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5726

General Software Discussion / Re: corrupt index (I think): how to fix?

« Last post by 40hz on June 20, 2012, 07:42 PM »

Sounds like you've got cross linked files where the allocation table index is pointing to the wrong physical data sectors. (Very bad if. And it can caused by a variety of things.)

Do you remember exactly what chkdsk reported?
 

5727

Living Room / Re: Raspberry Pi's $35 Linux PC

« Last post by 40hz on June 20, 2012, 06:22 PM »

Does anyone know much about this stuff? I'd like to give it a shot with some software ideas, but the options are a tad freaky now with so many....

@Renegade - Arduino is already established and well beyond the curiosity/novelty stage. Not a bad choice if you're looking to develop something that has an active audience. You can also think outside the box with this puppy. Some musical instruments are out there that use Arduino for their base hardware. Ditto for some audio realtime processing uses.

Might be a natural for you since you're into music apps already. Just a thought...

 

5728

Living Room / Re: Microsoft's New Surface Tablet Hybrid

« Last post by 40hz on June 20, 2012, 09:52 AM »

Fortunately we are not in that situation yet. Microsoft has been very good at eliminating competition that ruled a market segment in the past, but I doubt they will succeed this time. Just as they were unable to take search from Google by copying it, they may not be able to take tablets from Apple by copying their approach.

Don't underestimate Microsoft in a bare-knuckle showdown.

Copying may not work. But copyright and patents could serve quite well.

If Microsoft decided to go against a big player it would be one thing. But hitting a small developer from all six directions with multiple patent infringement suits would effectively kill 99% of them before it even went to trial. Especially since its so hard to get investors or attract venture capital if there's even a hint somebody big has implied they may go after you. And that remains true even if the suit is obviously bogus. Small businesses need to turn cash quickly and regularly. They can't afford getting tied up in protracted legal battles. Something the trolls know all too well.

Then too, I'd expect Microsoft will steal a page from Apple and make developers waive all their rights and recourse when it comes to putting their apps in the company store. Apple reserves the right to kill your app if they (or a more favored developer) decides to create a similar product or incorporate your app's features into one of their own  And iOS developers must agree to that condition (and others equally capricious and arbitrary) if they want to be in the app store. Expect no different from Microsoft when their store opens.  

Make no mistake - Surface is a viable long-term threat to independent anything when it comes to personal computing. Right now it's a friendly and attractive little tiger cub. It will only be a matter of time before it shows us some fang.

5729

Living Room / Re: Microsoft's New Surface Tablet Hybrid

« Last post by 40hz on June 20, 2012, 08:04 AM »

But if we are talking about larger apps that took a year or more of work, then I would think twice before porting them to a platform, where the owner can decide to ban that app.

-vlastimil (June 20, 2012, 07:56 AM)

But what happens when it's the only game in town? Which closed ecosystem will you pick? The choice will be Apple or Microsoft. Or maybe Linux?  (At least as long as there's still hardware available to run it?)

A program is useless without a box to run it on. Apple and Microsoft have basically decided that since their OSs provide "the box," developers should expect to pay a tariff for the privilege of having their app run on it. It's a use tax plain and simple.

This is a classic 'gatekeeper' strategy. You collect from the users and the developers with each deployment. No more only getting developer revenue when they buy your software tools.

Smart move. But Microsoft always was smart when it came to identifying revenue opportunities.

5730

Living Room / Re: Microsoft's New Surface Tablet Hybrid

« Last post by 40hz on June 20, 2012, 07:54 AM »

If MS *does* institute an App Store only approach, then they can go kiss Apple's fat red hairy butt because they're just offering another Apple competitor rather than any sort of innovation.

Give me something that's NOT that damned iPad.

-Daleus (June 20, 2012, 06:52 AM)

Agree 100% That would be the deal breaker for me too. But probably not for John Q. Public if the success of the iOS platform is anything to go by.

If successful, I really do believe Surface will one day be seen as the turning point for large-scale public migration away from 'open' PC platforms. We'll have stuck our tongue on the flagpole with this one.
 

