Recent Posts

4951

Living Room / Re: Huh? Thailand can put an American in jail for posting internet content??

« Last post by IainB on July 11, 2012, 06:53 PM »

Good news to follow-up on this: Thai-American jailed on lese majeste charges gets pardon

Spoiler

BP blogged on the Thai-born naturalized American citizen Joe Gordon who was arrested in May 2011 on lese majeste charges, then later blogged when the US expressed disappointment when he was actually charged in August 2011 for translating The King Never Smiles, and blogged again when he was jailed for two and a half years in December 2011.

Now, AP reports:

A lawyer for an American imprisoned in Thailand for translating a banned book about the king says he has been granted a royal pardon, and the U.S. Embassy says he has been freed.
Joe Gordon was sentenced in December to two and a half years in prison for translating excerpts of the unauthorized biography “The King Never Smiles” from English into Thai. It’s one high-profile example of the severe punishments given for comments deemed insulting to Thailand’s royal family.
Gordon’s lawyer Arnon Numpa says the royal pardon was granted Tuesday. U.S. Embassy spokesman Walter Braunohler says Gordon was freed that night.

BP: Because he was a naturalized American citizen, his case became high profile – although it was dwarfed by the Uncle SMS case – but in reality the pardon also stems from the fact he pleaded guilty and thus followed the traditional way of responding to lese majeste charges.  As blogged on the case of an Australian back in 2008:

I also don’t think publicity helps his case and the more publicity it receives, the more the “freedom-of-speech-loving elements” of the Thai media (i.e Sopon, The Manager et al) will make it a public issue. He has two choices (1) fight the case and spend years in jail pending his trial and appeals, or (2) plead guilty, beg forgiveness and receive a pardon and be back in Australia next year (in all lese majeste cases against foreigners I am aware of, all those who have plead guilty have been granted a pardon). Seriously, who would choose (1) over (2)? Who wants to spend a few years in a Thai jail on the grounds of “principle”?

BP: Given the way that the Thai system works (2) is the option that most people, including Gordon, to take. His pardon took a few more months than BP would have anticipated, but it was just a matter of time of when. His pardon, of course, comes just before Yingluck meets Hillary in Cambodia…..

btw, Who will receive a pardon next?

4952

General Software Discussion / Re: Problems with AMD/ATI Radeon HD 6500M/5600/5700 Series GPU driver/software

« Last post by IainB on July 11, 2012, 06:47 AM »

^That's interesting. This probably similarly affects thousands of users.
It's a good job that I found the solution I did, because I still can't install the v12.x Catalyst drivers etc., nor can I install the older drivers - at least, not using using the Catalyst install software, I can't.

However, I do have the latest drivers installed simply because I located them (they are in .msi files) in the Catalyst install package. I used 7-zip as a file explorer and to extract the files.

4953

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: FreeFileSync - automated backup - Mini-Review (updated 2012-07-11)

« Last post by IainB on July 11, 2012, 06:09 AM »

...were there any noticable differences between this and previous versions?...

-tomos (July 11, 2012, 02:54 AM)

No - nothing that I noticed, anyway. I was in a bit of a rush though, so could have missed something obvious.

4954

Site/Forum Features / Re: Moving messages to another thread

« Last post by IainB on July 11, 2012, 06:05 AM »

It might be that "GRI" is short for "Generated Random Information".

4955

General Review Discussion / Re: Microsoft Security Essential - new Beta out 2011-11-30

« Last post by IainB on July 11, 2012, 05:47 AM »

See also EDIT 2012-07-11 to Opening Post.

Just a note to say that when I installed the file for ATI Tray Tools (file: attsetup-[Guru3D.com].exe), it installed with no problems. Because I have Windows 7 Firewall Control, I guess I didn't notice that the install file had OpenCandy - which didn't install.
I just discovered today that the file has OpenCandy in it. This is because MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials) just today announced that the file was infected, during a regular scan. I downloaded the file again from Guru3D.com to check, and MSE immediately quarantined it. It didn't quarantine the file the first time I downloaded it (though it was the same version of ATI Tray Tools).

