Recent Posts

376

Living Room / Re: Do we have any musical people on DC?

« Last post by 40hz on February 13, 2015, 07:50 AM »

^Really like that CP10. It adds a bit more coloration. But it's a lovely butterscotch sort of coloration. Which on guitar works very well. And the absence of noise in a compressor that old is amazing. (Remember the ubiquitous MXR DynaComp anyone?)

Guitarists have a definite advantage over bass players when it comes to their tone palette. All those extra high frequencies give effects (and our ears) so much more to work with. And while I have seldom heard bass benefit much from using an 'effect' pedal (beyond "remedial" signal processors such as a limiters or compressors), most guitars can gain a whole new dimension by their judicious employment. They key word here being "judicious."

So little time (and money!)...so many interesting things to try. Wha' fe do, Mon...wha' fe do?

Tom Hughes did a very fine book on effects called Analog Man's Guide to Vintage Effects, which covers over 150 different manufacturer's devices. It's a history book, a collector's wish-list/catalog, and a tech guide all rolled into one. The $45 asking price may be a bit of a put-off. And what's covered will likely only appeal to the diehard effect users, "gear-geeks," and serious collectors out there. But it's well worth it IMO. This book is as good as guitar-porn gets. If you love stomp boxes, look no further. Here is bedrock.

377

Living Room / Re: Do we have any musical people on DC?

« Last post by 40hz on February 12, 2015, 08:31 PM »

(Note: the first part of this post will likely only be of interest to actual bass players. You have been warned!  )

Are you a bass player? As in a bass player doing some serious recording work? If so, check out one of these bad boys - a Keeley Bassist Limiting Amplifier (also known as a compressor/limiter):



I have wanted to find a very subtle and musical compressor-type device specifically designed for electric bass for some time now. And I think I probably tried out at least dozen or so before I stumbled on this one. It's surprisingly affordable for the signal quality and transparency it offers. As good as what you'd find in a recording studio rack IMO. And it's usable too. Great sound plus simple logical controls that behave the way you'd think they would. (Not every similar device can make that claim.) And it doesn't get in the way of your sound like so many of these devices sometimes can.

If you're a bassist who knows what a compressor is used for - and you're in the market for a really good one - look no further. Highly recommended.

(Note: the standard disclaimer applies here. I'm not affiliated with Keeley Engineering in any way, shape, or form. I bought mine with my own money through the regular retail channels.)

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

For those who are curious as to exactly what a compressor does, this video explores some of the sonic benefits such devices can bring to the party. You'll need headphones or decent speakers to really hear the difference in this video because (when properly used) most applications of this 'effect' will be fairly subtle. And you may need a few repeated listens before your ear becomes attentive enough to clearly hear some of them.

But do you actually need one? The next video gets into that thorny and subjective question in some depth.

Skip forward to the 1:00 mark to get right into the explanations and demos.

Cool tools! Check it out!

378

General Software Discussion / Re: The return of Clippy! Microsoft says more about their digital assistant Cortana

« Last post by 40hz on February 12, 2015, 07:57 PM »

@wraith - I think I'll just continue to stick to Linux for my own use. It does what I want. And there isn't much in the way of strings attached so long as you avoid Ubuntu.

The only reason I still bother with Windows at all is that my clients use it.  

379

General Software Discussion / Re: The return of Clippy! Microsoft says more about their digital assistant Cortana

« Last post by 40hz on February 12, 2015, 07:47 PM »

When was the last time you saw Spybot S&D or Malwarebytes flag and offer to remove iTunes, Quicktime, Google toolbar, etc. And what is the likelihood that they will ever offer to deactivate/neuter Cortana for you?

-app103 (February 12, 2015, 07:13 PM)

If they ever did try, I'd expect Microsoft would simply remove them instead. Probably with their Malicious Software Removal Tool which runs as part of the regular "security updates" maintenance cycle.

