Recent Posts

6801

General Software Discussion / Re: Neowin reviews Windows 8 - Leave your pre-conceived notions at the door

« Last post by wraith808 on October 25, 2012, 09:54 AM »

People talk about MS trying to be like Apple- but on the desktop, MacOS isn't locked down, nor confined to the AppStore.  In fact, several of their largest software providers don't use the App Store at all.  Just thought I'd point that out.

6802

Living Room / Re: DOTCOM saga - updates

« Last post by wraith808 on October 24, 2012, 11:05 PM »

I can certainly see why you'd think that I'm full of BS there.

I just can't help thinking about voting for the lesser of 2 evils and: "So, how's voting for evil working out for you?"

Right now it pretty much looks like people are being asked who they'd like to have their face kicked in by. Either way, you're going to get a boot stamping in your face, so why not refuse to answer and instead spit in their face? I see voting for someone else, like Gary Johnson, as spitting in their face.

-Renegade (October 24, 2012, 10:26 PM)

I actually didn't mean you... I meant him.  And from what I've seen, you're only alternative until you become an alternative.  There's just no way to get to that level playing that game without becoming who you're playing against.  And yes, you can view it as spitting in their face, but I remember an old adage that hating someone is like taking poison and expecting them to die.  I guess that's my point- in no way shape or form does voting for Gary Johnson (or not voting) hurt the status quo.  All it does is make one more vote off the playing field.  Though they appear the same, you can believe that what they put through is to some extent different.  And though you might not be able to affect the political hot potatoes that they're going to pretty much punt or vote the same way or do the same thing about, those other issues that are different are not insignificant.

6803

General Software Discussion / Re: Win 8 password security review

« Last post by wraith808 on October 24, 2012, 09:11 PM »

Thanks!  A lot of good and enlightening information in that article.

6804

General Software Discussion / Re: Interesting Phishing Email - Seen This?

« Last post by wraith808 on October 24, 2012, 08:48 PM »

Hmmm... maybe something else compromised his contact list?  And this is just that rolling downhill?

6805

Living Room / Re: DOTCOM saga - updates

« Last post by wraith808 on October 24, 2012, 08:45 PM »

Dude has a point! He's not going to win. (Which is a good thing for his health and personal safety - presidents that like the United States government to issue currency get assassinated.) But voting for him at least sends a message that you're sick of the same crap all the time.

-Renegade (October 24, 2012, 10:12 AM)

That's BS (IMO).  It might send a message for you, but not for anyone else that cares.  Too much money is tied up in the two political parties for any other party to be viable, and they know that.  And knowing that, the marginal vote for other candidates sends no real message, especially not a lasting one.  And the biggest reason that we don't have a viable third party (and truthfully we need 4 for real change) is that the other parties don't know how to work in small steps.  It would take decades of concerted effort to create a viable third party, but working lower offices in an organized manner to spread the candidates and the messages.

But in the end, the way that politics works is so corruptible and requires such compromise that by the time the party had spread, they would most likely look like one of the parties that exists now, and would probably merge (or subsume or be subsumed by) one party or the other.

A good sci fi novel that explores just that is The Spartacus File by Lawrence Watt-Evans.

6806

General Software Discussion / Re: Neowin reviews Windows 8 - Leave your pre-conceived notions at the door

« Last post by wraith808 on October 24, 2012, 09:42 AM »

If you're happy with what you have, that's cool and a valid point.  It took me a while to get any machines upgraded to windows 7 because XP works very well for me.  But in terms of people actually taking a look at windows 8, I think that's who the article is aimed at, not those who aren't going to (or willing to) upgrade.  And there's a massive amount of FUD that has preceded this release (similar to Vista).  I think that there are a lot of missteps that are obvious to me (a hybrid OS just doesn't seem like a good idea, and their marketing hasn't helped), but I don't think that this review is truthfully a PR ploy after reading it.  But that's just my opinion, and as to the OS itself, I reserve judgement until after I've tried it.

6807

General Software Discussion / Re: Interesting Phishing Email - Seen This?

