Recent Posts

626

FARR Plugins and Aliases / Re: Post your FARR v2 Plugin Idea Requests Here - Plugin Writers Read In

« Last post by phitsc on April 27, 2011, 02:20 AM »

Although I haven't used the following:

  http://www.zhornsoftware.co.uk/stickies/

it appears there is an API (Windows Messages) for getting it to do various things:

  http://www.zhornsoftware.co.uk/stickies/api/

There also appear to be various utilities for working with it -- on first glance it looks like there may be some kind of command line interfacing mentioned too:

  http://www.zhornsoftware.co.uk/stickies/tools.html

-ewemoa (April 26, 2011, 06:11 PM)

Yep, that's the one I was talking about.

627

FARR Plugins and Aliases / Re: CZB pack

« Last post by phitsc on April 26, 2011, 11:48 AM »

I've tried the Timer, Google Translate and Baamboo plugins with FARR v2.98.01. Both Timer and Google Translate work on my PC running Windows XP. Baamboo shows the error described above, but that seems to be a problem related to the Baamboo website and not the plugin itself.

628

General Software Discussion / Re: Number of GChrome.exe processes

« Last post by phitsc on April 26, 2011, 08:49 AM »

Maybe those are the sandbox processes for various plugins

-housetier (April 26, 2011, 08:31 AM)

Ah, thanks. Found this description of Chrome's Multi-process architecture.

629

General Software Discussion / Number of GChrome.exe processes

« Last post by phitsc on April 26, 2011, 07:03 AM »

Why does Google Chrome start 11 GChrome.exe processes although I have only one instance of Chrome running, with only 3 tabs?

630

Living Room / Re: Anyone here using a standing desk?

« Last post by phitsc on April 20, 2011, 01:45 AM »

Unfortunately not. But the people I know who use one are happy with it. Both of them were forced to use it because of back problems.

Now that summer is coming here it will be easier again to follow the water trick, i.e. have a small bottle of water and drink lots of it, in order to force you to stand up and walk around often for refill and bathroom.

631

Living Room / Re: Still holding out, won't join Facebook

« Last post by phitsc on April 20, 2011, 01:34 AM »

Is Facebook geared to dullards?

632

General Software Discussion / Re: Deduplication, encryption, security and... Dropbox

« Last post by phitsc on April 18, 2011, 02:11 AM »

I like it how SpiderOak tries to be very clear about where possible security problems in using their service could be, e.g. here about accessing one's data over the web interface:

https://spideroak.co...tters#instant_access

633

General Software Discussion / Re: Deduplication, encryption, security and... Dropbox

« Last post by phitsc on April 18, 2011, 02:07 AM »

Who are the 'executive staff' andc how do they bypass their own security system?

-Carol Haynes (April 17, 2011, 03:34 PM)

I would assume that it means executive staff have access to the private keys they use for encryption.

Even if I would trust these executive staff (whoever and however many that are), the problem is that if they have access to my data, then a not properly fixed or yet to be discovered security problem on their servers could possibly make my data available to hackers as well.

634

General Software Discussion / Re: Deduplication, encryption, security and... Dropbox

« Last post by phitsc on April 16, 2011, 04:57 PM »

And gods easily turn into dogs.

-Armando (April 16, 2011, 03:34 PM)

Damn, it took me about 10 seconds to see that. And it's only 4 letters

635

General Software Discussion / Re: What Android Apps Do You Use?

« Last post by phitsc on April 16, 2011, 12:25 AM »

Or just use the Android Agenda Widget I've presented in my Android widget micro reviews. It comes in many different sizes, is highly customizable and the free version comes without restrictions or adds (so you have enough time to test it and play around with it before you buy the 2$ paid version ).

636

General Software Discussion / Re: Deduplication, encryption, security and... Dropbox

« Last post by phitsc on April 16, 2011, 12:19 AM »

I've asked Dropbox support if their FAQ statement that says that "Dropbox employees aren't able to access user files" were really true. Their response:

Yes. Dropbox employees can't access the file's contents. They can see the file names, move, delete or even restore files, but can't view them. The only exceptions are the executive staff who have a vested interest the company.

I have to admit that I am shocked about their slack interpretation of the word "employee". To be honest, I feel cheated by that FAQ statement. Already the fact that any employee could actually delete my files is unbelievable.

Anyone who's already a SpiderOak user wants to send me an invitation? I think they have a referral program.

637

General Software Discussion / Re: Deduplication, encryption, security and... Dropbox

« Last post by phitsc on April 15, 2011, 04:33 PM »

And I found it actually made me more concerned, rather than less.  Because it shows (1) PR backpedaling and (2) a basic lack of awareness about the competition.  I *know* that Jungle Disk does offer encryption (though I don't use it, because it slows down the sync, and I don't really store anything that I care about using the sync service) and I'm pretty sure that others do also.

-wraith808 (April 15, 2011, 04:22 PM)

Yep, I agree. Same for SpiderOak (which I'm not personally using (yet)). At least their FAQ about their "zero knowledge" indicates as much.

638

General Software Discussion / Re: Deduplication, encryption, security and... Dropbox

« Last post by phitsc on April 15, 2011, 04:06 PM »

I don't find that their answers explains much... unfortunately.

