Recent Posts

9876

Living Room / Re: I'm Going to HELL! Please feel sorry for me... :(

« Last post by Renegade on November 09, 2009, 09:38 PM »

By the way Renegade, now that you have shown yourself, you are *legally* obligated to submit something for this year's NANY 2010.  See: https://www.donation...ex.php?topic=20462.0

-mouser (November 09, 2009, 08:40 PM)

ACK~!

Ok... but I can't promise a huge amount... I've got some software that's been sitting around for almost 6 months that I need to release, some miscellaneous work, and I'll need to get acclimated to things down under.

I'll need to think about it for a bit. I've got a couple ideas, and one project that I've been sitting on for a few years that I'd like to get out of the way.

But at least there's a deadline~! That's certainly a good thing!

On the topic of time, I wouldn't have had any, but my wife can't afford the time to go visit my parents in Canada (I've already been to visit her parents as they're much closer to us here in Asia). We wanted to go for Christmas, but things didn't work out. That kind of shot my plans there... I still haven't told my parents that I got married~! Hahahahahaha~! I was planning on showing up at the doorstep and saying something along the lines of, "Merry Christmas Mom~! I got you a daughter-in-law for Christmas~!"  Oh well... I guess I'll be spending that time coding and figuring out some new way to surprise Mom & Dad.

9877

Living Room / Legal Insanity

« Last post by Renegade on November 09, 2009, 08:35 PM »

So I'm down at the British Embassy pub chatting with some people, and a fellow I know relates a story a friend of his...

Buddy drives up to a red light and stops. (This is where the trouble begins...)

Happily waiting for the light to change, he doesn't notice a speeding bus behind him that fully plans on running the red light...

Luckily (or unluckily as the case may be), the passenger-packed bus slams on the brakes to avoid hitting him. However, in doing so, the many passengers all fly forward with the sudden stop, with many of them being injured to one degree or another.

Blissfully unaware of the happenings behind him, he proceeds to drive on when the light turns green...

Fast forward a couple weeks, and buddy gets a fine for KRW 2,000,000 (close to USD 2,000, and almost exactly AUD 2,000) for dangerous driving BECAUSE HE STOPPED AT A RED LIGHT WHILE THE BUS FULLY PLANNED ON ILLEGALLY RUNNING THE RED LIGHT BUT STOPPED AND IN THE PROCESS, INJURED PEOPLE.

WTF? Huh? :S

Now... just think about THAT the next time you stop for a red light in Korea.


Anyone else got any true 'legal insanity' stories from their neighbourhood?

9878

Living Room / Re: Can someone remind me why are we using email ?

« Last post by Renegade on November 09, 2009, 08:27 PM »

Hmmm...

My guess is that if you tried the carrier pigeon approach in the USA you'd go to prison because:

1) Carrier pigeons aren't Sarbanes-Oxley compliant.
2) Flying without FAA approval, or SEC approval, or... ???
3) You're a terrorist

Not really sure whether you'd go to prison for #1 or #2, but even if you're not caught for that, there's always #3 as a "catch-all".

Wonder if the experiment worked out without iron bracelets.

9879

Living Room / Re: I'm Going to HELL! Please feel sorry for me... :(

« Last post by Renegade on November 09, 2009, 08:03 PM »

I'm actually going to be in Melbourne.

I'm looking forward to it as it will be a welcome change from Korea... It's just that wonderful Internet speed that I'm going to miss. (And the insane amount of eye-candy too, of course.)

I most certainly will be making trips to Sydney and  Canberra to visit friends there.

Summer I like, but I've not seen a winter in 2 years now, so I wouldn't mind one. If we count winter by the standards of where I'm from, I've not seen one since 2003/4. (Winters in Korea are rather tame.)

But I am certainly looking forward to the beach! No idea what they'll be like in Melbourne though.

So I won't be trading places with anyone. I don't think my wife would approve. (I got married this past May.) She's the reason I'm moving there, as she's doing her Ph.D. in Banking and Finance at Monash University.

I most certainly won't be looking forward to funnel webs though... Yikes! Spiders just creep me out entirely!

9880

Living Room / I'm Going to HELL! Please feel sorry for me... :(

« Last post by Renegade on November 09, 2009, 11:28 AM »

Well, it's been a while since I posted. Been lurking though...

But I'm headed for HELL! Pure, utter, total, DAMNATION~!

I've been sentenced to 3 years in Australia...

That means that I have no more "slow" internet speed at 10 Mbps with unlimited bandwidth for less than $30 USD... (Yep... that's the slow one where I live now... but only for another couple days...)

