Elite Dangerous: Odyssey – An Almost-Ready StarCitizen?
Posted to Frontier forums:
OMG!
As a software dev with 20+ years of experience, I have to say I’m not new to this and am gravely disappointed by the number of bugs and (given Frontier’s track record of issuing fixes) the amount of time they’ll likely stay present in the game – because everyone wants to pretend to be an expert on the subject it seems whether they’ve ever written a line of code in all their life or not. But let’s try starting with the positive:
- a seemingly solid graphics update – with fewer issues than those of some of the other feature teams (A-). An A+ rating might’ve been possible – only I see now a few reports of things like the undue glare on some game elements which is a little disconcerting. Stellar fading on the NVIDIA card also seems a little bizarre.
- combat explosions get an A+ and reflect solid time spent, I’d say (A+).
And now for the bad news:
- Whole sections of bindings and interface issues have been reported for those of us with highly customized control interfaces (D-). Mostly frustrating the end-user experience and this isn’t new for Frontier which seems to be unsettled on its own UI going from one update into the next. This is also bad software design practice – all you need to think about is what would happen if Microsoft Office products suddenly removed the now infamous ‘ribbon’ (and all the scandal it caused when it was introduced) and replaced it with some external device you had to buy or control from your cell phone. Oh the uproar! (Hopefully, Frontier isn’t considering anything like that for future releases!)
- Planets, while revised and appearing more true-to-size on approach within a star system, seem to suffer (by raw number) from being refugees from the ‘potato universe’ where nothing can assume the shape of an oblique spheroid like say, Earth, Venus, and Mars in the Sol system (C). Why this might be, I dunno – but smaller terrestrial worlds seem ‘smaller somehow, yet should span still several thousands of kms in diameter. This is an unexpected change from Horizons where these kinds of worlds seemed strangely more proportional at closer range.
- Connection errors and hyperspatial game anomalies seem to be rampant for all of the player base, ranging from code ‘Blue Cobra’ exceptions through ‘Mauve Adder’. I have no idea what, if anything, was done to game protocols yet that could contribute to this or perhaps Amazon is to blame for some of it (F). I do know that on Norton Life-Lock (yes, Norton) security exceptions are being thrown with this game and shouldn’t be (and no, it’s not Norton’s fault here – BELIEVE me). This is new to Odyssey too – Horizons (even now) still doesn’t trigger this behaviour.
- Missions seem to be all but completely inoperable – rewards arbitrarily resetting total inventory counts in some cases with no wing missions offered at all (F). Not a pleasant thing to discover after you’ve completed a mission (if you’re allowed to – not guaranteed by any means).
- Planetary mining has been reduced to suffering from multiple errors making the Raw Materials Trader your best hope of getting the resources you need (F). The blue ellipses on-planet which used to indicate concentrations of materials distributed planet-wide are now gone and you’re left with guessing where to find anything with an SRV. This, effectively, makes the SRV useless in gameplay unless you want to run about settlements shooting other players on foot.
I could go on and on here, but I’m sure I’m getting the point across without resorting to an exhaustive list of what I’ve encountered thus far. I could add another 4 or 5 issues with behaviours, issues, etc. fully documented – but I really don’t work for Frontier and it’s quite likely others have drawn attention to a full list of necessary fixes. Let’s not even get started on the what-if scenario if I were to start quoting Reddit articles.
In short, this game is best characterized as an unwanted regression to what most of us serious players had thought was the long-dead past for Frontier. Indeed, they have succeeded completely in an apparent effort to make Elite more like (dare I say it) Star Citizen in that the title is now less-functional, more bug-heavy and left quietly screaming in the darkness to anyone at Frontier who may yet care for a fully involved QA process at the feature team and full deployment package levels. Had they established a regimen of complete unit tests invoking end-user credentials on all of the supported platforms years ago – we’d surely not be where we are today….which is still waiting for the completed version of the latest chapter in the Elite franchise.
It should be mentioned that this analysis does consider at least some of the hurdles which may well have been introduced with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, however, does not delve into the fiscal realities that sometimes interfere with the software development process. A valued mentor in my own background once said, “You can manage scope or timeline. Not both.” This might be seen as some sort of fallacy or pipe-dream in the modern gaming industry, but remains true of any meaningful software project regardless of industry vertical.
Hopefully, Frontier will release fixes and patches aggressively as soon as possible! I, for one, expected a lot more than a game that might forgivingly be called a ‘beta’.
Sincerely,
TRIUM, CMDR/VADM Reserve Fleet
FNS Genorex (AR-12) | Trade Elite, Exploration Elite, Combat Dangerous
Pilots’ Federation Certified | Interstellar Federation
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020: X-56 Bindings Diagram
Much to my surprise, I found I coiuldn’t easily find a diagram showing the Logitech/Saitek X56 HOTAS controller bindings for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020. So, I decided it was time to create one – although I borrowed a blank diagram interface template for the X56 (credit in the document) to do it. Although I’ve included a link to the diagram PDF here, I’m more the happy to furnish copies in MS Word or .jpg with sufficient demand for it. Please add your interest in the comments section to this article if that’s the case for you and which format you’d like to see this in. (I have simply not filled in the blanks on the other formats as of yet and don’t want to do the work if there’s no interest).
Download the X56 Bindings Diagram for MS Flight Simulator 2020 here.
Fly safe!
The Man Who Shrunk the World
At 97, Chuck Yeager has lived a very full life. But it was distinguished for many other reasons too. Not the least of which being he was one of the architects of what was once called ‘The Global Community’. This is a smaller world where communications and mobility of mankind began to have powers that the ancient gods of the past could have only dared dream of.
Yeager’s contribution was willing to be a test pilot for the United States Air Force and, insodoing, became the first man to break the speed of sound itself. It was only the first of many achievements to come, of course – but at the time it really seemed to kick things off in a way nobody in the world could approach. In the later years of his life, Yeager would have seen super-sonic speed as commonplace (even with passenger craft like the Concord taking flight). But he’ll surely be most often remembered for being the first to show how it could be done.
Of course, today, such high-profile achievements tend to either not happen at all or be so sophisticated in enhancing our capabilities as a species we daren’t even speak of them openly (for whatever that might mean). This might lead one to think Yeager was one-of-a-kind in other ways too: that he was among the last to bring the US well-deserved glory; but while totally untrue in fact – it doesn’t diminish Yeager or his life. For those who play Elite, some of the older of us may recall he even became involved with software gaming for a time in the late 1980s – for many Chuck Yeager’s Flight Simulator was a real hit!
Chuck Yeager, remembered today as a pioneer and explorer. Truly more worthy than any of us of the title ‘Elite’!
Lest we Forget!
Rememberence Day has just passed and I thought one story I caught on http://cbc.ca/news worthy of mention this year in particular:
Ottawa announces new Hong Kong immigration options as committee warns Uighurs face ‘genocide’
Earlier today, members of a House of Commons committee looking into the plight of ethnic Muslim Uighurs in China’s Xinjiang province cited their recent conclusion that the Chinese Communist Party is guilty of perpetrating a genocide against the ethnic minority.
The all-party Commons subcommittee on human rights heard harrowing testimony from survivors of China’s imprisonment of Uighur Muslims. They shared accounts of mass incarceration, rape, forced sterilization of women and mass surveillance.
Critics say China has detained as many as one million Uighurs and members of other Muslim groups in what amount to mass prisons, where they are subjected to “re-education.”
The Chinese government has denied any abuse of human rights in the region and insists that reports claiming that are false.
— John Paul Tasker, CBC, Parliamentary Bureau (November 12, 2020)
The words decrying concentration camps setup by Nazi Germany following World War II come to mind: “Never again!” It made me reflect on the loss of Canadians who fought the kind of thing China is now obviously committed to and how those words ring hollower the longer we let their failing tyranny continue unopposed here in our nice, comfortable western democracies. Just as at the beginning of World War II, the Nazis setup concentration camps where they didn’t gas Jews to death along with the homosexuals and others the ‘master race’ decried as inferior. That came later, after the horrible living conditions and abuse had settled in. Now here we are again letting conditions deteriorate for the Uighurs. How long will it be before China decides on its own “final solution” to the Uighur problem? Do we in the free world continue to do nothing?
If so, I have just one question: do we really honor those who have given their lives for the freedoms we now enjoy? Something tells me, they didn’t dream of freedom and security for just Canada and its allies facing Nazi tyranny but even if they did, can we really be so naieve to think we’re secure from any future date where the Chineese Communist Party (or its surrogates) decides it is in its own interests to take them away?
Congratulations, America!
A quick word on the election for President of the United States which has just ended (after a lengthy week of stress for many of us): Congratulations to our American friends!
Regardless of whether you’re a political liberal or conservative, there is a lot of hope evident throughout the US and the world tonight. America has felt strangely absent and inward-looking to my eye these past few years and it seems as if it really is about to join us once again in adressing the problems humanity and, really, the whole world faces. Humanity is eager to continue the work started by Europe, America and their allies (not least of which includes Canada) to deal with COVID-19, climate change, recent progress made by corrupt and tyrranical regimes the world over to ensure a happier future for all of us and future generations.
Here’s hoping the work of putting new technologies to work establishing a world at total peace and finding new ways to deal with conflict and establishing our presence throughout this star system continues too.
Controversial Canadian Senator Backs Trump with Campaign Contribution
Senator Lynn Beyak should know that her resignation from the Canadian Senate should be immediate. She got caught red-handed making an illegal campaign contribution to Donald Trump’s re-election fund with money paid to her by Canadian taxpayers. The United States has a law prohibiting campaign contributions from foreign nationals, but Beyak’s office was saying only “it was a mistake” tonight in Ottawa.
Yup – a career-limiting mistake if things go the way they should and at least a fine from the Americans with a ban on her travelling to the US is probably in order too. SHAME ON HER!!!!!!!
Microsoft Flight Simulator Saitek X56 Compatibility Issue & Missing Stream Content (2 Issues)
Microsoft Flight Simulator released gobally back in mid-August to generally positive initial reviews. Funtionality seemed initially sound and my Saitek X52 Pro HOTAS worked perfectly. This continued into early October — when Asobo Studio (the game’s developer, under contract with Microsoft’s Xbox Game Studios) suddenly stopped working on my PC. In the following days and weeks, I decended into a netherworld of support fixes, articles, drivers and other nitemarish tech support imagery and even XML configuration files with GUIDs and everything; all to no avail. That is until, I finally decided to abandon my efforts to rely on my Saitek X52 and instead upgrade to the Logitech/Saitek X56.
A Costly Endeavour
Thus began my search online for a new X56. Thanks to the COVID-19 virus which plagued our beloved planet throughout the 2020 gaming season, supplies of “stay-at-home” hardware in computer tech had dried up somewhat. For specialty gaming items as HOTAS controllers (like the X56 in particular) it was all but impossible to find a reliable supplier. After wrangling with a non-delivered package and laying out nearly $1,000 (CDN) I eventually obtained my X56 at a premium by visiting the US Aamazon sales website (https://amazon.com) and ordering it directly from Logitech (which is an Amazon-recognized seller).
Getting the New Hardware to Work
So I’d had to wait several weeks for it to arrive, but when it finally did, initially, it didn’t seem to help matters. I started repeating the troubleshooting tips I’d used with the X52 to no avail. Shockingly, these same steps actually worked with the newly-procured X56. (Click here for the details.)