-Armando (April 15, 2011, 04:04 PM)

And I don't find it in the least comforting.

639

General Software Discussion / Re: Deduplication, encryption, security and... Dropbox

« Last post by phitsc on April 15, 2011, 03:46 PM »

I raised my concerns directly with Dropbox and got the following response:

That article is both misleading and alarmist.

Please read our response to this. Thanks! http://forums.dropbo...id=36365#post-310198

If you would like client-side encryption you'll need to use something like True Crypt. With server-side encryption it doesn't matter if we use your key our ours. Also, if you expect the files themselves to be encrypted using your actual password as the key then we'd have to re-encrypt all of your files every time you change your password. I don't believe any service offers that feature.

Please let me know if there is anything else I can do for you.

640

Living Room / Re: Downloadsquad shutting down - Another one bites the dust

« Last post by phitsc on April 15, 2011, 09:28 AM »

DownloadSquad (the popular tech blog with an emphasis on software) is closing down, as a consequence of the AOL/Huffington Post merge.

-paulobrabo (April 12, 2011, 01:04 PM)

This is one of those situations where my little square brains are getting confused. I have visited DownloadSquad every week for maybe 3 or even 4 years, so in my imagination every software lover in the world will be familiar with DownloadSquad. But I have never ever even heard of this huffington thing.

-Curt (April 15, 2011, 09:19 AM)

I've never heard of either   Not that it means anything

641

Living Room / Re: Good blog for software developers to follow

« Last post by phitsc on April 15, 2011, 08:42 AM »

Oddly named as they have 3 or 4 per day, but nevertheless, lots of good stuff there.

-Renegade (April 15, 2011, 07:53 AM)

Haha, I though that as well

642

DcUpdater / Re: DcUpdater v2 Preliminary Flirtations

« Last post by phitsc on April 15, 2011, 06:02 AM »

Hey, it's over two years since the last presentation of DcUpdater v2.

643

Living Room / Re: Good blog for software developers to follow

« Last post by phitsc on April 15, 2011, 02:32 AM »

Like it. Thanks for sharing!

644

General Software Discussion / Re: Deduplication, encryption, security and... Dropbox

« Last post by phitsc on April 14, 2011, 01:59 PM »

To be honest, I assumed that my files were somehow encrypted with my login credentials. Now that I think of it, that wouldn't make sense though. Every time I'd change my password the files would probably have to be re-encrypted.

645

General Software Discussion / Re: Deduplication, encryption, security and... Dropbox

« Last post by phitsc on April 14, 2011, 01:56 PM »

This is what's making me nervous:

Dropbox is likely calculating hashes of users' files before they are transmitted to the company's servers. While it is not clear if the company is using a single encryption key for all of the files users' have stored with the service, or multiple encryption keys, it doesn't really matter (from a privacy and security standpoint), because Dropbox knows the keys. If the company didn't have access to the encryption keys, it wouldn't be able to detect duplicate files.

I see that it's only speculation. But if it is true, then that is a very serious problem.

646

General Software Discussion / Re: Deduplication, encryption, security and... Dropbox

« Last post by phitsc on April 14, 2011, 02:19 AM »

[edit] on rereading the article, and thinking about it a bit, you dont have to answer that question ;-) I guess I'm sort of relaxed about it myself, cause the important stuff I have on Dropbox is encrypted (locally) [/edit]

-tomos (April 13, 2011, 05:10 PM)

Mine is not (locally encrypted). I totally relied on Dropbox's claims of total security (which as it seems might be naive). So yes, it does bother me.

647

General Software Discussion / Re: What Android Apps Do You Use?

« Last post by phitsc on April 13, 2011, 02:07 AM »

I had the same experience in Canada - Amazon Marketplace installs and loads but purchases are blocked (including the Angry Birds Rio givewaway last week ).

-Darwin (March 31, 2011, 08:49 AM)

I noticed Angry Birds Rio is now also available on the regular Market, for free.

648

General Software Discussion / Re: Chrome / Firefox tabs in title bar

« Last post by phitsc on April 12, 2011, 07:20 AM »

For FF, does the following help at all?

http://userstyles.org/styles/42417

-ewemoa (April 12, 2011, 07:07 AM)

Well, it kind of does. But it overlaps the min/max/close buttons and makes it look kind of ugly. But I guess the fact that there's a Stylish style that does this indicates that there's no hidden FF setting that would do it. I really don't understand why they restricted this to maximised windows only 

649

General Software Discussion / Chrome / Firefox tabs in title bar

« Last post by phitsc on April 12, 2011, 05:12 AM »

Both Firefox 4 and Chrome can put the tabs in the title bar. But they both do that only when maximised. Anyone knows why that is? Anyone knows if it's easily possible to have one or both of these do that also when not maximised?

650

Living Room / Wear Looser Clothing to Avoid Losing Energy During the Day

« Last post by phitsc on April 12, 2011, 04:05 AM »

http://lifehacker.com/#!5790704/wear-looser-clothing-to-avoid-losing-energy-during-the-day

I first read: "Wear Loser Clothing to Avoid Losing Energy During the Day"