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Recent Posts

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326
Living Room / Re: Show us a picture of your.. CAR!!!
« Last post by Renegade on October 10, 2015, 12:09 AM »
I went with Cthulhu.  It's not overtly religious, and actually a little more subversive. :P
-wraith808 (October 09, 2015, 11:34 PM)

Hahaha~! ;D

Actually, I went through the "Cthulhu" logic, and simply figured that Satan is better known and the logic of the argument/humour would be more readily understood than with Cthulhu.

I really did want to go with Cthulhu, and that was the first version of my lawn sign. For my lawn sign, I went with a "Nobody" theme.

Still, I'm thinking I might want to change the "O" in VOTE to an inverted pentagram...

Oh... the many different ways to "pimp my ride"~! 8)


-- I'll post my "Cthulhu" and "Nobody" lawn signs in the silly humour thread as they're a bit out of place here.

327
Living Room / Re: Show us a picture of your.. CAR!!!
« Last post by Renegade on October 09, 2015, 10:08 PM »
A week or so ago I saw a 12"x24" whiteboard magnet for sale in the store for a measly $1.99 a sheet -- you know that flexible kind of magnet that a lot of businesses use to put their contact info on so that you can slap it on your fridge? That stuff.

With it being election season, my mind instantly went into "let's screw with people" mode...

And I decided to pimp out my ride... 8)

vote-satan-s.JPG

My parents had a conniption when they saw it~! ;D

328
Living Room / Re: Gadget WEEKENDS
« Last post by Renegade on October 09, 2015, 09:56 PM »
I've had a particular post in the back of my mind for, oh... let's see... Around about 2.5 years now. Here's the snippet that's been stored in the long term renegade archive:

Basically they just vibrate at high speeds and can accept different saw-like heads.  They are very similar in spirit to the ubiquitous dremel (rotary tool), in that there a million different little tasks that they can make quick work of.

Note: A Dremel is as essential, if not more so, than an oscillating tool -- so start with one of those if you don't own one already.
-mouser (April 14, 2013, 09:05 PM)

And tonight I finally got one:

dremel-s.jpg

I'd been looking for one for a month or so, and finally managed to pick up one second-hand (used once) for less than 1/3rd the retail price.

My first little project was to drill holes in the PCB at the tip of the Dremel and then solder on a 12VDC power jack that I ripped out of an old Netgear router.

Other gadgets in the picture there are some "magic hands" or "helping hands" -- the thing with the soldering iron in it and the magnifying glass, and a set of 4 eye loupes from 2.5x to 10x magnifying power - great for reading the text on small chips or the +/- symbols on little LEDs like the ones beside the Dremel (the symbols are about 1mm wide).

I'm trying to shift my development away from the desktop world into the embedded/device world. I'm not interested in doing mobile applications as the markets have just become stupid for any small developer. (For every success story, there's a trail of blood & tears across a wasteland littered with indie corpses.)

I have sooo many more gadgets that I've recently bought, but many aren't remotely interesting to a wider audience, though I'm sure some of the developers in here would be. Maybe another time... after I get the damn card reader on my NEW Dell working... grrr...

 8)

329
Living Room / Re: IPFS - Is this the future of the internet?
« Last post by Renegade on October 09, 2015, 02:38 AM »
So, where's Ren? ;)
-ewemoa (October 08, 2015, 05:32 AM)

Still thinking... I need to have a bit more time to have a look at this.

There have been a few attempts at "storage driven mining" where you provide "proof of storage" or something like that instead of traditional mining. It's a good idea as it allows you to purchase storage that you can be assured will be around so long as the network is, i.e. there's no single point of failure and it is massively redundant.

Overall, it's a great idea. The only question now is about the implementation. Is this one it? Dunno. Need to watch the vids still and look into it more, which won't be for a week or two. :(
330
Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]
« Last post by Renegade on October 09, 2015, 01:19 AM »
Just for the record I had the same feeling as wraith (and renegade of all people) that it was more a basement/political post than a silly humor post and didn't belong here -- and then i didn't understand the replies to the question about it being in the wrong thread.
-mouser (October 07, 2015, 10:20 AM)


HAHAHAHA~!

I got a laugh out of that~! ;D

As Marx said:


Humor is reason gone mad.

;) :P

I might have some clarity here.

Cop tasering *himself* "to learn / to look funny / to create a meme" = Funny
Cop tasering *suspect* (not staged as a skit) = police aggression = Basement.
-TaoPhoenix (October 07, 2015, 12:45 PM)

Then there is the completely, over the top, utterly and monstrously insane stuff that is just funny no matter how horrific simply due to how unbelievable it is. Like, a cop walking into a donut shop and shooting everyone would be way to nutty not to post here. Mass shooting by cop in a donut shop?!? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!