Now I'm facing the infernal dark flames of Australian primitive Internet infrastructure  with prices 5x what I pay now for half of what I'm getting now...

I wanna cry~!

 

Right now I need a virtual shoulder to cry virtual tears on and cry virtual wave files~!

What did I do to deserve this???

9881

Living Room / Re: church managment software

« Last post by Renegade on November 20, 2008, 06:15 AM »

I know a lot of churches have been using Fellowship One, no idea how much it costs.
...

-Edvard (November 13, 2008, 10:33 AM)

With most packages where there is no price, they're usually pretty expensive. Somewhere around mortgage/sell your soul. But at that rate, they wouldn't have many customers in their niche now, would they? I suppose it's a bit cheaper then.


[Sorry -- couldn't resist that one there.  ]

9882

Living Room / Re: microsofts anti piracy measures in china

« Last post by Renegade on November 02, 2008, 12:01 AM »

From the VNUnet article:

In August Microsoft introduced a new feature to its Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) software that turned the wallpaper of computers using a pirated version of Windows XP Pro black every 60 minutes and displayed a message that the software was pirated.

The wallpaper? Boohoo.

Chen Chong, director of the China Software Industry Association (CSIA), said: "I respect the right of Microsoft to protect its intellectual property but it is taking on the wrong target with wrong measures.

Wrong Target = People who steal software
Wrong Measures = A gentle reminder that they are stealing

So what is the right target and what are the right measures?

Can't target the thieves! Can't tell them they are stealing!

Perhaps Microsoft should just do what 99% OF ALL OTHER SOFTWARE VENDORS DO: Disable the software completely.

That should make people happy. 

MS didn't hack anyone in China. Read the license terms. WGA updates itself. The new stuff is just an added feature. That's all.

http://www.channelre..._fury_microsoft_wga/

It's just the desktop wallpaper! What's the big deal?

Another suit:

http://www.theregist.../10/28/ms_wga_china/

$1 billion?

The screen [ed: wallpaper] can be restored to its original settings but will revert back to black after an hour.

The Chinese government should spend its time on trying to get people from putting chemicals used in plastics manufacturing into milk rather than worry about this.

9883

Living Room / Re: Flash Toy of the Week: How Well Can you Differentiate Colors?

« Last post by Renegade on October 08, 2008, 02:00 PM »

I suppose 12 isn't too bad. I've got my crappy laptop on here... So I'll use that as an excuse!

For those with really bad vision, eat more carrots and smoke more pot!

9884

Living Room / Re: which operating system you like most....

« Last post by Renegade on October 08, 2008, 01:35 PM »

I have to agree with mouser. They all suck.

The problem is now that nobody can or will make a decent modern OS.

Microsoft is the closest there with .NET potential, but that's still a pipe dream.

Apple can't afford it. Sun is just a bunch of engineers that don't care. Novell is struggling. IBM isn't in that business anymore. The open source guys couldn't manage it if they tried because they're all sucking the Linux Penguin tit and ranting about how good it is.

We're hosed for at least another 10 years.

A fully object oriented OS is what we need, and want, but the market just won't allow it now.

An OO OS would advance computing by leagues. But who's going to pay to develop it?

9885

Living Room / Re: IconArchive - Another Free Icon Website - With Some Nice Section

« Last post by Renegade on September 10, 2008, 06:18 AM »

I checked some out. They're not realy free -- just basically sample sets of commercial icon packs. But they are free for personal use... Well, the ones I checked anyways.

They could REALLY improve the site a LOT by having the licensing information displayed with the icon sets instead of having to download them and look inside.

9886

Living Room / Re: Google Teams With Microsoft On IE6 Gmail

« Last post by Renegade on September 10, 2008, 04:43 AM »

Good thing I don't suddenly need any of those Asian language IME's that I rejected in the past.

-app103 (September 10, 2008, 03:23 AM)

You should probably consider getting into the Empower Program or getting a Microsoft Action Pack Subscription. Most likely MAPS is better for you as you'd have to release software for download in the Empower Program.

It's like $400~500 or whatever, but you get more licenses than you'll ever likely need. It simply rocks.

9887

Living Room / Re: "Waiver of Liability"... suggestions?

« Last post by Renegade on September 09, 2008, 11:32 PM »

I just came across this -- http://discuss.joelo...t.asp?biz.5.676186.5

Might be a bit useful. Someone else has a similar question there.

9888

Living Room / Re: Open DNS is s***ware

« Last post by Renegade on September 09, 2008, 12:32 PM »

Y'know... There's a site for s**tware.

