re: Malwarebytes Secure Backup Beta launches

« Last post by 40hz on July 31, 2013, 12:41 PM »

I tend to stay away from the new kids on the block when it comes to online backup or similar critical services. I'd rather wait a year or two, let the dust settle, and then see how well they handle volume and what their service uptime really is.

But that's because I'm interested in the backup service itself rather than cashing in on some guarantee which any sane person would hope they'd never need to avail themselves of.

It's good to see a company with a fine reputation (albeit in other areas) getting into this market. But I would tend to hold off until they had a bit more of a track record. Even if it meant foregoing an early adopter discount.

But that's me. YMMV

3053

Living Room / Re: Post Your Funny Videos Here [NSFW]

« Last post by 40hz on July 30, 2013, 06:51 PM »

This one is just too perfect:

 

3054

Living Room / Re: PLease help superboyac build a server (2013 edition).

« Last post by 40hz on July 30, 2013, 05:40 PM »

I love living vicariously through Superboy when it comes to a new build project!!!!

Even if there are limits to the vicarious experience

You might want to consider two servers? One which will have an i7 or dual Xeons (or dual i7s if they're out yet) if you're planning on running a lot of virtual machines. Then the other box would just be set up as a big storage server with a lot of drives. Separating them functionally shouldn't cost much more. And it will sure go a long way towards reducing heat and noise. And there might also be some savings to be realized since a storage server doesn't need the RAM and CPU power that an app server or VM  host should be given. There's cases built just for big NAS boxes that would probably be your best bet for that.

Good article on storage servers here. The biggest one they talk about holds ten drives. But the recommended case for that only runs $150 - so two are probably as inexpensive as getting one big one - and they will likely run cooler too with only 10 drives each. Plus you can always build another if you ever decide you need 30 drives someday.

There's also storage platforms from people like Addonics, Norco, Chenbro-Micom and others. And +1 with Wraith... let's refine the spec a little more before we start hardware shopping.

 

3055

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

« Last post by 40hz on July 30, 2013, 01:26 PM »

Well...the long awaited verdict is in. See article here.

The quick skinny: guilty on 17 counts in full, guilty on 4 counts as amended. (Manning had agreed to plead guilty on 10 of the 22 counts filed against him.)

Minor miracle: NOT guilty on charges of "aiding the enemy" which was the only capital offense on the list. (Probably more because the government flat out refused to say who "the enemy" might be in Manning's case claiming it was "secret." That was a point which became ludicrously untenable for the prosecutors to make stick - for obvious reasons.)

Sentencing hearing is set for August 1st. The government has announced there is a long list of witnesses wishing to testify at the sentencing hearing.

A quick glance seems to indicate the maximum sentence for all 21 counts totals up to 85 years (less any allowance for time already served) if they're to be done sequentially. Informed legal observers are betting a 35 to 50 year sentence will ultimately be handed down.

3056

General Software Discussion / Re: Is there anything such as 'Scheduler' Application?

« Last post by 40hz on July 30, 2013, 12:04 PM »

In that you seem to want to run multiple activities in sequence and then shutdown, the shutdown capabilities in each utility may not be usable since they mostly only give you the option to shut down after they've exited.

To get around that, there are a number of tools specifically designed to handle a shutdown ( also: lock, sleep, hibernate and reboot) that can be triggered in a variety of ways - such as when CPU usage drops below a certain threshold.

One good example can be found here, but a quick Google for "shutdown manager" or "shutdown utilities" should give you links to a dozen others worth looking at. The Snapfiles website also has a listing and reviews of this type of software. Look for it here first. Highly recommended.

3057

Living Room / Re: Worth Reading: Trevor Pott's editorial on NSA PRISM and its real ramifications

« Last post by 40hz on July 30, 2013, 11:48 AM »

Basement? Nah. It's still all fun & games. Nobody is getting vehement about anything. Besides, it's more fun with 40hz in the discussion.

