Recent Posts

676

Living Room / Re: Cyph - A potential Keybase alternative

« Last post by Deozaan on September 30, 2020, 02:19 PM »

Just out of curiosity...how do they know for sure it'll be immune from cracking by the emerging quantum computing technology? Last I heard, even the mathematicians and cryptography experts (who actually have the requisite credentials and backgrounds to express such an opinion) have been extremely reluctant to say that about any existing or theoretical encryption method that's public information.

Consensus seems to be that once we start seeing more quantum cores out there, the more the concept of encryption will become a thing of the past.

-40hz (September 29, 2020, 09:57 PM)

I just checked out their homepage and they've got a link about how they use quantum resistant cryptography. They explicitly say they don't claim to be quantum-proof. Here's their explanation:

https://www.cyph.com...g/quantum-resistance

Did you sign up Deo?  What do you think this far in?

-wraith808 (September 30, 2020, 07:55 AM)

I signed up and played around with it for a little while before realizing that it doesn't have (m)any of the features I use Keybase for, such as identification verification and key management. The file storage is only 512MB, which, to be fair, is more than I'm really using even on Keybase (I think I threw a few large (multi-GB) files on Keybase as backups, but haven't touched them in years and they're probably outdated to the point of uselessness now), but Keybase seems to be more user-friendly in how you can access those files, such as mounting a virtual/network drive. And the other features Cyph has are social features, and I don't know anyone else who uses Cyph so it's not like I can test them.

To be fair to Cyph, Keybase is also fairly niche and I don't really use it that often, either. But Keybase feels a lot more mature as far as development, features, and user-friendliness go, and seems more immediately useful to me than what Cyph has to offer.

Keybase is something that I really like the idea of, but have found little practical use for in the real world. Even so, I'm still using it (occasionally) years later and (re)installing it on new devices or after an OS wipe on my PC. Cyph is something I looked into and played with for an hour or two and then promptly forgot about.

Also, I'm pretty sure I signed up for the Cyph waiting list because the email invite I got to my Keybase account was to a secondary account I don't use very often, and I wanted to sign up with my primary account. But I've never heard back about that, so I guess I'm still in waiting list limbo or something.

677

Living Room / Re: Cyph - A potential Keybase alternative

« Last post by Deozaan on September 30, 2020, 02:36 AM »

I know very little about the subject, but I've seen the term "quantum resistant" used sometimes when describing various cryptography algorithms. There's got to be something that can be done to prevent quantum computing from easily cracking certain forms of cryptography. Otherwise the entire cryptocurrency world will be going bottoms-up fast!

678

General Software Discussion / Re: Software for planning wood bookcases/cabinets/tables etc?

« Last post by Deozaan on September 29, 2020, 04:44 AM »

I don't mind the way they illuminate the shelf and the things on it. In fact I do like it. But the shiny game cases reflecting the light directly into the camera makes me feel like the light is shining right in my eyes. Some games are worse than others. All the Pandemic games do it. The Cthulhu and Fall of Rome games do it. Flash Point looks fine. The three on the farthest left look fine. The one farthest right looks fine.

Maybe if you could cover/wrap the LEDs with some thin fabric or something to diffuse the light so they just cast a soft color like the way it appears on the three games on the left. Then again, that might be a fire hazard if it causes the LEDs to get too warm. I dunno.

Don't worry too much about it. Most people probably won't mind it.

679

General Software Discussion / Re: Software for planning wood bookcases/cabinets/tables etc?

« Last post by Deozaan on September 28, 2020, 09:09 PM »

Personally I don't like the way the blue light reflects off the games and shines into the camera. Makes me feel like I'm watching a Michael Bay film.

680

Developer's Corner / Re: Wanted: Recommendations for learning WPF (with C#)

« Last post by Deozaan on September 27, 2020, 07:44 PM »

Despite my initial request for text-based tutorials rather than video tutorials, I've actually spent quite a number of hours watching and/or following along with WPF/MVVM tutorial videos. My most recent find is a decent set of video tutorials by Tosker.

Here's one of his playlists that go over the basics, including MVVM: C# WPF Tutorials for Beginners

(Unfortunately, his early videos suffer from very low volume, which I worked around by downloading the videos, pulling out the audio, increasing its volume, then re-saving the videos with the louder audio. Many thanks to 4wd for instructions on how to accomplish this!)

