Recent Posts

9201

Living Room / Re: coolest ipad app

« Last post by Renegade on November 13, 2010, 08:48 AM »

found it -
I'm not a musician but if I were I think I'd be wanting this one

(see attachment in previous post)
http://www.rebirthapp.com/

-tomos (November 12, 2010, 11:48 AM)

I don't have an iPad yet, but man... Gotta give this a +10!

Propellerhead is simply amazing. Reason is mind-blowingly amazing.

I used to use a Reason demo tune as my wakeup music in MusicMatch Jukebox. It was just wicked cool.

I think anyone will have a hard time finding some cooler software than ReBirth for the iPad.

9202

Living Room / Re: Getting an HTC Desire HD -- Android Phone

« Last post by Renegade on November 13, 2010, 08:38 AM »

I had 2 things against being forced to used iTunes.

1) It's simply miserable, horrible to use.
2) It's nothing more than a store front masquerading as software.
3) Goto 1.

How's the Zune software compared to iTunes?

I've not done anything more than recharge my phone yet.

What I really wish is that the hardware companies would create SDKs for their products and put out a basic version that gives you most everything you need to sync your phone and back it up and load some files into it, then let 3rd parties work with the SDK to create rich sets of functionality and specialized versions for business and the like. It would take effort to put out an SDK like that, but it's not that hard.

9203

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Database .NET 3.8.3969 - A MultiDatabase Manager

« Last post by Renegade on November 13, 2010, 07:44 AM »

Nice!

Thanks for the heads up on this. (I just hope it supports remote connections.)

9204

Living Room / Re: Why Apple's Distortion Field Works

« Last post by Renegade on November 13, 2010, 07:40 AM »

I think we know there are plenty of people that make an intelligent-user choice and decide to go with Apple. They'll be the ones that don't worship at the alter of Steve Jobs. They'll be the ones that don't try to explain a machine/interface deficiency as a killer must have feature. But they aren't fun people to try and wind up.

People love to argue and bait fanboys. That's why a dedicated Apple hating blog is a good idea - it's fun. The insults that will be thrown back in the blog comments against Apple haters will be fun too. It won't change anyone's opinion. The more irrational and outrageous the ranting the better, I say. If it starts a holy war - great.

-nudone (November 13, 2010, 06:05 AM)

Amen~!

It would just be a hoot.

Kind of like how Sarah Jessica Parker is a transvestite donkey witch (Facebook): http://transvestitedonkeywitch.com/ (Check the title.)

Silliness is a ton of fun.

The thing is to always keep things close enough to the truth so that it's actually defensible. That way it's even more biting.

9205

Living Room / Re: Why Apple's Distortion Field Works

« Last post by Renegade on November 13, 2010, 05:57 AM »

...i think you guys are being too harsh on Apple users.

-mouser (November 13, 2010, 04:41 AM)

Absolutely! But that's part of the fun~!

(I have a love for overkill. )

9206

Living Room / Re: Why Apple's Distortion Field Works

« Last post by Renegade on November 12, 2010, 11:57 PM »

NSFW domain names

applefa.gs - Not too keen on this as it has strongly homophobic connotations that I don't like, but it's a pretty cool domain name.
appleisfu.cd
applesh.it - This rocks.
applefu.kr
fuckap.pl

Those are only a few ideas. Anyone have any more?

9207

Living Room / Re: Why Apple's Distortion Field Works

« Last post by Renegade on November 12, 2010, 11:23 PM »

* People to come up with appropriate domain names that I can buy (I wanted "isa.co.ck", but couldn't get it. steve.jobs.isa.co.ck would have been awesome!)

-Renegade (November 12, 2010, 07:05 PM)

CO.CC are generally free, isa.co.cc is still available but will cost $14 - so you can still have steve.jobs.isa.co.cc

 

-4wd (November 12, 2010, 10:16 PM)

They're actually just free subdomains. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.cc

Having a subdomain under someone else's control just makes me nervous.

9208

Living Room / Re: The conflict of interest that is Google

« Last post by Renegade on November 12, 2010, 09:25 PM »

If...

A = B
and
B = C
then
A = C

... see anything wrong with this?

Maybe I'm not seeing everything (the emperor's new clothes, perhaps), but it seems ludicrous to me (and the man who originally brought this to my attention).  It says nothing!  The "then" is already contained in the equation.  Nothing new is learned, nor proven at all.  At best, it is redundant.

-CodeTRUCKER (November 12, 2010, 08:43 PM)

Well, it is informative in a way. It's a definition in a logical system. That is, it is trivial.

Now, I'm not really sure what you're finding ludicrous, but if you're finding it ludicrous in the "common sense" way, then I'd have to say you're right. A = C does not follow. Here's an example of what I mean:

(A) I am (B) white.
(B) White is (C) a color.
(A) I am (C) a color.

