Recent Posts

4276

Living Room / Re: I am now the proud owner of my very own NANY mug :D

« Last post by 40hz on January 10, 2013, 01:11 PM »

Like the artwork. Like the glasses. Like the hair! Great pic.  

4277

Living Room / Re: A Gift for the Hackers - Documentary

« Last post by 40hz on January 10, 2013, 12:59 PM »

Man, you guys sure know a lot about this stuff.  Now I feel inadequate  .

-superboyac (January 10, 2013, 08:47 AM)

Don't be. Nobody is an 'expert' on system security these days unless it's their full-time job. There's just too much going on and far too much to know to do it part-time any more. I'm sure I'd be much happier, and sleep better most nights, if I didn't know what relatively little I do know about this topic.
 

4278

Living Room / Re: A Gift for the Hackers - Documentary

« Last post by 40hz on January 10, 2013, 12:54 PM »

^It's the way it gets marketed. It's presented as all "feature" with no risk or responsibility attached. It also hearkens back to a more naive mindset. Much like Microsoft being so blissfully unwilling to acknowledge WAN when they designed their early network software. I think they really only considered physical wires running in secure buildings with everybody connected to a totally isolated Windows network under a domain controller.

That "problem" actually permeates our entire network topology. It was designed in a  more innocent time. Security has since been mostly bolted and slathered on rather than integrated into the core design with most systems. As a result we have layers and layers of abstraction all passing datagrams back and forth. It's ultimately a house of cards. And all that complexity leaves plenty of back corners for people to get in and do their funny business.

Unfortunately, there's also the practical issues of "ease of accessibility" vs "secure computing." The two don't have to be mutually exclusive. But most people can't be bothered, so one or the other usually becomes the rule - with the preference almost universally choosing whats "easy" over whats secure.

What's really needed is for us to...ahhh screw it!...never mind. We can only work with what we're given and try to do the best we can.

4279

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

« Last post by 40hz on January 10, 2013, 07:30 AM »

@Stephen - Yup, really great avatar. It locks up my smartphone's browser for about three minutes every time this page loads if I don't have a wifi connection.
 

4280

Living Room / Re: NASA Considers Putting an Asteroid Into Orbit Around the Moon

« Last post by 40hz on January 10, 2013, 07:02 AM »

I vote we consider putting NASA into orbit around the moon.

-IainB (January 10, 2013, 02:03 AM)

That was sorta part of NASA's original plan.

Unfortunately, the L5 space station was scrapped back in the mid-60s because the money was needed for "programs for the poor." One "socially responsible" senator of that era characterized NASA as an agency "using tax dollars to indulge in feats of stratospheric jugglery designed to impress children and fools."

Enough otherwise intelligent people apparently agreed with him on that point, such that the US space program was effectively gutted within ten years.

But what comes around goes around. Because any available money is now being channeled into homeland security and global military operations. So much so that there's nowhere near enough left over for infrastructure maintenance, education, research, or subsidized medical care.

Apparently somebody took to heart the attitude of the Senator Jack S. character in Al Capp's famous Lil Abner comic strip. In one scene, the Senate is debating spending bills and has just unanimously passed without debate an appropriation for a few million dollars to replace a swimming pool at a minor US embassy because the previous one "had been stolen." When the next agenda item - a vote to approve $50 to buy books for a rural library comes up - it provokes Senator Jack S. to snatch the paper out of the speaker's hands and rip it into tiny pieces while shouting "Nay! Nay! Nay! I'm against spending American money on Americans!!!"

4281

Living Room / Re: A Gift for the Hackers - Documentary

« Last post by 40hz on January 09, 2013, 08:19 PM »

Seriously - I seldom deal with Ricoh much (HP/Xerox/Toshiba/Lexmark, yes constantly) - I'm hoping you've actually seen one of these insanity rigs and can tell me how badly they're exposing what.

