i'm kind of paranoid about posting from the other laptop. at least if this chromebook gets dirtied up, i can just reset it. it's easy enough for now....

the last thing i had to do to before i could republish the html player to the inri000 page was to make sure that the front end works for all of the different file types. i thought maybe i could check to see what's sitting in the directory, but that breaks the standards - it's a security risk, and i guess i can understand that. so, i specifically can't do that. by design.

it turns out that the easiest workaround is just to set a bit in the src controls. i'll explain a bit better.

so, i posted the thing here, initially:
http://dsdfghghfsdflgkfgkja.blogspot.com/2019/11/im-going-to-post-last-update-to-this.html

my html5 control was initially this:

//this is the html5 control

<audio autoplay controls style="width:500px;height:50px" id="Player"src="first track">your browser sucks</audio>

it is standard to expand that a little to take into account different file types:

<audio autoplay controls style="width:500px;height:50px" id="Player">

<source src="first track in flac" type="audio/flac">your browser sucks</source>

<source src="first track in mp3" type="audio/mp3">your browser sucks</source>

.

.

.

</audio>

the documentation claims this is designed to maximize browser compatibility. for me, it's designed to maximize file type variability. i want the frontend to work, regardless of what the user has purchased. so, by adding in the extra code for each file type, the browser can find the right file in the directory.

but, that only works for the first file in the list. i still have a hardcoded array in the actual script that specifies what the file type is, namely:

var nextsrc = [list of file paths]

if i hardcode it to mp3, it won't work for the listener that bought a flac download. i want it to know what is what, but i'm blindside by the api.

all you need to do is this to start:

<audio autoplay controls style="width:500px;height:50px" id="Player">

<source src="first track in flac" type="audio/flac" t=0>your browser sucks</source>

<source src="first track in mp3" type="audio/mp3" t=1>your browser sucks</source>

.

.

.

</audio>

so, we will now have a unique value of t for each type. 

and this to finish in the script:

if (t=0){var nextsrc = [list of flac paths]}

else if (t=1){var nextsrc = [list of mp3 paths]}

.

.

.

i have tested this in firefox and it seems to be fine.

so, i now have a template for every other release, and i should be able to push forwards.

ok, so i'm up and ready to get on this for a bit.

there's clearly somebody smoking upstairs, right now, so i'm going to have to turn the fan back on for the night. i thought i was feeling better, but it's got me hacking again.

i'm wondering if that's actually what happened, if his smoking upstairs triggered my bronchitis. there's a reason i don't smoke inside: my mom severely damaged my lungs when i was a kid. i had a puffer for years. there were times when the teacher asked me to sit outside. it's a serious, longstanding problem, and it's worse in the winter. i really, really can't be around indoor smoking or indoor smokers, as a result of the severe damage my mother did to me when i was a child.

the way this is going to work is that i'm going to disconnect from the internet now and stay offline until i get the liner notes done for the november/13 releases. i'll hop back on for a bit after that.

i don't know how long i'll be up for, but, for the next few days at least, i'm not at all interested in trying to figure this out. i will just reimage immediately after. the first reboot. i need to get through this.

so, that's task #1....

again: the chrome os does not have the software i need to finish the project i'm working on. that's not an actual option. i need a windows machine with internet access.

i'm just about ready to try this one more time, and here's the deal - i'm essentially bored and fed up with this. i need to get some actual work done, now. this has been going on for weeks.

so, if this doesn't work, i'm going to copy the files i need over to the pc, put the laptop aside for a bit, and do the work i need to do offline.

i will need to get the laptop working again before i can upload anything. but, i'm sick of fighting with this and desperately want to move on.

on third thought, it seems like the 32 bit and 64 bit directories are reversed in windows 7.

i don't remember them telling me that during vista training.

it can't be the problem, though, after all. 

it's actually a little bit relieving, because i was worried my drive was fried.

other than a bad file directory, i guess the other answer is that somebody wrote a bad script. i got the files out of the winsxs...

i'm very tired all of a sudden :(.

need coffee...

hrmmn.

i'm not sure yet, i have to test some more, but it seems like the identically named files ended up in the wrong folders - the 32 bit version ended up in the 64 bit folder and the 64 bit version ended up in the 32 bit folder,

my best guess is that this would have to do with a corrupted file directory. it's making me wonder.

i can try to swap it and see what happens.

now, here's a bizarre problem.

it comes up with an error in rpcrtremote.dll, which i can't get a straight answer on. it looks like a file network admins would use to call the rpc. but, the internet thinks it has to do with windows update. mmmmhmmm.

if i just delete the file, i get to the logon screen, but the keyboard is unresponsive and i can't ctrl-alt-del to get in. i'm using a ps/2 keyboard that clearly works just fine. that would suggest to me that there's some kind of corrupted ps/2 driver, but that's almost a contradiction in terms - ps/2 is so basic...that's why i use it....

i'm going to try another format and just reboot a few times and see what happens.

yeah.

the active directory api is pretty important, it turns out. i need it for:

1) the security tab in windows explorer.

2) to even open regedit.

