Recent Posts

5001

Living Room / Re: Got a Damaged iPhone? You're Not Alone

« Last post by 40hz on October 02, 2012, 12:22 PM »

  Why would it need to become obsolete. My iPhone never worked completely right from the day I first unboxed it. And forget about it if you ever drop one. That's a guarantee you'll start experiencing all sorts of intermittent weirdness and connection problems.

5002

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by 40hz on October 02, 2012, 12:07 PM »

Perhaps you don't want to be tracked for how much technology you buy - computers, HDDs, cards, memory? Out of cash and out of pron?

-Renegade (October 02, 2012, 08:07 AM)

Especially the pron!

-Arizona Hot (October 02, 2012, 11:59 AM)

Why not? You'll start getting all kinds of personal email from sexy (legal age!) Russian hotties who want to date you once you get pegged as a pr0n addict. They'll tell you exactly what they want to do with you. And as a plus, they speak pretty good English too!

I guess Russian ladies really get off on porn huh?  

5003

Living Room / Re: VPS Recommendations Anyone?

« Last post by 40hz on October 02, 2012, 09:12 AM »

I'm Canadian, and actually have some rights there

-Renegade (October 02, 2012, 08:18 AM)

Maybe I should move there? I used to know people in Gananoque...

----------------

More on topic: agree 100% with f0dder regarding nginx. If you don't need the full smörgåsbord Apache puts on the table, nginex is pretty sweet. You can download their white paper and one-page info sheet if you're curious.
 

5004

General Software Discussion / Re: In search of ... RAMdisk opinions

« Last post by 40hz on October 02, 2012, 08:48 AM »

^Yes we can. Because you're being constantly monitored. By us. On O.B.I.T.  

5005

Living Room / Re: VPS Recommendations Anyone?

« Last post by 40hz on October 02, 2012, 08:02 AM »

I don't know what your motivation for bailing out of a US host is. But of it's because of differences over where the US seems to be going with its Internet policies and legislation, from what I've been reading, Canada isn't too far behind.

5006

Living Room / Re: Shooting Handgun Underwater - "Tactical Flowers"

« Last post by 40hz on October 02, 2012, 07:41 AM »

That can't possibly be good for the gun. I'll be keeping mine out of the pool...but thanks for sharing.

-Stoic Joker (October 01, 2012, 06:43 AM)

Probably. But if I understand correctly, it's probably much more a job for an AK-47.

-Renegade (October 01, 2012, 06:52 AM)

Yeah. Always bring an AK-47 to pool parties!

-f0dder (October 02, 2012, 07:12 AM)

Yup. I have a little list. They won't be missed.  

----------------------------------------------------------------
Addendum:

Just thinking out loud...once you're done with the 'marketing' video - why bother using a real gun at all? Just suspend the cartridge most of the way into the water and electrically fire it. Or fire it through just a rifled barrel the same way if it needs spin to get the proper effect. The barrel is already flooded using a real gun anyway. Rig up a floating block of some sort, load up ten shells at a time, and voila!...you have an assembly line going.

5007

Coding Snacks / Re: Dual Restart Program

« Last post by 40hz on October 02, 2012, 07:39 AM »

That is an unusual request. I too am curious about why you'd want to do something like that since I can't fathom a reason - or see what it would possibly get you. But I'm always willing to learn something new.

5008

General Software Discussion / Re: In search of ... RAMdisk opinions

« Last post by 40hz on October 02, 2012, 07:35 AM »

^ That's ok. We trust you. 

5009

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by 40hz on October 02, 2012, 07:33 AM »

But it sure does seem like a handy way to pay for drugs, and a lovely thing if you're intending to steal other people's coins and/or whitewashing.

-f0dder (October 02, 2012, 06:45 AM)

+1! Right up there with the raw diamonds.

Why should only criminals and government sponsored black ops get to have all the fun?