But despite my many hours of exposure to seeing it in action, I can't help but keep asking myself, "Why use MVVM?" I admit that I don't fully understand how to properly use MVVM since there's so much new to me in all this, including XAML, WPF, and the MVVM pattern itself. But from what I've gleaned, using MVVM just seems like a ton of extra boilerplate and duplicate code, making even trivial things tedious and time consuming.

So I searched the internet and found that I'm far from the first person with the same question.

https://stackoverflo...653096/why-use-mvvm/

And the top answer to that question is really great. Both in explaining that, for trivial cases, using MVVM (or any design pattern) is unnecessary and only adds complication, and also in explaining what benefits MVVM might have on a project over the course of its lifetime.

And of course, along the way I also found more responses talking about "the Jason Dolinger MVVM video," which is something I came across early on in my searches for information but for one reason or another (probably the length) ended up putting off watching until now. So now I'm working on the Jason Dolinger video, trying to gain a better appreciation for how and why to use MVVM.

681

DC Gamer Club / Re: Mafia 1 and Mafia 2 - Atmosphere done right - Travel back in time to the 1940s

« Last post by Deozaan on September 25, 2020, 02:49 PM »

Sounds like they improved the driving. Hopefully that means the racing mission isn't so terrible.

682

Living Room / Re: DC Weekly Tech News HAS RETURNED!

« Last post by Deozaan on September 24, 2020, 06:31 PM »

Pretty neat! Nice to see something like this again.

I kind of miss the old DC podcast intro/exit music though...

Please post updates here so I don't miss future episodes.

683

General Software Discussion / Re: JSON Editor with Treeview needed

« Last post by Deozaan on September 22, 2020, 11:22 PM »

Like this one?  Mass JSON Editor.

-wraith808 (September 22, 2020, 07:32 AM)

FYI the link in your app's About box leads to a 404.

684

Living Room / Re: Gadget WEEKENDS

« Last post by Deozaan on September 21, 2020, 06:26 AM »

I've bought a few things from Banggood recently and they've managed to turn up almost as fast as the local mail which is in dire straits with our current Stage 4 lockdown here, (eg. 2.5 weeks or less from Banggood vs 2-4 weeks to come from Amazon AU ... I could drive to the Amazon warehouse and back in 90 mins with a stop for coffee ... if we were allowed to drive that far ).  Not an endorsement, just anecdotal - it might be a completely different story sending to the USA.

-4wd (September 20, 2020, 05:17 AM)

Thanks again for your responses. I've ordered one from Banggood for just under $130 with shipping. ETA is October 14. So, just over 3 weeks.

685

General Software Discussion / MOVED: Hiding mouse pointer

« Last post by Deozaan on September 19, 2020, 11:26 PM »

This topic has been moved to Screenshot Captor.

https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=50479.0

686

Living Room / Re: Gadget WEEKENDS

« Last post by Deozaan on September 19, 2020, 11:17 PM »

Thanks for answering my questions. I almost bought it on impulse already, but put it off, and now the price is slightly higher.

Nevertheless, it's inexpensive enough that I'm still considering a purchase. . .

Currently, with the screen at about 60-80% brightness, I'll watch a couple of movies at night, (files, Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Jellyfin), and do about 3 hours of reading, browsing, etc with about 40-45% battery left after 6 hours of screen on time. At that point it reports approx 3.75 hours left before it needs charging, so I'm getting around 9-10 hours currently.

-4wd (September 12, 2020, 09:33 AM)

Speaking of which, though a 10" tablet might be a little too large to do this comfortably, part of my bedtime ritual is to do some reading in bed using my (7") tablet. I find the lowest brightness setting is adequately dark enough for me that I don't feel blinded by it (though I wish it could get even darker!). My phone, on the other hand, is too bright, and can't get dark enough for me to want to use it to read in the dark, even at the lowest setting; It hurts my eyes too much.

Do you feel that, at the lowest setting, the screen of the iPlay 20 can get adequately dark enough in a nearly completely dark room that it can still be comfortably used for some reading? I know it's a bit subjective, as some people are more or less sensitive to light than others (I'd consider myself a bit on the more sensitive side), but I'm curious how you feel it performs in this regard.

