Recent Posts

3751

Living Room / Re: I can haz LOLMouser plz?

« Last post by 40hz on March 25, 2013, 03:11 PM »

 

3752

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by 40hz on March 25, 2013, 03:02 PM »

so... for the uninitiated, how do you get started?

-wraith808 (March 25, 2013, 01:25 PM)

Yeah really!

I'd dearly appreciate having somebody I respect and trust (who is actually doing bitcoins) give a little informal presentation on the mechanics of getting into it. I did some quick scanning and it seems to be a bit confusing. Ren-man, any chance of you doing us up a 5-15 on it?
 

3753

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by 40hz on March 25, 2013, 02:53 PM »

Do you really care if it is a pump & dump if you can make a buck?

-Renegade (March 25, 2013, 10:52 AM)

Oddly enough, yes I do. And I've paid dearly for holding that position over the years, so I don't offer it to anyone by way of advice.

I don't need to be proud about it, but I can certainly put food on the table and smile.

-Renegade (March 25, 2013, 10:52 AM)

Makes two of us!   And to your point, we all make it as best we can (nor not) within the bounds of our own "convictions' (as in imaginings, self-delusional thinking, personal hangups or whatever) so regardless of how it's done, there's seldom cause for pride. We do what we do for our own reasons.

Careers-NSFW

3754

Living Room / Re: Average life expectancy of a Google product/service

« Last post by 40hz on March 25, 2013, 02:16 AM »

The average life expectancy of a Google product on any of my machines is exactly zero days.

My decision - not theirs.

3755

Living Room / Re: LXLE Linux anyone?

« Last post by 40hz on March 24, 2013, 09:19 PM »

40hz i love Cinnamon but it don't like me.
If there were a way to tweak video configurations then i would be game for sure!
Would throwing a few latin words at it help?

-dantheman (March 24, 2013, 10:43 AM)

Probably. But maybe some "old Dutch" words would be more appropriate in your case?

3756

Living Room / Re: What are your favorite movies?

« Last post by 40hz on March 24, 2013, 08:31 PM »

QUESTION to topic readers:

I was thinking of kicking off a new discussion thread to let people know about unreleased movies that are worth waiting and looking out for. I was thinking of it being more of a heads up to each other about interesting films by indy producers that are either in progress or out on limited distribution as opposed to your usual major studio announcements about "coming attractions." These would be oddball films most people would otherwise miss unless they were regularly trawling the indy film news scene.



Sound good? Anybody interested or want to get involved? Drop me a PM if so. Thx.

3757

Living Room / Re: What are your favorite movies?

« Last post by 40hz on March 24, 2013, 07:54 PM »

@Curt - that first GMBC was absolutely brilliant. Superb choice!

3758

Living Room / Re: LXLE Linux anyone?

« Last post by 40hz on March 24, 2013, 08:00 AM »

Hope 40hz doesn't get upset!

-dantheman (March 23, 2013, 07:48 PM)

Phazes him not in the least.    

Anytime anybody comes here with questions about LXLE we'll just send them over to bug you.

Have tried LinuxMints latest Debian.
-Cinnamon is just as fast as a turtle.
-Mate is nice but not much faster than other present versions.

-dantheman (March 23, 2013, 07:48 PM)

Interesting. I have Mint Cinnamon running on an Inspiron 1525 (Core2) machine w 4Gb RAM and it seem more the sprightly enough. Maybe it's your video driver?

Either way, when it comes to perceptions of speed, the old adage de gustibus et coloribus non est disputandum was never so true.

3759

Living Room / Re: Anti-Drone Technology

« Last post by 40hz on March 24, 2013, 07:45 AM »

Yeah, but as long as shotguns with 00 buck-shot is legal, they'll have a hell of a time keeping them in the air.  Honestly, I thought it was a hawk raiding my chickens!!!    lol

-Tinman57 (March 23, 2013, 07:09 PM)

Absolutely! I'm a firm believer in the "Oh! I'm sorry. Did I just break something? My bad!" approach to dealing with offensive or intrusive technology.

Where the idea originally came from

Comedian George Carling once did a routine on baseball and players getting kicked out of games. The line that went down in history said something along the lines of: If you're on a team, next time you get upset by an umpire's call, don't argue with him. Don't gesticulate or yell or 'bill' him with your hat. Just throw up on him. Hey look...You're very sorry. But you suddenly felt sick. They can't kick you out of the game for that.

But it wasn't so much about their technology being anti-drone as it most likely involves some form of jamming or signal interference. That's something that doesn't generally sit too well with the authorities-  no matter who it's getting directed against. And for good reason.
 

3760

Living Room / Re: LXLE Linux anyone?