You can get heavy with 3rd-party apps that try to do things you don't like. But it's considerably harder to do that with something the OS developer included and billed as "a feature" for their OS. Try to remove something like that and you're suddenly in that awkward position where you run the risk being classified as malware yourself. Microsoft has the last word about what is and what isn't malware. It's their operating system. They own it. So they get to define the parameters.

380

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

« Last post by 40hz on February 12, 2015, 02:57 PM »

^I'd add Thomas Ligotti and Poppy Z. Brite in with Matheson as well. Brilliant - utterly brilliant storytellers both. And, with Matheson, are some of the very few that can instil that same sense of 'absolute otherness' and cosmic dread that Lovecraft strove for.

381

General Software Discussion / Re: The return of Clippy! Microsoft says more about their digital assistant Cortana

« Last post by 40hz on February 12, 2015, 02:47 PM »

Isn't FlightSim not only a technical achievement... but an investment?  Which is why it boggles me that they abandon the investment already made... not just from a technical perspective, but the sheer amount of data processed for the detail of the landscapes and such.

-wraith808 (February 12, 2015, 02:34 PM)

Something went down, that's for sure! I never once heard an explanation from anybody (including the "mothership" herself) why they axed that gem. And not just axed it either. They completely buried it as well. Inventory completely pulled from retail channels. No legacy copy for "download sale only." No tombstone freebie release to the public like they did with Money. Dunno...it just makes no sense based on anything they officially told us. And the rumors about "what really happened" haven't made much sense either.

And that's too bad. FlightSim would have been all they needed to keep me (and a lot of other people) customers of Microsoft forever.

382

General Software Discussion / Re: The return of Clippy! Microsoft says more about their digital assistant Cortana

« Last post by 40hz on February 12, 2015, 02:29 PM »

Clippy and Cortana serve completely different purposes.

-xtabber (February 12, 2015, 12:22 PM)

Possibly only because the technology wasn't yet available (and Microsoft lacked Apple's "the world is my oyster" vision) to make it so?

-40hz (February 12, 2015, 12:34 PM)

For the missteps of Clippy and Bob, it's pretty easy to see that the ideas are pretty analogous to what we're getting today.

-wraith808 (February 12, 2015, 12:51 PM)

Microsoft never willingly abandons an investment in research or software development. Even when it's a bad idea or doesn't work.

But that mindset still doesn't stop them from abandoning a genuine technical achievement like FlightSim simply because it (a) wasn't "serious" enough and (b) they couldn't sell 80 million copies of it.

383

General Software Discussion / Re: The return of Clippy! Microsoft says more about their digital assistant Cortana

« Last post by 40hz on February 12, 2015, 12:34 PM »

Clippy and Cortana serve completely different purposes.

-xtabber (February 12, 2015, 12:22 PM)

Possibly only because the technology wasn't yet available (and Microsoft lacked Apple's "the world is my oyster" vision) to make it so?

384

Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"

« Last post by 40hz on February 12, 2015, 10:39 AM »

And since its been made a 'gender' issue, let's show another with just as much snark

-wraith808 (February 12, 2015, 09:00 AM)

I'd like to think it was a simple misunderstanding and not go there at all if that's ok.

385

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

« Last post by 40hz on February 12, 2015, 08:06 AM »

Twelve O'Clock High (1949) with Gregory Peck as Gen. Frank Savage.

In this story of the early days of daylight bombing raids over Nazi Germany, General Frank Savage must take command of a "hard luck" bomber group. Much of the story deals with his struggle to whip his group into a disciplined fighting unit in spite of heavy losses, and withering attacks by German fighters over their targets. Actual combat footage is used in this tense war drama.

Classic WWII military "bomber buddies" coming of age tale that's unusual in that it raises the issue of the fundamental insanity of warfare without getting either rah-rah patriotic or surreal about it. (Like the brilliant Catch-22 did.) One of the few military movies from the period that openly recognized what war can do to an individual's mind after a while.

A "good old-fashioned" yet somehow very modern-feeling war movie, populated with all the usual characters. All presented in a short 132 minutes worth of glorious B&W! Who could ever ask for more?

