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6301
Living Room / For the Facebook Haters ;)
« Last post by Renegade on January 01, 2012, 12:44 PM »
I know some people will love this:

http://mashable.com/.../28/occupy-facebook/

Occupy Wall Street activists are developing a social network called The Global Square for the generation of protesters.

“We don’t want to trust Facebook with private messages among activists,” developer Ed Knutson told Wired.

Knutson is helping build the network, which will unite members of Occupy movements across the globe. As more of the physical encampments are evicted across the U.S., digital meeting places will be of increased importance, explains a November RoarMag blog post.


Looks like an interesting special use for a social network.


6302
Living Room / Re: 2012 WARNING! I'm here and... cough... gack... ZAP! Argh!!!
« Last post by Renegade on December 31, 2011, 07:34 PM »
I'am in 2012 now too.
Happy new year to all.


For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)  :Thmbsup:

;D

And when the ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE comes in December... If You Want Blood... You've Got It! ;D

+1 for SJ - Just start panicking now. Get it out of your system. Panicky people are tastier for zombies. :P

6303
Living Room / 2012 WARNING! I'm here and... cough... gack... ZAP! Argh!!!
« Last post by Renegade on December 31, 2011, 07:52 AM »
Scared ya~! :P

6304
Living Room / Re: The Christmas arms race
« Last post by Renegade on December 30, 2011, 06:35 PM »
You should always add a tiny splash of water to most decent whiskies -- it opens up the flavours no end.

A friend taught me that trick a while back... oh man... understatement... It was night and day.

I love whiskey...

6305
The way I see it, the source code not open source can actually be a good thing because people might try to fiddle with the code or repair/modify it because they don't want to pay for maintainence from the manufacturer.

This might be a bad analogy, but consider the "black box". It makes maintenance easier because if it is broken, you replace it and if it isn't, you keep it. (You don't try to fix it.)

"a black box refers to a piece of equipment provided by a vendor, for the purpose of using that vendor's product. It is often the case that the vendor maintains and supports this equipment, and the company receiving the black box typically are hands-off."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_box

Watch "The Third Letter" I mentioned above. It's a prediction for exactly this situation.

We're currently seeing "Brave New World" and "1984" slowly come to fruition. "Fahrenheit 451" is here as well in the form of SOPA (burn a site rather than a book). I rather doubt that "The Third Letter" won't happen.




6306
I haven't followed any of the links in this thread so far, but I do want to say that I used to work for a medical device manufacturer (our site made defibrillators and ECG monitors) and I do want to say a few things:

  - I can understand that patients might like to have the firmware source made available
  - keep in mind that there are in fact trade secrets used in the firmware that could be damaging to the manufacturer if made easily available to competitors
  - the outfit that I worked for took safety *very seriously*.  I have no qualms saying that safety was the primary concern. Reliability was held to a high standard as well.
  - while the FDA didn't directly inspect the code (as far as I know - I imagine that they could request it, and maybe even did), they did hold testing to a high standards. And the FDA could and would perform intensive audits - unannounced - that sometimes took more than a month to complete.
 
I'm not trying to say that the current system is perfect or that it cannot be improved, but I do want to say that there are valid, reasonable arguments for why device software can't necessarily be easily open sourced and that the regulatory environment isn't useless.


I'm rather skeptical of modern medicine. I would feel MUCH better with GPL'd software, and specifically GPL, not BSD.

Some FDA official/officer just got charged with fraud (or something like that). Fluorine is an important component of sarin nerve gas, but we put it in our water/toothpaste/etc. Discussions about putting psychotropics in fast food... Vaccines against breast cancer (or whatever) that cripple women... Industrial grade silicon for breast implants... The list goes on. A quick search reveals a near infinite series of horror stories.

Modern medicine simply scares the b'jeezus out of me.

I just can't get behind corporate interests over health concerns.

6307
This story is truly nutty:

http://www.dailymail...ml?ito=feeds-newsxml

Gentlemen look away: Angler snares deadly fish that killed two men by biting off their testicles
Angler wrestled 40lb monster on to the floor of his boat and opened its snapping jaws with his naked hands
Pacu fish boasts impressive set of man-like molars, which tear off testicles of unwitting fishermen

6308
Living Room / Re: The Christmas arms race
« Last post by Renegade on December 29, 2011, 08:36 PM »
Hm... Favorite present...

