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8351

Site/Forum Features / Re: I think we should close the Company Complaints and Compliments Section

« Last post by wraith808 on April 21, 2011, 03:56 PM »

A good indicator - has there been a proliferation of these types of threads since it was opened?  Has it created more animosity?  I haven't noticed that it was so- there's always that element, and there's always going to be that sort of element around as long as it's not policed, but the discussion has gone on no matter where the location.  It does give more of a 'target' for such threads to consolidate them, but I don't think direct causation can be established.

8352

Site/Forum Features / Re: I think we should close the Company Complaints and Compliments Section

« Last post by wraith808 on April 21, 2011, 01:46 PM »

It is possible to ignore individual threads in the DC forum. Would it not be a good idea to be able to have an option like 'ignore forum section', so none of the threads created in that section will appear for those who do want that?

Seems the best compromise to me, giving anyone the option to ignore sections if they so desire.

-Shades (April 21, 2011, 01:37 PM)

Ignoring sections seems a bit along the same path as ignoring users, i.e. creating potentially parallel but non intersecting sub boards.  I rarely even ignore threads, because when you do, there's a possibility of missing something that is referenced in a different context- maybe even something enlightening or productive.

8353

Site/Forum Features / Re: I think we should close the Company Complaints and Compliments Section

« Last post by wraith808 on April 21, 2011, 01:44 PM »

$0.02 -> Keep the section (there must have been a rationale for creating it in the first place) but have some strong guidelines that people must view and adhere to before posting. No personal attacks, etc, etc. That way it's all confined to one place and people are well aware of what they should/shouldn't be doing before they post.

-nosh (April 21, 2011, 01:01 PM)

This seems like a good middle ground, along with re-naming it.  I think it does serve a purpose, and is a service to the members of DoCo, and visitors in it's current state.  Maybe even limit the topic creation there, so that only one thread is created per service/product?  And make it more of a discussion of companies rather than labeled complaints or compliments?

Just throwing out thoughts....

8354

Developer's Corner / Re: Site to store code snippets ?

« Last post by wraith808 on April 21, 2011, 01:39 PM »

http://www.snipplr.com is the one I use.  It integrates with DoCo member mtelligent's snip-it pro also as a bonus.

8355

Living Room / Re: Switching to Linux; how do you not flop back to the world of Windows??

« Last post by wraith808 on April 21, 2011, 08:22 AM »

IMO some of the very best and most insightful (is that a word?) posts I've ever read were here during Linux/FOSS ...um...'discussions.'

Didn't matter if the comments were for or against. Most were well considered and very well written. Learned a lot reading and participating in some of those threads. Sharpened my thinking and deepened my respect for more than one DoCo member. (Good stuff!)

-40hz (April 21, 2011, 07:25 AM)

This, definitely.  One of the reasons that I dove back into it a bit after I started frequenting the boards.

8356

Living Room / Re: Switching to Linux; how do you not flop back to the world of Windows??

« Last post by wraith808 on April 20, 2011, 06:25 PM »

[just in case noone noticed, this thread was 2 years old and was revived by necro spamming by a bot ]

-jgpaiva (April 20, 2011, 04:11 PM)

Oops.  I didn't notice the bot's post... just cthorpe's...

8357

Living Room / Re: Switching to Linux; how do you not flop back to the world of Windows??

« Last post by wraith808 on April 20, 2011, 03:10 PM »

I've tried Linux over, and over, and over again.

<snip... though all of this applies too />

It's just that Windows does everything I need my home PC to do, and Linux is still more trouble than it's worth for daily use.

-cthorpe (April 20, 2011, 01:35 PM)

^ This.  x1000.  I keep thinking I'm missing out on something, and I'll try it.  Then I'll remember why I don't use it for everyday needs.  And then all is right with the world again.

