Recent Posts

6601

Living Room / Re: Quietly brilliant piece of technology - the NEST thermostat

« Last post by 40hz on December 08, 2011, 05:19 PM »

I give up.

6602

General Software Discussion / Re: Microsoft goes all Apple with a Kill Switch for Apps under Win8

« Last post by 40hz on December 08, 2011, 05:16 PM »

One word: Linux

6603

General Software Discussion / Re: how to run programs without altering the host pc

« Last post by 40hz on December 08, 2011, 01:21 PM »

Wrong. There are a few portable launchers for Sandboxie. The latest was released earlier this month. Search http://www.sandboxie.com/phpbb/index.php

-PhilB66 (December 08, 2011, 10:56 AM)

Duly noted.  

Sorry. Miscommunication. I though you were referring to an official as opposed to user contributed version.

To my way of thinking (because I have clients to support and report to) there's a big difference between an application designed from the ground up to be a portable app, and one that's isn't, but was kludged to act like one.

When it comes to applications that provide system-level functions and services, I don't trust kludges or hacks. Far too many opportunities for error. I've seen many cases where one appeared to be working correctly - but was not. Then there's the security issue. Since Sandboxie needs to be granted access to fairly low-level hooks and services to function, you need to trust it. I don't have a problem with the developer Ronen Tzur. I'm not so trusting of somebody I've never heard of posting a link to a launcher over on a site that's in Russian. Call me paranoid if you like. I make no excuses or apologies, although I'm more inclined to characterise my attititude as prudent.  

Further, with something like Sandboxie, I'm sure its developer has more than enough talent to code an official portable version of this product. The fact the developer hasn't tends to make me think there are likely to be very good technical reasons why it's not a swift idea.


Just my 2.

6604

Living Room / Re: Quietly brilliant piece of technology - the NEST thermostat

« Last post by 40hz on December 08, 2011, 12:43 PM »

IF the device was actually that smart it would self destruct after "learning" what ^its New Job^ actually entailed keeping up with.

-Stoic Joker (December 08, 2011, 10:25 AM)

Amazing how someone can draw such certain conclusions with zero evidence and a complete lack of actual testing or experience to go on.  

Oh well...that same 'methodology' of "proof by assertion" works for the government anytime energy policy or global warming comes up - so why not here? It's semi-related.  

As with any technology, individual mileage will vary. In this particular case, I'm looking at it from my perspective of two adults (who are out for fairly long periods at a time) with three temp zones in their living space. To me this looks like it might be worth a try once a little more  realworld customer experience comes to light.

As far as cost...well...that's relative too. Just this week I was very seriously contemplating purchasing a $299 video camera mentioned here that I have zero need for - and absolutely no justification in getting - other than I'd really like having it. So this device is just one more possible use for disposable income.

I don't personally care about this particular device's price tag. What I am interested in is how it points the way to where so much of our basic control devices may be heading.

Just my 2¢  

6605

General Software Discussion / Re: how to run programs without altering the host pc

« Last post by 40hz on December 08, 2011, 10:02 AM »

Well sandboxie will do it if it's already installed on the host PC. Portable apps should work too, that is the basic idea of them, but they don't necessarily provide guarantees to that effect.

-Eóin (December 08, 2011, 06:05 AM)

There is a portable sandboxie.

-PhilB66 (December 08, 2011, 09:48 AM)

AFAIK the only problem is it's an old version (V2.2.2.3) last released in late 2007. The current release is 3.62 which just came out last month.

This is what the developers currently have to say about portability and how Sandboxie (sort of) addresses it:

Portable Sandbox

The revised layout of the sandbox that is introduced in version 2.80 allows for greater portability of the sandbox across computers. By redirecting programs to create sandboxed objects which have a nonspecific path, it is possible to populate a sandbox on one computer, then carry this sandbox to another computer and keep using it.

For example, consider installing a game program to a portable device such as a USB memory stick which is mounted as drive P. The game may install its files to a folder on drive P, but any menu shortcuts it creates will be installed in the Windows Start menu of the local computer, outside drive P. And any registry keys it creates will also be created in the Windows registry, also outside the USB device.

By contrast, if you set the container folder to drive P (for instance P:\Sandbox), then install the game into the (sandboxed) drive C, then all objects created by the installation will be redirected to drive P.

