Recent Posts

4276

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...

4277

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.

4278

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. 

4279

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.

4280

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 »

4281

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.

4282

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?

4283

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.

4284

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.

4285

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?

4286

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)

4287

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

4288

Developer's Corner / Re: Code fight club

« Last post by wraith808 on November 18, 2014, 08:22 AM »

The first rule of code-fight.club is... umm... forget I mentioned it.

-Edvard (November 18, 2014, 12:40 AM)

Hey, it says on the site...

A Fight Club you can talk about by Andrew Hathaway

 

4289

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

« Last post by wraith808 on November 17, 2014, 09:17 AM »

Not exactly a technical tour de force   But for Firefly fans, it's pretty awesome.

4290

Coding Snacks / Re: Folderwatch (a MAC application) for PC's

« Last post by wraith808 on November 16, 2014, 12:23 PM »

Two others I saw as related projects on Synkron... FreeFileSync and DirSync Pro

4291

Coding Snacks / Re: Folderwatch (a MAC application) for PC's

« Last post by wraith808 on November 16, 2014, 12:08 PM »

You might check out synkron... haven't used it, but it seems to do the same thing.

4292

General Software Discussion / Re: Does anyone have know why you cannot map a drive letter to an FTP drive

« Last post by wraith808 on November 16, 2014, 12:03 PM »

I use ExpanDrive... though there are several others.

4293

DC Gamer Club / Re: Unusual game: This War of Mine

« Last post by wraith808 on November 14, 2014, 05:07 PM »

you can also get it through humble bundle... and get drm free and steam versions.

https://www.humblebu...warofmine_storefront

4294

Living Room / Re: ESA Rosetta comet landing being streamed live 12-NOV-2014 @ 11:00AM EST

« Last post by wraith808 on November 14, 2014, 08:08 AM »

That was some major computational power at work!

4295

Living Room / Re: Mailpile [Beta]

« Last post by wraith808 on November 12, 2014, 07:10 AM »

So IMAP can download all the mail from the server, and then remove it from the server, but keep it locally? The way POP accounts (used to) work?

-Deozaan (November 11, 2014, 04:10 PM)

IMAP can download all the mail from the server - but it cannot remove mail from the server *and* keep it locally.
Think of it more as a sync: gone there, gone here ...

-tomos (November 12, 2014, 03:48 AM)

Actually, IMAP does have that capability.  People just don't usually code it that way in usage.  Offline and disconnected can be used together to create that capability (I've done it in an experimental implementation).

4296

Living Room / Re: Mailpile [Beta]

« Last post by wraith808 on November 11, 2014, 04:00 PM »

No, IMAP does not do that. You'll have to wait until they finish implementing POP3 into it.

-Masonjar13 (November 11, 2014, 03:22 PM)

That is incorrect.  Most IMAP clients only download headers- but some implementations download the whole message.  It really depends on their implementation.

4297

Coding Snacks / Re: IDEA: tablet toolbar creator (willing to pay)

« Last post by wraith808 on November 09, 2014, 10:30 AM »

There is also Nexus- I formerly used that. (you can find it at winstep.net)

4298

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Writing Outliner for MS Word

« Last post by wraith808 on October 31, 2014, 07:19 PM »

I'm just glad I have the old version.  And that I'd started to seriously get into scrivener.  Unless there is some major work on the editor, I just don't have space for another half-baked word-wannabe.

4299

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

« Last post by wraith808 on October 31, 2014, 09:03 AM »

You can never go wrong with Yngwie! 

4300

Living Room / Re: I'd like to get a Windows Tablet: help me decide.

« Last post by wraith808 on October 29, 2014, 03:30 PM »

What windows tablet do you have?

-superboyac (October 29, 2014, 01:42 PM)

I had a dell venue 8 pro.  I really wanted to like it, but ended up selling it a few months after I got it.  The primary feel I got was one of promise, but still not ready for prime-time.  Like a pretty covering placed over imperfections.

The major reasons that made me sell it while I could:
1. The interaction of not-metro with the desktop
2. the feel of the tablet with the desktop
3. low-level interactions and the fact that you could be handicapped by the fact that it was a tablet
4. power management and its relation to other functionality

It just got to be too annoying and inconvenient to ignore.