Recent Posts

3126

Living Room / Re: The Government Uses License Plate Scanners to Track Your Every Move

« Last post by 40hz on July 17, 2013, 09:20 PM »

In the Netherlands there was (or still is) a club called: the Tuf-tuf club. They were always (creatively) destroying traffic camera's wherever they could find them and making (funny) pictures of the act.

There is still a Youtube video about this club... (Jeremy Clarkson from the show 'Top Gear' does the interview).

-Shades (July 17, 2013, 09:06 PM)

The stakes would be considerably higher over here. These days you'd probably be charged with terrorism for busting one of those scanners.

But that's today. If you did it back in the USA of the 70s, the formal charge would most likely be nothing more than willful destruction of municipal property or vandalism.


How the times have changed...

3127

General Software Discussion / Re: Cnet's Download.com and the installer scam

« Last post by 40hz on July 17, 2013, 09:08 PM »

There are exceptions though, like for GOG.com.  Their downloader will allow for download resuming without having to get a new download authorization code, plus some other good features that's relevant to your account.

-Tinman57 (July 17, 2013, 08:58 PM)

+1 and a big huzzah for the people running GoG.

How is it that those guys can "get it" so well -  and almost everyone else misses it by a mile.

3128

Living Room / Re: Why the Surface hasn't sold well. (idiots)

« Last post by 40hz on July 17, 2013, 09:04 PM »

Underpowered, overpriced, technically challenged, and running an OS nobody I've ever talked to likes very much...and all for the price of a nice i5 powered laptop? Or a decent enough i3 laptop with enough cash left over to buy a snazzy new midrange smartphone?

Yeah. Sign me up. I'll take two. (Not.)

SB said it best: "Idiots."

3129

Living Room / Re: HBO Asks Google to Take Down “Infringing” VLC Media Player

« Last post by 40hz on July 17, 2013, 08:57 PM »

^I think most people who looked at this have decided that the inclusion of VLC in that blanket take down request was most likely a mistake caused by the automated search routine that produced the list that made up the request. If they actually were targeting VLC, it isn't apparent when you look at some of what else is on the list.



Looks like the VLC dolphin somehow got caught up in the tuna net HBO likes to employ for this sort of thing.

Not that it makes it more acceptable that a robot screwed up since a human is still supposed to look at these things before they're filed right? Nope. Apparently a human doesn't. These things are 99.9% automated.

Be nice if there was some teeth to the penalties defined for filing a bogus DMCA notice. But the powers that be don't seem too keen on enforcing that provision in the act so it's going to continue until some judge looks down, discovers some kahunas, and works up the gumption to slap a few of these bogus filers with the fine. It will probably be thrown out on appeal. But at least it still send a message of sorts.

3130

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

« Last post by 40hz on July 17, 2013, 01:21 PM »

The fact remains that there are countless "conspiracy theories" out there that are proven facts. Not matter for debate.

-Renegade (July 17, 2013, 11:29 AM)

You're talking chalk and cheese here.

However, branding something as "a conspiracy" in order to deflect attention away from there being corroborating evidence to support its claims is no less a pile of dingo's kidneys than insisting something is "a conspiracy" to deflect attention away from its being an assertion without adequate corroborating evidence.

'Conspiracy' has become an intellectually bankrupt term. Right up there with 'organic' and 'green' IMHO. Let's stop using it.
 

3131

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

« Last post by 40hz on July 17, 2013, 11:15 AM »

^There's also something to be said for a "reality check."

The big problem with conspiracy theories in general is that they can (and are) used to explain any and everything through attributions of unproven causality.



 

@Ren - did you actually read the entire article? Because I'm amazed the main thing you seem to have taken away from it was what you saw as a diss on conspiracy theories. That's awesome!

3132

Living Room / Re: Microsoft responds to NSA allegations

« Last post by 40hz on July 17, 2013, 10:35 AM »

I think they were referring to the fact that they comply with the rule of law towards such things

-wraith808 (July 17, 2013, 07:56 AM)

Yet another attempt at spin control...

Translation: We were constrained - by law - to knowingly break the law.

Hmm...problem!

They could have gone public over that with small fear of any legal reprisals sticking. But they didn't. They instead chose to hide behind the excuses that were being spoon fed to them.