5731

Living Room / Re: Microsoft's New Surface Tablet Hybrid

« Last post by 40hz on June 20, 2012, 07:46 AM »

That I like. I want the full power of a desktop in a tablet that I can take around. Imagine just taking EVERYTHING around and plugging in a real keyboard and a real monitor and a real mouse. Bang. Done. With a real OS? Yeah... sexy stuff~! smiley

-Renegade (June 20, 2012, 01:34 AM)

If you're going to plug a monitor, mouse, and keyboard into it anyway you can already get that. Just buy one of those micro-footprint PCs. There's about six companies making them.

Dare I say it? They even run Linux!

5732

Living Room / Re: Udacity - free online education for real

« Last post by 40hz on June 20, 2012, 07:27 AM »

To 40hz's snarky but underrated remark, a full degree in itself is not a hobby - education is education. It's no fault of the student who did his part.

-TaoPhoenix (June 20, 2012, 06:32 AM)

Hardly snarky. Just a simple observation. And I rather think you missed my point.

The point was me wondering how is "what jobs a "Udacity Graduate" can get" any different from asking what jobs my friend's daughter may get as a 'traditional' graduate. Because, as many graduates are discovering, having a very expensive degree becomes a questionable endeavor when there's no assurance of earning the high wages needed to pay for it. Especially now that so many jobs have been shopped overseas -and management positions (the traditional "upwardly mobile" or "good jobs") are being aggressively eliminated by businesses wherever possible.

Here's some interesting questions:

• Why has the cost of a college education risen by approximately 10-15% per year regardless of economic conditions or the rate of inflation?
• If many top universities are now sitting on endowment funds with holdings in the billions - and in some cases (Yale) have frankly admitted they really don't need to charge tuition in order to operate since they are sufficiently endowed - why do they continue to do so?
• Precisely why is it accepted as given that quality education must be extremely expensive?
• Why, when confronted about the issue of education costs do so many universities, public school administrators, and academic text publishers offer no rationale beyond the repeated assertion that education is, by its very nature, expensive?

To my way of thinking, there are a lot of unchallenged assumptions and agendas driving up the cost of a higher education. And few if any are based on anything other than the lame excuse that fundamentally says: Well...that's what we have decided to charge.

So anything that questions and can help break the largely pointless and arbitrary practice of ratcheting up education costs is fine by me. And even if it doesn't - at least it's a start in the right direction.

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

Note: I also don't judge education primarily in terms of what employment it will get you slotted into. I have to agree with Zaine that there's a difference between schooling (or training as I would prefer to characterize it) and education.

5733

Living Room / Re: Udacity - free online education for real

« Last post by 40hz on June 19, 2012, 10:17 PM »

A tricky question will be precisely what jobs a "Udacity Graduate" can get. So far they do okay providing an "interesting experience" but we'll have to see if it's anything more than a hobby.

-TaoPhoenix (June 19, 2012, 07:52 PM)

The same could be said for my friend's daughter who took on 6 digits worth of debt getting a undergraduate and graduate degree from a "name" school. She's been out since May and is still looking...

5734

Living Room / Re: The Greatest Graphic Novel of All Time: Watchmen

« Last post by 40hz on June 19, 2012, 02:31 PM »

If you're into graphic novels, don't neglect to check out David Sim's Cerebus the Aardvark collection. Totally weird yet oddly endearing. With some very fine storytelling and characters and a decidedly warped sense of humor found throughout.

From Wikipedia:

Cerebus is a misanthropic anthropomorphic 3-foot-tall (0.91 m) bipedal gray aardvark.[21] He refers to himself by name, in the third person, with occasional exceptions in the early issues. Sim has described Cerebus's voice as sounding like George C. Scott's.[citation needed] Although Cerebus considers himself male, and is treated as such, he is a hermaphrodite, possessing both sexes' genitalia and reproductive systems. Theoretically he is capable of impregnating himself; however, a childhood injury to his uterus makes this impossible. Cerebus is an amoral character.[22] He is often foul-mouthed and uncouth, has a vicious temper, and loves getting drunk. In the Guys story arc, Cerebus is described as having "a self-absorption that borders on the pathological."[citation needed] In Church and State, Cerebus, after becoming Pope, uses brutal methods to teach morality lessons.[citation needed] However, he is brave, crafty, and can show genuine affection to those he considers equals or those he has feelings for. He is a skilled tactician and strategist, is very proficient at hand to hand combat, and has a knack for improvisation and manipulation. He received training in magic as a child, but is depicted as being able to recognize magic and deal with it rather than use it.

