Recent Posts

551

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Hard Disk Sentinel PRO - Mini-Review

« Last post by Josh on February 04, 2012, 12:21 PM »

Just bought the standard version. Thanks for the review Iain!

552

Living Room / Re: Google Ends Privacy

« Last post by Josh on January 28, 2012, 05:32 PM »

mahesh, I knew that when I wrote it. I just had to qualify my post before I stated my opinion.

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Living Room / Re: Google Ends Privacy

« Last post by Josh on January 28, 2012, 05:00 PM »

I do not consider myself a fanboy of any company. I learned long ago that being in such a status dilutes your views on reality. Microsoft is nor more evil than Facebook, Apple, Google, <insert evil company du jour here>. All companies cross ethical boundaries and make people question whether the choices are for the good. I take a step back and examine these choices and determine if they are good for me. I consider the change in privacy policies to a single policy a good thing from a consumer prospective. I already expected data to be shared across Google Services. That is not something I would have expected otherwise. I want my data from gmail to be accessible in calendar. I want to be able to link google+ contacts to my gmail contacts to synchronize information. Social search? Who cares, I can opt out if I do not agree with it.

554

Living Room / Re: Google Ends Privacy

« Last post by Josh on January 27, 2012, 07:27 PM »

Did you sign up for their services? If so, then you did opt-in.

555

Living Room / Re: Google Ends Privacy

« Last post by Josh on January 27, 2012, 06:13 PM »

How exactly are Google misusing their data? Sources please?

556

Living Room / Steam Lovers Rejoice: Android and iOS steam client now in beta

« Last post by Josh on January 27, 2012, 06:19 AM »

Our friends at Joystiq are members of a privileged club of which we are not. We've both downloaded and installed the mobile version of Steam -- now available as a free beta download for Android and iOS -- but where they found Mac and PC games for sale, along with the ability to chat with friends, browse profiles and read gaming news, we were greeted with red text that states our accounts are not part of the beta. Damn our luck! For those interested to give Valve's handiwork a spin, it seems that downloading and installing the app puts you in the queue for a future invite. Won't you join us in the line?

Source

Hooray!!!! I love steam, and lanux128 knows just how much. This is great news

557

Living Room / Re: Google Ends Privacy

« Last post by Josh on January 26, 2012, 03:37 AM »

I think everyone should watch this video and then question whether Google knowing your "favorite music" is the biggest of their worries. Watched this in my CISSP class.

http://video.google....-2160824376898701015

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Living Room / Re: Google Ends Privacy

« Last post by Josh on January 25, 2012, 04:52 PM »

I am with Deozaan on this one. I created the account, I added the data, I continue to use Google, I inherently agreed to the plethora of privacy policies.

I fail to see the issue here. I know that Google has made various services which I now love and enjoy. Their search is fantastic, the email client, calendar, docs app and various other small tools are great. What do I care if the services I am already using, separately, share data amongst themselves?

559

Living Room / Re: Looking for password "scheme" suggestions

« Last post by Josh on January 25, 2012, 01:25 PM »

wr, I have used keepass, and use lastpass currently. What I want is something that eliminates the need for "Random password generators" and provides a simple mechanism I can use, on the fly, to generate my passwords. Perhaps something which incorporates the name of a site or system I am using. This way, I do not have to remember J@Bv8Hnk149*&&1j4^%^$#* as my password but could remember "Saffrazon like$ t0fu!" instead.

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Living Room / Looking for password "scheme" suggestions

« Last post by Josh on January 25, 2012, 11:37 AM »

OK all, I am working on securing my passwords in a manner which would hinder most "passer-by" style hack attempts. What techniques do you use, or have you used, to setup a password system which is easy to remember and adapt to various sites and services. I have broken this down into three basic categories.

First, would be the majority of sites which do not arbitrarily limit you to "6-8 characters" and permit all special characters.

Second, those sites which limit which special characters you can use. This is fairly easy to adapt to the first item above.

Third, those sites which limit you to the number of characters.

So, with that said, what types of systems do you use or have you seen used? Please, feel free to be general so as to not give away personal info. I am just looking for ideas.