-Stoic Joker (January 09, 2013, 05:35 PM)

I deal with their Aficio line a lot. They've since fixed the issues I was aware of with their current crop. But the old machines were very open. Current security spec for this group of products is as follows:

Standard DataOverwriteSecurity Unit (DOSS) Type I – Security feature that overwrites latent data on the system’s hard drive after copy, scan, fax and print jobs.

Standard HDD Encryption Unit Type A – This function encrypts the system’s hard drive using 256 bits (AES) to protect against data theft.

Other Security Features – SNMP v3 and Data Encryption (password/address book); Locked (Secure) Print; User Codes; Basic Authentication; WPA (Wi-Fi Protect Access Support); IPsec Communication; Windows/LDAP/Kerberos Authentication; 802.1x Wired Authentication; SSL Communication; SSL over SMTP; S/MIME; Network Protocol On/Off; IP Filtering (Access Control) and more

Allowing for Kerboros authentication along with the "dead data" auto-overwrite and HD encryption eliminated most of my concerns. But it does have a full doc server, web interface, and allows FTP so I'm sure you could do something stupid to leave holes open. There's plenty of resources available for a hacker to work with. Plus it has a scan to direct email feature I'm still not happy about. Way too easy to slip a confidential document out of an office with few being any the wiser unless they're religious about checking logs. Just slip it in between a a few regular copy or scan jobs and put it back in the files when you're done. A fax transmission is fairly easy to trace. But dumping something in a temporary email account makes it available for pickup anywhere on the globe.
 

4282

General Software Discussion / Re: Software that sounded useful, so you bought it, but then...

« Last post by 40hz on January 09, 2013, 02:59 PM »

It just occurred to me that about 90% of the apps I ever bought for my iPhone fell into this category. 

Many iOS developers show great wisdom in pricing their products as low as they do since it takes advantage of the "Life is Too Short for Some Things" phenomena. To wit: most people are far more likely to write off a non-performing $3 app rather than take issue with its developer and go through the incredible hassle of trying to get a refund through Apple.  

4283

General Software Discussion / Re: New cross-platform Vector app [looking for your support]

« Last post by 40hz on January 09, 2013, 02:49 PM »

but pros seem to mainly avoid it so far

-tomos (January 09, 2013, 02:22 PM)

They work with what they know best. Once you've mastered Photoshop and Illustrator, why bother to hassle with something else? CS does it all.

And CS is also what everybody else uses  - which is important to remember.

When switching jobs, having a transferable set of skills is crucial to one's career prospects. Knowing CS gives you that.

4284

General Software Discussion / Re: New cross-platform Vector app [looking for your support]

« Last post by 40hz on January 09, 2013, 02:43 PM »

one couldnt work with CMYK colours and see it in progress.

-tomos (January 09, 2013, 02:22 PM)

It now has CMYK onscreen preview and does seps.

One thing that makes me wary is the fact it does so much!

-tomos (January 09, 2013, 02:22 PM)

Agree there. Illustrator is a cleaner and "purer" app. It's also an industry standard so agencies and commercial print shops are used to working with it.

4285

Living Room / Re: A Gift for the Hackers - Documentary

« Last post by 40hz on January 09, 2013, 02:29 PM »

I went ballistic over ePrint the first time I saw it. I'm constantly warning clients about this sort of thing and the risk it presents.

-40hz (January 09, 2013, 01:47 PM)

I grilled the HP rep (at one of their tech shows) for an hour about that when it first came out. It works via passive polling, so the printer just checks its own Email address via the HP cloud server (which is where your print jobs are actually sent (eek!)). so over all it (ePrint) isn't really that bad.

-Stoic Joker (January 09, 2013, 02:09 PM)

Yeah, it was "explained" that way to me too, and I wasn't all that concerned at that point. Just annoyed. What I really took issue with was what it represented since I figured it was just the tip of the iceberg if it went over well on the consumer level. The concerns with Ricoh over their big networked scanners were a lot more serious since about half my clients use those. I still have to argue with clients about why they really needed to put up with the "hassle" of using passwords on those. Especially when the big boss's assistant keeps bitching about having to enter a 4-dgit PIN ("It's soooo hard to remember those things!") to scan or make a copy - which is much the same thing on these devices. Even worse is fighting with them about why they really do want to require a PIN in order to directly e-mail something from one of these puppies.

