Recent Posts

6676

Living Room / Re: RIAA Doesn't Like the "Used Digital Music" Business

« Last post by 40hz on November 18, 2011, 08:44 AM »

Not surprising. Now that music has been legally transitioned from being a hard product to a form of intellectual property, you can no longer buy anything other than the "right" to listen to it via a very one-sided license. And FWIW, lawyers are seldom more creative than when they're drafting licensing terms. Trust me, I've dealt with them.

So, game over for music "purchases." Much like beer: "You don't buy it - you only rent it!" as the old saying goes. 

6677

Living Room / Re: multiple monitors vs large monitor?

« Last post by 40hz on November 16, 2011, 03:40 PM »

With multiple monitors you can more easily layout and maximize different applications on different monitors (though a program like GridMove helps a lot if you are using one big one).

-mouser (November 16, 2011, 02:42 PM)

Or (with a single monitor) consider using Linux since multiple desktops are both the norm - and work quite well in that environment. (Good thing too since multi-monitor setups can still get annoyingly tricky on some Linux boxes. It's gotten better recently. But it can still be a headache depending on the graphic card selected.)

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Living Room / Re: multiple monitors vs large monitor?

« Last post by 40hz on November 16, 2011, 02:21 PM »

Depends on what you use them for.

I've got a stack of 22" Mistsubishi CRT monitors. They have superb color and resolution. They're absolutely gorgeous. Especially for graphics - or media editing - which is what they were designed for. All that 'real estate' is a joy to have available.

However, I use two 19" flat panel monitors for my day to day work. And wouldn't swap them for anything.

If I had to choose between one or the other I'd definitely opt for 2 smaller monitors every time.

Now if I could just get three monitors...

6679

Living Room / Re: Sintel - Open Source Development Powered Movie

« Last post by 40hz on November 16, 2011, 02:11 PM »

I particularly enjoy watching the "making-of" material from these folks.  

-ewemoa (November 16, 2011, 11:06 AM)

+1 w/ewemoa!

I'm utterly fascinated by the processes of creativity and ideation.

I often find howand why people created something far more interesting than what they actually created.

6680

General Software Discussion / Re: COMPLAINT! Word 2010 & Acrobat X (links, bookmarks, MEGA-fail!)

« Last post by 40hz on November 15, 2011, 07:08 PM »

Try doing a "save as" with a different name and create the PDF from that. Sometimes there's a glitch with undo or meta data in the original doc that screws up Acrobat. Ran into that a few times.  Haven't seen this specifically in Word 2010 - but it's a quick & easy thing to try.

Luck!

6681

General Software Discussion / Re: Dropbox update 1.2.48

« Last post by 40hz on November 13, 2011, 08:26 AM »

OK, I gave it a shot.

I don't see it playing as a stream in: FF v7.0.1; IE v9.0.8112.16421; or Opera v11.52.

It does, however, invoke the download manager and allow you to save it. (Opera blithely downloaded it in the background since I forgot to cancel and it invoked VLC about 20 minutes later when it was finished.)

Maybe it's something with your file being an AVI? Or the way I've got my browsers set up?

I have VLC v 1.1.11 set as my default media viewer. But switching it to the current version of WMP resulted in the same behavior running under Win7-SP1/32-bit.

Be interesting to see how an MP4, FLV or a MOV file might be handled.

Luck!

6682

Living Room / Re: National Novel Writing Month Has Started!

« Last post by 40hz on November 12, 2011, 03:23 PM »

So how's it going, all ye noble and dutiful participants?

Update! Update!  

6683

Living Room / Re: Cute jokes' thread

« Last post by 40hz on November 11, 2011, 08:20 AM »

 I did.

6684

Post New Requests Here / Re: Download managers, spiders/spyders, link mining/harvesting

« Last post by 40hz on November 11, 2011, 08:13 AM »

How about something like HTTrack? It can filter by file type, so you can point it at a website and have it download just the pdf files, if that is all you want. And it can update your local copy, downloading only what is new since the last time you downloaded the site.

-app103 (November 11, 2011, 05:26 AM)

+1 w/App103 on HTTrack.

Ten minutes perusing the docs, followed by a quick recon to see how your target website's structure works, and you can fine tune HTTrack to do just about anything you'd want it to. At worst, you'll download a little more (or a little less) than what you actually wanted. In which case, just tweak your settings and run it again.

Very sweet little utility program. Highly recommended.