And besides, who wants to disrupt the cozy relationship that Microsoft has with the US government? There's legislation Microsoft wants enacted. And court cases surrounding IP issues Microsoft wants resolved in a manner congenial to Microsoft's own business interests. To say nothing of all the licenses for Microsoft products and services our government purchases from them each year...

Nope! That's too good a boat to rock on mere principle or respect for the Constitution. Far better to roll with Obama's administration on this one. Besides, Washington has already promised to indemnify all the corporate participants should the shit ever really hit the fan. So no worries!

Two things to remember and think about:

• The old saying that goes: "Truth and justice dies wherever greed and self-interest rules."
• A little bit of history. Because back in 1945, 23 government and corporate employees were put on trial for certain heinous actions on their part. Actions which the defendants characterized and as merely "following orders." That defense argument didn't wash with the tribunal hearing their cases. And it isn't going to wash for Microsoft either. Because the the rule that emerged from that tribunal was that crimes are committed by men, not abstract entities.

Now we all know it's extremely doubtful to the point of certainty that anybody in Microsoft (or the US government) will ever face criminal charges for any of this. But that's not the same thing as accepting their assertions they are entirely innocent of any wrongdoing.

3133

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

« Last post by 40hz on July 17, 2013, 08:10 AM »

From the "Now that you've finally got your hands on that ticking a-bomb, what do you plan on doing with it?" Department...




I very insightful analysis of the issues and concerns surrounding the endgame.

What Happens When We Actually Catch Edward Snowden?

By David Pozen
Monday, July 15, 2013 at 9:56 AM

The United States is pressing hard to get hold of National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden. But if and when Snowden is apprehended, what then? This question deserves attention, too, because the denouement to this drama may be unpleasant not just for Snowden, but for his captors as well...

<more>

Full article may be found here.

 

3134

Living Room / Re: Feds asked to avoid DEF CON this year

« Last post by 40hz on July 16, 2013, 07:11 PM »

Oh well. Guess the Feds will just have to go back to the old days of showing up and trying to pass themselves off as civilians. The FBI has always tried to put undercover people in there along with their official attendees so it won't be anything new for DefCon.
 

3135

Living Room / Re: Computers Outlawed in Florida

« Last post by 40hz on July 16, 2013, 12:19 PM »

Buy I haven't seen a 9 people floated over from Cuba in a bathtub news report in years.

-Stoic Joker (July 16, 2013, 11:35 AM)

Why bother going to that extreme when there are so many countries you could enter from besides Cuba and not have to risk drowning for?
 

3136

Living Room / The Worst portfolio Ever

« Last post by 40hz on July 16, 2013, 09:42 AM »

Are you a: writer/artist/performer/songwriter/communicator/poet/designer/consultant/stylist/innovator/freethinker/enabler/visioneer/strategist/process developer/texturalist/game-changer; plus an avid [fill in the blank] who has (or is planning) a portfolio-style website to advertise your talents and availability?

Then please, for the sake of your visitors and yourself, go read Alex Cornell/s very short and spot-on article: The Worst Portfolio Ever

As Alex describes it, "This is how you make the worst portfolio ever. Do not do this. If this looks like your website, change your website."

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

I particularly liked these two no-nos (both of which are cropping up with increasing frequency on a lot of sites I've been seeing lately):

The Sticky Note Photo: A picture of a wall covered in sticky notes. How exciting! From this I suppose you are telling me that you are acquainted with “iterative process” and “design thinking”. Maybe you even know how to use a…yep, there it is, a picture of whiteboard with scribbles and people pointing at it. Clearly a master of collaboration as well.

Including the sticky-note-wall-photo is about as helpful as including a photo of your computer. It tells me nothing other than that you once put sticky notes on a wall like every other designer on the planet.

Especially when the person is foolish enough to make it so you can actually read the notes and wonder: Does this person always spend that much time and effort making sure the lettering and sketches on those post-its are always so blatantly artsy looking?

The Arbitrary “Skills” Chart: This is a perplexing trend in far too many designer’s portfolios: listing skills and assigning arbitrary graphs to indicate proficiency in each. These charts are hilariously useless. What’s the scale? You know all 55% of logo design? What could that possibly mean? Adobe Illustrator is at ~80%? Am I supposed to be impressed or concerned?

