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6826
Living Room / Re: Steve Jobs is dead.
« Last post by 40hz on October 10, 2011, 02:00 PM »
It is ironic that Steve Jabs, along with Steve Wozniac, helped put the concept of personal and freedom into computing. It's sad that once those concepts served their purpose in getting Apple where it wanted to be, Steve Jobs next decided it was time for Apple to take them away.
6827
Developer's Corner / Re: Windows 8 from a Developer's Perspective Post-BUILD
« Last post by 40hz on October 10, 2011, 01:46 PM »
:huh:

...
* wraith808 shrugs

Hey, I'm just trying to make a buck.  ;D

I don't have a problem with that. That's all any of us are trying to do.

But I do have a big problem with only receiving 70ยข for each buck I do make. ;D

(Assuming you still need to buy the development tools like you did when .NET and Visual Studio ruled the roost. If the dev platform is offered for free, that would be a different story.)

 8)

6828
Developer's Corner / Re: Windows 8 from a Developer's Perspective Post-BUILD
« Last post by 40hz on October 10, 2011, 12:58 PM »
However, one of the articles has an interesting throw-away sentence about the chaos of the windows desktop is just a click away.

Nice to know that the Microsoft walled garden named 'Metro' is also just a mouse click away.

man_hamster_wheel_lg_nwm.gif

WELCOME TO WINDOWS 8 and METRO

Developers are 'invited' to enjoy the new "freedom from choice" such a locked-down environment will bring them, to say nothing of how neatly it will remove from them the burden of introducing innovation or radical change. Microsoft will take care of all of that for you. Even if they have never been an overly innovative company.


Which is encouraging. Especially since what few "innovations" Microsoft has attempted to introduce (i.e. Bob, Zune - or the tablet PC which has been blocked for 10 years inside Microsoft because the Office Dev team allegedly didn't like it!) have either failed spectacularly (Bob), or are underwritten through patent trolling (Zune, WinPhone) rather than allowed to compete on their own merits.

Yes indeed. This is the start of a new Golden Age for Microsoft. One that promises great things for software developers everywhere. And all for a distribution cost of only a measly 30% of their total sales revenue for the privilege and convenience (i.e tariff) they'll be charged in order to sell ALL their Metro apps through a 'company store.'

This is the dawn of Digital Colonialism. :'(

I can't hardly wait. :P :Thmbsup:

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

Addendum - proposed box art for Windows 8 leaked:

Blackbox2.jpg

 ;) 8)

6829
Living Room / Re: Steve Jobs is dead.
« Last post by 40hz on October 10, 2011, 10:59 AM »
^CNet, ever conscious of how it's bread gets buttered, responds as expected.

Now if the FOSS/Linux world would just purchase a little more advertising and clicks, things might be very different for them.
 :-\
6830
Living Room / Re: App vendors discover a new way to abuse Windows
« Last post by 40hz on October 10, 2011, 07:55 AM »
Not if widespread public indifference can be counted on.
6831
Developer's Corner / Re: Lauren Ipsum
« Last post by 40hz on October 10, 2011, 07:35 AM »
Reads something like Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth or Nilsson's The Point.

point-pointless-forest-me-a.jpg
Now banished, Oblio and Arrow enter the Pointless Forest

Clever illustrations too.

Love it! :)
6832
General Software Discussion / Re: The confusion about the term "lifetime license"
« Last post by 40hz on October 10, 2011, 06:25 AM »
"Free" has become such a subjective term when discussing software that it's pretty much a null word. For all intents and purposes, "free" means little more than "free to download" about 95% of the time.

It's right up there with "green." Or "fair and balanced news." Or "organic." The list goes on...

This is the tactic of "identity dilution." Businesses have discovered one of the best ways to counter something they don't like is to co-opt its name or identifying descriptor to prevent it gaining a unique share of mindspace. Because the last thing these companies want is for a good idea that jeopardizes 'business as usual'  to gain traction.

Chimpanzee brains. Gotta love 'em. :-\

6833
Living Room / Re: App vendors discover a new way to abuse Windows
« Last post by 40hz on October 09, 2011, 02:33 PM »
^+1!

