Recent Posts

3626

General Software Discussion / Re: File history (time machine) in win 8: worth exploring?

« Last post by 40hz on April 14, 2013, 01:07 PM »

When it comes to music apps as in: DAWS, recorders, sequencers, loop stations and soft synths (if that's what you're planning) you definitely do not want to install Windows 8 unless you absolutely have to at this point.

I general, if you're planning a workstation for music or media authoring, the SOP has always been to get a working configuration and never ever update anything on it unless something breaks or you want the new version of one or more of your main apps. And if you do update anything, use caution - and have a full image backup of your system/programs drive before you install or update anything.

This stuff has gotten a lot better about OS changes over the years. But many music apps are still relatively fragile compared to your standard productivity and general purpose programs. At least based on my personal experience with things like Gigasampler, Cubase, FruityLoops, Progression, Rosegarden, Rakarrack etc.



Just my  

3627

Living Room / Re: Newly coined term, "internet fury"? A sad article...

« Last post by 40hz on April 13, 2013, 10:08 PM »

Please also notice how I stayed polite, calm, and collected throughout the whole message.  Seems people think I was disrespectful, but...I don't think I was.

-Stephen66515 (April 13, 2013, 06:44 PM)

Well, as long as you don't think so, I guess that argument just about settles it.

3628

Living Room / Re: Luxembourg cybersecurity team takes on China's hacker unit - and wins!

« Last post by 40hz on April 13, 2013, 10:01 PM »

 The government won't allow hack-backs because they're afraid you'll find confidential information they stole from the U.S.. [sarcasm on] Can't have that information in the hands of the average citizen, now can we?  [sarcasm off]

-Tinman57 (April 13, 2013, 08:42 PM)

Also kind of hard to scream about China not doing enough about stopping its so-called college 'hack clubs' if you allow your own non-government entities to do the same.

If cyberwarfare - or state sponsored hacking - is just another form of assault (or violence), then it almost makes sense in that every government ever created insists on having an exclusive monopoly on the use of force. That is almost the single best defining characteristic of 'government' no matter what form the government ultimately takes. It alone holds the 'legal' authority to resort to violence to accomplish its goals.

3629

Living Room / Re: Newly coined term, "internet fury"? A sad article...

« Last post by 40hz on April 13, 2013, 03:14 PM »

^I love TP's suggestion. Simple, neat, and effective. 

3630

Living Room / Re: I can haz LOLMouser plz?

« Last post by 40hz on April 13, 2013, 02:32 PM »

Every Friday, somewhere between midnight and dawn, the topic in the IRC channel changes...
 (see attachment in previous post)

-app103 (April 12, 2013, 04:19 PM)

LOL! And it has so little to do with whatever is being discussed there too! How cool is that?

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

3631

Living Room / Re: Newly coined term, "internet fury"? A sad article...

« Last post by 40hz on April 13, 2013, 02:16 PM »

@grandpastan - you might try this out. Easier to change how your browser works than it is to try to get somebody to change how they post. 

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

@Stephen - you know I think the world of you, but c'mon - point taken. Stop doubling-down.

3632

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by 40hz on April 13, 2013, 01:50 PM »

This rather looks like a first brick being removed from the wall.

-IainB (April 13, 2013, 09:56 AM)

Or at least an attempt to do so. The real trick will be to pull enough bricks out of the wall to make a new entry for yourself without having the whole building come crashing down on your head.

But China will first need to do a lot more to fix the problems caused by the need to secure highly placed political patronage in order to conduct any significant business. And also to check the blatant and pervasive corruption plaguing their emerging new economic elite before it will be able to push any harder than what it's intrinsic market potential as a customer base will allow.

Unfortunately, cases like the 'disappearance' of Chinese billionaire Liu Han, and the somewhat bizarre circumstances leading up to it, won't give the average western investor warm fuzzies about dealing with Chinese businesses or the Chinese government.

