Recent Posts

5576

Living Room / Re: "Net Nanny" or other inappropriate content blocking programs

« Last post by Renegade on June 06, 2012, 02:23 AM »

Probably the best solution is at the router level. i.e. For her MAC address, block all sites that you want to block. You can get lists around for sites that you might want to block.

If you share a computer, well, I'm sure others can chime in better than I can there.

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Living Room / Re: FreewareGenius on Free online courses from the top 40 colleges in the US

« Last post by Renegade on June 05, 2012, 08:57 PM »

Cool! Thanks for posting that.

I've been using the Khan Academy to brush up on some calculus and math and to start learning some theory on magnetism, etc.

http://www.khanacademy.org/

Looks like there's lots out there. I'll be checking out some of those free courses over the next bit! I've been wanting to learn more about electrical engineering and the like.

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Living Room / Re: The universe is geometrically flat?

« Last post by Renegade on June 05, 2012, 08:03 AM »

Here you go  - it's described in NASA's: Universe 101
Time to change paradigms...

-IainB (June 05, 2012, 07:11 AM)

Is it saying the third dimension exists but it is so disproportionately small, it may as well be flat?

My non-scientific mind finds this consistent with the universe having been pressed into a shape by a giant cookie cutter, handy if you are creating several.

-daddydave (June 05, 2012, 07:43 AM)

I don't think it's saying that at all. It's talking about the topology of the universe, and that it is flat, i.e. Euclidean, and not topologically similar to an n-sphere or torus something like that.

Remember, the number of dimensions has almost nothing to do with the topology, e.g. a 1-sphere is a circle, a 2-sphere is what you would normally call a sphere, but you also have 3-spheres and n-spheres. All of those are topologically spheres, but they exists in n+1 dimensions. You get the exact same thing with other topologies like an n-torus.

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Living Room / Re: The universe is geometrically flat?

« Last post by Renegade on June 05, 2012, 07:03 AM »

I was right.

http://en.wikipedia....iverse#Flat_universe

And the punch line:

A flat universe can have zero total energy. Thus, physicists suggest a flat universe could come from nothing.

For some illustrations of non-flat geometry, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torus.

There are many more.

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Living Room / Re: The universe is geometrically flat?

« Last post by Renegade on June 05, 2012, 12:47 AM »

I kind of skimmed rather quickly, but don't they mean something along the lines of the geometry of the universe being flat as opposed to being something like a saddle, torus, rippled, or other non-euclidean-space?

e.g. It's perfectly possible that if you go in a straight line, you end up where you started. You're just on a torus or some other shape that would let you do that. e.g. A sphere.

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Living Room / Re: Just Had a Baby Girl~!

« Last post by Renegade on June 04, 2012, 02:26 AM »

Can you already change diapers blind folded?

-PhilB66 (June 03, 2012, 06:39 PM)

Hahahah~! No... Not yet... My guess is that the random nature of pooh makes it a bit tough.

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Living Room / Open Source Ecology

« Last post by Renegade on June 03, 2012, 10:58 AM »

This is just uber-cool!

http://opensourceecology.org

They have and are developing ways to create machinery in an open source way for far less $$$ than you would spend otherwise.

Hats off to these people!

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Living Room / Google Stabs You in the Back...

« Last post by Renegade on June 03, 2012, 10:45 AM »

Can you feel it? Can you feel the knife slip inside of you as it twists?

Google is stabbing you in the back. They told you that they wouldn't do any evil, and time and time again, they do it. How is this any different this time? Does the knife hurt any less now? They are LYING to you. They ARE evil.

http://drudgegae.iav...ed-00144feabdc0.html

Google to start charging companies for listings

Google is to start charging companies for listing their products in a core part of its search service, the first time it has converted a free section of its giant online index into a purely commercial venture.

The change to Google Product Search will mean that many merchants that have relied on the search engine to lure potential customers online will face higher costs, according to analysts.

The move also raises the prospect that Google will eventually replace other parts of its free listings with adverts, said Danny Sullivan, editor of Search Engine Land. “It represents an attitude that they’re no longer going to go out and gather stuff up for free,” he said.

