Recent Posts

4226

Living Room / Re: Please help me build my new computer, DC!

« Last post by f0dder on December 18, 2008, 12:13 PM »

I'm as much impressed by what it doesn't include as I am by what it does. I'd actually have liked it even more if they didn't include the audio components.

-40hz (December 18, 2008, 10:35 AM)

Why? On-board audio is decent enough for casual use these days (I haven't bothered with soundcards for years). And in case you have an amplifier with optical (and thus digital) in, are you going to be able to hear any difference between onboard sound and a fancy addon board?

I have found this PSU calculator to be very handy for that. Make sure you check it out, especially with the amount of different components you're already considering.

-city_zen (December 18, 2008, 08:37 AM)

Thanks!  I did a quick calc, not knowing what all the items were.  I came up with 703 W.

-superboyac (December 18, 2008, 12:02 PM)

That sounds over-dimensioned to me.

Q6600 overclocked from 2.4GHz to 3.0GHz, 4x2Gig DDR2-667 ram, 2x74gig 10k rpm raptors, intel PCI-e NIC, GF800/GT-512meg and two optical drives run at ~250W when maxxed out.

4227

Living Room / Re: Who else is sick of difficult word verifications on the web?

« Last post by f0dder on December 18, 2008, 03:12 AM »

I just saw "Goatse" for the first time from that link! Where's the emoticon for stabbing out my eyes?

-Deozaan (March 29, 2008, 01:59 AM)

Oh, goatse isn't that bad. Tubgirl? Lemonparty? 2girls1cup? Bat-man? Google them, do not. Being on IRC and clicking links will scar your mind irreversibly, and de-sensitize you to anything.

4228

Screenshot Captor / Re: Wow! Goodbye SnagIt

« Last post by f0dder on December 18, 2008, 02:55 AM »

How lame

"The capital I is too confusing", jeez. So, is this in reality another case of changing the product name in order to change license scheme?

4229

General Software Discussion / Re: Is it finally time to abandon IE?

« Last post by f0dder on December 18, 2008, 02:54 AM »

Yeah, could be, fodder, an application.
It's been a while since it has happened.
But I do remember IE popping up for some reason,
and I didn't know it would, or even suspect it to engage.

-cmpm (December 18, 2008, 02:42 AM)

It happens for a bunch of applications. For some it's legitimate (windows update), for others it's dubious (msn messenger used to open URLs in messages with IE instead of default browser iirc, now it only does it when opening hotmail), and for others it's plain bad coding (I can't remember any off top of my head, thankfully none of the software I use does this).

4230

Living Room / Re: Windows software RAID

« Last post by f0dder on December 18, 2008, 02:51 AM »

Cluster size has to do with formatting, not with dynamic disk partitions, really. Default cluster size is based on partition size though,

-f0dder (December 17, 2008, 05:36 PM)

I thought that went out the window when LBA showed up?

-Stoic Joker (December 17, 2008, 10:46 PM)

I think you're thinking of Cylinder/Head/Sector mapping - cluster size has to do with the filesystem, no the disk addressing method.

and you can create a virtually unlimited number of "partitions" (volumes) using folder mount points if you run out of (26...) drive letters. ...Not saying it's wise, just saying that's what it's for.

-Stoic Joker (December 17, 2008, 10:46 PM)

You can use mount points with classical partitions (BASIC disk) as well

16KB is an atrocity no matter how you slice it. I've got a 500GB partition I use for backup storage on my server and it still gives only a 4KB size on disk for the hello file test.

-Stoic Joker (December 17, 2008, 10:46 PM)

I don't see 16kb clusters as bad if you deal mainly with large files. Reduces fragmentation, and possibly means less filesystem metadata overhead for huge files as well (though I have to look at how NTFS uses extents to be sure).

...on 2nd thought, I may have been thinking about the oformat utility prep which was part of the early Win2k Fat to NTFS conversion process on the 4-16 point. ...or maybe it was FAT32 that did that *shrug* I'm over due for a vacation.

-Stoic Joker (December 17, 2008, 10:46 PM)

Sounds likely that using convert.exe to go from FAT32 to NTFS could leave you with large cluster sizes - ie. FAT32 quickly requires large cluster sizes for large drives, and convert only converts the FS metadata, it doesn't mess with cluster size.

4231

Living Room / Re: Anonymous I-net surfing ?

« Last post by f0dder on December 18, 2008, 02:36 AM »

A warrant by itself won't help you - the idea behind TOR is that you get routed through multiple hosts (just like peels of onion), each host obviously only knows about destination and previous host.

So you either need to get warrants for all boxes (while the connection is active), or perform the "control both exit and entry points" attack, in order to trace a connection.

4232

Living Room / Re: Childhood Memory

« Last post by f0dder on December 18, 2008, 02:34 AM »

True, international calls are prefixed with 0 (or 00? I forget). But imho you wouldn't realistically end up calling international for 000

4233

General Software Discussion / Re: Is it finally time to abandon IE?

