Recent Posts

476

Living Room / Re: Raspberry Pi 2 Model B on sale now. Lots more for the same $35

« Last post by 40hz on February 03, 2015, 08:08 AM »

Gotta admit...I am HUGELY tempted to buy a batch of these to cluster together (Maybe 10-16 of them in total), and run Windows 10 on them...would be a sweet little supercomputer to have at home xD

-Stephen66515 (February 03, 2015, 02:09 AM)

Out of curiosity, how would you implement it? Using Arch Linux as a base and setting up a Beowulf Cluster seems to be what most are doing. But it may not be a panacea. I've heard that one of the limitations for clustering with the Pi is the lack of power in the CPU. So while it worked rather well for some distributed processing scenarios, parallel processing cases didn't work out quite so well. Maybe with the faster ARMv7 and that additional RAM it will be less an issue?

Another consideration - the roughly $2k (all in) you'd need to budget to do it right would allow you to build a bumpin' PC with a high-end i7 and a ton of RAM. With that machine you could run VMs until the cows come home. So it might be more practical for normal PC use if you don't actually need a render farm or similar non-mainstream environment. Because unless your app supports distributed processing, having a cluster won't get you anything.

Still...it would be fun to build one purely for esthetics...

477

Living Room / Re: Raspberry Pi 2 Model B on sale now. Lots more for the same $35

« Last post by 40hz on February 03, 2015, 05:38 AM »

This looks beyond awesome!...We are just talking about that in #donationcoder

-Stephen66515 (February 02, 2015, 04:57 PM)

Cool! - I'll cross reference it in my OP above and direct people there to keep it all in one place.

-40hz (February 02, 2015, 07:14 PM)

Erm, that wasn't a thread haha, that's the link to the chat room  Sorry if I wasn't clear on that haha  

-Stephen66515 (February 03, 2015, 02:06 AM)

Fixed. 

478

Living Room / Sad news for scifi booklovers. Borderlands Books of San Francisco is closing.

« Last post by 40hz on February 02, 2015, 07:49 PM »

SF writer Cory Doctorow posted some very sad news on Boing-Boing. One of the very few independent science-fiction bookstores left in the USA, the famous Borderlands Books in San Francisco is planning on shutting its doors by March 31, 2015.

Their blog post serves up a neat summary of the seemingly insurmountable challenges an independent bookstore faces under the current realities of retail book selling.

You can read it here.

There is still some small hope. From their blog:

Some of you reading this probably have questions popping into your minds -- Is there a way to keep Borderlands open?  What alternatives have you considered?  What about moving out of SF?  What is going to happen to the cafe?  Is the business for sale?  And so on.  Before asking us your questions, please wait for a week.  We'll be sending out and posting updates frequently over the next week or so and those updates will probably answer most of your questions.  We will also be holding a public meeting in the cafe at seven P. M. on Thursday, February 12th. We'll be on hand to answer questions and moderate a discussion about alternatives to closing the store.  Although we do not believe that any viable alternative exists, we also think that we have a very smart and imaginative group of customers.  It is not impossible that we've missed a potential solution, and so we want an opportunity to hear your thoughts.

Hopefully some clever Jill or Joe will come up with an idea in time.

If not, "So it goes."

479

Living Room / Re: Raspberry Pi 2 Model B on sale now. Lots more for the same $35

« Last post by 40hz on February 02, 2015, 07:14 PM »

This looks beyond awesome!...We are just talking about that in #donationcoder

-Stephen66515 (February 02, 2015, 04:57 PM)

Cool! - I'll cross reference it in my OP above and direct people there to keep it all in one place.

480

Living Room / Raspberry Pi 2 Model B on sale now. Lots more for the same $35

« Last post by 40hz on February 02, 2015, 04:52 PM »

It's got a quad-core 900Mhz ARMv7, processor, 1Gb RAM, and 4 USB slots - and the I/O ports are finally (mostly) grouped together.

