Recent Posts

676

Living Room / Re: Authorities suspect a shark tried to eat Vietnam's Internet

« Last post by 40hz on January 10, 2015, 08:37 AM »

So...who owns the shark?

The FBI says it's North Korea.

677

Living Room / Re: It took 2 years to build this functioning word processor in Minecraft

« Last post by 40hz on January 10, 2015, 08:32 AM »

One has to admire the obsession and dedication to the art of building something "because I can." I'd put this right up there with with the miniaturist who built a dollhouse with a playroom that contained a miniature version of itself accurate to the smallest detail. And within that second dollhouse's playroom was an even tinier (of necessity less detailed - but still easily recognizable) version of itself. Talk about turtles all the way down!

Note: IIRC there was one old-time and very popular DOS adventure game that had a fully functioning wordprocessor built in. Push a button and you could type a memo if you wanted to. But that was more a "the boss is coming" feature. Anybody remember what that game was?

678

Living Room / Re: Donating to EFF

« Last post by 40hz on January 10, 2015, 08:17 AM »

How do you know they didn't get those stamps donated to them so they could do this for people?

-Stephen66515 (January 10, 2015, 03:03 AM)

The stamp is not an actual stamp, but an imprint stating the price as well.

-eleman (January 10, 2015, 04:21 AM)

Yes, but how do you know those costs are not being covered by a Third Party?

-Stephen66515 (January 10, 2015, 04:26 AM)

Common things occur commonly, uncommon things do not. When you hear hoofbeats, don't think of zebras.

-eleman (January 10, 2015, 05:22 AM)

Now that has got to be one of my absolute favorite posts.

I have absolutely no idea what it means. But I love it!

P.S. Sould I hear hoofbeats...I'm most likely hallucinating. (I live in the suburbs y'see.)  

679

Living Room / Re: ALERT! FreewareBB shutting down. And with a warning from Marko?

« Last post by 40hz on January 09, 2015, 03:39 PM »

If the domain has not been re-pointed, then though he doesn't have control of the domain, he does still have control of what the domain is pointed to.  He didn't sell them his servers, he sold a domain name.

-wraith808 (January 09, 2015, 08:22 AM)

Huh?

-40hz (January 09, 2015, 02:14 PM)

I think he means if the new owner hasn't updated the DNS records then having access to the old(/current) hosting account -(or just Admin level access to the relevant CMS)- would give one free reign to play.

-Stoic Joker (January 09, 2015, 02:32 PM)

Exactly.

-wraith808 (January 09, 2015, 02:54 PM)

Ignore me. I'm denser than usual today.

680

Living Room / Re: ALERT! FreewareBB shutting down. And with a warning from Marko?

« Last post by 40hz on January 09, 2015, 02:33 PM »

If the domain has not been re-pointed, then though he doesn't have control of the domain, he does still have control of what the domain is pointed to.  He didn't sell them his servers, he sold a domain name.

-wraith808 (January 09, 2015, 08:22 AM)

Huh?

-40hz (January 09, 2015, 02:14 PM)

I think he means if the new owner hasn't updated the DNS records then having access to the old(/current) hosting account -(or just Admin level access to the relevant CMS)- would give one free reign to play.

-Stoic Joker (January 09, 2015, 02:32 PM)

Oh. Ok.

681

Living Room / Re: ALERT! FreewareBB shutting down. And with a warning from Marko?

« Last post by 40hz on January 09, 2015, 02:14 PM »

If the domain has not been re-pointed, then though he doesn't have control of the domain, he does still have control of what the domain is pointed to.  He didn't sell them his servers, he sold a domain name.

-wraith808 (January 09, 2015, 08:22 AM)

Huh? When you own the domain name you get to select where DNS sends it. And when somebody buys an existing website, they often will purchase the existing host site as well since the original owner may still be obligated to continue paying on it until the end of their contract with the host provider. This is common in those "under new management" situations where the buyer has an understanding with the seller that they intend to continue the site pretty much as is. It worked out well for Tux Machines when Sue Linton sold her popular FOSS news site to the owners of TechRights.

682

Living Room / Re: ALERT! FreewareBB shutting down. And with a warning from Marko?

