Recent Posts

4826

Living Room / Re: Website hacking - tools to help spot issues

« Last post by wraith808 on May 20, 2014, 11:12 AM »

I know that the datacenter that I use has something in place- it sends out e-mails to the user (and perhaps the admin) whenever any script is uploaded that sends e-mails.  I'm not sure of *how* it does it- but I do know it's at least possible.

Note: If this is the first time you received this mail, it contains the history for the entire month so far.

Below are the recently upload scripts that contain code to send email.  You may wish to inspect them to ensure they are not sending out SPAM.

It does come from cPanel on my server, so perhaps it's something in that?  I did some searching on newmailcgi which is in the subject for those e-mails- it's apparently a setting in WHM, though I can't seen any verification of the same.

4827

Developer's Corner / Re: Want to make some extra coin? Like a LOT of extra coin? BIG BOUNTY!

« Last post by wraith808 on May 19, 2014, 11:39 AM »

Man! What an ugly world some of you are living in. Sure glad I don't live there! 

-40hz (May 19, 2014, 09:46 AM)

Not an ugly world.  Just one in which most people will act in their own best self-interest.  There are some that can resist the lure of power, but it is a rare person.  And usually those people are chosen by circumstance, rather than seekers of the post.  The key to resistance, IMO, is the idea of servant-hood rather than control.  And too many people in power don't realize that noblesse oblige is not just for nobles- or more simply, with great power comes great responsibility.  If you take that responsibility in the way intended, i.e. to serve and not to control, to be wielded by and not to be wielded, then you can end up with a very good leader.

Pretty alien, these days.

4828

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: NoteFrog Pro (clipboard information manager) - Mini-Review

« Last post by wraith808 on May 18, 2014, 09:14 PM »

Note Frog's look is distractingly busy-looking and hard on the eyes. I couldn't see myself willingly spending a lot of time in it because of that. The interface isn't XP...or even Win98. It looks closer to an early Delphi app under Windows for Workgroups, or possibly something written for a Commodore 64. At least to my tired eyes.

A pretty interface won't make a bad app into good one. But it can certainly make a very good app look like a bad app. And with all the competition in this category of product, a dev might not get a second chance if the interface is a turn-off.

-40hz (May 18, 2014, 06:34 PM)

Yeah, it might seem shallow, but it's a valid concern.

4829

Developer's Corner / Re: Want to make some extra coin? Like a LOT of extra coin? BIG BOUNTY!

« Last post by wraith808 on May 18, 2014, 09:13 PM »

No. It's not so much people suck as they get weird - and do weird things - around money.

-40hz (May 18, 2014, 06:11 PM)

I don't think that it's money.  I think it's the same thing that everything has been rooted to before money even existed as a concept- power.  All else is just an expression of this.  Power corrupts- and all of the expressions of it also.

4830

Developer's Corner / Re: Want to make some extra coin? Like a LOT of extra coin? BIG BOUNTY!

« Last post by wraith808 on May 18, 2014, 05:35 PM »

So while I think it's great that Mssr. Jannsens has proposed this (hopefully with the most noble of intentions) I don't think it will ultimately turn out much different than what has gone before it.

-40hz (May 18, 2014, 11:22 AM)

In short, people suck.  And the more power they have, the more they suck.  So, it's just the option of the person that's doing the sucking.

4831

Living Room / Net Neutrality is REALLY dead

« Last post by wraith808 on May 16, 2014, 01:07 PM »

The Government Just Turned the Internet Into the Equivalent of First Class and Coach

It's official: The FCC is moving ahead with their plan to replace its discarded open Internet rules with new ones that will allow Internet companies to pay for fast lanes, voting 3-2 in favor of the ISP-favored plan.

Here's how it works: Under the FCC's new rules, companies that deliver content over the Internet like Netflix, Amazon Instant, YouTube, and even PolicyMic could now pay ISPs for direct access to their customers. Those who don't pay will be treated like all other data, even if they need to relay high-capacity things like streaming video or cloud storage. That means paying companies' content will arrive much faster than content from other Internet companies, who will be stuck in a de facto slow lane. The end result is that companies that can't afford to pay for special treatment will reach fewer people and be at a competitive disadvantage in the marketplace.

Detractors of the new proposal fear that ISPs will simply charge escalating fees for direct access and continue to stall upgrading their outdated communications infrastructure, meaning slow lanes will end up even further behind the fast lanes. Further opposition to such agreements stems from the widespread perception that rich, established companies will be able to wall off the market, preventing competitors that would need to send large amounts of data from entering the market.

Arstechnica reports that two protesters were led out of the meeting after disrupting proceedings. Mass protests both outside the commission's offices and online coincided with the vote.

