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General Software Discussion / Re: Can anyone advise this developer on commercial licensing?

« Last post by wraith808 on November 21, 2014, 04:30 PM »

And beware, in this forum, there are unfortunately some people who happily take the side of governments - of governments of ANY mindset.
-peter.s (November 21, 2014, 03:53 PM)

Where did you get this idea from? We support freely expressing whatever viewpoint you want to... this statement makes this a lot of advise tempered by unwarranted negativity. If anything, most here are anti-government control, or lean that way.

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Developer's Corner / Re: Is it wise for amateur to invest time in NET Framework languages?

« Last post by wraith808 on November 21, 2014, 03:20 PM »

What other languages can you advise me to learn? I considered Java but it's looks too hard.
-dmytron (November 19, 2014, 12:51 PM)

I don't think C# is simpler to learn than Java. I'd say they are comparable in size and complexity, both the languages and the accompanying libraries.
-phitsc (November 21, 2014, 10:07 AM)

When I first started migrating from Delphi, my two paths were Java and C#.

Today, I program in C#, because from my experience, for a Delphi programmer, C# is easier to become productive in.

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Site/Forum Features / Re: v\View first unread in thread?

« Last post by wraith808 on November 21, 2014, 02:59 PM »

Most forums have a "view first unread" button for threads. I found one reference to pressing the "new icon" to show the first unread in the thread. Bit I don't see the icon or anything that looks like it will view the first unread post. I've been hitting "Go Down" then backing up.. kind of awkward. Is there a button that does the View First Unread in Thread function?
-MilesAhead (November 21, 2014, 05:45 AM)

That new does the same thing. It views the first post that is unread for you. After you press it, that goes away... until someone posts again to that thread. Am I misunderstanding your need?

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Developer's Corner / Re: Is it wise for amateur to invest time in NET Framework languages?

« Last post by wraith808 on November 21, 2014, 10:01 AM »

The big drawback to .NET is people won't try your program if they have to install yet another framework. It tends to make you use what you figure most people already have on like .NET 2.x features.
-MilesAhead (November 21, 2014, 09:24 AM)

That might have been a consideration at one point... but that point is pretty far gone. You can plan on .NET 4 at least currently (and that's what I code to).

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Living Room / Re: Of Superheroes, Remakes, Flashbacks/Forwards/Sideways and more

« Last post by wraith808 on November 21, 2014, 09:06 AM »

But just think of these characters in terms of some gaming systems or worlds.

Call of Cthulhu anyone?
-Renegade (November 21, 2014, 07:54 AM)

But that's because it's the story not the game that makes the difference. How does your character go insane? What is he looking for? What did he find? Which then leads into what the other characters/new characters have to deal with from the fallout.

CoC was more of a novelty with me, until the recent spate of storytelling type/narrative games. Then **** got real.

A few examples of systems/campaigns:

1. Trail of Cthulhu
2. Delta Green (and a whole lot more - http://rpg.drivethru...&pfrom=&pto=) including a Free introductory adventure.
3. Tremulus - uses the absolutely awesome Apocalypse World system, which is worth checking out also.

And my favorite...
3. Nemesis with Delta Green - Free. Definitely worth a read.

There's a lot going on on that front... well worth getting back into it.

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Living Room / Re: Of Superheroes, Remakes, Flashbacks/Forwards/Sideways and more

« Last post by wraith808 on November 21, 2014, 07:24 AM »

Back to the Flash theme, it's important to note the first version spent half its time trying to stay "domestic" without the "meta-human" side of things ... filling in gaps of normal (for then) police work.
-TaoPhoenix (November 20, 2014, 11:46 PM)

And personally, I think this was the problem, and was what my statement was addressing. There are two warring concepts:

1. People watch superhero shows for the fantastical. Just as people watch procedural shows for the procedure, suspense shows for the suspense, etc. Agents of SHIELD had this problem during its first season. It was a spy/superhero show. But it had neither. The reason, of course we see in hindsight, is that they were treading water waiting for Captain America: Winter Soldier to drop. Then it turned into a completely different (actual) spy/superhero show.