-Renegade (July 30, 2013, 11:44 AM)

Well...I don't know about the fun part....but at least you'll get more funny art and images with 40hz posting.

3058

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

« Last post by 40hz on July 30, 2013, 11:44 AM »

The Mysterious Explorations of Jasper Morello:
http://www.youtube.c...ture=player_embedded

-panzer (July 30, 2013, 02:36 AM)

Awesome. One of my all time favs.

3059

Living Room / Re: TSA Accepts Money For Hands-Off Screening

« Last post by 40hz on July 30, 2013, 09:26 AM »

TSA...the folks that solved that age old conundrum: Where can I go to get my genitalia groped and fondled by a complete stranger -  ideally, one who will do it for free?
 

3060

Living Room / Re: Worth Reading: Trevor Pott's editorial on NSA PRISM and its real ramifications

« Last post by 40hz on July 30, 2013, 09:22 AM »

^Anarchy is great in theory. Too bad it doesn't work in practice for much the same reason communism didn't. It requires a large number of a certain type of high-minded individual that we just don't have.

If you had a world full of that sort of person you wouldn't need anything.

But if you had a world full of unicorns, I'm guessing everything would be just as cool - and just as likely.

I'm not waiting up nights. We can only work with what we've got.

3061

Living Room / Re: Worth Reading: Trevor Pott's editorial on NSA PRISM and its real ramifications

« Last post by 40hz on July 30, 2013, 08:33 AM »

Anarchy is the only slight glimmer of hope. - Mick Jagger

                         

For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.
- H. L. Mencken

 

3062

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

« Last post by 40hz on July 29, 2013, 04:26 PM »

@K - your blog page at blogspot seems to have gone missing:



 

3063

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

« Last post by 40hz on July 29, 2013, 02:54 PM »

DarkHeart Productions' 2007 short The Black Button - the wonderful little movie that formed the basis of the feature length film The Box plus a host of imitators.

 

3064

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

« Last post by 40hz on July 29, 2013, 02:09 PM »

And actually, I don't mind any genre if its well done.  It's just that most of the crap they put out now *isn't*.

-wraith808 (July 29, 2013, 11:59 AM)

Pfft! Liar! No guy likes any chick-flick no matter how well it's done! We only tolerate them because of our ladies!

Now, add in some aliens or cyborgs or space ships or lasers or zombies or something that's actually cool/interesting, and yeah... they can be done well enough to enjoy.

Sleepless in Seattle/Titanic = zzzzzzzzzzzz...

-Renegade (July 29, 2013, 12:05 PM)

I'm not afraid to admit that one of my favorite movies is "Somewhere in Time".

-wraith808 (July 29, 2013, 12:16 PM)

I'll man  up on that one too.  

But I pretty much like any storythat stems from the mind of Richard Matheson. Matheson is about the only author still working in the intellectual sci-fi/horror genre (besides the incomparable Thomas Ligotti and the ever unpredictable Poppy Z. Brite) who is actually worth reading.
 

3065

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

« Last post by 40hz on July 29, 2013, 01:55 PM »

No guy likes any chick-flick no matter how well it's done!

-Renegade (July 29, 2013, 12:05 PM)

@Ren- Guess I'm the exception that blows the argument's premise on that one.

I happen to like some chick-flicks. (My GF is the one into the heavy serious movies. She can't stand chick-flicks or anything that agonizes over "relationships" for the most part.)

I'd heartily recommend:

Amelie with Audrey Tautou



Chocolat with Juliette Binoche



The Wedding Date with Debra Messing



Under the Tuscan Sun with Diane Lane (who is awesome in this) as is as Claudia Gerini as Signora Frances Raguzzi:

     Katherine: It's a nice little villa. Rather run down, but redeemable... Are you going to buy it?

     Frances: The way my life is currently going, that would be a terrible idea.

     Katherine: Mm, terrible idea... Don't you just love those?

(Diane Lane also does one of the funniest "Woo-hoo I just got laid!" scenes ever in this movie.)