(more at link)

4832

Developer's Corner / Re: TextAdept: Lua-extensible Editor

« Last post by wraith808 on May 13, 2014, 04:51 PM »

Also, no Pascal lexer, and no option to build, compile, or run from the editor (that I could see).

-Edvard (May 12, 2014, 09:58 PM)

CTRL+SHIFT+P - search for packages, and clikc on install packages.  Search for Pascal.

https://atom.io/packages/language-pascal

You can also remove packages that you don't need to speed it up... there's even a timecop package that's included that will narrow down the items that made it take a long time.

4833

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Atom - A new editor is born

« Last post by wraith808 on May 10, 2014, 11:04 AM »

Hmmm... they say the windows version is 32-bit, but it has the 64-bit version of node.exe included, and some other things.

4834

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Atom - A new editor is born

« Last post by wraith808 on May 09, 2014, 05:06 PM »

"... After struggling to build Atom on windows, I've finally managed to make a redistributable package for it. Unfortunately there's no official release for Windows yet, so I had to take matters into my own hands ...":
http://blog.someguy1...-builds-for-windows/

-panzer (May 09, 2014, 03:17 AM)

275MB installed?!?  That seems like a lot... but I'm still trying it.

4835

Developer's Corner / Re: No .NET Framework, no problem!

« Last post by wraith808 on May 07, 2014, 10:06 AM »

I don't think you can get independence and size in the same package.  It's going to at least increase with the number of libraries you have linked- just common sense there.  I guess the thing to see is the size of the base libraries.

4836

Living Room / Re: Kickstarter project hit by consumer protection complaint for failure to deliver

« Last post by wraith808 on May 06, 2014, 10:50 PM »

On the issue of delivering a physical product we should be very careful if we are willing to let kickstarter (or anybody else) off the hook. Dangerous path here.

-rgdot (May 06, 2014, 05:00 PM)

But kickstarter isn't delivering a physical product.  The campaign organizer is.  And should be held to some sort of accountability.  Especially if he just disappeared.

-wraith808 (May 06, 2014, 05:10 PM)

Ceding accountability anywhere in the supply chain is a slippery slope that will be exploited, if not by kickstarter then by another.

-rgdot (May 06, 2014, 05:35 PM)

How is kickstarter part of the supply chain?

-wraith808 (May 06, 2014, 05:59 PM)

How do you not consider it? By that logic you can never complain to ebay

-rgdot (May 06, 2014, 08:39 PM)

There are several kickstarters where there is nothing to be delivered.  Where is the supply chain?  A supply chain in general is when you order something for funds- the chain from the point of manufacture to the point of delivery is the supply chain.  Note that the point of sale is *not* included in a supply chain.  The primary function of SCM, then is to facilitate the most efficient manner of delivering product from the manufacturer to the end user.  No supply chain has been created until there is a product that is to be shipped.  Ergo, Kickstarter is not a part of that chain.

So can Kickstarter itself get into trouble over any of this? It's a definite possibility although the state attorneys don't seem to be interested in pursuing that argument right now. And I'm guessing they won't in this particular case because it would seem a bit of a stretch for them to go after Kickstarter. And I think most people would see it that way too.

-40hz (May 06, 2014, 09:30 PM)

You can be taken to court over anything or nothing, and what comes out is based in large part on the skill and connections of the lawyers involved and the particular judge that is assigned the case.  So yes, they could be taken to court.  But the interpretation of that particular case is still very much in the air.   Which is more the reason that I think that they are not in any crosshairs right now- to get the case against the actual perpetrator would be the first step even if they were going to pursue anything against Kickstarter- in order to build precedent and not overreach.

All of that said, I still find it a tenuous link.  And your statement about the fact that they filter content?  Billboards do the same.  In fact any advertisement channel does.

Note: the law doesn't deal in analogies. Things aren't "like" something when it comes to legal reasoning. Things "are" either A or B - they're not "like" A or B. That's an important distinction. Because the law is all about definition and legal theories.

-40hz (May 06, 2014, 09:30 PM)

This is not something that I don't know.  Perhaps we are looking at specious in a different light.  When I say specious, I mean something that on the surface appears to be fair, but isn't.  The legalities of the same don't enter into that equation.

4837

Living Room / Re: Kickstarter project hit by consumer protection complaint for failure to deliver

« Last post by wraith808 on May 06, 2014, 05:59 PM »

On the issue of delivering a physical product we should be very careful if we are willing to let kickstarter (or anybody else) off the hook. Dangerous path here.

-rgdot (May 06, 2014, 05:00 PM)

But kickstarter isn't delivering a physical product.  The campaign organizer is.  And should be held to some sort of accountability.  Especially if he just disappeared.