6685

DC Gamer Club / Re: Steam Servers Hacked

« Last post by 40hz on November 11, 2011, 07:56 AM »

I got tired enough of all the reported hacking of commerce sites that I opened up a separate no-fee checking account and got one of those MasterMoney debit cards to go with it. It's a special purpose account that is only used for online purchases. Most times it has a $10 balance. Anytime I want to buy something, I just transfer sufficient funds over to it from our regular account and use the MasterMoney card to make the purchase. No matter who gets hacked, or how badly, my maximum exposure is limited to what's usually in the account. Which is $10. So an NSF/overdraft notice would immediately alert me somebody's playing games.

And unlike announcements about hacked customer accounts, overdraft notices are ALWAYS sent out very promptly. No need to wait for a bank or website to 'fess up.

And because it's not a charge card, I can't run up a some huge high-interest balance I'll need to figure out how to pay for.  Automatic fiscal responsibility right there! Love it.
 

6686

Developer's Corner / Re: A Brief Rant On the Future of Interaction Design

« Last post by 40hz on November 09, 2011, 05:28 PM »

(I'd just like to say, what a load of crap the cover versions of Running Up That Hill are. Why on earth did they bother.)

-nudone (November 09, 2011, 01:28 PM)

re: the original - Not one of (the ever lovely) Ms. Bush's better efforts IMHO.  Although I wouldn't mind being "Velcroed" by her like that chap in the video was.

Them Heavy People would have worked better anyway.  

Oh yeah!

6687

General Software Discussion / Re: computer system info software

« Last post by 40hz on November 07, 2011, 02:56 PM »

SIW has now gone down the OpenCandy route for the home version - so for me that is the end of a useful tool :-(

-Carol Haynes (November 07, 2011, 12:43 PM)

Maybe try the portable version? AFAICT there's no OC in it because it doesn't use the standard Windows installer.

I have a tech's license for it so I haven't seen OC so far. I guess they haven't slipped it into the paid releases. At least not yet. If they ever do I'll ask for my money back.  

6688

General Software Discussion / Re: The new evolution of CircleDock?

« Last post by 40hz on November 07, 2011, 02:01 PM »

FWIW Softpedia identifies the program author as Dimitri Roosendaal. There is no contact information provided.

A quick scan via Google doesn't appear to point to anything relevant concerning software development. Most software authors appear in a few places if they've released a product, so there's at least a 50-50 likelihood Roosendall is purely a web name - as well as the name of a city (trans: Valley of the Roses) in the Netherlands.
 

6689

General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox Extensions: Your favorite or most useful

« Last post by 40hz on November 07, 2011, 09:03 AM »

Just a quick plug for ReadItLater.

An absolute must-have. Especially since FF seems intent on breaking Canaware's brilliant NetNotes something like every other time FF updates itself. 

Also props to the previously mentioned Lazarus. It's been more than once a long post of mine made it to DC's forum because of that add-on. I'm not the sort of person who will rewrite a couple of hundred words if something glitched when I went to post them. 

6690

Living Room / Re: The Inside Story on How Microsof't Tablet Didn't Happen?

« Last post by 40hz on November 03, 2011, 11:23 PM »

Renegade already posted this here.

Of course, that's the reason that it always rubs me the wrong way when a peripherally connected story that could be a thread in its own right is posted in another thread.

-wraith808 (November 03, 2011, 07:42 PM)

Well that explains why I didn't spot it in the search I made before posting.  

-----

@mouser- Renegade "renegaded" his thread? Love it!  

@Renegade- You seem to be a verb.

6691

Living Room / The Inside Story on How Microsof't Tablet Didn't Happen?

« Last post by 40hz on November 03, 2011, 07:14 PM »

Interesting article over on CNet (I'm still mad at them BTW!) about why there is no Microsoft tablet today.

In Tracy Kidder's book Soul of a New Machine there's a discussion about all the things that need to come together before a new computer actually makes it "out the door." Many of them have to do with internal politics; integration into existing product lines; and not cannibalizing your other businesses. Few have to do with pursuing technical excellence, embracing innovation, or providing radically better products.

The following account (if in fact true) answers the classic question of why the better mousetrap catches fewer mice.

(Answer = because it didn't get built.)

Link to full article here.

The inside story of how Microsoft killed its Courier tablet
by Jay Greene November 1, 2011 5:01 AM PDT



Steve Ballmer had a dilemma. He had two groups at Microsoft pursuing competing visions for tablet computers.



One group, led by Xbox godfather J Allard, was pushing for a sleek, two-screen tablet called the Courier that users controlled with their finger or a pen. But it had a problem: It was running a modified version of Windows.

