Recent Posts

3826

Living Room / Re: Intelligence and Internet browsers

« Last post by Stoic Joker on August 01, 2011, 10:16 PM »

Asimov was a wise man.

3827

Living Room / Re: Intelligence and Internet browsers

« Last post by Stoic Joker on August 01, 2011, 06:58 PM »

Me thinks ^that^ needed said ... Good man!

 

3828

Living Room / Re: A tad paranoid when it comes to installing software?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on August 01, 2011, 03:17 PM »

I don't recall C++ ever needing additional files, unless it's an MFC app (which I never use).

While I'm not sure about the Delphi part, I have seen several mainstream production applications (like Sage BusinessWorks) that were created using Borland's (CBuilder) IDE that insisted on dumping a ton of .bpl files in the system32 folder.

But it's my understanding that these .bpl (Break Point Library) files are only used for debugging and should never under any circumstances be used/required by release version production software. So this would be a developer boo boo as I understand it.

-Stoic Joker (August 01, 2011, 11:45 AM)

Ummm... no.  BPL doesn't stand for break point library.  It stands for Borland Package Library.  They can either be compiled into the executable, or separated out as supporting assemblies.  And the only reason to separate them out is if you're going to load your own packages at run time.  See http://edn.embarcadero.com/article/27178.

-wraith808 (August 01, 2011, 12:03 PM)

Hm... Okay, that makes a bit more sense (it's been a few years since I last delved into it). Although it is still a bit annoying to see the installer spewing these things into the system folder. And it makes it easier to crack the application when they're done that way.

They are the same as the atl/vc libraries, and contain system level functionality.  But they can be for the most part compiled into the executable, and in the case that they can't, they can be put alongside the application.  This is a practice of some developers, just as you could do the same in .NET.  It's not a difference or a weakness in the language, but the developer and how they distribute.

-wraith808 (August 01, 2011, 12:03 PM)

So they are Borlands specific .lib type libraries?

I gave up on Borland years ago and went with MSVS C++ as it fit better with (my budget) what I was doing/looking for at the time.

3829

Living Room / Re: Android tablets to rival iPad

« Last post by Stoic Joker on August 01, 2011, 02:55 PM »

My options were to either finger the thing or try talking to it.

-Stoic Joker (August 01, 2011, 07:04 AM)

Ummm... did you buy it dinner first? 

-wraith808 (August 01, 2011, 11:55 AM)

Nope, went straight for a quicky and ended up frustrating both of us. But is ain't my fault the moody bitch wasn't ready on command.


( ...too far?)

3830

Living Room / Re: A tad paranoid when it comes to installing software?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on August 01, 2011, 11:45 AM »

I don't recall C++ ever needing additional files, unless it's an MFC app (which I never use).

While I'm not sure about the Delphi part, I have seen several mainstream production applications (like Sage BusinessWorks) that were created using Borland's (CBuilder) IDE that insisted on dumping a ton of .bpl files in the system32 folder.

But it's my understanding that these .bpl (Break Point Library) files are only used for debugging and should never under any circumstances be used/required by release version production software. So this would be a developer boo boo as I understand it.

3831

Living Room / Re: Android tablets to rival iPad

« Last post by Stoic Joker on August 01, 2011, 07:04 AM »

Okay, follow-up to my earlier musings about voice activation.

I shanghaied the HP Slate for the weekend to see how well it preformed with the Windows 7 native voice command feature enabled. Being that the stylus was true to form (lost already) unavailable. My options were to either finger the thing or try talking to it.

I'll keep this short, it failed miserably. The embedded Mic did fine for "hearing" my voice, and it did open the program I asked it for correctly. But training it to do text input was pointless as it was incredibly slow. To quantify that imagine reading the above sentence aloud to it, and then wait about 7 seconds before it responded with any attempt at deciphering it.

This thing may have had a chance if HP made it faster ... but it's a $700.00 paper weight as far as I'm concerned.