But yeah... mostly like you said. :)
331
Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]
« Last post by Renegade on October 06, 2015, 10:30 AM »
^ Did you post that in the wrong thread?
332
Developer's Corner / Re: Ethics in Technology
« Last post by Renegade on October 05, 2015, 06:20 AM »
I have to just disagree slightly with the wording. They are not "religious" topics because religion at its best saves lives, and religion at its worst is a "different brand of extremism". Sure they're toxic topics, but not religious ones. You don't "believe in climate change after death" or such.

I'd rather call them in a secular manner in your choice of variants of economic styles, where people are just saying stuff with an agenda.
-TaoPhoenix (October 04, 2015, 06:45 PM)

Sure, I suppose that's one way of looking at it. Maybe I'm simply using "religious" as a pejorative to mean "lacking solid reasoning/evidence". Either way, take it as metaphor or literal or simply as hyperbole.

But, back to VW on a sober note... ;)

VW's sin there is in selling a product that they have misrepresented. That misrepresentation though is under duress (threats of punishment under law). Had there been no law/regulation, I find it rather unlikely that they'd have done what they did. As it is, they lied to their customers, which is where I find the real problem, though their having done it under duress is a mitigating factor...

I think I'll just sit quietly here on the sidelines and let others throw the first stones. :P 8)

333
Developer's Corner / Re: Ethics in Technology
« Last post by Renegade on October 04, 2015, 03:06 AM »
Hey @40hz! Good to see you back here! You've been sorely missed!

But that doesn't mean we will agree on everything. :D

(PS - I'm a couple bottle of merlot in, so don't expect too much. ;) )

If VW were so convinced of the insanity of existing EPA regs, why didn't they publicly challenge them, ideally in conjunction with the other major auto manufacturers, if the existing and planned future regulations were so obviously going in the wrong direction?
-40hz (October 02, 2015, 02:29 PM)

I think that you are massively over-estimating the ability of the industry to reason with government.

We are NOT talking about some kind of rational topic here. This is a purely religious topic. Climate and emmissions and the like are NOT topics for logical debate. They are religious topics. Reason need not apply, because it will be repelled.

How do you reason with religious extremists? You can't. And climate isn't a topic where you can have a reasonable discussion. The topic is toxic and there is no good will in the discussion.

For examples of other toxic discussions:

* Vaccines
* Climate
* Abortion
* Death penalty
* Economics

Those topics are purely toxic and you CANNOT have a rational discussion on them.

There are many more toxic topics, but those are just a few.

Trying to have those discussion inside of politics is simply worse. There is ZERO good will. The only position to take is that of actual evidence and reality, which has no bearing on politics.

Assuming that the laws are correct is silly.

But, I'm too drunk to flush out more of the nonsense here. I know that many people disagree with me, but hey... at least I provide you all with some kind of fun outlet to hammer on! :D

8)


334
Developer's Corner / Re: Ethics in Technology
« Last post by Renegade on October 02, 2015, 01:18 PM »
You presume everything would work out fine -- do I presume that everything needs to be regulated? Maybe. Tbh, I suspect neither one of us is correct in our assumptions, but we may never know...
-tomos (September 29, 2015, 03:20 PM)

We can guess, but that's all. As it stands, it appears that the information we are given is dubious at best. Tuxman's link shows that pretty well.

To put a bit of teeth behind what I'd said before:

http://ericpetersaut.../crucified-by-uncle/

But better here:

http://ericpetersaut...ust-vws-problem-now/

And specifically this:

While EPA is turning the screws on the car industry to achieve fractional reductions in the tailpipe emissions of cars that have been 95 percent or more “clean” since the mid-1990s, no one seems interested in an easy – and cheap – way to cut emissions not by fractions of a percent but by actual whole percentages.

And then some.

If the fuel efficiency of a given car is increased by say 30 percent, its total output of harmful emissions will decline dramatically – without any changes to its existing package of emissions controls. Burn less fuel, produce less exhaust. Simple.EPA pic

Sane.

If EPA were really interested in reducing emissions – rather than dishonest political grandstanding – it would lock horns with the DOT and NHTSA to ease off on the “safety” mandates that have added hundreds of pounds to curb weight of the average new car, and reduced fuel efficiency dramatically as a result.

The "emissions" regulations focus on the wrong things and try to get blood from a stone. Improving mileage is a simple, better way to reduce emissions, but that doesn't play well into the agenda.

So, given the insanity that VW is facing, I certainly can't blame them for skirting idiotic laws.

Bring this back around to developer/designer ethics in general, again I'd have to say that using the law as a metric for ethics/moral isn't going to end well. i.e. There is nothing inherently immoral or unethical about breaking a law.