I get it, you want to simultaneously convey which skills you have and also show a little design. Fair. But recognize that all these charts convey is that you are OK with mind-numbingly incoherent information design.  

IMHO, anyone involved in communications, or who does design for a living - and has not read Edward Tufte's books on information - really needs to find another job.

 

3137

Living Room / Re: Computers Outlawed in Florida

« Last post by 40hz on July 16, 2013, 07:48 AM »

I think a lot of the motivation behind laws like this is to ultimately eliminate the ability to anonymously access the web. Small surprise really since you need an account or a license to use almost any other communication technology. Even public speech is starting to require a permit in many places.

So in Florida's case, I think one unspoken goal is to get the Internet equivalent of a public pay phone off the streets. Because it's just one more way to get a handle on the illegal migrant worker community.

Not that Florida wants to stop these people from coming in since so many "respectable American businesses" depend on "undocumented laborers" being available to work for slim wages - with no benefits.

But that doesn't mean Florida doesn't want to keep an eye on these people. They just want to monitor these folks without officially "seeing" them, since to do so might force the state to have to start enforcing its existing laws forbidding employers from knowingly hiring and profiting from illegal workers.

Start doing things like that and who knows where it will end?

3138

Living Room / Re: Hack a Day website is now on Kickstarter

« Last post by 40hz on July 15, 2013, 03:57 PM »

BTW, thanks for helping me with my startup!

-superboyac (July 15, 2013, 12:42 PM)

@ SB - Thanks for the kind words. But you overestimate whatever help I may have given. You did your homework extremely well and had all the pieces of your plan in place. I was just the sounding board.

The thing that impressed me most was that you actually went out and did it. That put you in that very small minority group who prefers to actually do something rather than just dream about doing it.

Starting and running a real business is a mind altering experience - as we discussed. (Oh my yes!) And now you know this to be true from your own direct experience. Pass it on!  

3139

Living Room / Re: Hack a Day website is now on Kickstarter

« Last post by 40hz on July 15, 2013, 03:27 PM »

@Wraith/Tao - Yeah on all points.

My biggest issues with the campaign(s) are:

1. Why is it so essential that the entire thing be free and clear of all encumbrances with the original owner? If said person offered to offer finance terms for the buyout like he did, why not solicit for the original down payment of $300k - and make the balance a stretch goal?

2. I'm suspicious of requests for funding without a budget or financial plan to go along with it. What exactly is it that will require so much money? I'm guessing the bulk will go into salaries in the absence of anything but hand waving and promises of "mo' better and much" down the road. Exactly what will this be used for. Breakout of capital plan and operating budget please?

3. Who is going to own this when/if this is ever funded. Because right now it looks like somebody is asking me to help them buy an established (and already money making) business that the campaign's recipients will apparently own for themselves. That's almost like them saying: W want to buy an exclusive royalty free franchise - and could somebody please buy and give it to us. please?

(Note: which is about all they can do with this since you can't do a public offering through Kickstarter. The SEC has had issued some very strong 'advisories' to crowdfunders who are planning on selling anything resembling equity shares in a business. The short summary is: Don't. It's a violation of law.)

4. Guarantees please? Even assuming people are willing to buy the Hackaday editors their jobs back (which is what this campaign amounts to) what guarantees will they make that they won't just ride the pony for six months - and then sell it to somebody else after they've ramped it up a bit as promised?

I've seen it happen far too often where some altruistic business owner sells his baby (at a reduced price)  to a group of his employees only to see them promptly turn around and sell out to the company he originally turned down. And almost always for the same or more cash than the former owner was originally offered.

5. Why instill doubt when there's already doubt aplenty? Don't know about you, but anybody who's that down in the mouth about their own prospects doesn't instill much confidence in me. Never complain - and above all never ever diss your own proposal.

If you say you're not very optimistic about succeeding with what you want to do, I'm usually walking away before you stop crying in the beer I just bought you. I will work with somebody. I will help or advise somebody. I will invest in something. Or buy it. But I won't provide psychological treatment for phobias or neuroses, hear confession, or do self-esteem training sessions. I lack both the interest and the qualifications. And there are many licensed professionals who already handle that sort of thing anyway.

Those are the initial red flags that popped up after my first read through.