8358

General Software Discussion / Re: Complaint about Bartels Media \ the PhraseExpress people

« Last post by wraith808 on April 20, 2011, 01:21 PM »

Also, and please do not take this the wrong way, I wonder if the oddities in tone, humor, and how BartlesMedia "does business" is, at least somewhat, a product of English not being his first language.  I say this because I have worked with many such individuals who's writing has similar issues.  As a teacher, I can attest that tone is difficult for many native speakers to master, let alone non-native speakers.

-cthorpe (April 20, 2011, 11:24 AM)

As the "does business" part is a partial quote of something that I said, I'll bite.  All that you say would be taken into account most duly, if not for certain harassing actions, through PMs and other means (and even seen in this topic when I was calling for it to be locked and ignored).  Having someone on a board where you frequent, and indeed enjoy discourse with others flood your PMs (and subsequently e-mail) with attacks is very off putting, and something that is quite difficult, even given my normal laid back nature, to forget or ignore- especially in the face of others' defense.  Indeed, I can even admit that I shouldn't have posted this response, and held it in my browser for quite a while before doing so.  But in the end, I succumbed.  So for the best, I'm marking this thread to ignore, trying to follow Chris' example in the future.

8359

Living Room / Re: Is Amazon the new Apple?

« Last post by wraith808 on April 20, 2011, 01:10 PM »

But then again, that's the company bosses' duty - maximising long-term returns.

-johnk (April 20, 2011, 07:23 AM)

Nope not necessarily.  Just maximising returns.

In a meeting with several high powered executives (many of well known companies), a presenter asked the question in an icebreaker exercise, "If you had the choice of (a) a slow measured growth over 10 years, doubling stock price, but the company being strong in its industry, or (b) increasing the stock price 5x over the next year, but the company being out of business in 5 years, which would you choose?"

After tallying the results, over 80% chose (b).  And that's pretty much true for corporations...

-wraith808 (April 20, 2011, 10:47 AM)

Well, all I can say is that the first thing you're taught at business school (yes, I did...) is that your duty is to maximize long-term returns. Any idiot can boost short-term returns, and, believe it or not, shareholders do worry about the long-term and have intelligent analysts who will see through and flag up short-term thinking by bad managers (obviously I am referring to the big shareholders, the pension funds and so on, not the hedge fund cowboys trying to make a fast buck).

-johnk (April 20, 2011, 11:11 AM)

Being taught and doing are two totally different things.  I'm sure all of these people were taught also.  But this is a true example, rather than some apocryphal tale..  The pressures of stock price in the short term put a lot of pressure on them to perform now rather than at some future date.  So that's why you've had all of the collapse in the US economy recently- because of these pressures, and the executives who've been pressured by them/taken advantage of their position.

8360

Living Room / Re: Anyone here using a standing desk?

« Last post by wraith808 on April 20, 2011, 12:58 PM »

Like mentioned moving about is good, your eyes too, every 20 minutes or so make sure your eyes are concentrated on something farther away for 30 seconds.
As far as standing all day it would probably kill my ankle.

-rgdot (April 20, 2011, 08:59 AM)

I try to take a 5 minute break every hour.  It does lessen my productivity (startup/wind down is definitely an issue), so I miss it sometimes, but continued health is more of a concern.

8361

General Software Discussion / Re: Complaint about Bartels Media \ the PhraseExpress people

« Last post by wraith808 on April 20, 2011, 10:51 AM »

^ I'm always here.  While you... appear.  Let the differences speak for themselves.

8362

Living Room / Re: Is Amazon the new Apple?

« Last post by wraith808 on April 20, 2011, 10:47 AM »

But then again, that's the company bosses' duty - maximising long-term returns.

-johnk (April 20, 2011, 07:23 AM)

Nope not necessarily.  Just maximising returns.

In a meeting with several high powered executives (many of well known companies), a presenter asked the question in an icebreaker exercise, "If you had the choice of (a) a slow measured growth over 10 years, doubling stock price, but the company being strong in its industry, or (b) increasing the stock price 5x over the next year, but the company being out of business in 5 years, which would you choose?"