2. People watch entertainment to be entertained. To be entertaining, you have to have certain elements. And the group of people that you have to appeal to in order to have a successful movie/TV show is a lot greater than the people that are usually attracted to your genre. When you only have a group of people that like to watch your genre watching? You end up with a cancelled series/flop of a movie that's labeled 'cult'.

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Living Room / Re: Google Contributor: A New (not so new) way to fund the web

« Last post by wraith808 on November 21, 2014, 07:18 AM »

It sounds more like flattr than patreon to me.
-Deozaan (November 21, 2014, 12:32 AM)

There are several that do the same thing. But yes, Patreon does the exact same thing as Flattr + more. I support several websites through Patreon in exactly this manner.

I applied for a sign-up just to see how this actually works or they think it should work in practice...

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Living Room / Google Contributor: A New (not so new) way to fund the web

« Last post by wraith808 on November 20, 2014, 10:48 PM »

https://www.google.c...contributor/welcome/

Contributor by Google
An experiment in additional ways to fund the web.
Today’s Internet is mostly funded by advertising. But what if there were a way to directly support the people who create the sites you visit each day?

Introducing Contributor by Google.

My largest problem with this... is that it's by Google.

The basics

Choose a monthly contribution.

Visit participating sites.

Support the people who make the web.

It seems a lot like patreon.

Visit participating sites.
When you visit a participating website, part of your contribution goes to the creators of that site. As a reminder of your support, you’ll see a thank you message - often accompanied by a pixel pattern - where you might normally see an ad.

In theory, it seems like a good idea. In practice... well, Google long ago abandoned the do no evil pledge.

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Living Room / Re: Of Superheroes, Remakes, Flashbacks/Forwards/Sideways and more

« Last post by wraith808 on November 20, 2014, 09:29 PM »

Where would you classify characters like the modern Batman and Iron Man? Wayne and Stark are both normal humans. Perhaps a lot more technologically sophisticated and wealthy than most people. But their 'super' powers derive mainly from the technology and powered bodysuits they employ. If they have any super power it's their high IQs.
-40hz (November 20, 2014, 08:38 PM)

I posted a video that has a funny... but relevant line in it to the silly humor thread. Namely, Drax tells Batman you should be called normal man in a suit that looks vaguely like a bat. And in all truth, as much as I love the Batman as a character, his real superpower is the audience's suspension of disbelief, and a lot of cool. Either that, or he actually does have powers. Because he does a *lot* that a normal human, no matter how well trained, cannot do.
-wraith808 (November 20, 2014, 09:06 PM)

He's not a "normal" human. He's closer to a western version of a gifted natural martial arts talent from China etc.

So while his body could "almost make sense" to a doctor in a hospital if he overdoes it, he doesn't exactly have super-powers, not something that he can just whip out and pummel disbelief with. Instead, it's more like "a grown-up prodigy". (For ex, ever seen those types? You play a 3 minute piece of music four times and they can play it note perfect?)

-TaoPhoenix (November 20, 2014, 09:15 PM)

Even a gifted natural martial arts talent could not do a fraction of what he does in all truth. And the cross-section of all the things that he is incredibly gifted in- it's not just physical.

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Living Room / Re: Of Superheroes, Remakes, Flashbacks/Forwards/Sideways and more

« Last post by wraith808 on November 20, 2014, 09:06 PM »

Where would you classify characters like the modern Batman and Iron Man? Wayne and Stark are both normal humans. Perhaps a lot more technologically sophisticated and wealthy than most people. But their 'super' powers derive mainly from the technology and powered bodysuits they employ. If they have any super power it's their high IQs.
-40hz (November 20, 2014, 08:38 PM)

I posted a video that has a funny... but relevant line in it to the silly humor thread. Namely, Drax tells Batman you should be called normal man in a suit that looks vaguely like a bat. And in all truth, as much as I love the Batman as a character, his real superpower is the audience's suspension of disbelief, and a lot of cool. Either that, or he actually does have powers. Because he does a *lot* that a normal human, no matter how well trained, cannot do.

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

« Last post by wraith808 on November 20, 2014, 07:59 PM »

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Developer's Corner / Re: New EU VAT rules change the game for digital businesses

« Last post by wraith808 on November 20, 2014, 05:36 PM »

I wonder if it's even possible these days to make a cross-border electronic payment without 3rd party payment processors (maybe by using some cryptocurrency)?
-dr_andus (November 20, 2014, 04:51 PM)

It's not 3rd party processors... it has to be an aggregation service. i.e. if I put a pay me now button on my site that goes to paypal, that VAT is not taken into account on the other end AFAIK.