A New Problem Erupts: Missing Content!
Satisfied everything was now set to go, I proceeded to load Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, confident I’d found all the answers I need. And then I found out as I soon as went to fly anywhere my range seemed rather short. It turns out I was confined to the range of either of the 2 starter package aircraft, the Cessna 152 or the Beechwood King Air 350i. What was going on?
Well it seems that when I initially had downloaded the Premium Delxue edition of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 from Steam, the loading software (the Steam client) had installed the full Premium Deluxe content. But in one of my earlier troubleshooting steps, I’d decided to try re-installing the entire game and now none of the content being sent to me via Steam included the extra content. As a new Flight Simulator 2020 user, I’d never used the Marketplace tab witihin the game which actually brokers this content once it gets uninstalled for any reason. As such the remainder of my content would have to be downloaded separately from Marketplace.
With all the missing content downloaded, and the hardware successfully re-installed my technical support nightmare was over. This was not aided by Steam support who’d I’d mailed about the issue in any way. Steam would be infintely better-off at least advising customers that missing Deluxe and Premium Deluxe content could be downloaded directly from Microsoft using the Marketplace with a message dialog (at least) — it’s not something Flight Simulator 2020 users are necessarily aware of when they buy the complete product and install it for the first time through their service. Indeed, it only serves to lengthier support engagements via e-mail a general confusion all-around.
There is no expectation here that Steam even needs to support DLCs in a general way by maintaining the inventory of all client software and associated downloadable content. Just a dialogue for this one title and its millions of users worldwide.
Conclusion
This article is intended as helpful content for users who encountered the same X52 Pro issue I did and also for those who’ve got themselves an X56. Should the latter fail following some future update, it would be my approach to first repeat the steps above to resolve any and all issues. That said, I’m hoping something like this doesn’t happen and that Ascobo will start conducting proper QA in their software development practices against all intended supported hardware with the latest updates to Windows 10 deployed (at minimum). It seems clear this was not done where the X52 is concerned and during the COVID-19 pandemic, it could leave users who’ve invested onerous sums in hardware in software without a solution otherwise. In my view, at speaking as a professional software developer, this would amount to bad practice and questionable professionalism.
I would invite you if you have comments or opinions on this article to share it with others since documentation online seemed lacking. I will try to answer questions dilligently, as time allows.
The ‘2nd Death’ of Sir John A. Macdonald
Canada is, to some degree, disowning it’s first Prime Minister (PM), Sir John A. Macdonald. As every Canadian knows, Macdonald was something of a drunk and has been more recently cited as being an unrepentant assimilationist and among the lead architects of the residential schools programme (which, from Canada’s founding until the latter-half of the 20th century, took aboriginal children away from their families to a life of ritual abuse at the hands of government-funded authority). With aboriginal roots reaching well-into my own family, it might sound surprising that I am of two minds on the question.
First, Macdonald’s actions both on the aboriginal file (including the wrongful execution of Louis Riel from my home province of Manitoba), on the head tax levied against Chinese workers building the first railways, the CPR scandal among a number of corruption allegations, notorious alcoholism (including imbibing while sitting the House of Commons) and “fiscal insanity” according to a very forgiving review by a contemporary Canadian historian — there certainly is a lot to choose from when it comes to finding imperfections in this founding father of one of the world’s great nations. But as, secondly, as a student of history, I’ve always found it both difficult and unfair to judge the actions of our ancestors whilst living with all the creature comforts and morality of the modern age.
So here we are sitting with all the amenities of the early 21st century judging the rampant ignorance of those living in the 19th. What terrible people and fools they must all have been! Or so we say to ourselves — and not for the first time.
To take an example from the history of science, one could see with the benefits of 17th and 18th-century technology that Jupiter clearly had moons of its own and the Catholic Church’s original assertions that Earth must be the very center of the universe were clearly debunked by the Sun’s position there instead must also have seemed terribly ignorant. Indeed, there were those that said so.
Indeed, at first glance, Aristotle’s model of the solar system might seem a wireframe monstrosity gone horribly, horribly wrong. Until one factors in it’s a product of a unique genius making observations available to him with his own eyes, absent tools like the telescope living as he did in the 4th century BCE and with seemingly few people ahead of him in line making meaningful observations about the planets, the moon and the sun. Even after Aristotle helped spark further curiosity on the subject, by the Roman era people imagined the stars being phenomena hundreds of stadia away from the ground; or perhaps thousands. (The concept of a million as we know it was still to come down the road — not that even the nearest star could be measured in a distance meaningful in any way to a Roman citizen.)
Macdonald then was faced with challenges that bore out a considerable degree of immorality when judged by our 21st century standards. Of course the aboriginals had to be dealt with, sometimes harshly. He had a vision of Canada and the United States threatened that with invasion, as they’d done just over 50 years earlier in 1812. Claiming Cree and other tribal lands in Manitoba and elsewhere in the Canadian west was a priority to establish a Canadian-British claim on the territory, lest otherwise Canada not survive to see its own 50th birthday. And besides, as he would’ve seen it, bringing Anglo civilization to the ignorant, less technically sophisticated aboriginals could only be a good thing for them. The Spanish were the ones who’d used European technology to conquer their aboriginal peoples. Anglo civilization was gentler, more enlightened. So he’d have thought, surely.
So discredit where it’s due — but lets have the credit too, I say. Without Macdonald, we wouldn’t have Canada as we know it to hold up as a model for the rest of the world to follow. What he did to its aboriginal peoples was, of course, reprehensible, but assimilation policy was very British and the de facto approach when dealing with peoples that seemed irrationally resistant to its dominance (as happened in Ireland three centuries earlier when some bright folk decided that a certain “Ireland problem” needed dealing with). Macdonald it bears saying, with ample imperfections both personally and in policy-making, deserves to be credited with helping to forge the nation we’re all inextricably a part of today as Canadians and regardless of ancestral origin. A nation that embraces diversity in all its forms, conscious of social need and of being relied upon to (however eventually) fulfill its obligations to those it owes its friendship and duty, and fanatical in the pursuit of justice and service to its citizens.
Macdonald, whatever you may feel about him, helped create that nation undeniably. Maybe that means we rename a law school one day or remove a statue the next. But let’s not pretend he wasn’t among a tiny few to first and truly believe in something called Canada.
Canada’s use of Huawei 5G would hamper its access to U.S. intelligence – U.S. official — National Post
HALIFAX — The U.S. national security adviser urged Canada on Saturday not to use Huawei 5G technology, saying that doing so would put in jeopardy intelligence sharing with the United States and expose Canadians to being profiled by the Chinese government. Read More
Canada’s use of Huawei 5G would hamper its access to U.S. intelligence – U.S. official — National Post
Brexit
Feeling compelled, as a friend of the United Kingdom (UK, including of Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England), I’ve repeatedly found myself at odds with those from the nation with whom I’d had discourse (typically via the app ‘Discord’) concerning its fate as regards its membership within the European Union (EU). I’m often told that, as a Canadian, I am unable to appreciate the particulars of life in the UK or somehow fail to appreciate its culture and history. At home, I’ve heard these same criticism from Québec separatists although I can speak french and certainly understand life here, living just a kilometer or so from the Québec border and routinely visit the province while on business or to visit friends there. I was even given the same argument by a recent movement the appeared here in the wake of the Liberal Party Justin Trudeau’s 2nd term election victory over the Conservative Party candidate Andrew Scheer called ‘Wexit’ wherein disaffected Alberta voters founded a serious movement (perhaps the first of its kind) to break away from Canada because anyone living east of Winnipeg, Manitoba paid attention to the western part of the country. Yet I spent the first 21 years of my life living in Manitoba (especially Winnipeg) and feel ‘from’ there far more than my current city ‘Ottawa’ where I now live and work. So the latter two charges from Canadian separatists seem out-of-touch with the facts of my life. And yet I’m certainly not from the UK, so could I be so far off on the subject of a break-away from the EU?
When I first looked into the rationale behind the vote to leave, I’d dismissed it as something of an anomaly in UK politics that would clear itself up quickly. To my astonishment, that didn’t happen and the extraction process merilly rolled on ahead without apparent reason. I’d heard the complaints; the EU was “dominated” by France and Germany who’d routinely “gang up” on England in votes. Money to support the EU left the UK without return or recompense of any kind. And UK sovereignty was being systematically eroded to the point where the island would end up ruled from either Paris or Berlin in short order. Yet my research kept hitting dead ends. I examined a TED Talk done in the city of Vancouver, Canada to get some additional insights from a very British person who, herself, seemed very knowledgeable on the subject — to no avail.
Her rational analysis seemed to lay to rest any doubt that the UK received a great deal from the EU; contributing significantly to the recovery of the Welsh economy in recent years (the region she happened to be from). She also presented credible evidence that pointed to a careful campaign of manipulation by social media agents, foreign to the UK, of UK public view citing Facebook doing all but a dry run in the UK to prepare for a similar attempt at manipulating the forthcoming electorate in the United States (US). This effort, she claimed, culminated in the election of Donald Trump and gave rise to the theory two of the world’s most powerful democracies were being attacked by totalitarian movements bent on curbing the very idea of one person, one vote.
So if it wasn’t my being a foreigner to the UK, nor did the facts seem to do much to back up the claims of the pro-Brexit camp, perhaps its departure from the EU wasn’t such a good idea after all. And then with the withdrawal of John Bercow from the speaker’s chair of the UK’s House of Commons, it starts to look as if the dispassionate review of the material I thought I’d done might have some merit. After all, wasn’t that the job of the Speaker of the House of Commons?
Bercow (in my view one of the greatest Commons Speakers in the last 200 years!) echoes many of my views on this subject, so naturally, I think his comments above are worthy of attention before the UK makes a final decision on the subject of whether to leave the EU. Perhaps as importantly is the considered gains that will be made by the enemies of the UK and its allies should this idea actually proceed. Russia under Vladimir Putin, the US under Donald Trump and Facebook under Mark Zuckerberg all stand to gain from a UK withdrawal from the EU. And I say to my friends in the UK once more — look at yourselves not only provincially; but rather as member of the world community and understand how badly we need the UK’s contributions as a partner and ally instead of being as one relatively small, distant island nation of years gone by!
43rd Canadian Parliamentary Election: Last-Minute Considerations
I wasn’t going to comment directly on the election, fearing people drawing conclusions about my public endorsement of a political party. Those who live here in Canada are aware: we have a secret ballot.
Yet comments today from Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer forced me to make a few remarks in full public view. Andrew Sheer said this morning:
- “The Party that wins the largest number of seats is [typically] asked to form the government.”
- “Our strategy is to [deal with the recent trend of illicit drugs being poisoned with other substances] by encouraging…people getting off drugs.”
This brings up two important issues for me which I addess below, headed separately.
(Drug) Addictions Treatment
As seems typical for right-wing governments all over the world lately; starting with the climate change approach debate and carrying on through a variety of issues involving the observations and conclusions of professionals and experts (often involving science themselves), there seems to be a collective state of denial.
Conservatives seem to delight in dredging up some minority report or singular study in the climate change debate to contest the conclusions of scientists and environmentalists studying and observing ongoing changes to our environment. This same phenomenon has now inserted itself into the Canadian election when it comes to using addictions-fighting tools like harm reduction or monitored safe-injection sites. On the subject of legalization, most experts seem to agree that the whole issue of drugs is better handled by healthcare professionals instead of police; which the Chief of Police of Winnipeg (and possibly other cities) have come out and said they’d like to just left out of.
