Recent Posts

5501

Living Room / Re: Responsibility in Web Services

« Last post by Stoic Joker on February 18, 2010, 06:03 AM »

Perhaps, but I look at the "Social Networks" as being no different than being at a party IRL. Say the wrong thing to the right person and it can end badly on several levels. People seem to thing they have an automatic "Safety Sticker" on the interweb because they're (safely...) in their homes. An they're not... Much like any interaction between parties since the beginning of time; one needs to be discreet about how much information they give out and to whom (when & where should be considered also).

The people listed on the site have already announced their whereabouts in a public forum - The site is simply trying to dramatize why that is bad (by putting them all in a group next to a Notice the Fool sign). Now, the fact that this is going on has certainly grabbed our attention and (that was the point) hopefully it should get more then a few people to stop and think about how much is too much information to be broadcasting to the world.

5502

General Software Discussion / Re: Why the aversion to .NET Frameworks?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on February 17, 2010, 10:17 PM »

Theory vs. practice ... despite what is supposed to happen, I've seen this rather unique conflict game play out in the (real world) field many times.

5503

Living Room / Re: Responsibility in Web Services

« Last post by Stoic Joker on February 17, 2010, 10:13 PM »

(If somebody fails to temporarily cancel delivery) Is the news paper boy culpable for delivering your paper every day you're on vacation? A stack of papers in the driveway is a big red flag.

A flag is a flag, and people need to start taking responsibility for their own actions instead of constantly whining all the time and expecting to be protected from themselves. It's either Common Sense -or- Natural Selection (it's a law) needs to be allowed to run its course.

5504

Living Room / Re: Responsibility in Web Services

« Last post by Stoic Joker on February 17, 2010, 04:02 PM »

No, they can't ... because people really are that thick. Just look at the texting while driving stats)

5505

General Software Discussion / Re: Why the aversion to .NET Frameworks?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on February 17, 2010, 03:51 PM »

VB runtimes gave the whole framework thing a bad taste, MFC didn't really help either (and .NET ... still fits the same bill).

Here's the thing, One .NET app is not a big deal, and two usually isn't either. But... When you start getting 4, 5, 6+ especially when different service pack levels are required ... Things tend to mire quickly.

easily 90% of .NET app come with some type of installer. (and...) Not all installers are intelligent enough to stop and make sure the runtime package they're holding is necessary. So you install app A and app B explodes (I see this a lot). ...Becaused something got moved/changed/updated/tinkered with (what shouldn't). Now if app A just so happens to be a mission critical vertical market management application (and it usually is...) You-Are-Screwed.

I'm usually looking for apps that are small, portable, and have as close to a zero presence foot print as possible. If I have to install framework anything to run an app, then I'm no longer troubleshooting (Just) the problems that existed before I got there - As I now have to deal with the very real possibility that there is now a new problem that I just created by installing X which is (conflicting with Y) now compounding the issue that got me called to the site in the first place.

5506

Living Room / Re: Which is better windows mobile or android os or iphone os?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on February 16, 2010, 09:42 PM »

do ping

-Stoic Joker (February 16, 2010, 07:18 PM)

I can ping with mine. I rest my middle finger on my thumb, then flick it out sharply onto the screen -- pings like anything!
And they say I'm not technically inclined!

-cranioscopical (February 16, 2010, 09:23 PM)

5507

Living Room / Re: DC Game :: Wordsearch

« Last post by Stoic Joker on February 16, 2010, 09:23 PM »

Cripes, I haven't tried doing a word search in years.

Completed in: 11min 18sec

5508

Living Room / Re: Nearly caught by spam.. [or 'Saved by Thunderbird']

« Last post by Stoic Joker on February 16, 2010, 07:50 PM »

That reminds me of this Phishing Test I took a while back.  I got a 10/10 on it, but from a quick search through my inbox, phishing emails can look more legitimate than the real thing.

-jaden (February 16, 2010, 01:15 PM)

Love the test - I'm going to have the entire office take it tomorrow -LOL- this outa be fun...