« Last post by 40hz on January 09, 2015, 09:06 AM »

I've actually seen something similar to this go down with a former client. She wanted to get out of a line of business she was  in. So she sold her website to somebody else who promised (with the best of intentions) to continue in her stead. About a year later, the new owner was approached by a buyer who offered a very substantial amount of money (I understand it was something like $10k) for the domain name. And the new owner took it.

Shortly after that, the new buyer started playing games and trading on the goodwill the site had built up over the years. My client said she'd be just as inclined as anybody to forget about it since it's no longer her site. But she still sees her name occasionally being blasted by somebody for what's going on six years after she sold the domain. And because she has other online businesses, she feels she needs to politely respond to those posters. "It's a reputation management issue. You can't just let that take care of itself." as she put it.

So just because a site is no longer yours doesn't mean your name and what you originally built up is no longer associated with it.

683

Living Room / Re: ALERT! FreewareBB shutting down. And with a warning from Marko?

« Last post by 40hz on January 09, 2015, 07:34 AM »

Ok, this is starting to get soap opera surreal...

This morning, going to the FreewarBB FB link produces this:



And going to the website shows this on the landing page,



If this is a genuine pissing match, it's already getting ugly.

If it's all just an elaborate put-on...I really don't know what to think - or what the game is...

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

UPDATE: FB page is back. That weirdness must have been my browser acting up.

684

Non-Windows Software / Re: Tempered Glass 2 Gnome Theme

« Last post by 40hz on January 08, 2015, 01:33 PM »

Nice theme!

But I'm a more inclined towards Vibrancy Colors myself. I much prefer "flat" themes and icons. YMMV.

685

Living Room / Re: Donating to EFF

« Last post by 40hz on January 08, 2015, 01:07 PM »

Speaking of donations, often when I check out at Publix they ask me if I wish to donate a dollar to help feed the homeless.  Sometimes I point out they could bypass the bureaucracy and just give me the money, since I am homeless.  The reaction is always pretty sour.  Never even a chuckle.  

-MilesAhead (January 08, 2015, 11:41 AM)

I do something similar with my alma mater's alumni office. When I was attending school, I dutifully applied for financial aid (which the catalog and recruiting brochures glowingly described as being so marvellously available) each year. And each and every year I was "regretfully informed" I was ineligible to receive any. As a result, I self-funded* my college education through a mix of student loans and some full-time "part-time" jobs. Which made going to college a major financial struggle - plus the cause for many anxious and sleepless nights.

Periodically, I get a call from some chirpy newbie alumni office drummer, reminding me what a "great experience" I had going there. And how the education I received, plus all the valuable contacts I made, no doubt contributed towards what they are sure is my stellar success in life. And since it's only right that "we all" give something back...how much can we put you down for?

Every time I get one of those calls I tell them that I had applied for financial aid while I was there, and it's only right that I give back as well as I was given. When the idiot (who by now should have seen the setup coming from a mile away) casually asks: "And how much did you receive?" I reply: "I got nothing from the school. As in nada. As in zero. Please put me down for that amount."

This is one of those few times that I actually get snotty with someone and feel absolutely no remorse afterwards.

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

*On a positive note, at least it was possible to do back then. College tuitions were still low enough (relatively) that a modest 40-hour work week income, plus borrowing the max from the then guaranteed State and Federal student loan programs, (and not living or eating very well for four years) would yield enough to pay for almost any college in those days.

Can't say that's the case any more. I doubt I'd be able to attend if I were 18 and planning on going today.

686

Living Room / Re: Donating to EFF

« Last post by 40hz on January 08, 2015, 09:41 AM »

Dunno...while good manners may make good business sense, they're not just about business.

I personally can appreciate that level of civility. It's a refreshing change from most of what I see these days.

Note too that although $5 USD may not seem all that generous to you right now, for some people, it may well be a very generous amount to contribute. And it's nice to see the EFF doesn't make any assumptions as to the degree of generosity a given contribution represents.

I pretty much donate to the same causes each year. In years when I'm flush, I would not consider even a fairly large contribution from me to be overly generous. In years when I'm not, even a $5 or $10 contribution is a sacrifice since it means cutting something from somewhere else in the household budget.