As a recent article about Lui Han in Bloomberg noted:

Liu’s rise to riches and sudden disappearance aren’t just the makings of a made-for-Hollywood potboiler. They’re a warning of the risks investors take when dealing with opaque private businesses in China, where fortunes depend on political ties and the favors of state entities, and even the wealthiest entrepreneurs can vanish if they lose the patronage of powerful government allies.

Certainly gonna be worth watching.

For these times, they are a-changin'... as the old Dylan tune goes.

3633

Living Room / Luxembourg cybersecurity team takes on China's hacker unit - and wins!

« Last post by 40hz on April 13, 2013, 01:31 PM »

In an very well-written article posted over at the Volokh Conspiracy website (which is not about what you think  ), Stewart Baker looks at the issue of hack-backs, and offers up a disturbing discussion about US government sponsored cybersecurity agencies - and how little they apparently do to protect the general public. And more disturbingly  - how increasingly adamant they are becoming about not allowing the general public to protect itself.

   

Luxembourg: The Steve McQueen of Cybersecurity

Stewart Baker • April 12, 2013 8:45 pm

Here’s the scant good news on cybersecurity It’s getting harder for attackers to hide.  The same security weaknesses that bedevil our networks can be found on the systems used by our attackers. A shorter version is something I call Baker’s Law: “Our security sucks.  But so does theirs.”

That’s good news because, with a little gumption, we can exploit hacker networks, gather evidence that identifies our attackers, and eventually take action that will make them regret their career choices.

Unfortunately, the United States has been sitting out this attribution revolution.  Our vaunted CyberCommand may be energetically exploiting hacker networks, but it isn’t helping private victims of cyberespionage. Foreign governments are hacking US companies, law firms, activists, and individuals with abandon, but our government seems unable or unwilling to stop the attacks or identify the attackers.  In fact, hacking victims who want to gather evidence against the bad guys are being warned off, told that conducting a private investigation could put them at risk of prosecution.  As an anonymous Justice Department recently told the press,

“Arguments for or against hack-back efforts fall into two categories: law and policy,” the DOJ spokesman told BNA. “Both recommend against hack-back. Under current law, accessing a computer that you do not own or operate without permission is likely a violation of law. And while there might be something satisfying about the notion of hack-back on a primal level, it is not good policy either.”

Actually, the spokesman could have stated the Department’s policy even more concisely: “We don’t know how to protect you, but we do know how to keep you from protecting yourselves.”

Justice wants to cut off the debate over hacking back...

<Read the full article here.>

The article goes on to discuss the actions taken by two private computer security entities residing in Luxembourg who successfully hacked-back the shadowy cyberwarfare group Unit 61398 of the Chinese Army and came away with a wealth of information on exactly who they are, and how they operate. Something that "would likely be illegal" for a US entity to do. At least as far as our ever watchful Department of Justice is concerned.

Well worth a read, both as a cautionary tale, and also for the techno-geek laughs it provides.

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

Note: the article author Stewart Baker spent "3½ years at the Department of Homeland Security as its first Assistant Secretary for Policy" before returning to private law practice. So his insights are especially interesting since he approaches the topic with the dual perspective of someone who was both a former DHS government 'insider' and is now a private attorney. (Read his work bio here.)

Good stuff!  

3634

General Software Discussion / Re: Problems after you install Microsoft's security update 2823324

« Last post by 40hz on April 13, 2013, 12:18 PM »

^ Yes but then you are weighing the 'pros and cons' of being affected by something like a 0 day exploit vs BSOD from bad updates.

-rgdot (April 13, 2013, 11:57 AM)

And pros and cons considering that I've been hit once in over 25 years by exploits, vs being hit 3 times by automatic patching (and missing being hit a few other times from the articles I've seen).

It might not work for others, but a week is acceptable risk for me.

-wraith808 (April 13, 2013, 11:58 AM)

I'm 1 for 1. Had one bad update in 25+ years crowbar a machine. And that was a hardware driver in the optional list. Took a safe boot and a rollback to fix it.

