apnar

Astroboy,

I've taken a very close look at the patch AngryDad released and I can 100% assure you there is no copyrighted information in it. There is not even one tiny bit of Acura code in the hack, on the contrary the hack over-writes some of Acura's code with his own.

It is completely your prerogative to ban him, but don't do it for false reasons. He may have violated the rules by selling something on the forum without permission, but definitely not selling "copyrighted wares".

If you are worried about copyrighted wares I'd look to other posts (never made by AD) that contain pre-patched navi software.

-apnar

astro

thanks for the info apnar.

i still feel he's taking advantage of you guys by demanding money for the ad free version. When bysin originally hacked the navi, he never even asked for donations like AD had been doing.

I'm fine with asking for a donation for the work he's done, but releasing a version with ads, and demanding money for the ad free version simpy does not sit well with me. It's not at all the kind of tone we wish to set for our members.

cheers,

Robb

BrandonClaps

wow our best programmer gone

now whos gonna make an mp3 player?

BrandonClaps

just so you know, that you can't edit ANY of the text....

pimpin-tl

Can someone put online the non-ad version of his hack for everyone to download?

kennyc

actually... that's my modded file.

if you just use AD's patch you will see the full disclaimer. I removed the disclaimer and added those two lines in there.

bluenoise

Apple?

In all seriousness, adding an MP3 player to the system was going to require a hardware mod in addition to the software mod. So, if you're willing to completely void your warranty by modifying the internal wiring of the navigation system to support stereo (assuming it's possible, anyway), why not just use one of the aftermarket add-ons that work with an iPod or a Mediagate? You're likely to not void your warranty doing this and it's available now.

Kennedy

iTrader: (2)

That took longer than I expected...

Bummer.

Acurazine... ... ... Nevermind.

YZFDonor

While I haven't looked at the source, nor the NAVI-DVD, it generally is ILLEGAL to even unpack the bin, much less change it. AD never replied to my PM so I never got the chance to pay for a version. Reverse-engineering code is illegal and he did just that. Some states/countries/localities condemn the TOOLS used. Posession of pot is illegal but smoking it or having it in your system is not.

Having said that... While I agree having lost someone with AD's knowledge is a HUGE loss for this board, his attitude is not. I will get flamed here but I am willing to bet he uses Microsoft's products almost 100%. He is not the type of person I expect to see using or contributing to "OPEN" source projects. I use an incredible firewall for several computer networks I manage and it is FREE. Many people share information to make it better (http://m0n0.ch/wall/ which also led me to http://www.pfsense.org/). Both are free but I CHOSE to donate to them. Nothing changed after I donated either. The software remained the same. I have been 'professionally' employeed in the computer industry since 1995 but have 13 years of 'ametuer' experience prior to that and I can say while his knowledge is a tremendous loss, he attitude towards helping others is not.

AD (if you can still read this), I am VERY sorry to see you go!!! I certainly hope you can make amends to this community and come back and assist everyone else who isn't as fortunate to be as knowledgable wigh SH4/WinCE code as you. I read posts and sure I think how "stupid" someone must be because they can't burn a CD without help but you know what? I probably couldn't perform open heart surgery without some assistance and I have FOURTEEN YEARS of pre-hospital experience as an Advanced Life Support Technician at an all *VOLUNTEER* Rescue Squad serving one of Virginia's largest cities in the nations BUSIEST all volunteer EMS system. I almost never even get a "Thank You" and I may have just saved someone's life. I have NEVER had a patient die in my care. Every once and a while but no more than once a year I hear....

THANK YOU.

AD, Thank you for what you have done and I can only hope that someday that will be enough for you (and others) to help people do what they can't do themselves.

Enough from me and thanks to all who made it this far.

Wayne

met152

personally, I think it's BS that AngryDad has been banned from this board. So what he built his initials into the hack. If you don't like it, DON'T USE IT!!! Simple as that.

He put a lot of personal time into this hack. If you read back on the first 4-5 pages of this thread, you'll see that he was not asking (or demanding as someone put it) for money. It was another member that graciously offered to donate to the cause.

Maybe he shouldn't have posted anything in the forum about PMing him about the AD-free version. He should have just left it up to us to privately ask him for it. Even so, he's not ditributing copyrighted software.

Grow up people. If you prefer not to see the AD initials on your screen, then go here http://www.kptechnologies.com/ and pay $40 plus shipping for the AD-free version.

If you're still reading AD.
THANK YOU. Your work has been appreciated by many. You will have a donation from me shortly.

YZFDonor

Shame....

"Hmm.......
It appears that you clicked the link on acurazine forums.
There is a number of respectable Honda/Acura forums out there, so why acura$ine? I do not say that acurazine id bad, it is actually good. Very good ... at siphoning money using you as a tool. Every time you read a message there, you're working for them by viewing ads (and sometimes clicking on them). Every time you post a message, you work even harder, because when other people read your message, every one is viewing ads, too. If that is not enough, try to sell something on the list without paying to acura$zine moderators. After receiving a couple of nastygrams from them you will find yourself in a read-only user bucket.