Well worth a viewing.

386

Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"

« Last post by 40hz on February 12, 2015, 07:34 AM »

i know society expects its girls to show diffidence when criticizing boys. but come on!

-Gwen7 (February 11, 2015, 11:53 PM)

@gwen - I don't think that was a factor in Edvard's reply. I think it's more a reflection of the vibe around here. The feeling at DoCo is that you can get your shots in, or toss in the occasional bit of well-intentioned snarkiness, without much fear of genteel reprimand. But make too regular a habit of it - or run with it a little too long - and people here tend to call you on it.

This is an unusual forum. It's more like a family dinner conversation than anything else. And it has very similar social "rules." Ms. Maltese video bumped into that I think. An occasional face pull or air quote would have been fine. But the overall tone was rather sarcastic. And since it runs around 15 minutes, it can get a little tiring after a while. Even I was getting a little impatient over it. And I agreed with a large amount of what Ms. Maltese was saying.

My feeling is you can call somebody out in a debate without recourse to 15 minutes of subtext and pantomime that is basically saying: "This moron is full of it! He doesn't know what he is talking about." Truth is, I'd have found it far more acceptable if she just bluntly said it up front - then went on to the rest of her presentation sans most of the drama following.

But it was TV (even if it's half YouTube) and that's the behavioral norm for that weird kingdom - which is probably not worth defending - any more than it's worth letting it get to us.

The whole problem with alluding to something is it leaves the message too much up to individual interpretation. Which often differs from what was intended and leads to misunderstandings. Even a simple forum post runs that risk. Even when you're trying to be explicit. As I think is the case with something you heard in Edvard's post. And which I honestly do not think was his intended message at all. We've somehow managed to keep ourselves remarkably free of most of that "battle of the sexes" nonsense. Perhaps, being human, our track record isn't absolutely perfect on that score. But I think it comes pretty close. And we do try.

I don't think anybody (consciously or subconsciously) was trying to "mansplain" (is that the word?) anything. I just think Edvard was saying - "Enough with the digs and editorial glosses already. We get it! You think he's a con man. Now can we just move past that and get to the substance of your arguments please?"

 

387

Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"

« Last post by 40hz on February 12, 2015, 12:13 AM »

and what is it with that snarky characterization? seriously?

-Gwen7 (February 11, 2015, 11:53 PM)

I thought she might have hammered home some of her points a little harder than necessary at times. But hey! It's all just TV where snarkiness is the norm. So it's not like I thought she was out of line.

And I thought her objections were pretty well-founded. I'm not an archery expert by any stretch. But I do know more than a little about the sport from direct experience over the years.

As far as armour piercing capabilities, a 10-30 lb. draw will most definitely not pierce plate armour - and probably not chainmail either unless the arrow is extremely heavy and hits a weak link. FWIW plate armour is heavy. But it's distributed so it doesn't feel the same as if you were dead lifting an equivalent weight. However, wearing it can tire you out fairly quickly (like ankle and wrist weights can), which is why ground combat was never the preferred mode of fighting for someone wearing plate. They preferred to be mounted on horses for a reason. And it's extremely hot to wear. Heat prostration was always a concern for the armored knights of yore. A good hot day could take down as many of them as a human enemy could.

388

General Software Discussion / Re: The return of Clippy! Microsoft says more about their digital assistant Cortana

« Last post by 40hz on February 11, 2015, 10:59 AM »

Is Cortana funded by some American anti-terror agency?  

-Curt (February 11, 2015, 10:35 AM)

I sometimes get the feeling that the entire world of technology is now being funded by some big and terrified American agency.

I wonder if they will ever realize that 90% of the terror they're fighting against is often nothing more than the terror that only exists in their imaginative heads?

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

Full soon in deepest hearts care finds a nest,
And builds her bed of pain, in secret still,
There rocks herself, disturbing joy and rest,
And ever takes new shapes to work her will
With fluttering fears for home or wife or child,
A thought of poison, flood, or perils wild;

For man must quail at bridges never crossed,
Lamenting even things he never lost."