The hit came out of the blue while surfing. It was a few years back. Went to something (a suposed tech info article) off a link at one site and got slammed by something that romped over every piece of security software I had installed like it didn't exist. Whatever it intended to do didn't get to happen because I immediately pulled the CAT-5 out the minute I saw the system go completely haywire and the net traffic on the NIC go through the roof. About three minutes later I was looking at a completely borked machine.

Had to pull the drive and sanitize it, first under Linux, and then under Windows to get rid of it. And even then I didn't trust that drive enough to do anything other than recover user data before reformatting.

Never found out what it was I got hit with. But whatever it was, it was one nasty bit of work. After that I stopped being quite so skeptical about all the reports and rumors you hear about "box killer" malware out in the wild. Because it's hard to believe until you actually see an example in action. However, seeing it happen to one of your own machines can sure make you a believer in no time flat.

3635

General Software Discussion / Re: Problems after you install Microsoft's security update 2823324

« Last post by 40hz on April 13, 2013, 12:00 PM »

I think you have to take a more measured approach.  What I usually do is disable *automatic* updates.  Then, a week (or more) after update Tuesday and all of the furor has died down, I download and install the updates manually.

-wraith808 (April 13, 2013, 11:53 AM)

+1! That's what I personally do and recommend doing. The real problem is in getting the clients to allow the installations, and not just tell WSUS to "remind me later" that there's a downloaded update waiting to be installed.

I  love sitting down in front of a machine and seeing that little reminder pop up. Especially when I tell it to run and it shows it has something like 50 updates totaling around 200Mb that go back six months which are still sitting in the queue.

3636

General Software Discussion / Re: Problems after you install Microsoft's security update 2823324

« Last post by 40hz on April 13, 2013, 11:55 AM »

@Wraith - That's a bloody nuisance for sure!

BTW is it just me, or does it seem like Sony loves to make things just a little more complicated that they need to be with their products? I have had more weird issues with Sony desktops (Vaio) and laptops than just about any other brand. To me they were like that "little girl who had a little curl." Because when a Vaio is good, it's very very good - but when it's not...forget it!
 

3637

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

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

This is a significant announcement and key development for China as it continues its campaign to internationalize the yuan and chip away at the dollar’s role as the world’s reserve currency.

-IainB (April 13, 2013, 07:01 AM)

>

I think it's more a political statement than an economic groundswell at this point. But still not something to dismiss as pure politics either.

Ideally (for China ) this move will be coupled with a significant shift towards less manipulative monetary policies and exchange rate games on the part of China.

Because if China could just pull it's political head out of Mao's butt they would probably become unstoppable economically.

3638

General Software Discussion / Re: Problems after you install Microsoft's security update 2823324

« Last post by 40hz on April 13, 2013, 07:03 AM »

I have long thought that the biggest threat to a Windows computer is not malware but MS Updates.

-pilgrim (April 13, 2013, 06:47 AM)

Speaking from the perspective of somebody who is responsible for the health and safety of a large number of Windows PCs and servers, I'd have to politely agree to disagree with you on that point. From my experience, about 50% of all serious Windows problems can be directly attributed to the failure on the part of the owner to be current with Microsoft's critical updates.

If the automatic updates are not installing, it's a very clear indication that there's another critical issue on a machine that needs to be addressed. This can range from an unsuccessful previous installation attempt, a corrupted system file, or the presence (or residual/collateral damage) from some unusually nasty malware.

That said - it would be nice if Microsoft's updater was a little more verbose. And also if it could be more helpful in notifying the user that there has been a problem. Because I have seen the same problem you had (although only on XP machines). Usually right after I receive a call from someone who got referred to me because their system was seriously infected with malware.b Something that came as a complete shock to the owner because they had a quality antivirus utility installed on their machine. They usually learn that their realtime scanner - and the security center notification - had also been disabled without their knowledge.

Updates...they're like oatmeal. You may not like it - but make it a regular part of your diet anyway.