You can then carry the USB drive to another computer where Sandboxie is installed, and set the container folder on that other computer to drive P. Through the Sandboxie Start menu, you will see the menu shortcuts installed by the game, and when you start it, the game will find its settings as they were recorded in the sandboxed registry.

Note that Sandboxie itself is not portable software, but it facilitates the portability of a large number of applications.

 

6606

Living Room / Re: Kicked Off the Plane for Games

« Last post by 40hz on December 08, 2011, 09:46 AM »

But I pretty much love him in anything he does. He's one of those guys that can really make a flick shine

-Renegade (December 08, 2011, 05:35 AM)

If you liked Alec, check out his brother Bill in Three of Hearts. Teaming him up with the vastly underrated Kelly Lynch was the stroke of casting genius that made an otherwise cute but "meh" story a fun little flick.

6607

Living Room / Re: Huh? Thailand can put an American in jail for posting internet content??

« Last post by 40hz on December 08, 2011, 09:29 AM »

In general, you're bound by the laws and conventions of whatever place you're physically in. That's why "patriotic speech" in one country becomes "seditious plotting" in another. I can write an article saying Alexander Putin deserves to be thrown out of office, and I'd possibly be applauded for it. If I showed up in Moscow shortly after that, it might be a different story. Especially if something I said in the article gained traction with the public and caused trouble in Russia beforehand.

FWIW unless you're a highly placed individual in government, the military, or business, the U.S. government won't go much out of their way to help you out of you run afoul of the law in a foreign country. And even if they do, there's actually very little the U.S. can do if the country in question digs it's heels in about it. Sovereign nations need to observe conventions of law and acknowledge foreign sovereignty if they expect their own to be recognised in turn. Basic 'tit for tat' at work here.

I think that if you're an activist in any way shape or form, it's a good idea to check the local laws before you travel any place your activism touches on. Because with the visibility the internet provides for any viewpoint, there's no such thing as a purely 'local' audience any more.

It's the Global Village folks. And it should come as no surprise it also has a dark side.  

6608

General Software Discussion / Re: how to run programs without altering the host pc

« Last post by 40hz on December 08, 2011, 09:15 AM »

Just my 2 based on my experiences...

Sandboxie works very well as long as your machine has enough 'oomph!' to run it effectively. Any dual-core (or better) chip with a gigabyte+ of RAM should do fine.

But as Renegade pointed out, VMs are an even better alternative if your PC has the power to run one. Sandboxes and sandbox techniques are a bit of a hack. VMs are a much cleaner and don't play weird shell games with your operating system in order to work their magic.

If you can do VM - definitely go that route.

6609

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: WinPatrol lifetime $5

« Last post by 40hz on December 08, 2011, 09:07 AM »

Thx Curt!

That's a terrific deal on a very nice security app. I just hope Bill Pytlovany doesn't put himself out of business with his generosity.

6610

Living Room / Re: Quietly brilliant piece of technology - the NEST thermostat

« Last post by 40hz on December 08, 2011, 07:55 AM »

Alas, I'd rather save the $249 for a new computer in 2012.

-zridling (December 07, 2011, 03:22 PM)

Agreed.  As slick as it appears to be, I think it's grossly overpriced.

-skwire (December 08, 2011, 07:13 AM)

Think it depends in where you live, what you're paying for heating and cooling, and how you calculate it.

If I could trim both bills by 4-5% of what I'm currently paying I'd easily break even within the first year. Not to mention becoming 'greener' in the process. Worst case it might take up to 18 months. After that, it's pure gravy.

And if you figure this device has an operational life of 5 to 10 years(?) - it provides a very tidy return on investment.


Every little bit helps.  

6611

Living Room / Re: google queries re new "2-step verification" / new style, etc

« Last post by 40hz on December 08, 2011, 06:44 AM »

Seems a bit much for a basic Google email account. So I'm guessing they're putting it in place primarily for something else. Possibly to make GoogleDocs more appealing to corporate buyers?

Who knows?

With their level of capital and infrastructure I wouldn't be surprised to see Google entering the financial services market soon. It worked very well for megacorps like GE and Mercedes-Benz.

Hmm... GoogleBank, GoogleInvestment, GoogleProperties, or GoogleFunds anyone? Why should the Gnomes of Zurich and Wall Street have all the fun - and get to collect all the nickels too!

6612

General Software Discussion / Re: CNET Download Installer Changes

« Last post by 40hz on December 07, 2011, 08:21 PM »

Sounds good except for the "generally" qualification as applied to open software. CNet shouldn't be bundling GPL open software at all since it violates the spirit and intent of the GPL - even if it may not 'technically' (debatable btw) violate the letter of the license.