Seriously, the verification methods that most financial institutions use are so flimsy is no wonder the entire planet hasn't be stolen 10 times over. Here's an example: My mortgage company will not let my wife make changes to the account, because she is not on the mortgage. However... They'll happily sit there and talk to her about it all day long. If she wants to make a change, she has to get me to verify that it's ok for her to make said change. ...Almost sounds perfectly secure there doesn't it... The "verification" consists of her handing me the phone, the agent asks me my name, last 4 digits of SSN, and birth date.

Now what has actually been verified in that scenario? Only that some guy (or person with a deep voice), has my wallet, and wants to screw with my finances.

Oh yeah, here's my all time favorite ... Shell Oil decided to enforce a protection scheme on their gas cards. It consists of requiring one to enter their zip code when using the card. Apparently nobody at Shell knew that Address & Zip Code are a standard part of the information contained on every driver's license ever made. (Add what two cards are guaranteed to be in anybodies wallet) ... Doh!!

5509

Living Room / Re: Which is better windows mobile or android os or iphone os?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on February 16, 2010, 07:18 PM »

I'm with ya ... I just haven't managed to reach a tipping point yet. Now if one of these devices had a CLI that allowed me to (grab someones WiFi and) do ping, whois, nslookup, etc. I'd go for that.

5510

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: MultiFind Pro 1.7 - file search utility

« Last post by Stoic Joker on February 16, 2010, 06:53 PM »

Add me to the list of folks requesting a portable version. I've been using Xteq's Xfind for doing basic string searches in server log files (4+ Gig of plain text) etc. ...But this looks way cooler.

5511

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Dockable auto-hiding drag & drop multi-monitor desktop wallpaper app

« Last post by Stoic Joker on February 16, 2010, 06:26 PM »

I can sort of confirm the nothing happens (I'm on Win7 x64 pro). I didn't have any pics with the same resolution as the desktop, but I gave it a shot with a different size and it tiled the existing wallpaper into blocks the size of the image I'd selected.

(Correction/clarification-> It didn't change the size of the currently displayed wallpaper, it only tiled it at its native size (it had been stretched to fit).

5512

Living Room / Re: Which is better windows mobile or android os or iphone os?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on February 16, 2010, 05:47 PM »

I mean I've had 3rd party software crashes and once or twice they required the phone be rebooted. I should point out that I constantly tweak my phone and try out newest versions of software so I tolerate the odd crash much the same as I do on a PC.

The stock setup of both the HD and HD2 were very stable.

-Eóin (February 16, 2010, 02:00 PM)

Ah! Okay... That makes sense. I'm still wrestling with the why do I need this gadget question, so I hadn't factored in the effects of fiddling with it.

I've only dealt with the WM phones at work getting them connected to the exchange server for the sales staff. While these people seem to change phones about as often  as their socks...I don't recall ever having to show somebody how to get it connected twice - So I guess they're ok usability wise.

I did go look at the Android phones awhile back, mainly because they were being heralded as iPhone killers (which I see as good). I had only one test to run on the think, and it's the same test I use for (most anything) software. Test is simple; can I operate the basic device functions without having to read 9 pages of instructions. Even better of course is to not need to open the manual at all (for basic functions).

The Androids passed. WM did too ... but I'm curious about the WM7 interfaces "improvements".

5513

Living Room / Re: Which is better windows mobile or android os?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on February 16, 2010, 01:37 PM »

While I don't have an opinion either way (I only use the phone to make phone calls...), I am curious as to what is the draw with these things. Especially considering this which caught my attention.

I've had maybe 5 crashes at most in over a year

-Eóin (February 16, 2010, 11:59 AM)

It's good that a phone only crashed 5 times in a year? I've never had a phone crash before in my life. Call disconnects sure... but phones that crash? What will technology enhance next? Perhaps my clock radio, toaster, & refrigerator could also be improved (made crash-able) in this fashion.

Yes, I'm being overly simplistic intentionally. But I seriously do struggle with this every time I find myself toying with getting one of these contraptions. Do I really need (/want) to be that accessible, via a device that's going to annoy me that much?

5514

General Software Discussion / Re: Trend Micro Security - oddly like malware...