3639

General Software Discussion / Re: Problems after you install Microsoft's security update 2823324

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

^Yeah. All of mine were ok, and I only got one call so far so I'm optimistic it's an oddball problem.

Microsoft also pulled the patch until they figure out what the problem is. My client had her machine set to "download and notify" but not install. Unfortunately, she downloaded the patch before it got pulled - but then installed it yesterday - after the fact. That was the part that threw me.

So it goes. (And it's all billable time!)

3640

General Software Discussion / Re: Problems after you install Microsoft's security update 2823324

« Last post by 40hz on April 12, 2013, 01:10 PM »

I think that may be the wrong link to the instructions. 

-app103 (April 12, 2013, 12:13 PM)

Thx April. Apologies. Fixed now.

3641

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by 40hz on April 12, 2013, 12:40 PM »

Hacker News has a post by Dan Kaminsky who casually attempted to do a hack on bitcoin - and (somewhat predictably) failed.

Not much depth in the article, but it does provide some insights into how bitcoin's protocol works - even if it does sound like the author is occasionally regurgitating info off some "talking points" PR sheet.

By all extant metrics in security system review, this system should have failed instantaneously, at every possible layer.

And, to be fair, it has failed at other layers – BitCoin thefts have occurred, in the meta-code that surrounds the core technology itself.

But the core technology actually works, and has continued to work, to a degree not everyone predicted. Time to enjoy being wrong.  What the heck is going on here?

First of all, yes.  Money changes things.

A lot of the slop that permeates most software is much less likely to be present when the developer is aware that, yes, a single misplaced character really could End The World.  The reality of most software development is that the consequences of failure are simply nonexistent.  Software tends not to kill people and so we accept incredibly fast innovation loops because the consequences are tolerable and the results are astonishing.

BitCoin was simply developed under a different reality.

The stakes weren’t obscured, and the problem wasn’t someone else’s.

They didn’t ignore the engineering reality, they absorbed it and innovated ridiculously.

Worth a read since it's that much more grist for the mill. And some of the information is quite interesting. Link here.

3642

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

« Last post by 40hz on April 12, 2013, 11:49 AM »

Pre-deceased but with a sense of humor?

Awesome! That makes you fully qualified to do what I do for a living. We're all quite dead and/or mad here. But we still find it in our hearts to laugh about it.

You should read Rafael Sabatini's classic story Scaramouche. The opening lines were written for you:

He was born with the gift of laughter and a sense the world was insane. And that was his only inheritance.

Nice to meet ya!

3643

General Software Discussion / Problems after you install Microsoft's security update 2823324

« Last post by 40hz on April 12, 2013, 09:54 AM »

Posting this as an FYI.

Got my first call from a client about this problem yesterday. She had a laptop that wouldn't restart following the installation of a security update from Microsoft's WSUS that was included in a group of updates made available on 9-APR-2013.

Microsoft is aware of the problem and has posted instructions on how to fix it here. The symptoms, as described by Microsoft, are as follows:

You receive an Event ID 55 or a 0xc000021a Stop error in Windows 7 after you install security update 2823324
Article ID: 2839011

Symptoms

Microsoft is investigating behavior where systems may not recover from a restart, or applications cannot load, after security update 2823324 is applied. We recommend that customers uninstall this update. As an added precaution, Microsoft has removed the download links to the 2823324 update while we investigate.

Only got one call so far. Fingers crossed.

3644

General Software Discussion / Re: thunderbird alternative

« Last post by 40hz on April 11, 2013, 06:02 PM »

Sylpheed anyone? looks interesting...

-kalos (April 11, 2013, 05:49 PM)

Claws used to be the unstable development version of Sylpheed. Originally called Sylpheed-Claws, it amicably forked sometime around 2004 or thereabouts IIRC and became its own project under the name Claws Mail.

The two are still somewhat similar. Sylpheed has more of a 'classic' feel to it. Claws tends to be more feature rich and 'adventurous' for lack of a better word.
 

