Recent Posts

8826

General Software Discussion / Re: SMF or phpBB... that is the question?

« Last post by 40hz on November 07, 2010, 10:57 AM »

Rather than a specific FSN, you might consider setting up a more general purpose social network site and use that in conjunction with your choice of forum/discussion software. Elgg is one possibility. Last I looked they had (or at least had planned) plugin support for the previously mentioned Vanilla and phpBB. Elgg has other plugins as well.

I'm not super wild about social networks in general. But I've come to begrudgingly respect them since they seem to meet the needs of so many people on both ends of the technical spectrum.

Figure it this way: all the "young uns" grew up with sites like Facebook and Twitter. So the closer you can get your site to look and feel like what they're used to, the better chance you have of encouraging their regular participation.

And if you're looking 50+ years down the road, those are the people in your family circle that you'll want to cater to.

Just thinking out loud. 

----------

Addendum:

You also might want to consider doing hardcopy "yearbooks" from the info collected at your site to circulate and/or archive. A high quality paper copy may not last forever. But it is an inexpensive, non-volatile, hack-proof storage system that's platform independent and does not require a power source.

Good thing to have around should a cyberwar ever break out. 

 

8827

Living Room / Truely awesome 404 page!

« Last post by 40hz on November 06, 2010, 01:14 PM »

We've all seen clever 404 File Not Found pages. This one, however, is amazing.



Explore this mildly interactive flash 404-page courtesy of Daniel Karcher of bluedaniel studios

("Providing flash content for the motion picture industry.")

Link here. (Note: requires javascript and Flash.)

 

With thanks to Graphic Design Junction for this find. You can see 65 more examples of 404-page cleverness at their website.

Link here.

8828

Living Room / Re: Desktop Linux: The dream is dead

« Last post by 40hz on November 03, 2010, 02:48 PM »

It's the programs stupid!

I only stick with windows (xp) because the big program makers, (among my fav. progs are ADobePhotoshop and premiere) dont make progs for linux varieties.

-delwoode (November 03, 2010, 07:46 AM)

Very true...

But why settle for one OS when you can have two - or more? Especially since Linux usually doesn't cost more than the time and bandwidth needed to grab an ISO?

I'm not a fan of dual-booting. But I am a big advocate for using swappable hard drives.

I'm running different flavors of Windows, Nix, and OS X - all on a single machine. A quick shutdown, swap, and reboot, and I'm in business. And all without the need to mess with boot-loaders and weird non-native drive partitioning schemes. Running them all on one box also makes for a less crowded and more energy efficient workspace.

A free SkyDrive account and a "permanently plugged-in" 16GB USB Flash drive (picked up on sale for $23! Yay! ) handles file transfers back and forth between the various OSes.

Like f0dder so aptly said: The right OS for the job, and the right hardware for the OS

Sweet.

8829

General Software Discussion / Re: And So The Exodus Begins – 33 Developers Leave OpenOffice

« Last post by 40hz on November 02, 2010, 07:28 AM »

Pity Oracle decided to turn a simple disagreement into a fight, then come out of the gate swinging. Not at all surprising considering it's Oracle. But a pity just the same.

Wait for the inevitable legal threats, FUD mongering, and ill-considered lawsuit to follow about 12 months down the road.

It ain't over yet kiddies!

8830

General Software Discussion / Re: New version of Ketarin available

« Last post by 40hz on October 30, 2010, 05:00 PM »

@Deo: bingo! 

8831

General Software Discussion / New version of Ketarin available

« Last post by 40hz on October 30, 2010, 02:54 PM »

An excellent system utility just got better.

Ketarin   now has the ability to install applications as well as download them.

For those who don't already know:

Ketarin is a small application which automatically updates and optionally installs setup packages. As opposed to other tools, Ketarin is not meant to keep your system up-to-date (like a package manager), but rather to maintain a compilation of all important setup packages which can then be burned to disc or put on a USB stick.

If you're involved in technical support, onsite service...or just like to ditz with your personal machines until you need to reformat and reinstall everything, Ketarin will make your job a whole lot easier.

Additional scripting capabilities also make it easier to create custom scripts and macros for your own requirements.

More information and download links can be found at the Ketarin website here.

Our friends over at Rarst.net did a nice write-up on this version which can be found here.