« Last post by f0dder on December 18, 2008, 02:30 AM »

I've never seen a website launch IE when I'm browsing around in firefox... it does happen with poorly coded applications, though.

4234

N.A.N.Y. 2009 / Re: N.A.N.Y. 2009 teaser: Crush Cryptonizer

« Last post by f0dder on December 17, 2008, 06:11 PM »

"friends don't let friends use homebrew crypto-algorithms" -> do you really think most of the Encryption-Algos are not homebrewn? If it would be so no free public encryption would be available. If you´d take a closer look at some of the coolest freeware programs I bet the most of them are homebrewn.

-Crush (December 17, 2008, 05:04 PM)

There's a difference between "homebrewn" as in "implementation of a specific algorithm" and "a new algorithm". Your algorithm might be all fine and good and secure, but until it has been scrutinized by cryptanalysts for several years, I'm simply not going to trust it... have to agree with ewemoa (or, really, Bruce Schneier) on this one.

Again, don't take this as negative critique of your work, but when dealing with crypto the sane thing is to stick with tried-and-tested (and bashed-to-death-and-weaknesses-known) algorithms.

4235

Developer's Corner / Re: Short Coder Essay: Plugins are Not For Users

« Last post by f0dder on December 17, 2008, 05:42 PM »

Whether a plugin system makes sense depends a lot on your project - for instance, it would be insane to add plugins or scripting to fSekrit. But as you already sorta mentioned, adding plugins/scripting can be worthwhile even if you don't expect anybody else to write plugins, since you can keep a stable core and play around with plugins - if you use a scripting language, it becomes possible to prototype stuff really fast.

4236

Living Room / Re: Windows software RAID

« Last post by f0dder on December 17, 2008, 05:36 PM »

Cluster size has to do with formatting, not with dynamic disk partitions, really. Default cluster size is based on partition size though, and I imagine dynamic disks are often used for huge partitions, so it would make sense having large cluster sizes there. 16kb clusters isn't that bad anyway, if you're doing a stripe (or just huge partitions) you really ought to have relatively large files and not a crapload of smaller ones

4237

Living Room / Re: Please read "my" prospectus

« Last post by f0dder on December 17, 2008, 05:33 PM »

Cute thing Josh, but it doesn't work out in practice for me. Dunno if I need emotions or if I'm just possessive

4238

Living Room / Re: Anonymous I-net surfing ?

« Last post by f0dder on December 17, 2008, 05:29 PM »

Every TCP/IP packet going from point A to point B contains the identifying IP address of both A & B, it's part of the protocol, there is no geting around it. Using a proxy only complicates things a bit...it doesn't make it impossible to identify you.

-Stoic Joker (December 17, 2008, 02:57 PM)

A packet going through TOR will not have A as source IP when it reaches B, just like a server won't see 192.168.x.x (or whatever other internal LAN IP) when going through a NATing router.

But there are attacks against the network that, if the attacker is dedicated enough, can let him trace entry- and exit points (if he can control both, iirc?) and thus determine your traffic. Not super-trivial though.

4239

General Software Discussion / Re: Is it finally time to abandon IE?

« Last post by f0dder on December 17, 2008, 05:24 PM »

I wish Firefox had Protected Mode. It really makes IE on Vista so much more secure.

-MrCrispy (December 17, 2008, 04:50 PM)

DropMyRights?

Btw, one thing is a vulnerability "severity" rating - another is how bad it actually is. Cross-site scripting is sorta bad, and might be classified as critical... but it's nowhere near as bad as code execution, even if both are rated "critical".

4240

General Software Discussion / Re: Recommendation for Project Management software?

« Last post by f0dder on December 17, 2008, 11:12 AM »

Ron, are you affiliated with PlanningForce? Just wondering since this is your first post and all

4241

Living Room / Re: Can you throw a shoe at Bush?

« Last post by f0dder on December 17, 2008, 11:10 AM »

wow, I must be lame, I hit him on the first try... I bet I can't do that again. Though now I have something to do while I wait until I have to leave for my finals at school

-nite_monkey (December 17, 2008, 08:28 AM)

I saw the video of the actual incident last night - what impressed me the most was the accuracy of the Iraqi reporter's throw! Both attempts were right on target. Not sure of the actual distances involved, but I'm not sure I could have done that 

-Darwin (December 17, 2008, 08:56 AM)

He's probably used to throwing rocks.

While I'm no fan of Bush and find the whole incident a bit funny, I still think it was a wrong thing to do.

4242

General Software Discussion / Re: Is it finally time to abandon IE?

« Last post by f0dder on December 17, 2008, 11:09 AM »

I switched away from IE quiet a while ago, and I haven't looked back since - there's no features in IE that I miss in FireFox, and with IE7 and onwards the only advantage IE had over FF (faster loading speed) disappeared (in fact, it loads slower than FF with a bunch of extensions now, and tabs open slower as well). Sure, FireFox isn't bugfree, but I can't remember the last exploit it had that allowed code execution - most flaws have been relatively limited-scope stuff like cross-site scripting that require a fair amount of work to successfully exploit. Add noscript and adblockplus to the mix, and well...

