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Recent Posts

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4501
Living Room / Re: Anybody else sick of hearing "OMG Facebook is spying on us!"?
« Last post by wraith808 on August 20, 2014, 03:12 PM »
This is a totally different thing.  If Microsoft did the same sorts of things... oh wait, they did use market pressure on other companies, and were rightfully slapped for it (though it should have been more).

Let's say it again.  Market pressure is a very real thing.

So when you get a certain percentage of the market, you have certain responsibilities to your users, especially if you've leveraged your users to get that market percentage.  You can't just use your users willy nilly to become successful, and then change the game.

Which is exactly what Facebook, Google, and others have already done.

resized_fry-can-t-tell-meme-generator-can-t-tell-if-being-sarcastic-or-drinking-the-koolaid-47a904.jpg
4502
Developer's Corner / Re: regular expressions 101
« Last post by wraith808 on August 20, 2014, 02:57 PM »
...
At least it's commented... right?
-wraith808 (August 20, 2014, 02:48 PM)

On the right, you mean :P
-phitsc (August 20, 2014, 02:52 PM)

amirite? :P

Seriously though, it's pretty impressive... though it doesn't seem to recognize global flags as in the beginning of that regex I posted.  It also doesn't seem to recognize line comments.  But that's a horrendous example... and what it does match, for a web app that costs nothing?  Impressive.
4503
Developer's Corner / Re: regular expressions 101
« Last post by wraith808 on August 20, 2014, 02:48 PM »
There's also https://www.debuggex.com/?re=&str=

But personally, I use RegexBuddy.  It costs.  But I haven't found anything as robust.  And I'm willing to pay for my sanity when regularly confronted by regex like this...

Code: Text [Select]
  1. (?imnx)                                                                         #multiline mode, explicit captures only, with comments
  2. ^                                                                                       #start at beginning
  3. \s*                                                                                     #optional whitespace
  4. (                                           #start optional group
  5.         (                                       #begin OR
  6.                 (part|item|exhibit|note)            #match from a specific set of words
  7.                 |                                   # OR
  8.                 (?<unknown>\w+)                     #match any old word
  9.         )                                       #end OR
  10.         \s{1,2}                                 #limited whitespace between each one. capture certain specific ones.
  11. )?                                                                  #end optional group
  12. \(?                                         # optional open parenthesis
  13. (                                           # begin OR
  14.         ([\d]{1,2}\w?)                          # 1-2 numbers with an optional letter on the end
  15.         |                                       # OR
  16.         ([ivx]{1,3})                            # 1-2 roman numeral letters
  17.         |                                       # OR
  18.         ([a-z])                                 # 1 letters
  19. )                                           # end OR
  20. \)?                                         # optional end paren
  21. \s{0,2}                                                                         # optional whitespace
  22. (                                           # begin OR
  23.         ([\.](?(unknown)(\s{2,})|(\s+)))        # a period followed by at least one space if no unknown header, at least two spaces if unknown header
  24.         |                                       # OR
  25.         ([:]\s+)                                # colon followed by at least one space
  26.         |                                       # OR
  27.         (\p{Pd}+)                               # some number of dashes
  28.         |                                       # OR
  29.         (\)\s+)                                 # close paren followed by at leaset one space
  30. )                                                                       # end OR
  31. \s*                                         #optional whitespace

At least it's commented... right?
4504
General Software Discussion / Wordpress and Hackers
« Last post by wraith808 on August 20, 2014, 02:44 PM »
So, since I started really securing my sites... I don't know what to do with the data.

Evil doers (presumably) are getting locked out quite frequently.  I get the data on where and who they are.  But... what do I do with that data?  And is it even worth it?  I've been hacked once, on one domain.  And yes, it was annoying.  But a quick restore, and I was back up and running.

Reporting all of these idiots seems like more trouble than that.

One example... and I'm not redacting anything, because I'm just pissed like that...

Spoiler
This is the full research report for 95.132.113.5, which is an IP address.