A deluxe gun cleaning kit, which came with two boxes of hollow points so I can get them dirty again too.

Just make sure to never be honest about that stuff: http://rt.com/usa/ne...graves-gun-york-965/

And be thankful that nobody gave you a bipod or a tripod, because then you'd be a terrorist: http://rt.com/news/t...ards-government-613/ :P

(I love guns~! ;D Don't have any, but I love shooting.)

6309
Oh god... You MUST watch "The Third Letter":

http://www.vodo.net/otherworlds

That has a bunch of films in it, but watch "The Third Letter".

Answer... OPEN SOURCE GNU GPL ONLY.

Remember, open source can still have strings attached. Open source does NOT mean free. There are free licenses, like BSD and GNU GPL, and they are also open source, but...

6310
Living Room / Re: How to destroy yourself on the internet in 24 hours
« Last post by Renegade on December 29, 2011, 08:13 PM »
...Customer service of old is gone were in a new generation now...

But can anyone say he's wrong there? Perhaps he should be hanged for honesty. :P


6311
General Software Discussion / Re: write app tutorial
« Last post by Renegade on December 29, 2011, 09:10 AM »
Screenshot Captor?

If you need more than that, Photoshop or The GIMP?

I'm guessing you're writing in HTML/Word?

6312
Best E-mail Client / Re: E-mail client recommendations
« Last post by Renegade on December 29, 2011, 09:08 AM »
Lets just say that I will never be or become an Outllook fan, especially after all these years and incarnations that archaic PST/OST structure (including its artificial limits) is still in use today.
[/end rant]

+666 for the PST hatred...

I've heard that "enhanced interrogation techniques" involve forcing victims people to use Outlook and solve PST issues... But those are just rumors. I'm certain nobody is that evil to do anything like that...

6313
Living Room / Re: The Christmas arms race
« Last post by Renegade on December 29, 2011, 09:03 AM »
My sister sent some coffee from Sri Lanka and my mom sent some home made jam that got destroyed (thank you yet again to the post office - but that's another rant...).

Other than that, I made a delicious roast for my wife, but that's it.

I got told that I need to make a bigger deal out of Christmas next year... I haven't done anything for Christmas for a very long time.

Living in Canada, I found the commercialism sickening. Christmas was only as good as how much you spent. I was glad to get away from that and promptly tried to forget it.

Kind of on topic, if you love blasphemy - here's a laugh.

6314
General Software Discussion / Re: Opera: The web browser I have been dying to love
« Last post by Renegade on December 29, 2011, 08:52 AM »
Opera... divisive... I can't help but root for the underdog.

I'm using Opera and Chrome primarily now. Both are great, with minor issues. If I were to pick one right now, I'd have to say Chrome is in the lead, though not by much. It still seems like more sites work better with Chrome.

I find I am spending more time in Chrome though.

As for FF... ditched that long ago. I only use it very rarely now, and only with a special purpose.

IE is still my staple for a very small number of web sites where it simply works better than anything else. But, those aren't many.

Posting from Opera -- DC just seems faster in it. :)
6315
N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012 Release Day Getting Close!
« Last post by Renegade on December 28, 2011, 06:22 AM »
I've been trying to work with the Express version, but it doesn't support microphone sound input.  grrrr.

Try CamStudio.

I had to do a quick screen recording, and naturally my Camtasia installer is corrupt... so... rather than fart around trying to find a backup... I tried BBFlashBack and had similar audio problems, i.e. none. CamStudio worked better for me.

6316
Living Room / Re: More Hilarity - "Can I have my spy plane back?"
« Last post by Renegade on December 27, 2011, 08:01 PM »
It's moved from 1031 to 1021, so looks like I was out of date above and being ranty again. :D

http://thomas.loc.go...query/z?d112:HR01540: < You need to drill down. You can't link to it directly.

SEC. 1021. AFFIRMATION OF AUTHORITY OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES TO DETAIN COVERED PERSONS PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF MILITARY FORCE.

 (a) In General- Congress affirms that the authority of the President to use all necessary and appropriate force ... includes the authority for the Armed Forces of the United States to detain covered persons (as defined in subsection (b)) pending disposition under the law of war.