« Last post by wraith808 on October 24, 2012, 09:25 AM »

They could have compromised his yahoo account.  That would account for them having his name and yours.

6808

Living Room / Re: DOTCOM saga - updates

« Last post by wraith808 on October 24, 2012, 09:24 AM »

When I look at things, I see the technocratic elite using technologies that most people think are only in science fiction. Their arsenal of psychological weapons is extremely powerful. Just watch the next US election for the proof. People will vote for Obomney or Robama, thinking that it makes a difference. And they really believe that it makes a difference. Truly and deeply believe. The ability of the technocratic elite to control people's minds is just, well, mind-blowing.

-Renegade (October 24, 2012, 04:54 AM)

It does make a difference.  Maybe not in the ways that you'd prefer, or the ways that you are talking about.  But it does make a difference.  On some things I'd agree with your sentiment- they seem the same.  Whether they'll govern the same is an issue for a later date.  But there are real differences on some of the issues, that though not as apocalyptic as the extreme right and left would have their constituents believe.  And these will have ramifications, though not in the areas that are in general talked about.

6809

Living Room / Re: DOTCOM saga - updates

« Last post by wraith808 on October 24, 2012, 09:19 AM »

Dunno...

They said that about:

The Assyrians
  The Egyptians
    The Romans
      The Mongols
        The Muslims
          The Crusaders
            The Ottomans
              The Church (various)
                The Anarchists
                  The Fascists
                    The Communists
                      The Tonton Macoute
                        The Terrorists

                             - and-

  Sundry sovereign national governments (at different times)...


We've been there. Done that. Wash. Rinse. Spin dry. Repeat as needed.

It's not hope on my part.  (I'm one of this planet's most died-in-the-wool cynics! )

Vespero mundi expectando* after all.

We don't have to like it. It's just the way it works.

--------------------------
*In case you're not classically inclined: The evening of the world is to be expected.

-40hz (October 24, 2012, 02:44 AM)

Very well stated, and I agree with the sentiment.

6810

General Software Discussion / Re: Neowin reviews Windows 8 - Leave your pre-conceived notions at the door

« Last post by wraith808 on October 24, 2012, 09:16 AM »

Why? I like my notions better than a corporate product.

-eleman (October 24, 2012, 08:52 AM)

It seems that what the reviewer is saying (after reading the review) is that if you put your preconceived notions aside and give it a chance, you'll see that it's not what everyone thinks.  Not sure about the conclusions he draws, but the statement is quite valid.

6811

Living Room / Re: DOTCOM saga - updates

« Last post by wraith808 on October 23, 2012, 03:05 PM »

Just curious Renegade... why do you refer to him by his birth name when he legitimately took his stepfather's name?  I'm sure there must be subtext (knowing you), but I don't get it...

6812

General Software Discussion / TrueTwit, and why I didn't even try it

« Last post by wraith808 on October 23, 2012, 09:56 AM »

So, today I was going through a message from Twitter and decided to follow a few people.  And I was met with an image that I hadn't seen before:



This seemed like DM spam, even though it had the twitter handle of one of the people I was trying to follow (someone from DC) in the DM.  So I did some searching on TrueTwit, and came upon a really good review/analysis of the service which was enough to put me off of even validating.

I figured considering how good the review was, and how it influenced me/saved me time, I would post a link here.  In summary the points that influenced me were the rating system (it seems very sketchy), the DM spam, and the fact that their pay service seems partially driven by the inconvenience of their service as used by others (though the coach it in terms of the convenience afforded by the service).

6813

Living Room / Re: People Turning on Trolls?

« Last post by wraith808 on October 22, 2012, 11:38 PM »

You guys are reminding me of a quote from a Canadian Prime Minister:

Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong.

-John Diefenbaker

-Renegade (October 22, 2012, 10:28 PM)

Thanks!  I quite like that quote!

6814

Living Room / Re: People Turning on Trolls?

« Last post by wraith808 on October 22, 2012, 10:23 PM »

I prefer to pick the venue - which is why you'll find me mostly here at DoCo. 