I personally think you did well by contributing to the EFF even if you felt some of it was squandered on good manners. I hope you'll continue. Because it's important that the EFF be around.

687

Living Room / ALERT! FreewareBB shutting down. And with a warning from Marko?

« Last post by 40hz on January 08, 2015, 09:14 AM »

Just received this in my morning e-mail. If it's on the level (and I'm guessing it is) it's both saddening and somewhat disturbing news:

>From: FreewareBB <[email protected]>
Date: January 8, 2015, 6:00:01 AM EST
To: 40hz *********************
Subject: FreewareBB Closing Down


 FreewareBB

 40hz,


 Unfortunately, it would appear the new owners of FreewareBB are intending on closing down the site, and even worse, it would appear they intend to use the good name of FreewareBB to trick and potentially scam people.   Unfortunately, I am powerless to stop this as the sale has now been completed and the person who bought the domain has only just told me his intentions and I am sending you this mail to merely inform you of their intentions and advise that you change all your passwords on your email accounts and if you have ever subscribed to the yearly payment to support FreewareBB then change your PayPal passwords also.   I do not believe there is any risk to you or your associated accounts, because your payments and passwords would be encrypted but given the information I have available to me I would advise you perform these actions as a matter of precaution.



 I can only apologize unreservedly for any inconvenience caused as I never imagined a sale would result in such a devious plan.



 As the site will likely be offline shortly, please respond to this message via our Facebook site which still belongs to us : https://www.facebook.com/freewarebb



 Kind Regards Marko

Going to the website, this notice is currently posted:




Since I don't do Facebook I can't do much to follow up directly with Marko on this.

Any DoCo Facebookers want to visit to lend their moral support plus report back on anything of significance?

Thx!

688

Non-Windows Software / Re: LINUX: In-place upgrade of Mint 17.0 Qiana to Mint 17.1 Rebecca

« Last post by 40hz on January 07, 2015, 05:14 PM »

Maybe not quite set & forget. Not yet anyway. But in Mint's case, this was a happy compromise between the usual "fresh" install hassle and the occasionally dicey "rolling update" approach.

Now let's see them do it three more times just so we know it's not luck.

689

Non-Windows Software / LINUX: In-place upgrade of Mint 17.0 Qiana to Mint 17.1 Rebecca

« Last post by 40hz on January 07, 2015, 04:52 PM »

I generally am not too crazy about upgrading one version of Linux (or any other operating system) to another. I'm of the old-school "clean install" mindset when it comes to that. However, since I was facing an upgrade on a heavily tweaked and customized Mint 17.0 Cinnamon installation, I decided to try Mint's official way to go from that to 17.1 since I had already resolved to do it anyway. "Nothing ventured..." and all that, right?

Well...that was two days ago. And I'm happy to report that in this instance, it all went as smooth as butterscotch with absolutely no (as in zero) bad surprises during or afterwards. The entire process took approximately 10 minutes - and everything just worked. And the upgrade procedure itself was handled entirely within Mint's own Update Manager. Now how logical is that?

To do this upgrade requires only a few simple steps.

The first step is to run the Update Manager and hit refresh to see if mintupdate itself needs updating. If it does - do it. Then hit the refresh button again to make sure it was done.

Once that's completed (if needed), go to the Edit drop-down in the menu bar and select Upgrade to Linux Mint 17.1 Rebecca

That's pretty much it. After a few confirmations, Update Manager will download, install, and configure  all requisite software. It will then prompt you to reboot (one of the very few times you'll ever be asked to do that in Linux btw) your machine. When it comes back up, you'll have a spankin' new 'Rebecca' machine.

Doesn't get much easier than that. Hope this is the shape of things to come for Mint's workstation upgrades going forward.

More detailed instructions (with pretty pictures) can be found here.

 

690

Living Room / Re: Recommend some music videos to me!

« Last post by 40hz on January 07, 2015, 09:36 AM »

Naughty Number Nine

-40hz (January 06, 2015, 08:52 PM)

Boy, that really is a great blues tune.  

