Recent Posts

4576

Living Room / Re: Movies or films you've seen lately

« Last post by wraith808 on July 26, 2014, 05:48 PM »

I recently saw Frozen (2013) against my better judgement. I have no idea why it's such a hit. The lyrics were not very clever or catchy. Very little of the humor was actually humorous. They tried too hard to make Olaf the snowman this movie's comedic relief a la Ice Age's Sid the Sloth or Shrek's Donkey, but I personally didn't find much of anything he did or said to be funny. And while the woman who does the voice of the ice queen is a talented singer, I didn't feel that it fit her character or the movie very well. I really don't understand why "Let It Go" is such a popular song. It's not a classic, fun song that should be enjoyable to kids and adults alike.

Though there were 2-3 parts of the movie I found genuinely funny, most of the time I was just scratching my head wondering why people seem to like this movie so much, with its lame humor, lame lyrics, lame dialog, and generally lame plot all around.

I find myself more in agreement with these (paraphrased) words of a friend-of-a-friend's 4-year old son: "That movie would have been pretty good if she had died at the end. And if there was no singing."

I would not recommend the movie.

I also recently saw Despicable Me 2 (2013). From the previews I had seen last year, I wasn't too excited about the movie. It looked like it was just an excuse to have random "funny" minion moments. The actual film lived up to my expectations. I think they tried too hard to do more minion funniness, but it all just seemed too random; it was just for the sake of showing the minions doing hilarious things and had nothing to do with the plot. The plot itself was pretty weak. The whole movie seemed like just one big excuse to show off more minions and a couple of cute Agnes moments.

It's not as good as the first Despicable Me. But it was a decent waste of time.

-Deozaan (July 26, 2014, 05:21 PM)

I think both are a matter of taste.  I liked DM and still liked DM2.  Especially the storyline with the other agent.  My daughter LOVES Frozen.  It's her favorite Disney movie of all time.  I think that it really is a girls movie.

4577

General Software Discussion / Re: Is Antivirus Software a Waste of Money?

« Last post by wraith808 on July 26, 2014, 05:44 PM »

MS Security Essentials (up to date) and it was a concerted malware attack, i.e. InstallBrain, Weatherbug, Driver Protect, and one other to do with performance.  Her itunes told her that she needed to upgrade (which was valid) but some link came up and in a dialog to download itunes... but it was only 100k.  It was from what used to be a pretty good download site too... download central?  I forget.  Thankfully, she realized that itunes had never triggered winpatrol, so kept saying no- so many times that it asked if it was bothering her.  A resounding NO on that one.  I think when I upgraded her machine, I'd forgotten to install malwarebytes, so I reinstalled it, and was able to thankfully after a couple of reboots get rid of everything.

I think I'm going to invest in spybot as it's been pretty reliable, though I only use it when I'm cleaning someone's system... it's a one time purchase, which sticks in my craw less than a subscription.

4578

General Software Discussion / Re: Is Antivirus Software a Waste of Money?

« Last post by wraith808 on July 26, 2014, 05:08 PM »

I think anti-malware and utilities like Malwarebytes and WinPatrol are the better investment.  I've *never* been saved by antivirus.  My wife was just saved *today* by the combination of WinPatrol + Malwarebytes.  Her antivirus program didn't say a word before, during, or after the attack.

4579

Living Room / Re: Russia offers over $100,000 to de-anonymize Tor

« Last post by wraith808 on July 26, 2014, 05:06 PM »

Do you think this is like the truecrypt debacle?  If people are trying to break it, just by the fact that there is a bounty- your trust in it is less.  So you start to trust less in Tor and more in other ways of being anonymous.

4580

DC Gamer Club / Re: Anybody use or familiar with Roll20?

« Last post by wraith808 on July 26, 2014, 04:42 PM »

Yes, I have... it's pretty good, though there are many offline ones that are better... by nature of not having the limit of the web interface.  I actually backed an original project on Kickstarter that was to integrate with G+, but they ended up merging with Roll20 so I received a kickstarter account there.

Did you have a question?