For most of the series' run, Cerebus possesses an innate "magnifier" ability. This ability, which he shows little (if any) conscious awareness of, is a tendency for events occurring around him to become unusually focused and ordered, with intensified actions and consequences and sometimes with paranormal effects, then fall out of place in his absence. This ability also affects the people around him to varying degrees, amplifying their personality traits and abilities, and also amplifies any magic that is present.

A running gag in the early storylines was that when Cerebus' fur got wet it gave off a horrible stench, which even he could barely tolerate.[23]

Cerebus is often considered to be one of the greatest comic book characters. Wizard magazine rated him as the 63rd greatest comic book character [24] while Empire magazine rated him as the 38th greatest comic book character describing him as a character born of bizarre brilliance.[25] IGN also placed Cerebus as the 91st greatest comic book hero of all time stating that a few names hold as much sway in the independent comics scene as Cerebus and that Cerebus' mark on the industry will be everlasting.[26]

The series starts off a little roughly, with a predictable bit of thrashing around for themes and some unrefined artwork. But by the second book (High Society) Sim is off and running, and never looks back. There's a total of 16 books comprising about ten storylines before the saga comes to an enigmatic but wholly appropriate end.

These are the first four books in the series.

     

If you're a fan of odd but funny - and frequently thought provoking - graphic novels, give Cerebus a read.


 

5735

Developer's Corner / Re: Ethics and Responsibility Question

« Last post by 40hz on June 19, 2012, 01:52 PM »

I think the condition that someone acting in an (implied) unofficial capacity contacted someone "outside normal channels" puts it squarely into 'dealer's choice' country as to any follow-up action.

From a purely pragmatic viewpoint it's important to ask yourself how involved you want/need to be in this situation.

In my particular case, I make it a point not to pass judgements or participate in any "off the record" discussions where violations of law may be concerned.

I will give testimony in court, or before a regulatory panel - or participate in a discussion with acknowledged "parties responsible" if I have a contractual or other legal relationship with the organization involved. But as a purely outside party with no current legal ties or status with the organization in question, I tend to stay clear of involvement unless: (a) I'm subpoenaed to testify; or (b) it's something so egregious and/or illegal that I personally can't live without reporting it.

I guess it all comes down to a matter of what you believe and what price you may have to pay for your involvement in something. Not everybody who suffers is responsible for what was done. Some merely reported it and got caught in the backdraft since the law tends to paint things with a very broad brush. And any involvement with the law, or the government acting in its official capacity, is a headache at best. At least as far as my experience as a consultant goes.

Much like the above comments by Stepehen, SJ, and Ath, my rule of thumb is to do whatever best allows me to sleep at night, and face myself in the mirror.

5736

Living Room / Re: LastPass Finally Showing Its Revenue Plans? Credit Monitoring? Bah...

« Last post by 40hz on June 19, 2012, 12:56 PM »

Thanks 40hz.

Not exceptionally paranoid yet - but it feels like I'm working on it!

BTW, I've considered that but I do have some trepidation about Dropbox - they really do seem more geared toward sharing and not so much on privacy/security. Also. I'd have to go to copy/paste I think; Keepass doesn’t do form-filling well. At least it didn't the last time I tried it. Maybe they've gotten better.

One more thing I need to do - get all the logins I have added recently to LP and get them into Keepass. I initially made sure they were identical but adding stuff on the fly to LP was easy; replicating that same info to Keepass not as easy. I know there's stuff that never made it into KP.  Whatever I do I think it will be a lot of manual entry.   

Thanks again!

Jim

-J-Mac (June 19, 2012, 12:30 PM)

It's a hassle. But I eventually bit the bullet and did it. More out of simple cussedness than necessity perhaps, but I admit I have (possibly unjustified) trust issues with online password stores.

Form fill is a buggy experience with KeyPass to be sure. I've mostly given up on using it, but that's the price I pay for refusing to deal with something like LastPass. So be it.