Combined, my gut tells me these people haven't much of a clue about how to run their business. Probably because they've been employees most of their lives and assume (erroneously) that knowing how to produce the work automatically provides all the background needed for running the actual operation.

It's a common misconception. As many managerialpostmortems conducted on business failures will show. (Note: the two leading causes of business failures are (1) insufficient sales; and (2) insufficient managerial experience running the business in question.)

3140

Living Room / Hack a Day website is now on Kickstarter

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

Many of you are familiar with the website Hack a Day. If you're not, it's a great site for hardware hackers and mad scientist projects.



Recently, current owner Jason Calacanis announced he wanted to sell the site to a "good home" since his involvement with the launch of Inside.com has put him in the position where hackaday.com had to be let go before it suffered because of his need to more heavily focus on his new project.

Since hackaday.com is an established and profitable site, Jason's asking price is $500k USD.

The current editors of Hack a Day have decided they want to take a shot at it and have turned to Kickstarter to try to raise the requisite amount. You can read their announcement here. And the Kickstarter page may be found here.

I have very mixed feelings (both in a business and social sense) about the approach they're taking with their fundraising plan. And I was wondering of anybody with the time might check out the above two links and share your thoughts about how they're going about this?

The main reason I ask is because barely a month goes by without some client, friend, or relative asking me what I think about their latest brainstorm; and how Kickstarter might help make it real. (I have a new one somebody threw at me just this weekend. Hate to say I think this one is even more hopeless than most. Which saddens me because the people involved have already spent some of their own money to start moving on it )

I have strong and (to my mind) well considered opinions about start-ups and running a business. And I have even stronger thoughts about how to do crowdfunding and crowdsourcing. Which means it's quite possible I have my head firmly up my ass about a lot of things like this. Especially since I date back to a time before online business anything existed - and I still can't see the web as the magic wand that some do.

Rather than influence whoever cares to join in this discussion, I'll hold off listing what I see as the major problems with this particular campaign. At least for the moment.



So...your thoughts? Anyone? Anyone?

3141

Living Room / Re: I'm sooo exhausted with the overhyping of everything.

« Last post by 40hz on July 15, 2013, 09:28 AM »

And here I thought it was just an effect caused by the current generation's Short Attention Span Disorder that results in everything needing to be repeated ad infinitum.

-4wd (July 15, 2013, 01:23 AM)

There's been some serious research done on just that. Seems there's fairly clear indications that the acceptance of the 'myth of multitasking' has gone a large way towards training human brains to be more easily distracted and unable to focus.

3142

Living Room / Re: The iLectricChair: Woman Electrocuted To Death By Her Charging iPhone

« Last post by 40hz on July 15, 2013, 09:21 AM »

It's official "news" out of China.

I'm gonna reserve judgment on this one.

3143

Living Room / Re: OK - lets get to know each other... who are you, what do you do, where from?

« Last post by 40hz on July 14, 2013, 07:36 AM »

Welcome and well met! Always good to have a new voice join our discussion. I'm a sysadmin for hire and network integrator (along with other things I enjoy doing far more) so it's always nice to make the acquaintance of somebody else who's been down in the IT trenches.



Be seeing you around the campus!

3144

Living Room / Re: Microsoft ending TechNet subscription activations effective august 2013

« Last post by 40hz on July 13, 2013, 10:11 AM »

If MS cracks down harder it'll be rats off a sinking ship time for sure.

-Stoic Joker (July 12, 2013, 04:17 PM)

I'd liken it more to: The eagles take flight, leaving the ship - with it's unfortunate complement of rats and domestic animals - to face their tragic fate.



Ah...poetry!   And before my first cup of coffee no less. It's gonna be a good day!

3145

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

« Last post by 40hz on July 13, 2013, 07:47 AM »

the Chess analogy is an interesting one

-TaoPhoenix (July 12, 2013, 09:10 AM)

Especially considering chess is a rather unusual game where both sides start out evenly matched, and begin the game with as much as they're ever going to have. After that, it's a matter of not making more mistakes than your opponent does.

In some respects, it's not really possible to 'win' a chess game in the traditional sense of the word. All you can do is try your best not to lose

And the only way that can happen is if your opponent makes more mistakes than you do.

I think that's exactly what's going on with Snowden's asylum bid. None of the players (except for some overly vocal elements in the American government) are trying to win anything. They're just trying very hard not to lose in what has since become a war of words.



