Posts by Robin 12

PURL taken down on Github

Followed the link and was presented with a notice that PURL was taken down for violation of TOS.

Reminds me of the old electrostatic speakers that were out decades ago and were supposed to be the future. We have been using piezo speakers for electronics and MIT just came up with a better way to make them. Without bass response, I won't be looking at these anytime soon.

I have seen something similar in the 90's but not sure what brand it was. I have used these for over a decade and my kids are also using them. My one child loves it for computer gaming. I use mine for CAD and other drawings on Linux.

https://www.kensington.com/en-ca/p/products/control/trackballs/expert-mouse-optical-trackball/

There is a wireless and wired version. Available on Amazon.

The switches do wear out in years of use but are easy to replace if you can solder. The only issue I have had in all the years with all of them other than switches is I lost a sapphire ball which is used to support the big ball. These are not supplied by Kensington but I found a place that sells them and fixed two broken ones. The wrist pads wear out but you can order replacements.

I have used this with carpal tunnel and other issues with no strain.

I tried the thumb track ball and found that the strain on my thumb was just to much.

Not just Capcom that requires high level access

I just setup up a gaming machine to run Windows for one of my children. During the install, the ESEA (esea.net) client required Administrator access. I thought that was okay but it turned out, to play the game, they needed to run as Administrator to run the game.

As the Windows partition is only for this game, I am not super concerned. Of course ESEA was caught running a bitcoin miner with their anti-cheat client where details are on the net.

They know that they may lose the Windows if there are any major issues due to this issue. Even the EULA agreement is very broad.

FX-8320 user and happy.

This case should be thrown out.

Writing this from a AMD FX-8320. CPU load monitor is showing 8 cores working at various loads. Balanced across the processors. Before purchasing this processor this summer, I did some research. I knew that there was only one FPU per two cores, so the issue is published so there is no surprise about it. I quit worrying about FPU's because much of what I want to do can be off loaded to the GPU's which are much faster.

Looking at a different machine for gaming and debating between a i7 and an AMD. I am leaning towards AMD for cost purposes.

All I know is I am going with and EVGA Nvidia Titan X Hybrid graphics card due to Linux support and got a fantastic buy direct from EVGA.

Nice phone, now I want one in Canada.

I have a Symbian phone that is on it's last days. Been waiting for a decent, unlocked phone with a SD card slot. Seeing the specs for the Storm, I want one as my next phone here in Canada. I doubt it will be available before my Nokia dies.

My daughter would get one as well.

I wonder how hard it would be to replace the CyanongenOS after purchasing. I guess we will have to wait and see.

Two things I have read and seen work.

1. Coke (original?) is acidic and will eat the surface of the platters. Now the problem is getting it into your drive when needed.

2. Heat. Heat will remove all magnetism in the material. It randomizes the magnetic poles. All you need is 200 to 300 degrees for a few minutes and your drives are totally erased. The temperature required depends on various factors but with the new drives, it may be much lower. Some magnets can be demagnetized at less than 100 degrees.

Temperature and Neodymium Magnets

http://www.kjmagnetics.com/blog.asp?p=temperature-and-neodymium-magnets

Put drives at risk into an insulated steel box with a blow torch that is designed to ignite when the "alarms" go off. By the time the three letter agency can cool it down, there is nothing left to work with. If the heat is high enough, the SSD's will also be destroyed.

It is reported that SSD's will also lose there data at elevate temps, though higher than 125 degrees.

As some data centres are using mineral oil baths for cooling, all you have to do is heat the mineral oil to it's boiling temp at about 300 degrees. Just need to do it quick.

Not just Yellowstone.

Some history of Yellowstone.

Yellowstone history

The above is interesting because it shows that the lava cavern is moving in relation to the crust which is moving due to continental drift.

But if you don't live in the US, then there is always your that may be closer to you volcano.

Super Volcanoes around the world.