That ran headlong into the vision of tablet computing laid out by Steven Sinofsky, the head of Microsoft's Windows division. Sinofsky was wary of any product--let alone one from inside Microsoft's walls--that threatened the foundation of Microsoft's flagship operating system. But Sinofsky's tablet-friendly version of Windows was more than two years away.

For Ballmer, it wasn't an easy call. Allard and Sinofsky were key executives at Microsoft, both tabbed as the next-generation brain trust. So Ballmer sought advice from the one tech visionary he's trusted more than any other over the decades--Bill Gates. Ballmer arranged for Microsoft's chairman and co-founder to meet for a few hours with Allard; his boss, Entertainment and Devices division President Robbie Bach; and two other Courier team members.
.
.
.

 

6692

General Software Discussion / Re: We are heading towards a sandboxed future, with apps coming from apps stores.

« Last post by 40hz on November 03, 2011, 02:44 PM »

I think the original article is somehow lumping the notion of sandboxes in with 'walled gardens.'

One does not imply or require the other. Sandboxes are (almost always) a force for good. And you can run 'sandboxed' in a completely open and free environment with no need to let yourself be forced onto a captive platform or through a portal to do so. No need to even install anything. Just boot off any 'live' Linux distro and you're there.

 

6693

Developer's Corner / Auto generate 'spinner' code for your website

« Last post by 40hz on November 03, 2011, 06:07 AM »

Handy find by the folks over at MakeUseOf.com. SpinJS will allow you to interactively tweak and generate code for an elegant looking wait/loading spinner for your website.



From MakeUse Of:

SpinJS – Spinners are one of the many different types of loaders used on websites while loading browser applications. Coding these spinners can be a lengthy process when you take the customization into account. Here to simplify things for you is a web tool called SpinJS that helps you to create spinners for your web apps. Read more: SpinJS: Create A Spinning Icon & Obtain Its CSS Code

Link to original article here.

Direct link to SpinJS here.

Nice!

6694

Living Room / Re: National Novel Writing Month Has Started!

« Last post by 40hz on November 01, 2011, 08:51 PM »

@vrgrrl - very much enjoyed the snippet. Nice handling of setting and exposition. Wishing you success, and a little sleep, while moving towards that 50k mark. 

P.S. Game designer too? Very cool.

6695

Developer's Corner / Re: Need Partner, Help Me Make PC Gaming Better!

« Last post by 40hz on November 01, 2011, 09:24 AM »

@Epicmaster - just thinking out loud for a minute...have you ever considered talking to the Good Old Games people? I'd think figuring out a way to hook your app in with their site could be a killer combo. Just imagine: DRM-free classic games with an active web community matched to a snazzy all-in-one like you propose? That could be awesome!
 

6696

Living Room / Re: NAS Recommendations?

« Last post by 40hz on November 01, 2011, 08:56 AM »

I find it frustratingly amusing that companies who manufacture computer components allow themselves to be boxed into a single point of failure by concentrating all their facilities in a single geographic area. Especially when they serve a global market.

If anybody should know better, it's them. Drive manufacturers have been preaching the redundancy and contingency gospel for as long as there's been hard drives.

I've got three clients freaking big time right now. Good luck trying to explain that panic stockpiling will only make the situation worse and play into the hands of the spot-marketeers who are driving up the retail prices.

So it goes...

6697

Living Room / Re: Apple Patents Unlocking Touchscreen

« Last post by 40hz on November 01, 2011, 06:11 AM »

I know another gesture.

I'd like to share it with Apple.

6698

General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox Extension "Download Statusbar" Now Adware - Maybe Malware

« Last post by 40hz on October 31, 2011, 01:38 PM »

Hmm...

It's back up on the Mozilla Add-ons page (good sign) with this updated info:



Looks like the author changed his/her mind. Nice of them to do so. But I still don't want to use it any more even if I will update my clients on the policy change.

Those of you who do elect to go back, please considering sending the developer a contribution. It will probably go a long way towards not having something like this happen again. 

6699

General Software Discussion / Re: Software recommendations for writers

« Last post by 40hz on October 31, 2011, 01:06 PM »

^@Curt - Oh man! What a sweet little add-on. Thx for finding and  sharing!

6700

General Software Discussion / Re: Fractal Trading Indicator

« Last post by 40hz on October 31, 2011, 12:57 PM »

@niceperson - First up, welcome to Donation Coder. Glad you could join us. I think you're gonna like it here!

Regarding putting an alert in Ninja Trader:

Wouldn't it be easier to just submit a feature request directly to NinjaTrader LLC? It's their program. There's a good chance the feature you want may already be available. I took a quick browse of their user forums. They seem to be responsive to user requests.