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Comment Next Door to the Freak Show (Score 1) 310

Balancing a Compaq luggable and an MCS-8051 full in-circuit emulator on top of a cigarette machine in the vestibule of a restaurant next to a Methadone clinic in Brooklyn, New York. I was writing answer-detection and rate tables for a pay telephone for which I developed the hardware and firmware. After getting things right, I burned an EPROM on-site and it was good to go. This was back in about 1986 or so...

Comment Re:Accept no computer you don't control (Score 1) 221

Apparently, then things have changed a bit since I tried them, mine was a Roku 2, and admittedly it was a while ago. However my experience with them was sufficient to sour me on them permanently. Mine would play via USB, but not through the LAN to my storage servers without a paid app to do it. I still don't like the idea of embedding my credit card info into yet another device and/or company, though.

Thanks for the update!

Comment Re:Accept no computer you don't control (Score 2, Informative) 221

Why, did you get one of those piece of shit ROKU boxes? I had one, for exactly one day. Turns out the piece of shit was directly engineered to separate me from my cash. The first thing it wanted was a fucking credit card so they could start happily billing me even more for the device I just paid $100 for. The final straw was after digging through it and all the stupid "apps" for it you have to buy, I finally figured out the only way it would play my LOCAL MEDIA that I specifically purchased it for was to BUY A FUCKING APP to do it for $4-5 bucks. That did it.

The POS went back the next day flat, and I bought a WD-TV Live box instead. It did everything I ever wanted it to do, and it supports LOTS more a/v file formats, way more than the ROKU did. It will play .ISO DVD images directly, and understands .AVI, .MPG, .MP4, .MKV and whole host of other formats. The WD-TV Live was one of the best purchases I have made in the last few years. ROKU sucks donkey balls. Maybe they fixed this in later software upgrades, but somehow I doubt it, as I said it seemed engineered to drain my wallet, primarily...

Comment Re:Summary... (Score 1) 221

Probably because a LOT of people are full of outrage, lately. There's a lot of bullshit going on that average individuals feel that they have absolutely no control over, and it's true. They are outraged for a good reason. Unfortunately, internet outrage is like pissing in the wind, it's not very effective and can get messy very quickly.

Comment Re:Same exact issue with "stingray" cell intercept (Score 4, Informative) 202

You are correct. Even the Police aren't allowed to use cellular transmitters or jammers by law, they are not licensed to legally transmit on those frequencies, and they are not legally allowed to intercept telephone conversations without a warrant. Not even for "the children".

Only the DOD (military) in the US can legally use such technology, but that isn't stopping the cops from doing whatever they want, including violating the US criminal code and defying the FCC. So naturally, they want to keep it on the down-low...

Comment Reward if Found (Score 2, Insightful) 250

Engraving is the only (mostly) unremovable way to mark things, and I have found in the past that the simple phrase "Reward If Found" and a phone number have gotten me and several friends some of their items back. Either that, or "Stolen From (insert Name)". That way, even if the thief doesn't think better of his acquisition, he'll at least be reminded he's a morally corrupt shitbag every time he picks it up.

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