After tallying the results, over 80% chose (b).  And that's pretty much true for corporations...

8363

General Software Discussion / Re: Complaint about Bartels Media \ the PhraseExpress people

« Last post by wraith808 on April 20, 2011, 10:40 AM »

Am I the only person having a problem with the way BartlesMedia responded in this thread?

-40hz (April 20, 2011, 08:14 AM)

No.  Not at all.  But it was not at all unexpected.  Just let it drop... lock the thread.  He does business how he does business, and the less discussion on that point the better, IMO.  Everyone has opinions and mine on the subject are well known (as well as my ... experiences with the overzealous representative) ... but in the end it's not worth the time, and I'd rather have productive conversations with people over productive issues, and not waste DoCo resources on this discussion. (which says a lot given my penchant for discussions LOL)


courtesy of xkcd

8364

Living Room / Re: Proof That People Cannot Read (EULAs)

« Last post by wraith808 on April 18, 2011, 09:43 PM »

nice story 40hz!

-mouser (April 18, 2011, 06:53 PM)

Only in retrospect. That reprimand set the tone for the rest of my tenure with that company. I got passed over for a promotion twice because of it.

-40hz (April 18, 2011, 09:22 PM)

Truthfully, if they passed me over for promotion because of that, and if that was my boss' response to it, it wouldn't be a place I'd want to work.  True, there are some lines, and there are times and places for it- but that response was more than a bit over the top if it wasn't a document for a client.

8365

General Software Discussion / Re: Please help me with a video card issue (April 2011) Now resolved

« Last post by wraith808 on April 18, 2011, 02:07 PM »

The GeForce 430 is probably (guesstimate, haven't looked at specs!) more power-hungry than the old card. Perhaps the PSU isn't delivering enough Watts, or is slightly flake and have voltages that drift too much? Could also be a motherboard problem, if it's voltage regulators are flunky; there's been known problems with too cheap capacitators on several motherboards.

-f0dder (April 17, 2011, 09:05 AM)

Just as an FYI (late I know...)

GeForce 7300GS 23.1W Power Consumption at load
GeForce GT 430 49WW Power Consumption at load

Not sure what kind of CPU you're running, but that's a small amount of difference to cause failure for that reason.  And ZOTAC is a pretty good brand from my experience.

8366

Living Room / Re: Proof That People Cannot Read (EULAs)

« Last post by wraith808 on April 18, 2011, 01:56 PM »

I don't think I have ever read any EULA. When I did scroll down to the very end it was because otherwise the continue button wouldn't activate.

-housetier (April 18, 2011, 01:49 PM)

^ This +1

8367

General Software Discussion / Re: SpiderOak - very nice people =)

« Last post by wraith808 on April 18, 2011, 01:56 PM »

My current solution will be to stick with dropbox until this is fixed -- I don't have this problem with dropbox, as I said. They must use a different delta backup algorithm.

-Armando (April 18, 2011, 12:49 PM)

That, or DropBox uses special handling for certain files, including access databases?

-f0dder (April 18, 2011, 01:02 PM)

FWIW:
Dropbox was unable to backup my database until it was closed -
SpiderOak is able to back it up while it's open

-tomos (April 18, 2011, 01:23 PM)

I'm pretty sure that dropbox used to be able to do this- they changed the behaviour because of corrupted files b/c of the file being open.

8368

Living Room / Kickstarter and Indie2GoGo Projects Spotlight - April 18, 2011

« Last post by wraith808 on April 17, 2011, 09:51 PM »

Another week, and a few more interesting projects for your consideration...