Welcome to The Village, Mr. Snowden!.

3146

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

« Last post by 40hz on July 13, 2013, 07:23 AM »

The only ones here that are between a rock and a hard place are the US politicians

-Renegade (July 12, 2013, 07:28 PM)

How little you know about US politicians and intel apparatchiks if you believe that makes any difference.

Squeeze slime between a rock and a hard place and it simply oozes out and then reconstitutes as a brand new puddle of slime.

 

3147

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

« Last post by 40hz on July 13, 2013, 06:56 AM »

Nice analogy provided by Stilgherrian over at ZDnet. (Full article here)

With every new day that journalists dig through the secret files released by Edward Snowden, with every new astonishment as we discover the sheer enormity, nay, the truly pan-galactic scale of the NSA's baleen whale of surveillance, scooping up every nybble and bit of data that might contain, somewhere in its subatomic structure, the hint of an odour of a dream of a terrorist plot, the more I think that the great American writer Hunter S Thompson has already specified the only recipe that could possibly brace our minds to cope with this insanity.

"We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of uppers, downers, screamers, laughers... and also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls," said Raoul Duke, the drug-addled protagonist of Thompson's 1971 novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

"Not that we needed all that for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can."

The NSA has shown that once you get locked into a serious data collection, the tendency is to push that as far as you can too.

Once the NSA was tasked with collecting international communications and data, and analysing it for foreign intelligence matters. Now it seems to be tasked with gathering well, pretty much everything about everything by everyone everywhere.

Yeah. That sounds about right.

3148

Living Room / Re: I'm sooo exhausted with the overhyping of everything.

« Last post by 40hz on July 13, 2013, 03:47 AM »

 

3149

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

« Last post by 40hz on July 12, 2013, 05:03 PM »

On the BBC Snowden meeting in Moscow with Human Rights Lawyers:

http://www.bbc.co.uk...orld-europe-23283684

-Carol Haynes (July 12, 2013, 04:23 PM)

I think this part of the mentioned article pretty much says all there is to say that's of any substance:

The Kremlin repeated its earlier condition on Friday.

"Mr Snowden could hypothetically stay in Russia if he first, completely stops the activities harming our American partners and US-Russian relations and, second, if he asks for this himself," President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Mr. Putin has got what he wanted, A chance to posture for his young nationalistic supporters and trash talk the USA for a bit. But now that the showboating is over, it's time for Mr. Putin, Politburo street thug that he is, to get back down to doing business with the other rival gang before the situation gets out of hand.

Russia is holding a badger by the hind leg with Mr. Snowden. And now it's Washington's turn to enjoy watching Russia try to figure out how they're going to drop it and not get bit after all the previous tough talk to the world press about being an "independent nation" and not dancing to the Obama administration's tune.

This back and forth is almost a moment of comic relief in the larger tragedy.
 

3150

Living Room / Re: Microsoft ending TechNet subscription activations effective august 2013

« Last post by 40hz on July 12, 2013, 02:17 PM »

For the sake of my curiosity, can anyone else describe the moment that made them make the transition?

-superboyac (July 02, 2013, 09:14 PM)

It occurred in two stages for me. The hassles I had trying to support clients that insisted on using Vista opened the door once Microsoft started stonewalling about its problems. That's when I really started looking at Linux as a possible replacement OS rather than just an alternative.

The real breaking point (on the professional level) came with Sinofsky's announcement to IT professionals basically telling us to shut up and 'get with the program' as regards Windows 8 deployments, which was coupled with a few implied threats about 'us' not having a choice in the matter since our end users would soon be demanding "the Windows 8 experience." Too bad the retail sales figures don't support that contention despite "how excited" Microsoft repeatedly told us they were about this non-event. Then they went and dropped the ball big time with Surface...poor lads!

Here's your new case badge Mr. Ballmer:



On the personal level it came with the introduction of Metro and Microsoft's version of an app store. That's when I saw the handwriting on the wall. And the way they're handling their UEFI/Secure Boot initiative-  and their ongoing legal arm-twisting tactics with some of the major distros - rammed it completely home for me.

I no longer want to use Windows...or Office...or pretty much anything else Microsoft produces, FlightSimulator be damned.

Fortunately for me, I don't have to.