For those programmers among us, this is obvious in another context: value vs. reference.

e.g.

int a = 1;
int b = 1;
int c = 1;

Now, this is true:

a == b

So is this:

b == c;

So is this:

a == c;

But that's a value comparison. But if we are talking about references, a is not b is not c is not a.

Here's a simple example (really for others reading):

Code: C# [Select]

1. int a = 1;
2. int b = 1;
3. int c = 1;
4.  
5. textBox1.Text += "a==b is " + (a == b).ToString() + "\r\n";
6. textBox1.Text += "b==c is " + (b == c).ToString() + "\r\n";
7. textBox1.Text += "c==a is " + (c == a).ToString() + "\r\n";
8.  
9. Form x = new Form();
10. Form y = new Form();
11. Form z = new Form();
12.  
13. textBox1.Text += "x.Equals(y) is " + (x.Equals(y)).ToString() + "\r\n";
14. textBox1.Text += "y==z is " + (y == z ).ToString() + "\r\n";

Which yields this result:

a==b is True
b==c is True
c==a is True
x.Equals(y) is False
y==z is False

a, b, and c are all value based, where x, y, and z are all reference based. Again, different systems apply to different things.

Anyways, I do tend to get carried away with logic. It's just so much fun~!

9209

General Software Discussion / Re: Nitro updating is too clever for me

« Last post by Renegade on November 12, 2010, 08:25 PM »

I tried Nitro out, uninstalled it, and the stuff just wouldn't go away... Grrr...

Anyways, I'm using Acrobat now anyways and I have some different OCR software - I.R.I.S.

9210

Living Room / Re: The conflict of interest that is Google

« Last post by Renegade on November 12, 2010, 08:20 PM »

+1 CodeTRUCKER.

I have a formal education in logic and argumentation. Conspiracy theories are often dismissed outright for one reason or other, but as of late, I've started to rethink some of the logic and metaphysics behind the general attacks on conspiracy theories (and a range of other topics as are applicable).

I've come to a sort of mid-way where I can see some limitations in the logic used, and some rather hasty uses of logic that fail to address the issues.

It seems to me that very often whether or not there is any intent behind a conspiracy is largely irrelevant. However, it is the intent portion of the conspiracy that is usually attacked, and rather easily.

Historicism has been debunked along with philology, but that doesn't stop people from taking Nietzsche seriously. Among those debunking it are Karl Popper and C. S. Lewis, both intellectual juggernauts not lightly to be dismissed.

Still, it is precisely those patterns in history that in the practical world we see repeated. Logic be damned. It happens. We're talking about inherently stochastic processes, so any degree of logic will eventually meet with some form of paralysis. Logic throws up its hands in defeat in the face of pure chaos (the study of chaos is another matter though). (Incidentally, this is why "brute force" attacks are used -- because strong encryption maximizes the randomness of the stored data and the only approach to it is to start at the beginning of all possibilities and work ones way to the end.)

But those patterns exist. Whether there is intent behind them or not, they are there.

So while we may smugly sit back, confident in our pretty logic that the "conspiracy" is false and nothing more than the ravings of a madman, it doesn't change the reality. Something *is* happening.

As an analogy, consider the typical ways that people think about morality and ethics as being the standard fare for logic and reasoning in the Karl Popper anti-Historicism vein of things. Then consider Carol Gilligan's arguments for relationship-oriented morality and ethics as she puts forth in "In a Different Voice" as being more like the way in which conspiracy logic works. (I am aware of the possible connotations there, so please do not read into that anything more than what I am saying. I am not trying to demean conspiracy logic or relationship-centric morality. I am merely trying to frame the system, or different systems, in a relationship to each other.)

So what we end up with is a matter of perspective or a matter of dealing with situations using different systems.

Any logician worth a damn will tell you that some problems cannot be solved using some systems of logic.

This is detailed in Gödel's incompleteness theorems.

Well, I may be making some assumptions (that it is applicable to humans and/or history) and jumping a few steps, but close enough. For an overview of what I am skipping over see here and here and here. Perhaps the most telling is Penrose's conclusion:

Penrose presents the argument that human consciousness is non-algorithmic, and thus is not capable of being modeled by a conventional Turing machine-type of digital computer.

Well, let's just assume that human's are just very good at switching logical systems, and that's their core logical system. Problem solved.

Anyways, that's the quick summary on why I believe that quick dismissal of conspiracy theories is premature. (I'm still waffling on a few things, but whatever. I'll make up my mind eventually. That is unless I'm inconsistent. Or maybe because I'm incomplete... )

9211

Living Room / Re: Why Apple's Distortion Field Works

« Last post by Renegade on November 12, 2010, 07:05 PM »

First, a big thank you to Darwin and fenixproductions for donations for my rant!