	H.P. Lovecraft's Wonderland
Goal	$2500
End Date	2011-05-11
Project Creator(s)	Rick Hershey
Location	Myrtle Beach, SC
Description	Rick Hershey and Nikola Jajic announce their collaboration on the original graphic novel, H.P. Lovecraft’s Wonderland. The graphic novel tells the familiar tale of Alice’s adventure in Wonderland as if the story was written by cult horror writer H.P. Lovecraft ( At the Mountains of Madness, Call of Cthulhu, The Dunwich Horror). This is the third collaboration between writer Nikola Jajic and artist Rick Hershey on a graphic novel, their last being the title Loosely Based published by Arcana Comics. Where Nikola provided the story and Rick handled pencils and inks. For H.P. Lovecraft’s Wonderland, Nikola Jajic returns to write the script as Rick Hershey picks up the duties of linework, colors, and lettering. Both Nikola Jajic and Rick Hershey are working professionals. By pledging money to the H.P. Lovecraft's Wonderland graphic novel you will be buying the time needed to produce this awesome project to the level of detail and commitment needed. . . and it will be beautiful.

	SketchChair - Furniture Designed by You
Goal	$18000
End Date	2011-05-12
Project Creator(s)	Diatom
Location	London, United Kingdom
Description	SketchChair is a free, open-source software tool that allows anyone to easily design and build their own digitally fabricated furniture. The goal for this project is not just to complete the software and release the source code, but also to build an online community of people creating, sharing and editing designs.

	Terminator The Second
Goal	$3000
End Date	2011-05-01
Project Creator(s)	Husky Jackal Theatre
Location	Nashville, TN
Description	Is this what it sounds like? If it sounds like the story of a boy and his cyborg protector on the run from a soulless, shape-shifting assassin made of liquid metal, adapted for stage and told exclusively in the words of William Shakespeare, then yes. How can you claim that this production is “presented” by William Shakespeare? We adhered to strict guidelines regarding the usage of Shakespeare’s works. Each line and phrase is taken directly from folios printed by or before 1685, and many extended sections of dialogue are composed of individual lines from separate works. Only proper nouns and pronouns were subject to change, as dictated by the plot. In these instances, all proper nouns are supplanted only by pronouns or other proper nouns, and all pronouns by other pronouns. In some cases, corresponding verb tenses are modified. These practices enabled us to accurately retell the story of Terminator 2: Judgment Day while remaining true to the words of Shakespeare in form (if less so in intent).

	Coffee Joulies
Goal	$9500
End Date	2011-05-02
Project Creator(s)	Dave & Dave
Location	San Francisco, CA
Description	Coffee Joulies work with your coffee to achieve two goals. First, they absorb extra thermal energy in your coffee when it’s served too hot, cooling it down to a drinkable temperature three times faster than normal. Next, they release that stored energy back into your coffee keeping it in the right temperature range twice as long.

8369

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: PhraseExpress v8, Pro Edition, on BdJ, Tuesday 12 April, 2011

« Last post by wraith808 on April 16, 2011, 10:31 AM »

^ OT... but do you have a subscription to neat net tricks premium?  I was wondering what the differences were, as this seems like a pretty cool site!  It's already turned me on to a new program to try.

8370

General Software Discussion / Re: Deduplication, encryption, security and... Dropbox

« Last post by wraith808 on April 15, 2011, 07:24 PM »

... and encryption really shouldn't slow anything down unless you've got an insane-speed internet connection

-f0dder (April 15, 2011, 05:25 PM)

Wouldn't the act of encryption slow things down?  i.e. step 1 encrypt, step 2 upload instead of just step 1 upload?

8371

General Software Discussion / Re: Deduplication, encryption, security and... Dropbox

« Last post by wraith808 on April 15, 2011, 04:22 PM »

I don't find that their answers explains much... unfortunately.

-Armando (April 15, 2011, 04:04 PM)

And I don't find it in the least comforting.

-phitsc (April 15, 2011, 04:06 PM)

And I found it actually made me more concerned, rather than less.  Because it shows (1) PR backpedaling and (2) a basic lack of awareness about the competition.  I *know* that Jungle Disk does offer encryption (though I don't use it, because it slows down the sync, and I don't really store anything that I care about using the sync service) and I'm pretty sure that others do also.

