Recent Posts

6051

Living Room / May I Have A Download Please?

« Last post by Renegade on February 13, 2012, 12:07 AM »

Well, I hear about this web site with alternative films, so of course I visit.

And, oooooh~! This one looks interesting... (I love supernatural flicks!)

http://pureflix.com/...folio/the-encounter/

So I watch the trailer, and figure I'll go buy it. But what I really want is a download and not a DVD... The whole waiting a few weeks thing is just kind of like, oh so entirely 20th century and lame.

Sigh... No luck.

In other places, I've watched movies for free, then gone out and bought the DVDs simply to support the film. (e.g. The Corporation - it was available to view for free somewhere, and was so good I had to buy a copy.)

This stuff isn't that hard to do. I think I'm going to go ahead and see about creating a relatively secure "shareware" (try before you buy) downloadable movie. I've got the basics in my head already, and it shouldn't be that hard... We'll see...

But all I want is to download the movie... It's cheaper for the seller that way even!

6052

Developer's Corner / Re: Who wants to experience C# depths of hell and evilness? (directx code)

« Last post by Renegade on February 12, 2012, 11:40 PM »

The problem with the technique I use in the code mouser has been using is that it uses process injection. Unfortunately this complicated approach was the only reliable way I could determine to capture at a reasonable speed from the DirectX application, and especially from a full screen one. I'm happy to elaborate on this, so if someone wants to know more about it just let me know.

-spazzarama (February 12, 2012, 11:20 PM)

I'm certainly interested in the dark arts!

Feel free to elaborate! (Here at DC or a blog post -- whatever works for you -- just post here if you do a blog post so I and others know.)

6053

General Software Discussion / Re: color area

« Last post by Renegade on February 12, 2012, 11:20 PM »

If someone knows how to do it in Photoshop, chime in. I don't know of how the Magic Wand helps...

Here's an ASCII representation that is impractical for the Magic Wand (to count the "O"s):

---O---O---O---O---O---O---
-O---O---O---O---O---O---O-
---O---O---O---O---O---O---
-O---O---O---O---O---O---O-
---O---O---O---O---O---O---

Or with X's just to make it more painful to look at:

XXXOXXXOXXXOXXXOXXXOXXXOXXX
XOXXXOXXXOXXXOXXXOXXXOXXXOX
XXXOXXXOXXXOXXXOXXXOXXXOXXX
XOXXXOXXXOXXXOXXXOXXXOXXXOX
XXXOXXXOXXXOXXXOXXXOXXXOXXX

That's the first problem for the Magic Wand - You must manually select all similar colour patches yourself, which defeats the purpose of doing it manually.

Next, I don't know how to get a pixel count from the Magic Wand. Anyone know how to do that?

6054

Living Room / Re: Anatomy of a Tear-Jerker: Very cool article on why songs give you chills

« Last post by Renegade on February 12, 2012, 10:45 PM »

The Blues and Jazz genres have made extensive use of one version of this technique, although it's usually called a "blue note" rather than an appoggiatura.

In rock music, Pink Floyd also uses this technique so much it's almost a trademark for their dark-themed "Floyd" sound. Listen to the song Perfectly Numb for a classic example. There's a warbling (for lack of a better word) note in the accompaniment that runs almost all the way through the song that triggers a constant state of angst for most listeners - which is perfectly in keeping with the subject of the song.

Fun stuff.

Did you know a band can build audience excitement if they make each succeeding song in their set start on a key slightly higher than the previous song? And it's even more effective if they do it using using a "circle of fifths" sequence (ex: F-C-G-D-A-E...) rather than a straight linear (ex: D-E-F-G-A...) progression?

Smart rock groups have been doing that for years.

-40hz (February 12, 2012, 08:38 PM)

I didn't know about that circle of fifths trick! Wow!

But I must bring to attention one small point of order/blasphemy...

In rock music, Pink Floyd...

-40hz (February 12, 2012, 08:38 PM)

Pink Floyd isn't "rock music" -- they are a divine religion!

And speaking of blue notes...

David Gilmour is a god.

6055

Living Room / PrECISE - It's the New SOPA/PIPA/ACTA

« Last post by Renegade on February 12, 2012, 10:37 PM »

You knew it wouldn't last. While you rejoiced when SOPA/PIPA were publicly hung for being draconian crimes against the people, you secretly also knew that dark forces were already planning their reincarnation.