 (b) Covered Persons- A covered person under this section is any person as follows:

 ...

 (2) ...any person who has committed a belligerent act...

It's still there. It still says "anyone we feel like". "Belligerent act" is simply massively broad.

No, it's not still there.  Sections stay the same in bills, but can be dropped or added as needed, so you have to look at the final bill to see what is being voted on/passed.

This is the one that is being presented to the president (the same one in your quote on the 7th version).  Note that section 1021 does not exist.

The situation that Jim pointed out is the truth of the matter. (Thanks for that Jim)  Why it's being referred to as still being in the bill?  I don't know...

And the link I posted above tells the exact stage that the bill is in.

The link you have there doesn't seem to work. Same for mine above.

Hopefully this works:

http://www.gpo.gov/f...LLS-112hr1540enr.pdf

That's for v7. Is that the right one or wrong one?

If it's still written "in there", how can you tell that it's not "still in there"?


I went back to the link you shared:

http://dailycaller.c...e-authorization-act/

The misinformation surrounding the 2012 NDAA is a result of the misinterpretation of provisions included in Sections 1021 and 1022 of the act.

I still find that hard to swallow. I suppose that I would expect a certain degree of precision and a lack of ambiguity. If it can be "misinterpreted" in a particular way, then why can't it be "interpreted" in a particular way. These kinds of arguments are common in religious circles regarding holy texts. e.g. You have Lutherans, Pentecostals, Baptists, and Catholics all coming away from the Bible with different readings. By the same token, you don't get people walking away from mathematical treatise or physics texts with different interpretations because they're meant to be precise and exact. I would assume that precision in legal matters would similarly be a good thing.

If the "misinformation" is just a "misinterpretation", then great. But really, the whole "just trust me" thing hasn't really panned out very well in the past. I suppose I'm just not that trusting.


In any event, how can I find the final version? The only versions that I can locate still have those same things in there.







6317
Living Room / Re: Reddit Leaving GoDaddy because of SOPA Support
« Last post by Renegade on December 27, 2011, 08:27 AM »
Godaddy! Actually, please don't!

Specifically, GoDaddy appears to be returning incomplete WHOIS information to Namecheap, delaying the transfer process. This practice is against ICANN rules.

***Update 12:45 PT – GoDaddy has confirmed they have finally unblocked our queries. The transfer queue is being cleared and all transfers should go smoothly from here on. Many thanks to our customers and supporters for bringing this issue the attention it deserved!

http://community.nam...ddy-transfer-update/



And.... The first sentence in the comments...

Thanks for the update and transparency guys!

Says worlds about the company there.

That's just so douchey on GoDaddy's end...


6318
Living Room / Re: More Complete Patent Insanity (Warning -- You may vomit)
« Last post by Renegade on December 26, 2011, 10:08 PM »
Who are these people in the patent office? supposedly following some law that allows these stuff? If decisions can be patented this is even more hilarious than usual. It's like saying the thermostat switching off when it's 70F can be patented

Exactly. This stuff is just off the hook nutty.
6319
Living Room / Re: More Hilarity - "Can I have my spy plane back?"
« Last post by Renegade on December 26, 2011, 09:16 PM »
Sections 1031 and 1032 originally had wording that did allow the detention of American citizens if they were suspected of supporting terrorists, and specifically denied any rights to US courts/justice system. That was what made the bill such a hot topic. The final bill, as voted on, did not have that wording. Still that doesn’t appear to be clear to everyone and seems to be at the root of continuing debate.

Jim


That makes sense.

Found the reference... It's moved from 1031 to 1021, so looks like I was out of date above and being ranty again. :D

http://thomas.loc.go...query/z?d112:HR01540: < You need to drill down. You can't link to it directly.

SEC. 1021. AFFIRMATION OF AUTHORITY OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES TO DETAIN COVERED PERSONS PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF MILITARY FORCE.

 (a) In General- Congress affirms that the authority of the President to use all necessary and appropriate force ... includes the authority for the Armed Forces of the United States to detain covered persons (as defined in subsection (b)) pending disposition under the law of war.

 (b) Covered Persons- A covered person under this section is any person as follows:

 ...

 (2) ...any person who has committed a belligerent act...