 

8832

Living Room / Re: win 7 laptop can't connect to xp desktop via wifi

« Last post by 40hz on October 28, 2010, 10:10 PM »

Regarding firewall:

If it turns out to be the firewall, you'll need to unblock the following ports for discovery and f&p sharing with pre-Vista machines:

UDP 137
UDP 138
TCP 139

re: SSID blocking

Blocking the WAP from transmitting your SSID doesn't really provide much in the way of real security. And it has the unfortunate effect of sometimes causing odd and sporadic problems for wireless networking when running Windows XP.

If you've shut SSID broadcasting off on your router, turn it back on.  

 

8833

Living Room / Re: win 7 laptop can't connect to xp desktop via wifi

« Last post by 40hz on October 28, 2010, 05:29 PM »

Are you broadcasting the SSID on your WAP?

And what are you using for your firewall?

8834

Living Room / Re: win 7 laptop can't connect to xp desktop via wifi

« Last post by 40hz on October 28, 2010, 05:24 PM »

Is the workgroup name on the XP machine the same as it is on the two Win7 machines?

Oops. Cancel that. Was thinking of something else. 

8835

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Download multiple links from WEB page

« Last post by 40hz on October 27, 2010, 02:38 PM »

De nada! 

8836

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Download multiple links from WEB page

« Last post by 40hz on October 27, 2010, 02:34 PM »

Your easiest bet would be to grab a copy of a free product called CT4 Updater available here

It doesn't require installation, so just unzip it to your drive and run it.

When loaded, you'll get a screen with two panels.  

You're interested in the second panel for Office products.

click to enlarge


Select whichever version (or versions) of Office you're interested in and kick it off. Collecting all the downloads will take some time. How much time depends on what you selected, and the speed of your web connection.

When it's finished, CT4 will have grabbed every available update and created an ISO file which can be mounted, or burned to disk for the next time you want to install all available updates to office.

The ISO includes a batch update installer so you won't need to fiddle with the updates individually.

Great tool.  

8837

Living Room / Re: Welcome to Hell... iHell that is...

« Last post by 40hz on October 22, 2010, 03:24 PM »

In the end, it's just another step towards Apple absolute control over their own products.

-Lashiec (October 22, 2010, 03:16 PM)

Looks like the lines of battle are starting to get drawn.

In *this* corner wearing the "CLOSED/PROPRIETARY" silks: IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, Apple, RIAA, and the MPAA...with Novell watching intently from the sidelines!

And in *this* corner: Just about everything and everybody else - including the consumers.

 

8838

Living Room / Re: Welcome to Hell... iHell that is...

« Last post by 40hz on October 22, 2010, 03:14 PM »

And there's rumors that apple might be removing Flash and Java support for OS X...

-f0dder (October 22, 2010, 02:48 PM)

Apple is being a little coy in it's official announcement re: Java and OS X:

As of the release of Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 3, the Java runtime ported by Apple and that ships with Mac OS X is deprecated. Developers should not rely on the Apple-supplied Java runtime being present in future versions of Mac OS X.

The Java runtime shipping in Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, and Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, will continue to be supported and maintained through the standard support cycles of those products.

I think this may have more to do with Oracle's recent legal move against Android rather than an immediate desire to kill off all Java use on the Macintosh platform. Right now I'm guessing they're more interested in lessening potential legal exposure by virtue of their having their own Java runtime port - which is something Oracle seems to be taking issue with now that they're starting to walk down the same dark legal alley that ultimately destroyed SCO.

Not that it would be completely beyond belief that Apple would decide to kill off Java support on the Mac. Apple is one of the prime examples of the N.I.H. mindset when it comes to technical innovation.

And Oracle never was the best of companions to plan a future with - unless your business "plan" was to get bought out by them eventually.

8839

Living Room / Re: New Supercomputer Accomplishes What Other Supercomputers Can't

« Last post by 40hz on October 22, 2010, 02:45 PM »

Blahblahblah, but no specs

-f0dder (October 22, 2010, 02:26 PM)

Some specs can be found here.

It's a 512-node ASIC powered array set up for massively parallel (albeit specialized) computation.

"Metal" doesn't get much heavier than this puppy! 

8840

Living Room / Re: Desktop Linux: The dream is dead

« Last post by 40hz on October 22, 2010, 02:33 PM »

The right OS for the job, and the right hardware for the OS

-f0dder (October 22, 2010, 02:21 PM)

Amen! 

8841

Living Room / Re: Why do support people never answer questions?