Whois Server
whois.ripe.net
Status
ALLOCATED
Contact Email

Registrant
UKRTELNET-ADSL
UKRAINE

Administrative Contact
Remiga Alexander
JSC UKRTELECOM
18, Shevchenko blvd, Ukraine, Kiev
Telephone: 380 44 2881072

Technical Contact
Remiga Alexander
JSC UKRTELECOM
18, Shevchenko blvd, Ukraine, Kiev
Telephone: 380 44 2881072


Why would anyone even *want* to try to hack my site that I barely update?
4505
Living Room / Re: Anybody else sick of hearing "OMG Facebook is spying on us!"?
« Last post by wraith808 on August 20, 2014, 02:38 PM »
Honestly though...we all know our information is being bought, linked, sold, auctioned, taken apart, put back together, and whatever else...life is life
-Stephen66515 (August 17, 2014, 09:46 PM)

IMHO, acquiescence and capitulation are no way to go through life. Whether or not the above is true, we don't need to accept it. Or tolerate it either. Just sayin'  ;)
-40hz (August 20, 2014, 06:04 AM)

Totally agreed.  And just telling someone 'don't use it then', is not an acceptable alternative.  Market pressure is a very real thing.
4506
Living Room / Re: High School Student Laptop Policy
« Last post by wraith808 on August 20, 2014, 02:36 PM »
Aggravating and non-intuitive to be sure.

But when you factor in  the Byzantine bidding process, the paperwork, compliance auditing, and add-on social engineering (hiring requirements, rules for preference to be given to favored suppliers for parts of the contract, commitments to targeted groups and businesses, the GSA "discount", etc.) it's easy to see how the final sticker price can soar.

Government people usually have no responsibility for recouping their expenses. Operating costs are not "real" to them. If they run in the red, they just ask the appropriations committees for more money. Businesses who need to run things off their P&L rather than the public tax base don't have that luxury.

Not saying that is always why crazy price tags happen. But it accounts for a lot of it. Just ask anybody who ever had to put together a proposal based on a government "request for bids." Providing the goods or service itself is easy to price out. But then you hit those sections on reporting and compliance - and ask: "Ok....How the heck much is it going to cost us to do all this stuff? Better quadruple the first number just to be sure we're covered."
-40hz (August 20, 2014, 02:20 PM)

From dealing with it from the other side, I can definitely say that you're correct... sometimes.

There's also the mistaken assumption (because it's not *their* money) that money equals quality.  Or... something like that.  If you quote too low, you're just as likely to lose as if you quote too high.  What those numbers are?  Beats the heck out of me.  Which is why I'm not in that anymore.
4507
Developer's Corner / GTK+ and complexity (and OSS in general)
« Last post by wraith808 on August 20, 2014, 02:13 PM »
So, I figured I'd start looking at using GTK-sharp and getting on the OSS bandwagon.

I was dissuaded by the fact of trying to use it. :(

I started with Tomboy... a nice note taking app.

It's working on two machines now.  But only after installing a horrendous amount of things.



That just seems... crazy.  And it's more than a bit offputting.  Does that seem crazy to anyone else?  Or is it just me?

4508
Living Room / Re: High School Student Laptop Policy
« Last post by wraith808 on August 20, 2014, 01:26 PM »
Hmm...do I detect a sweetheart deal with somebody on this "initiative?" I hope they didn't contract for Surface Pro 3s! :-\
-40hz (August 20, 2014, 12:18 PM)

They're just following the NFL... I mean... what could go wrong?
4509
Living Room / Re: Giving personal identifying info . . . to credit protection companies?
« Last post by wraith808 on August 20, 2014, 12:14 PM »
It can be lowered each time your credit gets run - that's why one is cautioned against activity that might result in it being run (i.e. don't allow a financial institution to check if you qualify for a loan you are not serious about applying for).
-Joe Hone (August 20, 2014, 07:53 AM)

That's just retarded - asking whether someone is a good/bad credit risk shouldn't have any effect on whether they are a good/bad credit risk.
-4wd (August 20, 2014, 11:49 AM)

The reasoning behind this is that indiscriminately checking if you can get credit implies that you will get more credit than you can handle.