So, you might want to revise the list of your favorite message boards. I would recommend scratching out everything that begins with "acura" and ends with "zine". Thank you."

brianp6621

Just so you know, you can edit ANY of the on screen nag, except for the AD. So you can modify it from a blank screen with AD on it to any text you want, with AD on it.

Unless you've done it yourself (I have) try and refrain from correcting others that have.

Thanks

brianp6621

And for the record, I'll chime in saying while I do echo the comments about AD's attitude and the way he handled this, I don't feel he deserved to be banned. Maybe warned.

leedogg

Well. There goes our best coder. good job guys!

Cant say I'm surprised about this situation degenerating to this...it seems to be a recurring habit around here. AD, you shouldnt have even made it an option to remove it. If I had made it, I would have branded it with "I suck Lee's cock" and then describe how enjoyable this was. Everybody could either use it or...well blow me...lucky for everybody it wasnt me

bluenoise

Whether he was banned or not, it seems he was ready to pick up his marbles and go home even if he received a warning...


I wonder if he's wishing he'd put an expiration in his hack, too.

YZFDonor

Maybe he did....

I messed up my RADAR detector analogy by getting it backwards which in effect makes it useless. Please disregard as I can't edit my dang post for some resaon.

brianp6621

True, true. I had forgotten about that post.

astro

I'd say his earlier response quoted by bluenoise, and his subsequent posting on his website make it extremely clear that my decision was the right one.

as YZF so eloquently stated in his post, the OPEN source community is one that works together for the common good, NOT for individual profit.

Do you people think this website is free to run? If we had ever asked for money from AD, it would be in the neighbourhood of $25/month, much like flnsx pays to sell moleskin kits to you guys. This is a small stipend compared to our monthly costs, but the gesture means oh so much more.

I'm sorry some are upset to see AD go, however I do not feel that someone with his attitude, stupendous coder or not, deserves to make money utilizing our resources and a form of blackmail to you members.

Arrakis001

Anyone look at the link for 'Visit Astroboy's homepage!' when you click on his Name Link in this page?

Hmmm.....

chfields

I can't understand why he'd want to leave? He spent 40+ hrs working on a free hack and some whiners had to complain because he put his initials in the corner??? So he offers the crybabies a chance to get the hack initial free for a fee ($50), but only for those that don't want his initials. Since acurazine didn't get it's cut they ban him?? Thats pretty pathetic, I expected better from this forum.........

bluenoise

See post 291.

csmeance

in my opinion, it was wrong of Angrydad to put his initals into the hack, even though members state that you have to see it for 3 to 5 seconds, it is still there. This is a non-profit forum that we all share info on. If someone want to make a profit of another's intrests, that is wrong. Plus angry dad reciving all of those donations should have prompted him to think, should i still charge my fellow members? Charging 50 dollars for just changing "AD" is rediciolus. I could understand if it was like 10 dollars to change it.

BTW, i think angrydad should be given another shot at this forum just for normal posting with no-more refrences to this thread, we all face the truth that we make mistakes, in this case it was angrydad putting in "AD", and he should be given a second shot, but if he does not wish to come back, it shall remain fine with me.

BrandonClaps

oh no shit!! So i can put whatever text i want there?!?!

zeezz

Are you guys kidding? lol, you can put a webpage in your own profile... i just did, click my name, you can visit my homepage too...

Kennedy

iTrader: (2)

Ouside of the legalities of modifying code... let's not get into that, becasue we're ALL guilty of that at some level already...

I've also already shared my opinion with Astroboy, I suggest you all do the same... although the impact has already been made, and it's probably too late.

Some of you guys are nuts. "AD was wrong to insert his initials"? It's HIS patch, HE wrote. HE OWES NONE OF YOU ANYHTING. I didn't like the AD. I was prepared to pay to have the "signature free version", if that's what he required, and I asked him for it. You don't like it, don't use it. That's like you expecting me to come over an install your A-Spec suspension... because I know how to.

If this patched had been introduced to Acurazine via ONLY his website (via a demo), with a paypal cart setup, charging $100 a pop, he'd already have a few grand in his account... you guys would be "checking out" right now talking about what a genius he is. You have a free functional version for christsake.
Like most of you don't have some nagware/shareware that you HAVEN'T paid for yet, becasue the shareware is "good enough"...

The gall of some of you folks.

Astroboy mention Bysin's intoduction of dumpnavi... Bysin also requested donations to subsidize his development time... but that wasn't mentioned.

Again, the AZ taxman has come, and another entepreneur with a good idea has been taken out of commission. Anyone remember DCC and his cool Nav2go button. He spent HOURS making them, and charged $70 for it. That's about $15/hour. I currently make a LOT more than that... but he did it becasue he's an enthusiast... NOT a vendor. Vendors drop ship parts from wholesalers for profit. Vendors have a retail license (usually)... I could go on.
AZ doesn't discern between enthusiast and vendor. Being compensated (minimally at that) for your time by selling a product or a service that noone else can or wants to provide is NOT the vendor business model.