561

General Software Discussion / Re: Betanews.com - What was once a great site, is no longer

« Last post by Josh on January 24, 2012, 08:32 PM »

MrCrispy, Thank you! Betanews load times in chrome, on Win7 x64, are painful. Every other site I use loads in a split second, even flash heavy sites like MSNBC. Betanews, for some reason, loads slow and is slow to scroll and navigate. But alas, they will not change due to the very nature of the terms of use.

IF YOU ARE DISSATISFIED WITH THIS WEB SITE, OR ANY PORTION THEREOF, YOUR EXCLUSIVE REMEDY SHALL BE TO CEASE USING THE WEB SITE.

562

Living Room / Dreamhost Hacked - Password changes mandated

« Last post by Josh on January 20, 2012, 06:47 PM »

Last night we detected some unauthorized activity within one of our databases. While we don’t have evidence that customer passwords were taken at this time, we’re forcing a change out of caution. Please login to our web panel and change any passwords you may have with us. We’ll keep this post updated as we get more information.

Update Jan 20th, 9:45am PST: We are doing this for all customers and we will be changing all Shell/FTP user passwords.

Update Jan 20th, 10:00am PST: We have started the process of changing all Shell/FTP passwords now. After we complete the password changes, all FTP/shell user passwords MUST be changed by you in the panel.

To edit your password in the panel, please log into the web panel and go to Manage Users. Click edit next to the FTP/shell user on the right and you can change your password there. — Oscar P

Update Jan 20th, 10:20am PST: The process for changing all passwords is still going. After we complete the password changes, all FTP/shell passwords MUST be changed by you in the panel.

To edit your password in the panel, please log into the web panel and go to Manage Users. Click edit next to the FTP/shell user on the right and you can change your password there.

Update Jan 20th, 10:59am PST: We apologize for any confusion as to what the current procedure needs to be. We recommend you change your password for any FTP/shell user you have with us, right now.

If you’ve already changed your password this morning, thank you for being so quick! We are still running through all FTP/shell users, just in case, so it’s possible we’ll change it out from under you again. We apologize for this duplication of effort, but we’re trying to get things secure as quickly as possible. — Brian H

Update Jan 20th, 11:12am PST: Currently, our web panel is a bit overwhelmed and is showing intermittent access. We’re working on fixing this issue, so passwords can be updated. — Brian H

Update Jan 20th, 11:32am PST: We’re still working on getting the panel back up and running and apologize for the delay. — Brian H

Update Jan 20th, 11:55am PST: Web panel slowly returning to normal. We are still working on getting it 100% restored, so be aware you may see some downtime there, for the time being. — Brian H

More at dreamhost blog

563

Living Room / Re: Best USB/Bootable recovery and "utility" tools

« Last post by Josh on January 16, 2012, 03:39 PM »

It might. I am really looking to setup a set of usb drives for help calls and troubleshooting/installs. The more tools, the better!

564

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Download Crew: Another site for freebies...

« Last post by Josh on January 15, 2012, 11:57 AM »

This site, and its sister site softwarecrew, is run by the betanews/fileforum crew. No thanks.

565

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Bits - Ultra Recall

« Last post by Josh on January 15, 2012, 10:38 AM »

To those using ultra recall, does UR include the ability to attach files to a new item within the program and, if so, does UR include a built-in viewer for common file types such as jpg, pdf, office docs, txt, etc?

566

General Software Discussion / Re: "Of course you know, this means WAR Gentlemen!" Microsoft makes its move.

« Last post by Josh on January 14, 2012, 10:42 AM »

In the final analysis, if you don't like windows or how it operates.... don't buy it.

-hpearce (January 14, 2012, 10:22 AM)

It is amazing how many problems would be solved if people followed this philosophy.

