Posts by happygeek

Welcome aboard the happy ship :)

Wlecome farhana

What he said :)

Looking at your reputation score in your profile, I can see that there have been 8 different members who have upvoted your posts and 8 who have downvoted. That said, I really wouldn't worry so much about who is downvoting posts, but instead I would look at the posts which have been downvoted and consider why that might be the case. If you learn from your mistakes and adjust how you react to situations then I imagine the downvoting might stop and you could even start getting more upvotes.

One of the great things about social media is the way that it utilises the wisdom of crowds. This concept is perhaps best known through Wikipedia, where user editing can often create some wildly inaccurate entries in the short term but over time these get corrected by the larger volume of editors who truly care about the product they are using. Somewhere else that the wisdom of crowds has made an impact is the consumer review market.

Most of my family, friends and work colleagues pretty much turn to the Internet for a quick and unbiased opinion before splashing the cash on a product or service these days. And why wouldn't they, after all the majority of reviews will be from people sharing their real world experiences of those goods rather than relying upon marketing materials and 'advertorials'.

However, according to Gartner, paid for social media ratings and reviews will account for as much as 15% of all reviews by 2014.

The fact that there are fake reviews should come as no great surprise, anyone who uses social media to scout out hotel rooms and restaurants will be adept at spotting the really quite obvious five star reviews written by the proprietor or a staff member. Most of the time they stick out like a, well, five star review in a pile of one star reviews.

However, with more than half of the Internet population now using social media in some form or other, it is inevitable that the DIY …

Aggressive adware, of the kind that creates shortcuts on your screen or changes your search engine configuration, has arrived on Android devices and then some. According to security vendor Bitdefender, as much as 90% of free Android apps contain adware with up to 75% coming with the 'aggressive' variety.

Although adware on the PC has become something of a non-problem courtesy of better educated users and software solutions both within browser clients and third party solutions combining to make it relatively easy to deal with these days. The kind of pop-up creating adware most often seen on the desktop has made the move to Android pretty successfully if that 90% saturation of worldwide free apps number is to be believed. However, far more worrying is the 75% figure attached to aggressive adware infestation.

Apps that come bundled with aggressive adware go much further than simply popping-up unwanted screens and dialogues, and amongst the common tricks seen are the creation of shortcuts on the handset home screen, the changing of default search engine settings and the pushing of notifications to the Android notification tray. While none of these may seem more than irritating at first glance, the truth is that not only can they impact upon the performance of the smartphone itself but quite literally open a doorway to potential malware and scams as well thanks to the shortcut creation and search configuration actions.

Catalin Cosoi, Chief Security Researcher at Bitdefender, lays the blame at the …

Welcome and, erm, what???

Hello right back at you :) Welcome to DaniWeb.

The spool chucker, spoil chicken, spleen kicker, sorry I mean spell checker, was something that vanished when the DaniWeb platform was overhauled. I'm sure deceptikon will be along to fill in the gaps soon enough, but essentially as I understand it a choice had to be made between a couple of bits of functionality and the spell checker option lost.

The Kensington Presentair isn't the smallest 'laser pointer' on the planet, measuring in at 60mm x 70mm x 210mm and weighing 25g. Nor is it the cheapest with that $69.99 price tag. However, most of all it isn't just a laser pointer and thinking of it in those terms is something of a mistake. Sure, the Presentair does include a red class 2 laser but that's just the start of it. The clue is in the name Presentair, as this is a fully featured tool for anyone who gives presentations in the course of their working day.

The school lecturer or corporate sales director alike will be more than satisfied with the 30 feet (10m) Bluetooth wireless range, ensuring that they can move around the classroom or boardroom without ever losing contact with the laptop. That contact being important as the Presentair has buttons intuitively situated under your thumb which control forward and back and black screen during PowerPoint or Keynote presentations. The same controls can be switched into 'media mode' and then used to control play/pause, next/previous and stop functions for audio or video media playback.

Kensington describe this as an 'easy to grip' product which 'slips easily into a shirt pocket' and that's true to an extent. I found it easy to grip, and very comfortable, while in the presentation orientation. Everything is supremely natural and comfortable when used in this way, but that's not the case when you flip it around and …

Why sell yourself so cheap Walt? You are worth more than that! :)

I think you will find that ainosilva was explaining, as succinctly as possible, that she is not a man.