Dropbox doesn't share if you don't tell it to. They're even dropping the default supplied Public folder for a much more restrictive and formal file sharing process for all new accounts.

FWIW, I only sync my heavily encrypted pwl-database to Dropbox. I run it off a USB key in portable mode for day  to day use. This is my security key so it also uses Truecrypt to keep everything well hid should I ever lose it. I debated installing some sort of autodestruct mechanism on it but decided it was more effort than it was worth since I commit any of my really important passwords (bank account, Amex, etc.) to memory anyway. Not hard if you follow this suggestion courtesy of "Randall" over at xkcd - and which has been previously posted in different threads here at DoCo:



Luck!

5737

General Software Discussion / Re: In search of ... the whys and wherefores of NoSQL

« Last post by 40hz on June 19, 2012, 12:37 PM »

[Sidebar.  This topic has come about because of a school for which I do some pro bono publico work.  The administrator for my area asked me about NoSQL, whether it would hold any practical advantage for the school.  Since the work is local to the school, I'd think not, but I told her I would do some research.  So far, that research has revealed a morass, no real organization/definition at all.]

-barney (June 19, 2012, 08:18 AM)

I've done some research into non-RDBMS databases for a client. (I prefer non-RDBMS to NoSQL since there are at least 3 very different technologies calling themselves NoSQL right now.) I can save your school administrator some work. What I found: not ready for enterprise primetime except in very specific and specialized circumstances. For day to day general database requirements (i.e. any data that can easily be structured as a table - which is to say most data), RDBMS is still the best current choice.

NoSQL may work well for gangling and ever expanding collections of non-structured "stuff" (images, loose document collections, tweets, messages, etc.) running under some form of cloud backend. But for what most organizations have for, and need to do with, their data, it's far less an advantage and much more of a risk to drop their relational databases. At least right now.

5738

Living Room / Re: LastPass Finally Showing Its Revenue Plans? Credit Monitoring? Bah...

« Last post by 40hz on June 19, 2012, 12:11 PM »

Suggestion: Use Keypass and save a synced copy of your encrypted database to a Dropbox account if it needs to be completely accessible from anywhere on any machine. (Can't imagine why since that introduces its own security risks, but there are people who insist that's important to them.) Or, alternatively, store it exclusively there. Put it in a Truecrypt container under Dropbox if you're exceptionally paranoid.
 

5739

Living Room / Re: Microsoft's New Surface Tablet Hybrid

« Last post by 40hz on June 19, 2012, 11:58 AM »

Sigh... yes... want it...

Despite my new-found loathing of the company Microsoft, I do like a lot of what they do...

-Renegade (June 19, 2012, 11:42 AM)

I use my GF as a bellwhether for consumer computing. She's smart, technically literate, can code, gets involved in information design at her job, and is one of the most logical and intelligent buyers of technology I ever met. She doesn't shy away from any necessary learning curves. But she also doesn't suffer fools gladly. Or the products they design. And the amount of research she does prior to putting her plastic down for a bit of tech (most recently a digital camera, a distortion box for her guitar, and an ebook reader) is a wonder to behold. She's usually ahead of the adoption curve for what either becomes the mainstream choice or the "smart-money sleeper" product. Her track record is close to 100% for that.

That said, she's not completely indifferent to techno-bling. Her feeling is, if all other factors are mostly equal, go for the prettier one. (How she can think like that and still end up with me is anybody's guess. But I'm not complaining. )

I'm gonna turn her loose on this one. If she thinks it's a go, I'm almost certain it's gonna be a winner.
 

5740

Living Room / Re: Microsoft's New Surface Tablet Hybrid

« Last post by 40hz on June 19, 2012, 11:38 AM »

If you're more the visual/"just show me" type here's a couple of videos:

The first is some techno-porn shots. Apparently Microsoft learned a few things (not all of them good) from Apple over the years. Because this ad oozes consumer sex appeal, and virtually screams: WANT IT!