« Last post by Stoic Joker on February 15, 2010, 05:15 PM »

Actually, you're both right when it comes to whether or not Dell computers were shipped with an OEM recovery disc. There was a time span of a year or so a few years ago that Dell did not ship an OEM OS disc with their PCs. You could buy one as an up-charge when you ordered the machine, though.

-Innuendo (February 14, 2010, 02:38 PM)

(hehe) Yeah all the manufacturers tried the recovery partition about the same time - The same time they were all putting only 256MB RAM in XP machines which resulted in XP eating a hole in the drive where the PageFile wasn't anymore (rendering the recovery partition useless). I do recall seeing (dell's) $10 for OS CD option back when, now that you mention it. I hadn't meant to make it sound like Dell was totally Innocent. I just meant that HP (/Compaq) was the worst for that type of (garbage "recovery" disks) nonsense.

Fortunately, they did away with that nonsense and have gone back to shipping an OEM OS disk with every machine they sell. Dell also does everyone a favor in that the OEM OS is just the bare OS. All the trialware, additional drivers, etc. are shipped on a second disc that doesn't have to be used.

I did a reinstall today for one of the staff, on a ~5 year old Dimension 4550 using an XP sp3 home Dell OEM CD. Install and activation went fine & the OS was as vanilla as it could be.

5515

General Software Discussion / Re: Trend Micro Security - oddly like malware...

« Last post by Stoic Joker on February 14, 2010, 11:02 AM »

Actually that is a perfect example of crapware. The last three Dell machines I purchased were immediately wiped and the "bare" OS then reinstalled. Without TM and without Dell's "Support Center". Oh yeah, it also gets rid of Dell's lousy branded Google search pages.

-J-Mac (February 13, 2010, 10:34 PM)

Too bad you generally don't get a bare OS install disc with dell machines (heck, these days you often don't get a disc at all, just a recovery partition)... and the license keys are (obviously) OEM keys that can't be used with a retail OS disc. I hate this practice.

-f0dder (February 14, 2010, 07:20 AM)

I think you got Dell confused with HP. HP was the one that constantly does the chronically useless recovery partition nonsense, and has/had the multi-CD recovery sets that (without prompting) obliterated the user's data.

I use a set of Dell OS install disks (XP home, pro, Vista, etc.) for reinstalling Windows on all brands of computers and have never had a problem. I ordered 3 Dells last week for clients, and all of them come with clean install media.

Sure the OEM/Retail thing is a bit of a PITA, but at least they do cross manufactures so you only need 2 copies of each for complete coverage.

5516

Living Room / Re: Nearly caught by spam.. [or 'Saved by Thunderbird']

« Last post by Stoic Joker on February 14, 2010, 10:15 AM »

I recommend a simply solution to [url=http://www.wistful-thinking.com/archives/121]Fight Phishing.

-parkint (February 13, 2010, 08:52 AM)

Now that's an interesting idea. I might just have to try automating that next time I'm board (and feeling evil) - See how phishing site X likes getting 8,000+ lines of bogus login info.

5517

Living Room / Re: Yea, I won't be getting an iPad anytime soon

« Last post by Stoic Joker on February 12, 2010, 09:38 PM »

But there's one good thing about the iPad, it's this video :
http://www.youtube.c.../watch?v=1ZS8HqOGTbA

 

-CoderOmega (February 12, 2010, 07:04 PM)

Wow, I almost made it half way through the video without wretching...

5518

Living Room / Re: Elegant Full Screen Weather Map Web Page

« Last post by Stoic Joker on February 12, 2010, 09:26 PM »

  It has wind speed & direction listed in the gray mini panel.

I grabbed their gadget to see how it compares to the one I'm currently using. Current gadget says 45f underground's says 38.5f - I'm thinking it feels about 38 outside (their predicting snow...).

5519

General Software Discussion / Re: Strategies for using user-data folders in Windows 7?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on February 12, 2010, 12:11 PM »

I haven't done imaging for years, but I've been contemplating getting into it again... also, when I do a clean reinstall, I do want the format to get rid of any leftover junk and have a fragmentation-free clean slate.

I'm not really sure what you mean by leftover junk...anything on the drive that is unwanted is delete-able (I assume I'm missing something).

