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376

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

« Last post by db90h on September 05, 2011, 12:53 PM »

After CNet downloader, we have a new brand in this market - softonic download manager. Forcing users to download installer.

-mahesh2k (September 05, 2011, 12:45 PM)

That company preceeded CNET, they did not follow. This is their entire business plan. That is all they do. They advertise for freeware downloads (e.g. for VLC or WinRAR), to get people into their toolbars. They've also managed to out-wit rating services using new tactics, at least for now.

Since bundles are used by almost every major corporation these days, they have become accepted - and that's the real shame. In fact, it is major software corporations who cause half the problem to start with. For example, Microsoft spends probably hundreds of millions to have their Bing toolbar bundled with stuff. In a twist of irony, the security industry has their 'free scanners' bundled with lots of the most popular software on the planet, while at the same time detecting other bundles as malware just for being a bundle. The whole thing is just a mess.

I remain steadfastly anti-bundle, as I believe this concept is very wrong. Customers are intending to download and install ONE product, not anything else. It is a form of consumer fraud to trick them into installing toolbars or whatever else.

377

Living Room / Re: Goodnight Irene

« Last post by db90h on August 28, 2011, 12:21 PM »

Did you really expect different from the media? The funny thing is that when something big does happen, it always catches them off-guard.

378

General Software Discussion / Re: backup software - file-by-file sets

« Last post by db90h on August 27, 2011, 10:19 PM »

And don't forget robocopy ... Built into Windows. Command line only. Great for backups as well as full recursive mirrors/copies/moves, lots of options.. more than you'd ever need. It doesn't back up registry keys (you can do that with RegEdit's export, but that's manual). However, it can back up whole registry HIVES by copying the backing hive files.

379

Living Room / Re: Goodnight Irene

« Last post by db90h on August 27, 2011, 07:37 PM »

I happened to be at Atlantic Beach, NC (bulls-eye) this last week, my once yearly chance to take the cheapest vacation I can on my anniversary. They issued a sudden mandatory evacuation on Thursday afternoon, though we planning to leave Friday morning anyway, and had done all we wanted to do. Saved me money on that last night at the hotel, as I got a refund. Anyway, there was no warning on the evac, it was sudden and NOW. So, we got outta there, headed back home. The peer right beside us, at the Sheraton (next hotel down), is where NBC news has been broadcasting from. Half that peer is gone now.

The flooding is going to be the big issue. What happens to the northeast, particularly NYC, I dunno.. this is an unusual event, and it could be disastrous. I really do not want to see another city under water, like was the case of New Orleans ;o.

380

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

« Last post by db90h on August 27, 2011, 09:52 AM »

I emailed Seth after reading his post (after getting no response to my previous email sent to [email protected] few days ago) and success! My programs are not using the installer anymore.  

My thanks go to Seth for showing that even big organizations have people, who really care; to mouser for making donationcoder the place, where good things happen; and to everyone else, who did their bit.

-vlastimil (August 27, 2011, 01:50 AM)

I got a response from them the same day... they may have missed your email. I also emailed Seth, but just to say Thanks. He also responded. It is sad though that a 'random' employee had to take it upon himself to do PR for a large corporation.. sigh. That should be someone's job. Whoever is in charge of PR is failing miserably.

381

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

« Last post by db90h on August 27, 2011, 09:51 AM »

+1 to mouser and db90h's comments

-Jibz (August 27, 2011, 02:12 AM)

Thanks, though I wish I'd have stopped at my first comment, or just appended to it.. but couldn't delete that second posting after I made it. I get used to replying a second time on my own forum, instead of editing, to let people know new text is there. Sorry about that mouser, didn't mean to add bloat on my tangent about CONSUMERISM (look it up).

Previous page's post was complimenting Seth, as we all have. Great person, with integrity.

