Recent Posts

8176

Developer's Corner / Re: Discussion of CMS suggestions for the DC software directory

« Last post by Renegade on March 07, 2011, 03:34 PM »

Providing the forum links in the PAD files, as well as links to the author's profile, and donate links, would be a good use of the extensions that Renegade spoke of here.

-app103 (March 06, 2011, 04:05 PM)

The PAD extension spec is here: http://pad.asp-softw...c/xtensions_spec.php

As you can see there, it's pretty easy to author an extension. I'll do that for you if you want to provide me with what information you want.

8177

Living Room / $1,000,000 Bet That Apple Pulls from Retail

« Last post by Renegade on March 07, 2011, 02:26 PM »

Would you bet $1 million that Apple will pull out from third party retailers?

http://www.kogan.com...-hi-fi-hidden-truth/

I challenge the current CEO of JB Hi-Fi, Terry Smart, to a $1,000,000 bet that on March 14th 2014 there will not be any Apple hardware products for sale at JB Hi-Fi stores.

That guy will.

The contract for the bet has already been drawn up by my lawyers and can be found here (PDF).

8178

General Software Discussion / Re: Popping Downloads - iframe or meta refresh?

« Last post by Renegade on March 06, 2011, 11:01 PM »

Back to work today.

The problem was Internet Explorer doesn't like the "application/octet-stream" MIME type for meta refresh or iframe downloads. I posted about it here:

http://cynic.me/2011...-this-internet-site/

8179

General Software Discussion / Re: which is the best free virtualization software?

« Last post by Renegade on March 06, 2011, 03:52 PM »

VirtualPC 2007: Total crap.

-Ath (March 06, 2011, 04:40 AM)

I believe that is a few degrees of magnitude beyond being an understatement.

8180

Developer's Corner / Re: Discussion of CMS suggestions for the DC software directory

« Last post by Renegade on March 05, 2011, 06:15 PM »

Yes, let me give some thought and write up a little post reply later today about what I think are the key features it has to have.  I think my concerns are almost entirely around making it easy to maintain and update the content.

-mouser (March 04, 2011, 10:08 AM)

That's why I suggested PAD. An extension would easily allow adding whatever content you want in addition to the basic specification, and it would automatically work in PADgen, which would give you an authoring tool immediately with zero work. On top of all that, publishing would simply be updating the PAD file. It doesn't get much easier.

8181

Living Room / Re: Unsubscribe to 404

« Last post by Renegade on March 05, 2011, 05:43 PM »

But having it automatic so that you can simply enter the email address without creating it and have the server automatically accept it for you. Or have a quick utility to give you the email address that the server would automatically recognize. It could be done very easily with symmetric encryption and GUIDs or unique codes.

-Renegade (March 05, 2011, 12:05 AM)

That utility sounds like a Coding Snack  .  Might be a bit complex, though.  The main hosting control panels of which I'm aware are cPanel and Plesk, but a number of hosting companies roll their own.  Still, I'd think that the aggregate genius that is DC could come up with something workable  .

Would have made an interesting project for the current fund raiser, had it been broached in time  .

-barney (March 05, 2011, 11:39 AM)

It would be MUCH more than a coding snack.

There are 3 basic components:

1) Server-side component
2) Client-side component
3) Mail server plugin for server-side component (so it can be used with more than 1 email server)

It requires symmetric encryption with embedded information and authentication methods.

Likely the best method would be to have the email address and full domain name (with subdomains) embedded something like:

my.email.id + www.site.com + key text for server to identify address (e.g. "-encoded") ===> *arbitrarily long symmetrically encrypted text (base 36 [a-z0-9])* e.g. "kuhhiu78h8bb878bbysdfsdhkyhkbuiggg8g8gyjggy6t7f"

resulting in an address like:

[email protected] ==> "[email protected]"

etc. etc.

The basic idea is easy. It's writing the server software and email server plugin that would be tough. The client would simply have a subset of the server's features.

For anyone that has ever mucked around with cryptography, it can get very messy at times.

8182

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY MUGs

« Last post by Renegade on March 05, 2011, 05:28 PM »

Come on you mugs! Or I shall pose nude with mine and post the results here in unnecessarily high resolution.

-timns (March 05, 2011, 11:43 AM)

Oh boy, not another stand-up comic!

-cranioscopical (March 05, 2011, 11:51 AM)

Probably be a flop 

-timns (March 05, 2011, 12:12 PM)

I'm not sure whether that's an empty threat, or whether you'd rise to the occasion. If you did, it would be hard for some people to take.