So what we seem to have here is governance by ideology instead of practical considerations. And the trouble with that approach is, in general, you end up governing the country you wish existed instead of the one that does!
The Election Game Show
What really bugs me is such broad-spectrum fundamental ignorance about how Canada’s government is designed to work. Is Canada’s education system to fudnamentally damaged that nobody realizes that Parliament decides who the government is – as the people have voted for each member sent there to do so? There’s this absurd idea that somehow a Canadian federal election is somehow analogous o a game show where the party that wins the largest seat count automatically forms the government — effectively ignoring who everyone voted for! The party with the largest seat count certainly can form the government, if it holds the confidence of more than 50% of the elected MPs. However, Andrew Sheer would somehow have us believe that all he has to do is get the largest seat count and that’s good enough…and presumably what Canadians have had to say about the matter matters not. Only a party, in Andrew Sheer’s Canada deserves to pick the government.
Fortunately, the laws of our country don’t agree and I’d really like Canadians to try to remember that instead of waiting to find out if the big blue bar on the screen is slightly larger than the big red one on October 21st (the date selected for election day this time around).
Straw Poll: Pro-Cancel Culture?
On Net.Etiquette
Recently, I had another discord.gg altercation which has seen me withdraw completely from the chat service for the foreseeable future. Admittedly, I’m growing weary of the “clique” mentality that pervades the system, and in particular with the emotions of those involved somehow growing so completely out of control (from my perspective) that, initially at least, there’s little sense to be made of it. It’s not that the complaints people may have are totally without merit (although invariably they are coming from a what seems a narrowly-defined group). It’s that I can’t understand how something like an inadvertent breach of etiquette could lead to someone becoming so angry as to label another person as ‘evil’ or ‘irredeemable’ — particularly when the consequences of doing so may simply lead to others who don’t share their own extreme reaction as feeling uncomfortable or out of place. Another consequence to this are those who react this way becoming stressed out themselves, which is the last thing I want to contribute to.
I’m writing about this issue with a degree of historical perspective and as someone who finds human beings conflicted, irrational and difficult to understand in most cases. This can lead to intolerance, belligerence and worse behaviours in some; although I must make the point that this isn’t a defense of my own behaviour nor intended to characterize me as “the victim”. But a recent straw poll of those in my own life (and on social media) leads me to conclude the people generally feel that when there’s evidence someone has violated a convention or social norm they should be spoken to instead of ostracized. So why has the discord service proven to be so different for me?
Once upon a time, many years back, there was a form of what’s now considered “social media” called NNTP or network news. At the time, it was unbeknownst to myself and my first business partner posting advertisements or discourse related to one’s own business ventures was considered “poor etiquette”. So when we decided to announce our new consulting business opening up online, we were somewhat shocked at the response being almost universally negative. Here we were trying to make a valued contribution and getting effectively black-listed for going about it the wrong way. Of course nowadays, the NNTP-like service called Reddit is host to ads aplenty and the etiquette changed radically — not necessarily because people started clamouring for ads to appear at some point. Regardless of how it came to be, what once yielded hate e-mail spamming ones mailbox changed to “acceptable” behaviour.
This isn’t to say that at some future date streaming a discord server won’t go the same way. (It probably won’t, in fact.) But auto-streaming to twitch, YouTube or Mixer (or any of 50 other services) is growing in popularity and contributes value by donating content. It might not be the most popular content, but it is a form of content contributed for the general consumption of all. Add to this the streaming brokers like OBS or Mixer (I think they have a utility that streams to their online site as well as YouTube) or others providing a means of controlling how and what content is presented and you have a recipe for updates to influence what gets published; all potentially without the direct knowledge of the presenter. Or perhaps one of the hundreds of discord updates that occur every year impacts presentation in an unfamiliar or unexpected way.
And then if this scenario prevails and people’s voices were heard from a discord server in a stream without advance permission: we have an apparent breach of etiquette with evidence. It might seem perfectly legitimate to consider me guilty of surreptitiously trying to broadcast content behind the backs of those on a private server, right?
Ignoring for a moment that “secretly” trying to do anything in public online is at best contradictory and at worst outright stupid, the question persists does such a breach of etiquette warrant labelling as “irredeemable” or even being kicked out of a social group (even one online)? And without being given the opportunity to try to explain what might have happened or examine the evidence particularly when the offending party had thought he’d been given permission at one point to continue a stream with parties on the server in question present (although I’d taken such permission to apply only to one specific stream — not a carte blanche permission to stream all the content that would ever be posted)? Evidence alone as it appeared was enough all without context.
For these reasons, it is my view that discord generally needs to be taken down a notch. It simply isn’t right that people are targeted in this fashion. And I did speak with a number of others who’d either themselves experienced the “clique” mentality I’m speaking of or who had been banned from servers (thus separating them from social groups) on the basis of what may seem dubious circumstances involving many different social dynamics. But to summarize, I posit that a violation of etiquette is not just cause to start slandering or hating your fellow human beings.
Discord, for its part, may not be to blame here in any way. There are those who want to “burn the whole world down” and do nothing but cause trouble and mayhem. That’s why discord lets you ban people, fundamentally, I think. Another chat service several years ago called “IRC” seemed to not have these same problems. But if people react in a rational fashion to social challenges and use the technology in a constructive way I think discord could be a very useful and powerful tool indeed.
Right now, it just seems to promote cliques and clique behaviour. And I question who, if anyone, that’s helping.
I should at this juncture for my growing English audience (or so the analytics say) make a few quick points to address potential interest:
- if I did a stream on the discord Elite server in question, it was more out of habit and typically with a mind to disable channel dialogue from making to the broadcast (although in 1 case I believe it was deliberate)
- if a deliberate streaming happened, it was done under the following circumstances:
- I thought I had permission to do so, and/or
- I didn’t think it a serious breach of etiquette at the time for some mindless reason; and
- I have streamed on other servers before, including my own without issue.
- NO EFFORT was made to sneak it by without the group’s awareness (as should be evidenced by it being public, unless you truly think me THAT stupid)
- it may also be relevant to keep in mind that discord visualizations (which until tonight I wasn’t even aware were activated) DO NOT transmit into the V/R environment without the involvement of 3rd party software, which I do not use; those who think the profile icons of users on the server should somehow have clued me into what was going on are incorrect
- I’ve counted 3 cases total during my own investigation, thus far, where streaming occurred and these are, at the admin’s “cease and desist” request, removed. If there are still others unaccounted for, you should:
- send a message to me using discord or, if you have it, my commander’s email address with the URL included
- notwithstanding the above deletions, there were a total of 9 sessions auto-cast to YouTube from the date I first stated using the server, to my best recollection; most of which seemed free of offending traffic
- I will continue investigating all content and re-post sessions thought to be free of dialogue from the discord server in question.
On my YouTube channel, there was one case where I’d mistakenly cited the availability of this server as part of a larger service offering. I’ve posted a comment to the video (with highlighted reference on the video itself using YouTube’s rather broken tools for text editing overlays) citing the reference and this correction, but I do so again here to come completely clean on the subject.
I believe it is important for all to keep in mind that each of us is human and quite fallible. Pointing out errors tactfully isn’t the problem, however. We’re all capable of mistakes and errors in judgement, both on and off discord. And as Facebook scandals continue to erupt (something that’s likely to persist for the foreseeable future), chat services like discord are likely to only increase in popularity. Hopefully, as this type of social media grows we can all adopt standards of behaviour and etiquette that will serve to keep people growing their communities instead of limiting ourselves to serving baser instincts.
Let’s try to end “cancel culture”.
Fly safe, commanders!
Lord(Marcus)British Reacts to Trium Withdrawal
LordBritish can get very, very angry it seems. Far angrier than even I (and I had quite a temper growing up many years ago). And now it seems to be taking the form of trolling, lies and insults on discord.gg (and elsewhere):
And with that, LordBritish contacted CMDR Alpha Station and had me thrown out of that squadron too. CMDR Alpha apparently wasn’t interested in hearing anything from me on the subject of what got LordBritish so riled since it was he and CMDR Farmere who, last night, had apparently become telepathic and started suddenly dictating what I was thinking about them and myself. Add to this suddenly revamping what I said and perverting it into something I hadn’t said at all – when I asked permission to record the conversation for later playback, they both refused without saying why. I was only interested in a record to ensure accuracy for the 3 of us to go back to. Perhaps they thought I had other motives?
Seeing I wasn’t welcome any longer and finding no way to resolve their apparent deep-seated issues with me (which had been festering for a while I’m now told) they came onto my discord.gg channel and posted the above. When I left the LordBritish server, I had not intented to return and was on to minding my own business desiring neither further discourse with Farmere or Marcus (LordBritish). So why the fresh campaign of slander, lies and insults? Because I’d blocked both of them to concentrate on my own business I didn’t see the above text right away and it was left there probably too long.
To those who caught it, this is apparently what it was all about — my decision to depart without accepting their re-imagined view of the conversation (and it was completely re-imagined). What had started as a silly argument about the facts of my education from a pair of game players who take themselves a little too seriously ended up perverted into something it never was in the real version. Apparently, they felt because there were two of them agreeing to some new version of what I’d said somehow that made it true.
Excusing the hypocrisy at their accusations of “pretentiousness” is one thing. But clearly, they’re not leaving this alone so I offer the above explanation in hopes it (and they) will all just go away. I know what I said and how I said it. Just because there are 2 of you doesn’t mean you can edit the conversation to your preferred version and stick it on me. Tell the whole world your version if you like — mine is still the correct one and if it wasn’t you wouldn’t have been afraid of recording further conversation for the sake of reference.
I will add here I can’t stand people who talk behind each others’ backs maliciously and this coupled with the trolling mentality I’ve started to endure is surely a clue even to these people — enough’s enough! Obviously, I erred here: I shouldn’t ever have wasted the time getting to know you 2. I can’t get that time back, but I can ask you not to waste any more of my time with your lack of ability to cope with this disagreement. Let’s just go our separate ways. OK?
Frontier Dev (FDev) Discloses Elite Refinement Schedule Through 2020
Frontier (the software design company behind “Elite Dangerous”) released the schedule of its forthcoming development of the Elite universe this morning (EST) with the revelation there are no plans to enhance the current edition of the Milky Way galaxy further. Instead, the company reports it will be sticking to a strategy of player retention while it completes some major upgrades to the simulated environment through to the midpoint of 2020. Through 2019 there will be a gradual replacement of “Community Goals” to player missions. Though the parameters given in the release from Frontier were quite vague, there is the possibility that some of the original storylines around Raxxla (a long sought-after planet within the gameplay) might be used to aid player retention.
Initial CMDR (player) response was extraordinarily negative with one initial reaction reading as follows:
— User “Cmdr Ultra“
Wow. Pretty weak Frontier. The promised Premium Content delayed again. After being delayed again and again.
Just another announcement of another coming announcement. This one in 18 months. You have really outdone yourselves this time.
Another writes:
— User “Rambojambo“
The white knights are going bananas trying to explain away this. 5 years between horizons and whatever the next dlc is. There’s slow…then there’s FDev development slow.