567

Living Room / Re: Planning a major programming project - tips requested

« Last post by Josh on January 13, 2012, 08:38 PM »

The issue with data format and export is that, again, this is related to personnel records. All of the entered data exists in paper form, or digital copy depending on where it is obtained from. No tool that I've ever seen utilizes this data other than for individual download. There are no importing tools, and as such any plans for exporting will be at the very bottom of the list in terms of functionality. Not saying I won't ever implement it, but I am saying that I have no plans for the discernable future. While I will always keep it in mind, I have no plans to add it due to the nature of the information being handled. This is not like movie databases or mp3 collection managers, there information here is personal in nature, regarding to progression within my job field, and no tools exist which would make use of the types of data I plan on storing in the app. All of the individual files (training certs, etc) will be stored as their individual raw formats (jpg, pdf, tiff, etc) and as such there will be no lock-in. All of the files will be completely transportable. With this in mind, export functionality is the very last priority on my list.

568

Living Room / Re: Planning a major programming project - tips requested

« Last post by Josh on January 13, 2012, 02:29 PM »

I am taking all of this in and trying to determine how I want to proceed. My biggest hurdle is all of the PLANNED functionality i want in the app. Right now, I am developing a todo list of what functions I want the app to perform, and what data is associated with each data format. As I look at it, a database might be the option for actual data storage, an INI for settings and I will expand as needed. I do not want to do XML because, as I said above, this is the only app of its type and there will be no need to export it. The information entered will be from already existing documents that most personnel in my field already keep in paper form (ALWAYS CYA, as they say).

I think that once I determine functionality, what will exist in the initial release, and how the data will be formatted, I am going to proceed. GUI is still the big thing I want to discuss as I have no idea when is the appropriate time to begin design.

569

Living Room / Re: Planning a major programming project - tips requested

« Last post by Josh on January 12, 2012, 10:46 PM »

Also, I would like to add what I somehow forgot to ask....What steps do YOU, as coders, take when you are planning a project?

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Living Room / Re: Planning a major programming project - tips requested

« Last post by Josh on January 12, 2012, 10:28 PM »

I have been toying with learning something like sqlite

It sounds like the first real question you have to answer is -- are you talking about saving application settings/options? or a large database of data that can be thought of as many rows of a table with some fixed columns/fields.  If not the latter, than you don't want sqlite or any database engine.

Consider something like xml for options -- using a library to help you load and save xml files.

-mouser (January 12, 2012, 10:23 PM)

[/quote]

This will be a large file containing user data. There will be external files stored in their raw formats (jpeg, pdf, etc). I was debating about an already designed database system like sqlite, but also know that I have written my own file save procedures in the past and it has worked out nicely.

I was advised AGAINST XML because of the sheer complexity of implementation. There is no desire to export this data, as my application will be the first in its industry.

Are there any tools available for programmers to help visualize data models to be used by a program

There is a whole industry devoted to things like this, UML tools (Universal Modeling Language) -- but there are some real debates  about the usefulness of such elaborate mechanisms when working on small projects or single/two man teams.

Personally i don't find these formal tools very useful.  It's hard to beat the value of pen and paper.

Half of programming is PLANNING.  I think it's a very common mistake of new coders to think they are supposed to just sit down and write code off the top of their head.

This is why I want to start off right. I want to plan this properly, but I have to answer those questions above. I am looking for tips from the pros, doco users, and am hoping to do this project right.

571

Living Room / Re: Best USB/Bootable recovery and "utility" tools

« Last post by Josh on January 12, 2012, 09:23 PM »

@Josh: Did you mean UBCD or UBCD4Win?

-4wd (January 12, 2012, 09:16 PM)

I meant the original UBCD. I have never played with UBCD4WIN. UBCD launches fine at POST, but individual apps never seem to launch.

572

Living Room / Planning a major programming project - tips requested

« Last post by Josh on January 12, 2012, 09:21 PM »

All,

I am embarking on a new programming project. As such, I have decided it best to do a bit of fore-planning prior to the start of this. I am wondering what tips the community has for starting a new programming project.