The next is the official keynote intro to Surface. Once you get past Steve (Monkeyboy) Ballmer doing his usual self-congratulatory rah-rah valedictory speech it gets more interesting. Around the 20:40 mark Mike Angiulo takes the stage and gets into the i-core Pro, which is the version I would think most of us geek types would be more interested in. Some of the remarks regarding basic design decisions (and compromises) are very interesting. And his comments on the underlying direction and future plans Microsoft has for this new platform are well worth paying close attention to. (And try not to gag too much around the 29:45 mark when the philosophical spiel starts rolling.  )

If this turns out to be reliable and affordable - everything works as advertised - and it can be delivered to the consumer in quantity on a timely basis - I think Microsoft may have a real winner here. Especially as a computing device for general use by the general public.

If so, Microsoft will likely redefine the whole "personal" game once again. And with all that implies, both for better, and worse.
 

5741

Living Room / Udacity - free online education for real

« Last post by 40hz on June 19, 2012, 11:04 AM »

In case you missed IainB's earlier forum thread here, Udacity is an online site that offers college level courses free of charge.

Unlike most other free course sites, Udacity provides interactive class environments (where appropriate), along with actual instructor feedback, graded exams, and a certificate of completion for passing the exam. Noted robotics expert and former Stanford University professor Sebastian Thrun founded Udacity with a dream and the ambitious goal to someday offer a recognized Masters Degree that would not cost the recipient more than $100. If successful, Udacity could finally break the high tuition "paper chase" graduate degrees have largely become for American university students.

The WSJ did a write-up on what it's all about. Read it here.

I just received an e-mail from Udacity announcing their upcoming intro stats course. It includes a challenge for high school students that those of you who are may be interested in looking into. Here's the e-mail:

Hi 40hz,

I am writing you to ask a personal favor. I am trying to break the student record for the largest online class ever taught with my new class "Intro to Statistics", which will begin June 25th.  Sign up, forward this e-mail to your friends and family and let's set a new record!

We've also launched a challenge for high school students.  Winners will get a trip to Stanford University and I will be delighted to give a tour of my lab!


Thanks,
Sebastian Thrun, Professor

I'm in the middle of two Udacity courses right now and I've been quite happy with my experiences so far. Check it out!

Udacity's homepage can be found here.
 

5742

General Software Discussion / Re: From ZDnet writer - Final Thoughts on Windows 8: A Design Disaster

« Last post by 40hz on June 19, 2012, 08:24 AM »

This does not look like a disaster to me: http://www.microsoft...e/en/us/default.aspx

-Stoic Joker (June 19, 2012, 06:53 AM)

Oooh. It all makes sense now. A decent iPad killer. Sign me up.

-nudone (June 19, 2012, 07:28 AM)

More like an iPad and MacBook Air one-two knockout punch if it lives up to what's written on the tin.

This in from OSNews (full article link here.)

Microsoft unveils its own tablet: Surface
posted by Thom Holwerda on Tue 19th Jun 2012 00:10 UTC

IconSo, the Microsoft announcement - taking place as I write this, 01:45 in my timezone - turns out to be a bigger deal than expected. Microsoft just announced it's going full-on hardware - the company announced a new tablet called 'Surface', and boy, is this thing something to behold. Microsoft's hardware partners? They're not happy right now. Update: Here's Microsoft's official Surface site. I believe someone coined the phrase 'sexy as a succubus' in the comments about Vizio? Stealin' it! Update II: They aren't just taking the iPad head-on - this is a straight-up MacBook Air competitor.

Microsoft Surface is a tablet built out of PVD magnesium, with a 10.6" Gorilla Glass display. It's pretty thin (9.3mm), looks downright gorgeous, and has 'want' written all over it. There's an ARM Windows 8 RT version, and, for those of us interested in the existing software base, there's also a thicker Intel version, as powerful as any recently announced ultrabook. The Intel version will also have higher storage capacities, and digital ink and stylus support. Basically, ARM is Home, Intel is Pro.

IF this thing turns out to be half as good as it looks, I know I'll eventually end up owning one regardless of how I feel about where Microsoft is taking Windows. The fact they will be offering two keyboard cover options (3mm multitouch and 5mm tactile!!!) would be enough to make it a "tipping point" feature for me.

Bloody! I soooo HATE IT when I know they've got me...

Microsoft is becoming what cigarettes used to be for me. Something regularly used despite knowing what they can ultimately do to you.