[ Invalid Attachment ]

Anyway, I "allowed the file", so it was released from quarantine.

Microsoft had a humungous Windows Update today, including MSE/virus file updates, so I guess it included a definition file that checks OpenCandy adware as malware.
Good thing too.

-IainB (July 11, 2012, 05:35 AM)

4956

General Software Discussion / Re: Problems with AMD/ATI Radeon HD 6500M/5600/5700 Series GPU driver/software

« Last post by IainB on July 11, 2012, 05:35 AM »

Just a note to say that when I installed the file for ATI Tray Tools (file: attsetup-[Guru3D.com].exe), it installed with no problems. Because I have Windows 7 Firewall Control, I guess I didn't notice that the install file had OpenCandy - which didn't install.
I just discovered today that the file has OpenCandy in it. This is because MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials) just today announced that the file was infected, during a regular scan. I downloaded the file again from Guru3D.com to check, and MSE immediately quarantined it. It didn't quarantine the file the first time I downloaded it (though it was the same version of ATI Tray Tools).



Anyway, I "allowed the file", so it was released from quarantine.

Microsoft had a humungous Windows Update today, including MSE/virus file updates, so I guess it included a definition file that checks OpenCandy adware as malware.
Good thing too.

4957

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: FreeFileSync - automated backup - Mini-Review (updated 2012-07-11)

« Last post by IainB on July 11, 2012, 02:10 AM »

Just did a detailed update to the opening post review notes (now re version 5.5, as at 2012-07-11).

4958

Living Room / Re: Petition - This Week We Kill ACTA - Or Get Locked Down In Monopolies For Decades

« Last post by IainB on July 10, 2012, 10:36 PM »

^See edit above.

EDIT 2012-07-11 1531hrs (NZT) - possibly this CETA bill is not an issue? (from falkvinge.net)
Alarm over CETA appears premature

-IainB (July 10, 2012, 07:35 AM)

4959

Living Room / Advice on protecting your data and your rights from **AA

« Last post by IainB on July 10, 2012, 10:25 PM »

Very good advice re use of full-disc encryption, open (insecure) wi-fi, etc. from falkvinge.net
What to do if prosecuted for sharing culture - stfu

4960

Living Room / Re: How do I turn off image attachment previews in Gmail?

« Last post by IainB on July 10, 2012, 10:05 PM »

Yes, it's not real learning. I deliberately put "learns" in quotation marks, because it doesn't seem to be defined anywhere.
My experience is that it does seem to work rather well on my incoming spam. In fact, it's very impressive!
It doesn't catch spam from hacked email accounts, though (how could it?).
By the way, as an information aid I also have this turned on in my Labs: Authentication icon for verified senders. Every little bit helps...

I suspect that @daddydave will have to develop some extra-cunning filters for his spam. In the past I spent hours, and got a headache from exercising my brain a bit and setting up some tricky filtering. That included breaking some rules - e.g., by filtering on labels. Filters seem to be applied sequentially (in ascending order of date of creation, or something), so it doesn't always work out the way you might have hoped it would. The design of Gmail filtering is not really as helpful/flexible as it could be, but I guess it was designed that way for a reason - probably to limit how much the user could screw things up.

4961

Living Room / Internet freedoms restrained - SOPA/PIPA/OPEN/ACTA/CETA/PrECISE-related updates

« Last post by IainB on July 10, 2012, 01:43 PM »

The Continuing Assault on Internet Freedom - via US Statute - is evidently is not going to stop anytime soon.
Article from publicknowledge.org:
Secret Bill Pushes Part of SOPA and Wastes Your Money

Spoiler

By Michael Weinberg  | July 10, 2012

A mere 5 months after SOPA and PIPA met their very public demise, a new intellectual property enforcement bill is on the fast track through the House Judiciary Committee.  The bill, which was largely secret until a day before it was scheduled to be marked up, is an attempt to revive an idea that was killed as part of SOPA earlier this year.  In addition to being a surprising attempt to develop intellectual property (IP) legislation in secret again, it highlights a phenomenal waste of taxpayer resources.  After all, what is going to improve our copyright system more: international IP attaches or being able to look up who actually owns a copyright?