Alternatives:
Fantasy Grounds - The rolls royce of these services.
Tabletop Connect - The Kickstarted newcomer
Screenmonkey - The upstart

FG and SM work the best... though if you're trying to do something that's not an RPG, Roll20 actually works better.

Other choices for merely the miniatures play part:
Battle map 2
3D Virtual Tabletop

And there are several different cartography ones for just making maps. (Going a bit off the path there, so let me know if you want me to iterate those)

4581

Living Room / Re: Director wants his film on The Pirate Bay, pirates deliver…

« Last post by wraith808 on July 26, 2014, 04:29 PM »

If you had printed the money, and nobody wanted to exchange it anymore, then yes, that would be a closer analogy.

-Edvard (July 26, 2014, 03:44 PM)

This.

4582

Living Room / Re: What about Condaleezza Rice and Dropbox?

« Last post by wraith808 on July 26, 2014, 10:58 AM »

So, you are either going to live your life afraid of the Boogey Man everywhere you turn. Or you are just going to live your life and only worry about confirmed Boogey Man sightings. And the Boogey man's name isn't Condaleezza Rice. The last big confirmed Boogey Man sighting, the name was Ed Snowden.

-app103 (July 26, 2014, 06:13 AM)

She's got a point there folks ... Not to mention that keeping people spooked, off-balance, and afraid of each other is all part of "the game".

-Stoic Joker (July 26, 2014, 07:27 AM)

Part of the game?  That is the game...!

4583

Living Room / Google Acquires Twitch for $1 Billion

« Last post by wraith808 on July 26, 2014, 10:48 AM »

http://www.geek.com/...r-1-billion-1600285/

Blah.

4584

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

« Last post by wraith808 on July 25, 2014, 12:33 PM »

Okay, Now ^That's^ Funny!

-Stoic Joker (July 25, 2014, 12:18 PM)

It is... and describes my dog perfectly.

4585

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Sublime Text Giveaway

« Last post by wraith808 on July 25, 2014, 12:14 PM »

Ditto, but it also brings a link to unsubscribe 

-Ath (July 25, 2014, 12:03 PM)

Yeah... I think he was just quoting the relevant part.

4586

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

« Last post by wraith808 on July 25, 2014, 07:49 AM »

The Comcast customer service disconnection call that went viral:

https://soundcloud.c...10/comcastic-service

Comcast responds: "He did what we trained him to do"

http://www.pcworld.c...ained-him-to-do.html

 

-Edvard (July 25, 2014, 01:23 AM)

Actually that second part was pretty good.  They took responsibility for it- not what you'd expect from comcast.  That quote was out of context.

But contrary to a previous Comcast statement that basically threw the employee under the bus, Watson seemed willing to share the blame.

"The agent on this call did a lot of what we trained him and paid him—and thousands of other Retention agents—to do," Watson wrote. "He tried to save a customer, and that’s important, but the act of saving a customer must always be handled with the utmost respect."

Watson added that Comcast will reexamine some of its practices as a result. "We will review our training programs, we will refresh our manager on coaching for quality, and we will take a look at our incentives to ensure we are rewarding employees for the right behaviors," Watson said.

4587

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

« Last post by wraith808 on July 25, 2014, 12:37 AM »

Two of the world's best ukulele players together onstage, backed by a majorly-good cellist ...

4588

Living Room / Re: Moore's Law Dead by 2022, Expert Says

« Last post by wraith808 on July 24, 2014, 11:29 AM »

Yeah, they said the same thing about 28 nm, and then 20 nm.

Moore's second law: Once every two years an "expert" will predict the demise of Moore's Law.

p.s.: Moore's law is long dead from average joe's perspective anyway. My six years old core 2 e7200 has comparable single thread performance to today's i3 somethings (which are curiously sold at the same price level my e7200 sold for in the day). Intel and AMD continue to add new cores but I no longer see real-world performance gains doubling once every two years. Well, at least they had a good run from mid-nineties to late-oughties anyway.

-eleman (July 24, 2014, 10:57 AM)

Yeah... wishing and saying isn't going to make it so.  And there was no scientific proof in that article that I could see... just convincing reasoning.

