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User: freedomlinux

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  1. Editors, Please on US Spy Court Didn't Reject a Single Government Surveillance Request In 2015 (zdnet.com) · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "In more than three decades years"

    Not even trying

  2. Re:Woot! Money! on Your Pay Is About To Go Up (gawker.com) · · Score: 1

    A 12-30% pay cut... exactly who do you think would accept that?

    What you mean is: the best employees will see the writing on the wall and quit - the only employees left will be the unqualified ones who feel like they cannot get another job

  3. Re:Select randomly on Wikipedia May Get Delivered To The Moon (wikimedia.org) · · Score: 1

    Have you ever explored the Random Article button? It seems that Wikipedia is composed 5% of stub articles on UK rail stations, football clubs, and football players

  4. Re:Is this your day job? on Ask The Yes Men · · Score: 2

    I can answer this one quite easily.
    Both of the pay the bills by being college professors. I have had several classes with "Mike Bonannno" here at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy NY. "Andy Bichlbaum" is a lecturer at Parsons in NYC and formerly worked for Maxis

    So, neither of the Yes Men are really planning to get rich from this.

  5. Re:Lower your expectations on Ask Slashdot: Linux Support In Universities? · · Score: 1

    I'm an IT student and a consultant at the computer help desk at a well-known Institute in Troy, NY. We have a program where incoming students are offered a package including a Windows laptop, but we also explicitly support Mac OS X and Red Hat Enterprise Linux. The Help Desk will gladly give you an install image of Windows XP, Vista, or 7, but we also have discs for the major Linux distributions on hand.

    Our wireless network is an 802.1x PEAP. Unfortunately, it doesn't self-identify properly so you must tell Mac OS X, Windows XP, and some Linuxes that it is a PEAP. There is an Android app to facilitate using our network. Out VPN is Cisco AnyConnect which is (surprisingly) cross-platform and exceptionally easy to set up.

    Public computers run Windows, but there are a few Sun workstations running Solaris. Students have SSH access to a variety of public RHEL, AIX, and SGI machines. The CS department additionally provides access to some more FreeBSD, IRIX, and Solaris servers. By the time you are in Data Structures (Computer Science 2), everything must compile in GCC 4.current. People still using MS Visual Studio are quietly ridiculed.

    Perhaps we are an exception from the normal experiences...

  6. Re:A couple of things on What Is Holding Back the Paperless Office? · · Score: 1

    [...] there's no record anymore of what the document said before the change. The paper copies in my drawer can't be changed and I can pull them out to prove that yes that was what was originally specified.

    This is an issue, but it can be mostly resolved with versioning filesystems like Files-11 or maybe even ZFS snapshots. I can't even tell you the number of times I've made changes to a document then wish afterwards I still had the original version...

  7. Re:I recommend ... on Police Called Over 11-Year-Old's Science Project · · Score: 1

    He certainly has violated their policy! Read a little closer and you will see that fabrication is prohibited. It was obviously a violation of Academic Honesty to fabricate that motion-detector.

    [/sarcasm]
    [reality]

  8. Re:The reason people ignore you Zed.. on Why Programmers Need To Learn Statistics · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I think all statisticians should have to learn writing communications skills.
    Zed sure embarrasses himself by writing such an atrocious piece of garbage.

    Maybe people would listen to Zed if he didn't:
    a.) Depend on vulgar language to emphasize an argument (and subsequently)
    b.) Prove himself as a huge douchbag.

  9. Re:That's what you do in a university... on Managing Young Sys Admins At Oregon State Open Source Lab · · Score: 1

    Not at all. I am an IT student at RPI and they specifically prohibit hiring current students for the DotCIO. Students work in the software and hardware helpdesks, but never on the network.

    This makes sense because those networks include sensitive data, security networks, and building access authentication. It seems like a good way to cut costs, but it is a potential security risk.

  10. Re:Monopoly? on In the UK, T-Mobile and Orange To Merge · · Score: 1

    Annual pass? I'm pretty sure no cinemas in my area (in the USA) will do that... where are you?

    Otherwise, paying a flat rate for a phone you never use to save a good bit on cinema tickets sounds like an excellent idea.

  11. Re:I wonder if... on Microsoft Files "Emergency Motion" To Ship Word · · Score: 1

    docx? I don't think so. IANAL, but a friend who IAL suggests that many courts in Pennsylvania at least require filings to be made in PDF.
    This really makes sense because PDF is an open format and it's harder to modify after receipt than a Word file.

  12. Re:"public" opinion? on Measuring Real Time Public Opinion With Twitter · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Is anyone else thinking "selection bias"?