Also, I appreciate that using Google Maps via Safari doesn't give you all the functionality of the Google Maps app. However, my argument is that a less functional map app that knows where stuff actually is has to be better than a map app with bells and whistles but no idea where stuff is. Am I wrong?

I'm not sure that Apple realised what it takes either, and that's the problem. Perhaps Apple should have stuck with Google Maps, the tried and tested and working app, rather than replacing it with one that is not working?

The thing about Google Maps from 2005 is that it's now seven years later and that's actually what counts. Google Maps today works pretty well, so why remove it and replace with an Apple proprietary product that doesn't?

So, you've either bought the brand new iPhone 5 or have upgraded your existing iPhone to iOS 6 and discovered, like half the Internet it would appear, that the new Apple Maps which have replaced Google Maps are, to be polite, an utter and total stinking FAIL. I'm no Apple hater, in fact quite the opposite as I own and use an iPad 2 and an iPhone 4S on a daily basis. However, I'm not so much of a fanboy that I cannot call it as it is when Apple gets things very wrong indeed.

Thankfully, having fallen into the latter category and upgraded my iPhone 4S to iOS 6 (which I actually think is rather splendid apart from the godawful maps fiasco) I have found a very simple method of undoing the damage and getting fully working maps back for the iPhone while I wait for Apple to fix things. But more of that in a moment, first though let's take a look at just what exactly has gone wrong.

The problem with the Apple Maps app can be summed up in one concise phrase: not fit for purpose. It has all the look and feel of a Beta test rushed into production before it is ready, and certainly before it has been properly tested. I mean, what is the sole purpose of a map application? Yep, that's right, showing you where you are and where places you might want to get …

It was a joke - you said you were a 'teen computer' enthusiast, and so am I despite (or perhaps because of) fast approaching 50 years of age :)

seriously, i should make a new account now or what now?

No, you should simply abide by the rules. It really isn't that difficult...

The vast majority of DaniWeb members do not find it particularly difficult to post in the correct forums, without being abusive or rude, and without spamming. Most DaniWeb members who do break the rules, usually early on in their membership, take heed of any warning or infraction given and make sure they do not break the rules again, especially the same rule they were warned/infracted for breaking the first time.

So the answer is yes, you should make sure that each and every post abides by the rules, just like everyone else here does.

not talked rude with anybody

So when you PM me to say "go to hell" that's not talking rude?

not broke any rules

try:

Do not post support questions in the Community Center
Do not post the same question multiple times

I shall say this only once more:

READ THE RULES

These explain quite succintly how to get those infraction points and, indeed, how to avoid them...

You were given 2 infraction points under the 'keep it organized' rule after posting the same question in multiple forums, this following a promise you made to me not to break the rules any more (following your breaking of the keep it pleasant rule by stalking one of the mods, copying/stealing his avatar and making a nuisance of yourself - for which you did not get any infractions as I chose to give you a chance to behave yourself and correct your behavior instead).

After that keep it organized infraction the reason was explained and you stated "will not do in future" - after which you broke exactly the same rule once again. Hence the second infraction, and another 2 points.

It's not that anyone doesn't want you here, but everyone wants you to abide by the rules which apply to everyone. You only have 4 infraction points, you are not banned until you hit 10 points. Your existing points will expire by the end of October. If you abide by the rules then you will not get banned and your points will disappear.

Please explain why we should make an exception for you, and not infract when you break the rules? I am all ears...

The admin team works in a virtual environment most of the time. There are occasions when Dani, James and I have all got together in New York at the DaniWeb offices, however on a day-to-day basis I work from an office in a converted wool mill in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England.

Being DaniWeb editor-in-chief and an administrator is not my only job, although I have been on the payroll here for the last six and a half years now. I am primarily a freelance technology journalist and an Editorial Fellow at Dennis Publishing here in the UK, where I assume the role of Contributing Editor for PC Pro (best selling computer magazine in the UK) as well as IT Pro and Cloud Pro. I also contribute to other publications in the IT Security field such as Infosecurity (I'm a three times winner of the Information Security Journalist of the Year award, and a one time Technology Journalist of the Year for good measure) and during the past 20 years I have had more than 20 books published - the last looking at the psychology of identity in an increasingly online world, which was published by Wiley for the Science Museum in London.

Hmmm indeed. What is not to understand about an admin asking the OP to post the images that he wants to upload via email so that the admin can sort the problem out for him quickly? Why would that help you in any way, shape or form?