382

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

« Last post by db90h on August 26, 2011, 11:30 PM »

BTW, as I keep trying to tell people (though nobody listens) --- CONSUMERS have the power to force companies to act ethically by simply choosing who they do business with. The power is in YOUR hands. So, if you don't like what company X is doing... well, don't do business with company X. That is the only way to get the upper management to listen, as they are only thinking about fiscal concerns - at least in *most* cases, especially publicly traded companies. The more you make ethical concerns fiscal, the better they behave.

383

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

« Last post by db90h on August 26, 2011, 11:25 PM »

@Seth - I can't help but ask, what is CNET's position about one of their employees speaking to the general public about a controversial issue surrounding the company.

Most corporations have fairly strict rules about employees not doing that sort of thing.
 

-40hz (August 26, 2011, 08:31 PM)

They should give him a promotion . One of the more disturbing things was the apathy that CNET demonstrated throughout all this. As if they are above caring what anyone thinks about them, even their visitors and vendors. He is the ONLY ONE who has demonstrated any care for their image.

Thanks to his advice, I requested they unbundle my software. This SAME DAY they responded and did so. I had feared they would simply de-list my software, despite me paying ($9/mo) for my listing, but they did not. They unbundled all editions of it, and were polite.

It is funny, now that I read this thread, I used mouser's almost exact words, giving them 'credit where credit is due' for at least allowing us to opt-out.

It is my belief that many of the CNET employees feel as strongly as we do about this change. It was apparently the upper corporate management that made this decision, and it is their minds that must be changed. Of course, to change their minds requires making a fiscal argument that it costs them more money to keep this policy than it does to change it.

384

Living Room / Re: "Upgrade" Button is Patented -- Trolls Come Out of Sewers...

« Last post by db90h on August 18, 2011, 08:08 PM »

Too late, I already patented lawsuits.

385

Living Room / Re: "Upgrade" Button is Patented -- Trolls Come Out of Sewers...

« Last post by db90h on August 18, 2011, 07:01 PM »

I just applied for a patent on patents!!!!!

386

Living Room / Re: "Upgrade" Button is Patented -- Trolls Come Out of Sewers...

« Last post by db90h on August 18, 2011, 04:06 PM »

We, as consumers, have the ultimate power --- IF we would just choose to exercise it. YOU vote with your wallets.

-db90h (August 18, 2011, 01:40 PM)

Sometimes I agree with this, but more often I remain pessimistic. This would only work if a large percentage of people did it. If 95% of people ignore common sense and just buy what they are told to buy by smart marketers, the remaining 5% can vote with their wallets all they want and nothing ever changes - except that we are considered weird and laughed at by those 95%.

95% of people don't care about patents...

-vlastimil (August 18, 2011, 04:01 PM)

Pessimism, ah, how refreshing. I know it well. While you are right, this can not excuse us from doing the right thing. It may never change a things on a large-scale, but at least it will help those few good companies and individuals in the world.

387

Living Room / Re: "Upgrade" Button is Patented -- Trolls Come Out of Sewers...

« Last post by db90h on August 18, 2011, 02:45 PM »

deleted absurdly rude, sarcastic post making fun of these people who patent every passing idea, as if their every thought is something brilliant

388

Living Room / Re: "Upgrade" Button is Patented -- Trolls Come Out of Sewers...

« Last post by db90h on August 18, 2011, 01:40 PM »

You know, I've just about had it... patents, greed, fraud, scams, ... Everybody wants to get rich *without* working. People feel entitled to it for simply thinking they are smarter than the average Joe. They think dreaming up an idea is worth millions. Trading a few stocks in our casino market place is a 'job'. Is this the American way? Screw this.

Look, when government intervenes to ensure the PEOPLE stay prosperous and healthy, everyone wins. When government leaves capitalism to go its merry way, those at the top win, and everyone else is 'milked' until they dry up -- then it all falls apart. Because, hey, guess what -- trickle down economics is BS.

I wish we could have common sense in DC. Common freaking sense. No more money. I don't see how we'll ever get to that point. It will require this country first fall into shambles, which we aren't far from. We're only being kept afloat artificially at this point.