 

5743

Living Room / Re: Raspberry Pi's $35 Linux PC

« Last post by 40hz on June 19, 2012, 08:00 AM »

Something just occurred to me. Those of you who have been around long enough to have witnessed the birth of the "personal computer" (Kim1, IMSAI, etc.) and lived through it's early childhood (VIC-20, C-64, Atari 800, Coleco Adam, TRS-80, Apple ][ at al) might notice a similarity between then, and what's happening now with the Rasberry Pi.

You're seeing a creative community of enthusiasts forming around a piece of inexpensive and empowering technology. And this community is open to new ideas and freely sharing discoveries with each other.

Looks like the "good old days" of the personal computing movement are making a comeback.

Funny how Apple and Microsoft got their start in a time when there was a huge interest in getting control over your personal technology. Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Steve Jobs and The Woz launched two of the most successful companies in history - and ushered in a whole new world (both figuratively and literally) - in rebellion against IBM and other computing giants who were committed to preserving their secretive and proprietary walled-garden ecosystems.

Things have changed a lot since 1975. And one of the most notable changes is that the former 'rebels' are now doing their damnedest to become our new overlords.

How interesting that a new small, inexpensive, single-board computer has emerged, along with it's own community, in response.

Apparently history is repeating itself - once again.

How cool is that?

 

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

Addendum:

Back in the day, I was firmly ensconced in the Commodore Camp with my trusty Vic-20, my stable of C-64s and my elegant C-128. Our holy book was a Canadian-based enthusiast's magazine called Transacter. It started out in 1978 as a few page newsletter. But it became a legitimate printed bi-monthly magazine sold on bookstore racks and the bigger news stands before its demise in 1989.

Since there were no websites back then, it was eagerly awaited by the Commodore community whenever it came out. The B&N around where I live used to have a sign that read: "ATTENTION! Transacter magazine is put out as soon as we receive it. If you don't see it, it either hasn't arrived, or it's sold out. And no - we won't be receiving additional copies."

The full Transacter archive in PDF can be found here. If you're curious, take a look at a few issues and compare what you see there to what's happening with MagPi magazine.

Of course, if you still have an old C64 sitting somewhere, you could always plug it in (I can almost guarantee it still works), download a few copies of Transacter, and have at it. Well worth it too! That old C64 sprite and SID chip magic is still there.
 

5744

Living Room / Re: Raspberry Pi's $35 Linux PC

« Last post by 40hz on June 18, 2012, 05:17 PM »

Don't know if anyone cares, but the Rasberry Pi community has their own monthly e-magazine. Called The MagPi, it's now up to the second issue and may be downloaded here.

The MagPi: a Raspberry Pi community magazine
Posted on May 5, 2012 by liz   

Whenever I’m tasked with chatting up potential donors, partners or volunteers for the Raspberry Pi project, I’m asked what really makes us stand out from other computer companies. There are lots of answers: the charity business model; the unusual price point we’ve picked; the open-source software; the transparency about process; the focus on education.

But for me, what I consider the biggest thing we have going for us, and the thing I tend to rattle on about most in meetings, is the community that’s grown around the project. The MagPi, a free online magazine dedicated to the Raspberry Pi, whose first issue was released a few days ago, is a perfect example of that. It’s been put together entirely by volunteers, guided by Ash Stone, Jason “Jaseman” Davies, Meltwater and other names you may recognise from the forums and comments on this site. I was broadly aware they were up to something, but I was amazed at the scope of what they sent me to look at earlier in the week, and I’ve been really, really impressed by the first issue. There are Debian and Puppy guides, articles on computing history, ideas for robotics projects, tutorials in Scratch and Python (with code you can type in yourself, just like in the good old days), features about the Raspberry Pi itself, and other goodies to dig into. I really can’t recommend it enough, and if you haven’t been lucky enough to get to the head of the queue, you don’t need a Raspberry Pi to find it useful (you might actually find the magazine good preparation before yours arrives). So go and download a copy, have a flick through, write to the guys if you think you can contribute to future issues, and let us know what you think!

 

5745

Living Room / Re: Apple...Just ever so slightly paranoid?