The bill itself establishes an “intellectual property attaché program.”  Among other things, the program creates a new Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and seeds intellectual property attaches in U.S. embassies across the world.  The people in this program will basically be tasked with patrolling intellectual property rights for private US rightsholders.

Secret Bills Are a Nonstarter
Before getting to the substance of the bill, perhaps the most shocking thing about it is how it is being handled by Committee Chairman Smith (who was a driving force behind SOPA).  If Congress learned no other lesson from SOPA and PIPA, you would think that they got the message about not developing IP-related laws in secret.  But you would be wrong.  This bill leaked, fully formed, over the weekend and was scheduled for markup today.  Needless to say, this came as a surprise to just about everyone not directly involved with drafting it and provided a very limited opportunity to meaningfully participate in the markup process.  Step zero for any new IP bill should be a transparent drafting process.

Do We Really Need More Officials In Charge of IP?
While the intellectual property attaché program may be new, the idea of using government officials to police intellectual property rights for rightsholders is not.  We already have, to name a few examples, an Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, Office of Intellectual Property Rights at the Department of Commerce, Office of International Intellectual Property Enforcement at the State Department, Office of the Administrator for Policy and External Affairs – Enforcement at the Patent and Trademark Office, National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, Office of Intellectual Property and Innovation at the United States Trade Representative, and Intellectual Property Task Force at the Department of  Justice.

And remember, we still do not have anything approaching an Office of Innovation.

Cost Effective Ways to Improve Copyright
The real embarrassment here is that this entire debate is playing out while the Copyright Office is desperately trying to modernize our system for registering and tracking who actually owns copyrights.  Today, there is no way to electronically search the Copyright Office’s records for works registered before 1978 (some of which will still be protected by copyright in 2070).  In order to search those records you have to pay the Copyright Office $165/hour (2 hour minimum).  Additionally, the electronic registration process for new works has a months-long processing backlog.  As a result, only a tiny fraction of copyrights that are actually registered are easily searchable by the public.  This means that it is hard to find rightsholders in order to license their work or pay them for use.

And for most things the Copyright Office does not take credit cards - check or money order only.

These shortcomings are only the tip of the iceberg.

If we were serious about making the copyright system work better, step one should be to make sure that there is any easy way to figure out who actually owns what.  After all, it is hard to pay a creator if you can’t find them.  But instead, Rep. Smith decided to prioritize a secret bill to send government officials hither and yon in search of, well, something

4962

General Software Discussion / Re: Used Software Can Be Sold, Says EU Court of Justice

« Last post by IainB on July 10, 2012, 08:53 AM »

Interesting analysis of the Wiley v. Kirtsaeng case in onlinecolleges.net: Supreme Court Considering Ownership of Textbooks

Spoiler

Supreme Court Considering Ownership of Textbooks
by Alex Wukman
July 9, 2012

The math never really works out. The book costs $150 at the start of the semester, but the campus bookstore will pay less than half at the end. There might be a better price across town, or it might just be a waste of gas. In an attempt to help students get the most from the books, and streamline the process of selling textbooks, retailers and tech startups are taking book listings from flyers tacked to the wall to iPhones and iPads.

Jupiter, Fla. based Buy Back Textbooks unveiled a new Apple app that allows students to scan a book’s barcode and determine which store is offering the most money for that edition and online book buyback company MyBookBuyer.com recently added the one millionth title to their purchase list. While this may be good news for students, it couldn’t come at a more difficult time for the secondary textbook market.

Within weeks the U.S. Supreme Court will hand down a decision in a case that debates the very nature of ownership. The case concerns a relatively little-known provision of the copyright code called the “first-sale doctrine”. The “first-sale doctrine” is the provision of the copyright code that allows for the resale of copyrighted material without having to secure permission from the copyright holder, because the copyright holder can only control the first sale of the material.

The first-sale doctrine has been recognized by the Supreme Court since 1908. In 1998 the Court ruled that the first-sale doctrine applies to copyrighted materials that originated and were sold in the U.S., even if that first sale was made internationally and the product was then legally imported back into the U.S. The case before the court now concerns copyrighted materials that have a U.S. copyright, but were never intended to be sold domestically.

