Recent Posts

776

Living Room / Re: Request for help - potential website security issue

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 21, 2012, 05:06 PM »

Precisely - BUT this difficult member is saying that simply by browsing the website she can read the forum without logging in - I can't see how this is possible. AS far as I can tell no articles on the website link directly to forum articles and even if they did they should lead to a login page before being able to read the posting.

Side note...I think I just broke your disclaimer (No part of this website can be reproduced in any form without written permission)

-Stephen66515 (May 21, 2012, 05:06 PM)

May be that should be 'may be reproduced' ! Anyway I give you permission ;-)

By the way if any one does find a security whole please let me know by PM - not on the open forum here.

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Living Room / Request for help - potential website security issue

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 21, 2012, 04:56 PM »

I have set up a website for my local running club. A member has informed me that the private members' forum can be access just by browsing the website without entering a username and password and is therefore not private.

The website is www.swaledaleroadrunners.co.uk and I can't find any way to read forum messages without logging in.

Unfortunately the member is being unhelpful and refusing to tell me how they can achieve this.

Personally I suspect that it is them either being difficult or else just that they never log out so when they visit the site the stored cookie allows them to access the website again but the challenge is can anyone here read the forum without logging in and if so how?

Cheers

Carol

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DC Gamer Club / Re: Portal 2 gets a new level maker! Woohoo - thousands of new levels

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 20, 2012, 06:16 AM »

If you want a walk through of Flying About see: http://www.youtube.c.../watch?v=oEPcXigeNPk

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DC Gamer Club / Re: Portal 2 gets a new level maker! Woohoo - thousands of new levels

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 20, 2012, 03:41 AM »

You jump from the ledge to a Portal on the floor and as you emerge from the Portal up on the edge of the ledge you move sideways to drop down through the hole on the floor again - each round gives you more height - repeat until you can get to the high ledge. This was the reason I called it flying about!

780

Living Room / Re: Encrypted DNS queries via OpenDNS dnscrypt for Windows / linux / BSD / iOS / OSX

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 19, 2012, 04:31 PM »

I have DNS Crypt running permanently and haven't noticed any web addresses that don't resolve properly - as far as I can tell it is totally transparent.

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DC Gamer Club / Re: Portal 2 gets a new level maker! Woohoo - thousands of new levels

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 19, 2012, 04:24 PM »

Update - Deozaan edited the room to hopefully make it much clearer that you need to look up (unfortunately the new puzzle maker doesn't have simple things like signs that you can use so I have used line of lights to draw the eye upwards).

I have fixed a potential cheat for gaining the high ground and also reorganised a few parts of the puzzle to make it clearer which devices get dropped and turned off by which switches.

Can you do me a favour and have one more look and see if it is a bit clearer.

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DC Gamer Club / Re: Portal 2 gets a new level maker! Woohoo - thousands of new levels

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 19, 2012, 04:35 AM »

Oh dear - sorry! The intention of the game was to get you jumping through Portals to gain height to get onto the ledge on the left as you walk in - once up there the rest of the puzzle layout is pretty obvious. I though it would be clear that you had to get onto the ledge because you can actually do anything else in that part of the chamber. Also there are blue indicator lines up there showing you that is how you get the ball and cube to drop.

Have a look at the second puzzle it isn't nearly as quirky (remember flying about was my first attempt).

The thing to remember in Treasure Hunt is that all the items you collect en route are used almost immediately after you collect them but then to finsh the level you have to retrieve them all to use again at the exit (watch out for a mysterious button in the first room that doesn't seem to do anything - it is used at the end but is only a funnel ride away) - not nearly as tedious as it sounds at the end because you activate various shourtcuts to go back to the location of those bits and pieces. The level it self consists of a number of rooms and corridors, each with a fairly standard (easy) Portal test.

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DC Gamer Club / Re: Portal 2 gets a new level maker! Woohoo - thousands of new levels

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 17, 2012, 02:00 PM »

Ooo err missus - I have done it again. I must say I am quite pleased with this new level:

Labyrinthine Treasure Hunt
[Edit ... sorry Steam had a hissy fit and munched my original map - consequently I had to unpublish and publish again so the URL has changed]



Spent the last 3 days setting this one up. In terms of the number of bits and piences it is about at the limit of what the new puzzle maker is capable of. (I had grand ideas but the compiler kept saying too many objects).

PLEASE can some fellow Portallers give it a go and leave a comment on Steam (would be fun if you left one here too)

784

Living Room / Re: Encrypted DNS queries via OpenDNS dnscrypt for Windows / linux / BSD / iOS / OSX

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 17, 2012, 03:44 AM »

It does on mine too - but then it doesn't seem to start with Windows without me putting the shortcut into the Startup folder.