Specs:

Here is the full list of specs for Raspberry Pi 2 Model B:

    SoC: Broadcom BCM2836 (CPU, GPU, DSP, SDRAM)
    CPU: 900 MHz quad-core ARM Cortex A7 (ARMv7 instruction set)
    GPU: Broadcom VideoCore IV @ 250 MHz
    More GPU info: OpenGL ES 2.0 (24 GFLOPS); 1080p30 MPEG-2 and VC-1 decoder (with license); ​1080p30 h.264/MPEG-4 AVC high-profile decoder and encoder
    Memory: 1 GB (shared with GPU)
    USB ports: 4
    Video input: 15-pin MIPI camera interface (CSI) connector
    Video outputs: HDMI, composite video (PAL and NTSC) via 3.5 mm jack
    Audio input: I²S
    Audio outputs: Analog via 3.5 mm jack; digital via HDMI and I²S
    Storage: MicroSD
    Network: 10/100Mbps Ethernet
    Peripherals: 17 GPIO plus specific functions, and HAT ID bus
    Power rating: 800 mA (4.0 W)
    Power source: 5 V via MicroUSB or GPIO header
    Size: 85.60mm × 56.5mm
    Weight: 45g (1.6 oz)

Info and order links here.

481

General Software Discussion / Re: stickies Notezilla memoboard as full-blown personal note system

« Last post by 40hz on February 02, 2015, 02:31 PM »

Outline 4D emphasizes in their blurbs screen writing and fiction writing.  And it does look like a solid tool in many ways. The question is whether it adapts well to non-fiction writing.

-Steven Avery (February 01, 2015, 06:40 AM)

I've used it for everything. It's not a genre specific tool.

482

General Software Discussion / Re: I've not been happy with Macrium Reflect Free, and perhaps their paid versions..

« Last post by 40hz on February 02, 2015, 10:31 AM »

re: Paragon. They make a fine partitioning tool. I own a copy. But I still think GParted is the single most useful and reliable tool out there for general drive partitioning work. It's FOSS software, very actively maintained and regularly updated - and it's free. This is the partitioner every Linux distro installer uses, so it's been extensively field-tested for reliability. I've never encountered any issues when using GParted. YMMV.

483

Living Room / Re: Memory lane for motorists

« Last post by 40hz on February 02, 2015, 10:04 AM »

I hate sites that provide only slide shows rather than letting you see a list of the items, and life is too short to step one-by-one through 100 slides.

-xtabber (February 02, 2015, 09:45 AM)

Agree. But  that's how it works when you get ad revenue for each page visited.

I went through 10 or so out of curiosity before I quit. These were all well outside my self-imposed price range.



Guess I'm just not that into it. My GF, however, would have probably run through the entire list. Unlike me, she actually likes cars. And she's not immune to the automotive siren's song of 'fine motoring.' (In many respects we're as opposite as they come. )

484

General Software Discussion / Re: I've not been happy with Macrium Reflect Free, and perhaps their paid versions..

« Last post by 40hz on February 02, 2015, 09:54 AM »

I have no wish to enter into a detailed analysis of what does or does not work in various pieces of backup software. My own experience with Macrium Reflect has been entirely satisfactory, and that's good enough for me.  

-cranioscopical (February 02, 2015, 09:23 AM)

Same for me. And same here. I've not encountered any problems with Macrium Reflect. It's always worked as advertised for me.

485

Living Room / Re: Interview with John McAfee

« Last post by 40hz on February 01, 2015, 10:25 PM »

Is it just me or does he look like some evil incarnation of the late Frank Zappa? He sure spouts some stuff good enough to belong in a Zappa and the Mothers tune.

486

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

« Last post by 40hz on February 01, 2015, 10:11 PM »

America's Got Talent - Lilia Stepanova

-bit (February 01, 2015, 03:48 PM)

Quite impressive !  I am just wondering why she is not using real arrow tips ?

-MerleOne (February 01, 2015, 05:53 PM)

Because accidents can happen? I'm sure it was the show management that insisted.

487

Living Room / Re: Memory lane for motorists

« Last post by 40hz on February 01, 2015, 10:08 PM »

Hey Chris? You need to fix your link above...

It's showing as http://www.carophile...nged-history/http://

488

Living Room / Re: server 2008r2 x64 VPN to Windows 8.1 Home Premium x64 for remote access

« Last post by 40hz on February 01, 2015, 10:04 PM »

Any advice on the best way to accomplish this on a small scale would be appreciated.  This is not a "Domain" network, simply a need to share file access by about 30 people regardless of whether they are on-site or working from home or on the road.

-questorfla (February 01, 2015, 03:08 PM)

I'd strongly advise you to set yourself up to use a domain and AD if at all possible. Microsoft's entire security model is built around using both of them. Once those are in place, everything (i.e. additional "roles" such as VPN, routing, and remote access/desktop services becomes relatively easy to accomplish using the features built into Windows Server itself. (Note: you'll also want a separate hardware based firewall in addition to what Microsoft provides on your network perimeter for boundary protection.)