-wraith808 (May 06, 2014, 05:10 PM)

Ceding accountability anywhere in the supply chain is a slippery slope that will be exploited, if not by kickstarter then by another.

-rgdot (May 06, 2014, 05:35 PM)

How is kickstarter part of the supply chain?

4838

Living Room / Re: Kickstarter project hit by consumer protection complaint for failure to deliver

« Last post by wraith808 on May 06, 2014, 05:10 PM »

On the issue of delivering a physical product we should be very careful if we are willing to let kickstarter (or anybody else) off the hook. Dangerous path here.

-rgdot (May 06, 2014, 05:00 PM)

But kickstarter isn't delivering a physical product.  The campaign organizer is.  And should be held to some sort of accountability.  Especially if he just disappeared.

That's rather unfortunate. People really should make an effort to read some of this stuff. Because it's those persnickety details and legal theories that our business and financial world operates under. And sometimes, once you struggle through and actually read real court filings, you develop an appreciation for the logic behind it as well.

-40hz (May 06, 2014, 03:49 PM)

I understand the legalities behind it.  I still call it specious.  Just as the lawsuits following IPOs and the lawyers that specialize in them I find smarmy.  Sort of like ambulance chasers.

Kickstarter is not entering into a business agreement with the backers nor the project owners, other than to be a platform to organize, which is where their cut comes from.  I think if it was a flat fee then it would be a lot more obvious- the percentage is where it gets muddy.  But I think that the principle is still the same.

If a person advertises on a billboard, and people are dissatisfied with the outcome of their transaction regarding the product advertised, is the owner of the billboard responsible?

4839

Developer's Corner / No .NET Framework, no problem!

« Last post by wraith808 on May 06, 2014, 03:34 PM »

Writing code in C# .NET means that the end users machine also needs to support the .NET Framework.  This also means that you can't really make .NET portable applications.

With the latest update introduced (still in preview mode) this restriction will disappear for x64 and ARM Windows Store applications. x86 and regular Windows Application support is on the charts. It still doesn't support advanced features such as WCF but is a good first step.

Applications compiled with .NET Native will have better performance as there is no JIT involved but will still have the advantages of GC.

http://blogs.msdn.co...-native-preview.aspx​

http://msdn.microsof...studio/dn642499.aspx

http://msdn.microsof...00165(v=vs.110).aspx​

4840

Living Room / Re: Kickstarter project hit by consumer protection complaint for failure to deliver

« Last post by wraith808 on May 06, 2014, 02:58 PM »

I think some chill breezes are about to start being felt in Kickstarter's cosy little virtual world.

-40hz (May 06, 2014, 02:07 PM)

I think two issues are being conflated here.

The first is the responsibility for delivery and the suit.  These are totally in the way that things should be done, and I think it's telling that kickstarter itself as a platform is not a defendant in the suit.  If you collect money, even on a speculative venture like this, you open yourself up to a responsibility to deliver. 

But I think that has little to nothing to do with the platform in and of itself.

Kickstarter gives a platform for the offering, and for that platform, charges a fee, and dispenses funds.  To expect that they would have control over each individual offering is pretty ludicrous.  Even the payment platforms, i.e. MasterCard, Visa, Amazon, have limits to the claims on such.

The first paragraph of the quote follows my beliefs, i.e.:

I've backed a few dozen Kickstarter projects over the years, and there have always been questions about possible fraudulent projects. While I've personally found that nearly every project delivers late (often very, very late), I don't think any of the projects I've backed has completely failed to deliver (there are a couple I'm still waiting on, though...). Still, the risk of such a "default" is always a possibility, and that's always been the case. Backing a product at an early stage always comes with the risk that it may never deliver. Kickstarter itself has tried to do a better job in making people aware of this upfront with its "Kickstarter is not a store" claims.

A few hundred in my case... and a few have packed up shop, but that's how I determine what to back and how much, and as such, the 3-5% failure rate is acceptable to me.  But if it weren't, I'd be within my rights to sue the project creator over non-delivery.

TL;DR  - the suit is unfortunate and the situation for those backers.  They are well within their rights to have pursued action.  But to claim that Kickstarter has an obligation or any power over the backend situation is a pretty specious claim IMO.

4841

Living Room / Re: Microsoft Races To Fix Massive Internet Explorer Hack

« Last post by wraith808 on May 02, 2014, 02:37 PM »

I don't understand why people keep calling this a Windows XP update. It's not. It uses the "Microsoft Update" automated update system to update a Microsoft product, namely IE. It's not an update to XP. It's an update to IE.

-Deozaan (May 02, 2014, 01:49 PM)

Because that's not as funny?  Nor as interesting.  It would just be run of the mill logic...