In this case it’s the international editions of college textbooks, which are often significantly cheaper, than U.S. editions, that are being discussed. A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that the cost of the U.S. editions of textbooks rose 184% between 1986 and 2004, or triple the rate of domestic inflation, whereas the cost of international editions of the same books remained relatively flat over the same period.

The GAO concluded that the only way the massive price discrepancies could continue to exist was if there are barriers to the mass importation of international textbooks that “insulate students” from the price differences in other countries, which is what led Supap Kirtsaeng to the import business. In the late 2000s, Kirtsaeng was a graduate student at the University of Southern California pursuing a Ph.D. in mathematics, and when he saw the price differential between the U.S. version of a textbook and the international version he hit on a novel way to make money. He’d have his family in Thailand send him the books and he would sell them to other students.

It wasn’t long before his actions got the attention of the textbooks’ manufacturer John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Wiley, a $1.7 billion company, sued Kirtsaeng for violating their copyright by illegally selling the international editions. A New York District Court found that Kirtsaeng had violated Wiley’s copyright by selling $37,000 worth of illegally imported books. The court ordered Kirtsaeng to pay $600,000 in damages and attorney fees to Wiley.

In a judgment that some observers found to be overly broad, visiting Judge Donald Pogue ruled that any product manufactured abroad—for example an iPhone or an iPad—is exempt from the first-sale doctrine. In his ruling, Pogue stated that the lack of clarity in the case law, and the exemption of foreign manufactured items from first-sale doctrine, could create some unforeseen problems. One of the hypothetical situations Pogue envisions is U.S. firms increasingly offshoring their manufacturing. He went on to state that the lack of clarity in the law must be addressed by Congress.

Kirtsaeng appealed, and the judgment was upheld in the Second Circuit court. Because of the wide-reaching implications of defining ownership based solely on point of origin, the case has drawn the attention of a wide swath of copyright watchers from the Electronic Frontier Foundation to the American Free Trade Association, both e-bay and the American Libraries Association have submitted friend-of-the-court briefs in support of Kirtsaeng.

The uncertainties of ownership being deliberated by the Justices are not just limited to physical products manufactured overseas. A federal district court in New York recently issued a default judgment in favor of John Wiley & Sons which had brought suit against Robert Carpenter, a Poughkeepsie, N.Y. resident who had shared a copy of Wiley’s book WordPress All-in-One For Dummies over the popular streaming site BitTorrent.

Judge William Pauley ordered Carpenter, who failed to appear in court, to pay $7,000 in damages to the publisher for infringing both Wiley’s copyright and trademark. The inclusion of trademark infringement raises the case from a copyright violation to the realm of counterfeiting, which may mark the first time that a digital copy has been found to be an imitation of a physical object.

Carpenter’s was the first case of over a dozen mass lawsuits Wiley filed against BitTorrent users in October 2011 that saw the inside of a courtroom. In the filings the publisher alleged that some of its titles, including the one Carpenter downloaded, were shared over 70,000 times by hundreds of users. In order to proceed with the case, Judge Pauley has repeatedly allowed Wiley’s attorneys to subpoena internet service providers for account holders’ personal information.

In a statement to internet publication Torrent Freak, Wiley’s attorney, William Dunnegan, described receiving access to the personal details of those who allegedly downloaded copyrighted material as “one of the main goals” of the legal campaign. Dunnegan went on to state that Wiley is primarily interested in resolving the cases through out of court settlements, a tactic which keeps the amount of money the publisher receives from each settlement confidential. However, some estimates have put the amount Wiley has received as high as $1 million.
Follow Alex Wukman on Twitter @AlexWukmanCMN

4963

Living Room / Re: Petition - This Week We Kill ACTA - Or Get Locked Down In Monopolies For Decades

« Last post by IainB on July 10, 2012, 07:35 AM »

Despite the success, here's somewhat disheartening news via Slashdot: Bye ACTA, Hello CETA

Posted by Unknown Lamer on Tuesday July 10, @05:10AM
from the hide-it-in-subsection-c-part-seventeen dept.

