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5476

Living Room / Re: Wikileaks - Julian Assange Granted Asylum by Ecuador

« Last post by 40hz on August 16, 2012, 05:16 PM »

Never knew the bulldog made such a good lapdog.  

5477

General Software Discussion / StressLinux - if you build, you'll want this.

« Last post by 40hz on August 16, 2012, 01:21 PM »

Recently mentioned at Distrowatch, the current iteration (07/2011) of StressLinux, a testing and benchmarking tool for system builders and hardware enthusiasts.

It's generally accepted that it is a good idea to test certain things before they are used. We generally test drive cars before we buy them and we try on clothes before purchasing them. Some people feel computers should be treated the same way, giving the operator the chance to see how the hardware will perform under heavy load. How fast can we write to the hard drive, how hot will the CPU or video card get, will the platform remain stable under stress? To answer these questions we have StressLinux, a small distribution based on openSUSE and designed to push your computer's limits. Carla Schroder wrote a helpful blog post on how to get started with StressLinux and she suggests some tests to try to find out how robust your hardware is.

Please note that this is a real "gearhead" distro, and is not for those of us who demand pretty GUIs or need a lot of hand holding.

The main screen looks like this:



So if you're not comfortable working in terminal mode this may not be the tool for you. But if you are (or you're willing to do a little independent self-education) this is a rather nice collection of utilities to have in your toolkit.

The Carla Schroder article mentioned by Distrowatch can be found here. It gives you a good sampling of what you can expect from StressLinux along with some idea of what you need to bring to the table in order to use it. Nothing overwhelming - we are geeks after all. And Photoshop is far more difficult IMO to get a handle on. However, some of the tools will require a little reading and study before you can use them effectively or understand the reported results if you haven't done much of this before.

Check it out. Free for the download. Like so many other things Linux.

5478

Living Room / Re: IndieGoGo Spotlight: Operation Let's Build a Bleeping Tesla Museum

« Last post by 40hz on August 16, 2012, 07:00 AM »

They should get stage illusionist Marco Tempest to help them promote it.

 

5479

Living Room / Re: Should we pre-emptively retire old hard drives?

« Last post by 40hz on August 15, 2012, 08:06 PM »

I've used SpeedFan in the past

Anyone know if SpeedFan works as a stealthy (i.e., no registry dependencies) portable app?

-kyrathaba (August 15, 2012, 07:49 PM)

Supposedly some previous versions used to also be available in a portable version. The most current version doesn't last I heard.

5480

Living Room / Is having everything available in "real time" where we really want to go?

« Last post by 40hz on August 15, 2012, 04:56 PM »

Hannah Donovan (cellist and former lead designer for Last.fm) has penned a very interesting essay over at the A List Apart website entitled: Everything in its Right Pace.

Some time ago I realized, with mild panic, that our always-on, real-time communication channels weren't going away. As I was gulping down the day's feeds along with my morning coffee, it occurred to me that even if I wanted to, I couldn't really opt out. My refresh twitch is so habitual now it's almost hard to remember just how experimental things like the early days of Twitter felt.

Of course it once was, like all new things. The real-time web started as something we did because we could. Technological advancements like more efficient ways to retrieve large amounts of data, the cloud, and the little computers we now carry around in our pockets made it just a really sexy problem to solve. Successful experiments turned into trends, and those trends are now becoming unquestioned convention.

But is real time always the right choice? Do we even want everything we consume to move at this pace?

Her design experience with web companies gave her a very interesting insight regarding talk (in this case webtalk on Twitter) which lead her to ask an even more interesting question - is the pace of talk the speed that we want all our experiences to be conducted at:

We're just embarking on an instrumented era of logging all our personal data and making it available instantly, yet diminishing returns have already started to set in. We struggle not only to keep up with each other's data trails, but more importantly, to know which crumbs in those trails are worth picking up, as well as how to find them again later—like when you want to relax on the sofa after a hectic week and you know there must have been a bunch of cool things to listen to or watch that flew by on Twitter, but gosh, where are they now?
.
.
.
I have a hunch that when we invent new things, the first way we test our new technology is with talk. Our ability to communicate is simply one of the most basic use cases in the design problem of our lives. And not only is it essential and important and the rest of it, it's fun. It makes us laugh. Why wouldn't we?