Here's another test it failed miserably.

Go to TVGuide.com
Select what's on link
Configure location (zip code/provider name/channel package)
Then configure favorite channels list. (about 20 channels for me)

Due to the excessive lagging of the machine trying to render TV-Guides (granted horribly written) website, the above exorcise took just under an hour.

I'm going to recommend they send it back and invest the money in office supplies (pens & paper notepads).

3832

Living Room / Re: When you make your 100'th Post

« Last post by Stoic Joker on August 01, 2011, 06:45 AM »

It's a Yamaha (sorry Stoic Joker...just loving the Japanese machinery).

-Shades (July 29, 2011, 05:40 PM)

Hay ya get what ya need for the environment you're in. My Harley will hit 120 MPH but it (is a dresser) handles rather badly off road.

I still have a soft spot for Kawasaki from back in my teens (had an insanely fast 74 Z1)

3833

Living Room / Re: I was wrong - again! (cheap monitor theory invalid)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on August 01, 2011, 06:40 AM »

+1^ I recall doing much the same thing back when.

3834

Living Room / Re: How to deal with syncing multiple versions of a file from multiple sources?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 29, 2011, 04:00 PM »

Once you start getting too many versions of a fine it's almost worse than losing said file. As it becomes an ordeal to figure out which is the correct latest file - With the changes you're looking for.

I'd prefer to keep it simple and leverage the  previous version feature that is already built into Windows.

3835

General Software Discussion / Re: Unlocker punishes you for not installing toolbar.

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 29, 2011, 03:41 PM »

Still no updates on Lockhunter since April 2009

So... how beta/stable is LockHunter? They do at least have a x64 version I see (Yeah!).

-Stoic Joker (January 22, 2011, 10:51 AM)

Probably too soon for me to say (I just installed 64 bit version today on win7) - but it has already worked successfully for me anyways ;-)

-tomos (July 29, 2011, 08:37 AM)

Hay one out of one is as good a place to start as any. At the rate I'm going I might actually get one or the other installed by next January.

3836

Living Room / Re: When you make your 100'th Post

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 29, 2011, 03:36 PM »

I need to get a life

-wraith808 (July 29, 2011, 10:52 AM)

I had one once, but I squandered it all on fast rides, booze, and wild women. God I miss those days...

Now I too just do this. *Sigh*

3837

Living Room / Re: Building a home server. Please help, DC!

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 29, 2011, 07:14 AM »

How difficult would it be to format the drive and freshly install a server OS (MS Server, Home Server, whatever it ends up being)?

-superboyac (July 28, 2011, 04:54 PM)

Dell server hardware is all mainstream, so the drivers will most likely be in-box. So dificulty level = 0.

From what I've heard, doing a format/fresh install on a server is a lot more finicky than doing it with the regular OS's.

-superboyac (July 28, 2011, 04:54 PM)

Can't imagine why, it's the exact same Windows installer we've all used 100s of times before.

But I don't want to run into an impossible to solve problem regarding drivers, OS configuration, hardware issues, etc.

-superboyac (July 28, 2011, 04:54 PM)

Seriously? With us in your corner, something is going to be impossible to solve..?? I'm hurt. 

(hehe)

3838

General Software Discussion / Re: What special character do you use to have a file sorted at the top?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 29, 2011, 07:01 AM »

What do you all use to always have a file/folder sort to the bottom?

-AndyM (July 28, 2011, 05:23 PM)

Delete.

If it really has to be de-prioritized that badly...There's most likely no real reason to keep it.

3839

Living Room / Re: Android tablets to rival iPad

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 29, 2011, 06:56 AM »

Here's an odd thought. Due to the complexities of interacting with a tablet based device, why is it that none of them seem to include voice activation? It already exists in many smart phones; call X, go to link X, map address X. That would simplify the interaction greatly.