This is something you really might want to consider having someone (who's local) handle for you if you haven't done this sort of project before. Seriously! To do it right isn't something that can be accomplished by simply working off a checklist if you don't know the ramifications, or the whys & wherefores. Done wrong, it can open your company up to a host of headaches and woes.

So again, I'd have to recommend you contract with some qualified local resource to help you out with this one. It shouldn't be that expensive.

Just my  

489

Living Room / Re: Do we have any musical people on DC?

« Last post by 40hz on February 01, 2015, 09:13 PM »

stoic bassists...lol.  Yeah, that is a thing.  

-superboyac (January 30, 2015, 01:07 PM)

To go back to the stoic bit for a moment, this is an example of that "gimmee more bass" thing guitarists love to do to their bass player when they launch into an interminable solo.

My old band had a few 'rules' when it came to solos:
 

• No drum solos. (fine by our drummer)
• No bass solos. (fine by me)
• Guitar solos to run no more than 1 minute long.
• Always leave the audience wanting more - not less

Unfortunately, my band had this one particular (very fast) song that one of our guitarists staked out as his showcase piece. He gradually stretched his speed solo beyond our 1-minute limit until it ran as long as he thought he could get away with. He'd just close his eyes and go into the Ego Zone until the rest of us (and sometimes the audience) were on the verge of mutiny.

When he launched into his solo, I'd be playing this for his backing riff in second position, with the metronome running around 155:



It's not a difficult a passage to play. But since this song was invariably played just before break at the end of our second 50 minute set (most clubs where we worked contracted for three 50 minute sets if you were the only band on the marquee) - it was not the most reasonable time to expect me to play this part for 5+ minutes straight while he bored the tar out of everybody. (I think he was doing it mostly to impress his girlfriend, who was convinced he was a 20th century Orpheus or something.) Nobody but him was shocked when our lead singer (who wrote the song) finally removed it from our playlist.

This is the sort of nonsense a bassist often gets to put up with.  

490

Developer's Corner / Re: Would appreciate some feedback on my new logos

« Last post by 40hz on February 01, 2015, 11:27 AM »

Since you're retooling your logo, a suggestion?

There is one school of wisdom (mine) which argues: "If a logo truly 'works' - it works as well in B&W as it does in color."

That's important because you want your brand mark to be readily identifiable no matter where it shows up. Not every publication or platform uses color - and color reproduction adds significantly to cost once you exit the web and enter the physical world.

While it may not seem that important now, what about in the future when you're (hopefully) the acknowledged go-to guy for all things game? What will you do for t-shirts, visor caps, and related swag when you do a keynote or sit on a panel at a gamer's convention? Or you need to emboss your logo on some hopefully "collectible" plastic trinket, doo-dad, or similar giveaway? Or to put it on something you want to sell on your website? If you need color to make your logo immediately identifiable, it will jack up your costs and selling prices.

So don't just think logo. Think identity.

Think of your logo in terms of how it looks on the web. On paper. On a t-shirt or mug. On the banner over your booth at a GameCon. In color and B&W. It takes time to establish a "look" and get people to immediately associate it with you. And switching horses later in the game can be costly, or in some cases, simply not doable. (There's probably a thousand successful businesses that absolutely hate their logo and corporate identity. But will they change it for any reason other than the most dire necessity? Not if they have an ounce of brains in their heads.)

So think it through now if at all possible. Because while you may be thinking "It's just for my personal website." - you never know when unexpected success may pounce upon you. Or you're forced to try to make a go of it professionally. In this volatile employment environment, "job-loss opportunities" aren't that uncommon. Many people, of necessity, started their own business or transformed a former hobby activity into one, after they unexpectedly found themselves out of a job. Cinderella stories do still happen. So prepare and position yourself for it "just in case."

Just my

 

491

Non-Windows Software / Re: Post your Linux/FOSS humor here.

« Last post by 40hz on January 31, 2015, 09:48 PM »

 

492

Developer's Corner / Re: Would appreciate some feedback on my new logos

« Last post by 40hz on January 31, 2015, 04:53 PM »

Agree w/Chris above. For same reason.

493

Living Room / Re: Do we have any musical people on DC?

« Last post by 40hz on January 31, 2015, 03:59 PM »

Getting away from all things bass (and bass players) for a moment (YAY!), here's something useful I recently found.

If you want a regulated hum-free power supply to handle multiple effects pedals, but don't cotton to paying the prices some of the commercial versions go for, it's fairly easy to build your own IF you have some electronics project experience.