Google said it was making the switch to enable it to show users higher quality results when they are looking for products online. It also said the service would be relabelled as a “sponsored” venture to show it was now based on advertising.

More rationalization and BS.

They're going to force the corporate c**k down your throat.

Yeah, maybe my take on this should be in Soap Box, but this is simply too important and RELEVANT to hide it away.

I want a better world. A free world. A world where information isn't propaganda.

Information needs to be unbiased, and money is the ultimate bias.

Google has been slowly sliding towards the dark side. I stopped advertising with them simply because they suck (and yes -- I have been advertising with them for many years and spent many, many thousands of dollars with them). I would encourage others to do the same. Drop Google.

I don't know what else to say.

Mods, feel free to move this to Soap Box if you feel it is needed.

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Living Room / Re: Just Had a Baby Girl~!

« Last post by Renegade on June 03, 2012, 09:55 AM »

Gorgeous! She's a keeper. Thank you for the pictures - I understand about the reluctance to post them; my wife and I both had a similar reaction after having our kids.

Crying sounds familiar- don't worry, though, the sleepless nights only SEEM to go on forever.

-Darwin (June 03, 2012, 09:09 AM)

Yeah, it's bizarre. I've sent a lot of photos to family, but, just can't post them publicly.

A friend told me that my perspective on a lot of things would change once she was born. He's right. Some perspectives are changing.

As for the crying, it only lasts a short time. I can get her to stop pretty easily. So far... Haven't done this before, so we'll see!

5585

Living Room / Re: Just Had a Baby Girl~!

« Last post by Renegade on June 03, 2012, 06:34 AM »

Well, I've developed a bizarre urge to not post any pictures... Odd. I've posted lots before, but now, seems different... Anyways...

I've posted 3 pictures in my public Flickr photostream here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryansmyth/

I don't want to post them anywhere else, as I'd like to maintain control over the pictures.

She's learned how to cry, and is doing very well. Actually, surprisingly well.

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Living Room / Just Had a Baby Girl~!

« Last post by Renegade on June 01, 2012, 12:31 PM »

My wife and I just had a baby girl~! And we're very happy with her. She's infinitely cute~!

Just wanted to share the happy news with friends here at DC~!

Picture and details will follow...

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Living Room / Re: Preparing for the inevitable

« Last post by Renegade on June 01, 2012, 03:23 AM »

Old thread here - https://www.donation...ex.php?topic=25077.0

You might want to look for something that can serve the function, but not specifically. I think iDeparted suffered from a lack of enough interest in the topic and being too specific.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Are we heading towards a tech armageddon?

« Last post by Renegade on May 30, 2012, 10:58 PM »

Not to mention how the Old Republic type Jedis going Naruto on the double bladed light sabers. A weapon that used to hold more prestige during the early EU books thanks to it's difficulty where even the cream of the crop jedis couild not have ease properly wielding an extended light saber without being the best of the best. http://starwars.wiki...ual-phase_lightsaber

-Paul Keith (May 30, 2012, 06:25 AM)

I see your Jedi, and raise you an Indiana Jones~!

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General Software Discussion / Re: which programming/scripting language has the largest number of functions?

« Last post by Renegade on May 30, 2012, 07:27 PM »

That's a bit of the wrong question to ask. It all depends on what you want to do.

Perl has a massive amount of software available for it. Similar with PHP. There are tons of libraries in JavaScript as well. Then again, C/C++ has a huge number of tools written for it.

And all of those languages serve different purposes that none of the others are really suitable for.

It makes more sense to ask, "I want to do X. What languages are suitable for that and what are the advantages of each?" One of the advantages for a language is having a large amount of ready-to-use code for it, like PHP or C, etc., in the form of either code or libraries.

Does that help to kind of answer what you were wondering?

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Living Room / Re: 513 interesting wallpapers (NSFW warning)

« Last post by Renegade on May 30, 2012, 07:04 AM »

I looked at around 100 or so, but didn't see anything remotely NSFW... ???