But CMDR reaction wasn’t universally negative — a number lept to FDev’s defense with comments like the following:
— User “PiLhEaD“
Whilst I’m sure late-2020 will disappoint many, I’m actually very pleased that FDev have learned from the LEP-fiasco of 2018 and are being up-front with us. We may not like the news, but at least we know.
Another writes:
— User “Hellfire85 “
I think you missed the part where he said that [life account] owners get the whole new content for free…
Also I got news for you: Making content, especially as big as advertised, takes time.
And it’s not like they stop making any updates until 2020.
It is this journalist’s own view (as a professional software developer) that really given what we’ve seen in-game so far there should be no great surprise at the time being invested toward developing new features into the game in a manner consistent with its vision. When the Elite Dangerous project first began, they could add landing on planets without atmospheres, change mission structures and make other relatively superficial changes without too much effort. Also, they were working (at least in part) on a crowd-funded budget. The gameplay that resulted from this effort was a hair’s width short of miraculous.
But now CMDRs want to land on atmosphere-ready planets with the ability to fly through gas giants if need be. That means taking into account physics and graphics the initial engine just could not provide. And the gaming universe continues to change too — we’ve got StarCitizen (very-well funded by Hollywood corporate money) and now not just cinematics but full feature-length movies to contend with. Elite Dangerous 1.0 (if I can call it that here) just wasn’t built to deal with such niggling business realities. At the very least the players will need to see Earth-type planets from orbit with 20,000 inhabitants not already inlaid with apparent civilizations on the ground. They’ll need to see at most a scant few dim lights around a stronger-lit central hub. And that kind of dynamic means getting a software architecture into place that can meet such a demand.
Not to mention all of this needs to run seamlessly on 4 or 5 major gaming platforms, including the PC and virtual reality. That’s a tall order and after all the debugs and testing (I’m told they have it, despite the obvious bugs that have recently hampered gameplay) 18 months isn’t hard to see. You can likely get a shorter deadline, but Frontier still has ownership that expects to turn a profit over the long-term. Addressing these problems with a new software architecture in itself could easily add up to the proposed timeline. And I don’t even work at Frontier and am unaware of all the technical challenges and realities the teams there need to face.
Hopefully, the existing user-base will be tolerant over this intervening period as a new platform for future growth of the environment is developed. But keep an eye on Star Citizen and Squadron 42 — they won’t be out-of-the-market forever!
AppRefactory Website Down Temporarily
he AppRefactory Inc. website is down temporarily, while some of the hosting arrangements and Microsoft Azure cloud account changes related to our recent updated service agreement (as a Microsoft Solutions Provider) are being processed. This will likely take another week or so, but another update message will appear here when the site is back up. And, at that time, we will also be able to act as a Microsoft Cloud Services Provider (CSP) which will be of value to existing and future customers.
Please bear with us during this outage period.
Guardian FSD Booster
Elite Dangerous Servers Down (Again)
As of ~4:15 p.m. EDT / ~3:15 p.m. CDT (North America), it looks as if Elite Dangerous servers have gone down unexpectedly. Within a couple of minutes of the outage, the support site broadcast an “Issues Detected” message, but no details were immediately available.
Updates to this story as they occur…
____________________
UPDATE 04:35 p.m. EDT:
Service was restored.
Sol and Achenar Confirmed as Thargoid Primary Targets
agle Eye intelligence (brokered by ‘Lab 69‘ within Canonn Research has, as of this week, affirmed earlier predictions that both Sol and Achenar are the intended primary targets of recent encroachments by the hostile species into the core systems. Both Earth and Mars in the Sol system and Conversion and Capitol in the Achenar system are next expected to receive protection from capital ships equipped with the still experimental AX-class weaponry researched by Aegis Corp. through its own research projects in the Pleiades Sectors of the Milky Way galaxy. Aegis megaships will also likely serve as support bases into both systems when an attack looks imminent.
The full text of Eagle Eye intelligence output follows:
==+ NoSecrets v2.1.3 Log. License expires 17th Feb 3305. THANKS FOR
UPGRADING +==
==+ [1041745480075058158] > Packet snoop established. P2P GUDP Packet
identified. +==
==+ [1041745480075058175] > qTLS Tap OK, Auth: Mutual. Eve (v1.2.7701) is
in the house +==
From: [Captain Rebuy (Canonn)|Canonn Institute|Col 285 Sector IX-T d3-43]
To: [Overseer Gluttony Fang (AXI)|Arc's Faith|HR 1183]
Subject: Eagle Eye Report Week 11 - 17/05/3304
Eagle Eye Report and Summary of the previous week:
For a second time both target systems were successfully defended with
LTT 8517 and Dalfur systems both having the Thargoid threat repelled.
Well done all who took to their ships in support. Neither system are
showing non-human signal sources at present.
Intelligence obtained from Eagle Eye this week shows the targets are
Lalande 4141 and Lwalama, and NHSS have been detected.
Aegis Megaships were dispatched to Coquim and LHS 1453 (neither of
which were Eagle Eye targets) and wrecked megaships were found in
several systems nearby.
The other targets given to us by EE were decoded and have indicated a
barnacle forest location, wrecked megaships, and an INRA base (Almeida
in Conn).
All indications so far are that both Achenar and Sol are intended
destinations.
--Captain Rebuy--
Report Ends…..
==+ [1041745480075058259] > qTLS Tap Dropped. Eve (v1.2.7701) has left
the building +==
==+ [1041745480075058259] > End of P2P GUDP Packet +==
| A quick review of recent achievements by CMDR Trium within the last 10 days. Visit the VFL archive to review helmet-cam footage. |
It should be noted here — despite recent comments made by figures in both the Federation and Imperial navies — no Federation or Imperial NPC navy vessels have prevailed in a Thargoid-to-capital-ship engagement. (This includes task forces employing both the Federation’s Farragut-class carriers nor the Imperial Majestic-class battleships.)
Humanity may find itself ‘on the ropes’ if victories aren’t seen soon. To say nothing of what might happen to our species in the event speculation about the Thargoid base structures actually turning out to be late-assembly baseships launching off of nearby planets.
One rather large outstanding question remains here: is Frontier timing the release of planet atmospheric operations to coincide with an even bigger Thargoid threat? What about the possibility of Thargoid attacks on planet bases or (in atmospheric gameplay) population centres like cities on planets like Earth and Mars?
Further reports to follow as developments warrant.
CTV’s Power Play Decries “The Art of Apologizing”
oor Don Martin. CTV’s host of Power Play spent his “Last Word” (if only!) decrying Justin Trudeau apologizing 5 times during his government’s term in office thus far, with a 6th apology for our nation returning Holocaust-fleeing Jews back to the Nazis during World War II. It’s just too often, says Martin, and too well politically-timed not to be suspect.
CTV’s “Power Play” Host, Don Marin
Of course, such rhetoric is absent justification for the political timing of each of the 5 preceding times. And, no Don – don’t hasten to demonstrate your own team’s research skills as not being able to create the illusion of such. I’m sure they’re at least as good as Trudeau’s speech-writing team, although need I enlighten you about our Prime Minister’s own ability to deliver speeches? (Granted, Justin’s not as experienced as his father was, but he’s among the best our nation can offer at present according to my ear — and I’ve been in a public debate or two in my time too!)
The apologies Trudeau has given on our nation’s behalf serve a purpose. We could follow Martin’s suggestion and say nothing to redress historical wrongdoings — the practice of Canadian governments for decades. Perhaps nobody alive today had the experience of suffering the injustices and outright atrocities being apologized for. But it does serve the purpose of those who are alive and still bearing the scars of such actions years later perhaps due to indirect associations of one form or another to have the Government of all Canadians (not just Liberals like Trudeau, but Conservatives like Marin too) recognize an injustice done to people and apologize. This doesn’t somehow express the guilt and remorse of Canadians today, but it does express the guilt and remorse of the Government — even if it’s presumed that nothing of this sort could ever happen again.
Rest assured, Mr. Martin, the Government of Canada still has acts which it has to apologize for and will well into this century at the very least (perhaps with or even without the knowledge of our Prime Minister). Human beings, so error-prone as we are; so flawed in our ability to exercise mature judgment at the best of times, are forced to learn from mistakes made. And this Government isn’t perfect, as you rightly point out. But it is Canadian. It is our government. And sometimes an apology is the proper course; however frequent it may seem to you.
Perhaps you’ll join your fellow Canadians in offering an apology or two someday. If not for any errors in judgment you might have had, at the very least for holding a Government’s honest efforts to provide those who feel injustice some kind of recognition for their emotional traumas. Unless of course, you believe that a television camera or very big microphone renders you incapable of error or immune from the need to offer a simple apology.
Planets With Atmospheres: Almost Available?
Frontier staff have recently been heard hinting that planet atmospheres could be gradually rolled into players’ Elite Dangerous Experience soon!
or me, a veteran Elite CMDR who has been playing various versions of the game since its introduction in 1983 (yes — I am that old) being able to interact with planets regardless of whether they have an atmosphere or not is simply a basic feature. Although the initial release of Elite back in 1983 offered only single-planet star systems where the “planet” was really just a line-art circle (whose surface would result in the loss of your Cobra Mk III craft if you ran into it), Elite II and Elite II: Frontier both enabled you to take off from partially-terraformed moon Merlin in the Ross 154 star system. There, one could see the reddish sky and the eerie gas giant Aster dominating the skyline from the tarmac of the local starport with the lights of a nearby domed city also in-view. Elite Dangerous has taken us back in some respects to an earlier time when such extravagances as being blasted to dust for not requesting tower clearance prior to liftoff from said planet-bound starport was but a glint in David Braben’s eye. (Braben is, of course, the mastermind behind the Elite franchise as well as the original programmer.)
CMDR ObsidianAnt who runs an extremely popular running commentary on Elite Dangerous shares with us in his latest YT-cast a preview of what might (and should) be coming throughout 2018 and perhaps 2019 by merging the view of an Asp Explorer spaceframe with a short demo of worlds created using a tool called Space Engine, available for download here. ObsidianAnt says that Space Engine and Elite Dangerous are “two very different pieces of software” in his video, but perhaps not being a software developer himself he’s missing some background. Whatever code is used as the basis for Space Engine, I’m extremely skeptical at the outset that the two titles (the other being Elite Dangerous) can’t be integrated. True, there are numerous tasks associated with software integration methodology, but speaking as a systems developer (my own strength) I’ve been tasked with taking two “very different” pieces of software and experienced some degree of success in getting the job done several times in my career. Superficially, I’m not seeing any architectural issues or other seemingly insurmountable challenges. Frontier Developments has a very capable team of software engineers, obviously — and it would be something just short of unimaginable to say a 3rd-party product like Space Engine can’t be made to work with Elite.
Of course, one must keep in mind the console platforms which might introduce challenges I could, in fact, not imagine. But on the PC, it’s unlikely to my mind the effects we’re seeing in Space Engine can’t be successfully migrated to Elite Dangerous. At the very least having a perusal of the Space Engine source could cultivate stronger implementations of atmospheres on the worlds of Elite Dangerous.
If you have a different take on this subject, please chime in with a comment below.
And regardless of the timeliness of new feature intros to the game — kudos to Frontier Developments, creators of Elite Dangerous, for creating a truly immersive and enjoyable spaceflight sim. We’re all on the edge of our seats waiting for that next “big thing” to come out….we know you won’t let us down!
Novas, Aliens and Dates — Oh My!