That reincarnation now has a name: PrECISE Act


This time, rather than screaming about "piracy" to take away your privacy and rights, they're screaming about "security".

Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.

-Benjamin Franklin

None of this will make you more secure. It will do the opposite.

http://www.gizmodo.c...-in-a-new-sopa-bill/

Main article here:

http://dailycaller.c...with-new-cyber-bill/

A recent bill in the House  – the Promoting and Enhancing Cybersecurity and Information Sharing Effectiveness Act of 2011 or PrECISE Act — also empowers DHS in the event of a cyberattack, but the bill has been criticized by Reid as not giving the agency enough power.

...

Reid favors an approach that would expand DHS authority beyond currently regulated “critical infrastructure,” such as utilities and financial institutions, to also include Internet service providers and private networks.

Not enough power? Just how much power do these people want? The answer? Well, isn't it obvious? ALL the power.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, following a recent anti-piracy legislative debacle with SOPA and PIPA, will lead his second effort of 2012 to push Internet-regulating legislation, this time in the form of a new cybersecurity bill. The expected bill is the latest attempt by the Democrats to broadly expand the authority of executive branch agencies over the Internet.

Details about the bill remain shrouded in secrecy. Clues available to the public suggest that the bill might be stronger than President Barack Obama’s cybersecurity proposal, which was released in May 2011. Reid said that he would bring the bill — expected to come out of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, chaired by Connecticut independent Sen. Joe Lieberman — to the floor during the first Senate work period of 2012.

A classified meeting behind closed doors in October 2011 between key Senate committee leaders with jurisdiction over cybersecurity and White House officials, took place at the request of the Obama administration. Lieberman, in an interview with The Hill in October, said that past Senate cybersecurity bills were considerably stronger than the White House proposal.

Shrouded in secrecy? Kind of like how ACTA was? You mean trying to steal human rights in the middle of the night? Again?


We shouldn't have to worry about this kind of garbage. We should be spending our time in threads of interest like this one, rather than trying to spread awareness about tyrants trying to enslave us.

Update February 10:

Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee Majority Spokesperson Leslie Phillips told The Daily Caller Friday the bill does not regulate the Internet or information, and that any regulatory authority associated with the bill would be extremely narrow.

Phillips told TheDC that the purpose of this bill is to improve the security of critical infrastructure networks that control the energy or water supply, the financial sector or nuclear facilities – networks, which if attacked could cause mass death or catastrophic damage to the economy or national security. The bill also covers federal civilian networks. “We’re not talking about music files,” said Phillips. “We’re talking about life-sustaining services. This is not a regulatory bill. This is a national security bill.”

Phillips also told TheDC that the bill has not been shrouded in secrecy. “We have been circulating drafts of this bill for months.”

And we should all just go back to sleep and trust these people that NEVER lie about anything like the USS Maine, or the Gulf of Tonkin, or the "oral office", or not molesting children, or... 

These people have a strong history of lying at every turn.

But we shouldn't give up or stop. Because the price of freedom is vigilance.


It is worth repeating...

Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.

-Benjamin Franklin

6056

Living Room / Re: U.S. Air Force May Buy 18,000 Apple IPad2s for Flight Crews

« Last post by Renegade on February 12, 2012, 07:38 PM »

From the same outfit that bought hammers & toilet seats that cost $300 each I can see why they'd be attracted to iPads.

/snarky

-Innuendo (February 12, 2012, 11:41 AM)

Hahahahaah~! 

6057

Living Room / Re: Cool Site - Kind of like info graphics... About Debt

« Last post by Renegade on February 12, 2012, 08:52 AM »

Depressing? Heck, when I look at those big piles, it's not depressing~! 

6058

Living Room / Re: Recommend some music videos to me!

« Last post by Renegade on February 12, 2012, 04:53 AM »

Not a music video, but a movie, "Color from the Dark" is an H. P. Lovecraft adaptation:

http://www.indiemovi...colour-from-the-dark

(Picking up from the Cthulhu stuff in another thread in case anyone is interested. Seems like everyone loves Cthulhu, though I'm sure there are some secret Azathoth lovers out there too~! )

6059

Living Room / Cool Site - Kind of like info graphics... About Debt

« Last post by Renegade on February 11, 2012, 09:31 PM »

This is a cool site:

http://demonocracy.info/

It's like a whole bunch of info graphics on debt.