687

General Software Discussion / Re: Simple version of a folder lock utility that would require a password for access

« Last post by Deozaan on September 17, 2020, 06:10 PM »

Incl. downloading the Linux distro, the NextCloud software, creating the VM and installing NextCloud...that should take about an hour on a Linux computer. Finding out what it does, how to implement the features it has by default, what additions you want and configuring, that took me longer.

Think I spent an hour on getting my spare computer ready for Nextcloud. Usually that process is smoother in a VM than bare metal.

-Shades (September 14, 2020, 05:40 PM)

Are you saying you should put a Linux VM on a Linux host? Or are you saying put a Linux VM on a Windows host? In what way(s) does the process go more smoothly in a VM than on bare metal?

688

Coding Snacks / Re: Internet wifi utility

« Last post by Deozaan on September 17, 2020, 06:03 PM »

I am obtaining frequent warning windows , but the connection seems not lost.

-Contro (September 17, 2020, 11:56 AM)

Try using a different IP like Google's DNS servers.  8.8.8.8 or 4.4.4.4
Also, make sure the "Fire alert only once per consecutive host down events" option is checked as well.

-skwire (September 17, 2020, 02:36 PM)

I've been experiencing frequent (but relatively short--just a few minutes in most cases) outages with my internet lately, so your response in this thread prompted me to give Tray Host Checker a try. I'm using 8.8.8.8 and it's not uncommon for me to get a host down event, followed immediately (i.e., at the next 5 second check) by a host up event. (In fact, it just happened as I was typing this up!)

But I'm not experiencing any noticeable loss in internet connection during these short durations. It makes me wish there was an option to only trigger a host down event notification after N consecutive host down responses. That way I could, for example, configure it to check every 5 seconds, but only be notified if the connection was lost for 10, or 15, or 30 seconds consecutively. In other words, check every 5 seconds, but only notify after a configurable number (2, 3, or 6, in my example) of consecutive host down events occurs.

And also maybe an option to disable the first host up notification for the first host check when the app first starts up. I think the app should assume the connection has been working the first time it checks and therefore a host up notification is redundant.

689

DC Gamer Club / Re: Game Giveaway

« Last post by Deozaan on September 17, 2020, 01:15 AM »

I've got a Steam key for One Deck Dungeon that I'm willing to give away to any long-time DC member who is interested.

It seems to be based on a board (card/dice) game. I have no interest in it.

690

General Software Discussion / Re: What's up with The Matrix Trilogy Screensaver?

« Last post by Deozaan on September 13, 2020, 10:44 PM »

That's funny, because the latest version of Edge is based on Chrome (or Chromium) these days.

By the way, I believe that if you open your downloads window/tab with Ctrl-J you can restore the "disappeared" files. I ran into that problem a few years ago and eventually figured out how to get the files back.

691

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

« Last post by Deozaan on September 13, 2020, 10:43 PM »

The tiny, shriveled, severely atrophied hopeful person in me would suggest that you try to provide your feedback with the developer and perhaps they'll take the information into account and shape the beta in such a way as to restore one-handedness to the app.

692

Living Room / Re: Ideas for "Knowledge Snacks" Marathon

« Last post by Deozaan on September 12, 2020, 02:00 PM »

Something that probably has the potential to be very popular to share on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest would be GIFs of various DIY crafts or recipes that only need 3-5 materials/ingredients. A couple possible examples might be "how to make your own spice rack with baby food jars," or "quick and easy microwave brownies" (or other dessert).

693

Living Room / Re: Gadget WEEKENDS

« Last post by Deozaan on September 11, 2020, 11:21 PM »

DOH! New tablet also: Alldocube iPlay 20 - For just over US$115 it's a terrific tablet, (previously had an Amazon FireHD8) - a review.

Other than that: Octocore Unisoc, Android 10, 1920x1200 10.1" IPS w/ Gorilla Glass, GPS/Beidou, 4GB RAM + 64GB Flash, up to 512GB uSD, USB-C, Dual SIM 4G LTE (inc. B28 & VoLTE) ... biggest phone I've ever owned

-4wd (September 11, 2020, 08:20 PM)

That looks pretty nice for the price. I've been wanting a newer tablet for a couple of years now. I'm still using my Nexus 7 (2013), but it's barely hanging on to life these days. It's super slow, stuck on Android 6, background apps (including the home screen) don't often survive swapping back and forth between another app (probably because it closes background apps to free up RAM), and it no longer charges reliably through the USB cable. The only saving grace that has allowed me to continue using it this long is that it supports wireless charging. I've come to rely on wireless charging so much that I'm disappointed that nearly 10 years after the release of the Nexus 7 it's not a much more ubiquitous feature in modern Android devices.