Taken from the Elite Dangerous Wiki images, here we see the LMC and SMC as they appear within the Universal Cartographics galaxy map as it appears in Elite Dangerous.
veryone has been talking about it — where are the Thargoids? Are the Guardians still around somewhere (in hiding?), and why is the galaxy so static? In reality, a recent Cornell University study suggests our best observations predict a rate of ~35 to ~75 novas annually. There stands a very good chance that the Thargoid homeworld could be located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) — a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way that is quite evident in the galactic map. One proposal for transiting human ships to the LMC could involve a megaship similar to the ICS Indra, equipped with an intergalactic hyperdrive (available only to large capital ships) and transiting docked player and NPC vessels to/from the LMC according to a schedule. And why have we not encountered more alien civilizations yet? Not all would need to be spacefaring after all — some could even involve the introduction of Dyson spheres or have still other motives for not exploring the surrounding galaxy very far. Could these ideas for system-managed dynamic content be somehow integrated into the game universe created for Elite Dangerous?
Astronomical Events
It’s likely that stars in “the bubble” (core systems) would have to be exempted for obvious reasons. Systems close to Sol going nova would pose a meaningful contradiction to the known history both of our own galaxy in reality and the scripted timeline for Elite (c. 2050-3404[-3410?]). However, having a star explode in-game would not only provide a spectacular event for players to watch, it could stir things up in some areas of the galaxy — especially those with Thargoid bases or fledgling human colonies, for example. And it would serve to add a whole new dimension to gameplay if a system like Betelgeuse had humans in it who noticed the death throes of such a huge star and had to escape either by jumping away or hitting supercruise in order to stay ahead of the large, destructive shock-wave that will surely chew up the last 2 planets in that star system.
Using Megaships to Transport CMDRs Inter-Galactically
The Wells-class Carier Ship (Source: Elite Dangerous Wiki)
I doubt we’re likely to see Frontier trying to model the Andromeda Galaxy anytime soon, much less provide the capability to transfer CMDRs there. Or anywhere else in the Local Group, for that matter. However, the Milky Way extends a halo of disconnected (and largely dark) matter around the outer rim systems for quite some distance (~30,000 ly, I believe I’d heard) and then there’s largely empty space until the much-abbreviated halo around the LMC gets encountered at ~150,000 ly from Sol. Although the Thargoids could originate elsewhere, it seems likely the LMC is the logical place to start looking based on how their activity has spread near to human-controlled space. And given that large jumps have been achieved with capital ships featuring docked CMDRs in the past, one thinks it only logical to rely on the superior ability of capital megaships to spearhead such an exploration effort.
After all: one won’t win any conflict with the Thargoids simply by defending human space and hoping they go away at some future date. What if they chose not to?
Aliens
It is my belief that aliens are likely to be more common than simply having one species occupy all of the Milky Way galaxy at a time. And it seems that with the ever-expanding exoplanet index revealing the likelihood of Earth-like worlds (not to mention the atmospheres of such worlds being catalogued by the James Webb Space Telescope or JWST set for launch no later than early 2019) will present us with irrefutable evidence concerning the likely existence of sentient species elsewhere in this galaxy soon. Should not additional alien civilizations be introduced to the galaxy now — while there is still time for fantasy species to be included?
Of course, one could argue a sentient alien civilization was destroyed in the Elite timeline already with the founding of the Galactic Empire on Capital (Achenar 6D) in ~2250 CE. This it itself could suggest others both in the Milky Way galaxy, the LMC and elsewhere beyond (though it’s not clear of what practical benefit there’d by to an attempt at contact from species too far away to be otherwise involved in the game).
The Update vs. Scheduled Events
I’d propose that adding some of the aforementioned concepts to create a more “living galaxy” could be done most simply via scheduled events that occur outside the PowerPlay update (which occurs in North America on Thursday mornings). Players interested in using a jump to the LMC could assemble at a predetermined location (perhps a “checkpoint”?) and dock their ship prior to the announced jump time. At the appointed time, an intergalactic hyperspace jump would occur and after a few moments cause arrival at a set of coordinates in the outer sectors of the LMC. From here, CMDRs would disengage from the mother ship and return when the schedule announced a forcast return to the core systems in the Milky Way. Costs would be associated with financing the jump and an early Galactic Goal might involve the creation of a starport at the arrival point in the LMC. Here, humanity would manage its beachhead
Comments and questions on the content presented here are welcome regardless of brevity. But my goal would to be to present the discourse to Frontier via their forms or through the public network services (Twitter, Reddit, etc.). Thanks for your participation!
Elite Dangerous Launcher Locks Out All CMDRS!
Just filed the following ticket with Frontier Store support:
I am currently having multiple problems with my Elite Horizons installer and ticketing system. First I got the following a short while ago trying to use the launcher app:
After attempting a re-install of the launcher which also failed, I attempted to launch a support ticket. This resulted in the following from the Frontier support website:
Invalid response from user account service
….and no matter how many times I’ve tried to access my account through changing my password on the support maintenance site, I still get the same above errors!
What is going on? I can’t file this trouble ticket on the website — how should I proceed???
Extremely frustrated with all the errors experienced playing Elite lately,
RH
(CMDR Trium Augus)
{omitted, use:} cmdr.trium@apprefactory.ca
CMDR Trium Videos at New URL
MDR Trium’s videos are now being posted at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7ZBNd12ewr4KT74VKG06kA or http://bit.ly/CmdrTriumVFL if you’re looking for the short address. This may change once more to a shortened YouTube URL if there’s enough traffic to qualify for a custom URL. As for the VFL content pertaining to CMDR Trium, this new address will serve as a new permanent location so the old /apprefactory URL can be used for commercial purposes (although for the time being the @apprefactory Twitter account will still serve to provide related notices pertaining to CMDR Trium).
You can email CMDR Trium at cmdr.trium@apprefactory.ca if you have any questions or comments to share on this subject.
Exoplanet Ross 128b an Earthlike World?
erlin has just been discovered! (For those of you who are familiar with the Elite universe….Ross 128 is the system which is host to the Merlin colony, an earth-like world which actually is a moon of the gas giant Aster in the game.) The similarity of Merlin and this discovery might be astonishing! I certainly hope the folks at Frontier are paying attention to this news item.
Artist’s conception of what the exoplanet Ross 128b might look like on the surface. (Source: CNN.com)
Star Trek “Mirror, Mirror” Episode (original Mirror Universe episode in old series) Continued
n interesting take on the Star Trek (Old Series) episode “Mirror, Mirror”. It looked like a poor recreation of the original episode at first, but then took a 1960’s-style approach to continuing the story that proved interesting. Not sure, but it’s also possible the son or grandson of James Doohan (who played Lt. Cmdr. Montgomery Scott in the original episode) starred as “Scotty” herein.
Thargoids Nearing “The Bubble”
Alliance logo
he Thargoid invasion is proceeding nicely — if you’re a Thargoid (or perhaps Prime Minister Ed Mahon). Unfortunately, the bulk of humanity is governed by the Federation and the Empire; leaving humanity largely vulnerable to retaliation for the rumored attempted genocide of the Thargoid species. And now, Thargoid encroachment is moving dangerously close to human-held space. Indeed, non-human attacks have (as of recently) now struck as close to Earth as 70ly! And we’re not seeing much apparent attention to this emerging crisis from either of the parties who, almost certainly, caused it in the first place. Where is the mighty Empire? Where are the fearless soldiers of the Federation?
Starships Wanted
Thargoid logo (proposed)
One solution that the pair of superpowers could offer are new classes of warships that would allow CMDRs to dock and allow the Empire and Federation both to project their might into areas hosting Thargoid activity — like near key installations, such as starports. Allowing CMDRs to “park” their craft on a carrier class vessel would allow them to always organize and counter-attack in regions affected by Thargoids. On top of which sooner or later this war will only be won by taking the fight into the territory of the enemy. If that means using intergalactic hyperdrive technology, such an investment in larger capital ships may become necessary. That is….if the Thargoid threat is ever to be pacified once and for all.
Pirates Using Thargoid Tech?
Are pirates using Thargoid tech to disrupt operations and some starports? The possibility was raised this past week when one CMDR (name unavailable at present) proposed the notion that stolen Thargoid tech adapted for long-range energy disruption was actually responsible for all of the various starports reporting power problems. Some groups (like the Ant Hill Mob) have taken to piracy and terrorism, leveraging the Thargoid threat as an opportunity to further the objectives of one small group at the expense of humanity! If this proves true, I personally believe it should become a new objective to target these groups for decimation once the Thargoid threat has been resolved. Such groups are demonstrating they are enemies of humanity as a whole, after all, through such self-serving acts!
As of the GalNet update, 30-JAN-3304: Vonarbug Port in the Maridal system, 70ly from Earth, was facing energy disruption activity that may originate from the Thargoids. Does this mean this station is a target for attack in the near future?
On the other hand, it is entirely possible the Thargoids themselves are responsible for this disruption. And in either case, the Empire and the Federation need to act together now. The nearest point where this remote disruption activity is occurring is in the Maridal system, just 70ly from Earth!
The Future of Elite Dangerous: The Great In-Game Debate
MDRs IronJaguar and SoapyKnight joined me in an unarranged VoiceComms chat session this evening to discuss wing options.
Or so I thought. Suddenly, we were talking about VR gaming and the collective disappointment with how long new features were taking to be rolled into the Elite: Dangerous universe. As a software developer myself, I’m acutely familiar with how it’s produced. Prior experience with the world’s largest software production company, Microsoft, has helped that education and acquaint me with the most modern practices involved with the full software development lifecycle. I thought I’d bring this view to a pair of gaming consumers; one from New York and another a fellow Canadian who lives relatively close, geographically (which is not a given in the world’s second-largest country). CMDR IronJaguar, in particular, laid the heaviest expectations on Frontier (the producer of the Elite game series). Could he be convinced to be more understanding of the issues involved in producing Elite: Dangerous? And what about Frontier’s competitors? Where is Star Citizen? What about EndSpace and From Other Suns? Could they pose a threat to Elite’s dominance in the VR flight sim market at some point?
Watch today’s gaming session here to find out!
Elite Dangerous Universe: Calendar dates?
ello CMDRs! It turns out that the date on the Elite Universe timebar (3304) is pretty close to the same day of the week we experience in 2018:
January 3304
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As you can see from the above, today ‘s date in 3304 (January 24th) falls on a Thursday, while in 2018 it is obviously a Wednesday.
Just another interesting fact about the gameplay of Elite, brought to you by CMDR Trium!
Follow the Adventures of the FNS Quantica!
CMDR Trium Augus, January 3304
he year is 3304 and mankind has started to explore the galaxy in earnest with tens of thousands of humans fanning out across the cosmos thanks to affordable spacecraft being made available to people from various walks of life: explorers, bounty hunters, miners, exothropoligists and many others. Supported by other companies like Universal Cargographics, Cannon Research, the Aegis Corporation, DeLacy Spacecraft, Lakon Spaceways and many others, this intrepid group together with (the real) Frontier software development company has created an environment spanning our Milky Way galaxy, including 400+ billion unique star systems containing a smattering of eyeball-catching astronomical phenomena. Herein, spacecraft commanders (CMDRs) complete on missions for starport or political factions, pursue community goals with galactic impact and/or further the ambitions of humanity in their own unique way, or just trade ferrying cargo from one system that’s in demand in another. Against this background, you can follow the adventures of CMDR Trium Augus (yours truly) and watch the epic saga of those he deals with unfold. This is just the beginning of a universe Frontier calls “Elite Dangerous” and is the brainchild of David Braben; who created an old game for 8-bit computing platforms (like the Apple //e or Commodore-64) called “Elite” back in the mid-1980s. It is upon the legacy of the game (and its successors in the 1990s) that Elite Dangerous is built.