-40hz (October 22, 2012, 07:08 PM)

Exactly.   And for all of our little disagreements, there is definitely a level of respect and genuine search for understanding and sharing that's not found in too many places.

6815

N.A.N.Y. 2013 / Re: NANY 2013 Pledge: VH website

« Last post by wraith808 on October 22, 2012, 05:13 PM »

Van Halen fan club? 

 

-rgdot (October 22, 2012, 02:21 PM)

It's obvious!  Very Hard Website!  He's trying to challenge himself! 

No?   

6816

Living Room / Re: Amazon closes woman's account and wipes her Kindle

« Last post by wraith808 on October 22, 2012, 03:13 PM »

If Amazon trade in Europe there is a single European Market and they are violating it by discriminating against EU citizens from other EU states. It is perfectly legal for any EU citizen to purchase from any EU trader and the trader has to treat EU customers on an equal footing.

-Carol Haynes (October 22, 2012, 01:24 PM)

Norway isn't a part of the EU, is it?

6817

Living Room / Re: Amazon closes woman's account and wipes her Kindle

« Last post by wraith808 on October 22, 2012, 11:06 AM »

And besides, what relevance does being in <insert country here /> have?

-Renegade (October 22, 2012, 09:49 AM)

Well, it's that old merging of old school rules with new school technology.  It's explained well in the article, but the logic of it doesn' tmake any sense to me, even in the old school distribution.

6818

Living Room / Re: Amazon closes woman's account and wipes her Kindle

« Last post by wraith808 on October 22, 2012, 09:33 AM »

^ I think its more neglect than any sort of policy with any sort of forethought.

And from other sites I've seen, it seems that the prevailing wisdom is that its because of copyright.  She lives in Norway.  And bought from Amazon.co.uk, which is against their rules.  But there is no Amazon for Norway.  And they originally let her purchase. (ref Forbes)

There's also more on speculation at that BoingBoing link above.

6819

Living Room / Re: People Turning on Trolls?

« Last post by wraith808 on October 22, 2012, 09:21 AM »

Still confused. Who are "the innocents" you're talking about? The people getting dumped on who are complaining; people (in general) who will fall under new regulations; or people who were victimized (trolled?) by someone maliciously publishing their personal information. Much like was done to Amanda Todd. And apparently you.

That is what I'm confused over.

-40hz (October 22, 2012, 09:12 AM)

The innocents are those that will get caught in the crossfire if this mob mentality takes off, and people start outing people as a form of retaliation.  In any situation where the mob starts taking things in their own hands, innocents are caught in the crossfire, both with and without malicious intent (see the French Revolution).

6820

Living Room / Re: Amazon closes woman's account and wipes her Kindle

« Last post by wraith808 on October 22, 2012, 09:05 AM »

wow.
bad and odd and weird - and really bad press for Amazon.

-tomos (October 22, 2012, 08:57 AM)

This has apparently been building for a while- hopefully this will bring it to critical mass.  I did a search on amazon closed accounts, and was surprised at how many hits I got, and the details (most of the results are from sellers, but there are accounts similar to this one in there also).  Eventually, this stuff apparently gets sort of solved, as long as you are diligent and persistent.  But their responses until that point are very disheartening, almost like they want you to give up.

6821

Living Room / Re: Amazon closes woman's account and wipes her Kindle

« Last post by wraith808 on October 22, 2012, 09:02 AM »

And this is why I got an Android to read on...

-Renegade (October 22, 2012, 08:48 AM)

I have an iPad, but I'm not so sure that it's the device more than it's the software and DRM.

An example- I purchased a book on a gift card, and through a comedy of errors, the gift card was canceled.  The book still shows on my account, but I can't read it.  I had already read it (and it wasn't something I was going to read again), so it wasn't a big deal... but I never did anything about it so that I could have that image ingrained in my mind whenever I choose to use the software- to remind me of exactly what risk I'm taking.

But I thought it was on a book by book basis - not the entire account.

6822

Living Room / Re: People Turning on Trolls?