-superboyac (January 07, 2015, 09:05 AM)

Thought you'd like that.  The piano work is especially good. Check out that almost bend the keys put in between the 0:12 and 0:15 mark. That's really sweet!

691

Living Room / Re: Recommend some music videos to me!

« Last post by 40hz on January 06, 2015, 08:52 PM »

Naughty Number Nine - one of the best pieces (and there were many good ones) by Bob Dorough for the Schoolhouse Rock educational cartoon series. IMHO this is one of the best old-style blues numbers ever. This song originally aired in 1973. I only wish there was a version available without the sound effects. The horns and chord progression in that turnaround are awesome!

 

692

Living Room / Re: Recommend some music videos to me!

« Last post by 40hz on January 06, 2015, 08:36 PM »

Ricky Lee Jones doing her own unforgettable take on her classic tune Easy Money, neatly demonstrating that sometimes less is more when it comes to musical performance...

Lyrics

There was a Joe, leanin' on the back door
A couple Jills that had their eyes on a couple bills
Their eyes was stayin', they was waitin' to get
Their hands on some easy money

They flipped a dime, one says
"Well, I'll take heads this time"
One stepped up, one stepped back
One loosened her shoulder strap

She couldn't speak, her knees got weak
She could almost taste that easy money

There was this old black cat
Which was sittin' in a old black Cadillac
And the Joe smelled sweet
So she curls up at her boyfriend's feet

She says "I got a plan, listen, Sam
How'd ya like to make some of that easy money?"

He say, "Yes, oh yes
Jus' tell me what you want me to do"
She said, "Baby, you can trust me, oh baby
But you must be hidin' in my room, quarter to two"

Well, the cat told the boy
"Come up to the room and play with my toy, honey"
But the Jill had set the bait
She wasn't gonna sit around and wait

But this guy was wise to all the lies
And he flies out the door with the easy money

'Cause there ain't no man
Who got the money in his hand
Who got any of that bread
By bein' slow in the head

The easier it looks, the hotter it hooks
There ain't no such thing as easy money
We say, "Yes, oh yes"

Saturday night
There was a terrible, terrible fight
Between two dames
Who was losin' the same game

It wasn't clear but I hear that somebody
Was lookin' for some easy money

693

Living Room / Re: For better security, maybe it's time to abandon e-mail?

« Last post by 40hz on January 06, 2015, 08:25 PM »

IoT is going to be a dystopian nightmare.

-Renegade (January 06, 2015, 05:52 PM)

Yes. 

694

Living Room / Re: If Only Once, If Only For A Little While - Comic about loss

« Last post by 40hz on January 06, 2015, 08:23 PM »

More OT - that was a very sad little comic. I especially liked this panel:



That struck me as both sad and rather profound. Not too shabby for such a simple panel in a comic strip.

695

Living Room / Re: If Only Once, If Only For A Little While - Comic about loss

« Last post by 40hz on January 06, 2015, 08:04 PM »

For us non musicians, what does that music mean in the context of the thread?
I guess this may answer that:
https://en.wikipedia...t.27s_use_of_G_minor

-tomos (January 06, 2015, 03:31 PM)

And here I thought I was being obscurely clever. Or cleverly obscure picking G minor. But Mozart did too? Wow! Who knew?

So... yeah. I've always been firmly convinced that the different keys each have their own unique personalities and moods. Hence me selecting G♭ minor in response to Mouser, as opposed to choosing A minor - or even G minor for that matter. To my mind, the key of G♭ minor is the embodiment of melancholia and heartache. Your ears may hear it differently.

696

Living Room / Re: If Only Once, If Only For A Little While - Comic about loss

« Last post by 40hz on January 06, 2015, 04:13 PM »

Although a girl recently told me she thinks in shapes

-superboyac (January 06, 2015, 01:33 PM)

I think most guitarists and electric bass players do. Guitarists are almost always taught the "chord shape"CAGED system today. Which was probably one of the biggest breakthroughs ever when it came to teaching the instrument. It's close to being the periodic table for the guitar neck.

Just throw in the Circle of Fifths - usually approached as the Circle of Fourths with guitar (it's the same thing actually) - because of the dominance of I-IV-V and V-I chord progressions in guitar music. And finally add in the seven modern Modes and you have 99% of all the "theory" you'll ever need to become a good guitarist.
 