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| Click to launch INARA Radio player – which accompanies you playing Elite Dangerous! |
Ongoing coverage of the events in this make-believe universe are presented in digest form here. But I encourage every reader to visit The AppRefactory Inc. on YouTube as soon as you’re finished with content presented here. My story is one handled in a video presentation that gains new contributions almost daily through the winter months and weekly at other points during the year.
Hope you’ll visit us soon!
Other background info on CMDR Trium is available at the following sites:
- Elite Dangerous Star Map Profile: CMDR Trium
- INARA Pilot’s Federation Profile: CMDR Trium
- CMDR Trium Flight Log Recorder Site (on YouTube.com)
- ….and here too from now on!
Other websites supporting CMDRs in the universe of Elite Dangerous:
Where there’s smoke…
enying you’re guilty of something can be difficult when the rumor mill / charge keeps happening, Scott Adams reminds us in his recent blog entry. Indeed, proving a negative is impossible and leads to what scholars refer to as argumentum ad ignorantiam (argument from ignorance) wherein an argument is presumed true because it has not been proven false — a logical fallacy. Yet we fall prey to this one pretty easily and Adams cites the case of Donald Trump attempting to deny ongoing allegations of collusion with Russia during the most recent American presidential election. But is that what’s really going on here?
U.S. President
Donald J. Trump
Journalism is particularly vulnerable to this phenomenon because, out of a desire to “build the story” for readers, asking questions about something that didn’t demonstrably happen repeatedly actually contributes to it. What we all want to know simply is this: is there testable evidence that Trump colluded with Russia? Pure and simple. But with an ongoing investigation — about which readers will want reminders of in their sub-24-hour news cycle — updates will inevitably be desired. Also, it doesn’t hurt to repeat the question they’ll argue to see if anything inconsistent appears to quote, though over time and with many a practiced rehearsal this is less and less likely.
Instead of the constant clamour for updates, perhaps we’d all be better off letting the investigation conclude and fill our news cycle with whatever else is going on in the world; waiting patiently until the investigation comes back with a finding of no fault or charges. It’s Donald Trump, for goodness sake — it’s not like he’s avoiding making statements that anyone with half a brain would find morally reprehensible from one week to the next.
A Solid Programming Intro (for Beginners)
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| Microsoft Virtual Academy: Introduction to Programming with Python (#8360) |
re you new to the world of programming? I keep telling people it’s really quite simple and if one applies themselves, it’s something everyone can get into if they’re really that interested. And no – you don’t have to go to College/University to learn how!
So what’s a good place to get into the world of software development fast and see if it’s something that might interest you? Recently, I decided now would be an opportune time for me to pick up yet another programming language: Python. It’s been getting a fair bit of attention lately and can be useful I discovered when exploring the emerging world of Artificial Intelligence (AI). In fact, I did study AI while attending a pre-law programme at the University of Manitoba many years ago. (Will forego saying how many.) There I was able to get into the world of AI through an unlikely major: Philosophy. The Computer Science (Comp. Sci.) programme wasn’t offering any curriculum in the universe of AI yet and it would be a few more years before the Internet made programming attractive as a career choice for me. But I’d already taken an Intro Comp. Sci. course with prerequisites waived by the Dean of Arts and had amassed a fair bit of technical skill through my exploration of computers as a personal interest. I knew the opportunity to study AI wouldn’t likely come again while I was at school so I signed myself up.
What has any of this to do with Python? Well, some feel that being a self-taught programmer puts one at a kind of disadvantage. I feel strongly they’re wrong about that — although there is a lot of reading one needs to do to get up to speed on programming theory and data management before they can safely claim they’ve got a Comp. Sci. equivalency. And then there’s the environment of a University that just can’t get replaced. Even so, online study can make you a productive resource in many organizations including those that don’t offer employment to anyone missing a Comp. Sci. degree (or lacking the opportunity to get one). I came across a curriculum in picking up Python that offers a performance transcript and even a certification for paying customers. The curriculum itself is, however, freely available and geared toward the new programmer.
Why might an experienced programmer take this course? As one of the instructors points out, a programming language is like a spoken language in that if one doesn’t use the skill, it can become “rusty” and eventually even require retraining. So while tempted to dive right into Python syntax, you might find it helpful to take the two-day course or at least challenge the exams that come with it (at least the paid edition, which is reasonably priced by the vendor, Microsoft) and re-verify that you’re up to speed.
Alternatively, if you’re in a .NET Certification programme, you can find that this material will nicely compliment the other available materials out there.
This course wins a rare 5-stars from me!
Keybase Brings Free Security to Novice Users
GP encryption is not new – quite the opposite. But it’s always had one big advantage over its leading competitor: S/MIME. S/MIME is used to encrypt email using certificate-based, 3rd-party authentication whereas PGP relies on dual, private/public key encryption. And thanks both to S/MIME gaining commercial vendor support relatively early, coupled with being easier than the open-source-supported PGP (with relatively primitive tools that required some degree of technical competency to master); those wanting to encrypt email easily had to deal with investing in 3rd party certificates that could cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars before the feature was available.
Thanks to Edward Snowden, we’re all now pretty-well acquainted with the notion we’ve lost privacy and will likely never get it back. But even so, that doesn’t mean the government (or God-knows-who nowadays) ought to have carte blanche to read chats, emails or become privy to what you’re downloading via bitTorrent or what cash you’re exchanging with parties online. (At least not until tax time.) And a tool that works on all platforms big and small, like Keybase, is now available to assist with all of the above!
To begin, it’s best to start on a Mac or Windows environment – somewhere where the configuration utility can operate. The system does a pretty decent job of talking one through the process of setting up one’s first PGP (security) keys and getting the app installed. However, one improvement for the future might be getting this utility (also called a “CLI” or “command-line interface”) to work within a web browser so one can perform the entire process using a hand-held device. Once the software is installed, one finds installed an icon in their system tray (on Windows) which will present the list of users and some very heavily shaded icons (despite) which are used to access other parts of the Keybase app. The CLI also has its own icon deployed to the Windows ‘Start’ menu and this is where you can quickly access many of the features associated with setup. In my case, I already had PGP keys and so using the CLI was a necessary part of the setup. Regardless, to get acquainted with the CLI and how it works with setup, I’d begin by loading up a copy of the “new user” docs in a web browser. Then in the CLI utility, run two commands:
First, run “keybase help” to see what commands are instantly available to you as a new, unregistered user (there are a few), and
Second,, run “keybase signup”.
Finally, I’d quickly read through the “basic docs” you have open in your browser and drill down into any areas where you have questions. Still more questions about Keybase and maybe PGP? I strongly advise you get a Reddit account if you’ve not already got one and access the group called r/Keybase. You’ll find this well-trafficked!
Although the Keybase app (accessed from the system tray) links to several choice apps, PGP is extremely versatile and plug-ins exist for Microsoft Outlook 2016 (and earlier) and is used with numerous other applications.
If there is a down-side to the app, there is a concern that — since a Keybase account can be used with several keys — it could be possible for someone to associate 2 keys (which typically involve two email addresses being known) together and thereby create an identity profile on a Keybase user. This is a security concern, although an obvious workaround would be to register PGP keys to separate Keybase accounts and thereby never expose oneself. Keybase itself claims it never advertises personal details, but if one connects to another user (say, for secure chat) and exchanges their public key; in such a case the potential would exist for that 3rd party to disclose your email at their discretion. (This itself isn’t a security flaw, but it is something to be mindful of when exchanging data security regardless of the means used.)
Post-Modern Electioneering: Back to the Future
Robyn Urback Columnist
Written in response to CBC News: “Millennials finally fall out of love with Justin Trudeau after he abandons electoral reform: Opinion by Robyn Urback”
s a member of the vaunted (yes and cynical) Generation-X, I’ve got to just roll my eyes once more….. Millennials are doing precisely what the generations before have done as youth – not voted as a block….at least – not for long.
But if there is really a block here to be won (and – let’s be clear – there isn’t), it would be easy to take yesteryear successes and use ’em again. We need more IT staffers (like me!) to explore service industries like software development or network engineering. And offering a bit of money for vocational training here (alongside some success stories) would really go a long way toward making up for lost ground on the FPP voting fiasco. Trudeau, God bless him, should’ve known better than to try saying “well we tried, but you know in government – you can’t always do what you thought you could before being elected” routine. Even if you believe it, it’s kind of a crappy reason to go back to the public with.
The real worry I have isn’t the loss of some fictionalized Millennial solidarity. It’s the potential for cross-demographic populism and fascism to take hold in this country! And while O’Leary isn’t Trump, maybe the best we can hope for it the short term is that fascism will pass us by and that Trudeau’s over-promise, under-deliver showing so far somehow reverses itself the more experience he gets as our Prime Minister.
I’m about the same age as he is – but it’s obvious to me while he might be better at leading the country than I’d be….his father he is not. And there is plenty for him to learn yet!
Doomsday Clock: It is now 2 minutes before midnight!
efore I had entered high school (back in the late 1970’s), I can remember the periodic ominous warnings of the world’s “Doomsday Clock” scientific group. And I was greatly relieved (as I’m sure we all were) when the pressures of a looming nuclear apocalypse seemed to disappear with the collapse of communism in what is now called “The Russian Federation”. We got all the way back to 15 minutes before midnight (or just about) and then with the rise of terrorism it started to creep back toward midnight again.
So now it almost seems shocking to hear the clock is nearly as close as it’s ever been to midnight (surpassed only by periods of extreme political tension when nuclear war between Russia and the U.S. seemed an ever-present threat)! Last week’s article on the subject is worth a read as is taking a moment for each of us to reflect on what we can do to save our planet. At the moment, things are looking especially apocalyptic again — climate change, the rise of fascism, threats of war on multiple fronts (as was pointed out over the weekend by the last President of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev)…we need to stop allowing apathy and mediocre leadership to drive us all over a cliff.
Yelp E-Mails Rooking in Small Business!
perating as a small business owner, on a couple of occasions in the past I’ve encountered people that are something less than honest. This is not the norm by any means — and yet one realizes early on to keep a wary eye for those few wolves who fashion themselves guardians of the hen house, so to speak….
A bit of research can be an eye-opener too, which is why I’m kind of kicking myself for not seeing these folks coming from a mile off: Yelp.com
I recently received a $300 advertising coupon, alike the sort I’ve received from advertisers like Google.com in the mail. You enter a coupon code somewhere and get to try out the service. I took advantage of such an offer from Yelp in late October of this year — only to start getting transactions mysteriously showing up on my credit card earlier this month, contrary to expectations.
I had taken advantage of the coupon at the time, which did not explicitly advertise there would be debits automatically starting once the $300 had been used up. Nor was I able to readily determine at any point how much of the credit was used.
Finally, when a December bill appeared, I immediately contacted Yelp to cancel any advertising services that might have been procured. I was concerned that it wasn’t generating any business for me and that they were keeping records of user credit card numbers (a practice with which I have issues for both reasons of personal security and privacy).