I remember Mount St. Helens. It was an interesting time. Having all this ash falling from the sky that you didn't brush off of your nice car because it would strip the paint. Yellowstone would be so much worse.

Of course there is a volcano in the Atlantic that may not be large but if it erupts, the amount of soil being shifted would cause massive tsunamis.

Canary Island Volcano

Have a good weekend.

False positive and wrong direction.

To their surprise, detectives found no illegal images had been downloaded to individual computers. The IP addresses belonged not to the computers but to routers – the hub in your home that connects your device to the internet – which had been hacked using a botnet [sic]. So the suspected offenders whose computers had been seized were entirely innocent.

This is an example of False Positive's. You have evidence that points to a crime being committed but then there is no crime because the evidence doesn't point to the correct person.

As long as the government keeps gathering data, it will lead to many false positives. An interesting look at the issue.

False Positive Paradox

Another issue is the concept that these are extremists or radicals. If you look at the history of the religious background of these groups, they are just following their religious beliefs. It goes back hundreds of years. This is not a new issue with Islam.

Read up on Wahhabi and Salafi religious beliefs and history.

The way to fix the problem is education and stop the marginalization of individuals. Frustration with a persons place in society makes it easier to convert and the frustration makes it easier to want to fight back against the injustice they perceive.

Forward to your bank and government officials.

As this is a major issue that many have said the banks love, it is time to forward this information to the banks and government to ensure that legislation and policies now reflect the fact that it is possible to clone chip and pin cards.

Wasn't the introduction to chip and pin debit cards first a great out for the banks to not investigate possible fraud and government pressure forced the banks to change their policy? It was reported on this site years ago.

Now that C&P is shown to be fully weakened, then the onus should be returned to the bank to investigate the claim.

1984

1984 was supposed to be a warning, not a how-to manual.

Time to make sure my kids have read it.

Not on my shopping list.

My PS3 was purchased to be a central part of my living room, not just a game console. Without support for flac, mkv's via DLNA, I won't be looking at upgrading until the PS4 can replace the PS3. I have more than enough games for my PS2, PS3 and Wii to keep me busy for years. New consoles mean there will be many games in the discount bins. :) I may look at the PS4 when they fix all the missing features of the PS3 that were once part of the reason I purchased the PS3, Linux.

Look into the mirror before blaming anyone else.

Anything based on the GDP is problematic. The GDP will go up in a disaster. Why? Things need to be repaired and this helps the GDP. Do a search on problems with using the GDP. I have even seen a government website some time ago that had a full document on these problems.

I would prefer to see a chart showing the take home wages of the executives in comparison to the workers over the same time period. Remember that those multimillion dollar wages are also included in this data.

I do agree that inflation has stripped much of the spending power of individuals but most have this to blame on themselves. Don't spend beyond your means and the wages will either go up or prices will freeze. Don't use debt and you won't have the latest greatest things but you also won't be surviving from one pay cheque to the next. To put blame on anyone, look into the mirror.

If you don't like government debts, don't go into debt yourself. If you don't like struggling from pay cheque to pay cheque, get out of debt. Get rid of credit cards and only use them in an emergency. Keep zero balances. As I have once heard, don't give the rich bankers all your money in interest payments.

Once upon a time. A single income could easily afford to support a family of four or more and purchase a house. Try that today.

When I read headlines like " CEO Pay Grew 127 Times Faster Than Worker Pay Over Last 30 Years: Study" on the Huffington Post or "Firms Cringe" at revealing executive to employee wage ratios on the Wall Street Journal.

No, compare wage increases over the same time for those that work at or above minimum wage and then those that are allowed to vote themselves massive bonuses each year. In 2008, I remember reading an article about executives at a business getting massive bonuses for laying people off.

Also remember that governments will change the way statistics are calculated to make them look better. Unemployment in the USA is now counted differently than in the 1930's so this recessiion isn't as bad as it was back then. Compare apples to apples.

As I said before, look into the mirror to see how to fix the problem.