697

Living Room / Re: If Only Once, If Only For A Little While - Comic about loss

« Last post by 40hz on January 06, 2015, 03:13 PM »

Leaving aside reading music which I never really learned,

-TaoPhoenix (January 06, 2015, 01:50 PM)

Interestingly, the only accurate way to notate guitar music is with TAB. Going off a normal staff arrangement doesn't tell you which A, for example, you should be playing. Is it at the 17th fret of the E-string, the 12th fret on the A-string, the seventh fret on the D-string or the second fret on the G? Although technically the "same" note (at least on a staff), they each have a noticeably different timbral quality, a slightly different response time, and a significantly different sustain-decay ratio. That's due to the difference in string sounding-length, gauge, tension, and construction (i.e. wound vs unwound).

That difference is something that's routinely used to good artistic effect by masters of the guitar. It's not just what notes you play, it's also where and on what strings that makes a difference. Bass players too, where the differences between neck position and string being used are very audible. Even to an untrained ear.

Then there's how you play a chord...

As with single notes, there are many different patterns to get the same chord. But some work better than others because of the specific inversion found in the triad; or because of which notes happen to be doubled in the chord, and where and on what strings it's played. That is what makes the biggest audible difference in sound between the "exact same" guitar chords. And to get an accurate chord transcription you also can’t use traditional music notation. You need the actual chord diagrams to duplicate what the guitarist is playing.

TAB and chord diagrams...their use is often mocked by "classically trained" musicians. But the simple truth is: they're the only closest to accurate way to notate guitar music.

 

698

Living Room / Re: If Only Once, If Only For A Little While - Comic about loss

« Last post by 40hz on January 06, 2015, 12:32 PM »

What's the difficulty level on a guitar?

-TaoPhoenix (January 06, 2015, 10:48 AM)

No harder or easier than any other key really. On a piano, the notes are in fixed positions. So the fingering changes with the key being played. On a guitar or other stringed instrument the same note can be found in multiple locations. So the fingering doesn't need to change to play in a different key or scale. Just move up or down the neck to the appropriate position (or fret) and Bob's yer uncle.

There are practical limits to that however since sustain and harmonic complexity start to be attenuated the higher up the neck you go. So there are also multiple ways to finger any given key, the two most common being what's usually referred to as "starting on the 6th string" and "starting on the fifth string" patterns. That gives the guitarist the option to select the scale pattern and fingering most comfortable for any given song. The better guitarists also try to select the neck position that sounds the best even if it makes it more difficult to play for them. Or change the pattern(s) and the neck position(s) for the same key at different points in a song to get a desired effect or sound.

IMO Guitar is paradoxically easier and more difficult to play than a piano or keyboard. Which is probably why some people gravitate to one or the other depending upon how their brain works.

699

Living Room / Re: If Only Once, If Only For A Little While - Comic about loss

« Last post by 40hz on January 06, 2015, 07:43 AM »

||: G♭min9 | G♭min | G♭min9 | G♭min :|| 

700

General Software Discussion / 4 tools to download Windows updates to a local archive

« Last post by 40hz on January 05, 2015, 12:46 PM »

A handy write-up of four different tools to create your own archive of Windows updates can be found over at the 4Sysops blog. Link to article here.

In this article, I examine four Windows Update download tools that allow you to download all updates for the various Windows versions. This enables you to perform offline updates or slipstream the updates into a Windows image.

If you do a lot of setups, or site work where you need to get a PC up to date with Microsoft's latest and greatest with the minimum amount of fuss, these apps are well worth looking at.

I most often select WSUS Offline Update as the tool of choice. I've recommended and used it for many years with good results. I currently keep the whole thing on a regularly updated 64Gb USB key (along with some other tech tools) so I'm independent of a network connection whenever I need to do updates on a machine - or a group of them. But the other apps listed are also worth a look and may be better suited to your own use cases.

Note: Microsoft's update archives are huge so you'll definitely want a very good broadband connection to perform the initial download(s). Once you have gotten your initial archives established however, any reasonably robust DSL connection should be sufficient to keep things current.