4589

General Software Discussion / Re: World's weirdest file manager

« Last post by wraith808 on July 24, 2014, 09:09 AM »

It did on the screenshots.

-Tuxman (July 23, 2014, 11:47 PM)

It did?  It seemed to me that's the same reason that you're dismissing it... so I guess that's even?

All those folders on the left side look ugly as sin so far but there's actually some interesting ideas there,
e.g. the dynamic thumbnails - they keep the same height but have variable width:
 (see attachment in previous post)
(needs justified paragraph formatting to make it look classy though)

-tomos (July 24, 2014, 04:08 AM)

Well, the folders are just taking the place of breadcrumbs, so it doesn't bother me.  But I do like the relative file dates.  Seems interesting to me, in all truth.

4590

General Software Discussion / Re: World's weirdest file manager

« Last post by wraith808 on July 23, 2014, 07:12 PM »

well, it was funded to the tune of almost 12k on Kickstarter, so there's apparently a demand.  And it seems pretty straightforward to me.

4591

DC Gamer Club / Get Sims 2 Ultimate for Free (Expires July 31st, 2014)

« Last post by wraith808 on July 23, 2014, 07:07 PM »

Just follow the instructions!

http://help.ea.com/e...ultimate-collection/

4592

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

« Last post by wraith808 on July 23, 2014, 03:49 PM »

You don't get notifications when the device is asleep (or sometimes ever, in the case of IMs). The email app expects to have a live connection to the server and cannot reflect actions like flagging or deleting email in a responsive fashion. Your phone makes a note to delete the email when you're in cell range and hides the message immediately. The Metro app just acts like it has ignored your attempt to delete a message while it frantically tries to connect to the server.

This is what I was talking about with the connectivity.

-wraith808 (July 23, 2014, 02:45 PM)

I see, yes that's annoying.  For me, I don't think it will be very important.  I think i'll just be using it as a portable desktop rather than some kind of mobile device.  I'm guessing i'm not going to be using the metro apps much.  I've always been a third party guy anyway.  I rarely use any stock windows programs other than Office.  i'll go third party just for the principle of it, lol.

-superboyac (July 23, 2014, 03:17 PM)

Are you going to be using it as a tablet?  I foresee much pain.  Which will lead to Anger.  Which will lead to Hate.  Which will lead to suffering.  Which will lead to the Dark Side.

... after all, Yoda said so.

4593

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

« Last post by wraith808 on July 23, 2014, 02:45 PM »

You don't get notifications when the device is asleep (or sometimes ever, in the case of IMs). The email app expects to have a live connection to the server and cannot reflect actions like flagging or deleting email in a responsive fashion. Your phone makes a note to delete the email when you're in cell range and hides the message immediately. The Metro app just acts like it has ignored your attempt to delete a message while it frantically tries to connect to the server.

This is what I was talking about with the connectivity.

4594

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

« Last post by wraith808 on July 23, 2014, 12:49 PM »

ok i see what you guys are saying.  it's an issue with navigation with the finger vs. mouse.  My assumption and experience from trying it out is that, yes, it's not perfect, but it's fine by me.  But maybe i haven't experienced something that you long term users have.

No, pdf xchange doesn't have an app version. I was just going to use it in desktop mode.

-superboyac (July 23, 2014, 12:45 PM)

Try it for yourself.  I'd suggest trying it before.  It really sucks.

Ever try to hit a normal menu with your finger?  It's an exercise in frustration.  And styli only make it possible... not friendly.

4595

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

« Last post by wraith808 on July 23, 2014, 11:27 AM »

I also like the fact that i can use my software like pdf xchange etc, which i prefer over my android reader (ezpdf). 

-superboyac (July 23, 2014, 10:51 AM)

Do they have a native app?  If not... don't really plan to use it.  Non-native app use sucks unless you're not in tablet mode, i.e. have a keyboard installed.

4596

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

« Last post by wraith808 on July 22, 2014, 10:06 PM »

However, I would also consider anything bigger than around 10 inches poorly suited for reading anything unless you intend to lay it down most of the time. I also wouldn't even consider a tablet with a desktop processor.