I'm a Revo-lutionary myself. Be respectful or begone! And all the way down to your registry keys too! ;D
6834
Welcome Larry!

Funny. That's exactly how I got started frequenting this place. Saw it written up on a blog I liked and finally swung by to grab some software. Found the forums, liked the crowd, and been here ever since. It's been great for me. Not entirely sure I've been the same for the site.

Anyway, welcome aboard! Don't be a stranger now you've found us.  :)
6835
Living Room / Re: App vendors discover a new way to abuse Windows
« Last post by 40hz on October 09, 2011, 01:33 PM »
And I seriously doubt they are going to push an update that changes the EULA silently. Do you have any evidence of this ever happening?

Hmmm...

From the Chrome EULA:

11. Software updates

11.1 The Software that you use may download and install updates automatically, from time to time, from Google. These updates are designed to improve, enhance and further develop the Services and may take the form of bug fixes, enhanced functions, new software modules and completely new versions. You agree to receive such updates (and permit Google to deliver these to you) as part of your use of the Services.

Ok...so Google can issue changes and/or updates to the software at any time and you agree to let Google install them. (I like the little tap dance where they say "You agree to receive them..." and "permit Google to deliver to you" instead of coming right out and just saying "You agree to allow Google to install software updates on your machine, as and when it sees fit.")

Then there's the EULA itself:

18. Changes to the Terms

18.1 Google may make changes to the Universal Terms or Additional Terms from time to time. When these changes are made, Google will make a new copy of the Universal Terms available at http://www.google.co...en-GB/eula_text.html and any new Additional Terms will be made available to you from within or through the affected Services.

18.2 You understand and agree that if you use the Services after the date on which the Universal Terms or Additional Terms have changed, Google will treat your use as acceptance of the updated Universal Terms or Additional Terms.

Ok...so once you've installed Chrome and accepted whatever term and conditions existed at the time you installed it, you automatically agree to any changes and give them your implicit consent if you use the product after such changes were made. In short, no need to formally agree. If you use it - you have! Even if they change the terms and conditions after the fact.

Of course Google will post the text - and even provide you with the link for the current EULA - which it is your responsibility to monitor since they are under no legal obligation to bring subsequent changes to your attention beyond them telling you there WILL be changes - and if you're concerned about it please go to the weblink.

Now Google could (like Apple's AppStore) periodically flash up a new consent form if the terms and conditions changed. But they don't. Or at least they don't have to. See that weasel-word "may"? That puts you under obligation without creating a reciprocal responsibility on their end. They can send you a letter, an e-mail, have it popup in the app, or just post it somewhere on their website. See below:

19.3 You agree that Google may provide you with notices, including those regarding changes to the Terms, by email, letter post or postings on the Services.

But again - they only may. Nothing says they will. Otherwise they would have said "will" instead of "may," Cute! Even Apple isn't quite that sleazy.

Not that Apple is worried in that regard. Their iPhone EULA is over 60 pages long last I checked. So I'm sure they're banking on nobody actually reading it all that often - assuming many will read it at all.

Not that it matters...

Because if you do disagree with Apple on that point you'll also have to scrap your iPhone or iPad. And that's because their terms and conditions also cover your use of their hardware. Pretty sweet, huh? Nice to know all that cash you thought you laid out to buy your iPad really only bought you the right to use it. And furthermore, that right is subject to change without notice. Or negotiation.

Maybe it's time for a universal EULA that reads:

1.  XXX retains all rights and accepts no responsibilities or reciprocal obligations for the use of their product.

2.  Anyone who installs or uses any XXX product agrees to immediately and forever waive any and all legal and/or moral rights they may have as a condition of using same.

3. This agreement will remain in effect in perpetuity and may be modified at any time. XXX may, at its sole option and discretion, notify the users of such changes. But it specifically waives any formal requirement on its part to do so.

4. It is the sole obligation of the user of this product to remain informed of any changes to this agreement. User acknowledges and agrees that it is their sole obligation, and specifically waives any requirement of notification by XXX for any changes in the agreement.