New submitter xSander writes "Is anyone really surprised by this? ACTA may have been rejected by the European Parliment, but it is far from dead yet. Apparently, the EU is trying to revive ACTA through the Canada-EU Trade Agreement (CETA)." The article contains a handy side-by-side comparison of the CETA clauses that are nearly identical to ones found in ACTA.

EDIT 2012-07-11 1531hrs (NZT) - possibly this CETA bill is not an issue? (from falkvinge.net)
Alarm over CETA appears premature

EDIT 2012-07-13 1842hrs (NZT)
Oh dear, looks like it is an issue. (from falkvinge.net)
Bad faith from European Commission indicates CETA may be ACTA episode II after all

4964

Living Room / Re: DOTCOM saga - updates

« Last post by IainB on July 10, 2012, 06:58 AM »

News via torrent freak: Kim Dotcom’s Extradition Hearing Delayed Until 2013

Spoiler

Kim Dotcom’s Extradition Hearing Delayed Until 2013
2012-07-10

Kim Dotcom’s extradition hearing has been delayed until 2013. The Megaupload founder and his alleged co-conspirators were due to appear in court on August 6 in a hearing scheduled to last 3 weeks, but legal issues including questions over evidence disclosure have put the event back until March next year. Dotcom has slammed the delay as “dirty delay tactics by the US.”

Kim Dotcom, the founder of Megaupload, the now-defunct site at the center of what is believed to be the largest copyright infringement case in United States history, will have to wait until next year for his extradition hearing.

The hearing, which would see Dotcom and alleged co-conspirators Mathias Ortmann, Finn Batato and Bram van der Kolk protest their extradition to the United States, was originally scheduled to take place next month in Auckland.

Following agreement between Dotcom’s lawyer Paul Davison QC and the prosecution, it has now been rescheduled for July 2013.

“It was inevitable that the hearing for August was going to be vacated because we have two existing cases in the High Court,” William Akel, one of Dotcom’s lawyers, told Reuters.

Dotcom, however, took to Twitter to voice his complaints.

“Dirty delay tactics by the US. They destroyed my business. Took all my assets. Time does the rest,” he wrote.

“The NZ government is refusing an NZ resident due process and a fair defense. Shame on you [Prime Minister of New Zealand] John Key for allowing this to happen. Shame on you.”

In recent weeks, legal arguments on a number of issues have further complicated the already controversial case, including an appeal of a court ruling last month that found the warrants used by New Zealand police to raid Dotcom’s Coatesville mansion in January were invalid, rendering the searches illegal.

Earlier, a judge criticized the shipping to the U.S. of hard drive copies taken from Dotcom’s computers by the FBI, describing the act as “unlawful”.

Last week, local prosecutors acting on behalf of the U.S. government argued in the High Court against an earlier District Court ruling that said Dotcom and the rest of the so-called “Mega Conspiracy” should be allowed access to the evidence set to be used against them in the extradition hearing.

Prosecutors said there was no need for Dotcom, Mathias Ortmann, Finn Batato and Bram van der Kolk to see the evidence because they are not being tried in New Zealand. Their lawyers disagree, stating that it is crucial the information is examined in order for their clients to mount a fair defense.

4965

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

« Last post by IainB on July 10, 2012, 03:16 AM »

Is there no Laugh?

-jadinolf (July 09, 2012, 05:37 PM)

Fixed it.   

4966

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

« Last post by IainB on July 10, 2012, 03:16 AM »

At least they admit it...

4967

General Software Discussion / Re: Is there a Firewall with a quick toggle per program, to open/close connection?

« Last post by IainB on July 10, 2012, 03:06 AM »

If it had the pretty icons it would be perfect.