Contact with Staff was Terse and Unhelpful
The amount of the bill wasn’t too substantial – less than $100 in Canadian funds. However, despite taking this as an opportunity to build a positive customer experience, they responded to my concerns as “threatening” them (when I mentioned I would be describing my interactions with customer service here on my blog) and trying to get out of paying the bill, stopping short of calling me a thief outright. This attitude was evident despite my attempts to voice my concerns to two different parties by phone – the only emails I could receive from them seemed to be automated messages aimed at billing.
After encountering two highly confrontational staff I thought it incumbent to characterize my experience as objectively as I could for the benefit of others seeking a review of the Yelp service.
Doesn’t Follow its Own Advice on Handling Complaints
Yelp’s own advice on the subject of end-user reviews is as follows¹:
Either way, when responding to reviews it is important to have good practices established to make sure your organization and your [customer]’s privacy are protected. In both scenarios, the goal should be to take the conversation offline and to a private channel.
It’s my considered opinion Yelp did not follow it’s own advice in my particular case, nor does it do so when it comes to the privacy of others; whether they are customers or simply users of its service(s):
- retaining credit card information can be a license for the unscrupulous to simply debit amounts indefinitely regardless of customer intent; such as when a company doesn’t bother to take the spending intentions of customers into account and charges for services they don’t want; effectively taking a nickel-and-dime approach to earning profit rather than promoting & selling services on the strength of their own merit, and
- allowing customer service staff to become confrontational with customers is both unnecessary and inexcusable. Worse still, Yelp made virtually no effort to “take the conversation offline”, instead calling my intention to review my interactions with them a “threat” and insisting they’d continue with the charges.
It’s certainly accurate to say I can’t describe my own experience with Yelp as necessarily representative of those one would have with the company and it does appear many have had positive experiences with them. However, I can equally accurately say that my experience was anything but positive from the perspective of a customer and there are many on Facebook and other alternate online sources who report difficulties as well. I can also state with certainty that given my concerns, treated as they were, will result in my never considering business with them again in the future.
Epilogue
My experience also left me with the impression that Yelp is a company governed less by technology innovation and more by a very single-minded focus on earnings from its advertising business. (Although it was not necessarily my intention at the outset to demand no-cost settlement of the bill they sent me, this became an issue when they declined to discuss my concerns in good faith.) In the future, I’m likely to seek out Microsoft, Google or WordPress when considering online advertising. Even should this prove to be more expensive, both companies seem to be paying a lot greater attention to their advertising clientele.
Follow-ups to this story may appear here, should any occur.
¹ See https://www.yelpblog.com/2016/12/experts-guide-patient-privacy-online-reviews near the subheading “Example 1” for source.
Police Requests for New Internet Powers Could Cost You Big
anada’s CBC (a leading media and news organization in the country) promoted a story this past week concerning a very public request to the senior politicians for greater investigative powers. This was followed by a poll that showed a degree of support for the police requests – seemingly predicated on a desire to curb child pornography among other crimes. While civil libertarians and technology professionals raised the alarm on hearing this request, there was only limited consideration given to the cost of granting powers of this sort to police – tied largely to the cost of potentially onerous data warehousing by ISPs. (As a footnote here, I want to cite the case of the UK which, this past week, saw Parliament enact legislation that would be largely in-line with the kinds of legislative change the RCMP would like to see enacted here in Canada.)
“Two parliamentary committees examined this issue. Then there was the unanimous Supreme Court [of Canada] decision. What part of ‘unconstitutional’ doesn’t [RCMP] Commissioner Paulson understand?”
— Michael Harris, iPolitics.ca, November 25, 2016
Privacy and Internet Commerce
anadians (and people generally) can still be very reluctant to share their personal information online. A recent website delivered by The AppRefactory — the Edgewater Tenants’ Community Website — has been off to something of a slow start with the administration fielding questions about why an end-user’s address is needed as part of the signup process. This is done with the awareness and limited support from the property management company that acts as the landlord which has data about every tenant’s address, yet that same information is not so readily volunteered when it takes digital form. The information in this case is used to simply verify that an end-user signup request is for a tenant as opposed to some random user from the Internet; in order to ensure that any information a tenant elects to access or share on the site is kept within the tenant community only. As such it is a measure intended to protect tenant privacy, but there can still be reluctance about sharing it.
This is just an example of how users have adapted over the years to safeguard their privacy. Yet now the police want measures taken by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to circumvent privacy to such a degree that they will never again be aware of who exactly has access to their information. (We saw in another article posted this past week how police could access computer records without appropriate authorization or authority.) And should police officers once again demonstrate how human they can be and make a mistake, suddenly the information they’ve been entrusted with is available to parties unknown.
Such cases, once known to the public (as they will tend to be, thanks to our free press), could easily put end-users further on the defensive about their information. And, despite poll results suggesting some support for increased police powers, there remains the likelihood the average person in Canada (which, historically, tends to be a person that trusts police authority) hasn’t thought the issue through very thoroughly and certainly not technically. The regime Canadians will be confronted with, whatever their decision about the powers police should have online, could easily be one business is less well-able to thrive in and would find it harder to operate in without being less able to solicit end-user consent and confidence meaningfully.
And they wouldn’t know it until it really was too late.
New Powers Add Onerous Burdens on All Business (Not Just ISPs)
he legislation in the UK does not specifically distinguish nor give license to ISPs to operate or grant any special legal distinction to them apart from providers of Internet-facing services generally. As such it would seem to stand as a matter of law that anyone providing Internet-facing services could be compelled to maintain logs concerning end-user activity. From a technical perspective, the law wouldn’t be all that meaningful if it couldn’t extend, for example, to providers of Virtual Private Network (VPN) services which are frequently used to both secure corporate communications online as well as anonymize network access to BitTorrent media sharing sites or “Deep Web” network traffic.
So the law must apply to businesses using the Internet equally (or at least be seen to apply as such). And how will the small business be impacted when they’re suddenly required to maintain a database documenting (as the RCMP want) up to two years of end-user activity? One approach we could use would be to use Microsoft Azure’s service calculator to take a service that uses a very modest 5GB of data monthly to track data transfer activity for a service, numbering just 10,000 transactions. Without any service connections, charging just for the storage of table-based data only, we get an added cost of $409.00 per month, including a $364.00 Standard Support feature on local redundancy only. (Nothing could immediately be found on legislative requirements for backing up this data, but a vendor support feature seemed logical to imagine in this scenario.) That’s a not-so-inconsiderable $4,900 per year and is getting pricey for the average small business.
Now if you run a big business, things get interesting: scaled up to 5TB of data and 1 million transactions, the costs at the same level of support (with local redundancy only) balloon out to $5,223.68 per month or a whopping $62,684.16 per year.
These costs are certainly something to consider when it comes to determining who is paying for all this extra monitoring. One thing is clear, it won’t be coming out of the RCMP’s budget!
And although this is the costs according to one vendor, it is an industry leader in a space oft-credited with reducing the costs associated with maintaining large warehouses of data (a main selling point behind “the cloud” movement). One shudders to think how much more onerous these costs could become if one is required by law to maintain hardware and software of their own, in a facility that is solely under their own control.
Final Analysis: Restrain Police Powers Online
ith passage of the UK legislation this past week, the Government of Canada may be best-advised to stay the course for now and weigh its options again at a later date if it chooses. While I suspect both in the wake of Brexit and their now police powers law (called the “Investigatory Powers Bill”) will lead the UK (and England in particular) into a self-made socio-economic crisis, there remains the question as to what exactly the impact of their measures will have. The opportunity here isn’t to regulate early and hopefully stop child sexual abuse — a cause I’m very sympathetic to and have even had occasion to assist police with. Rather, it’s to gain the wisdom about whether the impacts of these measures will simply drive it further underground or make a meaningful difference (as opposed to being an issue cited simply as a political red herring to grant powers that will be used for other purposes). To discover whether the economic impact is too burdensome. And to learn comprehensively if there will be the promised ‘greater good’ worthy of the limits a free and democratic society — a just society — places on itself and its citizens.
REPOSTED: How to install and configure Azure PowerShell
ood summary article here on credentials configuration for Windows PowerShell’s Azure environment. (Azure Dev newbies should be acquainted with this stuff.)
You can use Windows PowerShell to perform a variety of tasks in Azure, either interactively at a command prompt or automatically through scripts. Azure PowerShell is a module that provides cmdlets …
Project “ARTeRMis” Site Published
Link to “Edgewater” Tenant Site Prototype
roperty Management Application(currently code-named Project “ARTeRMis”) moved a step closer to delivery of a much larger property management tool based on Microsoft SharePoint today with publication of one of the trial components: “Edgewater“. This component is simply an amalgamation of a number of different elements native to SharePoint, but hosted in the Office 365 environment and is setup to product test the suitability of them for inclusion in the TRM (Tenant Relationship Manager) application delivery going forward.
Artermis will ultimately be heavily dependent on Office 365, SharePoint and ASP.NET MVC when it ships; currently forecast for initial delivery sometime in 2017.
Facebook Move May Cause Greater Secrecy About Data (Ab)Use
ata use in violation of Facebook’s licensing agreement for developers has prompted the company to intervene to halt distribution of an insurance industry app that would have used end-user data (shared by consent) to track social media behaviour and qualify some for discounts on insurance rates. Facebook claims it has a policy to prohibit such use — but the move raises questions around privacy and whether or not Facebook acted in its own interests; possibly masking a hidden intent to mentize similar apps later itself. Regardless, one consequence is likely: nothing stops an app developer from not disclosing the true intent behind acquiring user data nor even offering a misleading or untrue rationale for data capture. This could simply mean England’s “Admiral Insurance” is last case of this kind we hear about.
For more information, see the attached segment from Canada’s CBC News:
Visit the CBC website for video coverage at either of the following links:
Motorists fined for failing to give cyclists space in Somerset blitz — Ottawa Citizen
ow if there wasn’t a police action that was long, long overdue in the city of Ottawa – surely this had to rank high on the list of priorities…
Ottawa police handed out a dozen fines to motorists during a safety blitz in downtown Ottawa Wednesday. Seven motorists were fined for failing to keep a one-metre distance between their cars and cyclists on Somerset Street. The infraction cost each motorist a $130 fine and 2 demerit points, Ottawa police Const. Marc Soucy told the…
via Motorists fined for failing to give cyclists space in Somerset blitz — Ottawa Citizen
Fresh New Look for The AppRefactory Inc.
fter 3+ years hosted at Weebly.com, it was time to finally take The AppRefactory Inc. company website into a modern hosting environment with features and integration potential that would allow us to demonstrate, albeit in brief, what ASP.NET MVC could offer. Dynamic product listings with breadcrumb sub-navigation, upload sections for partner contracts and résumés; and database-driven contact forms that make it easier than ever (and convenient) to stay in touch are all just the beginning. In the days ahead we still expect to add:
The AppRefactory Inc. website redeployment announcement graphic: http://apprefactory.ca
- Links to customer features site (requiring login) via Office365, Visual Studio (online ed.) and SharePoint,
- Highlights and links to ongoing software development currently being undertaken by the company,
- Book time online with a consultant to review your software service needs or setup an in-depth remote service session online through HackHands.com,
- Subscription for partner companies and contacts looking for email updates consultant availability and/or major site & service offering revisions, and
- Links to WindowsStore.com and related sites for specific product integrations (Windows desktop, server and phone all to be included).