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Developer's Corner / Re: New EU VAT rules change the game for digital businesses

« Last post by wraith808 on November 20, 2014, 02:46 PM »

not sure what exactly wraith meant, but the big question is how the EU would stop (or punish) a supplier from outside the EU selling without VAT (?)
-tomos (November 20, 2014, 02:43 PM)

I meant, if I as a US citizen sold a digital item, and someone in the EU purchased it and downloaded it- then how would they enforce the strictures of these rules against me as a US citizen?

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Developer's Corner / Re: New EU VAT rules change the game for digital businesses

« Last post by wraith808 on November 20, 2014, 12:06 PM »

^ I don't even see *how* it will work. If I sell a digital download to someone in the EU... how would they even go after me?
-wraith808 (November 20, 2014, 10:57 AM)

From my perspective, as a consumer based in the EU, things have already worked like this for some time. Most payment-processing services have already been charging me for my local VAT.

So this is probably more of an issue for the less-informed or less compliant payment services that haven't been doing that yet, rather than for individual vendors. For non-EU vendors this just means that you better check with your payment processing service to make sure they do this.

-dr_andus (November 20, 2014, 12:00 PM)

Most that are not part of an aggregation type service for payment have decidedly *not* been doing it. And that onus should not be placed on someone that is in a different country doing business *just because* their place of receipt is in the EU, IMO.

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Living Room / Re: Of Superheroes, Remakes, Flashbacks/Forwards/Sideways and more

« Last post by wraith808 on November 20, 2014, 11:07 AM »

For the next day or two, I am comparing the original 1990 Flash TV series with the brand new remake. (We'll see if the new one lasts ... the old one got canceled after one season! I haven't yet looked up the reason why. Was it semi ahead of its time? Are we more attuned to superhero shows now?)
-TaoPhoenix (November 20, 2014, 09:58 AM)

The older one was not well done- we'd not entered into the time where writers on superhero shows/movies realized one important element. They have to be good shows/movies with a good plot first. There are some decent analyses of the episodes on avclub.com that deconstruct them and the underlying themes therein. There are some (several) points I disagree with... but it does inspire conversation and thought.

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Developer's Corner / Re: New EU VAT rules change the game for digital businesses

« Last post by wraith808 on November 20, 2014, 10:57 AM »

^ I don't even see *how* it will work. If I sell a digital download to someone in the EU... how would they even go after me?

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Developer's Corner / New EU VAT rules change the game for digital businesses

« Last post by wraith808 on November 20, 2014, 09:15 AM »

The short version

From 1 January 2015 new rules on VAT (value added tax) come into force across the European Union (EU). These will affect you if:

you sell ‘digital services’ – explored in a minute, but yes, it does include ebooks, PDF products, training materials, software and music files
you sell business to consumer (B2C) to EU citizens, wherever you are based (B2B, business to business selling, is not covered by these rules).

The essence of the change is that the ‘place of supply’ for VAT purposes will now be the location of the purchaser, not the location of the seller. Sellers will have to add VAT to the purchase price at the rate for the customer’s country, and ensure that the appropriate payment goes to that country.

Due to the effects of harmonising countries’ rules and the way the admin will work, if you fall under the new rules you will have to register for VAT. All your digital sales will be liable for VAT, and once you’ve registered you’ll have to account for it on all your other activities too.

Am I just ... looking at this wrong? Or am I seeing that even if I sell software to someone in the EU from the US, I have to pay taxes under this new regulation?

(more at link)

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Developer's Corner / Re: Is it wise for amateur to invest time in NET Framework languages?

« Last post by wraith808 on November 19, 2014, 02:41 PM »

Thanks for the answer. Yes, I'm definitely desktop programmer and I'm trying to find free programming IDE like Delpi but much nicer than Lazarus. Is there something like Delpi or Visual Studio but free and flexible?
-dmytron (November 19, 2014, 01:42 PM)

http://www.visualstu...al-studio-express-vs

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