For everything else, it should be the developer's exclusive call - and now it does look like CNet is finally starting to get it.

40hz remains hopeful this will eventually resolve itself to be a win-win for all parties involved.  

6613

Living Room / Re: Kicked Off the Plane for Games

« Last post by 40hz on December 07, 2011, 06:29 PM »

I'm not really all that sympathetic with the airlines.

-Renegade (December 07, 2011, 04:53 PM)

Neither am I. I've reached the point where I pretty much refuse to get on a plane for any reason these days.

Can you blame the guy for being pissed at having to put up with that?

-Renegade (December 07, 2011, 04:53 PM)

Actually, yeah I can. When you're in an airport or on a flight you tend to run into improperly trained yet overly zealous individuals who are wearing the livery of some airline or carrying a badge of some sort. It's seldom worth arguing with these people since it seldom accomplishes anything other than to create an incident and cause inconvenience to everybody around you.

Not to say you should roll over and play dead. But in this particular case you have a grown man becoming angry because he's told he's momentarily not allowed to play a game which he describes as being one he's addicted to? Um...this is a rational adult we're talking about?

Dunno. I don't see any huge civil rights issue here. Or at least not one big enough to deserve taking a stand on.

The real problem with incidents like this is they get lumped in with the real and serious complaints people have about airlines and airport security. As such, it diverts attention and dialog away from the incidents that really matter. Which is really a shame. Because there have been serious issues that need to be addressed.

Maybe I'd be a little more sympathetic if I hadn't seen a few interviews with Alec Baldwin recently. Or him as guest artist on Inside the Actor's Studio which is an educational TV show where aspiring acting students at Pace University get a chance to work with various actors on improving and learning their craft.

Most guest artists on that program have been both charming and generous with their help and advice. Alec Baldwin was cranky, slightly sarcastic, and generally unpleasant. I don't know if that is his usual personality off screen. But combined with what I saw on those interviews I previously mentioned, I get the distinct impression he can be a difficult individual to deal with.

Put him in close contact with an officious flight attendant and it's pretty predictable what really went down.


----

Note: for the record, I really like Alec Baldwin as an actor. I think he's one of the better ones out there right now.

6614

Living Room / Re: Kicked Off the Plane for Games

« Last post by 40hz on December 07, 2011, 04:33 PM »

From the article it sounds like a little bit more went on than him simply sitting quietly and playing a game. Sounds more like he lost it some if the airline personnel are telling the truth with their account of what happened.

Oh well. He got a new flight. The flight he was on saw him off the plane. And nobody got arrested - so no police were called in.

I'd call it even - and be grateful I wasn't on that plane. 

6615

Living Room / Re: I Have an Itch for a Video Camera...

« Last post by 40hz on December 07, 2011, 01:19 PM »

BTW - Does anyone know where I can get a keno?

-Renegade (December 07, 2011, 11:15 AM)

As in like this?



 

6616

Living Room / Quietly brilliant piece of technology - the NEST thermostat

« Last post by 40hz on December 07, 2011, 12:39 PM »

Every so often someone takes an existing piece of technology and finally gets it exactly right.

Over at MIT's Technology Review blogger Dave Zax has a write-up on a smart thermostat that lives up to the name.

Rather than being merely programmable (such devices have been available for years) this soon to be released* device from Nest Labs was designed with adaptive learning features. Instead of programming it via the usual time/temp settings scroll & set screens, you simply set it how you like it. The device then learns your preferences and patterns such that you don't need to do anything with it after a few days. It "knows" how you like to keep your home heated/cooled after that. Changes made with the seasons also get incorporated into its memory. Very slick. And exactly the way devices like this should work.



From the article:

A Smart, Sexy—Thermostat?!

Nest's new device is both; it looks gorgeous and can cut your monthly bill by learning your heating habits.

David Zax 12/06/2011


Consider the thermostat.

That in itself, I know, is asking a lot. What could be more boring, less worthy of consideration, than that bland gray panel on your wall?

But the thermostat, it turns out, is wildly important to our energy consumption: it controls up to half our energy bills. There are reportedly 250 million thermostats in the U.S., with 10 million more purchased every year. One recent innovation, the programmable thermostat, wound up being a complete failure: most users don't program it at all, leading the government to exclude the device from its Energy Star program.