3645

Living Room / Re: Adam Orth leaves Microsoft

« Last post by 40hz on April 11, 2013, 02:56 PM »

Truthfully, don't think this had anything to do with being PC, but more about being stupid.

-wraith808 (April 11, 2013, 02:21 PM)

Agree. Microsoft isn't shy about controversy or stepping on toes when it suits them. Ballmer made a career out of being offensive in public. Many IT managers still remember Microsoft's keynote at CeBIT where we were collectively told to either get on board with the game plan and 'vision' for Windows 8 - or plan on getting new jobs soon - because Microsoft was going to do this with, without, or even in spite of us if necessary.

Nope. Orth got bopped for opening up the XBox kimono a little too much without permission. That he did so in a rude fashion was just the icing that made his eventual booting by Microsoft look a lot more "for the customer" than it really was.

3646

General Software Discussion / Re: thunderbird alternative

« Last post by 40hz on April 11, 2013, 02:26 PM »

And what I find most amazing is how few have built-in provisions for backing up their own message stores.

-40hz (April 11, 2013, 08:48 AM)

...and, in the case of The Bat (Voyager version) at the point I gave up with it, even when there IS backup, it isn't always reliable. Grumble grumble grumble...

-oblivion (April 11, 2013, 10:20 AM)

And that is the main reason why I won't use The Bat even though I did buy a license for it some time back. It failed the backup/restore test I gave it. And if you can't trust an app's backup feature, it's an immediate "game over" AFAIC.

...and Claws I'll take a look at too, in due course.

Wish you the best of luck with it. You probably won't like it much. I don't consider myself a fan by any stretch. But then again, I never saw much in any e-mail client to get all goofy over. However, I needed to use something, and Claws works at least as well as anything else I tried. It's also multi platform. And the price was certainly right.

3647

Living Room / Re: Adam Orth leaves Microsoft

« Last post by 40hz on April 11, 2013, 02:00 PM »

Interesting...

But if you read between the lines of Microsoft's terse 'apology,' I think his 'resignation' had more to do with his speaking specifics about the new XBox (before Microsoft was ready to talk about it) than it did with whatever ill will his comments on Twitter caused.

We apologize for the inappropriate comments made by an employee on Twitter yesterday. This person is not a spokesperson for Microsoft, and his personal views do not reflect the customer centric approach we take to our products or how we would communicate directly with our loyal consumers. We are very sorry if this offended anyone, however we have not made any announcements about our product roadmap, and have no further comment on this matter.

Oh well. Hope he kept his LinkedIn profile up to date.

3648

MEWLO Web Framework / Re: OLD - Unfinished Web project: YUMPS

« Last post by 40hz on April 11, 2013, 10:57 AM »

^That's where that came from. Haven't reread MMM in ages. Maybe it's time I do?

Also thx for that link - that entire wiki is hysterical.

3649

MEWLO Web Framework / Re: OLD - Unfinished Web project: YUMPS

« Last post by 40hz on April 11, 2013, 10:23 AM »

^Don't know if it's still as true, but back when I was doing some coding, I was told "Always write it twice - then throw the first version out. Because you're gonna do it anyway."

The guy that taught the course (a crusty old IBM 'Lifer' if there ever was one) said the first version of most code seldom does more show you how you should have written it.

 

3650

General Software Discussion / Re: thunderbird alternative

« Last post by 40hz on April 11, 2013, 08:48 AM »

If I'm honest, I think there's never EVER really been a good email client. While databases are at the core of most if not all client email solutions, and while database management systems remain non-bulletproof, there probably never will be.

-oblivion (April 11, 2013, 04:22 AM)

I share may of the same fears after having tried every e-mail client I could get my hands on. A few have come close. But that's about it.

As long as so many developers (and users) can't seem to understand that a PIM, a newsreader, and an e-mail client are intrinsically separate things (at least IMO) we'll continue to live with flaky poorly integrated 'features' and bloat. And what I find most amazing is how few have built-in provisions for backing up their own message stores.

So be it. I've pretty much given up. Claws Mail comes close enough for me. It'll do.