5010

General Software Discussion / Re: In search of ... RAMdisk opinions

« Last post by 40hz on October 02, 2012, 07:21 AM »

think 'weird' is a good adjective here, Curt - from their documentation:

In contrast to the most common encryption methods used today, which encrypt relatively small blocks of data separately, Bond Disc applies a strong cryptographic algorithm over the entire archive. In contrast todays block-based 128-bit encryption algorithms that encrypt a single block of data in a tiny fraction of a second are increasingly vulnerable to honed brute force attacks from attackers that have massive computing power available. Once a single block is decoded, all data that uses the same key loses its protection.

Bond Disc employs a computing intensive cryptographic algorithm that uses a combination of advanced data scrambling, bit manipulation, far data swaps, variable encryption paths and a strong correlation between the content and key to create an extremely strong encoding of an archive. A change to just a single bit of the content affects the entire encrypted content, that is every byte of it is changed.

That just screams "we're arrogant enough to have designed our own custom encryption scheme instead of using a peer-reviewed standard method" - and that's something that should set off a lot of alarm bells. Their intentions might be good, but there's very++ few people in the world that are qualified to write their own encryption algorithms.

-f0dder (October 02, 2012, 07:03 AM)

That's the fly in the ointment IMO.

It's not just a technical or attitudinal issue either.

When implementing security, you always need to ask yourself: Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Because when it comes to encryption, truer words were never spoken.

You are only as safe as the integrity of the software and its developer.

"Closed source" and "proprietary" are dangerous words when it comes to encryption tools or password management software. It's alarm bells time as f0dder pointed out.

5011

General Software Discussion / Re: which is the proven fastest way to search for and find a file ?

« Last post by 40hz on October 01, 2012, 08:55 PM »

I use Everything.  

Unbelievably fast even if you don't keep the background index regularly updated.

5012

Living Room / Re: What web sites would deserve more attention?

« Last post by 40hz on October 01, 2012, 01:30 PM »

Uhm. What about http://www.bonkersworld.net/ or smth?

-Tuxman (October 01, 2012, 11:38 AM)

It does have some amusing stuff Thanks

-jgpaiva (October 01, 2012, 12:44 PM)

+1!

Bookmarked.

5013

Living Room / Re: What web sites would deserve more attention?

« Last post by 40hz on October 01, 2012, 12:02 PM »

@Ren - Did you toss cynic.me up there as a suggestion yet? I'm a fan.

5014

Living Room / Re: What web sites would deserve more attention?

« Last post by 40hz on October 01, 2012, 11:36 AM »

I just wanted to show why bashing Microsoft while praising "FOSS" companies is plain wrong.

-Tuxman (October 01, 2012, 11:33 AM)

I don't think anybody is trying to do that.

Now do v-man a favor and suggest a good website so we can get his thread back on topic.

5015

Living Room / Re: What web sites would deserve more attention?

« Last post by 40hz on October 01, 2012, 11:31 AM »

Audacity is not a Canonical software.

-Tuxman (October 01, 2012, 11:26 AM)

Out of curiosity, are you actually going someplace with any of this - or is this just the usual game of devil's advocate you're playing?
 

5016

Living Room / Re: What web sites would deserve more attention?

« Last post by 40hz on October 01, 2012, 11:29 AM »

Is there any free Canonical software for Windows?

-Tuxman (October 01, 2012, 11:18 AM)

Um...Canonical makes software for Linux...Microsoft makes software for Windows?

However, the WUBI installer allows you to install Ubuntu inside of Windows if that counts.

And Wine will allow some Windows applications to work under Linux - not that Microsoft has anything to do with that. It's just another FOSS project.

5017

Living Room / Re: What web sites would deserve more attention?

« Last post by 40hz on October 01, 2012, 11:20 AM »

Because "free" is the one word Microsoft doesn't ever want to see regularly paired with the word 'software' - no matter who is doing the pairing.

Depends. Microsoft has a lot of free software available.

-Tuxman (October 01, 2012, 11:07 AM)

Which runs on their proprietary "not free" operating system.

Clever of them, don't ya think?

5018

Living Room / Re: What web sites would deserve more attention?

« Last post by 40hz on October 01, 2012, 11:06 AM »

Another good site deserving of a little more love is Distrowatch.  


--------------------------------------------------------------


Warning:

It is true that ReactOS has not advanced too much in the past months/years, but it would be great if it succeeded.