                           -- Goethe, Faust

389

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

« Last post by 40hz on February 11, 2015, 10:45 AM »

I'd never seen a "One Step Beyond" episode before this evening.

The first episode? Pretty darn cool.

-Renegade (February 11, 2015, 09:40 AM)

I really liked OSB and sprung to get it on DVD along with a multi-disk Hitchcock TV collection.

The short story format was definitely experiencing a Golden Age between the late 40s and early 60s. Especially in the scifi, mystery, and horror genres. Some of the finest writing those genres ever produced got penned during that era. All the biggies (Asimov, Ray Bradbury (who was probably the best), Bob Heinlein, Harlan Ellison, Sam Delaney, "Doc" Smith, Ellory Queen, Rex Stout, et al were all busy cranking out these fantastic short stories. So it was only natural that TV shows like OSB, Thriller, Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, (and the much later Night Gallery) would benefit from their existence. These were stories written by actual writers rather than just some backroom network hack screenwriter - with the utterly brilliant Rod Serling being the notable exception.

A lot of times, these old shows we remember so fondly disappoint us once we get to rewatch them. (Hindsight may be 20-20 - but it also has a habit of looking at what's "fondly remembered from the past" through rose-tinted glasses just the same.) So I was really happy to discover these old shows held up rather well for me. There may have been one or two episodes in each I didn't really care for because of the subject or a particular actor. But they were all nicely written and produced. And still entertaining. Which is more than I can say about some movies I bought which I remembered enjoying at one time.

(OMG! I can't believe I ever thought Ben-Hur was a good picture! )

390

General Software Discussion / Re: The return of Clippy! Microsoft says more about their digital assistant Cortana

« Last post by 40hz on February 11, 2015, 10:15 AM »

^Considering how well the spell check suggestions work on my iPhone, I had very little in the way of hopeful expectations when it came to Siri. And I soon discovered it wasn't unreasonable for me to feel that way about it.

I especially appreciate the way Siri sometimes pops up without being asked. I lost several critical moments in a presentation I was recording thanks to my not noticing Siri was waiting for me to ask it to do something - and suspended the recording app I was using in order to do so. Which I don't get. The phone was just sitting on the table in front of me - completely untouched - when it happened.



Siri is a rather pretty bit of coding. But it's also (from my experience) rather useless. I guess you could say Siri is 'pretty useless.'

At least AFAIC.

391

Living Room / Re: Britain gives go-ahead to test driverless cars on roads

« Last post by 40hz on February 11, 2015, 09:01 AM »

Probably no worse or more risky than our current practice of allowing brain-dead humans to operate a motor vehicle. At least if the US driving scene is anything to go by. 

392

General Software Discussion / The return of Clippy! Microsoft says more about their digital assistant Cortana

« Last post by 40hz on February 11, 2015, 08:56 AM »

Clippy is baaaaack! But this time, he's gotten a major overhaul and a new name (Cortana) - and is no longer restricted to helping you figure out how to use Office.

I have very mixed feelings about this new feature Microsoft will be introducing into their Windows 10 OS.

I have to admire the implicit hubris in the assertion that Microsoft knows "what's great for customers."

Maybe it's me, but the "yes-buts" are drowning out the "sounds-goods" right now. And I find the constantly repeated "your" to somewhat suspect considering Microsoft's track record on issues such as privacy and square dealings with their customers.

The Register has an article on it here.

393

Living Room / Re: Peer Review and the Scientific Process

« Last post by 40hz on February 11, 2015, 06:48 AM »

Not sure what any of this has to do with peer review and the scientific process though...

-IainB (February 11, 2015, 04:39 AM)

It's tangentially related at best - as in: rather off topic.

My apologies. Perhaps a mod could edit it out and move it elsewhere, or to its own thread? (Or I could just remove my OTs myself. Pls advise.)

Strikes me as an active example of the process, albeit by non-professionals in the field   .  Sort of a peer review of Peer Review and the Scientific Process, as it were.