« Last post by 40hz on March 23, 2013, 08:08 AM »

BTW, think we're swaying away from initial LXLE theme (also light on resources but more intense on CPU) of this thread...

-dantheman (March 23, 2013, 07:27 AM)

Apologies! That happens a lot whenever I show up and start posting. I've been called the Emperor of Off-Topic in some quarters.

Not proud of it. Eclectic polyphasing. It's what I do.

OK. Enough about me and #!. Let's get back to LXLE

3761

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by 40hz on March 22, 2013, 11:50 PM »

But the price will continue to go up no matter what. Will there be retracements? Sure. But they will always rebound. This is a mathematical certainty.

-Renegade (March 22, 2013, 11:39 PM)

Sounds more like a declaration of religious faith rather than a mathematical proof to me...but ok. If you say so.

3762

Living Room / Re: Anti-Drone Technology

« Last post by 40hz on March 22, 2013, 11:22 PM »

Gonna be interesting to see how fast they go from being a start-up to being shut down by the feds. I give it 6 months tops.

3763

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

« Last post by 40hz on March 22, 2013, 11:03 PM »

@kyrathaba - sent you a PM.

3764

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

« Last post by 40hz on March 22, 2013, 05:54 PM »

She shoulda turned around and said she could overhear and found it offensive.  99% chance they'd have zipped it.

-kyrathaba (March 22, 2013, 04:22 PM)

reading his context... part of it wasn't even sexual.  She put the connotations on it.  That is, if you believe him.

https://news.ycombin....com/item?id=5398681

-wraith808 (March 22, 2013, 04:28 PM)

As Hosea cautioned: "They that sow the wind, shall reap the whirlwind."

Forces once set in motion can quickly become impossible to control, with the result that everyone loses out more often than not.

As my martial arts instructor told my class: Always choose your venues. There will always be plenty of things to pick a fight over. But how many of them are actually worth it?  So don't go letting your mouth write checks your ass can't cover. Keep your mouth shut - and always know where the exit is.

Words of wisdom.

3765

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

« Last post by 40hz on March 22, 2013, 05:38 PM »

As I have come to know you as a well-read person through this forum, I suspect you have read him already.

-Shades (March 22, 2013, 04:16 PM)

Thank you! Yes he did. (And yes I have.)

3766

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by 40hz on March 22, 2013, 05:29 PM »

But ironically, a lot of what you say about it applies to 'regular' money too (the 'circular logic').

-tomos (March 22, 2013, 05:05 PM)

It very much does. But people are used to it - and are more willing to tolerate the problem they're familiar with than take a chance on having to deal with a new one.

When the US redesigned it's currency not too long ago, the original idea was to use color and a completely new look. IMO, the mockups for some of the new bills were absolutely gorgeous.



But they were all trashed and a design for somewhat ugly green bills that more closely resembled the previous design were chosen instead. Because the government worried that the American people wouldn't like them being so different. And then might possibly wonder why they were being changed at all - and maybe then start asking some potentially disruptive questions that could lead to them losing faith in their currency...



The solution? Don't rock the boat too hard. Put as many anti-counterfeiting features into the new design as possible while making it look as much like the old currency as possible. End of problem after some very minor griping on the part of the public.

This is the mindset Bitcoin is going to go up against if it wants to become a currency in its own right. Overcoming the memes that say: Only nations and governments can issue legitimate currency. Anything other than a national currency is a Mastercard. And anything 'new' is bad when it comes to money.
 

3767

Living Room / Re: LXLE Linux anyone?

« Last post by 40hz on March 22, 2013, 05:10 PM »

Phew!! Dat's quite the profile!
With the years of experience you have, i think i owe you some 'bloody' respect lad!
(Wonder if the brits still use 'bloody'?)

-dantheman (March 22, 2013, 12:02 PM)

Dat's called sheer bloodymindedness and a penchant for having odd fun. Therefor no respect called for. (Dunno about the Brits. But my grandfather and grandmother both used to say "bloody" - and as a result, so do I. And I'm not even British!)

If i can ask a few  and mother used to say "bloody"more questions about Crunchbang...f people wonder about.

1. where's the install option via live session?

Ah! That's something a lot of people ask. If you're running version 11 (Waldorf) I don't think there is within a live session like you'd find in Ubuntu. Install has been moved to the boot up menu. You can either select live session or install once the DVD loads.

2. how to 'autohide' the top panel?

That panel is provided by Tint2. No GUI available for it yet I'm afraid. But here's how to enable autohide.

a) Open the main menu, then select: <settings><tint2><Edit config file>

b) Find the #Panel Autohide settings section around line 70. Change Autohide=0 to Autohide=1

c) Save it and close it. That's it!

There's one issue that no one seems able to resolve, it's the fact that Canon does not offer a Linux driver for its CanoScan LiDE70.
I've posted elsewhere in many forums and there doesn't seem to be a viable solution.