Welcome. I collect teen computers, and those in their twenties for that matter. :)

Staff writers produce editorial content (news and reviews) for DaniWeb and are paid for their efforts. Generally speaking, a staff writer will be an experienced technology journalist or content provider with a proven track record in adding value to online properties.

???

Microsoft has released YAIESA, or Yet Another Internet Explorer Security Advisory if you prefer. This time, SA2757760 warns about a new zero-day out there in the wild which impacts all users of Internet Explorer 9 and earlier versions. It's the usual case of targeted attacks being spotted which could lead to the remote execution of malicious code if you happen to view an infected website.

Although users of Internet Explorer 10 are not affected according to Microsoft, which accounts for a tiny minority of IE users of course, this does amount to what I see as the final nail being hammered into what has already become quite a creaky web browser client coffin of late; and here's why.

Microsoft has issued a number of 'workarounds and mitigations' that can be deployed to protect users. There's the 'Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET)' for starters. Or a temporary patch, to you and me, which requires a fair bit of configuration fiddling to be of any use. Fiddling such as, and I hope you are sitting down with a cup of tea and some time to spare, the following:

Changing your Internet and local intranet security zones to the high setting in order to block ActiveX Controls and Active Scripting, which Microsoft admits will hit you in the usability stakes so further recommends you add trusted sites to your trusted sites zone. Quite how you are expected to know what sites can be trusted …

To be fair it is less likely to malware and more likely to be a pain in the ear :)

Welcome to DaniWeb, good luck with your course!

My answer is the same to people who ask me, out of the blue and without prompting, if I want to see pictures of their kids, have a look at their new car, read some of their poetry or learn about their one true god:

NO

;)

DaniWeb LLC is a company.

Admins/Mods are a combination of employees and volunteers.

Team colleagues are former mods, generally speaking, although some are just very early members who helped out in the early days.

Money is made primarily through advertising.

See: http://www.daniweb.com/home/about

Welcome to DaniWeb, good to know you are finding the help you are looking for here.

Your web browser client cache. The old image is stored in your browser cache to save having to download it every time, and it's this you are seeing rather than the new one. Refresh your browser cache and all will be well. In IE9 go to Internet Options and then delete browsing history...

griselndria you need to ask your question, your specific question with as much detail as possible if you expect a meaningful answer, in the MySQL forum here.

1. There is no reason to assume that Apple is trying to manipulate the media by making it harder for customers to get the iPhone 5 on the day of release by vastly reducing the numbers available for immediate pre-order. To do so would be pretty poor marketing and get filed in the shooting own foot cabinet surely.

2. The new iPhone sucks? Really? I've addressed the evolution/revolution debate here, but just being a 'hater' and saying the iPhone sucks adds nothing to the intelligent discussion, now does it.

3. As for being a 'mad fanboy' that's quite a stretch when I have stated that I have no intention to upgrade from my 4S to the 5, and that both the Galaxy SIII and Lumia 920 would be up there on my upgrade radar were it not for my investment in iPhone apps. That's more a case of practical realist than obsessive fanboy.

4. The BS comment, have to say I am finding myself hard-pressed to come up with a response worthy of standing in the same company as such a thoughtful and finely crafted piece of intellectual repartee.

Given the amount of negative press that has been generated since the announcement of the iPhone 5, calling it everything from boring to disappointing and even naming it the Apple Meh!phone, you might be forgiven for thinking nobody would want to buy it. You would be wrong. Very wrong indeed, in fact, if the pre-ordering process is anything to go by. It took the iPhone 4 and 4S around 20 hours to sell out after pre-orders went live on the Apple website. Yet the iPhone 5 'sold out' of launch day stock within the hour.

Both Apple.com and a number of wireless carrier sites reported problems due to the sheer amount of traffic after pre-orders went live, something that I don't recall happening when the iPhone 4S was made available. So has much of the media got it wrong, and Apple got it right again? Is this pre-order activity a taster of what's to come, and will the iPhone 5 actually outsell the 4 and 4S?