There needs to be a new, non-violent revolution in this country. Consumerism. We, as consumers, have the ultimate power --- IF we would just choose to exercise it. YOU vote with your wallets. After all, the Supreme Court said money is speech, declaring corporations 'people' (how whack is that?). Choose carefully who you spend your money with. That is the only way to save this country.

BTW, Apple tends to fight patent challenges like this on behalf of developers. It won't go anywhere.

389

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

« Last post by db90h on August 16, 2011, 03:22 PM »

I have seen numerous F/OSS projects survive by charging for *custom* modifications to the base code. This will be in heavy demand, and is always a possibility. Of course, it is more work on top of what you've already done, but it will always be much easier for the original programmer to create add-ons and modifications than for any programmer who just became familiar with it. Just because sites have a programmer, don't take that to mean they wouldn't farm out work to someone else. Many 'programmers' do this for a living, not being great programmers themselves, or being busy, they hire people to do the real work.

390

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

« Last post by db90h on August 15, 2011, 04:56 PM »

I'm not looking for investors since i don't think something like this can be sold.. But i'd be very pleased to find a company that would be willing to fund further development/customization for use in other projects, enough so i could keep working on it.

-mouser (August 15, 2011, 02:11 PM)

I don't know much about venture capital, as I believe most software companies these days can be run with such low overhead (initially) that they don't really need these people. But NOTHING is free in the world, and you always give up both a percentage of ownership and sometimes a hell of a lot of control. The VCs actually seem a little ... I dunno, but it doesn't seem right to walk in somewhere and get a huge bunch of money. The ability to get this largely depends on who you know, etc..

391

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

« Last post by db90h on August 15, 2011, 01:41 PM »

I also must agree with 40hz about the license. Be CAREFUL! The largest issue is that it takes so little for some ahole to come and, completely legally, take your code - fork it - and call it his own. Seriously. He can then even starting selling the darn thing, though it must still remain open source. I've seen some people fork projects, add 'proprietary' 'extensions' that they make 'closed source' (yes, questionable) .. then sell the entire package, using your code to do the heavily lifting.

I like open source, but it really tends to be very unfair to the developer(s) who put the most into the project. I could see people paying a small fee for a commercial use license for this.

Importantly, you can make it open source without giving too much away. You just have to make the license terms sufficiently restrictive (dunno which boilerplate license is best).

As for investors, are you looking for investors? Be careful with that stuff. Sometimes it sounds like an obvious win, but in your case I'm not sure you'd be comfortable given x% of your project away to get a few dollars. These investors also like to demand they have control, like putting in a new CEO above your head to keep an eye on things. It depends on the arrangement. Usually these are best for 100% commercial projects that you intend to later sale to some larger company.

Lastly, be sure to keep differentiating yourself from the CMS competition! That is key here.

392

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

« Last post by db90h on August 14, 2011, 08:46 PM »

..

393

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

« Last post by db90h on August 14, 2011, 07:39 PM »

Very nice to hear of this project! I was reading about it, thinking 'cool', before I even looked at the publisher (was in Google Reader). A pre-written 'base site framework' not only avoids having to re-invent the wheel, you can be assured that it is securely implemented. Speaking of that, you will definitely want to have a strict versioning policy for this software. Every change must be analyzed from a security perspective. Of course, simply avoiding SQL injection attacks is usually sufficient, but when you have an open framework you know it will be put through the wringer! Scarily, if there ever was an exploit, they'd probably try it here first, under the assumption you use the same (or similar) code.

Anyway, this sounds like something I could use myself. I was planning to switch from my custom code to SMF for basic login and profile management, though don't like the idea of relying on SMF. I could easily see myself making use of YUMPS.

394

Living Room / Re: Opera wand. Does it work well? Enough to abandon lastpass?