-nudone (July 10, 2012, 01:22 AM)

4968

Mini-Reviews by Members / Microsoft Mathematics 4.0 - Mini-Review (scientific math + graphing calculator)

« Last post by IainB on July 10, 2012, 02:45 AM »

Originally posted:	2012-07-10
Last updated	2018-04-11

Basic Info

App Name:	Microsoft Mathematics 4.0
Description:	Microsoft's virtual scientific math + graphing calculator
Thumbs-Up Rating
App URL:	https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=15702
App Version Reviewed:	Microsoft Mathematics v4.0 (64-bit)
Test System Specs:	Used on: Win7-64 Home Premium Win8 and 8.1-64 Pro Win10-64 Pro
Supported OSes:	Win 32-bit and 64-bit (there is a 32-bit version and a 64-bit version)
Support Methods:	Download archive (no support per se) - here.
Upgrade Policy:	Not being further developed.
Trial Version Available?	Is $FREE
Pricing Scheme:	$FREE

This is a screenshot of the opening "Worksheet" tab of the GUI:




- and the "Graphing" tab of the GUI:




Intro:
This is a possibly "the last word" in calculators. It is a calculator extraordinaire and has an interesting history.
From: MS Download Center - Microsoft Mathematics 4.0

• Note: There are multiple files available for this download. Once you click on the "Download" button, you will be prompted to select the files you need.
  Version: 4.0
  Date Published: 1/12/2011
  File Name:
   * MSetup_x86.exe - 17.6 MB
   * MSetup_x64.exe - 18.9 MB
   * Readme_Mathematics4.htm - 7 KB
  
  Microsoft Mathematics provides a set of mathematical tools that help students get school work done quickly and easily. With Microsoft Mathematics, students can learn to solve equations step-by-step while gaining a better understanding of fundamental concepts in pre-algebra, algebra, trigonometry, physics, chemistry, and calculus.
  
  Microsoft Mathematics includes a full-featured graphing calculator that’s designed to work just like a handheld calculator. Additional math tools help you evaluate triangles, convert from one system of units to another, and solve systems of equations.
  _______________________________________
  

From: Wikipedia:

• Microsoft Mathematics (formerly Microsoft Math) is an educational program, designed for Microsoft Windows, that allows users to solve math and science problems. Developed and maintained by Microsoft, it is primarily targeted at students as a learning tool.
  A related freeware add-in, called Microsoft Mathematics Add-In for Word and OneNote, is also available from Microsoft that offers comparable functionality (Word 2007 or higher is required).[1][2]
  Microsoft Math has received 2008 Award of Excellence from Tech & Learning Magazine.[3]
  From: Wikipedia
  

This is a screenshot of the "Graphing" tab in use:




You can get animation too:




Who this app is designed for:
Though it seems to be aimed primarily at students, it is a beautiful calculator in its own right, being loaded with extensive calculator (maths and stats) functionality - e.g., it even has animation of graphing of equations.
The related freeware add-in, called Microsoft Mathematics Add-In for Word and OneNote could make this a tremendously useful adjunct for documentation exercises involving maths/stats.
(Unfortunately, I have so far been unable to get these add-ins to work. This may be because of conflicts with the 64-bit OS.)     

The Good:
This is just a simply beautiful calculator - the stuff of dreams.     

The needs improvement section:
As an educational tool or as a tool for daily use, it seems undeniably fit-for-purpose.
Educational was my original purpose in installing it - for my 10 y/o daughter's enlightenment, but it could also teach me a thing or two.
No shortcomings that I am aware of.
It is also a superb calculator, and I have been using it as such.

Why I think you should use this product:
If you need it for educational purposes, or for daily use, this could be the ultimate calculator for you.
I think it is a superb calculator.

How does it compare to similar apps:
I have not had any experience of anything quite in the same league as this, so have nothing to say about it here. Maybe some of the readers of this post will be able to contribute some comparisons from their experience.
As above, this could be the ultimate calculator for you.

Conclusions:
A beautiful calculator.

Links to other info sources/reviews of this application:

• Microsoft Download Center details - here.
• Wikipedia article - here.
• Review at technojourney.com - here. This is an example. If you google it, there are many references and videos relating to MS Mathematics.

Notes in the application itself:
The "About" window:




The comprehensive Help file:

4969

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: $249 Debenu PDF Maximus FREE today only

« Last post by IainB on July 09, 2012, 10:45 PM »

Thanks @Curt. I have downloaded, installed and run this Debenu PDF Maximus FREE version, and it seems to work fine. (Shall trial it properly later, when I have the time.)
During install/registration, it wanted to phone home, so I allowed it through the Firewall as there seemed to be no "OpenCandy"-type issues.