5. User further acknowledges that any and all items found in the most current terms and conditions are binding upon them as a condition of their using this software product; and agree that they shall be bound to such terms and conditions even if not specifically aware of them (or such changes made to them) at the time of their using said product.

6. XXX will make a best effort to publish any changes to the terms and conditions on a timely basis and make them available at this link: <wblink here> but is under no formal obligation to do so.
-----------

There ya go. Six items of gobbledygook that cover just about everything a 20 page EULA does. And with 90% of what most of them boil down to covered by Item #1 alone. How's that for data compression?  :Thmbsup:

6836
Living Room / Re: Access Point Recommendations
« Last post by 40hz on October 09, 2011, 08:31 AM »
@ath - I'm fairly familiar with the Cisco RV series. I thought that might be my choice since I've used them before. Unfortunately, some of them (the routers) seem to have a bad habit of either locking-up or intermittently stalling on the WAN side with large (500Mb+) file transfers.  I suspect it's a hardware manufacturing issue because newer firmware hasn't resolved it (to date) on the boxes I've experienced it on. And Cisco's tech support people seem to be stonewalling whenever I called about this issue even though they've been more than helpful with other problems.

@techidave - too true! Actually, I've declared a personal moratorium on anything from Netgear due to all the problems I've run into with just about every category of product they make. When one of their units is good, it's very good. But the minute it acts up - even once - it's all downhill. Their stuff also has a bad habit of failing after roughly the third year. And while their products are often packed with innovative features, many times they flat out don't work reliably. Part of the problem might be because they charge so little and something has to give.  I just don't think the hardware or build quality is there. And they're terrible about warranty claims.

Oh well... Thanks for the input. I've got about a week to identify something. If I can't we'll just leave her on 802.11G until something better becomes available.
 :)
6837
General Software Discussion / First it was Apple. Now Oracle is circling its wagons.
« Last post by 40hz on October 08, 2011, 08:12 AM »
Trash-talk Announcements like this from jerks people like Larry Ellison makes me sometimes wish I'd never have to touch a PC or log onto a network again.

from The Register (full article here)

'There'll be nothing left of IBM once I'm done,' says Ellison
Promises a terrific licking for 'Mister Blue'


By Timothy Prickett Morgan

Posted in Servers, 3rd October 2011 15:40 GMT

Oracle has pulled the rug out from under Hewlett-Packard's Intel's Itanium processor by yanking support of its database, middleware, and application software on future "Poulson" and "Kittson" Itaniums. It looks as though Larry Ellison wants to take on IBM in microprocessors for data center systems, man to man, head to head.

"I remember when we first bought Sun, a lot of people said we were going to get out of the hardware business," Oracle's co-founder and CEO said opening up his keynote at the OpenWorld customer and partner and conference on Sunday night, when he also announced the new Exalytics in-memory BI appliance.

"I guess we didn't get that memo," Ellison quipped, pointing out that Apple is doing a "pretty good job" designing its own hardware and software and making it work well with its own services. And that Oracle is not only committed to making its server, storage, and networking business work, but having taken Sun's hardware as a means of getting its hands on Solaris and Java, Oracle is actually enthusiastic about creating its own stack

I guess with the departure of Steve Jobs from the world stage Larry Ellision is attempting to take over Steve's old role as industry LMFA before the 'other Steve' (i.e. Ballmer) grabs it.

Hmm...just thinking out loud for a moment...

What may ultimately be Steve Jobs' most enduring contribution to the world of computing was his coming up with a business model that completely destroyed everything open standards had achieved (and hoped to accomplish in the future) once all the major corporations started copying it.

Now there's a legacy to be proud of! :-\

6838
Living Room / Re: Buying a fast new PC, anyone have a favorite US system builder?
« Last post by 40hz on October 07, 2011, 07:17 PM »
I'm actually worried that if I put the tower in the adjacent room, it will be too quiet in the room I'm working so I'll then have create a constant background "ambient" noise. Something loud enough to drown out the external sounds but pleasant enough to have on all day - is there anything like that I wonder, music wouldn't be appropriate.