8183

General Software Discussion / Re: Popping Downloads - iframe or meta refresh?

« Last post by Renegade on March 05, 2011, 04:37 PM »

What about an unbuffered (allowing it to run in "spurts") server side script? Download "link" connects to page that displays Ad for X seconds, and then redirects directly to target file.

-Stoic Joker (March 05, 2011, 12:51 PM)

Well, it's mostly like that right now. I went back and put in a meta refresh, which works for IE ( in other sites, but it's not working for me at the moment. VERY odd.

Clicking a normal link works... But the meta refresh and simply putting the download address into the address bar of IE don't work.



Sigh... Some days... Anyways... Back to trying to hack through the nonsense for a solution.

I don't know why, but sometimes it seems like even the simplest things create silly problems.

8184

Living Room / Re: Who else is sick of difficult word verifications on the web?

« Last post by Renegade on March 05, 2011, 04:00 PM »

There's an interesting story about how the folks over at 4chan gamed Recaptcha to fix a Time poll - moot wins, Time Inc. loses.

-Eóin (March 05, 2011, 03:38 PM)

That was excellent.

8185

Living Room / Re: Unsubscribe to 404

« Last post by Renegade on March 05, 2011, 12:05 AM »

I've got over 350 email forwarders on one domain.  When I start getting spam on one of 'em, I redirect the forwarder.  Most of the spam I see is on unique email addresses I've used to sign up for different Web sites - prolly not intentionally released by the site(s) in question, as a sniffer parked on server traffic could do the job - but the standard response is, "You leased, loaned, or leaked this address:  it is now closed."  It's amazing how little spam I receive any more    .

Not a cure for everyone.  Some don't have domains, others that do won't take the time - ten (10) to twenty (20) seconds - to create an alias, e.g., {websitenamelist|ownernamelist}.domain.tld, because, "It takes too long."  But the only spam I cannot cure  is to my primary address, so a scant half minute doesn't seem to me to be to much to spend to create a traceable alias, and I get a great deal of satisfaction redirecting those aliases  .

-barney (March 04, 2011, 10:26 PM)

Many years ago I made a mistake with my personal email address, and have been paying ever since. So I don't worry about it at all anymore and simply use it for everything.

What would be really cool is something like you mentioned with: {websitenamelist|ownernamelist}.domain.tld

But having it automatic so that you can simply enter the email address without creating it and have the server automatically accept it for you. Or have a quick utility to give you the email address that the server would automatically recognize. It could be done very easily with symmetric encryption and GUIDs or unique codes.

8186

General Software Discussion / Re: Popping Downloads - iframe or meta refresh?

« Last post by Renegade on March 04, 2011, 10:25 PM »

Ooops... I forgot... I was testing locally from the file system... (Totally different behavior in IE.)

8187

Living Room / Re: A Point About Grammar

« Last post by Renegade on March 04, 2011, 07:57 PM »

I'd like to know why a non-countable noun can become a singular countable noun, but not a plural countable noun. I think it has to do with them being assumed contractions of the form "# units of noun" to "a noun" or "nouns".

-Renegade (March 04, 2011, 07:13 AM)

You can have a can of beer.
You can have a bottle of beer.
You can have a glass of beer.

You can have a few cans of beer.
You can have a few bottles of beer.
You can have a few glasses of beer.

What you are actually having is cans, bottles, or glasses.....of beer.

Without specifying whether it is in a can, bottle or glass...

You can have a beer.
You can have a few beers.

What you are actually having is [units] of beer....aka beers.

e.g.

I'd like a water.

But not:

I'd like some waters.

How many different waters do you see in this photo?
 (see attachment in previous post)

-app103 (March 04, 2011, 07:33 PM)

That's "what it is", but not why. I'm curious as to how contractions by deletion of units (and the like) works. I'm not a linguist, so I can't really speculate.





@Stoic Joker -- Found it -- http://www.youtube.c.../watch?v=OZJwSjor4hM

I just hated listening to her. She's just painful to listen to. The video would have been much better with her edited out entirely.

8188

Living Room / Re: A Point About Grammar

« Last post by Renegade on March 04, 2011, 07:29 PM »

But seriously... There's no end to just how surprisingly stupid some people can be. The only truly sad thing is that there are other idiots out there trying to keep them in the gene pool~!

-Renegade (March 04, 2011, 05:18 PM)

That's why I tossed in the second part as a qualifier...

I saw the real-time hack that Anonymous did during the WBC interview and almost pissed myself laughing ... That was truly a beautiful thing to watch (hatred fall down go boom (hehehe)).