 

...Come to think of it, Windows 7 does include this as a configurable option. I gotta get that tablet back from the sales crew and see if/how well it does/will actually work.

3840

Living Room / Re: Android tablets to rival iPad

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 28, 2011, 04:01 PM »

No, that particular pad is aimed at the enterprise.

-wraith808 (July 28, 2011, 03:43 PM)

Ah! That makes sense then. It did seem oddly clean for an HP, as the usually like to lump in much crapware. This is quite acceptably close to a vanilla load.

It looked pretty good- thanks for your viewpoint!

-wraith808 (July 28, 2011, 03:43 PM)

In fairness, I don't think an arthritic southpaw is real close to the baseline they (or anybody else) targeted. So if one got used to it (and vise-versa...) I could see it being quite handy. Not sure where to put the stylus...but it's not that difficult to finger in a pinch.

3841

Living Room / Re: Android tablets to rival iPad

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 28, 2011, 01:33 PM »

It comes with Windows 7 Professional, which struck me as quite odd. As I thought they were more of a home edition/user type of device.

3842

Living Room / Re: IDEA: cancel elevator music

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 28, 2011, 01:30 PM »

Noise-canceling headphones work very simply; a microphone attached to the headphones (or in close proximity) feeds an amplifier which inverts the signal and feeds it into the headphones, so basically you are hearing the background and it's mirror-image at the same time, which results in cancellation.

-Edvard (July 28, 2011, 11:57 AM)

That's what my earlier question was working off of. if you are hearing/subjected to the primary noise and the anti-noise at the same time is the result truly quiet...or does it just appear that way?

As an example: if you have a 100db sound, and you block it with another 100db anti-sound. is the ambient sound pressure at that point 0db or 200db? Or simply, will you not even hear the sound that shattered your eardrums?

@4wd:
When you said "Woofer Stopper" I thought you meant some way to stop the neighbor's kid from jacking his car subwoofer volume to vitriol-inducing levels. 

-Edvard (July 28, 2011, 11:57 AM)

That's where I went also.

3843

Living Room / Re: Android tablets to rival iPad

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 28, 2011, 12:06 PM »

Doe to some shenanigans the sales department is involved in, I have a brand new HP Slate sitting here in front of me. No I don't get to keep it. But I do get to play with it for a bit.

From on to the logon screen took just (barely) under a minute (with no AV installed). Yeesh!

This thing ain't fast. Even HP's own website lagged a bit while trying to navigate it.

This thing is heavy. Not as bad as most netbooks, but quite heavy after an hour of fiddling with it.

The touch screen encourages heavy handedness, as it doesn't respond well (or sometimes at all) to a lite touch. Stylue/pen/pointer thing works well, and has a right-click button on it. Which I did rather like.

The handwrighting input, best I can tell, hates (me) left handed people. As we tend to start certain letters/numbers from the bottom (o, 3, 8, etc.) instead of the top ... and this thing was having none of it. Even after a training session on what was to be perceived as an 'o' damnit. It just couldn't get it right.

The one usb port is covered by one of those rubber hinged plastic doors that'll most likely snap off in short order with anything other than casual use. And the lack of an ethernet port is a complete deal breaking annoyance for me. The WiFi connection is nice, but it is also completely useless if your purpose for being somewhere it to troubleshoot an issue the WiFi.

3844

Living Room / Re: Do You Want Your Searches Monitored?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 28, 2011, 11:26 AM »

I just heard some commonsense spoken in the radio news by some Europol person (European international police) saying that basically if this kind of thing was implemented the perpetrator would simply work around it....

-tomos (July 28, 2011, 10:50 AM)

Yepper, Break the primary target down into vaguely related subcomponent topics, and then re-associate/assemble them later (off line) in your head. I do exactly that all the time when looking for source code. Can anyone tell what I'm coding from the searches I do/did? No. But that has zero impact on my ability to get the project done.