-barney (February 11, 2015, 05:08 AM)

Ouch! Painful...but true.

Guilty as charged yer Honor! (Again with apologies to all.)

394

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

« Last post by 40hz on February 10, 2015, 09:00 PM »

Back on topic...just rewatched the 1941 masterpiece Citizen Kane recently. Orson Wells at his finest moment. Lives up to all that's been said about it. Recommended .

395

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

« Last post by 40hz on February 10, 2015, 08:37 PM »

Damn, if that's true, Poser is awesome!!

-superboyac (February 10, 2015, 08:25 PM)

Just googled it. There are several motion cap apps that work with Poser apparently. Some are very inexpensive considering, Uh-oh!

396

Living Room / Re: Peer Review and the Scientific Process

« Last post by 40hz on February 10, 2015, 07:55 PM »

So... do you kick those newly vaccinated kids out of school because they're now contagious?

-Renegade (February 10, 2015, 05:51 PM)

As in possibly contagious? Not everybody who gets vaccinated will become contagious. If they did, there would be widespread evidence that this was happening. And AFAIK, that has not been the case.

Prudence says a two day lay-up might not be unreasonable. But more for the vaccine recipient's protection rather than for the other kid's since the recipient's immune system will be busy building immunity to what they were vaccinated for, and may be mildly compromised as a result.

So how about possibly having school-aged children always get vaccinated during the summer school break (as I always was) before returning to school? That's almost three full calendar months out of the classroom. Plenty of time to get it done - and recover from it. It only takes a minute.

You could even have the public health department handle it like my town (and several churches and local businesses and pharmacies) do where I live. You don't need a full physician's exam to be vaccinated unless you're worried about something going in. The alternate vaccine distribution points in my town also have an ambulance and EMTs on standby onsite just in case something goes sideways for somebody. It's no more dangerous than being vaccinated in a doctor's office. My town (which is an admittedly well-to-do town) makes it so easy to get a flu or pneumonia shot there's almost a no excuse not to if you genuinely want one. Dirt cheap too ($20) if you can afford to pay for it. Absolutely free of charge if you can't.

So yes...there are alternatives beyond just bouncing kids out of school.

What happens here is that a child may be sent home for not having up-to-date vaccinations (if you don't have a medical justification backed by a physician's signature or a "religious" exemption) since vaccinations are mandatory for school attendance in my town's public school system. Same rule goes for our private schools, of which there are four. The Catholic parochial school system requires proof of current vaccinations as a condition of attendance. It's spelled out in their terms of service. So between public, private, and parochial schools that's roughly 99 point something percent of all school children here.

And since school attendance (or authorized home schooling) is mandatory up to age 16 where I live, parents can run afoul of state truancy laws if their kids aren't attending school due to their not being vaccinated. So there's a bit of an incentive there as well.

I guess the only kids who are able to get around it are the homeschooled kids. But they're a tiny fraction of the population so I don't think they pose a significant threat in my area where vaccination is the norm. However if they visited Disney World...

I have yet to hear of anybody launching an outbreak because they became contageous subsequent to being vaccinated. But people who have not been vaccinated certainly have. So sending somebody home purely because they have been vaccinated doesn't seem either reasonable or necessary - as opposed to sending someone home who hasn't. You are playing odds. But when you do that you have to take significance into consideration. A tossed coin doesn't really have 50-50 odds of heads or tails. It could land and stick on its thin side. But the likelyhood of that happening is so minute as to not even be worth considering. I think the same goes for spreading something because you were vaccinated. The warnings that are issued for that eventuality cover the specific groups (expectent mothers, newborns, HIV postives, et al.) that actually might be at risk for that rare scenario. So I don't see where it's disingenuous or hypocritical to say it isn't really necessary to ban a recent vaccine recipient from school for a few days on the remote chance they're contagious. Especially in a school full of already vaccinated kids and teachers.

Just my anyway.