If someone could finally hack the thermostat—finally get it right—it would be a big deal. And there's reason to believe that a company called Nest might be doing just that. Run by Tony Fadell, who helped design the iPod, Nest has actually designed a thermostat that is smart, and dare I say it, even a little bit sexy.

The Nest's central feature is that it learns. I tried to program my thermostat once, and it was a nightmare. As a writer, I keep somewhat unusual hours—when exactly would I be heading out on weekdays, and when on weekends? For me, the most intuitive way to use a thermostat is simply to turn the dial when I want it hotter, or colder.

The Nest lets you do just that—simply turn the dial—and it's smart enough to then learn your schedule as it goes. In about a week, it has learned your habits, and sets its own schedule. In other words, it programs itself.

Of course Nest Labs could have let it go at that. But realizing we're in a much more tightly linked environment today thanks to the dual blessing/curse of smartphone and wifi technologies, they also took the next logical step and made it reachable via smartphone or laptop:

Are you the kind of person who tends to make it halfway to the office before you suddenly remember you forgot to adjust the thermostat before leaving? No problem. You can control the Nest remotely, via smart phone or laptop. Those pangs of guilt are instantly assuaged.

Link to full blog post here.

There's a neat little animation put out by Nest that explains how their little prodigy works:

They also have an instructional video and a web widget that allows you to determine if your current heating wiring is compatible with their device. Talk about not missing a trick!

All in all, a brilliant device coupled with a company that also has the ability to provide an excellently designed website and well done presentations. That attention to detail is sorely lacking in most companies these days. Including the ones that should know better.

I don't normally get enthused over gadgets or tech these days. But every once in a while I run into somebody, or something, that just gets it so correct - and on so many levels - that the magic comes back.

Check it out when you get a chance!


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

Disclaimer: 40hz isn't affiliated with Nest Labs. He's just very impressed with them.

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

* UPDATE: This device is in production. It is, however, currently sold out for 2011. It will be available again starting in "early 2012." Price is $249 USD.

6617

Living Room / Re: Amazon Signs Up Authors, Writing Publishers Out of Deal

« Last post by 40hz on December 07, 2011, 06:43 AM »

Well, it seems the real business model is Balkanization of a given market.

That means eliminating open standards and non-proprietary storage formats. Which I guess now includes paper books.

Funny thing is that this had been tried before with early music recordings which were matched to specific brands of players. It wasn't until the standard 78 and LP formats emerged that records really took off as a product. Same went for phone technology. That market didn't explode until after governments stopped granting telcos the power to decide what devices could be connected to the networks.

Quadraphonic sound never made it because of competing non-compatible disk formats. Sane went for early laserdisc technologies, and to a lesser extent Sony's technically superior Betamax. The buying public refused to pay the stiff premium it would cost. Sony refused to license Betamax to content creators for reasonable terms. Enter VHS - and the rest was history.

Looks like ebooks are going to go through the same learning curve.

Eventually I think ebook distributors will realize closed formats and locked systems don't increase market opportunities, they damage them. In their desire to own the entire ebook marketplace, and play troll under the bridge, they're only hurting themselves in the long run.

Let's just hope it doesn't take another 10 years before they figure that out.  

6618

Living Room / Re: I Have an Itch for a Video Camera...

« Last post by 40hz on December 07, 2011, 06:20 AM »

As long as it functions after a jump through a stargate I'll be happy.

6619

Living Room / Re: Amazon Signs Up Authors, Writing Publishers Out of Deal

« Last post by 40hz on December 06, 2011, 02:57 PM »

It's not just Amazon that are publishing.
This seems to be self-publishing: The Book World Is Changing: Mark Cuban Creates A Best Seller Out Of Some Blog Posts

The idea of being able to produce smaller books, much more quickly is really quite appealing. And the legacy publishers still just aren't getting it.

Probably don't want to get it.

-IainB (December 05, 2011, 09:01 PM)

Oh...I think the "legacy" publishers "get it" just fine. It's the kiddies piling on the bandwagon for some quickly cranked-out 'get rich' anecdotal 'biz' books that are missing the point so far.

What's much more likely to happen for most of this "new" publishing market is the reading public will quickly tire of all the garbage that's being shoved into ebook format as quickly as possible. Much of the hype I'm seeing with this stuff strongly resembles the nonsense surrounding 900 phone number "business opportunities" way back in the 90s. Some folks will make a fortunes. Then hordes of johnny-cum-latelys will pile on the bandwagon. Then the public will wake up to what it's getting served and drop all of them like a bag of day old garbage.