So stay tuned! There’s much more yet to come….and you won’t want to miss any of it.
(Additional graphics related to the new website can be found on our Yelp.ca listing.)
Runtastic Workouts Live
ou can watch me during a workout! Yes, it’s a Runtastic.com feature….not hugely exciting, but it will put a dot on a map to indicate where I’m at in my workout and give you the chance to cheer me on (requires you authenticate with Google or Facebook, but always welcomed!).
To see if I’m working out now and, if not, still get a list of past workouts – visit my Runtastic site today! Am hoping for another triathlon season in 2017 which is what I’m training for at present.
We’re Baaaaaack……
ue to certain issues with the “free” WordPress/IIS host I’d previously been using on and off for the past couple of years, I’ve ended my experimental hosting experience and returned here after all. A couple of minor articles were deleted — but nothing too critical.
So I’ll resume in the weeks ahead posting here on articles of interest mostly to me, but perhaps to some of you out there as well. 😉 Hope the summer is going well for all!
BLOG RELOCATION ANNOUNCEMENT
ust a quick advisory to everyone concerning this blog — WE’VE MOVED!!! That’s right; as of today (October 2, 2014), The Ross Report is relocating to its new home at a new hosting provider. So don’t think for a second I’m disappearing anywhere…on the contrary. The new address is a migration off of the old wordpress.com site address because a new environment that is more in-line with the growing in-house architecture of The AppRefactory Inc. (the business I’m running) has become available. The new server also offers all the advantages that go with running one’s own WordPress.org application (PHP) server….which is to say absent all the limitations imposed on users of WordPress.com‘s space. More detailed analytics and the option to tie-into a whole bunch more apps and plug-ins are also now available and will facilitate some forthcoming development exercises in the weeks and (more accurately) months ahead.
So update your bookmarks now! The new permanent address is:
http://ross613.wp.apprefactory.ca
Look forward to seeing you there!
Why cloud computing is still a hard sell, but doesn’t have to be (Re-Blogged)
Very candid exchange between two enterprise-tech pundits on the current state of affairs in the cloud space. Can the cloud save you money? As is so often the case, success is typically found in the execution as much as being duly responsive to customers. Commentators from Ericsson and Apcera offer perspectives on their own experience which might well be mirrored elsewhere…
The definitions of cloud computing have shifted a lot in the past several years, but a few things never change. Whether it’s located in an Amazon data center or a company’s own, whether it’s virtual servers or an entire platform for deploying applications, the cloud is supposed to serve many users, it’s supposed to improve flexibility and it’s supposed to save money. It all sounds great, but these guiding lights don’t always jibe with existing attitudes toward security and compliances and the systems put in place to enforce them.
On this week’s Structure Show podcast, we interviewed Derek Collision (above, left) — founder of a company called Apcera that’s all about making it easy to enforce policies while gaining the benefits of cloud computing — and Jason Hoffman (above, right) — the head of cloud computing at Ericsson (and former founder and CTO of Joyent), which just invested millions of…
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Sol 752a Published to MSLoGE
Mount Sharp (Aeolis Mons) within Gale Crater, Mars. Image taken: September 17, 2014 (Sol 752)
ols 751 through 753 this week promise some exciting new imagery from Curiosity. Already published to the Google Earth archive is the latest telemetry from Sol 752 (taken yesterday) which will be used to create a further upload (I’m separating the presentations into two files for this event; one called 752a, the other, 752b). These will illustrate further a detailed look at the geography of the region now being called simply ‘the Amargosa Valley’.
According to Curiosity Rover scientist Lauren Edgar:
“A short ~30 m drive on Sol 753 should put Curiosity in a good position at the Pahrump Hills. Sol 754 will consist of 2 hours of untargeted remote sensing, including ChemCam calibration activities to prepare for the Pahrump investigation, and a Navcam movie to monitor the atmosphere.”
Edgar promises further science mission plans for the Pahrump Hills region and beyond will be known very soon.
AR CamFeeder 1.0.1 (beta) Released to UI Testing
amFeeder, reflecting my latest work, has been deployed to the AppRefactory website. It’s not in an ideal state just yet, but does offer the main UI to serve as the platform for future refinements of a tool that effectively replaces a much older utility that once existed for Yahoo’s application platform (which I forget the name of). It features a simple XML file that contains data about web query strings and URLs needed to display and, eventually, capture imagery from traffic cameras anywhere in the world! Because I live in the city of Ottawa (Canada), I’ve added a selection of cameras from this city’s own traffic monitoring service – but any camera with a web-based feed should be compatible.
AR CamFeeder screenshot (taken September 16, 2014); illustrating the auto-tiling camera feed feature.
Indeed, it would be particularly helpful to receive feedback from persons editing the XML file (called camopts.xml) in the application’s folder in other cities. Currently AR CamFeeder is available only for Windows; but I expect to have a different version readied for Android smartphones in early 2015.
This was also an opportunity for a trial run using InstallShield as a package and deployment technology in concert with Microsoft Visual Studio 2013. The Limited Edition package isn’t bad at all; offering a time-unlimited means to archive an entire windows application within a setup.exe and tailor all of the settings one used to need the Windows SDK and Orca to tweak properly (at least some of the time). It is this setup.exe made available for download from The AppRefactory Inc. website you’ll be using to do the installation if you’d like to review the package or play around with adding your own cameras.
If you’d like to add your name to a usability testers list, get in touch with me via info@apprefactory.ca and I’ll add your name to the group list; with thanks for your assistance in advance.
To the rest: enjoy AR CamFeeder during this trial phase at no cost. (Fear not: more features will be in the full release which, it is still hoped, will be a free download.)
Ezra’s Error
Ezra Levant in a typical pose.
bsent context, the Canadian political right has cultivated a new stereotype for itself in the last two decades. Led astray in the wake of the Great Conservative Cataclysm (the deed of former Conservative Prime Minister, Brian Mulroney via Schreibergate), provocateur pundits like Ezra Levant have a new favourite tactic: to use character assassination and innuendo to shape political fortunes when the strength of goals and ideas can’t be found.
And in today’s Sun News’ “Straight Talk” column, a renewed drumbeat of criticism and dogma handed those of us who have a vein somewhere on our foreheads that thirsted to be-a-throbbin’. Brought to us by way of Twitter: @SunNewsNetwork writes “Trudeau opposes revoking the citizenship of Canadians suspected of being involved in terrorism,” inviting readers to Ezra’s article and another poll that the neocons can use to erode liberties a little further, no doubt.
Funny how the right never seems particularly interested in getting at the truths comprising an issue and instead revert to wordplay masquerading as an unbiased poll (we’re supposed to ignore the leading nature of the question — after all, you don’t want to support terrorism do you?) which then somehow gets quoted in Question Period, in campaign literature or one of those helpful automated phone calls made during dinner. The article itself turns out to be a tissue of quotes taken completely out of context; and you know there’s some constituency out there inhaling this stuff like a crack addict. But how bad can it possibly be? Surely there aren’t that many of ‘em out there… Oh yah, this is the group running the government right now.
Uh oh!
Yes, there actually are enough people swallowing this stuff hook, line and sinker or people like Ezra wouldn’t have a job, and Harper wouldn’t be Prime Minister. But Trudeau didn’t say Communist China was his favourite foreign country — it was just China, and he spent a bit of time there earlier in his life. Yes, you can favour decriminalization of drugs without advocating everyone should get high more often! And taking quotes completely out of context and asking “Pardon?” as if it was Trudeau that didn’t make any sense instead of Ezra himself: this is just not supporting a political view centered on facts, reality or truth.
I don’t know how I will get through the next year if I have to watch the country come unravelled because Conservative politicians using vague ad hominem references, McCarthyist innuendo about views pursuing innocent political debate, or — I swear to God — one more tissue of lies published by Ezra Levant simply because he’s anxious to engage in another inflammatory, disingenuous diatribe on Liberal campaign issues (which aren’t published just yet).
Ezra, if the truth really will hurt the Liberals so much when they go public with their campaign, why are you slithering about the nether regions of what passes for Canada’s political theatre conjuring up demons? Why not cling to whatever integrity as a journalist you have left and simply await this field day of yours, smiling patiently? Reducing the political discourse to the degree you do really is bad for the country!
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CBC News Alerts
- Alberta RCMP link four Calgary murders in 1970s to American serial killer
- B.C. man who was tracking a bear airlifted to hospital after grizzly attack
- Extra police, power generators sent to help secure evacuated Fort Nelson, B.C.
- Emmy-winning, moustached character actor Dabney Coleman dead at age 92
- Calgary lawyer resigns from firm after sending 'disturbing' and 'misogynistic' email
- Toronto eliminated from PWHL playoffs after surrendering 2-0 series lead to Minnesota
- Hospital food has a bad reputation. A chef reimagined it — with a focus on healing
- Security footage appears to show musician Diddy assault singer Cassie in hotel
- Federal government rejects Toronto's request to decriminalize simple possession of illicit drugs
- Israel recovers bodies of 3 hostages from Gaza, military says
InfoQ Articles (Software Architecture)
- Presentation: Streaming Databases: Embracing the Convergence of Stream Processing and Databases
- Podcast: Tips and Techniques for Improving Retrospectives
- Slack Optimizes Internal Development and Cost Efficiency with EKS and Karpenter
- Jetpack Compose Extends Transitions and Animations, and Improves Performance
- How to Build Large Scale Cyber-Physical Systems
- Hugging Face Unveils LeRobot, an Open-Source Machine Learning Model for Robotics
- Azure API Center Now Generally Available
- Rust-Written Borgo Language Brings Algebraic Data Types and More to Go
- TypeSpec: a Practical TypeScript-Inspired API Definition Language
- Microsoft Launches Trusted Signing in Public Preview: an End-to-End Signing Solution for Developers
Exoplanets News
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Elite Dangerous (posts to Twitter.com)
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Blogs I Follow
The Ross Report 
CBC Censorship Out of Control!
It wasn’t the first time today when the 3rd post I’d made to a CBC News article in the past 2 months got censored for some unknown reason. I was responding to another comment by “John Thomas Cromarty”, who posts quite regularly to CBC’s news story comments about the article entitled “Should people take Russia’s new COVID-19 vaccine? Increasingly, experts say it’s probably just fine” and I’d responded with the following:
I am unsure what the rationale was, but apart from one word which (arguably) could have been disallowed due to the use of an expletive – the entire article was censored about 10 minutes after being made available publicly.
In fact, I’ve twice taken the time to write letters to both the CBC ombudsman and CBC content folks about the censorship issue without so much as the courtesy of an automated reply. And I’ve started to question whether CBC even takes such comments and questions seriously. I’ve certainly taken the time to read the posting rules and other pertinent literature and can find nothing in any of the aforementioned posts that was technically “out of bounds”, according to my reasoning. Also according to that reasonsing, either I’m missing relevant information or something in CBC’s process is flawed. If they don’t want end-users commenting on stories, why provide a “fake” comments section where 30% of the posts are disabled for some unspecified reason? It feels a little arbitrary and contrary to the public transparency so often decried as the fault of governments to provide when the CBC doesn’t even adhere to that same standard itself.
And I, for one, tend to disdain hypocrisy…
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