Second, the Apple hatred ranting blog... WOULD BE INSANELY FUN~!

So, here's what I'm thinking...

Why don't I put those donations towards a domain name and web space and get the sledgehammer hammering.

There's no end to the constant barrage of material to rant over. Heck, here's another:

http://www.theregist...cle_openjdk_project/

For the uninitiated, the rant would be about Apple jerking people along just long enough to abandon them. (It will come...)

But I digress...

I would like help though. I can't rant all by myself. Well, I could, but I don't rant often enough. It would be great if a few people could help out.

So, here's the open call... I need 2 things:

* People to come up with appropriate domain names that I can buy (I wanted "isa.co.ck", but couldn't get it. steve.jobs.isa.co.ck would have been awesome!)
* Volunteers to help rant.

I have no problem with profanity or extreme obscenity, and there's pretty much nothing that can really offend me, so any domain name is game. For example, one of my web sites is:

NSFW

http://www.fucksatan.com/

So you get the idea.

Ideally the venom should be spiked with humor.

While a lot of the good domains like applesucks.com are gone, there is no end to the possibilities.

Incorporating the TLD in the domain name as a full expression would be best. e.g. su.pr = super. (Note that .pr domains cost $1,200 about, so probably not a good idea to use them.)

I'm sure there are a few people that would love the freedom to truly let loose with no restrictions, so please step up if you'd like to spew forth your opinions/humor/venom/rants about Apple.

Peace, love, and eternal grooviness~!

9212

Living Room / Re: Too Stupid to Own a Computer

« Last post by Renegade on November 12, 2010, 06:48 PM »

@app103 - I think there's a very big difference between you getting scammed, and this fellow. $5,000 is something that we can relate to. Seeing you get burned like that strikes a chord.

But $6,000,000 isn't something that any of us can really relate to losing. It's so far removed from our reality that there's nothing to do but laugh. It's $6 million! Like holy murphy!

I've been burned for hundreds of thousands (not strictly a scam, but it's a long story), but that's still nowhere near $6 million.

For that amount of money you can build a bionic man~!

9213

Living Room / Re: The conflict of interest that is Google

« Last post by Renegade on November 12, 2010, 04:13 AM »

+1 mouser!

The danger of allowing an advertising company to control the index of human knowledge is too obvious to ignore

Wow. That's an understatement.

There's been so much research done on advertising psychology and propaganda that it's simple for any company like Google to pick up from there and really do a lot of damage. It's simply too much power.

9214

Living Room / Re: Why Apple's Distortion Field Works

« Last post by Renegade on November 12, 2010, 03:39 AM »

<rant mode="high-gear">

-Renegade (November 10, 2010, 04:19 AM)

Sir,

I am interested in your opinions and wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

Sincerely,

        

-tranglos (November 12, 2010, 03:36 AM)

Hahaha~! Sorry, no newsletter.

One of my blogs is centered on transitioning from developing for Microsoft to developing for Apple, and mostly full of rants.

http://microsoft2apple.com/

By normal site is in my sig. A few ranty blogs, but not that many.

9215

Living Room / Re: Five Reasons Why People Hate Apple

« Last post by Renegade on November 12, 2010, 03:15 AM »

Generally people mind its high prices but it always develops something innovative while rest others are are the followers ..

-andykeating (November 12, 2010, 02:26 AM)

My take on "Apple innovation".

9216

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: SQL Everywhere by Atlantis Interactive - a supercharged IDE for SQL Server!

« Last post by Renegade on November 11, 2010, 11:11 PM »

Downloading is a bit on the bizarre side. There's no "download" for it at all. You need to "purchase" the free version and go through the checkout process and then you get the download link. There might be somewhere else to download it, but it's not obvious and I didn't want to fart around scouring the site for it.

9217

Living Room / Re: Getting an HTC Desire HD -- Android Phone

« Last post by Renegade on November 11, 2010, 06:42 PM »

It's too bad that Swype isn't available. Oh well.

Thanks for the SlideIt link. I've downloaded the demo and will give that a spin.

9218

Living Room / Re: Unread/Aggregated Topics/Forums

« Last post by Renegade on November 11, 2010, 05:47 PM »

Looks to be working now.

9219

Living Room / Re: Getting an HTC Desire HD -- Android Phone

« Last post by Renegade on November 11, 2010, 05:46 PM »

After checking, it looks like Swype is in beta now. Oh well.

9220

Living Room / Re: Getting an HTC Desire HD -- Android Phone

« Last post by Renegade on November 11, 2010, 05:21 PM »

Well, got the phone. Paperwork when you're a foreigner is always painful, but anyways...