I friend of mine bought Cuban's book. I took the opportunity to give it a read. I'm very unimpressed despite its best seller status. While it may be popular - I can't say I consider it a good book although YMMV.

I think even Mssr. Cuban isn't so sanguine as to call his 'book' a legitimate win:

Were you surprised at the immediate great sales?

I had no idea what to expect. I literally didn’t ask anyone what a good number would be. So when it popped up on the bestseller lists and at the top of all business books, I was truly surprised.

This is new to me. This is new to the industry. From here, hopefully I will be able to figure out whether this is just a one-off situation, or something that I or others can replicate.

Maybe I just got lucky.

Yes. I think maybe he did at that.  

6620

DC Website Help and Extras / Re: attack of uggs

« Last post by 40hz on December 06, 2011, 02:38 PM »

I wish there were some vigilante groups that would go after spammers and companies that hire spammers.

By now they should have destroyed every company on the web selling their products using spammers, and made the use of spammers something no company would dare do for fear of the repercussions from such vigilantes.

-mouser (December 06, 2011, 02:13 PM)

It is rather 'amusing' that China and Russia - two countries who's governments seem to be so effective at restricting legitimate internet usage which runs counter to their political agendas - find themselves so powerless to deal with known spam syndicates operating within their borders.

Guess, in large part, spamming continues to be a problem because it's yet another manifestation of "spoiler" behaviors directed at Western society by nations quick to take offense at criticism, but slow to take on the initiatives or responsibilities needed to be full citizens in a modern data-linked world.

And Putin seriously wonders why membership in the EU and NATO remains so elusive?

6621

General Software Discussion / Re: clock

« Last post by 40hz on December 06, 2011, 01:27 PM »

It has been a long time since I've used bblean (I thought it was already discontinued!)

-jgpaiva (November 29, 2011, 05:04 PM)

Check out  BBClean-XZ over at www.bb4win.org if you're still interested in BBox  for newer versions of Windows.  

6622

DC Website Help and Extras / Re: attack of uggs

« Last post by 40hz on December 06, 2011, 12:30 PM »

My experience has been it has to be caught (as much as possible) at the point of registration. Otherwise it never ends. Blacklisting words is seldom effective for more than a month or two. The spammers just start spamming different products once they get bounced out.

Requiring a verifiable email confirmation and a "secret question" during registration helped with a site I used to work with. They used to get carpet-bombed with garbage on a daily basis. You needed to respond to the email to confirm your registration. The email had directions, but not a clickable link to the confirmation page since automated registration bots are on to this step. You had to login once and answer the secret question to confirm your registration. After that, the first time you went to post, you were asked for your answer to your secret question one last time.

This got 99.9% of the potential spammers. But not all. A few still got through from time to time. No rest for the wicked, that's for sure.

It possibly also turned off a (very) few genuine would-be registrants. But our take was that if anybody was that touchy about the site attempting to keep spam out of everybody's face, then maybe ours wasn't the site for them to begin with.

It's a tough call. Because the last people you want to unintentionally turn away are the people that have little patience with registration nonsense. Very often, they're the most interesting contributors to the dialog once they get on board.
 

6623

Living Room / Re: Amazon Signs Up Authors, Writing Publishers Out of Deal

« Last post by 40hz on December 05, 2011, 08:27 PM »

You know, it just occurred to me...it isn't so much a matter of Amazon writing publishers out as it is Amazon has become a publisher.
 

-40hz (December 05, 2011, 06:47 PM)

Eh?
I think that may have been discussed in the thread above...or was it somewhere else...?   

-IainB (December 05, 2011, 07:17 PM)

Just making conversation. Nothing I say should ever be taken as an attempt on my part to count coup. 

6624

General Software Discussion / Re: Software Shows How Much an Image Has Been Photoshopped

« Last post by 40hz on December 05, 2011, 06:51 PM »

So much for all that cleavage and those nicely toned midriffs on Flicker. 

6625

Living Room / Re: Amazon Signs Up Authors, Writing Publishers Out of Deal

« Last post by 40hz on December 05, 2011, 06:47 PM »

You know, it just occurred to me...it isn't so much a matter of Amazon writing publishers out as it is Amazon has become a publisher.