This real-time barrage of voices works well for talk, because talk is fast, easy, effortless. We do it constantly. So what about things that take longer to make and consume: a song, a book, a film? Trying to squeeze these types of media up into the high-frequency end of the spectrum and expecting that we'll enjoy them whizzing around our heads at the same speed as our daily chatter might create a missed opportunity to explore a whole other end to the spectrum of pace for personal data!

Excellent article. Check the rest of it out here.
 

5481

Living Room / Re: Why Linux sucks (and how to fix it) VS. Linux doesn't suck (and I can prove it)

« Last post by 40hz on August 15, 2012, 01:56 PM »

Question: was there a similar point in history that was so effective in giving power to the common individual as what computers have done the last 20-30 years?

-superboyac (August 15, 2012, 01:10 PM)

Probably it started with the printing press and movable type. Later, the mimeograph and photocopier. But 'mimeo' and 'xerox' both were well before the last thirty years - although samizdat and it's close cousin the 'zine' are still useful and used today. Especially in places where the web is heavily censored or monitored. Samizdat was a material factor in bringing down the Soviet Union - and later preventing the success of a coup that attempted to bring it back.

Prior to the web I think BBSs and Fidonet in particular could be considered equally empowering. Many of Fido founder Tom Jenning's less radical views fit in very well with current F/OSS principles.



But it was still very male and "geek" for the most part.

In general, anything that enables broad and unrestricted free communication is a force for social change. Whether it is change leading to liberation or oppression depends on who is behind it.

Where the PC/Web combination truly succeeded was in bringing global access down to the level of virtually anyone. I believe that really was a pivotal and totally unique achievement in human history.
 

5482

Living Room / Re: Why Linux sucks (and how to fix it) VS. Linux doesn't suck (and I can prove it)

« Last post by 40hz on August 15, 2012, 12:48 PM »

So part of me just wants to use my energy on something else until the "popular opinion" just "Decides" that the time has come for Linux.

-TaoPhoenix (August 15, 2012, 09:36 AM)

I'm not so much driven by making Linux the dominant desktop OS like some (fewer and fewer) in the Linux community are.

I'm more concerned with preserving an open computing environment in both software and hardware. Because left to  their own devices, all the industrial dragons (i.e. Apple, Microsoft, Oracle, et al) are doing their best to bring about the passage of what can only be described as a computing 'enclosure' movement.

So to me it's not at all important that Linux triumphs - whatever that means. With technology, "best in class" is no guarantee of massive public adoption. At least if history is anything to go by. And Linux is far from perfect. I'm more concerned Linux stay alive and be usable on generally available hardware. Hardware that doesn't need to be hacked or jailbroken before you're allowed to do what you want with it.

I'm not "fighting" to "convert" anybody. Linux is just a tool - so why argue? Use whatever you like best AFAIC. However, it is very important to me, and I think the world in general, that Linux (or something like it) continue to thrive and be available. And above all - still be usable.

Because the alternative is dangerous.

Personal computing let the genie out of the bottle and empowered the common people. Now there are forces at work which are doing their damnedest to put it all back in the bottle before these same 'common' people start talking too much, asking too many questions, and ultimately demanding too much accountability from those who are running things.

Linux and the whole F/OSS movement is about far bigger things than just personal computing. At its heart, it's really a movement for fundamental and positive societal change. It just so happens to present itself in the guise of a technology initiative. Those (and there are many) who only see it as '"free software" miss most of what's driving it.