That isn't to say that laws are incapable of lining up with moral/ethical principles, e.g. murder is wrong, but rather it is to say that there is no necessary connection between the two. In other words, whether or not a law is moral/ethical is merely accidental/coincidental.

I'm not too sure that I really have much more to add to that in this context.

335
Developer's Corner / Re: Ethics in Technology
« Last post by Renegade on September 29, 2015, 11:00 AM »
Judging by this action by VW, the motor industry wouldn't give a toss, if not for the regulations.
-tomos (September 29, 2015, 05:21 AM)

That's what I'm curious about. There are positive market forces that provide incentives for auto manufacturers to create cleaner engines. There are also unrealistic regulations that go past the point of diminishing returns, which creates a burden for the manufacturers and drives up prices for consumers. Somewhere in that broad spectrum there are balances for different needs.

But as to whether or not the industry would respond to consumer demand... I'm a bit less cynical than you there. I think most people want clean energy and clean devices/machines/engines, so there would be that segment for cleaner engines in the same way that Volvo built itself on safety.
336
Developer's Corner / Re: Some circuit magic
« Last post by Renegade on September 29, 2015, 10:46 AM »
I was convinced there was a battery in the switch... until he connected LEDs not adjacent to the switch... beats me!

But I'm really posting because that's a pretty cool way of prototyping. His solder connections aren't real strong, I wouldn't guess, but he did it with two hands and no aids. I've never seen someone dose solder that way before.
-ayryq (September 29, 2015, 08:17 AM)

Check out his schematics here:

https://plus.google..../5834719840631518593

He's also got some videos that show him creating them. It's really fine work.
337
Living Room / Re: John McAfee 2016?!? Yep. :)
« Last post by Renegade on September 29, 2015, 10:40 AM »
An interview with McAfee.  8)



...I took more drugs than...
-1:20

He absolutely never fails to entertain!  ;D

338
Developer's Corner / Re: Ethics in Technology
« Last post by Renegade on September 28, 2015, 11:21 PM »
I've refused to do jobs because they were egregiously unethical. They would have paid a LOT... sigh... Conscience has a price.

I thought this would make good food for discussion from a higher level (no politics in this, please to keep it above ground).
-wraith808 (September 21, 2015, 06:43 PM)

Ethics are problematic and eventually degenerate into screaming matches, so it's one of those areas where tact is needed, and a sense for knowing when to just bow out.

For VW, I'm not particularly disturbed by anything they did. But, I don't buy that they have any kind of ethical obligation to obey arbitrary/dubious laws. (I have zero faith in any kind of environmental legislation/regulation as it is too often used abusively.)

What nobody will ask is whether or not the regulations that VW violated are ethical.

The question of ethics should focus on whether the actual emissions are ethical/unethical, and not on any law.

tl;dr - If you're using the law as a measure for morality, you're gonna have a bad time.

339
Developer's Corner / Some circuit magic
« Last post by Renegade on September 28, 2015, 10:47 PM »
This fellow has a lot of circuit puzzles. Watch one of his vids - they look like magic.



He's got more on his channel.
340
Developer's Corner / Anyone doing Arduino or Raspberry Pi (or similar)?
« Last post by Renegade on September 18, 2015, 06:29 AM »
As the title.

I just got started doing some Arduino stuff, and it's a lot of fun. I've got a truckload of stuff on order from Aliexpress as well. :)
341
General Software Discussion / Re: Is Windows 10 a trojan?
« Last post by Renegade on September 17, 2015, 10:10 PM »
The problem with this is that many ISPs implement data caps. I don't want my PC uploading GBs of data to strangers and using up my data cap. Then being forced by my ISP to pay fines, "upgrade" to a higher package, or lose internet service altogether "due to abuse" of their services.
-Deozaan (September 17, 2015, 04:27 PM)

I don't do "caps" (but throttling is ok). When we moved to Canada, the ISPs are mostly horrible, but I found a less horrible one and got an unlimited plan. The overage fees here are utterly insane and completely unaffordable.

I think back to where I used to live, and they have gigabit Internet for pennies... sigh...
342
General Software Discussion / Re: Newer password keepers/form-fillers - anyone using Dashlane or 1Password?
« Last post by Renegade on September 17, 2015, 09:20 PM »
Way back when I worked for ESTsoft, their password manager (ALPass) was pretty darn good, and I used that.

ALPass introduced a cloud version where you could sign in to your ALPass account from anywhere.

Now... I'm dead set against any kind of cloud solution for anything that doesn't really need to be there. However, the way it is done with ALPass is good.