That said, there are some credit inquiries that do not trigger this.
4510
Living Room / Re: High School Student Laptop Policy
« Last post by wraith808 on August 20, 2014, 12:13 PM »
Or we may simply be dealing with the standard overypaying of academic/government contracts, where a product that would cost a normal human $200 somehow costs a government office $2000.
-mouser (August 20, 2014, 11:29 AM)

This is what I'm convinced of.  For $800 I can get a pretty good laptop- in fact, my gaming machine upgrade I just did to a pretty hot rig didn't cost much more than this... including video card.
4511
Living Room / Re: High School Student Laptop Policy
« Last post by wraith808 on August 20, 2014, 10:24 AM »
And... I have to wonder.  What kind of laptop that they would be giving students would warrant a $800+ replacement cost?  Hmmm...
4512
Living Room / Re: High School Student Laptop Policy
« Last post by wraith808 on August 20, 2014, 09:34 AM »
insurance is recommended ($50 per student per year) to avoid being liable for the $810 replacement cost if the equipment is damaged, and
-cschw (August 19, 2014, 09:47 PM)

Even with everything else that was said- this little bit is what really sucks.  Can't really leave it at school or not bring it into the house if you're responsible... this is just bad.
4513
General Software Discussion / Re: Frustrated Mom Creates ‘Ignore No More’ App To Get Teen Kids To Return Calls
« Last post by wraith808 on August 19, 2014, 02:01 PM »
So again, just what special magic makes a person automatically qualified to raise a child just by virtue of their contributing an egg or sperm cell to the equation?
-40hz (August 19, 2014, 01:43 PM)

What special magic makes the state capable?  What special magic makes *anyone* capable?

It's at least a start if you can include love in the equation, which is more likely than if you go the other way.

So what are you arguing?   :huh:
4514
General Software Discussion / Re: Frustrated Mom Creates ‘Ignore No More’ App To Get Teen Kids To Return Calls
« Last post by wraith808 on August 19, 2014, 12:47 PM »
No... I meant responsibility.  It's much more than liability.  You spend X years and Y amount of money and an inestimable amount of blood, sweat, and tears on your progeny.  Now, personally, I think the nature of creating offspring creates a catch-22 in the fact that it is very easy to have a child, but not so much to raise one.  But even taking that out of the equation, until/unless you give away that responsibility, you're responsible.  And liable.
4515
General Software Discussion / Re: Frustrated Mom Creates ‘Ignore No More’ App To Get Teen Kids To Return Calls
« Last post by wraith808 on August 19, 2014, 09:15 AM »
Because I have a deeper question: Why so?

Just what is it that makes someone who has done something they can claim very little (if any) direct credit for (i.e. biologically reproduce) feel they are automatically and absolutely qualified to raise a kid? There's this weird bit of knee-jerk magical logic that says "mother/father knows best." Even when it's quite obvious that approximately half of them do not.

How does that work?
-40hz (August 19, 2014, 06:01 AM)

Are they responsible if the child does something wrong?  (Rhetorical question there... because the answer is yes, whether it is in the eyes of the public and/or legally).

So responsibility begets authority.  That's just how it works.  If you're going to hold the parent responsible if the child drives at age 13, then the parent has the authority to discipline and tell the child that he can't do this, and then take steps to make it so.  You can't have it both ways.
4516
Adventures of Baby Cody / Re: A Genuine Baby Cody Sighting
« Last post by wraith808 on August 18, 2014, 12:47 PM »
You're with Learnable? Awesome! I really like those folks.
-40hz (August 18, 2014, 12:02 PM)

After 40 posted something about them, I actually signed up :)
4517
General Software Discussion / Re: Frustrated Mom Creates ‘Ignore No More’ App To Get Teen Kids To Return Calls
« Last post by wraith808 on August 18, 2014, 11:34 AM »
There are also different technologies and such that are available that weren't when we were kids.  Just because we didn't necessarily *need* it, is that a reason not to use it?  The problem is in the application, not in the technology itself.  And I just have a problem with the 'leveling' of technology when it's a people problem.  It's a tool, and under the correct circumstance, its application can be warranted.
4518
General Software Discussion / Re: Frustrated Mom Creates ‘Ignore No More’ App To Get Teen Kids To Return Calls
« Last post by wraith808 on August 17, 2014, 08:03 PM »
^Don't think so. Re-read it again. ;)

This is being advanced in the name of "the children." ;D
-40hz (August 17, 2014, 01:37 PM)

She didn't make a new android device.  She made an app.  And apps are limited by ... the device it is on.  She just programmed it to do something different.  The technology was already there.

“We need to develop an app that just shuts their phone completely down and they can’t even use it,” Standifird said. “And I started — literally just started researching how to develop an app.”