-vlastimil (October 01, 2012, 10:11 AM)

I agree completely. It's also good to see a 'built from scratch' alternative to Linux/BSD.

We don't want to get all our eggs out of one basket, only to replace it with a different single basket.

It is not that easy to kill an open source project.

Disagree on that point somewhat. Most open source projects are very easy to buy out, kill, corrupt, or cripple if somebody makes the effort to do so. Fortunately, ReactOS is a world unto itself so there's good hope it will be spared much of the nonsense and machinations going on in the bigger FOSS/GNU/Linux/GPL world.

In the end it's mostly up to the project's community of developers. ReactOS seems to have a good one. So lets keep our fingers crossed and wish them well.

The recent Oracle-Google case about copyright-ability of API and a similar case in EU seem to indicate re-implementing an API is OK, which is a good foundation for ReactOS legitimacy.

Also agree - but only up to a point. Because that only covers situations where the legal arguments make some sense and are based on some possible version of reality.

When true behemoths (like Microsoft or Apple) go up against a small project that states up front the following on it's homepage, it  gives attorneys a huge amount of running room for making a case for IP violations:

ReactOS® is a free, modern operating system based on the design of Windows® XP/2003. Written completely from scratch, it aims to follow the Windows-NT® architecture designed by Microsoft from the hardware level right through to the application level. This is not a Linux based system, and shares none of the unix architecture.

And when it comes to APIs and other "parts' of some big company's product offerings you need to be equally careful. Take Mono. It's a trojan horse AFAIC. The time will come when Microsoft lowers the boom. Expect it when Ballmer finally decides to quit the helm. He'll do the "dying general going out with a bang" routine. And initiating the Mono takedown will be his swan song. If it succeeds, it's a feather in his cap. If it causes a huge backlash, he'll be gone and a convenient scapegoat if Micorosoft needs to backpedal. Microsoft will be covered either way.

In the meantime, the 'sellout' Nix distros like Ubuntu, Fedora, and Suse will work out some sort of a license deal making them the only sanctioned platforms for anything that uses Mono. Which plays into Microsoft's grand strategy: first, drive a wedge into the Linux community and separate out the people who "play the game" (by Microsoft's rules), from those that refuse. And then pick off the holdouts one by one. Probably starting with the smallest (but still popular) distro in order to establish early legal precedent for their arguments.

I personally think Microsoft's real problem with Linux, and FOSS in general, is that so much of it is available at no charge. That is where they see the real threat - allowing people to expect to get usable and good quality software for free.

I think if most Linux distros and FOSS packages generally charged something, even as little as $1 - $5 a copy (like iOS apps) for a download, Microsoft would be breathing a lot easier. Because "free" is the one word Microsoft doesn't ever want to see regularly paired with the word 'software' - no matter who is doing the pairing.

It's all a matter of managing customer expectations. Or, in Microsoft's case, of lowering them.

5019

Living Room / Re: Multiple ripoffs

« Last post by 40hz on October 01, 2012, 09:07 AM »

Unfortunately, for some people, their overall disgust with all things related to patents makes them equate legitimate attempts to enforce a valid patent on something with patent trolling. An attitude which hurts legitimate inventors almost as much as the patent trolls do.

-40hz (October 01, 2012, 08:33 AM)

We were just trying to conserve our outrage...

...Sorry, couldn't resist...don't shoot me.

-Stoic Joker (October 01, 2012, 08:57 AM)

LOL! (Good one! )

5020

Living Room / Re: What web sites would deserve more attention?

« Last post by 40hz on October 01, 2012, 08:48 AM »

I think the next project, I'll try to draw a bit of attention to, will be ReactOS. With Microsoft making Windows more and more closed, ReactOS may play an important role in the future.

-vlastimil (October 01, 2012, 07:54 AM)

IMO ReactOS has no future. Like Mono, it's been left alone because it isn't presently viewed as a threat. The day ReactOS starts getting popular, Microsoft will litigate it out of existence.

5021

Living Room / Re: Multiple ripoffs

« Last post by 40hz on October 01, 2012, 08:33 AM »

What's the difference in those two scenarios?