 

It most likely requires/leverages UPnP which is another insanely dangerous idea that I immediately disable on sight.

-Stoic Joker (January 09, 2013, 02:09 PM)

+1. Don't even get me going on that bit of software engineering brilliance.

4286

Living Room / Re: NASA Considers Putting an Asteroid Into Orbit Around the Moon

« Last post by 40hz on January 09, 2013, 02:02 PM »

When you put that on the table for comparison, space suddenly has a lot more reason to be visited. We won't need to worry about the Chinese taking over when we can divebomb them from space, and have colonies on other planets to support ourselves with if they decide to nuke the mainland.

-SeraphimLabs (January 09, 2013, 12:02 PM)

But why would they want to - or we ever need to? Isn't space a big enough adventure and challenge that it could easily use up those extra 'defense' dollars plus all that excess testosterone and estrogen? Why bother with fighting over a hunk of miserable dirt in some back corner of the globe when the entire universe is out there waiting to be explored and colonized?

Who knows? Assuming we're not alone, there's also the chance we may finally meet somebody really interesting to talk to.

4287

Living Room / Re: NASA Considers Putting an Asteroid Into Orbit Around the Moon

« Last post by 40hz on January 09, 2013, 01:56 PM »

We really do need to start looking beyond this one planet again. If for no other reason than embracing the wisdom of not keeping all your eggs in one basket. I personally think of the various manned space efforts as the ultimate embodiment of an "off premise" backup system.
 

4288

Living Room / Re: A Gift for the Hackers - Documentary

« Last post by 40hz on January 09, 2013, 01:47 PM »

I'm glad to see that as I have had a long running battle with some fellow network techs over web-enabled devices. I was accused of being an encryption and VPN fanboy when I went ballistic over ePrint the first time I saw it. I'm constantly warning clients about this sort of thing and the risk it presents. Ditto for poorly secured webcams put in server or hub rooms and other high security areas.

Thx for the links to this. And thanks to KRO and the European agencies and businesses who discussed this issue with them in a rational and non-defensive manner. Had this investigation been conducted in the USA, a flurry of threats, lawsuits and possibly arrest warrants would have ensued - likely with the result this video would never have seen the light of day.



P.S. Somebody please tell this dweeb (who works for HP Netherlands) that his was one of the lamest comments ever made by anybody speaking on behalf of HP. (And that's saying something.)

4289

General Software Discussion / Re: New cross-platform Vector app [looking for your support]

« Last post by 40hz on January 09, 2013, 11:49 AM »

^Xara is a fine product (it's what I currently use by default) but it's not as intuitive and fluid-feeling as Freehand was.

With Xara I often have to stop and think or consult a help file. With Freehand everything (for me) "just worked" the way I expected it to. The bezier tools were especially well done as were the fit text to curve functions. Although in fairness Xara has web design features that Freehand couldn't have dreamed of since it was gone well before the web really took off.

For $299 USD Xara Pro is a good choice for those of us that just can't get comfortable with Adobe Illustrator. If you don't need the workflow features Adobe CS provides (which is where CS really shines and makes sense in a production environment) , Xara is well worth checking out. Older versions of the Photo/Designer version are often available for free download when Xara is running a promotion. They also offer decent discounts and upgrade deals.
 

4290

General Software Discussion / Re: New cross-platform Vector app [looking for your support]

« Last post by 40hz on January 09, 2013, 09:21 AM »

As you can see there is a FreeHand bias here

-tomos (July 22, 2012, 02:41 AM)

Nothing to explain or apologize for IMHO. I'll categorically state that Freehand was the single finest vector drawing package ever created. Nothing I ever used before, during, or since has even come close.

It was a sad day when Adobe put in on the shelf and deliberately let it die.