« Last post by wraith808 on October 22, 2012, 08:57 AM »

Note: liberties will be lost. But I don't blame the people screaming for redress. There will always be opportunists that seize on the what asking for additional regulations will present. I blame the people who knew better and could have kept the situation under control - but decided not to.

-40hz (October 22, 2012, 08:07 AM)

But those people aren't the victimized ones.  Because the elected representatives couldn't/wouldn't get it under control, it's ok to the people victimized?

-wraith808 (October 22, 2012, 08:23 AM)

Added emphasis. 

Government officials/others could have done something but didn't.  Innocent people get caught in crossfire.  Because government officials didn't address it, the innocents are just collateral damage?

6823

Living Room / Re: Amazon closes woman's account and wipes her Kindle

« Last post by wraith808 on October 22, 2012, 08:36 AM »

An interesting footnote:

Back in 2009, when Amazon settled the lawsuit over its remote deletion of Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four (you really can't make this stuff up), it promised that it would not perform any further deletions unless ordered to do so by a court. I repeatedly asked Amazon whether DRM-free ebooks, or files that users load onto their Kindles themselves, could be remotely deleted. I never received a response of any kind.

from BoingBoing article on same incident.

6824

Living Room / Amazon closes woman's account and wipes her Kindle

« Last post by wraith808 on October 22, 2012, 08:27 AM »

I was actually thinking about going Amazon rather than B&N.  Not anymore...

The actual link seems to be overloaded or down, so this is a link to the google cache.

A couple of days a go, my friend Linn sent me an e-mail, being very frustrated: Amazon just closed her account and wiped her Kindle. Without notice. Without explanation. This is DRM at it’s worst.

Linn travels a lot and therefore has, or should I say had, a lot of books on her Kindle, purchased from Amazon. Suddenly, her Kindle was wiped and her account was closed. Being convinced that something wrong had happened, she sent an e-mail to Amazon, asking for help. This was the answer:

Dear Linn [last name],

My name is Michael Murphy and I represent Executive Customer Relations within Amazon.co.uk. One of our mandates is to address the most acute account and order problems, and in this capacity your account and orders have been brought to my attention.

We have found your account is directly related to another which has been previously closed for abuse of our policies. As such, your Amazon.co.uk account has been closed and any open orders have been cancelled.

Per our Conditions of Use which state in part: Amazon.co.uk and its affiliates reserve the right to refuse service, terminate accounts, remove or edit content, or cancel orders at their sole discretion.

Please know that any attempt to open a new account will meet with the same action.

You may direct any questions to me at [email protected].

Thank you for your attention to this email.

Regards

Michael Murphy
Executive Customer Relations
Amazon.co.uk

It gets worse from there.

6825

Living Room / Re: People Turning on Trolls?

« Last post by wraith808 on October 22, 2012, 08:23 AM »

Note: liberties will be lost. But I don't blame the people screaming for redress. There will always be opportunists that seize on the what asking for additional regulations will present. I blame the people who knew better and could have kept the situation under control - but decided not to.

-40hz (October 22, 2012, 08:07 AM)

But those people aren't the victimized ones.  Because the elected representatives couldn't/wouldn't get it under control, it's ok to the people victimized?

I had a bad experience with someone online trying to get into my real life.  It is for that reason that I don't readily give out my personal information.  I know that this is only the veneer of anonymity, but it is how I've gone on since that happened, as it was very traumatic when it happened.  I stand behind everything said online- other than a few communities and online games, I don't directly interact with anyone, partially as a result of this, and realizing that just because I'm who I say that I am, that doesn't mean that everyone else is.  So it's easier to keep a distance, and that lack of personal knowledge helps with that.  But I'm the same offline as online, other than the fact that I'm less thoughtful in person- my mind moves too fast for my mouth, and I switch topics at the drop of a hat because the conversation gets confused reconciling the two, making it hard to communicate.  Writing slows that down, which is why I like to write a lot.

Even if it's only a veneer of anonymity, why is it ok if someone decides that they are upset with what I wrote and goes and posts my name, address, and who knows what else anonymous posted?  Am I not entitled to share what I want to without fear that some pissed off person will go digging and it will be ok?