Recent Posts

3951

General Software Discussion / Re: WinPatrol going subscription

« Last post by wraith808 on March 23, 2015, 02:59 PM »

Doesn't seem unfair at all to me.

-wraith808 (March 23, 2015, 11:06 AM)

Depending on the fee, not in and of itself. It just seems indicative of the direction.  Everything going to tighter control.  Browser extensions signed, getting away from Pay Once and use it Until a major version change, for software.  Now if you are flush one month and broke the next everything you click on your PC might come up "Not Implemented."

The movie Repo Men might not be many years away from reality.  I must be getting old and nostalgic for the good ole' days. 

-MilesAhead (March 23, 2015, 02:23 PM)

I actually like the pay on a regular schedule better than the pay until next version change- as long as the updates keep coming.  But before it was a pay once and never pay again.  I don't think that *anyone* can make a profit on that model.  BillP just wasn't concerned about it... he was just doing it because he wanted to.  But if you've invested money into buying the software, I don't think it's unrealistic to expect to get that money back, personally.

3952

General Software Discussion / Re: WinPatrol going subscription

« Last post by wraith808 on March 23, 2015, 11:35 AM »

Bill P recently sold WinPatrol.  There was a big deal made on the transition about picking someone who would continue the same traditions yadda yadda.  I'm not really bashing the new developer trying to make a few $$.  It's just that everything seems to be trending to having a meter attached.  People with longer names will change them to short ones because when they sign something online they will be charged per keystroke.  Pay toilets won't have a coin box on the door but on the toilet paper dispenser.  Pull on the roll and watch your bankroll dwindle.

It's like the bean counters are going to nickel and dime us all to death.  Every gimmick and angle will be exploited.

-MilesAhead (March 23, 2015, 10:40 AM)

As far as I am concerned that's still the equivalent of what I said, I believe it's been only a few months since the sale

-rgdot (March 23, 2015, 11:31 AM)

Almost a year, officially.  A bit more than that unofficially.

http://billpstudios....au_=i5VHj3cqQTT5RJVs

3953

General Software Discussion / Re: Microsoft is retiring Internet Explorer

« Last post by wraith808 on March 23, 2015, 11:31 AM »

...

3954

General Software Discussion / Re: WinPatrol going subscription

« Last post by wraith808 on March 23, 2015, 11:06 AM »

If you bought a license before (or buy it before the time is up), you get a program that you don't have to pay for ever again.  And once that time passes, it will be upfront with the costs.  The only people I can see that would be possibly screwed are the ones using the free version that don't know about the transition.  But then again, if you were willing to buy... then you would have bought.

So it seems that he is continuing the tradition for those that were a part of the tradition, IMO.  And a subscription based service probably means the same thing as the others in this space have done... a yearly cost.  Doesn't seem unfair at all to me.

3955

N.A.N.Y. 2014 / Re: NANY 2014 Release: Reference Overlay Tool

« Last post by wraith808 on March 21, 2015, 09:27 PM »

Oh man, this tool is exactly what I need!... except it's missing one thing. Any chance you can implement a new feature/option?

I was looking for something that would let me take a headshot image of me and let me easily overlay it dynamically on anything I wanted to, specifically web shopping sites for clothes. I think it could be very helpful for picking out clothing online. I can do it manually of course in something like Photoshop, but that's incredibly time consuming and would only slow down the process, while I'm trying to speed it up.

So, your tool is perfect, except it does not seem to support mask-based transparency/opacity (as opposed to overall window transparency/opacity, which you do support). Supporting transparency would be hugely useful, first because I can't get a good impression of how a shirt fits me (particularly the collar) if my head is surrounded by a white box that overlays some of the shirt. But also especially because it enables things like having a full body shot with only my arms and head showing - in the right positions - and the body transparent, to hopefully give an even better impression of fit. This is more relevant for color theory approaches to clothing rather than body-shape stuff of course, but it still seems quite helpful.

So if you can implement mask/transparency support that would be fantastic! An option to hide the UI controls would also be super nice, but not mandatory. Maybe like a double-click on the main interface will toggle show/hide the controls?