« Last post by 40hz on October 22, 2010, 02:26 PM »

The point is that while it is true that people don't like to hear I-Don't-Know ... They hate to be jerked around even more.

-Stoic Joker (October 20, 2010, 05:00 PM)

Indeed. Glad to hear that your honesty had positive results - it doesn't always >_<

-f0dder (October 22, 2010, 01:08 PM)

I've always had a great deal of respect for anybody who has enough personal confidence and self-respect to admit to not knowing something.

A senior manager, for a contract client I reported to, had dismissed two of his senior technical staff members the day before I started.

When I asked him what that was all about, he said his decision to fire them wasn't so much about them not knowing something they should have known. It was more about how often what they "knew" turned out to be dead wrong.

I think most people are like this manager. A gap in knowledge is far easier to excuse than an attempt to cover it up with guesses and a pile of BS.

 

8842

Living Room / Re: Welcome to Hell... iHell that is...

« Last post by 40hz on October 21, 2010, 10:56 AM »

It actually sounds pretty cool to me. It's the way Linux does things (Ubuntu, at least) with the Software Center.

-Deozaan (October 21, 2010, 09:42 AM)

So...apple announces it wants to put a software repository behind a paywall?

Now that's "insanely great" innovation if I ever saw it.

Can't wait to see how long it will take for them to get a patent on some minor, niggling aspect of it - and then sue the developers of apt, Portage, and Synaptic for infringement.

 

8843

General Software Discussion / Re: FlatPress blogging platform: flat text file stored, open source, freeware

« Last post by 40hz on September 30, 2010, 07:29 PM »

Large code parts are derived from WordPress, am I right here?

-Tuxman (September 30, 2010, 04:20 PM)

Probably not.

I'd guess, from the way it works, its much more likely to have gotten its inspiration from  Simple PHP Blog.

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

I downloaded and gave it a try this afternoon. Very nice project. Does a rather workmanlike job within its intended scope of use.

I can imagine several scenarios where something like this could be very useful. Especially as a quick "starter blog" engine. You could get something attractive up on the web quickly while you were deciding what mainstream CMS/blog solution you'd eventually end up going with. Perfect for an individual or small business to get a feel for what it's like to have a blog. (Hint: it's not all about the underlying technology. It's also about the effort and discipline needed to create interesting and useful articles on a regular basis. No piece of software can help you with that part.)

I like it!  

8844

Living Room / Re: Some Google Blogger questions

« Last post by 40hz on September 29, 2010, 09:07 AM »

Can't help you with the Blogger backup file question. Your best bet is to copy the generated backup file(s) down somewhere and have a look inside.

Does anyone know a way to export, or export-then-convert, a Blogger blog to a hard drive HTML directory structure that exactly reproduces the blog's online appearance and functionality?

-kyrathaba (September 28, 2010, 07:55 PM)

Any "offline browser" site mirroring app can do that. HTTrack Website Copier is one very good (free under GPL!) example. Info and download links can be found here.

HTTrack is a free (GPL, libre/free software) and easy-to-use offline browser utility.

It allows you to download a World Wide Web site from the Internet to a local directory, building recursively all directories, getting HTML, images, and other files from the server to your computer. HTTrack arranges the original site's relative link-structure. Simply open a page of the "mirrored" website in your browser, and you can browse the site from link to link, as if you were viewing it online. HTTrack can also update an existing mirrored site, and resume interrupted downloads. HTTrack is fully configurable, and has an integrated help system.

WinHTTrack is the Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Seven release of HTTrack, and WebHTTrack the Linux/Unix/BSD release.

Note: Do yourself a big favor and read the instructions first. This app has a slightly odd interface if you're not used to working with this sort of application. It's really important to set the depth of your mirrored link levels to something reasonable. Otherwise, on a big site, you could wind up attempting to mirror gigabytes worth of stuff you don't really want - and very likely piss off the site's host by generating too much traffic.

I'm a big fan of HTTrack... 

Luck!

8845

General Software Discussion / Microsoft finally allows small business use of Security Essentials for free

« Last post by 40hz on September 23, 2010, 03:21 PM »

Micorosoft has just announced they will allow business use of up to ten copies of Microsoft Security Essentials free of charge starting in October 2010.

Prior to this, free usage was restricted to "personal use" only.

Security Essentials is a very capable antivirus/antimalware app which compares favorably against similar products from the likes of AVG, Avira, and others.

Here is some great news for all of the small businesses out there from Microsoft that I am very happy to be able to tell you about!