WARNING:
This Debenu PDF Maximus FREE version tries to phone home each time you run the proggie, so I disabled that in the Firewall. There seems to be no settings menu in the GUI that allows you the option to disable phone-home actions.

This is a security/tracking issue: I am always suspicious of proggies that phone home by default, when there is no need to do so, and even more suspicious when they bury the option to switch it OFF inside a complex nest of menus (a typical old Microsoft trick in things like Media Player, for example), or - as in this case - give you no option at all so it is always fixed ON.

4970

General Software Discussion / Re: Is there a Firewall with a quick toggle per program, to open/close connection?

« Last post by IainB on July 09, 2012, 10:20 PM »

...Windows 7 Firewall Control Free ... NetLimiter ... does the same, albeit with an extra mouse click. NetLimiter just has a better appearance and makes is easy to see (from a distance) which programs are blocked/open (because it has nice colour icons representing the connection state).

-nudone (July 09, 2012, 12:30 PM)

Sorry, I think I must have misunderstood your opening post requirement. I would not have suggested W7FC if I had known you already had something very similar (NetLimiter).
But that sounds interesting. I think I shall try NetLimiter out.
I can then add it to the list of the ones I have tried so far:

• TinyWallInstaller
• WFN (Windows Firewall Notifier)
• Windows Firewall Control v3.3.0.1 2012-05-30 - wfc
• Windows7FirewallControlPlus-Setup (PAID) - I incorrectly called it "W7FC PRO", in my comment above (now corrected).
• Windows7FirewallControl-Setup-x64 (FREE)

4971

General Software Discussion / Re: Is there a Firewall with a quick toggle per program, to open/close connection?

« Last post by IainB on July 09, 2012, 12:08 PM »

I use the Win 7-64 inbuilt firewall in conjunction with Windows 7 Firewall Control FREE to provide a quick toggle per program, to open/close connections.
It is brilliantly simple and requires no brain-twisting logic to set any rules. You just toggle an app ON or OFF through the Firewall.
I have since tried several other Firewall control apps. - including W7FC PLUS, and though they can undoubtedly give you a finer degree of control, they seem too tediously complicated and (human) error-prone.
So, I keep coming back to W7FC FREE.

4972

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

« Last post by IainB on July 09, 2012, 09:38 AM »

I was doing something on the website at http://www.codeproject.com/, when I got an error message. This was the image on the error page I got ("something bad happened"):


Loved it.   

4973

Living Room / Re: How do I turn off image attachment previews in Gmail?

« Last post by IainB on July 09, 2012, 08:41 AM »

I can't help re hiding or not displaying the images.
However, you apparently only have the problem in the first place because you have some new spam which is not being sent to the Spam folder. So that probably suggests where you need to focus your attention.
Probable quickest solution: If you just ensure that you flag each new spam item as spam, Gmail "learns" what is spam, and will pick things up from there and you should progressively find that these spam emails no longer appear in your inbox.
Try it and see.

4974

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

« Last post by IainB on July 09, 2012, 08:18 AM »

A young girl started work in the village chemist shop.  She was very shy about having to sell condoms to the public.

The owner was going on holiday for a couple of days and asked if she would be willing to run the shop on her own.

She had to confide in him her worries about selling the contraceptives.

"Look," he said.  "My regular customers dont ask for condoms.  They'll ask for a 310 [small] a 320 [medium] or a 330 [large].  The word condom wont even be used.

The first day was fine but on the second day a black guy came in to the shop, put out his hand and said "350".
The girl panicked.  She phoned the owner on his mobile and told him of her predicament.

"Go back in and check if he has a yellow bucket hanging between his legs" her boss told her.

She peeped through the door and saw the yellow bucket hanging between his legs.

"Yes", she said " He's got one hanging there"....

The boss said "Go back in and give him £3-50 .......he's the window cleaner"

4975

Living Room / Re: Post Your Funny Videos Here [NSFW]

« Last post by IainB on July 09, 2012, 06:07 AM »