It's still there. It still says "anyone we feel like". "Belligerent act" is simply massively broad.


Also -- I was wrong about Obama passing it:

There are 7 versions of Bill Number H.R.1540 for the 112th Congress. Usually, the last item is the most recent.
 1 .  National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (Introduced in House - IH)[H.R.1540.IH][PDF]
 2 .  National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (Reported in House - RH)[H.R.1540.RH][PDF]
 3 .  National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (Engrossed in House [Passed House] - EH)[H.R.1540.EH][PDF]
 4 .  National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (Referred in Senate - RFS)[H.R.1540.RFS][PDF]
 5 .  National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (Engrossed Amendment Senate - EAS)[H.R.1540.EAS][PDF]
 6 .  National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (Public Print - PP)[H.R.1540.PP][PDF]
 7 .  National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (Enrolled Bill [Final as Passed Both House and Senate] - ENR)[H.R.1540.ENR][PDF]

I take it that the next stage is for Obama to pass it.

6320
Living Room / More Complete Patent Insanity (Warning -- You may vomit)
« Last post by Renegade on December 26, 2011, 12:25 PM »
Get ready to puke your brains out, this is certain to make you freak out:

http://www.boston.co..._wars/?p1=News_links

For example, Android phones can automatically decide whether to download data over a cellular network or over a local Wi-Fi network. British Telecommunications claims that it earned a US patent on the underlying technology in 2000. If the company prevails in this suit, instead of having the phone automatically begin downloads from the network the user would have to manually make the choice instead, switching from 3G or 4G cellular data on the road to Wi-Fi at home.

Please allow me to explain what took me less than a second to figure out:

Code: C# [Select]
  1. bool wifi = WifiIsConnected();
  2. bool carrier = DumbAssCarrierIsConnected();
  3.  
  4. if (wifi)
  5. {
  6.     connection = UseConnection(wifi_constant);
  7. }
  8. else if (!wifi && carrier)
  9. {
  10.     connection = UseConnection(carrier_constant);
  11. }
  12. else
  13. {
  14.     // error as no connection is available..
  15.     connection = UseConnection(null);
  16. }

Just how retarded are these people?

And that's just small 1 part of the insanity...

This stuff isn't rocket science.


Lesson learned (NSFW)

Lesson learned:

1) THE CARRIERS ARE TRYING TO FUCK YOU AS HARD AS POSSIBLE.
2) IF YOU CAN'T TASTE THEIR COCK, IT'S BECAUSE IT'S IN YOUR ASS.






6321
Living Room / Re: Thoughts in remembrance of 911
« Last post by Renegade on December 26, 2011, 11:33 AM »
Really reaching here... where's the harm?

The pic's taken in southern India. The guy's probably a menial laborer working in the Gulf where he picked up the shirt. He would probably be dumb enough to wear it in Manhattan if someone told him it was OK. I wouldn't think too much about it, God knows he doesn't. :)

I don't know where it was taken. I assumed that most people would know what the imagery represented though. The point about someone manufacturing it is a good point though. e.g. If you know that it represents, you obviously have a view point if you try to profit from it.

@IainB - No offense here. I simply find celebrations of mass death distasteful. I may have read into it more than I should have.

By the same token, I don't find swastikas offensive as for me whenever I see them, they don't represent Nazi Germany for me (usually). They're religious symbols that predate that.

@tranglos - I'm neutral on the Israel/Palestine issue. I just don't know enough about it to take a side. My only comment is that "killing people is bad".

My take on 911 - Fair warning - this is offensive to war mongers

My take on 911 is that it's been used politically for some very, very evil purposes. The deaths of those people have been mocked and shit on. They've been used to bomb and murder countless thousands of people. Estimates of civilian casualties in Iraq range from 130,000 to over 600,000 people. That's just Iraq.... And only civilian casualties. The fallout is far worse than just that. That's just the tip of the iceberg.

Some people may remember Public Enemy:



Well, as far as I can see, the US government has made 911 a joke again.






6322
Living Room / Re: More Hilarity - "Can I have my spy plane back?"
« Last post by Renegade on December 26, 2011, 11:04 AM »
NDAA 2012 gives the US govt the power to arrest and indefinitely detain anyone for *any reason*.

http://rt.com/news/t...ards-government-613/

I don't think that points to what you think it does.  The smoking gun that was quoted there was distributed to military surplus stores.  I don't think wal-mart is a military surplus store.