The key to the ease of building this particular power supply is an unusual transformer sold by a company called Weber Magnetics. It takes 120VAC-in and provides eight separate isolated 11VAC @ 300ma pairs - plus one with 9VAC @2A.

If none of the above makes sense, STOP READING. You don't have enough experience or technical background to safely attempt a homebrew project like this.

To continue...

This transformer, which is specifically designed to power effect pedals, is called a WPDLXFMR-1 and it runs for $25 per unit. There's also a 120/220/240VAC configurable primary version for non-US voltages called the WPDLXFMR-2 available as well. Info and links can be found on this page - look towards the bottom.

 

Pedal and effects power supply transformer, Eight 11 volt, 300ma windings and one 9 volt, 2 amp winding. 120VAC input. This is a transformer, NOT a power supply. The output is AC, not DC. You must build a power supply that converts AC to DC in order to use this transformer.

Drop a voltage rectifier and (optional) voltage regulator circuit after each pair and Bob's yer uncle! A discussion (with schematics of suggested circuits) can be found on on the project page for the Geofex Spyder power supply located here.

I'm being sketchy about details because a project of this type involves potentially lethal voltages on the side of the circuit you'd be plugging into a wall outlet. If you don't know what you're doing - DON'T. And even if you do know what you're doing - be extremely careful. All the usual "At your own risk" disclaimers apply.

Note: This post is only being provided for educational purposes. Any safety risks are the sole responsibility of the project builder.

494

Living Room / The Serengeti Startegy - Sowing doubt for fun and profit

« Last post by 40hz on January 31, 2015, 03:27 PM »

Good read by Michael E. Mann over at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists website.

The Serengeti strategy:
How special interests try to
intimidate scientists, and
how best to fight back

Michael E. Mann


Abstract
Much as lions on the Serengeti seek out vulnerable zebras at the edge of a herd, special interests faced with
adverse scientific evidence often target individual scientists rather than take on an entire scientific field at once.

Part of the reasoning behind this approach is that it is easier to bring down individuals than an entire group of
scientists, and it still serves the larger aim: to dismiss, obscure, and misrepresent well-established science and
its implications. In addition, such highly visible tactics create an atmosphere of intimidation that discourages
other scientists from conveying their research's implications to the public.

This "Serengeti strategy" is often employed wherever there is a strong and widespread consensus among the world's scientists
about the underlying cold, hard facts of a field, whether the subject be evolution, ozone depletion, the environmental impacts of
DDT, the health effects of smoking, or human-caused climate change. The goal is to attack those researchers
whose findings are inconvenient, rather than debate the findings themselves.

This article draws upon the author's own experience to examine the "Serengeti strategy," and offers possible
countermeasures to such orchestrated campaigns. It examines what responses by scientists have been most successful,
and how to combat the doubt-sowing that industry has done regarding the science behind climate change and other fields

Read the full article here.

495

Living Room / Re: Who gets sued next? VLC media player? Mozilla?

« Last post by 40hz on January 31, 2015, 03:10 PM »

^Apologies.  But sooner or later we're all gonna have to acknowledge that a certain thing we were warned about - and possibly feared the most - has already come to pass. It's no longer a question of what or if. It's now become the far more frightening question of what to do about it.

I think the reality of our situation is getting ready to call our bluff very shortly.

Welcome to "historically interesting" times.

496

Non-Windows Software / Re: ALERT! How to test for GHOST security hole now affecting major distros

« Last post by 40hz on January 31, 2015, 01:14 PM »

However, there is a part of me that is really enjoying the peacefully quiet void left by all the idiots who use to yell at the top of their lungs about how Linux is the only operating system people should use because it would never, ever be hit with a serous security flaw like Windows has been in the past because of the awesomeness that is open-source software.

-Innuendo (January 31, 2015, 10:10 AM)

The operable word there is "idiots."

Nobody who knows anything about software, particularly operating systems, would ever make such an argument. In fact, the common wisdom for the last several years has been: When Linux reaches enough critical mass to be worth targeting, Linux will be targeted just like any other OS.

The big difference with Linux is how often and quickly issues get identified, publicly acknowledged, and fixed when they come to light.

I haven't seen that anywhere else. And I started back when things like Unix, VAX, VM/CMS and OS/360 were the operating systems that got used.

497

Living Room / Re: Who gets sued next? VLC media player? Mozilla?