Encryption is done client side with nothing stored unencrypted in the cloud. ESTsoft had no power to recover your passwords if you lost your master password. This is absolutely the right thing to do for any kind of cloud password storage.

http://www.altools.c.../ALTools/ALPass.aspx

I don't think that ESTsoft is really updating it much for the non-Korean market though. It's a shame. They make good stuff.
343
Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"
« Last post by Renegade on September 17, 2015, 09:11 PM »
Deep Learning Machine Teaches Itself Chess in 72 Hours, Plays at International Master Level  MIT Technology Review
-Arizona Hot (September 15, 2015, 02:11 PM)

Original paper (masters dissertation) here: http://arxiv.org/abs/1509.01549
-mouser (September 15, 2015, 04:56 PM)

I remember when I was a kid I could beat the chess computer. At the time I never had any fear of AI. Both of those things have changed.
344
Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"
« Last post by Renegade on September 17, 2015, 09:04 PM »
I tripped across a video on YouTube where the audio is muted but the video is there, and it's strange as it's all copyrighted.

https://www.youtube..../watch?v=n6n8NijR3JU



Just one of those little curiosities that you've heard about, but maybe not seen.
345
Living Room / Re: 14 year-old boy arrested for creating a digital clock
« Last post by Renegade on September 17, 2015, 02:47 PM »
Pfft. And some people call *me* paranoid. ;)
346
Living Room / John McAfee 2016?!? Yep. :)
« Last post by Renegade on September 09, 2015, 09:40 AM »
While this is political, I'm pretty sure we can forget about that stuff and focus on one of the most fascinating personalities in tech... the one and only John McAfee!

HE'S RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT~!

http://mcafee16.com/

Bwahahaha~!  ;D

If you're not familiar with who John McAfee is, do a search in the forums for posts (mostly by me) about him.

Also, Fair Warning: You may pee your pants laughing.  :P

Here's his YouTube channel (possibly NSFW):

https://www.youtube....ialjohnmcafee/videos

For some lovely nuttiness and profanity that very well may leave you rolling on the floor...



I hope he gets some traction because it will be very entertaining! He's got no hope of winning, but can you imagine him in debates? BWAHAHAHAHA~!  ;D


 
347
Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]
« Last post by Renegade on September 09, 2015, 01:16 AM »
Here's a decent mashup of just about every movie dance club scene ever:


-Deozaan (September 08, 2015, 11:16 AM)

That was pretty wild. I liked the Darth Vader light saber fight edited in.
348
Living Room / Re: Anti-Necrospamming
« Last post by Renegade on August 31, 2015, 11:43 PM »
The irony here is wondering if we have any newly converted necrophiliacs... :P
349
Living Room / Re: Internet of Things thread (IoT)
« Last post by Renegade on August 31, 2015, 11:35 PM »
Renegade is a Prophet and I think you ought to listen to what he has to say to you!
-wraith808 (August 27, 2015, 10:29 AM)

That's some pretty high praise! I'll graciously accept! Thank you!  :-*

But this is just the tip of the iceberg. It will get worse.

Somewhat off topic
I'm privileged to have some inside information from time to time, and I get to see some of what is coming to the market before most people. So, I'm not really a prophet, but I do pay some attention to what I do every day. ;)

As I work under NDAs, I have to be careful sometimes when I speak. I have to act in the best interests of my clients when I'm paid to do so. Just today I advised a client on an issue in their best interests against my own preferences/ideals (I'm such a whore sometimes :P ).


The IoT specifications do not include any security at all. None. Zero. Nadda. Zip. Zilch.

Security in IoT is classified as "out of scope".

But the abuse there is just the beginning. It will get much worse.

In the future, quite literally - and I do mean LITERALLY - someone or some computer will know whether you took a pee or a poo.

  • They'll know when you went to sleep.
  • When you woke up.
  • When and how long you showered for, or if you took a bath.
  • When you left the house.
  • When you got home.


And those are just the absolute most basic things. Much more advanced information will be available.

Start thinking about smart fridges and smart garbage pails, and things will get very, very dark very quickly. And that will come. It has already been nebulously outlined. It is coming.

Every now and then people ask me about what I do, and sometimes those conversations go beyond the typical 2 seconds. I invariably tell people to "RUN" when they hear "smart" or "IoT".

At the industrial level, IoT can do wonders (though there are nightmares there). At the consumer level, I see the nightmares far outweighing the benefits.

Just ask yourself if it is worth sending people to prison for taking a shower for too long. That is where it will go. People are too much busy bodies for it not to go there. People love to tell other people how to live their lives.

It ain't gonna end well.

Or people can just call me paranoid.




350
Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]
« Last post by Renegade on August 26, 2015, 04:25 AM »
Did you like The Karate Kid? Well... here's the story from a different perspective... 8) (4:42 long)

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