4291

Living Room / Re: NASA Considers Putting an Asteroid Into Orbit Around the Moon

« Last post by 40hz on January 09, 2013, 09:15 AM »

For less than one third the cost of an aircraft carrier* we might actually learn something new? Plus benefit from all the ancillary technology that would need to be developed to pull this off? Possibly even become inspired enough in the process to maybe pull our heads out of...um..the sand...and. as a nation, recapture our sense of adventure and scientific curiosity?

Now that is tempting...

----------------------------
*Ford Class carrier: $5 billion R&D + $9 billion each to produce. One (Gerald R. Ford CVN-78) has already been built. Two additional have been budgeted and scheduled to enter service in 2013 (John F. Kennedy CVN-79) and 2018 (Enterprise CVN-80).

4292

Living Room / Re: New Desktop parts list (RFC)

« Last post by 40hz on January 09, 2013, 08:53 AM »

I forget exactly what it was called, but I think I had my buddy put in a second special purpose data processing chip of some kind especially for media conversion.

-TaoPhoenix (January 08, 2013, 11:37 PM)

I'd be very interested in learning more about that. Any possibility of getting additional details?

And an absolutely brilliant build btw! Love how clean the internal cabling is.  

4293

General Software Discussion / Re: Rumors of Adobe releasing CS2 for free? (true or NOT true)

« Last post by 40hz on January 08, 2013, 01:47 PM »

^ I'm not sure why you're picking on 40hz -I know he's well able to talk for himself- but the way I see it, he's right and well, you're right too :p

-tomos (January 08, 2013, 11:18 AM)

  Thx Tomos! But I'm not offended by anything helmut85 is saying.

I think where we differ is in how he and I see this particular incident along with things in general regarding software.

My point is simply that from what I've seen, Adobe had nothing to do with this misunderstanding. It was a piece of misinformation that made it up on the web and began snowballing. Then it was picked up and misreported by Forbes (who should know better since they have the resources needed to verify stories before going to publication) and that lent it an air of authenticity it obviously didn't deserve.

I haven't heard anybody responsibly say (or even infer) that Adobe was somehow behind this mistake - or attempting to profit from it. So when people start saying that Adobe should be stepping into the breach and going through major gyrations to "fix" or "contain" or "make good" on the misunderstanding (as some commenters on other websites have argued), my eyes start to roll.

With regard to it being a PR fiasco, I don't see it that way at all. Again, Adobe (whom I'm not particularly fond of either) did what they needed to do - which is say that the information circulating about free copies of CS2 being available for the asking was incorrect. Period.

If some people were offended or disappointed by this news...well...that's a shame. But I still don't see where Adobe has any responsibility for that. I'd much rather know how this mistake got started and by whom. If people have an issue with anybody, it should be the party responsible for that. And so far, that person doesn't seem to be part of Adobe.

Regarding how many people desperately want a copy of Photoshop - but are not able to afford it - about the best I can say is: Such is life. I want a mint condition Rickenbacker 4005 Bass - but don't have the $7-10,000 they're currently selling for either. Too bad for me too!

It's important to remember that a program like Photoshop also isn't the same thing as food, prescription drugs, or medical care. You can live a very full and rich life without owning or having access to a copy of Adobe CS. It's not a necessity of life. So (to me at least) it's not like you can make a strong moral argument about it being somehow "unfair" that Adobe doesn't just hand out copies to everyone who begs them for one.

As far as increasing customers goes, I don't think Adobe really wants to see the masses start flocking to Photoshop CS in droves. That would be a tech support nightmare. They created Elements for the amateur and semi-pro photography crowd who don't need all the 'print' specific features of Photoshop because they won't be creating files for digital printing presses. And a huge amount of what's in PS (as opposed to Elements) is purely for press production and color matching. For pure image manipulation PS is absolute overkill. And there are equally capable and far less expensive products such as PaintShop Pro (my fav) that will handle photo manipulation equally well.

But so be it. I'm already tired of the subject.  