Sure, there's applications that use the IE browser control internally (and I'd stay away from any email client doing this!), but you don't generally use those apps to browse the internet at random - the infection vector is pretty small with those.

And of course IE is going to be attacked more than other browsers because of it's market dominance, but it's not like there isn't security research going on targeting the other browsers... and the holes in IE have by far been the most severe. Moving to another browser is a good idea - or at least use Vista with UAC and IE8 in protected mode. Or if you insist on an administrative account or the likes, use something like DropMyRights to reduce the attack vectors.

4243

Living Room / Re: How will the Earth end?

« Last post by f0dder on December 17, 2008, 03:49 AM »

Oil production has pretty much reached it's peak, and will start to go downhill from now - and demands are going up (and remember that oil isn't just used for gasoline, but also for plastic materials etc). China (and other places) are beginning to have problems getting clean drinking water (using up water faster than the natural reservoirs fill up) - and this obviously affects agriculture as well, irrigation and all. The rainforest is being cut down at an alarming rate, farmers are poisoning the lands with nasty pesticides as well, as fatiguing the ground because of too aggressive farming. Several areas have had nasty fish poisoning.

So I seriously do believe that we're going to see some serious resource problems within long, especially since the previously underdeveloped countries are raising their living standards, and want to reap the same lifestyle benefits that we've had in the western countries for a long time. Perhaps disaster won't strike during my lifetime, at least in this part of the world, but we live in a globalized world... if things in Africa or China or India become too bad, there's a chance it's going to affect my sorry ass as well.

4244

Living Room / Re: Childhood Memory

« Last post by f0dder on December 17, 2008, 03:33 AM »

Ah yeah, I forgot about

How on earth does "Oh" become 6? :-s

-f0dder (December 17, 2008, 01:56 AM)

(see attachment in previous post)
These days by pushing the #6 pad three times: 1 press=M; 2 presses=N; 3 presses=O

-Perry Mowbray (December 17, 2008, 02:36 AM)

Ah, doh. I've never seen anybody in .dk use that scheme, and the "call 1-666-FAT-CHIX now!" stuff confused me for quite a while when I was younger

4245

Living Room / Re: How will the Earth end?

« Last post by f0dder on December 17, 2008, 03:29 AM »

There is no overpopulation problem. There is a lot of room for all of us.

-Deozaan (December 17, 2008, 03:23 AM)

No there isn't - and there definitely isn't resources enough for all of us, which is the major problem.

4246

N.A.N.Y. 2009 / Re: N.A.N.Y. 2009 teaser: Crush Cryptonizer

« Last post by f0dder on December 17, 2008, 02:13 AM »

Not to flame you, but...

friends don't let friends use homebrew crypto-algorithms. Personally, I'd feel safer using 128-bit AES than something like this (and in reality, I'd of course use 256-bit AES). You might feel that your algorithm is really fancy and all (I wrote some really fancy stuff back in the early 90es and thought it was supercool and supersecure), but as long as it hasn't gone through intensive cryptanalysis and mathematical torture, I'm not going to trust a new algorithm.

4247

Living Room / Re: Recommend some music videos to me!

« Last post by f0dder on December 17, 2008, 02:02 AM »

I've always loved both the track as well as the video

4248

Living Room / Re: Childhood Memory

« Last post by f0dder on December 17, 2008, 01:56 AM »

How on earth does "Oh" become 6? :-s

We only made the change to 112 relatively few years ago, and I doubt that anybody used turntable phones at that point. Might have been some "international standardization" thingy, dunno. But imho 3x0 is a bit easier to remember than "1+1=2"

4249

Living Room / Re: Please help me build my new computer, DC!

« Last post by f0dder on December 17, 2008, 01:51 AM »

So, can I keep my pc cooled properly and still have it relatively silent?  I'll pay for it to a certain point.

-superboyac (December 16, 2008, 11:17 PM)

If you don't need super-high-end components, sure - since you don't need gaming, you can very likely get away with a passively cooled GPU. In my experience, GPU fans are some of the most noisy components of PCs today.

Passively cooled GPU + decent PSU = "teh win". Most boxed intel coolers I've had for the last many machines have been nice and silent, but you can always go hunt for an aftermarket cooler if you want it really silent (although most of them focus on extreme cooling and not noise).

4250

DC Gamer Club / Re: The Best Gaming Moments of 2008

« Last post by f0dder on December 16, 2008, 06:40 PM »

I´m playing Mass Effect PC for a few days now. There have been and I´m sure there will be countless great moments and stories. For 2008 it´s my favourite game.

-Crush (December 16, 2008, 06:33 PM)

Ah yes, Mass Effect was pretty OK as well. The missions are a bit repetitive, and the weapons feel unbalanced - shotgun felt ineffective even at point blank, assault rifle felt relatively ineffective, and the pistol (dual pistols? I forgot) kicked ass. But graphics were nice and storyline was pretty decent. One more complaint, though: even if you make a "ruthless" personality, it still feels more natural to play as a do-gooder.