Encryption (Bucket Password)

Jungle Disk makes it easy to protect your remotely stored data with encryption. Encryption ensures that no one can access your data as it is transmitted over the Internet or stored on remote servers.
Note that regardless of whether you enable encryption using a custom key, your data is always encrypted while transmitted over the Internet by using SSL (like your bank web site). Choosing a custom encryption key means that your files will be encrypted while stored on Amazon's servers as well.
Be careful when enabling encryption. If you forget the encryption key you select you will not be able to retrieve your files in the future. You should write down a copy of your key and keep it in a safe place. If you lose your key neither Jungle Disk nor Amazon can help you retrieve it.
To enable Encryption, select the “Encrypt files using a custom key” option and type an encryption key (password) into the Custom Encryption Key box.
There is also a box where you can enter a list of "Decryption Keys". This is only required if you want to change your custom encryption key from time to time. When you change your encryption key, existing files stored on Amazon.com servers are still encrypted with the original key. In order to be able to access them in the future, you need to keep your previous keys in the decryption keys list. If you want to re-encrypt your files with a new key you will need to re-upload them. If you attempt to download a file that was encrypted with a key that is not on your decryption keys list, Jungle Disk will display an error message.

Here are a few details on how Jungle Disk encrypts your files:
Jungle Disk encrypts files that are stored prior to uploading them using 256-bit AES. AES is an industry (and government) standard and is one of the most well studied and most secure encryption algorithms available. Jungle Disk uses a unique key for each file, and constructs the key using a HMAC that helps protect against certain attacks. Code that demonstrates how data is encrypted/decrypted is available for download on the software download page under the GPL license.

The Jungle Disk Desktop Edition adds a special metadata header to each file when it is uploaded. The header identifies the type of encryption used and contains a salt value and a one-way hash of the salted key. This allows Jungle Disk to determine the correct key to use to decrypt the file. Note that without the decryption keys the header is of no use, and you cannot even tell which files are encrypted with which keys unless you possess the keys.

8372

General Software Discussion / Re: SpiderOak - very nice people =)

« Last post by wraith808 on April 15, 2011, 11:59 AM »

Thanks for the clarification- I'd figured it out, and saw that there was a discount still available.  Thinking about picking it up...

8373

Living Room / Re: Salaries of Charity CEOs

« Last post by wraith808 on April 15, 2011, 11:57 AM »

Why limit that rule to charities only?

-Shades (April 14, 2011, 10:36 PM)

I've been trying to introduce it for governments, believe me!
The plan is a little rough around the edges as yet; we're having a trial run in Libya right now.

-cranioscopical (April 15, 2011, 10:45 AM)

I thought that was just the latest in a series of live run trials?

8374

General Software Discussion / Re: Deduplication, encryption, security and... Dropbox

« Last post by wraith808 on April 15, 2011, 10:38 AM »

I'll just throw this out there:
Does it really bother you though ?


[edit] on rereading the article, and thinking about it a bit, you dont have to answer that question ;-) I guess I'm sort of relaxed about it myself, cause the important stuff I have on Dropbox is encrypted (locally) [/edit]

-tomos (April 13, 2011, 05:10 PM)

Encrypted how?  I just saw this comment on that Dropbox Security link...

A warning about using TrueCrypt with dropbox — because of way drop-box works, only syncing the bits of a TC container that have changed, a person may be able to guess your TC secret key by capturing this changed data several times.

I guess I'm not really too upset about it because I don't really have any sensitive stuff to sync.

8375

General Software Discussion / Re: SpiderOak - very nice people =)

« Last post by wraith808 on April 15, 2011, 10:33 AM »

^ I had the same problem with Jungle Disk & S3 (account created summer 2008) - unreadable in Cloudberry. Which discovery, combined with a failure of JD -with no warnings- prompted me to start using SFFS to backup directly to S3.
Also I was wary of what the future might be bringing... [edit] (for Jungle Disk/S3) [/edit]

-tomos (April 13, 2011, 04:47 PM)

What is SFFS?