5483

Living Room / Re: Why Linux sucks (and how to fix it) VS. Linux doesn't suck (and I can prove it)

« Last post by 40hz on August 15, 2012, 08:40 AM »

In some respects hardware support is better under Linux than Windows with mainstream distros. You certainly have better support for many 'legacy' devices and printers. And it was nice plugging in a Canon USB scanner and having it just work with Mint recently. Which was surprising since the software Canon supplied with the device was a nightmare to get installed and working properly under XP.

But Barney raises a significant point which I'll risk summarizing as : Once burned - twice shy. And that is one PR issue the Linux world needs to deal with far better than it has to date.

Unfortunately, for the Linux community, Ubuntu's way of dealing with it is by distancing itself from the larger Linux community. If you go to their current homepage they now refer to their product as The Ubuntu Operating System. Not  Linux-based Ubuntu. Just the Ubuntu operating system:

Fast, secure and stylishly simple, the Ubuntu operating system is used by 20 million people worldwide every day.

Want to know how they explain why it's free? See below -  notice there's no mention up front about the FSF - but there is mention of IBM, Google, Wikipedia, and Mozilla.

Ubuntu is brilliant. It's no wonder our users ask how all this can be free. The answer is simple.

It’s open source.

Our global community is made up of thousands of people who want to help build the best open-source operating system in the world. They share their time and skills to make sure that Ubuntu keeps getting better and better. From IBM to Google, Firefox to Wikipedia – some of today's best software is based on an open-source model. Shared efforts. Shared principles. No cost.

If you follow the llnk for more information, you get a page where Ubuntu provides a summary of open source principles and philosophy which they refer to as Our Philosophy. And also make mention of their (as in Ubuntu's) global community. True, there are links to the FSF and OSI buried further down 'below the fold.' But again, this is another example of Ubuntu assuming ownership  (or strongly implying their ownership) of something it would have been more honest to say they adopted or embraced.

ZD's Steve Vaughan-Nichols did an op-ed piece recently where he looked at this phenomenon. He concludes that it's simply a pragmatic response to dealing with a negative public perception that can no longer be changed:

You see this isn't about reality. It's about perception. Canonical and Google rather than try to fight how Linux is seen by most people and the Microsoft trolls who do their best to keep the Linux lies alive, have chosen to dodge the Linux brand issue entirely.

Hence, Google emphasizes Android and Chrome OS and Canonical talks about Ubuntu. They're doing this because this works. By doing this, they avoid all the negative FUD that Microsoft fans and trolls keep throwing at Linux and they get to set the conversation. My wife, Clara Boza, a branding expert and former CMO, tells me that this is smart marketing and that it works. Given Android's success and that Chrome OS and Ubuntu seem to be among the most popular Linux distributions, I think she's right.

He then goes on to say:

For those of who are Linux fans, it's annoying. We should keep in mind though that the end goal is getting Linux into the hands of users. If they happen to call it Android, Chrome OS, or Ubuntu is that really such a bad thing? I don't think so.

Actually, it is a bad thing. Very bad. It fragments the larger community and undermines the social contract. And it also sets the stage for Canonical, Red Hat (and more recently SUSE) to start doing things like cut their own separate deal (or planned deal) with Microsoft to address UEFI/SecureBoot concerns.

But all this has been previously discussed at DoCo, and the current moves towards accommodating Microsoft are better left for a separate thread.

And I'm really starting to get quite disgusted about all this, so I'm gonna stop writing for now.



Later!

5484

Living Room / Re: Morphing somebody's face/head over the years - how do they do that?

« Last post by 40hz on August 15, 2012, 06:46 AM »

I believe the way nature does it is via a process called aging.

(Sorry. Couldn't resist. )

5485

Living Room / Re: Why Linux sucks (and how to fix it) VS. Linux doesn't suck (and I can prove it)

« Last post by 40hz on August 14, 2012, 08:46 PM »

When I find a Linux distro that installs and automagically detects and connects to my wireless internet access point (the way both WinXP and 7 did), I'll consider learning it.

-kyrathaba (August 14, 2012, 07:06 PM)

Blame the wireless card manufacturers, geographically varying licenses, and IP laws for that.