« Last post by db90h on August 08, 2011, 08:18 PM »

When I used Opera on the PC (Opera Mini still in use for mobile devices), the wand was the stupidest thing I'd ever seen. Here's the deal: Every other browser on the planet will auto-fill your login information when you revisit a page (that you've saved). We're talking only username and password. With Opera, you have to go and press the Wand button, or use a keyboard shortcut, to have it fill the username and password with your saved info. No auto-fill without invoking the 'wand'. This was an unnecessary extra step. Sure, I suppose it could fill more stuff in than standard browsers, for those much more rare occasions when that's needed, but for the every-day chore of logging into your favorite web sites, you had to go hit that stupid wand. Did they ever change this?

395

General Software Discussion / Re: DOS Batch Functions Tutorial

« Last post by db90h on August 07, 2011, 04:50 PM »

Yes, BATCH files weren't designed for complex scripting at all. Not like *nix shells, which were designed that way from the start. I still prefer *nix.

PowerShell, despite it being a resource hog like you wouldn't imagine, is very powerful. It can let you script almost anything you could code in .NET, minus all the UI stuff maybe. At least, that's my understanding of it. I have not taken the time to learn, nor care to learn, the internals of it either. Whether the product even survives remains to be seen. I'm sure some network admins are using it for some automation tasks, but that's about it. Nobody really took to it. They'd do better off pushing their POSIX subsystem on admins, and give them an interface common to Windows and linux. Of course, the *nix style scripting came from decades ago and isn't the most efficient thing in the world, but with the help of numerous facilitating tools you can do pretty much anything you want. PowerShell could have been much more efficient, and might be for large and very complex scripts, though its .NET MSIL overhead makes it slow .. so who knows on that one. They *did* include some unix commands in PowerShell, ironically.. at least named the same, different options and output format -- just to confuse people.

396

General Software Discussion / Re: DOS Batch Functions Tutorial

« Last post by db90h on August 07, 2011, 04:04 PM »

I guess nobody has taken to PowerShell yet, eh? . It is quite powerful, though I never thought a command line scripting shell could consume so many resources, lol. It is one massive beast. I dunno if anyone, even network engineers, have 'taken' to it yet.

Personally, I love Cygwin on Windows. Let's me have linux style scripting in Windows. Of course, I still use plenty of BATCH file for automation to this day.

397

General Software Discussion / Re: Google Apps vs. MS Office 365: Your Choice

« Last post by db90h on August 05, 2011, 11:03 PM »

That video has nothing to do with Google Docs. It is about Gmail. I am not sure their advertising is the same in Google Docs as it is Gmail, though maybe I'm wrong. I've never noticed ads in Google Docs. Don't see any now.

A better comparison would be between the interfaces. The frustrating thing about Google Docs is the usability of its interface. It just isn't as easy as Office, period. It does have its advantages, but its user interface isn't one -- at least not yet.

398

Screenshot Captor / Re: What are these dll files used for?

« Last post by db90h on August 05, 2011, 09:28 PM »

Yea, I checked a restart of SC.. I am not messing up my methodology.. hsa worked forever, initiating a capture, via hotkey, of an elevated window (only, not the whole screen). It works, simple as that. When SSC is executing within another process's space, its permissions may be different than in its native space, so it may fail to be able to write to a folder that requires elevated access. In other cases, the inverse may be true. You should never use that as a screenshot folder. It should be %APPDATA%\Screeenshotcaptor\Screenshots .. (I made that up as where it ought to be) .. or your own custom folder. For portable mode the default may behave wrong.

399

Screenshot Captor / Re: What are these dll files used for?

« Last post by db90h on August 05, 2011, 09:20 PM »

edit post notification

400

Screenshot Captor / Re: What are these dll files used for?

« Last post by db90h on August 05, 2011, 09:15 PM »

I meant SSC .. but I know it works, because I do it all the time capturing images of my elevated and non-elevated software. EDIT: Yes, that folder exists, and it is NOT recreated on startup of SSC.

EDIT: Just tested it, one more time.. works fine. Non-elevated SSC, elevated program. Yes, UAC is enabled.

If it is using that %PROGRAMFILES% subfolder for any reason, then that is the likely problem I still say, as it is being recreated so being used for something -- in your case. Maybe portable mode has something to do with it, dunno.