Sometimes just plugging a scanner in will work with some of the beefier distros like Ubu or Mint. If it can use anything other than a completely proprietary driver (i.e. twain) it should auto-recognize and just work. Sometimes better than it did under Windows when using the manufacturer's supplied drivers for it.  If it doesn't - and Canon isn't cooperating about doing a nix driver - call it a day and get another scanner. Life's too short to screw around endlessly over one recalcitrant device.
 

3768

General Software Discussion / Re: Help Wanted: Develop A Beautiful Desktop RSS Reader

« Last post by 40hz on March 22, 2013, 04:08 PM »

It's a reminder that the world isn't always such a sh*tty place.

-siouxdax (March 22, 2013, 01:12 PM)

Assuming that's the way you tend to see the world and, therefor, are in need of such a reminder.

3769

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

« Last post by 40hz on March 22, 2013, 03:59 PM »

Yet another illustration of what happens when you confront the paradox of someone demanding "equality" while at the same time claiming privilege.

No easy solution to that one I'm afraid. In the end, it usually comes down to your siding with whoever you like better.

3770

Living Room / Re: CIA to sign 600 million dollar deal with Amazon

« Last post by 40hz on March 22, 2013, 03:46 PM »

I'd imagine they'll get just about anything they want. If this comes off, it's a major coup for Amazon.

-kyrathaba (March 22, 2013, 02:27 PM)

Nice to see Amazon's almost godlike ability to track what books you acquire - and also to reach in and snatch them back at will (ala 1984) - impressed some people in high places in the intelligence community. Having the power to do something along those same lines has been their dream for many years.
 

3771

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by 40hz on March 22, 2013, 03:18 PM »

^40, I'm not sure what you mean by "the outcome is predictable".

-tomos (March 22, 2013, 01:15 PM)

It will either implode (likely), be outlawed and shut down (quite likely), or (much less likely) forced into the existing financial framework in much the same way that Paypal was as a vanilla payment service. What it will not be allowed to remain is an "investment opportunity." Or as a system with the potential to easily facilitate the transfer of funds for things deemed to be 'illegal.' Legally (or extra-legally if necessary) it simply won't be allowed to continue. Period.

According to that article it's given bitcoin credibility:

The value of a bitcoin rose to more than $60 a unit from less than $49 on one exchange following the release of FinCen's new guidance—a move that Mr. Garzik attributed partly to a new level of certainty and legitimacy that federal recognition attaches to bitcoin transactions.

I think it more accurate to characterize it as giving Bitcoin the spotlight rather than credibility. The simple fact its valuation is zooming up so rapidly is a positive indication (to me at any rate) that the arbitragers, always out to make a quick buck, have scented an opportunity (i.e. money + publicity + amateur investors) and are starting to move in on it. If I'm correct, bitcoins will continue their rapid rate climb for a few more months before it all tanks when the pros suddenly cash out en masse.

And lets not forget there is federal recognition - and then there's FEDERAL RECOGNITION - as in "subject of interest" in an government investigation or probe. In this case, the 'recognition' is that the feds see this as a potential problem just starting to show up on their SONAR and which they are now in the process of computing a "shooting solution" for.

Re spending it:
why would anyone want to spend it when the price is inflating so much -

They wouldn't. Which can cause major problems for an economy and therefor why speculation in domestic currency is illegal in many countries. Hording cash has negative consequences across the board in most instances.

which means of course that it's pretty useless as an active currency - but good as an investment (for the moment anyways).

Which is an interesting switch in much of the argument for having Bitcoins. Originally it was meant to be an alternative currency. Now, most of it's admirers seem to prefer to see it as on investment opportunity. However, what it is actually an investment in raises some interesting questions. There doesn't seem to be much of anything behind a bitcoin other than the cash originally paid - and a bunch of people somehow mutually agreeing it's magically worth more than that. Which then raises the question of how its value can be increasing so rapidly above the value of the hard money paid in to create it originally. How and where is there any value being added? By demand? Ok. But if so, demand for what? A demand for a higher value based on the demand it be...valued higher?

It's circular logic...

And if so, that's not investing. It's pure speculation. More along the lines of having the brass kahunas to raise on a busted flush in a poker game with the hope your opponent folds first. So if these bitcoin "investors" aren't very careful, this whole thing could easily turn into something much like a Ponzi scheme, with those first in (and first to cash out) being the big beneficiaries, while everybody else is left holding a bag full of worthless bits in some database.



Dunno. This whole thing strikes me as being more like the brief US Pog fad a few years back then anything else. For awhile that was the big "in thing" with collectors touting the "incredible value" and rapid price appreciation of their collections. Then, once the kids started getting into, it the prices for "collectible" Pogs really took off. It wasn't long before Pog collectors even had their own magazine.