Many distros used to include wireless support right out of the box. But they've pretty much all stopped doing it more recently.

Because distros can't control where they get installed, unless the drivers are given to them with an unrestricted international and uniform license they can't include certain drivers by default. They can, however, be loaded quite easily after the initial installation. Most modern distros will even identify the drivers you need and offer to install them - but only after you accept the manufacturer's license agreement on the splash page that appears. Which leads to the ridiculous situation where the last time I loaded Linux on a laptop, I had to connect to the web using a CAT-5 cable in order to get access to the wireless drivers the distro suggested I install. Once that was done less than a minute later, it fired right up (without the need of a reboot), and found my WAP. All I needed to do was give it my WPA2 key and I was set to go. I've been completely wireless ever since. Sound stupid? If so, that's because it is. But that's the world we've created for ourselves. Because there is no practical or technical reason for any of this nonsense. Only legal nonsense masquerading as reasons.
 
-------------------

I'm also glad you'll "consider learning" Linux when it finally works exactly the way you think it should. However, since what you want Linux to do involves proprietary hardware drivers, I wouldn't worry about needing to learn it anytime soon. Attorneys get paid by the hour. And it's all billable time as far as many of them are concerned.

5486

Living Room / Re: Why Linux sucks (and how to fix it) VS. Linux doesn't suck (and I can prove it)

« Last post by 40hz on August 14, 2012, 05:37 PM »

^"Linux" is not really one community. Nor is there a formal central clearinghouse for donations to F/OSS although there has been some talk of doing one. But except for things like the kernal (i.e. what Linux actually is) or some of the really big things like Gnome or KDE, it's pretty much run on a project by project basis. You'd have to check the info on a project's website to find out who is running what and how.

5487

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Diagnose problems in windows file sharing on LAN

« Last post by 40hz on August 14, 2012, 04:16 PM »

Most of the problems I've seen relate to issues between the new Windows security model and XP.

-40hz (August 14, 2012, 02:21 PM)

That one I haven't seen (out side of folks using blank passwords), and most of our clients (still) have mixed environments with an 08/08R2 server and XP/Vista/7 clients. No issues found bouncing between them in any direction.

-Stoic Joker (August 14, 2012, 03:12 PM)

Don't see it with Vista or 7. I do see it on occasion with an XP client if it wasn't set up properly, or was wedded to the domain after the fact. (Usually a laptop when that happens). Then again, it's only two clients that had those problems (both of whom are in love with Lenovo for their endusers) so it may have something to do with the XP OEM setups for those.

5488

Living Room / Re: Why Linux sucks (and how to fix it) VS. Linux doesn't suck (and I can prove it)

« Last post by 40hz on August 14, 2012, 04:05 PM »

it could be so much better if we could break away from the mistaken assumption that a bunch of hobbyist programmers putting in their patches every other weekend is going to produce amazing software in anything like a timely manner.  So far, it's worked to a point, and it's a lovely romantic ideal, but we've proven to ourselves that if what we REALLY want is quality software, a team of paid programmers working full-time can multiply that effort SO much more it's ridiculous to argue otherwise, which is a large part of Mr. Lunduke's point, which I mostly agree with.

-Edvard (August 14, 2012, 02:53 PM)

I think that exactly nails the issue. There's an old saying in IT circles that the first 90% of a development project consumes the first 90% of the budget - and the final  10% of the project consumes another 90% of the budget. Fancy way of saying it's that last bit of finishing, testing, and documentation that separates the more professional projects from the rest. And that's where the "free"open model tends to break down - during the endgame, the demarcation point between "good enough" and awesome.

No easy answer for how to do it because half the time we don't know what we need until somebody shows us the first version. And without the unpaid part-time coders, most of what we have in the NIX world would have never seen the light of day if only company and paid programmers were involved. Because they have to cost justify their involvement, whereas what I prefer to think of as the "passionate" rather than "amateur" coders can just have at it. And thank all that is good in this universe for it. Because it has made a difference even if it's become fashionable in some quarters to be "above it all" and dismiss the efforts of others simply because what's happening doesn't exactly fit in with their own view of things.