4842

Living Room / Re: Tech giants, chastened by Heartbleed, finally agree to fund OpenSSL

« Last post by wraith808 on April 29, 2014, 10:01 PM »

What are the strings?

-Renegade (April 29, 2014, 09:15 PM)

My question, exactly...

4843

Developer's Corner / Re: You have ruined Javascript... Rob Ashton on AngularJS

« Last post by wraith808 on April 29, 2014, 02:36 PM »

From the comments:

Rob, I think you've confused "over-wrought enterprise 'solution' with layers of unnecessary complexity and abstraction" with "lackluster documentation written mostly by architects full of jargon that's confusing to newcomers". AngularJS surely isn't perfect, but to suggest jQuery was the zenith of where we're gone with front end is throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

For instance, you say:

> What the actual fuck is this? I read this as "in order to do a hello world, you must first create a hello world service to create the hello world factory to create the hello world sercice so you can print hello world on the screen."

I feel that your negative feelings about this are due to a misreading and unwillingness to understand the principles Angular is built from, namely ease of testability, not from unneeded complexity introduced by the Angular devs for people who need "hand-holding", whatever that means. A "Hello World" in Angular would be something more like this: https://angularjs.org/#the-basics. No jargon, just note the two-way data binding. Hey, cool. Walk before you can run and so on.

> I'd write a plain old JS equivalent but trying to wrap my head around all of the indirection in the above example is making me want to crawl under a desk and bang my head on the floor until the brainmeats come out so I don't have to subject myself to this madness any further.

Instead of having such a visceral reaction, let's hear what you consider to be a better alternative. It's easy to criticize the work of others and not put yourself out there to potentially be criticized. If you can't be troubled to make an argument about why Angular is bad other than "I don't like it, meh, it reminds me of my enterprise days, oh by the way I'm not going to suggest anything better but I will vaguely allude to NPM modules as the golden age of JS" then don't expect us to take you seriously.

4844

Living Room / Re: Tech giants, chastened by Heartbleed, finally agree to fund OpenSSL

« Last post by wraith808 on April 29, 2014, 10:54 AM »

Well, isn't that nice of Microsoft. Considering they don't even use OpenSSL, to my knowledge.

Hmmm... not sure if we should be clapping for this...

4845

General Software Discussion / Re: Syncany releases working alpha

« Last post by wraith808 on April 28, 2014, 07:15 PM »

It's written in Java.   

-Edvard (April 28, 2014, 06:28 PM)

Just when I was thinking about trying it out...

4846

Living Room / Re: State of US Nuclear Silos (60 Minutes)

« Last post by wraith808 on April 28, 2014, 10:42 AM »

They're supposed to do one thing, and do it well.  If something is using time-tested tech to manage weapons that could end the world a few times over, I don't call that out of date- I call it reliable.

Quote from the comments that states it better:

Not quite as terrifying, but the Shuttle and the Hubble telescope use 486 computers in them. And the reason for is simple...if it isn't broke, then fixing it just adds risk of introducing new bugs or new vulnerabilities for not a whole lot of new capability. Maybe you get a cost reduction, but those kind of programs aren't run to minimize costs, they are run to minimize risk.

Now, those are extreme cases, but in general the defense industry prefers to design with older, proven technologies for new designs. They can't get 5 years into a 20 year program and discover that the state-of-the-art processor they are using has a caching issue or a bus deadlocking bug in it.

So you start with a brand new missile silo or airplane and it already has 10 year old electronics in it. Fast forward 20 years and it looks totally ludicrous.

4847

General Software Discussion / Re: Syncany releases working alpha

« Last post by wraith808 on April 28, 2014, 10:23 AM »

So... get to writing a GUI! LOL

4848

General Software Discussion / Re: Syncany releases working alpha

« Last post by wraith808 on April 28, 2014, 05:32 AM »

Along those lines, I've been using strongsync and it works well.  http://www.expandrive.com/strongsync

4849

Living Room / Re: WinXP is officially dead!

« Last post by wraith808 on April 28, 2014, 05:28 AM »

Oh, and BTW, I cannot tell you how many times WinXP crashed and wrecked its MBR, forcing me to run a complete backup restore from a backup HD to get it back.
OTOH, 99% of the time when Win7 crashes it retains its MBR and reboots in less time than it took me to type this.

-bit (April 28, 2014, 12:09 AM)

This.  So much this.  My last WinXP machine in regular use has this problem.  I just haven't taken the time to restore it, especially since its gone soon.  I just use my WinXP disk to boot...

4850

Screenshot Captor / Re: SSC Automatically Opens Folder with screenshot

« Last post by wraith808 on April 26, 2014, 07:29 PM »

found it.  Thanks!