So far:

* Android Market is infinitely superior to the iTunes App Store -- Still could use improvement though
* Some things are slightly easier on the iPhone - minor
* Android developers could take some lessons from the iPhone for UX (e.g. dismissing a dialog onscreen vs. being forced to use the back softkey)
* Doesn't come with Swype installed -- big minus -- Can't find it in the Android market either, double-minus
* Screen and device are just gorgeous -- double-plus - very nice feel to the phone
* Imported Facebook contact info in a snap - nice
* "Back" is always the back softkey - sometimes annoying as it is harder to reach than a button onscreen at the top of the phone
* 3 "News" program icons by default? Kind of poor planning there - minor issue
* Could not unlock it immediately - carrier issue (Vodaphone)
* Carrier (Vodaphone) program icon goes to their website -- not a mobile site - designed for desktop/laptop computers - simply stupid - again, carrier issue (did anyone expect competence from a carrier?)
* Good selection of software already on phone - some trial software on there too though - not all free & ready to use (e.g. SoundHound)
* Games program icon goes to Vodaphone website - I'm detecting a pattern here... I think this is an "uncle-daddy" issue.
* Hardware & OS is far more capable than an iPhone (literally - I'm not being anti-Apple here) - proof: I've got a metal detector program on the phone that really works. You cannot do that on an iPhone.
* Korean keyboard (Google) didn't work - uninstalled it
* Softkey backlight turns off sometimes, making them hard to see.
* Lots of Korean software available in Android marketplace - quickly found Samsung Securities & installed it (not tried it yet)
* Default browser page is http://live.vodaphone.com/ which goes to a non-mobile viewable regular web page - completely moronic & again, an uncle-daddy carrier issue - msn.com or google.com would make more sense as they are useful.
* Included ringtones are ok, but nothing spectacular - lots of midi still, but they are both midi and wav
* Included themes and wallpapers are attractive
* "Smart Dial" is very cool.

Definitely a positive experience right off the bat. Minor issues are mostly carrier-related, and seem generally about them being self-centered and greedy with no real consideration for their customers other than as moneybags.

The iPhone does have a bit better UX design though. I suppose maybe I'm used to it, but the "back" softkey seems a bit backwards after having all of those on the screen.

The interface takes a bit of getting used to if you're coming from an iPhone. It is still much better than Windows CE though, which isn't hard.

The UI is clean and easy to use.

I've not actually used the phone yet, so I can't comment on the audio quality. I'm hoping that it's a bit better than I've seen in the past.

For the speakers, they're better than on an iPhone, but still so-so. This is an area where I'm picky though. I do write audio software, play an instrument, and have some high expectations for sound.

I remember an LG phone in 2003 that was simply MIND-BLOWING! While the speakers were still small, the sounds was better than anything I've ever heard on a mobile device. Real, true 3D sound. Not the fake stuff you normally get. I'd like to see the device manufacturers focus a bit more on audio quality like that.

Anyways, I'm happy with the phone so far. I don't anticipate that changing.

And I'll be running out to get MonoDroid very soon! Yay~!

9221

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: SQL Everywhere by Atlantis Interactive - a supercharged IDE for SQL Server!

« Last post by Renegade on November 11, 2010, 03:33 PM »

Nice. Thanks for the info there!

http://www.atlantis-...compareeditions.aspx

And a community edition~! Yay~!

I use DeZign for Databases for, well, database design, but this would be a perfect companion for it. It's like Query Analyzer on steroids.

9222

Living Room / EPIC Amazon Fail: The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure [Kindle Edition]

« Last post by Renegade on November 11, 2010, 03:56 AM »

Google cache for "The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure [Kindle Edition]":

http://webcache.goog...amp;client=firefox-a

Product Description
This is my attempt to make pedophile situations safer for those juveniles that find themselves involved in them, by establishing certian rules for these adults to follow. I hope to achieve this by appealing to the better nature of pedosexuals, with hope that their doing so will result in less hatred and perhaps liter sentences should they ever be caught.

Stunned. Just stunned.

A book about raping children...

The underlying issue is self-publication and freedom of speech.

9223

Living Room / Too Stupid to Own a Computer

« Last post by Renegade on November 10, 2010, 09:14 PM »

This is sad, but true, and completely hiliarious:

http://www.net-secur...are_news.php?id=1524

The couple are said to have tricked the composer into believing that, while investigating the virus, they had found evidence that his life was in danger – concocting a story that the virus had been tracked to a hard drive in Honduras, and that evidence had been found that the composer's life was in danger.

And they took him for $6,000,000.

Some people really are too stupid and should never own a computer...

9224

General Software Discussion / Re: 25 Ubuntu tips for beginners

« Last post by Renegade on November 10, 2010, 08:35 PM »

+1 for Deozaan.

Great break-down of things there.

9225

Living Room / Re: Unread/Aggregated Topics/Forums

« Last post by Renegade on November 10, 2010, 07:17 PM »

After resetting, and after half a day, it seems to be behaving nicer. Another 2 days and we'll know for sure.