Thanks in advance!

- Oshyan

-JavaJones (March 21, 2015, 04:21 PM)

That actually seems like a really cool addition!  Let me take a look, and get back to you!

3956

Living Room / Re: 2014-2015: Best tablet specs for ebook reading

« Last post by wraith808 on March 16, 2015, 09:36 PM »

Very interesting device, thanks for sharing.

Interesting to see if anyone manages to "extend" or "modify" the system that ships with it...

-ewemoa (March 16, 2015, 08:32 PM)

From the way that they're marketing it, and the 'interview' process and the reasoning behind that, I don't know if it will get into the hands of someone that would do that.

3957

Living Room / Re: What books are you reading?

« Last post by wraith808 on March 15, 2015, 05:22 PM »

Currently, I'm re-reading the Demon Cycle by Peter V Brett- preparing for the new book to come out later this month.  If you've not read them, they're very good.

I'm also reading Point of Impact- the movie that Shooter (with Mark Wahlberg) was based on.  Definitely very different a much more engaging than the movie.

I'm also reading Promise of Blood by McClellan- promises to be a very good series.  

As I read very fast, I try to read multiple books at once in order to string each one of them out.

3958

Living Room / Re: 10th Anniversary - long time member check-in thread

« Last post by wraith808 on March 15, 2015, 05:09 PM »

Great picture SB!  Thanks for posting it!

3959

Living Room / Re: Terry Pratchett, author of the Discworld series, dies aged 66

« Last post by wraith808 on March 13, 2015, 09:00 PM »

Petition asks Death to bring Sir Terry Pratchett back

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/31867210

3960

Developer's Corner / Re: LiveCoding - watch others code

« Last post by wraith808 on March 13, 2015, 02:26 PM »

"LiveCoding" has been a thing for years. Plenty of people stream their development on Twitch.tv while they work on games or other projects. Especially as part of game jams such as Ludum Dare.

-Deozaan (March 13, 2015, 01:28 PM)

Yeah... I knew about those.  But I hadn't seen an organized site for just this.  So the topic was more in relation to the site in question rather than the practice.  The EULA even mentions something about video game streaming, so is probably a spin off from those.  But the difference is the others are not the point of the site- whereas this is the point of the site.  And I think that small difference sets themselves up potentially for an interesting time, legally speaking.

3961

Developer's Corner / LiveCoding - watch others code

« Last post by wraith808 on March 13, 2015, 09:23 AM »

Coding comes into the streaming era with LiveCoding.tv.  You watch people coding projects in varied languages - live.

It's currently in open beta.  Not really sure of the practical use of this, and there seem to be many implications that they haven't totally thought through.  Especially as their legalese includes this gem "Livecoding.tv allows certain users (" Broadcaster ") to distribute streaming live and pre-recorded videos of video game related activities."

Interesting to some, I suppose...

3962

DC Gamer Club / Re: Far Cry 4 was amazing

« Last post by wraith808 on March 13, 2015, 09:17 AM »

Looks like it's 40% off on Steam atm, personally I am still going to wait till I can snatch it for €5-10 on a sale like with Far Cry 3.

-Jibz (March 13, 2015, 01:23 AM)

I'm trying to force myself to do the same.  Then I don't have to feel as bad when I don't get a chance to play it.

3963

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

« Last post by wraith808 on March 12, 2015, 03:31 PM »

8 Artists That Could Sue ‘Uptown Funk’ on the Same Grounds as ‘Blurred Lines’

3964

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

« Last post by wraith808 on March 12, 2015, 03:06 PM »

I think the miscalculation by Williams and Thicke's Lawyers was catastrophic.  You can't tell which way a jury is going to rule on something that actually requires expertise.  I don't know what they would have had to do- but they should have done anything they had to in order to avoid that kind of factor.

That said, the "that songs reminds me of another song" threshold would be a new dangerous legal standard IMO.