A subdued 'pink noise' generator, possibly with added environmental sounds might work for you. Many people swear by it. Enough that they're popular New Age yuppie boutique items.

Everybody's tastes are different when it comes to ambient sound. My GF is partial to the sound of a running brook. (All that one does to me is step up the number of times I need to use the bathroom.)

I personally find the soft sound my aquarium pump makes very conducive to concentration. Plus I get to look at the pretty fish when my eyes get tired of staring at a screen. Fish tank: Highly recommended!
 :)
6839
General Software Discussion / Re: Is this a worthwhile idea for a program?
« Last post by 40hz on October 07, 2011, 06:16 PM »
mouser, I didn't even realize CHS could do this

Wow! Me neither.

Guys, check it out, it's freaking awesome

Understatement. Bravo Mouser!

(I really have to stop blathering so much in the forum and start checking out DoCo's software section more carefully. There are some true gems to be found in there.  :-[ )

6840
General Software Discussion / Re: The confusion about the term "lifetime license"
« Last post by 40hz on October 07, 2011, 06:10 PM »

 Oh crap, this is yet another reason it's so liberating to run Linux: this issue never comes up, ever.


+1! :Thmbsup:

We have our own separate issues of stupidity. But fortunately, we at least don't have THAT one! ;D

6841
General Software Discussion / Re: The confusion about the term "lifetime license"
« Last post by 40hz on October 07, 2011, 06:01 PM »
Oh crap, this is yet another reason it's so liberating to run Linux: this issue never comes up, ever.
Oh really? Lifetime updates one version of a distro? Or even lifetime for a distro?


Prediction: The smaller and indy developers are really going to miss the GNU/Linux/FOSS movement when Microsoft and the other players finally put it out of business with their portfolios of merit-less patents, paid-off government lackeys, and deep pockets.

Sure hope those guys don't mind the lumpen programmer future Microsoft, Google, Oracle, and Apple have in mind for them.
 :)

6842
General Software Discussion / Re: The confusion about the term "lifetime license"
« Last post by 40hz on October 07, 2011, 04:53 PM »
The big print giveth and the small print taketh away.  :P

It's only confusing because people who want to use the term "lifetime license" in a manner inconsistent with what a rational person would understand it to mean (i.e. use of the current plus all subsequent versions at no additional charge) has a tough task in front of them.

As the old saying goes: If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit.

End of story.  :)
6843
Living Room / Re: NAS Recommendations?
« Last post by 40hz on October 07, 2011, 11:44 AM »
FWIW, the more I think about it, the more I'm convinced I'd want to build my own.

BTW; those 2.5" multi-drive bays I mentioned before are made by IcyDock.



The only potential problem you'll run into using any swappable cages (no matter who makes them) is if your case has a "tool-less" or "no screw" drive mounting arrangement. That could either be detachable rails or rail guides on the main card cage. (Usually they also come with some sort of pressure locking mechanism.) These usually won't work with swap cages because they tend to bind or bend the receiver. Old-fashioned open case drive cages where it's just a box with holes for mounting screws (with no tabs or guides) work best. Otherwise it's "haul out the Dremel tool" case mod time.
 :tellme:
6844
Living Room / Re: win7 wifi shows as disconnected when actually connected
« Last post by 40hz on October 07, 2011, 11:30 AM »
So I'm wondering if it might just be mild case Icon Cache corruption.

@SJ - Oooooo...now that's a clever thought! Hadn't though of that angle. :Thmbsup:
6845
Living Room / Access Point Recommendations
« Last post by 40hz on October 07, 2011, 11:24 AM »
Ok, it's finally happened. A good friend of mine has succeeded in twisting my arm enough that I'm going to help her (pro bono) with a complete IT overhaul of her small office.

I'm comfortable with everything she wants to do that's within her budget. But I'm up in the air about WiFi. So I'd like to get opinions on a good quality but reasonably priced Wireless-N access point.

Here's what I'm looking for: better speed, good range, and reliable connections. Period.

It will be needed for two (maybe three max) light-to-moderate bandwidth users. Nobody will be doing online gaming or watching HD movies. Just the usual accessing of internal file/print servers and browsing the web.