3) to let the mmc load the gpedit.msc module

so, the whole "you don't need the gui. just do it in the registry." argument is actually unsustainable, in the face of regedit's need for the api.

now, if i was designing this, i'd undo that. there's some logic in using the active directory api to call the group policy editor, and it's at least efficient to use it for the security tab. but, if i really, really want to disable this, i shouldn't lose access to the registry as a result of it. you essentially can't use windows without access to the registry. that makes the core functionality impossible to rip out of the os.

but, i'm not designing this, and i'm kind of stuck.

hopefully, i can still disable the drivers. and, maybe i can alter the security descriptor on the api, so only the precise users that need to use it can use it.

it's enough to make you want to move to linux, it really is.

turns out pelosi is proud of the democrats for representing the moral majority.

ugh.

listen - they had to do this. there was no choice. but, this is just so much cringe, and that's exactly why they should have avoided this.

somebody tell her she has a d beside her name. yeesh.

i've repeatedly pointed out that trump has this inspector gadget quality to him, where his buffoonery often works out in his favour, by accident. i'm not about to assign him any tactical brilliance, here. but, somehow, the president just got impeached, and it's the house leader making me want to vomit.

we used to think the best way to save lives was to ban drugs and allow for responsible gun ownership, as self-defense.

now, some people think we should ban guns and allow for responsible drug use.

maybe we should stop pretending that supply side economics has much to tell us about saving lives?

personally, i don't plan on doing heroin any time soon, whether it's legal or not. and, i don't have any plans to play with guns any time soon, either.

maybe the focus should be on reducing demand.

all of this functionality to control computers remotely via windows is not a bug, it's a feature.

and, it is, actually, because you're supposed to be running an image on a network, and the security work is supposed to be done by the router. i've taken the courses. yes, i'm taking the piss, but it is actually true.

that's what i was saying about buying fancy routers. if you want a safe windows pc, there's no way around it - you have to wall yourself off. you'll never lock people out using local security; the os is designed for easy access by network admins. it's entirely on purpose.

that's why i spend so much time cutting all of the functionality out of the machine, and why i'm stuck dealing with all of these bluescreens and hangs.

i actually think i've been dealing with some passive hacking for a rather long time. up until recently, i was able to mostly deal with it. but, they've picked it up, and have become somewhat relentless. 

i just need to reiterate that there is no purpose to this besides distracting me, but because i'm spending so much time waiting, the thing that's suffering is the art. i am continuing to find time to rant, because i'm spending hours watching bytes fly across the screen.

these kinds of tactics have never been successful, at any point in history. all i actually want is the time and resources to finish my discography, and i really think it's time for people to start caving, in looking at universal incomes more seriously.

a universal income will not stop me from ranting on the internet. but, nothing is going to accomplish that. what a universal income will do, though, is change my perspectives, as i'm ranting.

writers write. artists create. you can no more shut me up than you can convert a tiger to vegetarianism; it's what i am, and what i'll be until i keel over. but, if i had less things to complain about..

while i do stand in solidarity with the secularist aspects of the iranian left, my primary concern is standing up for the rights of canadians.

so, i had to sleep early this morning - that wasn't optional. and, i've been experimenting with a few things in the image, which has slowed me down.

i've decided that i'm staying in this weekend to catch up, regardless.

have i learned anything profound? the answer is "not really". the one thing i was able to figure out is that the virus or hacker has found a way to disable the group policy via the active directory.

i may be coming up against a contradiction, though. what i want to do is disable the active directory so they can't use it to disable the security features. i don't think it's likely that i'll be able to completely lock something like that down - so long as it exists, there's a potential to break into it. it simply shouldn't exist. but, you have to understand that windows is stupid, like this, because it's designed for office use. there might not be a way to disable the active directory without breaking the local file structure. so, what i'm trying to figure out is that happy medium, where the functionality to control the pc from a distance is removed, but the local functionality continues to exist. i may end up disappointed...

i also accidentally deleted the winsxs folder on my pc. oops. i was planning on reinstalling this machine relatively soon anyways, so we can just leave a half-install in place for now. i'm just going to reinstall on top of the existing directory, and run the wipe script.

i really, really, really wanted to do some work this week. i'd actually like to apologize to future audiences for the amount of time i'm wasting with this, but i can't do as much as i'd like to about it. i'm living through an era defined by heavy-handed police state tactics that the law hasn't really caught up to yet. we don't have the kind of police oversight that we will hopefully have in the future, so they're essentially allowed to run roughshod over everybody's rights, because we don't have an effective system of checks in place. i promise you that whatever they're doing here is being done without any kind of convincing probable cause, and without getting any kind of warrant. if this ever becomes clear to me, i'm going to drag them through court to try to get the laws changed, but, for right now, in this dark period where we haven't adjusted to the technology yet, the cops are essentially allowed to get away with doing whatever they want, without even having to ask anybody first. it's going to require decades worth of legal action and other hard work to get a proper systems of checks in place.

for right now, all i can do is struggle against this system of oppression the best way that i'm able to.

once i get up and check my email, i'm going to have to keep myself offline for a while to catch up. i might even have to continue to use this chromebook to post and to check things online. there's no way around it.