Right now, my first thought is to plan out different modules that the program will require. Right now, my program will be divided into a series of core functions, each of which will perform different actions based on the context of the application the user finds themselves in. This tool will be a utility to help manage personnel data for a user, records, and various "databases" that most in my line of work find themselves encountering on a daily basis. Later, I might move into a multi-user model (not hard, just add in a "section manager" module). Right now, I can count around 10-12 different core functions to be included in this application. A side note: individual applications would not be beneficial given the intended nature of the project.

That said, I have several core questions I am looking to get answered.

The first is in regards to data file formatting and the best ideas for managing this. In the past, most of my smaller apps have used their own storage format, which I created using basic file i/o commands. Speed is NOT a requirement for this application as the files will not be insanely large nor will they require "instantaneous" access. I have been toying with learning something like sqlite, but am wondering if this will provide any REAL benefit given my usage scenario.

The next question is when to begin UI planning. To me, in the past, I have always designed a core GUI and developed based on the module I am looking at, at the time. I then proceed based on a list of functions that still need to be developed. When should this start? I do not want the UI to feel tacked on. I've seen too many applications where the UI feels like an after thought. Then again, I have also seen apps with beautiful interfaces but no access to core functions, or even very limited functionality. Thoughts?

Third, Are there any tools available for programmers to help visualize data models to be used by a program, manage modules requiring code and current status of development, etc? I would imagine such a tool exists, but I have never looked for one in the past.

That said, I am open to any ideas for help in planning a programming project. Any information, thoughts, or comments are appreciated and I feel this will help other coders by allowing them to refine their planning capabilities.

Thanks!
Josh

573

Living Room / Best USB/Bootable recovery and "utility" tools

« Last post by Josh on January 12, 2012, 02:27 PM »

All,

I am looking to generate a set of USB keys that I can use for various purposes. Right now, I have copies of the following and wanted to see what everyone else used.

Ultimate Boot CD - This is supposedly a really good toolset. However, every time I have attempted to use it, I can boot from it but each tool launch hangs after the initial menu selection with nothing happening. This occurs on multiple systems of varying configs.

Hiren's Boot CD - Another tool similar to UBCD.

There used to be a tool, Winternals ERD Commander, which seems to have gone the way of the Cody....errr...I mean DoDo.

I have several USB keys containing bootable installers for Windows 7 x64/x86 and Windows XP Pro SP3.

I have a couple for varying liveCD Distros of Linux to include: Latest release of BackTrack, OpenSuse and Fedora.

Are there any other tools/suggestions that you, the community, can make to have for carrying around and utilizing in various scenarios?

On a side note, has ANYONE been able to make UBCD work?

Josh

574

Living Room / Re: Found on the Web: Short Rant Against Users of Free Web Apps

« Last post by Josh on January 05, 2012, 01:59 PM »

EDIT: I want to add that the quality of the software is not even important, because quality is in the eye of the user, 1000s of software on softpedia, sourceforge and elsewhere that do the job well but have 100 downloads in their lifetime

-rgdot (January 05, 2012, 01:50 PM)

This is also part of what I referred to earlier. I have watched on several "review sites" where a program goes from being rated 4.5/5 or higher to 2/3 because of a change in the pricing scheme. Roboform is an example of this. As a long time roboform user, I was under the misconception that they offered free upgrades for life. But, alas, they played the upgrade/update game. Upgrades are typically referred to as v1 to v2, etc and updates are from 2.0 to 2.99. As soon as the change with RF Everywhere came into play, the once highly rated program went from a 4.4 on FileForum to a 3.7.

In the end, it comes down to what you stated rgdot, people want things to be free. Free movies, music, software, beer, etc. As soon as something goes from freeware to commercial, the bar for "required quality" is lowered and "good enough" is just that, good enough. People are willing to settle as long as they don't have to pay and they also will actively protest when their beloved freeware, of which most never pay a dime to support, asks for money.

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Living Room / Re: Found on the Web: Short Rant Against Users of Free Web Apps

« Last post by Josh on January 05, 2012, 11:25 AM »

That is part of it. Many freeware users feel they are entitled to use the software and you, as a developer, are required to listen and add whatever they want. They clamor for more and more, but complain the second you ask them for money or display a simple dialog requesting they donate. It is a losing battle for the freeware developer.