Workaround is to add a scheduled task to start it on login and set the task permissions to administrator.

785

General Software Discussion / Re: Kiss Your Browser Goodbye - Windows 8 to BAN Firefox and Chrome

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 16, 2012, 04:59 PM »

Presumably Android is open so you can install what you like. I presume Firefox is annoyed that any install will have to be approved by MS through their app store and I guess getting approval is going to be expensive (if MS's past track record on that sort of thing is anything to go by). Also one of the major strengths of Firefox is extensibility - I presume since MS is not going to allow any extensions in IE then any app in the store is likely to haveto adhere to the same principle.

786

Living Room / Re: Apple drops '4G' from iPad adverts

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 16, 2012, 04:12 PM »

Interestingly Advertising Standards told Apple to withdraw the 4G claims a while ago and Apple agreed to do it and then totally ignored them. I can't remember where I saw the article but it was only when Advertising Standards threatened them with sanctions that Apple started to take any notice.

787

General Software Discussion / Re: Kiss Your Browser Goodbye - Windows 8 to BAN Firefox and Chrome

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 16, 2012, 10:35 AM »

Sorry don't use iOS - but I thought the implications of the above comments was Safari lock-in - I apologise if I got that wrong.

788

General Software Discussion / Re: Kiss Your Browser Goodbye - Windows 8 to BAN Firefox and Chrome

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 16, 2012, 08:45 AM »

What a stupid article - Firefox and Chrome will run just fine on Windows 8 on a PC, laptop or x86 tablet (so long as you have access to the desktop).

It is only Win 8 on ARM devices that won't support alternative browsers - which Microsoft have said all along will not contain a desktop.

I suppose they could start selling an ARM version Firefox or Chrome app for Metro through Microsoft's App Store. If MS refuse to do that then I am sure a lawsuit would follow - which might have interesting repercussions for Apple and Safari on iOS.

Who cares anyway - is anyone going to actually buy a Metro tablet? I would guess anyone who wants a tablet has already opted for Apple or Android.

Forcing people to use Internet Explorer on tablets is another good reason to avoid Metro, and the lack of any third party addons kills it in the water. I think it says a lot for IE that in Windows 7 MS ask you constantly to disable addons to make it work faster. MS just can't write browsers!

Maybe MS will start giving them away with cornflakes to make their sales look good.

789

Living Room / Re: 9 Signs Self-Publishing Is out of Control

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 15, 2012, 02:57 PM »

Simple - the 'self-publishing' repository websites could work on the principle that unless more than 50 or 100 copies is sold per month it gets pulled. They could give new publications 6 months to achieve that level of sales. It won't make much difference for people who genuinely want to self publish via their own website but will prune the pointless dross that no one wants to read.

Its effectively what happens on a larger scale with real publishing - once sales drop the printing stops.

The trouble, as I see it, is not that real publishers are dying in the new world because of self publishing but that the mega-corps are effectively ousting them - eventually Amazon, Apple, et al will become the new world publishers with even less help and support for authors as they establish a leech-like grip on authors.

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Living Room / Re: 9 Signs Self-Publishing Is out of Control

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 15, 2012, 10:53 AM »

Been my impression for a while ... having said that I have just completed a creative writing course so you wait for my magnificent octopus soon!

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Living Room / Re: Prometheus

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 15, 2012, 10:25 AM »

apple doesn't seem to like the above link much

-Gwen7 (May 15, 2012, 09:12 AM)

Probably not making a profit from it ...

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DC Gamer Club / Portal 2 gets a new level maker! Woohoo - thousands of new levels

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 09, 2012, 04:20 PM »

Portal 2 has been updated to include the new test chamber maker.

Lots of Brilliant new games to play plus you can make your own.

Portal fans give my first attempt a quick try and see what you think:

http://steamcommunit...details/?id=68641863
(updated to version 2 and added a few extra tasks and gotchas)

(Note there doesn't seem to be an easy way to search on Steam Workshop but that link will open the page in a browser - if you log in to your steam account in the browser you can subscribe to my new level which will then appear in your game!!!).

Please rate it and leave a comment - especially if you think it is OK!!

By the way this one (not mine) drove me to distraction and the solution is satisfyingly easy when you stop thinking:

http://steamcommunit...details/?id=68458711

793

Living Room / Re: SuperMoon Pictures - Post Them Here :)

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 09, 2012, 05:44 AM »

Spring and Neap tides are caused by the gravitational reinforcement of the Moon and the Sun.

When the Sun, Earth and Moon line up you get the maximum tidal effect. (Spring Tides)

When the Moon is at right angles to the line between the Earth and the Sun you get minimal tides (Neap Tides).