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General Software Discussion / Re: Are we heading towards a tech armageddon?

« Last post by Renegade on May 30, 2012, 06:05 AM »

Well...it is a top 10 list so what'd you expect? 

I'm more curious on whether the science fiction genre has some revolutionary new idea.

-Paul Keith (May 30, 2012, 04:05 AM)

Top 10 or patent -- either way you are guaranteed to lose a few IQ points after reading.

As for science fiction... Perhaps try science fantasy --- I saw Michio Kaku illustrate how to build a lightsaber.

Not sure if it would work, but it was still pretty cool.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Are we heading towards a tech armageddon?

« Last post by Renegade on May 30, 2012, 03:16 AM »

Speaking of innovation...

http://www.techrepub...ture-of-tech/6365952

A whole bunch of mind-numbingly obvious things. Sensors on glasses? No? Who'd have thought of that? Trying to determine edges of social networks? Wow... like so smart... Controlled access to medical records? Ooooo... Now we're getting fancy...

All complete total BS patents. Not that there is any other kind anymore...

5593

General Software Discussion / Re: Software Charity?

« Last post by Renegade on May 30, 2012, 02:34 AM »

There's one on ebay called gamesaid who donate all money from sales to charity - I've previously bought games from them.

Normally they auction off games related items received from distributors, etc but you could ask them if they're willing to accept license only donations to auction, (they have a couple of Blackberry covers on there also atm).

-4wd (May 30, 2012, 01:36 AM)

Not so sure about that... A charity on eBay? Hmmm...

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General Software Discussion / Re: Software Charity?

« Last post by Renegade on May 30, 2012, 01:09 AM »

To be perfectly honest, I just don't have the time to run around trying to find XYZ and needs software ABC.

So, the basic question is, is there already some kind of charity organization that does all the running around?

It doesn't sound like there is... Oh well...

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General Software Discussion / Software Charity?

« Last post by Renegade on May 29, 2012, 08:24 AM »

Does anyone know of a kind of charity where software developers can donate licenses?

I was just thinking about ways that I can help others, and that was one of them.

Giving money directly is often hard, but quite often we can donate some of the products of our labor, and, so, well, that was the thought.

5596

Living Room / Re: How much soda (pop) do you drink?

« Last post by Renegade on May 29, 2012, 07:23 AM »

This video actually gives you REAL science to back up claims, and not just some namby-pamby soft claims and BS like you usually get. (Very refreshing!)

Sugar the bitter truth

I recommend watching that video very highly. I cannot stress enough just how insightful it is, and how good the information is. Most often you get some wishy-washy BS with no hard science and no real information. This guy is hard core and doesn't dumb things down. He has actual information and explains it intelligently. That being said, put your thinking cap on as it will challenge you unless you are well educated in biochemistry.

-Renegade (October 10, 2010, 03:20 AM)

Accidentally came across a very good critique of this video here:
The bitter truth about fructose alarmism.
Summary:
it's all about context/quantity. Demonising one thing/factor is not helpful for people's understanding of things. And it appears that he (Lustig) has gotten a lot more carried away than the evidence warrants.
The critique is *not* saying sugar is good for you :p

Gets very well trashed out in the comments, including some debate with Dr. Lustig (author/presenter of the video).

-tomos (May 29, 2012, 06:01 AM)

Thanks for the update there!

A couple interesting comments:

http://www.alanarago...larmism/#comment-983

http://www.alanarago...armism/#comment-1012

I bailed after so long... the comments go on FOREVER! Read well below that, but...

To put it in context, the page is over 100,000 words...

However, with respect to the issue of Japan and added sugar, there's a very big problem with what most people are talking about there.

The issue is "added sugar". Desserts across Asia tend to be rice, coconut, sugar cane, and bean based, with no added sugar (feel free to throw in some more). They're sweet enough as they are. I saw a lot on that, but nobody seemed to quite understand the nature of what desserts are there. So while it's not really true that the Japanese eat "no added sugar", it's still largely true in many ways, especially when you compare it to the west.