Now who needs to read it again? ;)

Perhaps it might be better thought of as, "I bought this device for you to use. The next thing it is going to be used for is to call me."
-Renegade (August 17, 2014, 07:52 PM)

Exactly.
4519
General Software Discussion / Re: Frustrated Mom Creates ‘Ignore No More’ App To Get Teen Kids To Return Calls
« Last post by wraith808 on August 17, 2014, 01:30 PM »
^Even with that, the rest of my comment still stands. :)
-40hz (August 17, 2014, 01:20 PM)

Even without her making the app, the technology was already there.  So... that sort of pokes a hole in part of the rest of your comment. :P
4520
Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]
« Last post by wraith808 on August 14, 2014, 04:59 PM »
If you haven't seen Guardians of the Galaxy... what's wrong with you?  Go see it!  Then come back!  But if you have... spoilers follow...


4521
Living Room / Re: R.I.P. Robin Williams
« Last post by wraith808 on August 14, 2014, 04:42 PM »
Great Obit by Russell Brand

http://www.theguardi...madness-broken-world

Is it melancholy to think that a world that Robin Williams can’t live in must be broken? To tie this sad event to the overarching misery of our times? No academic would co-sign a theory in which the tumult of our fractured and unhappy planet is causing the inherently hilarious to end their lives, though I did read that suicide among the middle-aged increased inexplicably in 1999 and has been rising ever since. Is it a condition of our era?
4522
Living Room / Re: R.I.P. Robin Williams
« Last post by wraith808 on August 14, 2014, 03:28 PM »
Statement from Robin Williams' wife:

http://talkingpoints...s-parkinsons-disease

Robin spent so much of his life helping others. Whether he was entertaining millions on stage, film or television, our troops on the frontlines, or comforting a sick child — Robin wanted us to laugh and to feel less afraid.

Since his passing, all of us who loved Robin have found some solace in the tremendous outpouring of affection and admiration for him from the millions of people whose lives he touched. His greatest legacy, besides his three children, is the joy and happiness he offered to others, particularly to those fighting personal battles.

Robin's sobriety was intact and he was brave as he struggled with his own battles of depression, anxiety as well as early stages of Parkinson's Disease, which he was not yet ready to share publicly.

It is our hope in the wake of Robin’s tragic passing, that others will find the strength to seek the care and support they need to treat whatever battles they are facing so they may feel less afraid.
4523
Living Room / Re: Recommend some music videos to me!
« Last post by wraith808 on August 14, 2014, 11:34 AM »
Best. Cover. Ever.

Get Lucky on Bassoon and Theramin

4524
Living Room / Re: R.I.P. Robin Williams
« Last post by wraith808 on August 13, 2014, 07:35 PM »
A recollection from Dana Gould:

Two years ago, I was performing at The Punchline in San Francisco, and Robin came to the show with our mutual friend, Dan Spencer.

This particular batch of material was the first time I had touched upon my then still-fresh divorce wounds, and big chunks of it were pretty dark. The next day, I got a text from a number I didn’t recognize. Whoever it was had obviously been to the show and knew my number, so I figured they would reveal themselves at some point and save me the embarrassment of asking who they were.

The Mystery Texter asked how I was REALLY doing. “You can’t fool me. Some of those ‘jokes’ aren’t ‘jokes.” By now I knew that whoever this was had been through what I was enduring, as no one else would know to ask, “What time of day is the hardest?”

He wanted to know how my kids were handling it, all the while assuring me that the storm, as bleak as it was, would one day pass and that I was not, as I was then convinced, a terrible father for visiting a broken home upon my children.

I am not rewriting this story in retrospect to make it dramatic. I did not know who I was texting with. Finally, my phone blipped, and I saw, in a little green square, “Okay, pal. You got my number. Call me. I’ve been there. You’re going to be okay. – Robin.”

That is what you call a human being.

I'm usually not hit much by celebrity deaths.  This one really hit me.  And these little stories... make it hit me all the more.
4525
Living Room / Re: R.I.P. Robin Williams
« Last post by wraith808 on August 13, 2014, 12:46 PM »
He was also great as a serial killer in One Hour Photo
-Stoic Joker (August 13, 2014, 12:22 PM)

That was during the time when he was really letting the dark side out.

Insomnia

One Hour Photo

Death to Smoochy

One wonders about the year 2002 for him...
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