-Stoic Joker (March 04, 2011, 06:16 PM)

I didn't see that. Do you have a link for a video of it? I'd love to see that~!

8189

General Software Discussion / Re: Popping Downloads - iframe or meta refresh?

« Last post by Renegade on March 04, 2011, 07:26 PM »

I hear ya man.

But iFrames are just such a kludge I tend to avoid them reflexively. Is there anyway of doing plain links with an ad? Download page with a banner type of affair perhaps? That way the ad shows even if they don't "commit", and if they do commit, they aren't bothered.

Just a thought - I like have your cake and eat it too type solutions. 

-Stoic Joker (March 04, 2011, 06:47 PM)

Well, it's going to be JavaScript. There's no getting around it.

IE7/8 breaks downloads for both meta refresh and iframes. I've tried 4 different approaches. I think the only way will be to script it to filter for IE.

It's just nutty. It will pop a save as dialog, but then tries to save "download_exe" instead of "download.exe". Sigh...

If we didn't have such problems with malware, this wouldn't be an issue.

The story board will basically be like this:

* PAGE - Product page (download link to download page)
* USER ACTION - User clicks DOWNLOAD link > taken to product download page
* PAGE - Download page with freedom factories
* SCRIPTING - Script determines browser & pops download for non-IE browsers (direct download link for backup as described above)
* PAGE MODIFICATION - IE receives IE specific message & download link to click
* IE USER ACTION - IE users click download link for direct download

It's really just so entirely messy... I try to keep all code to an absolute minimum whenever possible. Less code = better code.

8190

General Software Discussion / Re: Popping Downloads - iframe or meta refresh?

« Last post by Renegade on March 04, 2011, 05:57 PM »

Yes... There is a specific reason... "Freedom factories" (ads).

-Renegade (March 04, 2011, 04:52 PM)

Gee Wizz, when you put it that way shoving my pecker in a meat grinder sounds like a swell idea...

...But if it must be done, as worstje said an ordinary meta refresh (not the script encrusted looping nightmare variety) would be the lessor evil.

-Stoic Joker (March 04, 2011, 05:51 PM)

I hate the idea of having ads... But... Nobody else is going to pay my bills...

I suppose I'll be looking at a meta refresh though. That's my first choice, but I'm still not completely sure it's the right way to go now.

8191

Living Room / Re: A Point About Grammar

« Last post by Renegade on March 04, 2011, 05:18 PM »

Because (in reality) nobody is really that dumb ...

-Stoic Joker (March 04, 2011, 05:09 PM)

And -1. I think that there really are people that are that stupid.

Evidence? Sure~!

[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westboro_Baptist_Church[/url]^w

They provoked Anonymous:

http://www.bbc.co.uk.../technology-12523184

And now their website is offline:

www . godhatesfags . com

(Not giving them any link juice.)

But seriously... There's no end to just how surprisingly stupid some people can be. The only truly sad thing is that there are other idiots out there trying to keep them in the gene pool~!

8192

Living Room / Re: A Point About Grammar

« Last post by Renegade on March 04, 2011, 05:12 PM »

You can bet your ass there is a lawyer behind it. Because (in reality) nobody is really that dumb ... But if the obvious can be muddied a bit in court...

Anybody dense enough to actually be confused by those instructions, would probably best serve the human race as a Darwin Award recipient.

-Stoic Joker (March 04, 2011, 05:09 PM)

+1 and +1

8193

General Software Discussion / Re: Popping Downloads - iframe or meta refresh?

« Last post by Renegade on March 04, 2011, 04:52 PM »

combined with the usual 'if it does not download in a moment, use this link' thing.

-worstje (March 04, 2011, 01:00 AM)

Is there a specific reason for not just starting with a plain link in the first place? This has always drove me nutz, because I'm forever having to hit the "This Link" link while wondering why the hell they didn't just start with something that works. ...Fixing things with damage perhaps?

-Stoic Joker (March 04, 2011, 07:22 AM)

Sigh... Yes... There is a specific reason... "Freedom factories" (ads). By using a specific download page that pops the download and has a "if your download doesn't being in 5 seconds, click here" link, you have the opportunity to serve up an ad. Sourceforge, CNET, and virtually all software directories of note use this method.

8194

Living Room / Re: A Point About Grammar

« Last post by Renegade on March 04, 2011, 04:44 PM »

Perhaps not entirely off topic (for a change)

To the many of you who have sent me personal messages enquiring with such concern as to why I am so dopey a (and here I'll paraphrase — there are simply too few asterisks available on my keyboard) fellow. This could be the answer:

Research by the British National Formulary (BNF), which advises doctors, nurses and pharmacists, found labelling that has been around for decades is now too difficult for members of the public to understand.