-Stoic Joker (January 21, 2010, 06:00 AM)

System Volume Information

-f0dder (January 22, 2010, 07:50 AM)

...Which contains one metric boat load of system recovery snapshots and etc.

Hm... For some reason I ws thinking that the install cleaned that out. *Shrug* but it can be deleted if need be. I don't do it frequently enough to quip off the top of me head, but I'll play with it this weekend if I have time.

-Stoic Joker (January 22, 2010, 10:28 AM)

System Volume Information == System Restore data storage
To clean it out, simply turn off system restore, then (optionally) turn it back on. (Right click My Computer->Properties->System Restore->Turn off System Restore on all drives)

-widgewunner (February 11, 2010, 05:59 PM)

While true, that scenario assumes that the install in question is still bootable (I wasn't).

5520

Living Room / Re: Flattr: New Micropayment System - Gets the Model Right

« Last post by Stoic Joker on February 11, 2010, 05:59 AM »

If you are going to force me to watch a video to understand anything at all about your product, I've already lost all interest.

-TheQwerty (February 10, 2010, 07:00 PM)

I'd like to (whole heartedly) 2nd that, as I too am quite tired of that rather annoying trend. ...Web rule 1: You have 3 seconds to captivate my (as a visitor) attention and trying to cheat with "Video Loading" doesn't cut it (Fail!).

5521

Developer's Corner / Re: Roaming among the Dinosaurs

« Last post by Stoic Joker on February 09, 2010, 09:16 PM »

Oops! *Shrug* Hay, it's been awhile...

5522

Developer's Corner / Re: Roaming among the Dinosaurs

« Last post by Stoic Joker on February 09, 2010, 06:58 PM »

I'm probably missing something here, but... COM Ports are accessed via OpenFile in Win2k and up (no direct hardware access).

5523

Living Room / Re: Impressive juggler

« Last post by Stoic Joker on February 08, 2010, 04:58 PM »

I like Lordtains staff spinning videos better (the staff truly is an elegant weapon) but they're more instructional really.

The juggler is indeed impressive.

5524

Developer's Corner / Re: Do You Want To Influence Wrox's eBook Prices? Then Please Read.

« Last post by Stoic Joker on February 07, 2010, 10:46 AM »

That's fair trade.

-Stoic Joker (February 06, 2010, 12:12 PM)

Not to be confused with FairTrade, which means paying more for less, for all those smug bastards.

-f0dder (February 07, 2010, 08:36 AM)

Didn't see that one coming ... But it figures they'd find a way to screw that up too.

Kinda reminds me of a rant I did quite frequently (years ago) when somebody annoyed me by quipping "That's not Fair" once too often.

[Rant] (As best I can remember it):
Fair? Where do you get the inaine idea that fair has anything to do with a equitable split of anything?!?

Fair only has 3 possible usages:
1. Fare as in what one must pay for a service (e.g. Cab Fare).

2. Fair as in County fair - the point of which is to funnel visitors (in cattle chute fashion) through the midway...Where cleverly designed games entice you into screwing yourself.

3. Fair as in trial. Now, given that it's a game of 50/50, the only thing for sure, is somebody is going to lose. And said loser will never be happy about it.

Hence in reality (and by definition) fair/fare actually means (quite simply) that somebody is gone get the shaft & somebody else is gone be holding the handle.

So yeah, you missed the handle this trip pal - Sorry 'bout your luck - Just quit whining about it not being "Fair"

[/rant] Note: the original version usually contained a level of profanity consistent with my mood at the time.

Mind you this isn't directed at anyone, I just thought I'd share it as it came to mind.

5525

Developer's Corner / Re: Is a website login script something people on DC need?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on February 07, 2010, 10:15 AM »

Given that our intranet webring has sites done in both PHP & ASP - I wouldn't hold it down to a specific language, especially if it done in small enough chunks that it's easy to port over and/or stitch into an existing project.

As an example; this weekend I had to do a quickie messageboard-esq change log addition to a pre-existing site. Finding this brilliantly written tutorial on Basic Pagination (which was quite literally a drop-in) saved me a boat load of time.