And as far as the NDAA 2012, that's the legislative branch giving away authority to the executive branch, not the other way around.   Think about it- it made it through the house even as it stands.  The Republican controlled house.  What does that say?

And apparently (though not in as attention grabbing a headline) Obama has threatened to veto in its current form, so language is still being added to avoid a presidential veto.

More clarifications on the controversial terms.

Which, if true, would mean that Ron Paul and others who have supposedly read it, are either ignorant of these same facts (unlikely) or using the internet firestorm to their own advantage.

Which would be politics as usual.

Ron Paul can't save us now.  We can only save ourselves.


The link you have there doesn't address the controversial terms. I refers to 1021/1022 when the real problem is 1031.

It sounds like misdirection to me.

From the article you posted:


The misinformation surrounding the 2012 NDAA is a result of the misinterpretation of provisions included in Sections 1021 and 1022 of the act. These provisions are an important part of the 2012 NDAA and provide vital clarity for our Armed Forces defending America around the world. Our forces have officially withdrawn from Iraq and are on a timetable for a similar drawdown in Afghanistan. However, terrorists around the world continue to plot devastating attacks against Americans.


What total utter nonsense! I seriously just want to vomit. That anyone could possibly put forth such utter bold face lies is disgusting!

You can read about it here:

http://en.wikipedia....for_Fiscal_Year_2012


If you read 1031, it clearly sets out a police state. The only offense you need to be suspected of is being "belligerent". Literally. It's very clear.

(I can't find the govt reference at the moment. I read it before, and it's crystal clear -- YOU are the enemy now. YOU are the "terrorist". It's sick and perverse.)

Like seriously, what kind of a douchewad (or idiot) would point people to 1021/1022 when the problem is 1031? Lies. Malicious lies. It's purely misdirection.

Obama never vetoed it. It went through. (At least as far as I've read on it.)

Am I missing something? Did the world change under my feet in the last few days. It would sure as hell be a welcome belated Christmas present!

 

6324
Living Room / Re: More Hilarity - "Can I have my spy plane back?"
« Last post by Renegade on December 26, 2011, 06:27 AM »
Yes, but who could be in a position to sell Patriot missiles (a lot of them too) to foreign powers?
Might the same be true of UAVs?
Why were the Patriot missiles put in the cargo hold apparently so carelessly that not even a dunderhead could miss them?

No clue on that one. Yeah, anything is possible. But... I simply have no idea.


The Obama administration has basically given the office of the president god-like powers to do whatever he wants. The next president could simply arrest all of the 3 branches of government as traitors and terrorists. ;D :P (I couldn't resist that one either~! The sad thing is that it's actually true~!)

Ummm... what?  I don't get the reference.  And there's been a lot that hasn't been able to make it through, even down to extending unemployment benefits during the holiday season, so I *really* don't get it.


NDAA 2012 gives the US govt the power to arrest and indefinitely detain anyone for *any reason*.

http://rt.com/news/t...ards-government-613/

Do you own flashlights? Or pay with cash instead of a credit card? And do grocery shopping for the week? I do. You probably do – and guess what, according to the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, that could make both of us terrorists.


So the next time you're in Wal-Mart, and you see someone buy a flashlight, report them! Especially if they pay with cash. :P






6325
Living Room / Re: Thoughts in remembrance of 911
« Last post by Renegade on December 26, 2011, 06:06 AM »
Found at: ]http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2011/12/high-fashion.html
- who linked to it here:
From: http://iowntheworld.com/blog/?p=111054

God bless you, every one.


Interesting.

It's really no more distasteful than a lot of things though.

e.g. Here are some similarly distasteful images:

Distasteful, though mainstream

This is a standard - targets with someone that you want to kill on them. No surprises here:

osama-bin-laden-target-t-shirt-0.png

Imagine replacing Osama with Steve Jobs here:

b1wup.jpg





Back to buddy's shirt... Now, if it had "Never forget" in bold letters on it, you could easily sell that shirt in the US. Because then it would be paying homage as opposed to whatever it is now.



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