« Last post by 40hz on January 31, 2015, 08:25 AM »

Note: personally I agree with you on the distinction. But it's lines like the above that (need to) get crossed if the system (and it's right's/freedoms) we know is to be properly and completely flushed down the proverbial toilet.

-Stoic Joker (January 31, 2015, 07:57 AM)

I think it's gone beyond that already. Right now we're waiting for the guy with the plumber's helper to show up, do his thing, and then give it a second flush.

498

Living Room / Re: AOL Shutting Down all of it's enthusiast blogs

« Last post by 40hz on January 30, 2015, 09:35 PM »

it does show the perils of becoming attached to free news services.

-wraith808 (January 30, 2015, 07:03 PM)

This!

I thought this part Brianna Royce's post neatly summed it up:

I would like to be able to tell you truthfully that this is an equitable and just decision that makes some sort of logical sense, but the reality is that our overlords' decisions have always been unfathomable. I know more of what I know about corporate from reading tech and finance news than through my own job. We all suspected this was coming eventually a year ago when a VP whose name I don't even know and who never read our site chose to reward our staggering, hard-won 40% year-over-year page view growth by... hacking our budget in half. There's nothing to do in the face of that kind of logic but throw your hands in the air. It's not about merit or lack thereof, and it's not about journalism or gaming being dead or anything grand like that, so there's no point in taking it personally.

But for me, it's hard not to.

499

General Software Discussion / Re: stickies Notezilla memoboard as full-blown personal note system

« Last post by 40hz on January 30, 2015, 09:32 PM »

I keep looking for tools to simplify this process, but at this point I'm almost philosophically convinced it can't be accomplished with a single tool.

-superboyac (January 30, 2015, 05:01 PM)

Something I concluded as well a few years ago. But that's ok. I'll settle for "good enough."

A lot of it may also be because I've become significantly less interested in information curation and more interested in ideation.

I sometimes think too much note-taking, planning, and structuring gets in the way of actual thinking and creativity. Because a lot of what they are is (sometimes superfluous) preparation to do something, rather than actually doing it.

Eventually I think I'm going to wind up reverting back to what I used in college before we had all this fancy electronically augmented note and process technology. Which is to say a pen, a couple of blank notebooks - and a rudimentary memory palace. (See Francis Yates book The Art of Memory if you want to get some historical background on the technique(s) employed.)



 

500

Living Room / Re: Do we have any musical people on DC?

« Last post by 40hz on January 30, 2015, 08:27 PM »

It reminds me of something I remember Lindsey Buckingham saying about Van Halen, which I completely agree with. He said his problem with their music is that Eddie's solos are like a completely different song.

-Vurbal (January 30, 2015, 04:27 PM)

Lindsey had a lot to say about a lot of things IIRC. Not bad for a guy who launched his career primarily by sponging off his girfriends and generally driving them clinically insane until he achieved his middling success. (As bluesman Tinsley Ellis so famously said when speaking of his own career: "It's been a long hard climb to the middle.")

EVH was far better on his first two albums than he was for much of anything he did afterwards. (And I think we can all agree that the Sammy Hagar years were the absolute pits for VanHalen.)

That said, I think the solos and guitar work on Women in Love, Beautiful Girls and Somebody Call Me a Doctor are among some of the best in the rock genre.

However, for really good rock guitar, I still think the pinnacle was Frampton on the Frampton Comes Alive album. Skipping the Heil "Bag" nonsense in Do You Feel Like We Do (hey, it was the times...nobody had ever heard much in the way of effects beyond a wah pedal or fuzz box) Frampton's playing was spot-on. He's also one of the few guitar players I think sounds better on a Les Paul than a Stratocaster. Not an easy feat. Les Pauls can sound amazing in the right pair of hands. Too bad they so seldom do find themselves held by such hands.

(Note: absolutely love Bob Mayo's gorgeous Hammond/Leslie and Rhodes piano work on this one too!)

Frampton's trick (if you want to call it that) is that he works his solos around chord forms rather than off of scale patterns. It's a more "orchestral" (i.e vertical structure) rather than single line scale pattern approach. It's how most jazzers think of things. Start thinking within the chord progressions - not memorized and heavily practiced scale patterns. Even his noodling is more musical than most guitarist's signature solos are. And that chord vamping he does towards the end starting at approximately the 12:04 mark is positively inspired.

Most guitarists today focus on scale patterns played just short of the speed of light. And the results speak for themselves. Fast multi-octave runs and riffing mostly devoid of musical interest. Or so I think.

Want to do a good sounding solo? Work inside the chord shapes and chord progression.

Just my anyway.