Slashdot Mirror


User: forgoil

forgoil's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
556
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 556

  1. Just shows that... on Spam Catchers Block Latest Crypto-Gram · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This simply shows that newsletters and similar are not really sent by the right medium right now. EMail hasn't kept up with the times and as a result we see this endless amount of spam.

    What is needed is a foolproof way of saying "I want this, please send it to me" and then being able to reject it safly without needing the other party to do it for you. For example:

    I send a message to cryto-gram, including a key. This key can then be used to send it to me, and I accept it (key in combination with who send it and so on, I am sure someone with even more experience can figure out a fool proof way). Good stuff. But then I realise that I don't want this anymore, and I simply remove the acceptance of this key in my own software (and send a message that I don't want it anymore, no harm being nice to the nice), and it will be filtered away.

    Or something along those lines, I can asure you that I haven't fixed up a foolproof and perfect system yet ;)

  2. Go on strike! on Are Coders Exempt From California's Overtime Laws? · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The situation for people working in the US seems to be quite bad, at least to me. Isn't it time you guys start a proper union and start raising some hell?

    And how much paid vacation time I get per year? 6 weeks. How many weeks do you get in the states? And yes, I am only 26.

    Complain, make it better, do something (and get free Coca Cola as mandatory).

    (and if you happen to run a cool and nice company, with proper benefits, consider hiring me;))

  3. I like .NET on Microsoft Applies For .NET Patent · · Score: 2, Insightful

    But I rather see Microsoft putting their money into making a .NET version that blows away everything else (already does, but because it is the only one right now, mono is not finished yet after all). That gives a positive race and good things happen for the population.

    Patents are starting to act like a tool to keep markets with shoddy products, which is wrong. Patents should save you from being exploited, from having others steal your genuine ideas. Not stop people from clicking once to buy something or try to stay on top of a market.

    All in all, Microsoft, stop this behaviour and compete by trying to be better instead.

  4. Censorship on Why Does Manga Succeed Where American Comics Fail? · · Score: 1

    All the horrible sensorship that daily strips have to deal with in the states should be a clue to why there isn't more mainstream comics. There is either the toothless moronic-religious-compliant stuff (Free speech, good one) or the much more mature stuff (ooh boobies, etc).

    How come Bone by Jeff Smith isn't owned by more people, great stuff, but sadly that is not the case.

    So why won't the US have the same success as Manga has in Japan? Take a guess...

  5. Re:This is what I like about Open Source Software on Why We Refactored JUnit · · Score: 1

    Jupp, I made some assumptions to make my example work. There are ofcourse the options to try to fix the software, and in the case of something as well used as Apache there are certainly people interested in fixing it.

    But if nobody at Apache(etc) wants to fix it, you will have to do it yourself, and many small companies don't have the money to spend for that. My point wasn't that Apache somehow sucks or can't be fixed, only that having the source is no garantee for it being any good, or that it can be used to fix the problem at hand. I don't like that assumption.

    But as far as Apache goes, valid points.

  6. Re:CAT5? on Gibson to Embed Guitars with Ethernet · · Score: 1

    Due to the pretty damn good points about wireless lan actually sucking in some aspects (lag is not fun etc) I don't think that is a good idea either.

    But it would be a good idea to have wireless though. There are wireless transmitters for guitars today after all. And maybe one should double up having both digital and analog at the same time.

    I wonder if they sample the sound btw, and if they do, at what quality. I guess it would simplify the effects racks if nothing else, and get the A/D converters closer to the source. And who could argue with 96khz 48-bit mono in ;)

  7. I'll wait on Long Computer Sessions Could Cause Blood Clots · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'll wait for iThrombosis so I can get it a higher price, in a overly designed package, and with Steve Jobs raving about it.

  8. Re:This is what I like about Open Source Software on Why We Refactored JUnit · · Score: 2

    That should be possible for people with unlimited spare time and huge bank accounts. For people with neither of those, or companies that needs to make money to pay their employees so that they can eat next month it is not true either. Having the code doesn't magically make things better.

    If I would have the choice between having or not having the source, I would go for having it. I wouldn't do much with it, execpt sending better bug reports, unless I was activly using it for development (as I work as a developer). But this doesn't change the quality of the binaries one bit.

    And the time it takes to rewrite a component is only reduced marginally by having the code for the component that failed you. Especially if it is very large. Let's go for some OSS examples.

    We've got Apache, and the company using it feels that it is failing them. The performace is just not good enough for them. They have the options to either rewrite, and this will take some quite considerable time, not to mention testing the server, writing plug-ins, etc. If they are not quite big they can't afford one, two, three developers working on this fulltime with no income for them. Developers don't come cheap, not by a longshot.