@T - P.S.

I too am really pissed that Freehand is no longer available. That was my 'go to' illustration app for many years. And I used it for as long as I had a machine that could still run it. Freehand made sense to me. I have never really got the hang of using Illustrator or CorelDraw. And FWIW I also completely blame Macromedia for blowing their market leadership position and ultimately selling out to their catch-up competitor. But that's the way it goes.

I felt the same way about Microsoft ceding the personal finance field to Intuit when they discontinued Money. Ditto when they took FlightSim off the market and then, in a pure "dog in the hayloft" move, refused to release it as open source.

4294

General Software Discussion / Re: Rumors of Adobe releasing CS2 for free? (true or NOT true)

« Last post by 40hz on January 08, 2013, 08:41 AM »

Why does a program have to be vilified simply because most people prefer using it rather than its competition?

-40hz (January 08, 2013, 04:24 AM)

I personally dislike Adobe for killing Macromedia Freehand - but really Macromedia is to blame there. It was possibly illegal for Adobe to buy and kill Freehand thereby giving themselves more or less a monopoly in the vector drawing market, but again, I have to admit that Freehand really failed -in spite of being the superior product- because of Macromedia.

-tomos (January 08, 2013, 07:37 AM)

FYI - it was probably not illegal under US law.  Our antitrust rules are different than such are in many other countries since they're not intended to protect competition in general, but rather to prevent "unfair" business practices that interfere with competition.

And buying out a competitor is an accepted and  time honored strategy in US business.

4295

General Software Discussion / Re: Rumors of Adobe releasing CS2 for free? (true or NOT true)

« Last post by 40hz on January 08, 2013, 04:24 AM »

Please gut the greedy Adobe bastards, somebody.

-f0dder (January 08, 2013, 03:14 AM)

I don't "get" that mentality. Seriously.

Why does a program have to be vilified simply because most people prefer using it rather than its competition? GIMP has been around for years, but I don't see a huge number of people dropping Photoshop to embrace it.

All anybody would have to do is write an equivalent program to replace Photoshop. And then give it away - or sell it for next to nothing. But I don't see too many coders interested in doing that.

Hmm... "Software as Socialism" anybody?

4296

Living Room / Re: Classic Shell brings back start menu for Win8, plus lots more

« Last post by 40hz on January 07, 2013, 08:34 PM »

40hz ears go up!

Downloading...

4297

General Software Discussion / Re: Rumors of Adobe releasing CS2 for free? (true or NOT true)

« Last post by 40hz on January 07, 2013, 08:04 PM »

I think some of us are running away with this a bit.

I think the most likely scenario might be a simple misunderstanding or confusion on the part of some journalist about the difference between offering a "free version" of CS2 - and - a "free download to CS2 users that no longer requires online activation."

If you're not a "software person" that can be confusing. Those of us who are geeks can easily understand the difference between the two. And also see where something like that would likely be confusing for the average Joe - or a financial news reporter anxious to be the first to break the news that Adobe was supposedly doing something both unprecedented - and quite frankly insane if you think about it for more than a minute.

As far as finding new customers, I don't think that's their motivation. CS is the de facto standard in print publishing - and a major player in e-pub, web, and media development. So it's not like they need to get a huge influx of users. Especially since their Creative Cloud offering brings any and all of their products within financial reach of just about anybody that actually needs them.

In case you don't know, Creative Cloud is a "subscription" plan. You download and install whatever CS apps you want on your local machine for $50/mo. (with a 1 year contract) - or $75/mo. (with no contract.) Individual CS apps can be subscribed to for $20/mo.)

Once you download them, they work just like the retail product. The only difference is you'll need to be able to connect to the internet at least once per month on order to download an authorization token which allows your Creative Cloud apps to continue working.

I personally think Adobe cracked the problem and figured out how to make "cloud" work. Web-based apps are too dicey for production environments. And graphics apps would consume too much bandwidth anyway. So what Adobe has put in the cloud is just the product authorization piece. Everything else stays the same. And by offering subscriptions on a monthly basis, they made it both affordable and good for cash flow.