It's really ashame, becasue this mod would have reverberated throughout the entire honda/acura community. What's even more of a shame is that someone WILL pickup where he left off, fix it, polish it a bit, and make MINT selling it.

Kennedy

iTrader: (2)

Yes Brandon... We have been able to that since way before /Angrydad was ever here. Just use a hex editor to modify the text in navi.exe.

pimpin-tl

That is not the reason he was banned. He started demanding money to remove the AD which is against forum rules and definitely illegal. Anytime you sell copyright material its against the law. If you give it its not near as bad.

But we all said we would donate. That wasn't a problem. Everyone was. And we didn't expect him to put the nag which wouldn't bother me but still its the point that he put it there to make money.

pimpin-tl

Why do I think this is AD?

YZFDonor

pimpin-tl: (I tried a PM, you are full)

I can assure I am not AD... I don't know if I should be offended or flattered. I did some sniffing around and he seems to live in Woodland Hills, California about a block from the 101. I live in Central Virginia as I stated before.

rec

Read YZFs other posts, esp #289, and I don't see how that thought would come to mind. The text he quoted , and it wasn't originally clear to me, is what is posted on ADs page when you go to the download page for his hack.

pimpin-tl

PM's emptied. I use to own a forum and run a few clubs. Seen it so many times it just looks like it could possibly be him. New account just created today and all posts are related to this topic.

rec

Ya know...I remember reading this back when this thread was only 3 pages long and thinking..."I wonder if"....NAH...and no one else commented on it so I just assumed it was my own unusual perspective, but now I guess I'm not surprised. Could it be all those extra days waiting before release after success was announced weren't spent just testing to make sure his patch was totally bug free?

rec

Argh!!! I caught it too late to edit. I meant post #289 in this thread.

bluenoise

LOL! I too was thinking, "8 hours figuring out how to bypass the OK button and another 32 spent finding a way to make sure no one else can pick up the work from there."

Regarding Bysin, he may have asked for donations, but he didn't make them required to get dumpnavi without restrictions. Had Bysin not done his work for the AZ community, AD would've had to supply a BIN extractor/packer with his patch. It's too bad AD didn't leave it such that another clever programmer could pick up where he left off, just as he did with Bysin's work.

Lastly, I don't think AD would come back here, even if his ban was lifted. He seems to have too much self-pride to do so anyway. Still, he was obviously a valuable contributor here and I will certainly miss the additional good work he may have done.

apnar

Pimpin-tl,

Whatever AD's flaws were, selling copyrighted material was not one of them. He was offering to sell a patch (which contained no copyrighted code), not the material itself. Please try to not spread mis-information.

-apnar

Kennedy

iTrader: (2)

You have no idea what you're talking about, and have definately taken a big ol drink of the AZ Koolaid.

- Noone ever demanded money. AD asked for compensation to custom modify the FREE PATCH HE GAVE TO YOU.
There was no "demand" by AD.
AD: Here's a "free patch" that works. Only issue is you have to look at my intials at the bottom of the boot screen for 4 seconds. Take it, it's free...
Me: "but I don't like the AD at the bottom".
AA: "Well, i can sell you a customized signature free version for $50"
Me: " no thanks"
AD: "enjoy"

Wheres a demand?

He wrote this, if he wants to be compensated, he should be allowed to pursue it... No different than a mechanic installs a performance part.

- Against forum rules? - I guess it's against forum rules to ask for a mechanic to perform your supercharger install via the forum by that reasoning
- Illegal? See Apnar's response.

My last communication with AD, before this business, was that 5 members had donated. That's a LOT more than who downloaded the patch, for sure.

Do you use shareware? or do you just steal copyrighted software from work like the rest of the world...
High and mighty... .. .. . nevermind.

drdamian

but really i don't see a problem with "AD" at the bottom of the screen. I find this conversation absolutely rediculous.... Would you not buy Madden 07 because EA sports icon comes up before the game starts.... or better yet would you call EA and ask them to send you a custom game without the logos

gt1

Astroboy, let me clrify here. AD doesn't refer to advertisements, these two letters are displayed on Navi screen during a boot-up process. Just AD, and just for few seconds. No advertisements.
I am stunned to see how all this turned out. For three years about 10 people put effort in hacking Navi, but noone sucseeded- until now. I feel like a Red Sox fan after their long awaited victory. And what s the result? AD gets banned!
Does a painter has a right to put his/her signature on own paintings? Why do you deny AD this little perk? I think that charging $50 was just a way to say that he s proud of his work and doesn't want to remove his signature.
Would I like to see a fully documented open sourced hack? Of course, but don't you feel that you demand to much? AD doesn't owe you anything, and he has a right not to release the source. It is above my understanding why people complaining about a free stuff.

Kennedy

iTrader: (2)

In this analogy, the game would have been given to you free...

I'm so pissed off about this whole situation.... anger.... ugh.

kennyc

I agree with gt1... it's sad that a new user who contributed hours of his time, accomplished what many have failed, released the patch without charge to us. and gets banned because a few people complained that he put the letter A and D in the loading screen!

In a short time AD became one of the biggest contributor to this forum and it's upsets me to see him get banned for something so harmless.

Great work folks!