Does the iPlay 20 support wireless charging?

694

Post New Requests Here / Re: User Filter for Google Search Results

« Last post by Deozaan on September 02, 2020, 11:37 PM »

I figure non-corporate sites are not going to draw from a single domain.

-mraeryceos (September 02, 2020, 10:35 AM)

I think the confusion is understandable, as the above quoted text can be re-written without two negatives to read "I figure non-corporate sites are going to draw from multiple domains."

That said, I suppose it's pretty clear at this point what mraeryceos desires:

I am looking for sites that only use one domain.

-mraeryceos (September 02, 2020, 05:40 PM)

Whether these sites are "corporate" or not is immaterial to the request, and IMO that nomenclature isn't helping the discussion. That said, I think 4wd got it (mostly) right the first time and offered an adequate response with good suggestions. It may be possible to use some kind of a blocker such as uMatrix to block any attempts a site makes to connect to 3rd party sites. But it doesn't seem feasible to filter search results, especially Google search results, to list only sites that don't attempt to connect to or load from 3rd party sites. You'd have to load each page in the search results to see if they connect to anything else. And possibly go through thousands upon thousands of them before you got even one page of results that met that criteria.

At that point you might as well be making an internet archive. In fact, that may be another alternative. Use a site like https://archive.md/ to archive any page you want to visit. It will archive the content on its own servers and serve a static page.

695

General Software Discussion / Re: Dissenter Browser

« Last post by Deozaan on September 02, 2020, 11:05 AM »

I guess I don't see what's political about the inalienable right called free speech, or technology/software that enables it. Sure, you can use your speech in a political way, but speech itself is not inherently political. So far, your posts and my responses to them are the only ones mentioning politics. What's the term for when someone creates the very situation they were trying to avoid?

I agree that Gab and the Dissenter extension are controversial topics. But I think the folks on this forum can manage to talk about a web browser with a built-in comment section without making it political. At least I hope so. . .

696

Living Room / Re: Asus Zenphone

« Last post by Deozaan on September 01, 2020, 11:38 PM »

The ASUS ZenFone 7 Pro Review - The Triple Flip-Camera

-Arizona Hot (September 01, 2020, 11:40 AM)

What does this have to do with Windows 10?

697

General Software Discussion / Re: Dissenter Browser

« Last post by Deozaan on September 01, 2020, 11:35 PM »

I don't see how it's any more political than, say, Brave. It's just a privacy and free-speech focused browser. In fact, I believe the Dissenter browser is a fork of Brave with the dissenter extension (comments on every page) built in.

698

DC Gamer Club / Re: Factorio - Automate All the Things!

« Last post by Deozaan on September 01, 2020, 01:40 AM »

Not sure if you actually wanted to see me specifically play

-Deozaan (July 01, 2017, 05:31 PM)

Yes, I wanted to watch fellow DCers playing actual games 

-erikts (August 31, 2020, 01:16 PM)

In that case, I suggest you watch this playlist instead:

https://www.youtube....roo7Hz2YWxI9NY4NUEYK

It's all the same videos, but I increased the volume in them all because for some reason it was almost inaudibly low in the original videos.

699

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

« Last post by Deozaan on September 01, 2020, 01:33 AM »

When you talk to yourself, do you get an intelligent answer?

-Arizona Hot (August 31, 2020, 08:07 PM)

I know someone who has a plaque on their wall that says something to the effect of: "Of course I talk to myself; sometimes I need expert advice!"

700

Non-Windows Software / Re: Random Android apps getting installed

« Last post by Deozaan on August 30, 2020, 10:07 AM »

Hopefully this is the end of random apps showing up on this device, but I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for further misbehavior.

-Deozaan (August 17, 2020, 11:33 PM)

As a follow up, I haven't seen any new random apps being installed since making sure the Mobile Services Manager was disabled.