Hell from a search perspective; the only difference between a tourist, and a terrorist ... Is only one of them has a fuse sticking out of their fanny-pack. Otherwise the'll both be looking for pretty much the same shit.

3845

General Software Discussion / Re: What special character do you use to have a file sorted at the top?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 28, 2011, 11:11 AM »

What I've done in the past is stuff like this (for folders usually):
-=TopFolder=-

-superboyac (July 28, 2011, 10:34 AM)

hehe Me too, for my own stuff. But for clients I usually go with a bit more sedate:
=TopFolder

3846

Living Room / Re: Do You Want Your Searches Monitored?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 28, 2011, 07:01 AM »

Wouldnt the first search then be:
> how do I search anonymously?

Immediate arrest please !!

-tomos (July 28, 2011, 06:49 AM)

Much as I'd like to laugh, I can't ... Because that is exactly where this is heading.

3847

Living Room / Re: Do You Want Your Searches Monitored?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 28, 2011, 06:42 AM »

Be yourself, in the comfort and privacy of your own home ... Just as long as it falls within the guidelines of the societal "norm", As defined by... ??? ...Otherwise you'll be brought in for questioning to explain your actions/intentions.

...So this is how democracy dies, to thunderous applause?? [Yes, a Star Wars quote]


Those who would give up liberty for security deserve neither.

3848

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

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 27, 2011, 10:24 AM »

Well we just delete the mailbox and recreate it like the instructions say, right? Ha! Wrong!! Oh sure, you can delete it just fine ... But you'll never be able to create another one with the same Email address ever again. Try to create a different Email and use the first one as an alias for it - HeHe Nice Try - Fail!

-Stoic Joker (July 27, 2011, 06:58 AM)

If you have a Gmail account, such experiences are why it's a good idea to have 2-3 alternate accounts just so you'll have access. And share (data) with yourselves liberally among the accounts! NPSS (New Platform, Same Shit)

-zridling (July 27, 2011, 09:23 AM)

Do I have a Gmail account? Yes. But I only use it for a test target. Here at the office we have an Exchange server (with a flawless record). And at home I have an MS IIS POP/SMTP setup for my primary Email address. and it too has been doing just fine for quite some time.

If I wanted to go wandering around all day with my head in the clouds I'd go back to smoking weed...

 

3849

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

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 27, 2011, 06:58 AM »

I've had horrible luck with Google's login system. It's very broken. And the ruins of it are scattered across Youtube as well. It's a MAJOR effort for me to login and get anything done. I need to set aside an hour, minimum. 

-Renegade (July 26, 2011, 11:05 PM)

I've got a client that was talked into hosting their Email domain at/with Google. It has been the most unbe-freaking-lieve-able Train Wreck I've ever been involved in. After 6 months the office manager still doesn't have a working Email address.

Well we just delete the mailbox and recreate it like the instructions say, right? Ha! Wrong!! Oh sure, you can delete it just fine ... But you'll never be able to create another one with the same Email address ever again. Try to create a different Email and use the first one as an alias for it - HeHe Nice Try - Fail!

From and administrative standpoint, I'd have to say that Google's mail hosting is the most uselessly broken, user hostile, total piece of shit I have ever encountered.

The only thing I'm taking away from the experience (aside from total disgust with the ~Cloud~), is a firm belief that MS Exchange (which has served me flawlessly for many years) is a far better solution...If you really do depend on reliable Email service.

3850

Living Room / Re: IDEA: cancel elevator music

« Last post by Stoic Joker on July 27, 2011, 06:32 AM »

I am not a tech on how noise canceling headphones work, but I understand they read the ambient noise and find frequency patterns associated with background that they can generate canceling waves for.

-hays_r (July 26, 2011, 03:36 AM)

I tend to wonder of the sound waves truly cancel each-other out resulting in silence. Or do they just collide, and raise the ambient sound pressure to a high level of white noise?

I'm guessing directionality is critical.