Slashdot Mirror
How Edward Snowden's Actions Have Impacted Defense Contractors
An anonymous reader writes "A new study sheds light on the attitudes of a very exclusive group of IT and security managers — those employed by U.S. defense contractors — at a time when national cybersecurity is under scrutiny. Most indicated that the Edward Snowden incident has changed their companies' cybersecurity practices: their employees now receive more cybersecurity awareness training, some have re-evaluated employee data access privileges, others have implemented stricter hiring practices. While defense contractors seem to have better security practices in place and are more transparent than many companies in the private sector, they are finding the current cyber threat onslaught just as difficult to deal with."
I will not give in to the powers-that-be-Dice and put up with a terrible design with no functional gains.
Boycott the Beta!
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
It is now official. Netcraft has confirmed: Slashdot is dying.
One more crippling bombshell hit the already beleaguered Slashdot community when IDC confirmed that Slashdot page views has dropped yet again, now down to less than a fraction of 1 percent of all websites. Coming on the heels of a recent Netcraft survey which plainly states that Slashdot has lost more market share, this news serves to reinforce what we've known all along. Slashdot is collapsing in complete disarray, as fittingly exemplified by the stupid fucking beta website and the wholesale discard of user feedback.
You don't need to be the Amazing Kreskin to predict Slashdot's future. The hand writing is on the wall: Slashdot faces a bleak future. In fact there won't be any future at all for Slashdot because Slashdot is dying. Things are looking very bad for Slashdot. As many of us are already aware, Slashdot continues to lose market share. Red ink flows like a river of blood.
Slashdot Beta is the most endangered of them all, having lost 93% of its core users. The sudden and unpleasant departures of long time Slashdot users Jordan Hubbard and Mike Smith only serve to underscore the point more clearly. There can no longer be any doubt: Slashdot is dying.
All major surveys show that Slashdot has steadily declined in market share. Slashdot is very sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim. If Slashdot is to survive at all it will be among S&M enthusiasts. Slashdot continues to decay. Nothing short of a miracle could save it at this point in time. For all practical purposes, Slashdot is dead.
That crippling bombshell sent Slashdot fans into a tailspin of mourning and denial. However, bad news poured in like a river of water.
Fuck the beta.
Fuck Beta
The best part about Slashdot for me was really the people who visit it. This site has had one of the most intelligent communities around. This is how the site is successful IMO. Really good people massing together behind it. Finding and promoting articles is one thing but the commentary is where it really takes off. Almost every time I view a story what I find more interesting is the story that develops below it. I really don't know of another site where I can attempt to follow a debate about nuclear fusion, and find a debate about Apple only a page apart. This is about to be taken away as the best and brightest around here are going to leave as they are fed up with these beta changes, and Slashdot as a quality site will die. The new site takes away from the comments and the user driven atmosphere and plasters it with pictures and wasted space. This protest may seem futile at first to the bigwigs at the top here, but like I said the best part about this site is the comments. Therefore, if the only comments left are ones complaining about beta, its going to be a very accurate view of the future of Slashdot from here onward if the beta continues.
My advice to the peons working on Slashdot: find another job. The veracity with which this "upgrade" is being pushed displays a stubbornness that can only be attributed to MBAs with no idea of what Slashdot is about. The fact that the commenting system is such an afterthought in the Beta is as much evidence as I need that the people pushing this redesign never use this site.
I know you don't get to decide whether or not the Beta moves forward or which design gets used, but believe this: You WILL be blamed when it fails. You work for a corporation now and the higher ups with undoubtedly throw you under the bus when they have to explain to their bosses or shareholders why the website redesign failed. This failure is going to be associated with you and your teammates and it will set back any hopes you have of being promoted within the company. Take the advice of me and my fellow Slashdotters: Get out now.
The best thing about UDP jokes is I don't care if you get them or not
Javascript dancing baloney and giant pretty pictures belong on USA Today, not Slashdot.
The meat of Slashdot, the substance that draws viewers here instead of the alternatives, is the comments. Lose those comments and you will lose the eyeballs. Lose the eyeballs and you will lose the ad revenue.
Alternatively, you can accept that you made a mistake, keep Slashdot classic, and keep the steady flow of cash. Make the right business decision, here, Dice. Don't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.
No legitimate discussion until Slashdot classic is restored. Sacrifice a few days of discussion now to save all the days in the future. The Spirit of Mohdri Dragon Lives! (feel free to get drunk and naked while posting)
Stop-Prism.org: Opt Out of Surveillance
Glad that people are starting to come around to this conclusions, and away from the hero that the self-centered libertarian narcissist precious snowflake that infests Slashdot thinks of him as.
