Re internet connection

[radiance]

ROUBAL, you're problem is easily solved:

* go to the shop and buy a PCI-E 1x ethernet card that's win7 compatible (or PCI if you don't have any more PCI-E 1x slots
PCI-E 1x are the very little PCI-E slots that are only 2-3 cm long
This will cost you 10-15 euros, and maybe 9 euros for a non-brand one

* go to the shop and buy a TP-LINK or D-LINK ethernet router. These will go for approx 29 euros

* put the network card in your workstation

* attach the network card to the LAN port of the router (it usually has 4 or so, can use any one), with a normal RJ-45 ethernet cable

* attach another RJ45 ethernet cable from your new router's WAN port to your orange box's LAN port, that supplies the internet.
if this box only has one lan port, you can buy a small 4 or 8port switch or hub at 9-15 euro to make the one port into more, and connect the cable that's in the WAN port of the router to the switch or hub.

* configure the new router. (usually you surf to http://192.168.1.1 or equiv. (see documentation)
Deny all incoming and Deny all outcoming connections.
Add one accept rule, outgoing from the IP of your workstation to the IPs of our servers, with our port number. (we will put this information with the release notes.)

That's it.
Now you've got a workstation that can use the new octane, and cannot access or be accessed from the internet.

Radiance

[kubo]

Look, I sometimes get pissed off when my clients have zero faith in me and think that know better, finally when they see the results they change their minds and are really pleased, but even thou they'd hired me to do a job they waste my time on things that I've allready thought off and discarded or are exceptical on adding things I know for sure will be good for them in the long run, it's a pain, and I'm more or less used to it, but it hurts everytime.
With this I mean, that so far Radiance, and the whole Refractive Team have delivered what they have promised and besides that they have had the time to listen to our request (even the stupid ones, me included, that we throw time and again), and they have made IMHO one of the more promising redenderers that I, for one, already use in my production with great results. All of that for 100€, heck I've got GAMES that have cost almost the same and I have played less!
So before bringing out the big guns, sit back, have some coffe, and wait for the 2.3, then, after we get an stable and complete 2.3, if your are not pleased, you can complain, but seriously, complaining about something that so far has surpased any expectations it is not fair.
On topic, I could not keep off my mind this scene:

Call me a fanboy if you want, but I'm a trustful person as long as someone doesn't let me down, not beforehand, and so far Refractive has got a lot of credit in my "trust acount".

[David]

Roubal,

Sure, for you and other in your case, Radiance must find an alternative solution there is no other way.


Radiance,

According to what you said, no matter it is an anti-piracy system or not, internet connexion will be required each time I launch Octane. Am I right ?

So may I ask you, for people in my condition, to add an option that in case of connexion problem we could use Octane, let's say, for one week without the need to be connected ?

Would that be a big problem ?

You must satisfy all your customers not just a portion of it.

Octane is a great renderer and I understand your will to protect it, but don't go too far, don't put that burden on the shoulders of your loyal customers.

Best regards.

[ycarry]

to manage my Orange Livebox modem under Win 7x64...

No need a software, Roubal, just plug: as Orange say then (as Radiance say) type http://192.168.1.1 in a browser,
enter passwords (generaly admin-admin), select Préférences/Livebox,
then Sécurité (pare-feu) and choose bottom Option 'Personnalisé' button: Paramétrer
here you enter the nums Refractive send you to be connected only to Refractive.
Seems long but made in 5 seconds... If you need help ask me

Edit: mais pourquoi je te raconte tout ça en anglais ?!

[Chris_TC]

They should just release 2.3. That way we won't have to speculate any longer.

[ROUBAL]

@ Radiance :

Thank you for your explanations. They give me some hope, but there is still something that I dont understand : The adress http://192.168.1.1/ is the adress of the Orange Livebox, and I don't want to modify its parameters, because they suit the needs of my Internet computer.

- As I have not yet a router, I can't know if an other adress will be available for its parameters panel, but I need to set different parameters for the workstation (only connected to Octane server, and maybe the antivirus update server) and my internet station (almost full access).

- I have both a PCI and a PCIEx1 slots available which one is best suitable for an ethernet card ?

- As I believe that license keys are based partially on ethernet adress, must I expect some softwares licenses to not work if I install an ethernet card in one of these slots ?

@n1k : My onboard ethernet card is an Attansic L1. and It was displayed as an Attansic L1 in the peripheral browser with Windows XP 32 bits.

On Asus support site, there is a vista driver, but no Win 7 x64 driver. The ASUS P5K is not in the list of Win 7 compatible motherboards, but almost everything works except some advanced audio features that I can use thanks to an external fast track pro interface that has dedicated Win 7 x64 drivers.

I have jut noticed that Win 7 x64 peripheral browser detects an Atheros ethernet card instead of my Attansic L1... maybe it could work ?

@ycarry : Thank you, I found the advanced settings, but I dont want to modify my Livebox parameters, because I need full access to Internet on my usual PC dedicated to the web ! I need very restricted acces only on my workstation (distant from around 6 meters, and I don't know yet how to manage with the cables).
(En anglais pour les autres !:)

The advanced settings could be interesting if I didn't needed the TV connection on the second ethernet output of the Livebox (however, it is not connected full time because it eats most of my bandwidth) . I say it could be interesting to avoid a router (as the Livebox is indeed a router) if it could be possible to set different settings on each output plug, but currently, without a second computer connected, I can't know if a second settings page appears when a second computer is plugged.