Catch and Release with Jennifer Garner



A Good Year with Russell Crowe and Marion Cotillard



plus the very unusual Passion of Mind with (surprise again!) Demi Moore



and last but not least - that flat-out brilliant little movie The Guitar with the equally brilliant Saffron Burrows - which I've already raved about elsewhere on this forum.




Doesn't get much more chick-flick than these 8 although Passion of Mind,Chocolat and Amelie go far beyond the genre while still keeping their roots in it...

These are all enjoyable - and occasionally intriguing - while still being nice romantic 'feel good' fun.

 

3066

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

« Last post by 40hz on July 29, 2013, 08:07 AM »

This thread needs to be revived.

ARISE THREAD! ARISE!

La Maison en Petits Cubes

-Deozaan (July 28, 2013, 11:17 PM)

@Deo - Love it! That's is one absolutely heartbreaking little film. Terrific imagery with that deep sea diving metaphor.

Thx for sharing.

3067

General Software Discussion / Re: Are you going to wait for Windows 9?

« Last post by 40hz on July 29, 2013, 08:04 AM »

And to think, all this fuss and frustration is why I moved to Linux seven years ago. It's fun to read it, but I don't have to live it.

 

-zridling (July 29, 2013, 07:58 AM)

This.

Amen.

3068

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

« Last post by 40hz on July 29, 2013, 07:39 AM »

A partial list of things in movies over the past several years that I've (by now) just about had enough of:

• Vampire everything - monsters, lovers, lesbians, special forces
• Werewolf everything - (see Vampire above)
• Werewolves + Vampire everything - (see Vampire above)
• Flesh-Eating Zombie Apocalypse riffs - even if they do star Milla Jovovich
• Unstoppable "might be supernatural or possessed by the Devil" psycho "slice&dice" killers wearing masks - Halloween, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, The Hills Have Eyes, Last House on the Left, etc. etc. - you know the franchises.
• Teams of kids or teenagers (with no formal training) who take on crack professional military units - and win
• Remakes of: Porky's, Risky Business, Animal House
• Additional installments of Die Hard (and while were at it - Bruce Willis in general)
• Schwartzenegger and Stallone - either solo or in combo. Gentlemen? It's getting sorta old - and so are you. Wake up and smell the steroids! As my GF put it: Seeing young heavily-muscled dudes is one thing. However, seeing musclebound old men is kinda creepy.
• Harry Potter everything
• Kevin Smith's "Jay" and "Silent Bob" characters - Hey Kev? It's true they were sorta funny in Dogma. Not so much anywhere else. So let's give it a rest ok?
• And just to get a jump on it: the inevitable sequels to The Hunger Games along with all the "me too" spin-offs that will likely follow.

There's more items on that list, but these will do for a start.

3069

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

« Last post by 40hz on July 27, 2013, 07:36 AM »

Back on main topic a moment, here's a minor strategic move in the game. This in from TechDirt (link to article here):

Obama Promise To 'Protect Whistleblowers' Just Disappeared From Change.gov
from the not-the-change-we-were-looking-for dept

The folks from the Sunlight Foundation have noticed that the Change.gov website, which was set up by the Obama transition team after the election in 2008 has suddenly been scrubbed of all of its original content. They noted that the front page had pointed to the White House website for a while, but you could still access a variety of old material and agendas. They were wondering why the administration would suddenly pull all that interesting archival information... and hit upon a clue. A little bit from the "ethics agenda":

   Protect Whistleblowers: Often the best source of information about waste, fraud, and abuse in government is an existing government employee committed to public integrity and willing to speak out. Such acts of courage and patriotism, which can sometimes save lives and often save taxpayer dollars, should be encouraged rather than stifled. We need to empower federal employees as watchdogs of wrongdoing and partners in performance. Barack Obama will strengthen whistleblower laws to protect federal workers who expose waste, fraud, and abuse of authority in government. Obama will ensure that federal agencies expedite the process for reviewing whistleblower claims and whistleblowers have full access to courts and due process.