As we all know, small businesses are under incredible pressure to:

   1. Reduce operating costs
   2. Improve productivity
   3. Grow their business
   4. Do all of this in a very challenging economic climate

It’s also no secret that most small businesses today do not have a dedicated IT professional on staff to manage their IT resources (which you may recall is why we originally launched the Small Business Specialist Community of partners worldwide). Small business owners and employees are focused on running their business, not managing complicated IT infrastructure.

imageFor those reasons, we are extremely excited today to let you know that Microsoft is making its Microsoft Security Essentials available to small businesses on up to 10 PCs for FREE, beginning in early October!  By providing Microsoft Security Essentials to small businesses free of charge, Microsoft extends its commitment to help these companies save money and grow their business by offering no-cost protection from viruses, spyware and other malicious threats.

Not familiar with Microsoft Security Essentials?  In many ways, Microsoft Security Essentials is an excellent solution for your small business. It is very easy to get and very simple to use. The software requires no registration, trials or renewals and is available for download directly from Microsoft. There is also no need to have other cumbersome security programs installed on your PCs since Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection to address the ongoing security needs of a genuine Windows PC, helping to protect it from viruses, spyware and other malicious threats. Perhaps best of all; however, is that Microsoft Security Essentials is designed to run quietly in the background, enabling you to continue using your PC – and running your small business – without constant interruptions.

Take a look at this video by Theresa Burch, director of product management, who gives a look at the details of Microsoft Security Essentials for a little more about what Microsoft Security Essentials can do for your business:

Of especial interest to system builders is this bit of news (emphasis added):

OEMs and System Builders can pre-install Microsoft Security Essentials on their consumer-bound PCs to provide quality malware protection to their customers out of the box and at no cost. For more information related to opportunities for Microsoft partners, please visit the Microsoft Security Essentials partner page. This is one more tool you can use in your services offerings to provide a complete solution for your small business clients.

Full announcement and download links can be found here.

Sweet!  

8846

Circle Dock / Re: Goodbye all, I'm out of here effective immediately

« Last post by 40hz on August 13, 2010, 12:01 PM »

I don't see how you can separate the general legal issues surrounding software from a specific case and still have anything amounting to a reasonable discussion about it. These things do not occur or exist in isolation. And to my mind, these larger issues go right to the heart of what went down with CD as well as helping to understand the varied and occasionally conflicting reactions from the members that followed.  

Nevertheless, it's not for me to say how a discussion should be conducted here.

(With a nod of acquiesence, 40hz tips his hat to Mouser and scrams the long post he was just about to send. )

 

8847

Circle Dock / Re: Goodbye all, I'm out of here effective immediately

« Last post by 40hz on August 13, 2010, 11:36 AM »

I think 40hz has spoken clearer than any other contributor on this thread in this latest post...

FWIW, I predict that if the follow-on CD actually does get even more popular (and especially if it becomes profitable) it will only be a matter of time before a letter from an attorney arrives informing Team Circle Dock that her client holds a patent for something like an "on-screen control interface incorporating a circular graphical representation of system controls and files" - ...

-40hz (August 13, 2010, 10:44 AM)

I'm thinking this could only be initiated by Eric Wong with any hope of legal success.  I poured over this thread for awhile, but couldn't find the quote where I'm sure I read someone's reassurances that several proprietary dlls in Eric's sourcecode had no restrictions as to redistribution, as opposed to some that do.

-mateek (August 13, 2010, 11:29 AM)

Only Eric Wong could probably pursue a copyright claim or GPL complaint with a reasonable expectation of success.

But what I was talking about here are software patents, which are a whole 'nuther hassle and totally separate from copyright or licensing considerations.  

Software patents are offensive as opposed to defensive legal weapons. Successful software products have an unfortunate tendency to attract attention. And where the light of public attention shines, there's often an attorney lurking in the shadows.

 
 

8848

Circle Dock / Re: Goodbye all, I'm out of here effective immediately

« Last post by 40hz on August 13, 2010, 10:44 AM »

Redeveloping a functionally identical product from scratch of an existing product is surely a violation of the intellectual rights of the original author even if it is under GPL.

-Carol Haynes (August 13, 2010, 09:21 AM)

GPL does not address programming concepts, or ideas, or intellectual property, or equivalent functionality. It works more like how our copyright laws  used to be interpreted and enforced. It protects the actual expression of an idea (i.e. the source code) and not the idea (as in the function of the program) itself. To do otherwise would stifle the incentive for innovation. GPL was created with the specific intent of encouraging the development of derivative works.      