6060

Living Room / Re: U.S. Air Force May Buy 18,000 Apple IPad2s for Flight Crews

« Last post by Renegade on February 11, 2012, 08:51 PM »

Unfortunately, the FAA will not allow them to be switched on while the plane is in the air for fear they may interfere with aircraft's flight instruments. hahahahahahahahahahahahah!!! 

-40hz (February 11, 2012, 04:48 AM)

That's what "Airplane Mode" is for.

-lotusrootstarch (February 11, 2012, 05:51 AM)

Have you been on an airplane recently? Every flight I've been on in the past few years I've been instructed to turn the devices off completely "even if the device has an airplane mode."

-Deozaan (February 11, 2012, 07:32 PM)

Yeah, I was aboard a plane, and a few minutes after take-off I pulled out my phone, and the plane crashed and everyone died! Twice!

I think China Air now allows phones and everything. I saw an article about it, but don't remember the details.

Has anyone ever seen an actual scientific study about why Super Mario 2 can cause a 747 to crash?

6061

Living Room / Re: New weapons in the file sharing war.

« Last post by Renegade on February 11, 2012, 02:43 PM »

In all fairness to Deozaan, I've said some pretty crazy things (from a "normal" perspective), and I can see why someone might take me literally above there.

6062

General Software Discussion / Re: color area

« Last post by Renegade on February 11, 2012, 03:51 AM »

Here's a new version:



PixelCounter2.zip (81.75 kB - downloaded 196 times.)

It lets you look for 3 colours and define a variance as described above. Full source is there as well so anyone can tweak it if they need.

6063

General Software Discussion / Re: color area

« Last post by Renegade on February 11, 2012, 03:17 AM »

thank you very much!

but, what about photos, where similar colors form an area or multiple areas, which must be counted?

maybe we can input many color codes, but again, how can we determine similar color codes in a photo?

it works exceptionally well with vector graphics, but with raster images, it seems bothersome (like many other stuff with rasters)

-kalos (February 10, 2012, 07:16 AM)

It counts all the pixels that are a specific colour, so it doesn't matter what kind of picture it is. I just picked that picture because it's fun.

It actually relies on a raster image. No matter what kind of image you use, it will be rasterized. (See below.)

Here's another example screenshot:



Here's the code:

Code: C# [Select]

1. private string SomeOtherMethod(string imgPath, Color compareColor)
2.         {
3.             // http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6020406/travel-through-pixels-in-bmp
4.             Bitmap bmp = new Bitmap(imgPath);
5.             int count = 0;
6.             int total = 0;
7.  
8.             for (int ii = 0; ii < bmp.Width; ii++)
9.             {
10.                 for (int jj = 0; jj < bmp.Height; jj++)
11.                 {
12.                     Color pixelColor = bmp.GetPixel(ii, jj);
13.                    
14.                     // do stuff with pixelColor
15.                     if (pixelColor.R == compareColor.R && pixelColor.G == compareColor.G && pixelColor.B == compareColor.B)
16.                     {
17.                         count++;
18.                     }
19.                     total++;
20.                 }
21.             }
22.  
23.             decimal percent = (Convert.ToDecimal(count) / Convert.ToDecimal(total)) * 100;
24.  
25.             return "Counted " + count.ToString() + " pixels of " + total.ToString() + " (" + percent.ToString() + "%)";
26.         }

If you wanted to check for multiple colors, that's easily done by adding in more color pickers, etc. etc.

If you want to check for "similar" colours, this is the comparison:

pixelColor.R == compareColor.R && pixelColor.G == compareColor.G && pixelColor.B == compareColor.B

That needs to be adjusted to whatever you consider "similar".

e.g.

Code: C# [Select]

1. (pixelColor.R <= compareColor.R + 5) && (pixelColor.R >= compareColor.R - 5) && (pixelColor.G <= compareColor.G + 5) && (pixelColor.G >= compareColor.G - 5) && (pixelColor.B <= compareColor.B + 5) && (pixelColor.B >= compareColor.B - 5)

Or whatever.