3965

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

« Last post by wraith808 on March 12, 2015, 01:23 PM »

So, I figured this was a good place to ask about opinions on the Blurred Lines Verdict.

http://www.musictime...ed-lines-lawsuit.htm

http://www.musictime...ed-lines-verdict.htm

It seems that musicians fall all over the spectrum on this, which was surprising to me.  I don't like "Blurred Lines"- but listening to it and "Got to Give it Up", they're distinctly different songs.  Other opinions:

http://theconcourse....if-you-ha-1690817200
http://www.refinery2...-pharrell-reputation
http://www.slate.com...not_infringe_on.html
http://www.washingto...urred-lines-verdict/
http://www.cbsnews.c...pact-music-industry/
http://radio.com/201...ds-as-blurred-lines/

Thoughts?

3966

Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"

« Last post by wraith808 on March 12, 2015, 01:11 PM »

(see attachment in previous post)
Neil Gaiman's 'The Books of Magic' and Harry Potter's Forgotten Predecessor

-Arizona Hot (March 12, 2015, 11:50 AM)

Good thing its books and not music, apparently.

3967

Living Room / Terry Pratchett, author of the Discworld series, dies aged 66

« Last post by wraith808 on March 12, 2015, 11:20 AM »

Another sci-fi great gone

3968

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by wraith808 on March 11, 2015, 09:37 AM »

First shots fired at the Apple watch by ASUS with this tweet...

3969

General Software Discussion / Re: my problem with programming

« Last post by wraith808 on March 11, 2015, 08:04 AM »

what language are you trying to learn?  There are these things for many languages- I suppose you haven't found them.

3970

DC Gamer Club / Re: One Day Logitech Gaming Sale on Amazon (US) - March 10, 2015

« Last post by wraith808 on March 10, 2015, 04:30 PM »

Pretty cool!  For Chrome, the extension is called the Camelizer.

https://chrome.googl...blo/related?hl=en-US

3971

DC Gamer Club / One Day Logitech Gaming Sale on Amazon (US) - March 10, 2015

« Last post by wraith808 on March 10, 2015, 04:08 PM »

http://www.amazon.com/b?node=10032977011

Pretty deep discounts on some good Logitech Gaming Accessories, including the G930 for $69.99- the lowest I've seen it.

3972

Living Room / Re: Show us a picture of your.. CAR!!!

« Last post by wraith808 on March 09, 2015, 06:40 PM »

Elio's engine in action

3973

Living Room / Re: Sorry, Ebooks. These 9 Studies Show Why Print Is Better

« Last post by wraith808 on March 09, 2015, 03:28 PM »

Well, the difference in that approach is the fact that when you purchase a DVD and/or a CD, on the physical media, you have the digital media.  It's just a different mode of distribution.

Books don't have that advantage.  And I think that's one of the reasons they started offering physical media with digital- they'd rather give it to you in their format than you ripping it and getting it in a format they can't control.

3974

Living Room / Re: 10th Anniversary - long time member check-in thread

« Last post by wraith808 on March 09, 2015, 10:11 AM »

It's good to see the old names again.   

I was full-time carer for my mother from 2007 until she died in July 2013 at the age of 98.  She developed dementia, so I didn't get much sleep in the last year or so. Now I'm stuck with a house far too big for one, and not much chance of selling.

I got my head back together mostly by reviving an interest in long-distance cycling. I worked up to doing a couple of 200+ mile rides last year, and have hosted a few passing international tourists.   I'm still looking for enough employment to stop the savings eroding. 

-JennyB (March 09, 2015, 05:19 AM)

Best wishes for that- it can be a hard thing to recover from.  My sincere condolences.  But the cycling is impressive!

3975

Living Room / Re: Is anyone else worried about Google "Truth"?

« Last post by wraith808 on March 09, 2015, 10:03 AM »

You can freely insert 'Google' in there, in the place of government.

It is neither a technical problem, nor a political problem.  In fact, giving anyone a hearing is not a problem.  The problem is what arises in the wake of the hearing.  

That's how you handle it.  And you trust the people to make the decision.