textman
textman on Hacker News
https://www.timeanddate.com
just about everything you want to know about sun and moon data for any location. Also a world clock, time zones, timers, calculators, even weather.
https://filezilla-project.org/
FileZilla FTP client
https://adionsoft.net/fastimageresize/
What the name says and super fast, super small output. supports multiple image formats.
https://www.xponentsoftware.com/xml-editor.aspx
for fast loading huge XML files. editing not very full-featured and search is slow, but xml schema validation is fast.
https://afdc.energy.gov/stations#/find/nearest
Alternative energy locations with map. USA, Canada. electric/charging type, CNG, LNG, Hydrogen, propane, biodiesel, ethanol. route selection.
https://fire.airnow.gov/
Fire and smoke map. USA, Canada.
Dont need code, just looking for overall strategy. while I never liked the idea of hardware locked activation, I dont see a viable alternative but would be great if there is one.
Posted by
textman on Wednesday May 31, 2023 @10:09AM
from the ask-hn dept.
Looking for a low resource solution. Maybe a license file that has machine ID information, which I think is common.
Reason for my question: Some customers say they need this because they want to install on a datacenter without internet.
The article says you dont have to wait for June 1.
Has anyone implemented this? What the process like.
I emailed their support recently with a question which they have not answered. All I got was an auto-reply with a ticket number.
I am thinking I should just order directly from Comodo/Sectigo.
Do you have recent information about ksoftware?
Posted by
textman on Sunday April 16, 2023 @02:48PM
from the ksoftware.net dept.
The current release of my product is code signed, both installer and .exe inside it, but my 5 year cert expired (Comodo) and am evaluating the cost benefit of renewing, which is same as getting a new one, at least with Comodo they start you over from scratch. I am in USA and am incorporated in my state, so Comodo required a copy of my registration which has both company and my name and phone. They telephoned me with a couple basic questions. They also required I list my business a free online yellowpages business directory. That was it. Not too bad, but they stretched out their processing time line and were initially a bit misleading: at first they implied I had to go the dunn and bradstreet route, which is pricey, but when I objected they backed off.
What documents were you referring to regaring identity verification?
I should have mentioned that while purchased by some big companies, there is usually just one user so would not be worthwhile to set it up for remote installation. It is a very niche, specialized program.
So what does it take to get IT to approve software, particularly if no code signed installer? I was always a dev contractor so was never part of those decisions/policies.
Posted by
textman on Thursday February 23, 2023 @04:06PM
from the ask-hn dept.
B2B Windows desktop software sold mainly to medium to large companies, will they "install" it if there is no installer, but just a readme file that says to copy all the files to whatever location they choose? Only a single .exe plus a help file.
OP here. think what happens is stripe embeds the payment element in a cross-domain Iframe which means it is impossible for me(my server code) to access that data. And that seems to be the whole issue with PCI compliance, namely, my website is not in fact collecting CC data. From there I infer that stripe got certified PCI Service Provider Level 1 which allows them to handle just about all of the PCI processing and the vendor(me) just has to click an approval button annually to be PCI compliant. Does all this seem correct?
No, user is redirected to fastspring.com. I guess it depends on whether my server code can access the CC data. I somehow got the impression that it cannot. So how is the payment element actually connected to stripe?
From the stripe website: "a payment field that originates directly from our PCI DSS–validated servers. With safer card acceptance methods like these, we’ll populate the PCI form (SAQ) in the Stripe Dashboard, making PCI validation as easy as clicking a button."
Since the credit card payment data never touches my server, why is PCI compliance a part of the conversation? With Fastpring I don't deal with PCI because credit card payment is done on their server and it sounds like that is equally true with Stripe Elements.
So what am I missing here?
Posted by
textman on Wednesday February 08, 2023 @12:44PM
from the stripe.com dept.
I am in US and have an idependent insurance agent that offers healthcare plans for every insurance company licensed in our state. They compared my plan with all the others, taking into account the types of service I use, what is covered when travelling, etc. Anytime I need a specialist I call the agent for a list of in-network doctors.
A good insurance agent should do most of 1-4, but your service should make their job easier. So I see this as more for them than for a consumer. And also because after a plan is selected, copays and deductibles are essentially fixed so consumer would have no need to price shop.
I read both the Doctorov and Stoller articles but did not seen any proof that Booz-Allen receives the addon fees. Has an audit of their books revealed this?
Good ideas. Easy to add something to the download page when they first purchase.
Cannot disagree in concept, but the reality and logistics of doing that can get complicated. Going back a few versions, there were issues with the installation and also online license activation which I was always able to resolve without changing anything at my end, but it was considerable time on my part so really do not want to deal with that for free. Not to mention I would have to spend additional time reading the support logs to refresh my mind how I did it. Also, it is a .NET 2.0 program and I had to help a few customers that had not enabled .NET 2 when they installed Windows 10, so that could be yet another support issue to handle.
Posted by
textman on Thursday November 10, 2022 @12:53PM
from the ask-hn dept.
I think my suppot and maintenance policy is fairly standard for commercial software but please advise if you think otherwise.Solo developer here selling a Windows desktop program for many years for $100 USD which includes one year free support (email only) and maintenance( free bug fixes and new versions). New customers are given a URL for downloading the licensed version(trial executable does...
I posted earlier today and I don't see it in the Ask HN group, but maybe my vision is going bad. Here is the title:
Ask HN: Should vendor offer replacement installer if I did not buy suport?
Posted by
textman on Monday June 13, 2022 @05:08PM
from the news.ycombinator.com dept.
Posted by
textman on Monday June 13, 2022 @11:37AM
from the ask-hn dept.
I bought a $59 USD license for a Windows Desktop program two years ago but did not purchase the optional support at $15/year. My PC disk drive crashed and I do not have a backup of the installer for that program. I emailed vendor support and was told my license is perpetual but only for the purchased version and without the support subscription I cannot download the latest version and they do...
Are you saying React needs javascript?
Posted by
textman on Wednesday May 11, 2022 @12:38PM
from the ask-hn dept.
here is one example:
https://expeditionportal.com/
only the menu is shown and most of those do not work at all. If the Forum menu item is selected then get a javascript required message. Looks like the Store works as that brings in revenue and maybe the Podcasts work. But the main content and reason most use the website, is not available.
Clinical trials and particularly their design is a technical issue -I was a research statistition at one time so this is of interest to me technically and medically.
If you get shingles you wont be doing any hacking for awhile, so health issues are relevant. There are many HN topics on Coronavirus and other health issues. Someone recently asked how to deal with depression and no one challenged that.
Posted by
textman on Wednesday March 23, 2022 @02:51PM
from the self-post dept.
The Shingrix manufacturer GlaxosmithKline conducted clinical trials prior to product release but only for two doses. So how did GlaxosmithKline determine two doses are needed if they never ran a trial for a single dose? source:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33580242/
Already been done. did a search for "automated store no cashier"
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/cashiers-futu...
https://pixevia.com/automated-stores
Walmart and others are experimenting with it.
When grocery stores began offering curbside pickup, I thought the future would offer a way for the customer at home to communicate visually and orally with the store picker so the customer gets exactly what they want -"no not that apple it is bruised -take the one to its right." I think it might be a doable business model but not interested in investing my energy in it.
I get some downloaders of my trial software from Russia on my website. Would it be helpful to pop a message to them and what should it say? I already use an API to get the downloader's country via IP address so it would be easy to do this. One issue is I have no way to know if downloader is with the Russian government because the trial does not require registration of any kind, or even an email. The software is business related. I have a few sales from Russian IT consultants.