« Last post by 40hz on June 18, 2012, 05:09 PM »

"Mighty oafs from little icons grow." - James Thurber

Poor Apple. Would that they could loom as large in the psyche of the rest of the world as they do in their own.

Such is the fate of those who spend most of their lives within the confines of their own virtual reality.

 

5746

General Software Discussion / Re: From ZDnet writer - Final Thoughts on Windows 8: A Design Disaster

« Last post by 40hz on June 16, 2012, 08:51 PM »

One word.

Hubris.

End of script.
 

5747

Living Room / Re: FOI Documents Show TOR Undernet Beyond the Reach of the Federal Investigators

« Last post by 40hz on June 16, 2012, 01:06 PM »

I read it as black/false flag - An intentional misdirect so as to incriminate the other side.

-Stoic Joker (June 14, 2012, 03:34 PM)

Precisely. You cannot make an anonymous request in the United States for information under FOI laws. You must positively identify yourself or your organization when filing such a request. The justification is that certain information may or may not be exempted from FOI discovery depending upon who is making the request. So in order to comply with the law and FOI administrative rules, the agency being petitioned must know who they may be releasing such information to.

One good way to shop dissidents is to encourage them to attempt to obtain restricted information through "official" channels. Not to sound paranoid, but if it's something cabals within the government are concerned about becoming public knowledge, your show of unusual interest may result in you yourself being deemed "a subject of interest" by the agency in question. Not a good thing to be in most cases.

The other problem is that the FOIA has largely become an easily manipulated sham in recent years. There are enough legal exemptions and special 'security' rules that it is now largely up to the government exactly how much it wants to cooperate with this law. Suffice to say it is only now complied with when it provides some advantage to the government. Or casts government actions in a favorable light. Or secures some power group within the government a political advantage if it doesn't. (One excellent way to deal with political opponents is to make sure all their dirty laundry gets aired in public while yours is kept safely buried "for reasons of national security.")

As computer users and programmers we know: garbage in = garbage out. And information received is only as good as the integrity of the database it comes out of.

Invoke FOIA?
 

5748

Living Room / Re: Icann reveals new internet top-level domain name claims

« Last post by 40hz on June 15, 2012, 07:30 AM »

Is there any truth to the rumor that the United States has applied for .bs, and plans on using it to replace .gov for all its websites? 

5749

Developer's Corner / Re: Help me think of a small ipad app idea to code

« Last post by 40hz on June 14, 2012, 02:26 PM »

One of the most complicated things for a GOOD RSS reader is scheduling threads to download stories.

-Renegade (June 14, 2012, 11:35 AM)

Apparently it is. I've had to turn off the autocheck feeds feature in rssrunner to keep it from having problems.

But I wouldn't even care if that wasn't included. I'd just as happily have it only update when I selected an individual feed. It's pretty much what I do with most feed readers anyway since I track a few hundred threads and I'd just as soon not keep being reminded how many things I want to be looking at.

Oh yeah - a mark all as read button would be great too. With the amount of feeds I track I don't read everything (obviously). So it would be great to be able to go in, manually tell it update, cherry pick whatever catches my interest for reading, and then mark the entire collection as read to clear the decks for the next download.
 

5750

Developer's Corner / Re: Help me think of a small ipad app idea to code

« Last post by 40hz on June 14, 2012, 09:01 AM »

How about a good RSS reader that has:

• a workable "find RSS feed link on webpage" discovery feature
• doesn't crash every 10-15 minutes - or once you get more than 20 feeds or a hundred article links in the database
• has a button to save directly to InstaPaper and Pocket (formerly: ReadItLater)

And most important of all:

DOES NOT require a Google Reader or another web-based reader account in order to work.

AFAIK there is only one iOS reader that isn't using Google right now. It's called rssrunner and it's by Golden-Apps.

It hasn't been updated in ages despite endless promises of great things in the works. It's also flaky and crash/lockup prone.

I would pay good money for a genuine standalone RSS reader running under iOS that works as advertised. (And yes, I think "known crappy quality" is the main reason why so many iOS apps are offered for "free.")

I'm told RSS readers are not that complicated to code. Many times they're supposedly given as an optional assignment in intermediate level coding courses. No that I'd know. So if it turns out something like this isn't "small" please feel free to ignore.