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Keeping a PC Personal At School?
Berto Kraus writes "As one of the most tech-oriented students in my art-oriented institution, I'm usually the one with the laptop. This causes frequent requests from other students to read mail, check some site, or connect it to the projector to display a file from their Flash drive. For the sake of my privacy, the health of my laptop, and my own peace of mind, I'm reluctant. But telling my compatriots to go to our building supervisor and ask him for a desktop-on-a-cart, as they should do, is considered rude and unfriendly. Now, I could dual-boot Ubuntu, or carry around a Linux-on-a-stick. Or I could embed the computer in my skull. For many reasons, none of these solutions is ideal. So I'm asking you, insightful and funny Slashdotters, what would you do to keep your PC personal at school?"
I am guessing using goatse as your wallpaper will cut down on the requests.
What could possibly hurt the security of the American people more than giving our own government the ability to hide its
...and just say "You can try." and smile. :-)
Take off every 'ZIG' !!
and give them a nice carebear hug everytime they borrow it.
Virtual Machines suggest themselves. Do everything school-related in a VM and reset it from time to time. Also, in my experience, art-oriented institutions are choked full of hot chicks, so stop complaining and try to see this as an opportunity. Computer malware is not the only think that you can interchange with a dumb coed, you know.
Rome taught me patience and assiduous application to detail. Virtues which temper the boldness of great, general views.
Switch to a VT and tell them that only paying customers can use X.
"linux is just DOS with a UNIX like syntax" -- Galactic Dominator (944134)
Don't remember if XP Home enforces seperate directories
It does but file permissions options are normally hidden.
Also, pr0n belongs in a separate account with an encrypted $home directory on external harddrives encased in a printer which, when not in use, goes into an airtight box buried in a hole under the waterfall in the backyard. Shit! now I have to find a new hiding place.
Open up a bunch of porn sites, and then hand it over to them, but warn them that the keys might be a bit sticky.
Make sure that there's always goatse, cupchicks and tubgirl in your history, and some random porn images (bonus points for noodies of yourself) in the recent documents. Wait for the embarassed moment when the poor sucker stumbles over it. Shrug and say "well, it's my machine, what'd you expect", when they start gouging their eyes out. Should teach them the lesson nicely.
go to our building supervisor and ask him for a desktop-on-a-cart
Who needs laptops when they have desktops on a cart! When I was young all we had were mainframes on a horse. We had to go down to the stables every time we wanted to check our email. Kids these days...
Seriously though, wtf. Tell them to get their own laptop and teach your art school about laptops too. Tell them they are kind of like desktops on carts but a lot more convenient.
Negative moral value of force outweighs the positive value of good intentions.
Remember, this is an _art_ school...
Will you buy adobe creative suite licences for them?
my roomate used to always get up and look at my screen whenever I watched something.
I found this really annoying so one day I started watching some really nasty horse porn and sure enough when he realized i was watching something he got up to see what it was..
he stopped after that.
Might I remind you where you are...
Why, if they're really careful (like friends always are, right) and observe some simple rules, it is.
That's because it was a home video, what you let that horse do to you...
That image is still burned into my... err... his retinas.
"There are no facts, only interpretations." --Friedrich Nietzsche.
What I do: dvorak keyboard + xmonad. They scare everyone away!
"You wouldn't ask if you could fuck your girlfriend with my cock, now would you??"
Dude.. Can I borrow your girlfriend for about 10 minutes?
wait.. nevermind this is /.
All your really saying is Don't bend for a friend or you'll get it in the end!
Seriously though, as someone else pointed out, just create a guest account, and prohibit execution in that account.This is known as Using protection!
He's at an art school. More appropriate advice is likely "Ask for sexual favors from both."
He's an artist. A fairly techy one but an artist nonetheless. Therefore, acting like a rabid dog every time anyone glances at his computer is probably not a valid option for him, because in his quality matrix, interacting with other people has a decidedly positive weight.
Are you kidding? Have you hear how much money goes for paintings by batshit-crazy artists???
This would be a brilliant move!
It's similar to a Vista license, just less sucky.
So you're basically saying that you're at a school full of girls that you don't know how to say "no" to but you're afraid that they might accidentally open up your pron folder?
Is that about right?
Why are you letting these clowns ruin our country?
the real question is: did you finish watching the nasty horse porn?
"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live." - Mark Twain, "Taming the Bicycle"
No need to go that far! Heck, just installing your favorite Linux distro on it will most likely discourage most of the Windoze Moochers from even asking! Or, they might ask and then notice that you have "something else" on the system that they "don't know how to use". Problem solved! =)
Install Linux with FVWM remove all the menus except for xterm and run all apps threw the terminal. For your own sanity make a bunch of cryptic commands symbolic links and shell scripts to do what you want but you will be the only one who really know and cares to remember the scripts.
So when they use you computer they will be so perplexed on how to use it as nothing will be intuitive that they just won't ask you to use it.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Better yet. Set up your screen saver with a short delay to show porn.
Then when the porn shows up during their presentation blame them.
They will NEVER ask to use your computer again.
Yeah, like the guy with the $1000 suit is going to let anyone borrow his laptop... COME ON!
All of ye have given good technical answers, and they would most-likely work, but I think ye overlooked the most practical solution:
"No."
Except he went to an "art-oriented institution" to get laid. Yelling "No." at all the pretty girls won't further that goal.
What he really wants but is to embarrassed to ask to a way to make the laptop hypnotize females when he lets them use it.
"The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget." -Thomas Szasz
>>>The most practical solution probably won't get you many friends, commodore64_love.
I learned long ago that real friendships are not based-upon giving material goods. Back in school I had one of those portables that played videogames, and I shared it with everyone who asked, and then one day the battery died. All my so-called "friends" stopped talking to me. You see... they were just USING me not really developing a true bond. Same situation applies with the laptop.
>>>Since you seem like a black and white sort of dude
Wrong. I see shades of gray as well. Like I said before if they want to do a quick check of wikipedia in class, fine I'll share rather than be anal-retentive, but I still wouldn't loan-out my laptop for major work like presentations. That's not a black-and-white viewpoint as you falsely claim, but instead a realistic one.
>>>If it sounds harsh, sorry. I'm just trying to engage with you on the level and tone you did. Maybe it will help your social life.
Well I'm sorry but this is clearly an insult against nerds, and I'm taking it as such. I happen to be one of the most-popular persons at my workplace, but that doesn't mean I'm a sponge to be used either. Been there; done that; see my first paragraph.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
Too complicated. Just use a console all the time. Nobody will ask to use your 'DOS' machine again.
So a gay porn screen saver with a short delay would be great... The wanna be macho guys would leave it alone and the girls would "trust" you :-D
I love stacking my barbecues in the shed at the end of summer - you can't beat a bit of grill on grill action.