[caronte]

First, don't read this as it was wrote by a monkey, I know my English is very poor, but it isn't my native language at all.

I understand the problems of some users, but when you invest on a beta software, you must accept changes on it, and you can't blame the programmers it selfs because you buy a beter system to run the software.

I was programmer in the past and I know the frustration when you can't work in the application it self, because you MUST do something to slowing down the piracy

About the privacy asked by clients, is VERY easy (as Radiance said) to add a router to deny everything but the Octane need.

Guys, let the Octane team to give us the best user experience with awesome new tools and ask for help to solve your problems, but... Don't hurt the coders moral, they don't want to fuck customers, they want to have happy ones.

Like ever... Thi's my personal poit of view.

[David]

"but when you invest on a beta software, you must accept changes on it, and you can't blame the programmers it selfs because you buy a beter system to run the software"

This is false. There were terms and conditions that Customers accept when they buy a licence. Nowhere in his website did Radiance tell that the hardwire requirement was and will be an internet connexion.
Terms and conditions cannot be changed such a drastic way by the owner till after version 1. There are laws here in Europe that forbid such things.

I am waiting the 2.3 and will see but if I need to connect each time I launch Octane, then I will ask for refund.

[ROUBAL]

About the privacy asked by clients, is VERY easy (as Radiance said) to add a router to deny everything but the Octane need.

I agree with that from a purely technical point of view in best case, but the point of view of the clients is that I cannot certify that at any time for any reason a failure will not occur resetting or altering the parameters of the router and leaving everything pass by.

@Radiance : I like a lot the clever suggestion made by David :

So may I ask you, for people in my condition, to add an option that in case of connexion problem we could use Octane, let's say, for one week without the need to be connected ?

This would prevent unauthorized users from running Octane more than one week (like a one week full testing period, which is short ), and would allow the regular Octane clients to unlock on line an work safely off line while keeping at se same time some mobility for a week if required, which seems very reasonable in my opinion.

This solution would comply with both Refractive choosen method and the requirements of the more paranoid clients (and users like me if you believe I am !)

What is your opinion about that ?

[Henrik]

The Psychology of Human Misjudgment,The man-with-a-hammer syndrome


Man-with-a-hammer syndrome is pretty simple: you think of an idea and then, pretty soon, it becomes THE idea. You start seeing how THE idea can apply to anything and everything, it’s the universal explanation for how the universe works. Suddenly, everything you’ve ever thought of before must be reinterpreted through the lens of THE idea and you’re on an intellectual high. Utilitarianism is a good example of this. Once you independently discover Utilitarianism you start to believe that an entire moral framework can be constructed around a system of pleasures and pains and, what’s more, that this moral system is both objective and platonic. Suddenly, everything from the war in the middle east to taking your mid-morning dump at work because you need that 15 minutes of reflective time alone with yourself before you can face the onslaught of meaningless drivel that is part of corporate America but feeling guilty about it because you were raised to be a good Randian and you are not providing value from your employers so you’re committing and act of theft can be fit under the Utilitarian framework. And then, hopefully, a few days later, you’re over it and Utilitarianism is just another interesting concept and you’re slightly embarrassed about your behavior a few days prior. Unfortunately, some people never get over it and they become those annoying people write long screeds on the internet about THE idea.


The most important thing to realize about man-with-a-hammer syndrome is that there’s absolutely no possible way to avoid having it happen to you. You can be a well seasoned rationalist who’s well aware of how man-with-a-hammer syndrome works and what the various symptoms are but it’s still going to hit you fresh with each new idea. The best you can do is mitigate the fallout that occurs.

Once you recognize that you’ve been struck with man-with-a-hammer syndrome, there’s a number of sensible precautions you can take. The first is to have a good venting spot, being able to let your thoughts out of your head for some air lets you put them slightly in perspective. Personally, I have a few trusted friends to which I expose man-with-a-hammer ideas with all the appropriate disclaimers to basically ignore the bullshit that is coming out of my mouth. One thing I’m experimenting with is a less public portion of my blog to put that kind of stuff on (which will be made much clearer after the sorely needed redesign).

The second important thing to do is to hold back from telling anyone else about the idea. Making an idea public means that you’re, to a degree, committed to it and this is not what you want. The best way to prolong man-with-a-hammer syndrome is to have other people believing that you believe something.


Unfortunately, the only other thing to do is simply wait. There’s been nothing I’ve discovered that can hasten the recovery from man-with-a-hammer syndrome beyond some minimum time threshold. If you’ve done everything else right, the only thing left to do is to simply out wait it. No amount of clever mental gymnastics will help you get rid of the syndrome any faster and that’s the most frustrating part. You can be perfectly aware that you have it, know that everything you’re thinking now, you won’t believe in a weeks time and yet you still can’t stop yourself from believing in it now.

Man-with-a-hammer syndrome can destroy your life if you’re not careful but, if handled appropriately, is ultimately nothing more than an annoying and tedious cost of coming up with interesting ideas. What’s most interesting about it to me is that even with full awareness of it’s existence, it’s completely impossible to avoid. While you have man-with-a-hammer syndrome, you end up living in a curious world in which you are unable to disbelieve in something you know to be not true and this is a deeply weird state I’ve not seen “rationalists” fully come to terms with.

Stop nagging. MR.R must work!