Did you know Snowden doesn't like Beta? How do you feel about him now, huh?
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
He may be a traitor, but atleast he hasn't created beta.
Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
This is a person. She wakes up every morning, goes to work, and drinks her share of coffee. She had only so many hours a day to devote to community problems. She's got a boss and corporate leadership who set goals she must fulfill. And she probably has a personal life she'd like to lead too. Maybe even children who are definitely more important to her than the bitchfest going on at /.
WTF is wrong with you people? It's just a fucking web site.
As one of the first users of this site (yes, I know my UID number, it's not my original one), I fully support this.
Moreover, IF the people running this site are so obstinate, stupid, and ignorant that they persist anyway: then the boycott needs to be permanent. We ALL need to leave. We need to teach a lesson, and if the only way that lesson can be communicated is over the bleak, abandoned corpse of slashdot, then that's how it has to be.
I could warn you of course, but you would not listen. I could kill you, but someone would take your place. So I do the only thing I can. I go."
I've been lurking on Slashdot since its inception but haven't felt the need to create an account until now. I will be joining the boycott on February 10-17th. Beta is absolutely terrible, I gave them that feedback when they introduced it and apparently so had everyone else but they chose not to listen. This site is something special, please don't let them destroy it.
NO BETA - Save our community. Boycott Slashdot Feb. 10-17th
The problem here is one of a corporation taking a community website and then systematically ignoring that community's input. We've seen it with the moves into business intelligence and the hell-or-highwater drive to beta. While a community website such as Slashdot is valuable to both its users and its owners, the relationship between the company and the community is asymmetrical.
There is relatively few effective mechanisms available to the community to have its will heard, short of simply leaving and never coming back (which defeats the point). Thus, concerned users are identifying the fulcrums around which this problem is revolving and applying leverage there to attempt to restore some balance between the goals of Dice and its user base.
While I agree that we should not be hassling private citizens outside their role as an employee, we are certainly at liberty to express our views and have them listened to. We're trying to save Slashdot's profitibilty, and by extension their employment, by ensuring that the website remains one that is attractive to its user base.
While the designer of the website is on the clock and responsible for the design and deployment of Beta, we are obliged to try to make them see that this is a terrible decision.
Scientists point out problems, engineers fix them
altslashdot.org: The future of slashdot.
I have swallowed my pride and dignity and, against all my best instincts, I have entered the beta. I find myself standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door. There is a small mailbox here.
The cow says "Moo." The dog says "Woof." The Timothy says "Thanks, valued customer. We appreciate your input."
Everyone is talking about the beta. Somewhere, there is a very jealous alpha.
The cow says "Moo." The dog says "Woof." The Timothy says "Thanks, valued customer. We appreciate your input."
The beta is bad. It's so bad. The comments are reduced in screen width about 50%. Subject lines are deemphasized, scores are minimized, etc.
The discussions are the reason to come to Slashdot, and the beta trivializes them entirely. It looks like the comment section on a generic news site.
The comments now look like an afterthought, whereas they used to be the primary focus of the site.
Hah. You're right about the word veracity. I should have used arrogance or audacity.
You're also possibly right that the workers think they have created gold too. However, any project manager worth his salt would look at the reaction to the redesign and change the course of the work. The lowly nerd at the bottom of the totem pole might be stubborn enough to want to keep his way, but he has no power. The managers are the ones with the power to decide whether or not the beta moves forward. It is ultimately their fault but it's unlikely that they will shoulder the blame.
The best thing about UDP jokes is I don't care if you get them or not
The mailbox contains a small figurine of some sort. Upon closer inspection, it appears to be constructed of some sort of fossilized wood, depicting a once-popular actress alongside a popular southern state hot grain product.
With great powers comes great responsibilities.
Love many, trust a few, do harm to none.
Plus Fucking Plus!
I don't usually respond to off-topic stuff like this, but seriously what the fuck is up with the beta design? This crap is terrible...absolutely terrible. Do not want. I've been wondering why I still stick around /. but I think the new site might be the final nail in the coffin for me.
RIP /. you used to suck, now you just fail.
Fuck beta. Fuck it to infinity and beyond.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Pardon the caps.
I got a response from her over linkedin that she no longer works there:
"[AC], I'm not sure what is going on today, but I have not been with Slashdot Media for some time.( Guess I need to update my LinkedIn profile.) I gather the beta is causing some negative responses. I can tell you that the site feedback is taken very seriously and no one wants to drive away a loyal community. Please use the submission forms or whatever process is in place because the data is being compiled and that will drive a lot of the changes made.
My apologies for any negativity - I have been a /. user since the 90s myself.
--Alice "
Don't email her - it does no good and affects an innocent person.