It found phrases such as "may cause drowsiness" are no longer "readily understood" and should now be simplified to say "this medicine may make you sleepy".

and, just to add further clarity

Likewise, the phrases "avoid alcoholic drink" and "take at regular intervals" caused indecision among modern takers.

The report recommends the labels should now read "do not drink alcohol while taking this medicine" and "space the doses evenly throughout the day".

For those of you who feel that this does not explain my mental state fully, I offer the following:

Drinking a glass of wine a day or a pint of beer can cut the chance of developing dementia by almost a third, according to researchers.

So, in future, I'll go for a few bottles of each beverage. That should fix it!

-cranioscopical (March 04, 2011, 01:58 PM)

It's sad that so many people are basically illiterate and perfectly clear instructions need to be dumbed down that much.

8195

General Software Discussion / Re: Solving Issues - Pain and More Pain

« Last post by Renegade on March 04, 2011, 07:14 AM »

I find most XML issues are pretty easy to track down. This one was silent, and emerged as 404, 404.4 and different 5xx errors.

8196

Living Room / Re: A Point About Grammar

« Last post by Renegade on March 04, 2011, 07:13 AM »

In my Korean language classes some years ago, a fellow student was a professor of Linguistics. We had a very interesting conversation one time when he explained why you can have "un-fucking-believable" but not "unbelieva-fucking-ble" or "unbe-fucking-lievable" (and other similar cases of injecting profanity into words). I forget the exact reasons at the moment, but it had to do with intonation and stress. Those are some strange rules that we all know and use, but aren't really conscious of them, and never had a class where they were taught.

Just seems a shame that you can have a beer but not a few beers.  Doesn't sound like as much fun.

Yes. Very true.

I'd like to know why a non-countable noun can become a singular countable noun, but not a plural countable noun. I think it has to do with them being assumed contractions of the form "# units of noun" to "a noun" or "nouns".

e.g.

I'd like a water.

But not:

I'd like some waters.

8197

General Software Discussion / Re: Solving Issues - Pain and More Pain

« Last post by Renegade on March 04, 2011, 07:02 AM »

the attribute got added

-Renegade (March 03, 2011, 07:25 PM)

What did that pesky attribute look like? (so we know what to avoid )

-Ath (March 04, 2011, 01:27 AM)

It won't help.

Let me delay the long explanation for a bit. Here's why:

http://cynic.me/2011...mplete-transparency/

I'm considering that, and am planning a post with code on the mini application I just finished (it's draft quality, but it's solid and it works).

The short version is that I ended up with:

preCondition="managedHandler"

Here:

Code: Text [Select]

1. <system.webServer>
2.       <modules>
3.           <add name="UrlRewriteModule" type="UrlRewritingNet.Web.UrlRewriteModule, UrlRewritingNet.UrlRewriter" preCondition="managedHandler" />
4.       </modules>
5. </system.webServer>

Removing it solved the problem.

XML - Pain and More Pain

There, fixed the topic for you.

-f0dder (March 04, 2011, 01:40 AM)

Actually, I'm quite good with XML and really like it (beats INI any day). It wasn't the XML itself that was the problem. It was the addition of that attribute that slipped past, and that I assumed was needed for IIS7.

XML specifications that are massively large, like that for a web.config file, are simply unmanageable, but not because they are XML. They're unmanageable because they're so complex, and errors aren't readily apparent sometimes.

8198

General Software Discussion / Popping Downloads - iframe or meta refresh?

« Last post by Renegade on March 03, 2011, 07:28 PM »

Which do you find a better way to pop a download? In an iframe? Or in a meta refresh?

8199

General Software Discussion / Solving Issues - Pain and More Pain

« Last post by Renegade on March 03, 2011, 07:25 PM »

Well, I finally solved a stupid problem. The solution was to remove a single attribute from an XML node. I'd been through a trillion different routes, and finally found it.

The problem came from an upgraded web.config file going from IIS6 to IIS7, in which the attribute got added. Sigh...

Anyways... Just one of those things. Lost more time over it than I care to admit, but eventually got it working. YAY~!

Lesson learned: Sometimes things just aren't that complicated, and going back to basics can save a lot of time.

8200

Living Room / Re: Is this the worlds most elegant keyboard?

« Last post by Renegade on March 03, 2011, 07:20 PM »

I'm sure kids would love it.