-wraith808 (September 30, 2012, 06:07 PM)

Umm..the original idea and the functional design were unique at the time?

There were already numerous other ways toy manufacturers had come up with to attach blocks. Hilary Page's way of doing it was the first that really worked well - and brought a unique capability to the table. His blocks created durable assemblies - but were also easy to take apart. Almost paradoxical. (The depth of the pegs and their distance apart is the key to why it works so well. They have a wedging action unless pulled apart in a parallel motion.) A totally unique design. And neither obvious nor intuitive - which should be fairly apparent considering nobody has ever attempted to show prior art for that design.

But there you have it.

Unfortunately, for some people, their overall disgust with all things related to patents makes them equate legitimate attempts to enforce a valid patent on something with patent trolling. An attitude which hurts legitimate inventors almost as much as the patent trolls do.

In the case of Lego, it's interesting to note that Lego DK still doesn't claim to have invented Legos blocks in any of their official literature - although they do talk around it a bit to allow people to think that if they wish. And Lego did make it a point (afer his death) to buy title to Page's other designs...so ask why they felt the need to do that and draw what conclusions you will.

  

5022

Living Room / Re: What web sites would deserve more attention?

« Last post by 40hz on September 30, 2012, 08:49 PM »

Open Culture

What is Open Culture’s Mission?

Open Culture brings together high-quality cultural & educational media for the worldwide lifelong learning community. Web 2.0 has given us great amounts of intelligent audio and video. It’s all free. It’s all enriching. But it’s also scattered across the web, and not easy to find. Our whole mission is to centralize this content, curate it, and give you access to this high quality content whenever and wherever you want it. Free audio books, free online courses, free movies, free language lessons, free ebooks and other enriching content — it’s all here. Open Culture was founded in 2006.

Nerds in Babeland

About

What are some things the female nerd community would like to hear/chat or what do you “nerd out” about?

This group is intended to provide something of a co-op for female nerds/geeks/whathaveyou to come and talk about their nerddom. We want everyone to have a chance to chat and want to hear the voices of all nerds across the world! Come join us!

ManyBooks

ManyBooks.net
the best ebooks at the best price: free!


Browse through the most popular titles, recommendations, or recent reviews from our visitors. Perhaps you'll find something interesting in the special collections. There are more than 29,000 eBooks available for Kindle, Nook, iPad and most other eReaders, and they're all free! If you still can't decide what to read you might want to browse through some covers to see what strikes your fancy. Or try the Recent Additions to the library, with genre filter.

And that's just for openers!

5023

Living Room / Re: Multiple ripoffs

« Last post by 40hz on September 30, 2012, 04:32 PM »

It's not an issue of bad marketing or being ahead of its time. Go dig out the full story of what went down with that. You will be disgusted by the time you're finished.

-40hz (September 30, 2012, 01:03 PM)

It might in fact be the very definition of Bad Marketing. After all, no one said Marketing had more than a passing kiss with the Truth. So if one company is legit first, and the next company slams $100 million and pulverizes you, that's ... Marketing.

-TaoPhoenix (September 30, 2012, 02:37 PM)

No. Just what those who routinely exploit others would like us to accept as "marketing" and "business as usual." I personally refuse to let them redefine words and frame the debate to make what they're doing seem somehow acceptable.

I no longer concede so much as a single point to that crowd. Their behavior is not acceptable or justifiable. And it's about time more people started saying so.  

5024

Living Room / Re: Multiple ripoffs

« Last post by 40hz on September 30, 2012, 01:16 PM »

^I think part of that is because, in the US, having a business failure with your name on it isn't the automatic end of your career like it often is in many other places. People expect (or at least accept) business failures over here.

Bad as that can be at times, it still makes businesses and investors less afraid to take chances.

5025

Living Room / Re: Multiple ripoffs

« Last post by 40hz on September 30, 2012, 01:05 PM »

Those were absolutely not "ripoffs". Those famous American products

-TaoPhoenix (September 30, 2012, 12:45 PM)

Um...Legos are not an American product even if Lego DK is very careful not to claim to have invented the interlocking toy block it is based on...