397

Living Room / Re: License, registration, and insurance...or your cell phone

« Last post by 40hz on February 10, 2015, 05:00 PM »

I say if you willingly hand your phone to a police officer, you should assume that he will snoop through it. But as long as it's just an option, and not required, then I don't mind the choice being there.

-Deozaan (February 10, 2015, 11:32 AM)

You're assuming he might is not the same thing as giving your consent. At least not here it wasn't since "implied consent" was never seriously argued as being valid whenever police were involved. Or more correctly, not until recently.

There's also the question of just how willing anything is when involving the police. If an officer says "Give me your phone." your refusal can easily be justified as grounds for your arrest. Or in some cases, an excuse to use deadly force, as in: "Yes Your Honor...The remanding officer, upon not receiving 'cooperation' from the suspect, briefly looked away to check his radio and request backup. But upon looking back, saw the suspect holding an object in his hand in an threatening manner - which gave the officer cause to believe it was a firearm being pointed at him. Fearing for his own and several bystander's safety, the officer then unholstered and discharged his own firearm at the suspect in accordance with departmental policies governing the use of deadly force, striking the suspect three times in the chest at near point blank range. Medical assistance and additional police backup was immediately summoned subsequent to the officer discharging his firearm. EMTs arrived on the scene 15 minutes later, but were unable to revive the suspect who was pronounced "dead at the scene" 20 minutes and 17 seconds after the arrival of emergency medical assistance. The officer was placed on administrative leave pending internal investigation. After conducting a thorough investigation, the Internal Affairs investigating team cleared the officer, concluding his actions to be both justifiable and in accordance with departmental policy regarding the use of deadly force. As a result, the recommendation was made that no criminal charges be filed against this officer. The District Attorney, after reviewing this investigation, has announced the state will not be filing charges nor convene a grand jury to further investigate this incident. In light of that, we would like to request the court now grant a summary dismissal of all civil charges currently pending against this officer. And we further request these charges be dismissed with prejudice due to lack of merit.."

That scenario plays out far more often than you'd like to think it does.

398

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

« Last post by 40hz on February 10, 2015, 01:35 PM »

^That's fine. You were just offering your opinion. Though after looking at some cell-shaded examples, I suspect you're right.

399

Living Room / Re: DARPA Hacks GM's OnStar To Remote Control A Chevrolet Impala

« Last post by 40hz on February 10, 2015, 01:33 PM »

^ I figured as much.  I wish what I was asking was half as tongue in cheek.

400

Living Room / Re: DARPA Hacks GM's OnStar To Remote Control A Chevrolet Impala

« Last post by 40hz on February 10, 2015, 12:55 PM »

Is it really hacking when you own it?

-Deozaan (February 10, 2015, 11:28 AM)

Good question. But an even better one would be "Do you actually own it?" Everybody seems to want to merely license rather than sell you things these days. According to Apple and B&N I don't own my devices. I only own the physical artifact itself. Any functionality it provides (and the software that makes it happen) belongs to them. I just get to use it. According to them I'm contractually prohibited from loading any software but theirs on 'their' devices or loading it in any way other than through their app stores too.

A client of mine recently purchased a multifunction network copier/fax/scanner from one of the big names. It comes with a "feature key" hardware thingy which you have to insert and register in order for the device to do anything. I guess they make one device and you get to decide what capabilities you want to to enable and pay for. From what I can see in the EULA, that key is non-transferable. So you may sell your old machine to somebody else - but - it seems they'll need to make arrangements to buy their own key in order for it to function.

I'm hearing of a lot of that sort of thinking lately - although the law is still hazy about how acceptable that concept may be since it acts to restrict the original "owner" from participating in the used equipment market. It's a real problem. Especially since some high priced yoga pants manufacturer is requiring it's buyers to contractually agree not to resell any of their products as a condition of your purchase. (All done in the name of "protecting the unsuspecting buyer," preventing counterfeit products, and "maintaining quality and brand reputation," of course. Yeah, right!. )

So what does it mean to own something these days?