I'm an 'i' user myself, with both and iPad 2 and iPhone 4S in daily use, and can understand some of the negative press that the iPhone 5 received. File it under 'shame that Apple isn't innovating more' I guess. Not that I am knocking Apple for the iPhone 5 which, to be fair, does have some interesting new features such as the bigger screen, the thinner aluminium and crystal glass look, the 4G support, the new maps etc. …

The University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom has been researching how users of the hugely popular file-sharing BitTorrent peer-to-peer protocol are being monitored by those acting for copyright holders. What the researchers found surprised them, and may surprise those using BitTorrent to download pirated content: the average time it takes to log the IP address of an illegal file sharer is now less than three hours of the pirated content being made available. The researchers reckon that those downloading a single pirated movie, if it is in the top 100 downloads, will be monitored and their IP address logged. Such content is monitored, on average, within three hours of being made available to share.

By analysing more than a thousand BitTorrent swarms, through more than 400 trackers, over a two year span which resulted in more than 150GB of data being collected, the researchers found that both direct and indirect monitoring is used. The indirect form, where IP addresses are plucked from a file sharing swarm and cease and desist legal letters sent as a result, would appear to be in decline. For good reason: it's pretty hit and miss, serving wireless access points with those legal letters is more common than you might imagine. Which is why direct monitoring where connections with peers sharing files are made, sometimes by advertising the monitoring IP address to a tracker and then waiting for peers to connect with it and logging that data, is on …

Or, even, blame the person who stole the thing...

I took the warning route when you were using your previous account and were being abusive to other members - you then promptly closed that account and started another one. You have had plenty of time to familiarise yourself with the rules here, and indeed promised me that you would not break any rules when you replied to my previous PMs. Posting the same question multiple times is doing just that, and you received a two point infraction as a result. It takes ten points to kick off a ban, and those two points will disappear soon enough. Do nothing else to break the rules between now and October 12th and your account will go back to being infraction point free. Think of the two point infraction as being, in effect, a warning not to digress again...

Someone may have hit the downvote button by accident, it happens.

I'm afraid there is no way to see who voted, the up/down vote system is anonymous. Usernames are only attached when someone leaves reputation, positive or negative.

I wouldn't worry about it too much.

My beard is much longer now, if that helps. And my eye patch has beads on the thong...

<=== See, fairly hippyish in a happy pirate kind of way. :)

What is the meaning of 'hello there' - seriously, are you asking for clarification of hello there? :)

As for why did I welcome you back, becuase you have returned from your previous identity here on DaniWeb...

Welcome back... :)

I take being called a hippy as a compliment :)

Welcome Carol

The 'Murder Ball' competition is now underway at the London 2012 Summer Paralympics, also known as wheelchair rugby to some. However, you won't find Olympic athletes taking part in the warbiking event that has also been happening in London recently: warbiking is very much a sport for nerds.

The brainchild of security vendors Sophos, Project Warbike itself consisted of one man on a specially adapted bicycle complete with with dynamos and solar panels powering a computer that was scanning for wireless networks. Taking place across a couple of days, Sophos Director of Technology Strategy James Lyne cycled around the streets of London in orrder to create a heat map of wireless network security levels using a GPS device connected to the Heath-Robinson sounding contraption.

In every mile he rode, the warbiker scanned more than a thousand wireless networks and of these one in four was insecure or had 'poor' security that could be easily bypassed. In total, 106,874 individual hotspots were detected across more than 91 miles in Central London. Only 8% used absolutely no encryption, but 19% used 'as hard to crack as a dropped china plate' WEP encryption. Although you might imagine exactly the reverse to be true, analysis of the heat map revealed that it was the residential areas which had the most secure networks and not the business ones. Home users, as a rule, opted for stringer WPA2 level encryption compared to the highest density of unsecured or secured …

I probably see it more than most as I post editorial (news/reviews) items regularly. Cannot say it bothers me in the slightest, in fact it actually helps me as I automatically share those posts out into the social ether anyway. For me, it's less clicking not more.

However, my rather unique position apart: What She Said :)

Please forgive me if I do not believe you. It's just that the exact same words posted by accounts with the exact same IP address that then go on to either post once or twice with blatant spam or sometimes just the sig spam variety that add nothing to this community or disguised promotions (plenty appear in website reviews) seem to be popping up with alarming regularity. See http://www.daniweb.com/community-center/community-introductions/threads/430223/new-member-introduction for example. Which leads me to ask, have you nothing better to do with your time?

Voting has been extended once again, until the end of this month.

This is to try and give as many members as possible the opportunity to vote, as the numbers have been a little disappointing so far. There will be one final push in the next newsletter to encourage voting, and no more deadline extensions :)

No, you are wrong. Should was absolutely correct as it was imperative you knew about it or you may otherwise have taken my opinion seriously :)