I respect comments by folks like Bryan Lunduke. Because he deals with the reality of the situation. And because people like him put something back into the Linux community. Or at least something more than the usual pot shots and Monday morning quarterbacking you get in many other places.

 

5489

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Diagnose problems in windows file sharing on LAN

« Last post by 40hz on August 14, 2012, 02:21 PM »

I'm using Windows 7 I've never seen this kind of issues. And even with Windows XP it was very rare

-Ath (August 14, 2012, 11:41 AM)

I have. Usually it's caused by 3rd party firewalls or some other over zealous security suite. Name resolution is a classic failure point when Fwalls are involved...and also for workgroups when user X decides to change their password the fun ensues.

The duplicate name thing happens a lot when user X decides to connect their laptop to a hard line (for a faster transfer etc.) while it's still connected to the WiFi ... Moments later the machine is in conflict with itself. <-Okay I did that one to myself last week but I was in a hurry and having a bad day)

-Stoic Joker (August 14, 2012, 12:11 PM)

Me too. Most of the problems I've seen relate to issues between the new Windows security model and XP. More often than not it requires some judicious tinkering with group policy to get everything working together without to many surprises. The problem with that, however, is that it usually means dumbing down Win7/2k8 to get XP to work - which is like throwing out your watchdog because he barks too much. Hardly a good way to handle things.

I'm firmly against XP in a Win7/2k8 environment for exactly that reason.

5490

Living Room / Re: Why Linux sucks (and how to fix it) VS. Linux doesn't suck (and I can prove it)

« Last post by 40hz on August 14, 2012, 02:14 PM »

"How to fix Linux's sucking": Install BSD. Done.

-Tuxman (August 14, 2012, 03:46 AM)

Hahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

That was a nice laugh, thanks :-)

-f0dder (August 14, 2012, 12:27 PM)

Would that it were that simple...

5491

Living Room / Re: "Magic Pig Powder" May Heal My Wife

« Last post by 40hz on August 14, 2012, 02:12 PM »

Hope it all works out best for your wife. I know how the two of you must feel dealing with indifference and incompetence while trying to identify a viable treatment for a loved one. Been there. The gene pool on my mother's side of the family has the misfortune of being very susceptible to that disease in all it's many forms. All of us extend our best wishes to her and you for a successful outcome.

5492

Living Room / Re: Why Linux sucks (and how to fix it) VS. Linux doesn't suck (and I can prove it)

« Last post by 40hz on August 14, 2012, 03:12 AM »

Lunduke is a great guy. He was co-host of The Linux Action Show podcast up until recently. Interesting person to listen to. He can also be insane at times.  But I actually find it more worthwhile when I find myself disagreeing with something he's said. (note: He actually likes Unity!)

He's also a professional coder (ex: Inspiration, Awesome Blocks of Awesome, etc.) who has his own business (Radical Breeze Software). So his points are generally spot on and go way beyond the usual fluff found in many podcasts. He even runs his own old-style text BBS - on a netbook - and which he is now planning on moving over to his Raspberry Pi. (You really can't get any more geek than that. )

The above two vids are examples Bryan at his best.

Thx for sharing them!
 

5493

Living Room / Re: Why Linux sucks (and how to fix it) VS. Linux doesn't suck (and I can prove it)

« Last post by 40hz on August 14, 2012, 03:04 AM »

 

5494

General Software Discussion / Re: BitTorrent Inc. earns $15-20 mn; makes uTorrent Ad-supported to "keep lights on"

« Last post by 40hz on August 13, 2012, 08:19 PM »

^@Wraith - I stand corrected. Apparently they already have such cozy arrangements in place with several TV and motion picture studios. Hard to believe something that makes that much sense business-wise actually came to pass.

Live and learn huh?

5495

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows Updates has hosed my system... Help!