    The other option is to buy/switch to another server. It might be a free alternative (written in the most buzzwordy language of the day) or it might be ISS 6 coupled with Windows Server 2003. Either way it is much cheaper than a rewrite. Rewrites are very expensive.

    Open source is a good thing, and it surely can help in debugging and sending bug reports. Let's not get ahead of ourselves and say that it is bad. Many a time I have wanted the full source to windows to be able to find out what the heck is happening to my events, just to bring up one example.

    But, and this is a big but, opening the source doesn't make it better. And well written close source software will still be better than a badly written open source one. Just as buying software often is cheaper than building it yourself.

    The obvious exception is when software is written without monetary gains ofcourse. Be it that their employers help out, they live of other money (rich, student, won the lottery, begs for food), or similar. But then a big rewrite still costs time, which could have been spent differently.

    (But I must confess that I personally think that putting so much time into Mozilla when a rewrite (Konqi) took so much less time, is kind of insane. And any rewrite which makes it easier to develop software is a good timesaver)

  9. Re:The truth about XP on Why We Refactored JUnit · · Score: 1

    Microsofts DirectX has shown similar characteristics where earlier versions simply had to be redone into much better, newer, versions.

  10. I thought... on Superbowl XXXVII · · Score: 1

    I thought that the point of Super Bowl commercials was boobies, skin, and horrible american beer. Is the RIAA taking over even that?

  11. CAT5? on Gibson to Embed Guitars with Ethernet · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If we are going digital, wouldn't it make far more sense with built in wireless lan instead? The argument for those pesky cables has been the analog sound, I'd think most people would be hardpressed to find problems with wireless vs Cat5 these days.

    Well, there will surely be those who claim that since it IS a cable, it must be better. But with the same information being carried over, I hardly think that they can make much of a case, other than being pesky.

  12. Re:Better Idea on 11 Digit Dialing Comes Home to New York · · Score: 1

    I don't keep email addresses in my address book either. Mostly because I am lazy ass, and partially because I email so few people these days (IM has taken over after all, and, wops, they do have a sort of address book from the beginning;)).

    First I was about to say "just because I am a lazy ass doesn't invalidate the idea", but now I see that I do use this already, first and formost in IM (jabber and still unfortunatly ICQ) and second of all with my mobile phone. I can't remember ppls numbers, so I add them there.

    I am sure we'll get a service where you can call about getting someones number (dunno what that service is called in English) and then simply have it transfered to your address book on your phone (via SMS or whatever idiotic way they come up with). If it doesn't already exist.

  13. Re:Big enough for DVD on Credit Card sized 5GB HD to arrive late this year · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Considering how often I break cards, well, I hope they will be more durable.

  14. Re:Better Idea on 11 Digit Dialing Comes Home to New York · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The only solution to that is to hide the number. Using a DNS might not be the best way though (as someone suggested), as the would only mean we need to remember even more oddities.

    So how do we remember people's emails? Using automatic address books. How do I remember someones mobile phone number? I don't write them down, and I can't even recall my own number from memory. Again address books.

    So the answer is that we will get even more advanced address books that hide away the IP (or whatever ID might be used) simply because it is too hard to remember those numbers. Most phones have these already and it gets easier and easier to exchange mobile phone numbers.

    And to make it even easier, I guess it would be easier and easier to redirect calls. For example, I am done with work and am on my way home. My bluetooth in my mobile phone no longer has any connection to the phone at work, so it automatically changes to mobile phone first. When I get home my home phone says hi to my mobile phone, and once again it automatically redirects me. And when someone calls me they automatically get redirected to where I am, and they only need to keep one single entry on me. Simple and easy.

    All the technology is there (more or less) already, it all needs to be integrated. And if you are wondering what M$ might be up to, I bet this is something like it (and with emails as well). Just a guess;)

  15. Sounds like Saddam... on Rosen Floats ISP Fee Idea -- Charge Everybody! · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If this goes through it sounds like dictators are running the show. Yes, it is that bad. What will be next? A special fee for everyone because Ashcroft doesn't think the Americans give enough at church? Or a computer fee for Microsoft because everybody pirates their software? How about a fee for every computer to pay off the software companies?

    The RIAA needs to be killed off, it is bad for the people. It is no longer about music, not even in the least. Those of you who are allowed to vote in the states, make sure you vote for people who don't support the RIAA...

  16. New mod option? on Web Site Sues Annoying Pest Troll · · Score: 1

    I want a new mod option, "Sue for Trolling". When can this be implemented? I can accept the money through PayPal or a Swiss bank account.