Yeah. That statement seems a bit embarrassing at the very same time Obama's administration is threatening trade sanctions against anyone who grants asylum to Ed Snowden. Also... at the same time that we get to see how whistleblower Bradley Manning's "full access to courts and due process" will turn out. So far, it's been anything but reasonable, considering that the UN has already condemned Manning's treatment as "cruel and inhuman." And people wonder why Snowden left the country...

3070

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

« Last post by 40hz on July 26, 2013, 11:15 PM »

Loved Jason and the Argonauts. Ray Harryhausen was amazing.

The scene with Talos scared the tar out of me the first time I saw it when I was a kid. The moment comes around the 3 minute mark in this clip:

 

3071

Living Room / Re: Movie Banned By Censors Becomes a Piracy Hit With Kiwis

« Last post by 40hz on July 26, 2013, 11:06 PM »

Best way to make something popular is to try outlawing it.

That's why some movies fight to get an R rather than a PG rating. The lure of getting to see something "inappropriate" is a powerful incentive for the 14-25 year old market segment.

3072

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

« Last post by 40hz on July 26, 2013, 11:00 PM »

@T0Man - Mea culpa - got careless with the dates.

FWIW, Wikipedia is citing the maximum speed and cruise speed as both at .92 Mach, and citing the USAF as its source for the specs. Seemed odd to me that both speed specs were the same, but I'm no expert. You might want to go in and do an edit.

Had a fighter jock who first saw action around the end of Viet Nam tell me that by the end of that war it was pretty obvious dogfighting was over. He told me at the speeds the fighters were moving even back then it was already becoming impractical. And on a head to head pass, all other factors being equal, whoever fired first usually won. So the name of the game became more to sneak up and shoot first rather than go mano a mano with an enemy pilot. He said once the new "smart" weapons systems and support from E-6B Looking Glass aircraft and satellite recon all came online, it then got down to who had the best technology. He said his feeling was the fighter pilots were slowly becoming highly trained delivery boys whose main role was to cart the new weapons around until you were close enough to let them off the leash so the "chip-brain" inside them could decide what to do next.

Said he was glad he got out when he did, which was right after Desert Storm. (He's a bit crazy IMHO, but he's still a great guy.)

3073

Living Room / Re: It was the best of Kickstarter, It was the worst of Kickstarter

« Last post by 40hz on July 26, 2013, 05:44 PM »

Based on my experience in business, methinks Erik Chevalier is in a bit of a legal bind that making copious apologies won't do much to help him avoid.

That's one reason every business I was ever involved with avoided bringing in outside investors. There's far too many opportunities to burn yourself legally when you're using other people's money.

And fraud is a complex area of law. You don't have to take the money and run. You can make a perfectly normal business mistake or comment and find yourself in violation of laws you never heard of where fraud is concerned. Sometimes something as little as not sending out a letter on a timely basis, or failing to get someone a shipment within a certain period of time is all that's needed to break the law.



If you're going to gamble with a business (and it sounds like this Erik person was doing just that) be smart about it and only use your own money. That way if do you fail, you're only going to be broke - instead of broke and worrying about your legs getting broken too.
 

3074

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

« Last post by 40hz on July 26, 2013, 01:54 PM »

Loved The Illusionist and The Prestige although the romantic in me preferred the first even if it wasn't Ed Norton's best performance (he can't do Euro accents to save his life) and there's no way in the world I could accept Jessica Biel as being Hungarian nobility. I know far too many Hungarian women - and they simply don't look anything at all like the otherwise comely Ms. Biel for me to suspend disbelief.  

 

Paul Giamatti as Inspector Uhl and Rufus Sewell as Prince Leopold, however, were superb on all counts.

 

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

FWIW I think I came up with a far better ending for The Prestige. But I would since I wrote it.

3075

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

« Last post by 40hz on July 26, 2013, 01:42 PM »

^No...the Russians wouldn't just hand him over. But they said nothing about not selling him back.