I personally think its a brilliant move. Even better executed than Office 365.

If I ever decide I need Adobe's CS, I'll probably "buy" my copy this way. And I generally dislike (and distrust) cloud or online anything when  it comes to what used to be traditional desktop-type software.
 

4298

General Software Discussion / Re: Rumors of Adobe releasing CS2 for free? (true or NOT true)

« Last post by 40hz on January 07, 2013, 06:20 PM »

@40hz
I agree with you but we are living in he world where you subscribe games (Steam does not sell games any more) and some people need warnings on hot coffee cups.

-fenixproductions (January 07, 2013, 05:54 PM)

Oh I agree. No argument there.

My point was mincing definitions doesn't play too well in US courtrooms. At least not in situations where the intent of the wording plus a huge amount of everyday common understanding is concerned. They save that for constitutional issues - not commercial license disputes. Those are usually straight forward debates. 

4299

General Software Discussion / Re: Adobe CS2 for free? (NOT SPAM)

« Last post by 40hz on January 07, 2013, 05:46 PM »

I am waiting for tomorrow to see if I will have to uninstall it but something interesting from forbes comments and from here:
http://forums.adobe....#4974633?PID=4485850

The licence terms which you agree to when you install this software say your use of the software is legal if you have “obtained” it from Adobe. It doesn’t say “purchased” or “bought”. If they want to make it illegal, they must change the licence. Until they do, saying that it’s illegal in a forum post doesn’t make it illegal. It certainly appears that it’s not what they intended, but that’s different.

No high hopes now though.

And I agree for changing thread titles…

-fenixproductions (January 07, 2013, 05:38 PM)

I don't know how it would work in other places. But in the US, unless you got a really stupid or snarky judge (not an impossibility), trying to mount a legal defense by arguing that the definition of "obtained" does not equate to "purchased" in the context of a software product wouldn't fly in most courtrooms. From my experience, that only happens in movies or TV shows. (Although there's always the chance I suppose.)

 

4300

General Software Discussion / Re: Adobe CS2 for free? (NOT SPAM)

« Last post by 40hz on January 07, 2013, 05:32 PM »

I think after making a page with downloads available to anybody with an Adobe ID, and letting half the internet download the version that does not require activation, that is probably slightly too late.

-Jibz (January 07, 2013, 04:53 PM)

You still need a valid license and serial number to install it. The only difference is that it no longer needs to be activated online once it's installed

It surely would be interesting to see an official Adobe statement on this, rather than a comment on a comment on an Adobe forum. Later on another Adobe staffer says:

-dr_andus (January 07, 2013, 05:04 PM)

Out of curiosity...where was the official announcement from Adobe saying it was going to be free to begin with?

Oh...that's right! They never did say that did they?

I don't think you have to worry about Adobe coming after you for this [referring to user who had downloaded the files in good faith]

As soon as our execs have approved an official statement on this issue, I or another Adobe staffer will post it here.

As far as that statement goes, I think you need to very carefully read what's actually being said - and not read anything else into it.

This Adobe staffer does not say that you're free to install and use what you may have downloaded in good faith.

It simply says Adobe has no intention of going after people just for downloading it.

That's very different than what some people seem to be reading into it. At least from what I'm seeing on the social channels.

And besides - you still need a serial number and license to use it legally no matter what else does or doesn't get said. Because Adobe never did release CS2 for free to begin with. So the existing license requirements for CS2 still remain in effect.

Could one of the moderators change the subtitle of this thread from (NOT SPAM) to (SPAM), please?

-helmut85 (January 07, 2013, 04:42 PM)

Why?  No matter what happens, it's still not forum spam.

-wraith808 (January 07, 2013, 05:24 PM)

+1 w/ Helmut85...

I think it would be more accurate (and fair to Adobe) if it read: Rumors of Adobe releasing CS2 for free? (NOT TRUE)