Repeat three times: all GPL covers is source code.

If you rewrite something completely from scratch, it's a totally separate thing which you are free too do with as you wish so far as GPL is concerned. And that is true even if it looks and fuctions exactly the same as a GPL product.

Try doing that with proprietary licensed products. Most forbid reverse- engineering, patching for any reason, add-ons, or producing a work that has an  equivalent look or functionality.

In short, they claim to own the entire idea along with the product they produced.

FWIW, I predict that if the follow-on CD starts getting even more popular than it already has (and especially if it becomes profitable) it will only be a matter of time before a letter from an attorney arrives informing Team Circle Dock that her client holds a patent for something like an "on-screen control interface incorporating a circular graphical representation of system controls and files" - with a note attached asking if they'd prefer to settle immediately or just go to court?

And that will be if they're lucky. Usully the first time somebody finds out this is about to happen is when their ISP boots them off without warning because they received a DMCA takedown notice and decided to cover their butts and comply without questioning it.

I wish Markham & Co. the best of luck should that happen.        

8849

Circle Dock / Re: Goodbye all, I'm out of here effective immediately

« Last post by 40hz on August 13, 2010, 10:09 AM »

without which you are right, GPL software could only be developed and run on GPL operating systems.

-Jibz (August 13, 2010, 08:19 AM)

Not really, although doing so would make understanding the legalities a lot easier.

But again, the GPL does not presume to replace existing licenses or other agreements a software author is under. Nor does it argue it has the right to do so. Which is why, mainly to accomodate Windows developers who wanted to release and share their work under GPL, that some of those special conditions (which I'd hestitate to characterize as exceptions) got incorporated into the license.

The whole issue of the programming 'tool chain' and how existing non-GPL developer licenses may impact the GPL has been a very active discussion topic over the years. And there have been some who gave argued that the entire chain needs to be under GPL in order for GPL to work. But saner heads have prevailed, and a compromise has been reached that seems to work quite well for most people. 

Or should, unless you're the sort of person that's trying to find yet another loophole to get around it.  

Basically, when you GPL your work, only your work is under the license. You're still bound by the terms of any other licenses you are already under for compilers, tools, libraries, dlls, precompiled included binaries, etc. GPL doesn't override any of that. All it covers is your code. It does not force itself on anybody else's code with one big exception: and that's any code that incorporates your code downstream.

And in those cases, the rule is simple and very clear. If you incorporate any code that is licensed under GPL in a downstream project - and if you distribute that project to the general public (whether for free or for a fee) - then you are required to also share your code under the same terms as the GPL code you incorporated into your project.

And while the license itself doesn't split hairs over how much source needs to be incorporated before a GPL violation occurs, the FSF isn't in the litigation business.  It has always used reasonable standards and common sense in cases where it does get involved in attempting enforcement actions.

So yes, while 'technically' only one short line of GPL'ed code needs to be present to make a 1 million line program also subject to GPL, you won't ever see FSF taking action on so ridiculous a complaint. Too bad the creators of proprietary licenses don't feel the same way. Companies have pursued smaller competitors and individuals and sought criminal and civil penalties in cases often involving nothing more than single code snippets. One case even argued that the overall structure of a  competitor's program amounted to theft of their intellectual property even though not one single line of the actual code was the same!

GPL is not a panacea for all our licensing woes.

But imagine what the IP landscape might be like without something like the GPL around - even if it only served as a reminder that there are alternatives to the legal quagmire we've created for ourselves with software licensing.  

                  

8850

Circle Dock / Re: Goodbye all, I'm out of here effective immediately

« Last post by 40hz on August 13, 2010, 09:11 AM »

Is GPL in practice ever enforceable except in the most trivial of examples?

-Carol Haynes (August 13, 2010, 07:52 AM)

Actually it has. The provisions of the GPL have been recognized as both legal and enforceable by courts in the US and in Europe where cases have been filed against infringers.

And the possibility of legal action and adverse publicity has also been very effectively used to convince even some of the 'big players' (e.g. Sun, Linksys) to not try to ignore the provisions of GPL when incorporating covered code in their commercial projects.

Maybe FSF's low key approach is not as effective and dramatic a method of enforcement as having the SPA/BSA and copyright cops show up with a warrant and kick your door down. But it does accomplish its goals.