Oh, and if you're up for a beautiful drink, don't go for "dwarf sugar cane" drinks. They suck. Just go for plain old normal sugar cane drinks. They're WONDERFUL~!

Whenever I get over to SE Asia, I drink my face off with fresh fruit drinks and smoothies. You just can't beat them. (Though, if you order lime/lemon juice, make sure to tell them not to add too much sugar, as they do add it to that.)

But, I will be keeping that tab open in my browser and reading more over the next few days. It's not a single sitting read... (Just skimming a lot of it and stopping to read here and there -- it's LOOOOOONNNNNGGGG...)
 

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General Software Discussion / Re: Are we heading towards a tech armageddon?

« Last post by Renegade on May 28, 2012, 09:49 PM »

I don't think the title is too sensationalist. It's more accurate than most people are comfortable with.

I've ranted at length before about input methods. Small touch-screens aren't really conducive to much more than consumption or minimal production. Which is why I bought a keyboard for my tablet. It turns it into a mini-laptop/netbook if needed. Also serves as a good prop for listening to videos while I wash dishes.

But when it comes to technology, just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should.

The obvious example is voting machines. They are regularly rigged. It makes a mockery of elections. Shameful at best. Paper ballots are much better there.

Another area is NFC -- it's going to be very, very, very bad. I posted a quick blog about it here and a brief comment about why it is so sinister here (or here). It wouldn't make much sense to quote it here as the context would be lost, but the long & short of it is that it accelerates the velocity of money through the fractional reserve banking system and leaves open the possibility of excluding people from participation in society, e.g. As in a company/government/fascist dictatorship revoking someone's ability to make payments. Digital money is NOT a good thing. It's another brick in the road to totalitarianism.

Then there's the whole issue of chipping people... Nuff said there. You basically have to be brain-dead to not understand how that can be horribly abused by our fascist overloads in government. (Again, democide is the norm, and it will happen "here" (if you accept that it isn't already happening) if we don't take steps to stop it.)

Innovation can be a good thing, and it can be a curse.

For applications moving over to mobile platforms, this isn't a good thing for consumers, but it's good for companies. Fact is, you make more money by tying people to your online platform than you do by providing the goods offline.

Online will NEVER beat offline for privacy. It's just not possible.

But, we still fall into the trap of thinking, "I've got nothing to hide..." and willingly surrender to our online surveillance masters.

Technology is just a tool. And just like with a hammer you can build things or bash people's skulls in, technology can enhance or destroy us. Innovation is neutral. The question is, what are we innovating towards?

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General Software Discussion / Re: Do you like CAPTCHAs?

« Last post by Renegade on May 27, 2012, 12:04 AM »

There's an old saying - older than me  - that I cannot quote directly, but paraphrased, "What man can create, man can defeat/break."  (Well-l-l, I did say paraphrased  .)

There is serious doubt that any of us can devise/create anything that some other of us cannot defeat/circumvent.  Inventiveness prevails on both sides of the force, always has, always will.

-barney (May 26, 2012, 11:49 PM)

+1

As a solid example, prisons are perhaps the most secure areas around. Nobody gets in. Nobody gets out.

Why is it that you can always get drugs in prison?

Security theatre. More than just a show, an expensive one.

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Developer's Corner / Re: Visual Studio 11 Express to only build Metro apps

« Last post by Renegade on May 25, 2012, 11:34 AM »

@Stoic Joker

Don't you think that they totally dropped the ball with dropping support for dynamic help in VS 2010? I liked that. It really made learning new features very easy. That was a total screw up as far as I can see.

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Developer's Corner / Re: Visual Studio 11 Express to only build Metro apps

« Last post by Renegade on May 25, 2012, 08:38 AM »

Are they going to hobble VS 2010 on Windows 8 ?

-Carol Haynes (May 25, 2012, 07:44 AM)

Nah... They're not that greedy and stupid... They'd severely piss off a massive part of their developer audience. That's a total dick move. While I've lost my faith in MS, I don't think they'll be that dickish.