See http://en.wikipedia....n:_springs_and_neaps

Perigee should have a little influence on increased tides because the moon is a bit closer to the Earth at perigee. It doesn't matter whether the moon is full or not (full moon has nothing to do with perigee which simply means the closest point in the orbit of one body to another). The super moon phenomenon is just a factor of the relative positions of the Sun, Moon and Earth at the Moon's perigee.

If you wonder if the Sun has any effect on tides look at some of the moons of Jupiter - the tidal forces of the attraction of Jupiter and the Sun (and other moons) cause some of the moons to physically deform and contract to such an extent that they cause the moon to heat up. See, for example, Io (http://www.planetary...o/tidal_heating.html) where tidal interactions of the Sun, other moons and Jupiter combine to keep Io hot enough to be volcanic. Without those tidal forces Io would be a dead lump of rock.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Superboyac is throwing in the towel: I'm going to transition to Linux

« Last post by Carol Haynes on May 06, 2012, 05:23 AM »

  Oh Microsoft, you've done it again....    If you want to play  DVD's on Win 8, you have to pay extra.  As a result of dumping Media Center by default, out of the box versions of Windows 8 will also lose TV tuner support and DVD Video Object (VOB) file playback.

Windows 8 Dumps Default DVD Playback
Microsoft's Windows 8 will not ship with support for DVD
playback. It says DVD playback will require a "marginal cost" OS
upgrade or a third-party solution.
http://www.pcworld.c...lt_dvd_playback.html

-Tinman57 (May 05, 2012, 07:33 PM)

I thought Media Center was only being omitted from the Pro version. Almost all computer will ship with the Home version on - which begs the question if you upgrade to Pro do they REMOVE functionality?

Has anyone seen whether losing Media Center in Pro affects Media Player which has been in every version of Windows at least since Windows 98.

795

DC Gamer Club / Re: Indie Buskers 48 Hour Game Jam

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 30, 2012, 04:52 PM »

Download speeds are r..........e.............a...........l............l...........y..............................................s............l............o.............w (I am get about 50% of dial up speed).

Supposed to end the free download offer in 10 minutes. I just hope they don't stop ongoing downloads because at the current rate it is going to take well over an hour!

796

General Software Discussion / Re: antivirus' negative impact on read/write/copy etc file speed

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 30, 2012, 01:52 PM »

I would have thought an AV check is quicker simply because the AV engine is already running and apart from reading it there isn't much else to do.

If your AV is slowing your system down I would say get a better/more efficient AV.

797

General Software Discussion / Re: antivirus' negative impact on read/write/copy etc file speed

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 30, 2012, 11:27 AM »

Would running files sandboxed have any less impact on file access times?

-Carol Haynes (April 30, 2012, 02:47 AM)

if you really ask me, I can't tell, I have no idea how sandbox works

-kalos (April 30, 2012, 04:45 AM)

To sandbox it it has to create a sandbox environment for the file before running it and then revert everything back after it has finished. I would have thought most AV apps could do a virus check more quickly.

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General Software Discussion / Re: antivirus' negative impact on read/write/copy etc file speed

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 30, 2012, 02:47 AM »

Would running files sandboxed have any less impact on file access times?

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General Software Discussion / Re: No more WinPE?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 29, 2012, 11:00 AM »

I presume this is because HDM 12 is out.

Looking at my product list all of the product have media builder available - except where upgrades are available.

Annoying - yes - but I guess this is because they are no longer updating older versions. I suppose they can argue that they gave fair warning of the withdrawal of WinPE ISOs and since older product ISOs were effectively fixed there was no need to produce a boot media builder for them.

Strangely I can no longer see any of their Linux boot disk downloads on my account ???

They seem to have gone over entirely to WinPE - which looks like the opposite effect to the one MS were aiming at!

Having said all this - apart from an addition annoying download of 1.7Gb from Microsoft (in the form of an ISO which has to be either burnt, mounted or unpacked before you can install it) the new media builder wizard was very easy to use. Just a shame you can't add multiple products to the same ISO.

It would make sense for Paragon to produce one media builder and you can register whichever products you own to add to the build.

800

General Software Discussion / Re: No more WinPE?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 29, 2012, 06:55 AM »

Just to clarify 4wd's post - I just checked My Paragon account.

WinPE images have disappeared from my downloads but every product has the following notice:

We would like to inform you that Microsoft has changed its license conditions, meaning that software vendors will no longer be allowed to offer WinPE media directly.
We recommend you to upgrade to the latest version of your product to get access to our new Paragon Boot Media builder which allows you to create a WinPE boot media yourself.

So in other words MS are basically changing their license conditions simply to make it more difficult and annoying to use WinPE. They aren't removing it per se.

It makes you wonder why they are doing this.