It took less than a year or so before people woke up and asked: "Why exactly did I spend $10 last week to buy this little round piece of printed cardboard?" That usually happened right about the time they tried to sell their collection and discovered it was suddenly worthless - which coincided very neatly with the fact that the little kiosk at their local shopping mall (which had been doing such a brisk trade selling Pogs the month before) was now gone...

3772

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by 40hz on March 22, 2013, 12:50 PM »

Update:

See this note about the US getting grumpy and applying Money Laundering laws against Bitcoin.

You didn't think they'd allow a brand new currency, did you?!

http://online.wsj.co...374611351125202.html

-TaoPhoenix (March 22, 2013, 12:42 PM)

The reaction was inevitable. The outcome is predictable. 

3773

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by 40hz on March 22, 2013, 11:38 AM »

@Ren - So ok. Next week I need to: buy some hardware for a client project, get a new set of flatwound bass strings (Daddario Chromes!), pay a few utility bills, pick up some groceries, buy another friggin' tank of gas, and pay my GF's car tax. Assuming I had $3000 in a Bitcoin account - could I use it for any of the above? That's what I mean by "for mainstream purposes."

My earlier question wasn't meant to be a challenge. I'm just seriously interested in where you can use botcoins for non-geek types of products and services. Because if I'm going to introduce an additional point of potential theft, fraud or failure into my financial life (to complement the risk I already have using my country's banking system and legal currency) then I'd like to at least be able to use it on a day to day basis. That's all.

Every time I ask where bitcoins are accepted I hear: Plenty of places! But when I ask specifically where, all I usually get are things like some web services (Wordpress), a few non-EBay auction sites, some 'gray area' file sharing services (Megaupload), a big bunch of online casinos, and some unabashedly illegal online "pharmacies."

So again - who in the "mainstream" is accepting bitcoins for "mainstream" purchases?

Oh, and BTW, I made around $300 in a few hours today for doing jack all other than buying some BTC.

-Renegade (March 22, 2013, 11:00 AM)

BFD. I know attorneys and doctors who turn twice that in an hour and do even less to get it.

Now, I may lose later, but I really doubt it. All indicators say that I've got a serious upside.

That's where you come up short compared to them. They won't loose it later. And they have "serious upside" too.  

 

3774

Living Room / Re: LXLE Linux anyone?

« Last post by 40hz on March 22, 2013, 10:59 AM »

BTW, i just took out your Crunchie for a byte on the web and swap usage didn't budge.
CPU usage stayed in the 20's (did go to 40 and 50 a few times) while watching a Youtube, so that's pretty good too!
Thanks for sharing your appreciation on this distro!

-dantheman (March 22, 2013, 09:47 AM)

My pleasure. It's a great little distro. Good community too. Just be sure you do a quick intro on yourself before you start posting on their forums. They had a very bad experience with spammers and spambots a while back and tend to be somewhat suspicious and reserved with new posters who don't introduce themselves first. (I learned that first hand!) Once they know you're real however, they're great. Maybe not as great as this community, but they're helpful and friendly. I haven't seen any of the carping or dead-catting you sometimes get on the Ubu forums.
 

3775

Living Room / Re: LXLE Linux anyone?

« Last post by 40hz on March 22, 2013, 10:53 AM »

How long did it take you 40hz to become a standardized penguin user?

-dantheman (March 22, 2013, 09:21 AM)

Played with it for the longest time Starting back in the 90s with Slackware.

Got very serious about switching as much as possible over to Nix about 4 years ago.

Got absolutely serious about totally abandoning Windows (a pipe dream btw) when they introduced Win8 and made it clear about the direction they wanted to take the "Microsoft Experience" in.

Now I don't have an intrinsic problem with "cloud" as a concept per se. (Although I do have several serious reservations.) Nor with SaaS or a subscription-based business model if that's what their customers want - or are willing tolerate.

But I have an effin' huge problem with closed ecosystems, walled garden app stores, and being bullied and having my arm twisted by a company I've been a fairly loyal customer and supporter of since the days of MS/PC-DOS and the original IBM PC.

It's not so much I don't like what Microsoft, as a business, produces. It's more that I am no longer willing to put up with the heavy-handed way Microsoft likes to do business. And I was never one to sit on my hands and allow an arrogant bully to go completely unchallenged. But that's me.

And I also don't appreciate being talked down to by people in Redmond who are even more clueless about the future of technology than I probably am.

Right now I'm pretty much all Linux (figure 95%) for my own personal/business use. I do still keep a fairly big hand in Windows and OSX (as in: "when in business, better eat your own dogfood") - but that's primarily just to support my clients.