  17. Re:Inches? Cubits? on Ferroelectric Storage Density Tops 20KDVDs/Cubit^2 · · Score: 1

    Ah, kinda like Tires/Tyres ;)

    (British English in school, American English with girlfriend, BE/AE in books. I won't ever be able to speak/write just one of them)

  18. Re:Inches? Cubits? on Ferroelectric Storage Density Tops 20KDVDs/Cubit^2 · · Score: 1

    What is a nybble? I know about nibble (4 bits, right?) and nipples (2 bits ;)). Is it a simply misspelling or is it a real unit? It is kind of hard to know in these times when we get idiotic crap like MibiBytes (Yes, I have 671.08864 MibiBytes in this computer... need I say more?).

    And to second a bunch of other people, stop with the inches. I seriously have a hard time taking someone scientificly serious when they don't use SI units today. And why are we still using inches for speakers and tires still?

    But regardless of the dumb units, being able to save all that on a single unit (disc?) means I could get uncompressed video in high resolution with uncompressed audio. But I guess they will put something even dumber than regions on it and screw it up.

  19. Mozilla's pride on Mozilla Project Hurt by Apple's Decision to use KH · · Score: 2

    I think that the only thing that happen was that the Mozilla people are mad that Apple is building their own castle in the sandbox. Get over it, improve whatever you have instead.

    Not that I would ever want a whole extra GUI just because it is "platform independant". I don't buy into that whole ideal. I prefer IE or Konqi.

  20. here we go... on Internet Taxation May Be Imminent · · Score: 2

    1. wouldn't it be the same thing as mail order, so why isn't there a tax on that? Or is this some form of EXTRA tax that goes beyond that of mail order? Sounds like very unfair business practises.
    2. If your revenue for the state is low, try incresing the numbers you multiply with the tax percentages. That is often much more effective than raising the tax percentage (and making people do what they can do avoid it), which more than likely will have the opposite effect. In this case internet sales will go down, and the economy is far from stimulated.
    3. Politicians must be idiots. How come we demand that a person who operates on us is supposed to havea this extensive surgeon education, but a politican who controls our economy (and hence much of our lives) don't have to know shit about the subject?
    4. I don't live in the states, but it is the exact same way here, and the minute the law is passed the mindless drones here will want the tax. So, this is just a glimpse into the future for us here.

  21. Re:Real and my PC on Real DRM · · Score: 2

    Amen to this!

    Mpeg-4 is more useful (real's codec is too bad to be useful) and more standardised. And not only that, I want to choose my player, and then play whatever format I want in it. I don't care a dime about anything real player makes, because I will rather live without the content than use their worthless software.

  22. Aibo? on Nintendo's Playstation Settlement Bombshell (or not...updated) · · Score: 2

    Why not just build the next playstation inside the aibo? No more having to move it around yourself, and you can call for it and it will come to you. A logical choice for Sony of course ;)

  23. Re:Almost.. on OS/2 Going, Going... Gone · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Considering how much IBM loves Linux, they will either try to only bring the "good" parts out to linux, so that they can move their OS/2 customers to Linux. Or they might just wait to open source it at a point where it gives better PR. Who knows? I'd sure like to see them release the whole thing as Open Source and devote 2-3 guys at IBM to handle the whole thing (so that updates, etc can be merged and all that).

  24. Re:Sliding feet on Project Entropia's Universe Solidifies · · Score: 2

    Not to mention the fact that your avatar jumps back and forward all the time. Their communication and prediction code seemed to be horrible to say the least.

  25. Re:Many "audiophiles" are idiots on Bitrate Peeling with Ogg Vorbis · · Score: 2

    I was also very confused about why cables should make a difference (as long as they were not so bad that they produced way too much bit errors) when transmitting a digital signal. But if I can understand the excplaination I got correctly, it does matter. But I honestly don't think that a $2,000 cable could be much better than a high quality, and resonably priced, cable. Let's say $40 or so.

    So why would it matter? Because if you send data with CRC32 you can check (and fix to a certain degree) errors in the transmission, and if it goes wrong, you can always ask to get the information retransfered. This is why totally cheap TP cables are not fun at all. But what happens if you loose information that has to be realtime? The exact match of 0s and 1s are no longer the same on the other side. Wops, bad sound.

    So, as long as the cable/system can transfer the 0s and 1s properly, more expensive cables won't do shite. But up until that point, it should make a difference.

    I do want to point out that although I understand these concepts I have never read any specifications for how the transfer in stereo/surround equipment works. I'd love for someone to follow up though.