However, you really need to know some colour theory and the math behind it to come up with something that will work the way you want it to. The above example is just a very simple example.

6064

Living Room / U.S. Air Force May Buy 18,000 Apple IPad2s for Flight Crews

« Last post by Renegade on February 11, 2012, 02:10 AM »

Looks like Apple has scored a very big win with the military:

http://www.bloomberg...hs-18-000-ipads.html

The U.S. Air Force may buy as many as 18,000 iPad2s in what would be one of the military’s biggest orders of computer tablets, accelerating Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s inroads into the federal government.

The service’s Air Mobility Command plans to issue a request for proposals to buy between 63 and 18,000 “iPad 2, Brand Name or Equal devices” to lighten the load of flight crews, according to a notice posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website.

The goal is to replace the bag of manuals and navigation charts weighing as much as 40 pounds that are carried by pilots and navigators, said Captain Kathleen Ferrero, a spokeswoman for the command.

Between 63 and 18,000?

Seems a tad vague...

I wonder if they'll come with a custom OS so that Apple can't remotely wipe content.

6065

Living Room / Re: New weapons in the file sharing war.

« Last post by Renegade on February 11, 2012, 01:07 AM »

Are you guys crazy? Why would you want the Unabomber to return? What the heck is wrong with you?

-Deozaan (February 11, 2012, 12:41 AM)

It wasn't literal.

It's just that some of the stuff going on is so utterly bad, that by comparison, Ted looks pretty good. It's not a comment on actually wanting Ted running around bombing people -- it's a comment on recent events being completely insane and out of control.



EDIT:
Ok, think of it this way, would you rather face Ted or an invasion by the Borg. Kind of like that.

6066

Living Room / Re: New weapons in the file sharing war.

« Last post by Renegade on February 11, 2012, 12:24 AM »

Scary stuff, 40hz...

Where the hell is Ted Kaczynski when you need him?!   

Jim

-J-Mac (February 11, 2012, 12:02 AM)

Prison.


If you want to find a new love for Ted and his ideas, look into "singularity" and the merging of man and machine. It will likely scare you half to death as you pray for Ted's return.

6067

General Software Discussion / Re: color area

« Last post by Renegade on February 09, 2012, 07:54 PM »

this is what I want exactly, but I need to quantify this selection as a percentage of the whole photo or as an absolute square inches etc

-kalos (February 08, 2012, 12:24 PM)

The program above that I posted uses % of total pixels, so, if you want to determine the area of the picture, then you can figure out the area that is the colour by using the %. Onscreen, area is largely irrelevant if it isn't expressed in pixels. i.e. Square cm or square inches are basically meaningless. (Yeah, yeah... I know... but it's close enough to true and is still more true than some sort of morphing universe.)

So, I think that covers it.

6068

General Software Discussion / Re: color area

« Last post by Renegade on February 09, 2012, 07:44 PM »

Well, looks like no answers so far...

Here's a quick hack that does the job. It is NOT release quality, but it does what is asked - i.e. Counts the number of pixels in a picture that are a specific colour and outputs that number along with a %.

PixelCounter.zip (76.64 kB - downloaded 195 times.)

You can run the "PixelCounter.exe" in the debug or release folder.



The complete project is there. (Consider it as WTFPL. I just can't resist that!)

6069

Developer's Corner / Re: Who wants to experience C# depths of hell and evilness? (directx code)

« Last post by Renegade on February 09, 2012, 07:00 PM »

Update:

I spent all day on directX capture stuff and basically got my a** kicked by it.  I thought that I had come up with a clever technique to grab directX windows, but it turns out that it just won't work for full screen directX apps, which is the only one thing that's important since SC will capture windowed directx fine.  SO in short we are back to this hook injection code I linked to above.  It should theoretically work to do the job, but is a bit nasty and requires registered a global assembly (like registering a system DLL); What would be really ideal is for someone to convert that C# code to C++..

Anyway, what I ended up doing is adding a kind of protocol to interface a 3rd party commandline screenshot grabbing tool, which SC will invoke and then grab the resulting screenshot and treat it like one of it's own (put it in right directory, name it properly, do post processing on it, show post-cap dialog if appropriate, handle hotkey stuff for it, etc.).  SO.. basically what I have now is a placeholder for a fullscreen directx commandline capture tool, ready to drop one in as soon as someone codes it. [As an aside this functionality could also be used for some different 3rd party "capture" tool if someone wanted to write one to do something like capture from a remote device, etc.).