-Vurbal (July 22, 2014, 09:41 PM)

That might have been my problem.  I've been burned by MS several times in relation to them dropping platforms, so I got one that would still be useful even if they dropped the platform.  And when you try to do two things (desktop and tablet) I suppose it's inevitable that you'll fail.

4597

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Learnable memberships available @ $9/mo (vs $29/mo regularly) for next few days

« Last post by wraith808 on July 22, 2014, 04:39 PM »

Thanks!  Looks like a cool resource, and $9 isn't much to spend considering how much I spend on books

4598

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Sublime Text Giveaway

« Last post by wraith808 on July 22, 2014, 04:33 PM »

So it was just an email harvesting tactic?

-Deozaan (July 22, 2014, 01:07 PM)

Perhaps not.  But perhaps.  And the page hasn't disappeared, just the announcement.  Perhaps only the winner was notified, which happens with several contests.

-wraith808 (July 22, 2014, 01:44 PM)

I suppose you could always send a query to their sales department and ask if you're that curious about who won it. But with only a single copy up for grabs I don't think there's much financial incentive for the dev to be playing games over it.
 

-40hz (July 22, 2014, 03:49 PM)

This

4599

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Sublime Text Giveaway

« Last post by wraith808 on July 22, 2014, 01:44 PM »

So it was just an email harvesting tactic?

-Deozaan (July 22, 2014, 01:07 PM)

Perhaps not.  But perhaps.  And the page hasn't disappeared, just the announcement.  Perhaps only the winner was notified, which happens with several contests.

4600

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

« Last post by wraith808 on July 22, 2014, 12:45 PM »

those iOS music apps are pretty damn good.  Sounds like we're in the same situation with the different brands.

wraith, I'm a little confused by your post...
responsiveness:  i thought the surface tablet was VERY responsive.  What exactly was it not responsive with?  All my touches and swipes were as fast as can be with the desktop power things were very quick.

As far as skydrive and integration, that's a software issue, and doesn't seem to be a tablet issue, right?
Speaking of which, shouldn't a tablet running windows 8 PRO (not RT) have no issues with settings, apps, whatever?  These are all software issues, and I've never run into such an issue that can't be resolved by some kind of freeware or third-party tool.  Right?  Isn't that our experience with the desktop windows computer?  Unless it's a hardware issue, i can't see any real problems with using a windows tablet.

I say all this because I'm confused by complaints about the tablet that sound like they can be fixed with desktop methods.

-superboyac (July 22, 2014, 11:42 AM)

In terms of responsiveness, don't look at it with only the interface there, or one app.  Put it under normal load.  It takes a *long* time and a *lot* of apps in the background to make my ipad slow down at all- so much so, that even with 15 apps normally backgrounded, I never see it.  Try that on the surface.  I dare you.  Especially if a background app is doing something.

The skydrive and integration is not a software issue.  It affects anything that deals with cloud access.  Which makes it an OS issue.  A couple of examples.

1. I was syncing up some things between cubby and dropbox using Otixio.  This is something that I do all the time on my iOS device and it works fine, even if it goes to sleep because if inactivity.  Not only did it crap out when it went to sleep on my venue, I ended up with duplicates, and partials.
2. I was working on a document stored on dropbox.  I got called away, and left it up.  The synced version was an older version when I accessed the same document on a different machine.  If I work on something in dropbox on iOS (or PC, truthfully) as long as its saved, it is available on the other machines.  I had the same experience with OneDrive.
3. One of the things I do regularly is read.  Comixology, Nook, etc.  If the power goes off during a transfer, the app is forever in a bad state in terms of what has synced and what has not.

One might say these are issues with the applications at hand, and they very well may be.  But they are common functions- so if it is the applications, the API shouldn't allow the disconnect (Especially in their own app).  And so the perceived problem on my part is with the platform, as it happens across apps- no matter whose fault it is.

Which brings me to another issue - power management.  The power management in the surface platform is based on desktop paradigms, in regards to sleep and such.  That just doesn't work on a mobile platform, IMO.