« Last post by 40hz on August 13, 2012, 09:57 AM »

^Agree. It's definitely not when wGINA or the newer WinCP passes the user credentials. There's a slight lag in there somewhere. I think WE has to be fully active and the desktop at least partly loaded before the control set gets updated. You do get the occasional break that way.
 

5496

Living Room / Re: ToS;DR => Terms of Service; Didn't Read - Very interesting site

« Last post by 40hz on August 13, 2012, 08:49 AM »

@Ren - good find! Thx for sharing!

Check that out along with the AccountKiller website.



AccountKiller is a clearinghouse for instructions on how to delete your account (where possible) from many popular online services.

It may surprise some people how difficult it can be. And it may even come as an even bigger surprise how many sites won't allow you to remove information you previously furnished - even if you do cancel your account with them.

5497

Living Room / Re: It's Official: Many DC'ers Are Psychopaths~! :P

« Last post by 40hz on August 13, 2012, 08:34 AM »

...snipped...
PS: not being on facebook would be being a sociopath, not a psychopath. just sayin...
...snipped...

-iphigenie (August 12, 2012, 09:48 AM)

Officially there is no difference anymore. Both psychopathy and sociopathy have been combined under Anti-Social Personality Disorder (APSD) in the DSM-IV. Many shrinks now consider the terms to be synonymous, though a number of them still separate the two diagnoses.

Jim

-J-Mac (August 13, 2012, 12:56 AM)

"It's a beautiful thing, the destruction of words."
 

Might be easier to just call it all Thoughtcrime and be done with it.

Besides, lumping undesirable things together under as few words as possible to preclude alternative thinking is one of the more brilliant tactics of Newspeak.

5498

General Software Discussion / Re: BitTorrent Inc. earns $15-20 mn; makes uTorrent Ad-supported to "keep lights on"

« Last post by 40hz on August 13, 2012, 08:04 AM »

Of course now that BitTorrent will be making serious money, they've just painted a great big target on their backs. Especially since anybody that has a grudge with torrents in general (i.e. RIA, MPAA, et al) now has a nice juicy bone to toss to their attorneys and bounty hunters.

Wonder too if this shifts the grounds for a legal argument about them 'aiding and abetting for financial gain.' Not that any real laws actually need be broken - or even apply. Look at what happened to Dotcom.  

Should be interesting...

I expect them to first get sued - and then work out one of those cozy Nook/Microsoft deals within a year.

 

5499

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows Updates has hosed my system... Help!

« Last post by 40hz on August 13, 2012, 07:48 AM »

AFAIK the saved data that LKGC uses is dynamically updated after each successful boot regardless of whether SR is enabled or not. The problem it has for general systems problem solving is it only has a limited timeframe where the 'last known' might still be useful. Because once you get to a desktop (even a screwed up desktop) that becomes your current last known 'good' config.

SR was created to get around this problem since SR tracks key registry data plus a whole lot more, making for a higher chance of getting a good outcome.

So for dealing with an unsuccessful bootup that's keeping you from getting to the desktop LKGC works pretty well. I've had about an 80% success rate with it for that. But if you do get to the desktop, and hang once you're there, your only options are to either do a safe boot and try to fix whatever the problem is, or do an SR if you're really stumped.

-----

Note: I don't know if it's true or not, but I was told that immediately rebooting and seeing a problem go away following a system update isn't unusual. That trick works for a JOOTT situation whenever a system update didn't completely or successfully install. Supposedly there's a built-in mechanism for checking, and if Windows detects an update didn't complete, it will rerun the update prior to fully booting up and: "problem solved."

Makes sense if it really is so.

5500

Living Room / Re: It's Official: Many DC'ers Are Psychopaths~! :P

« Last post by 40hz on August 12, 2012, 02:27 PM »

PS: not being on facebook would be being a sociopath, not a psychopath. just sayin...

-iphigenie (August 12, 2012, 09:48 AM)

@I - thanks for pointing that out. It drives me crazy listening to psych terminology being bandied about with little regard for using the correct terms. So much so I've given up even attempting to correct any more.