-mouser (February 09, 2012, 02:11 PM)

Been there a few times myself. The process for me usually goes something like this:

1) See a fantastic way to do something.
2) Bang head for unspecified period that is way too long
3) Repeat step #2 several times until knocked unconscious
4) Wake up with massive headache
5) Look for alternative way that isn't nearly as cool, but gets the job done




You have my deepest sympathy as I can totally relate!

6070

General Software Discussion / Re: Cthulhu Saves the World Pricing Blog Post

« Last post by Renegade on February 09, 2012, 06:20 PM »

It's also available on GamersGate, DRM-free.

-Lashiec (February 09, 2012, 06:14 PM)

Ah! Thank you!

I don't really buy/play a lot of games, so I'm not really up on the different market places for them.

6071

Living Room / Re: New weapons in the file sharing war.

« Last post by Renegade on February 09, 2012, 09:15 AM »

Nice!

I don't really check into P2P stuff much, so it's new to me too!

And, it looks like a wonderful strategic nuke on the censors!

6072

Living Room / Interactive Web Patented? <insert more insanity here />

« Last post by Renegade on February 09, 2012, 08:37 AM »

Credit to Zane for posting this on G+.

Looks like a patent may get royalties from, well, everyone. 

http://www.wired.com...-berners-lee-patent/

The inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee, testified in a courtroom Tuesday for the first time in his life. The web pioneer flew down from Boston, near where he teaches at MIT, to an eastern Texas federal court to speak to a jury of two men and six women about the early days of the web.

His trip is part of an effort by a group of internet companies and retailers trying to defeat two patents — patents that a patent-licensing company called Eolas and the University of California are saying entitle them to royalty payments from just about anyone running a website with “interactive” features, like rotating pictures or streaming video.

http://www.wired.com.../patent-troll-trial/

Michael Doyle, a low-profile Chicago biologist, claims that it was actually he and two co-inventors who invented — and patented — the “interactive web” before anyone else, while they were employed by the University of California back in 1993. Doyle argues that a program he created at the UC’s San Francisco campus, which allowed doctors to view embryos over the nascent World Wide Web, was the first program that allowed users to interact with images inside of a web browser window. The defendants hotly contest that, saying that it was programs like Pei-Yuan Wei’s pioneering Viola that first offered this functionality.

We'll see I suppose.

6073

General Software Discussion / Cthulhu Saves the World Pricing Blog Post

« Last post by Renegade on February 09, 2012, 07:52 AM »

Here's an interesting post on software pricing for a game:

http://zeboyd.com/20...ince-the-price-drop/

I saw a video on the game, and figured I'd go buy it. I figured I'd pay up to $20 for it, but if it was more, then no. I love H. P. Lovecraft, and who doesn't love Cthulhu?

So, I find out it is only on Steam... So much for that.

But the price is dirt cheap. $1 or $3.

Anyways, the post...

For a baseline, before the price drop, we were selling about 20-21 copies of Cthulhu Saves the World a day on average on the XBLIG platform.

Here’s the first week of sales since the price drop (I left out the 4th because the price drop was only in effect for a short period of time that day). I’ve also posted a couple notes on relevant events that happened on specific days.

Jan 5 – 220 sales (96 trials) – First full day at 80 MS points
Jan 6 – 317 sales (106 trials) – Brief mention on Major Nelson’s podcast by e
Jan 7 – 188 sales (93 trials)
Jan 8 – 139 sales (85 trials)
Jan 9 –  97 sales (64 trials)
Jan 10- 127 sales (100 trials) – First day that the game is in the top 30 Top Daily Downloads for XBLIG since the price drop
Jan 11- 229 sales (152 trials)

Again, it's all about revenue, and not numbers of sales or percentages. Glad to see some people "get it". (The media mafia certainly don't.)

6074

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by Renegade on February 09, 2012, 07:23 AM »

And even better...

A mind is a wonderful thing to lose...

6075

Living Room / Re: A nice bit of profanity from "Apple Scotland and Siri" (video)

« Last post by Renegade on February 09, 2012, 04:28 AM »

Bwahahahaha~!

That was awesome~!