I don't use OpenDNS though, so I can't really comment on it. The s**tware thing just looked interesting.

9889

Living Room / Re: How many countries represented here on DC ?

« Last post by Renegade on September 09, 2008, 09:49 AM »

this is fun.  where is that dc map thread?

-mouser (September 09, 2008, 09:46 AM)

Oh! How about a Frapper map? That would be cool!

9890

Living Room / Re: How many countries represented here on DC ?

« Last post by Renegade on September 09, 2008, 05:23 AM »

Canada, Ireland, South Korea

Well, I'm Canadian, but I also have Irish citizenship, though I've never been there, but I live in South Korea.

9891

Living Room / Re: Google Teams With Microsoft On IE6 Gmail

« Last post by Renegade on September 09, 2008, 04:00 AM »

I'd take it at face value. IE, while the most compatible with everything, suffers in the performance department (except with IE7 the startup times are quite good). But it's rendering and javascript could seriously be improved.

9892

Living Room / Re: Blog: Hacking Your Vote

« Last post by Renegade on September 08, 2008, 11:59 PM »

No...no....NO!!! Damn it, you all aren't looking far enough 

-Paul Keith (September 08, 2008, 10:25 PM)

I think the point isn't that "Nigeria" is a sham democracy... Everyone knows that already. The point is that the USA is a sham democracy.

9893

Living Room / Re: "Waiver of Liability"... suggestions?

« Last post by Renegade on September 08, 2008, 10:50 PM »

Check http://www.myworktools.com for one. They often have just what you're looking for. They're usually a few dollars, but provide you with some excellent templates that you can customize.

9894

Living Room / Re: Invertebrate Animals Survive Vacuum and Cosmic Radiation

« Last post by Renegade on September 08, 2008, 10:30 PM »

Uh oh. Where are the animal rights activists complaining about killing poor Tardigradas in the name of science?

-Deozaan (September 08, 2008, 08:12 PM)

They were shipped along with the Tardigradas. They didn't come back.

9895

Living Room / Re: 10 Things Your IT Department Won't Tell You

« Last post by Renegade on September 08, 2008, 10:28 PM »

That was horribly irresponsible on their part to publish that kind of stuff. At the beginning of the rebuttal, while reading the top 10 list, I just about shit myself looking at it.

How about this for a top 10 list:

How to innocently sabotage your computer and company...

1. Open all email attachements.
2. Click all links in emails.
3. Download and install as many "warez" as possible.
4. Download and install as much no-name free software as possible from super-glitzy sites that gives you free movies, music and porn.
5. Surf more porn.
6. Surf more illegal porn.
7. Disable your anti-virus software. It's only soaking up CPU and protecting you anyways.
8. Disable any firewalls. See #7.
9. Disable any anti-spyware software. See #7.
10. Forward all emails to all co-workers along with this list.

Did I miss anything?

9896

Living Room / Re: Blog: Top 10 Amazing Physics Videos (Yeah Mythbusters!)

« Last post by Renegade on September 08, 2008, 08:13 PM »

Those rocked! I loved them!

The musical Tesla coil was simply wicked!

9897

Living Room / Re: Cyber-Crime Hall-of-Fame

« Last post by Renegade on September 08, 2008, 06:02 PM »

This one is just funny:

Gary McKinnon
Never underestimate the power of curiosity. In 2001 and 2002, British hacker Gary McKinnon gained access to Air Force, Army, Navy, NASA, Pentagon, and Department of Defense computers—97 in total—in a quest for evidence of flying saucers. Officials claim damages from his entry range close to $700,000. Though charged and convicted in the U.K., McKinnon is currently facing extradition to the U.S., which could mean up to 70 years in prison

70 years when all he needed was $2.50 worth of tin foil for a nice hat.

9898

Living Room / Re: Blog: Hacking Your Vote

« Last post by Renegade on September 08, 2008, 05:54 PM »

Moderator --- Could you lock and delete this thread? Otherwise I fear the illuminati may come after us all...

Kind of makes you want to put on that tinfoil hat...

9899

Living Room / Re: Trialpay

« Last post by Renegade on September 08, 2008, 05:51 PM »

TrialPay is a good deal all around for everyone.

9900

Living Room / Re: Mythbusters Silenced by Credit Card Companies

« Last post by Renegade on September 04, 2008, 07:37 PM »

The credit card companies are seriously incompetent. They really piss me off too, because as a merchant, I end up paying for their mistakes! 

RFID is just another way for them to be idiots and screw their customers without taking responsibility.