And that's about it. :)

Since she already has servers I'm not interested in print or drive sharing features on the network device.

And since I've already done an industrial strength perimeter firewall (pfSense) for her, I'm not really interested in any router features the device may or may not have. That includes DHCP, VPN, port forwarding, bandwidth limiting, QoS, etc. Because none of that is going to get used. (The ability to set the device in "bridge mode" however would be a definite plus. Because that is how it will be used.)

So...

All I care about is a good solid Wireless-N connection with decent range. (She has approximately 1800 square feet of space on two floors in a standard wood frame building.)

Ideally, I'd like a straight access point. But those have pretty much moved up into the "enterprise" end of the spectrum - both in price and capabilities. So I'm reluctantly realizing anything that's not going to be overkill (i.e. right-sized and affordable) for them will most likely be more along the lines of a consumer grade WAP/Router combo device.

I've looked at a lot of the "reviews" in various places up on the web. Most seem to either be a regurgitation of the product spec sheets or the rantings of the utterly clueless.

Enter the DonationCoder community...

My friend's budget is about $200-$250 for this piece of hardware since office WiFi is more a convenience than an absolute necessity. Her offices have at least two drops to every work area so they can always plug in if they have to. (Smartest investment she ever made IMHO. Hmm...I wonder who suggested that to her? ) So if push comes to shove, she's decided they can continue to live with the Wireless-G setup they presently have.


So...does anybody here feel serious love for any of the Wireless-N boxes out there in the $200-$250 range? Any input on dual-band boxes would also be appreciated. She's willing to budget for new adapters if there's a clear and demonstrable advantage to going over to the 5Ghz band right now.

------

Note: it is possible to set up pfSense to also act as an access point. But that's a bit of a hassle, and I'd rather have the flexibility of a separate 'radio box' I could more easily position in order to optimize wireless coverage. I also prefer to keep the firewall device locked up and out of sight for obvious reasons.
 8)
6846
Living Room / Re: win7 wifi shows as disconnected when actually connected
« Last post by 40hz on October 07, 2011, 09:46 AM »
Three suggestions:

1. Check to the adapter properties to see if you have the IPv6 protocol enabled. If you're not using IPv6 (and most of us still aren't) try disabling it and doing a restart.

2. If you're using a 3rd-party utility to control your adapter - don't. Try using the built-in controls in Win7 unless there's some feature in the manufacturer's utility you really can't live without.

3. If you've installed Apple's iTunes on your system, try temporarily disabling the Bonjour service and see if the problem goes away. For some odd reason Bonjour occasionally causes weird problems when running under Win 7. Not that it was all that cooperative a piece of software before Windows 7. You'll usually see this start to happen right after a software update to iTunes or Windows.

Luck! :Thmbsup:

6847
+1 w/Carol.

I have accounts with both. I much prefer the way GoG operates and does business.   :Thmbsup:
6848
^Let me double-check but I think the discount code for a linux hosted plan with GD is linux20 which gets you 20% off.
6849
Living Room / Re: Steve Jobs is dead.
« Last post by 40hz on October 06, 2011, 07:10 PM »
What's the betting all the Apple Stores have church organs and choirs installed by next week?

This religious nonsense really gets me depressed!

My favourite quote (to lighten the mood)

He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy

Funny. I never even considered him a naughty boy. Just a fairly smart guy in the right place at the right time, who had the balls to take big chances and the luck to have them pan out before anybody figured out he was bluffing just as much as anybody else.

He also had an uncanny knack for hiring people vastly more creative and brighter than himself who were quite happy to have their achievements attributed to Mr. Jobs. In this respect he keeps company with American steel magnate Andrew Carnegie who (allegedly) wrote his own now famous epitaph:

Here lies a man who knew how to enlist the service of better men than himself.

6850
Living Room / Re: work bathroom story
« Last post by 40hz on October 06, 2011, 06:38 PM »
You are an engineer...
Is he? With bathroom sensitivities like that, I'd expect marketing :P




(Sorry I'm laughing SB. But that was funny!)
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