    How can Twitter users be a representative sample of the public as a whole? And I don't even want to think about issues with geographical context...

  13. Re:It works really well on Apple Working On Tech To Detect Purchasers' "Abuse" · · Score: 1

    Agree 100%. Last September Verizon mailed me an LG Voyager - all the moisture sensors were ruined before I even opened the box.
    This humidity is *exactly* why I don't buy phone insurance - Verizon will always claim that my phone was wet.

  14. Bing... on Microsoft and Yahoo Reach Deal · · Score: 4, Funny

    Bing will become Yahoo's default search engine.
    I think I just cried a little...

  15. Re:Our company buys a ton of stuff from Tiger on Dell Sues Tiger Direct For Misleading Customers · · Score: 1

    I have had similar experiences with TigerDirect. I recently bought a Nokia n810 Internet Tablet from TD, but only because they beat all other prices via an email ad (which I usually just throw away).

    Yes, I do usually ignore TD and buy at Newegg, but the device is pretty much an appliance and reading the details sheet was not a refurb, so what could they possibly do to screw it up?

  16. Re:Rent-a-cops on College Police Think Using Linux Is Suspicious Behavior · · Score: 1

    Mod parent confused!
    While the Boston College PD likely consists of real police officers, the link you have given refers to the police at Boston University, which is a totally different institution.

    It is very easy to confuse colleges in Boston considering that there are about 25 of them ( http://education-portal.com/number_of_colleges_in_boston.html )

  17. Re:159357 popular with lefties? on Passwords From PHPBB Attack Analyzed · · Score: 3, Informative

    Another leftie here...
    I never use the mouse on the left and switching the button layout seems like an awkward hassle.

    Maybe I'm not used to it because I tend to use public computers where admins would disapprove of re-arranging.
    I'm just so used to the regular right-handed mouse and don't know any lefties for aren't.

  18. Re:Correction on Apple Cracks Down On iPhone Unlockers · · Score: 1

    Believe me, my 'ethics' would not prevent me from accepting the AT&T subsidy and breaking the contract.
    It is time for free choice of carrier for the iPhone.
    I would gladly have a contract, but please let me choose the company (and maybe even CDMA).

  19. Must a CD cost $15.99? on Must a CD Cost $15.99? · · Score: 1

    No. This number is created arbitrarily by the label, based its marketing costs and its desire for profit.
    Remove labels from the equation and watch the prices fall to levels set by the will of the consumer.
    Take a look at Radiohead 'In Rainbows' and tell me how well that sold by allowing consumers to set their own price.

  20. Re:doesn't add up on Nuclear Scanning Catches a Radioactive Cat On I-5 · · Score: 1

    I am surprised that you had trouble with radiation at the border crossing. In my experience, (about a year ago) US-Canada border security is significantly lax.
    Driving a 30-foot coach-style RV through a side-road crossing near Toronto. Security both ways consisted of one (Canadian) officer who asked how many people were in the RV, their nationalities, and how long we were staying. But the best question was "Do you have any illegal aliens in your vehicle?" And he asked all this without getting out of his lawn chair!

    Are there any illegal aliens? No, but we could have fit 40 in the coach and 10 underneath.
    So, pretty disinterested in actual border security. I suppose you just crossed on a larger road.

  21. Re:Intul Inside! Powered by AMB! on New Lock Aims To End Chip Piracy · · Score: 1

    raises hand

    I downloaded it on BitTorrent -- genuine UltraSPRC

  22. Re:Absolutely Not on Should Addictive Tech Come With a Health Warning? · · Score: 1

    imprison someone... if they choose... not to wear a motorcycle helmet
    Makes me chuckle a little because motorcycle helmets have been largely optional in my state (PA) for almost 5 years.

    Incarceration is expensive - we find it cheaper to institute a policy of natural selection.

  23. Self-destruct - standard feature on USA 193 Shootdown Set For Feb 21, 03:30 UTC · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Along the lines of the self-destruct, I agree that a satellite which absolutely could not be allowed to return to Earth intact would be built with the proper destructive methods.

    However, a self-destruct would also be useful in cases just like this, where the danger is not classified information, but hazardous materials. I am assuming that satellites are usually launched with the anticipation of decaying orbits, so why not build satellites with standard self-destruct for cases like this?
    It seems like a relatively common occurrence (Skylab, anyone?) and seems like it would be a lot less expensive and require less logistical planning than having to time a missile interception.

  24. Re:You can't make this stuff up. on Vista SP1 Update Locks Out Some Users · · Score: 1

    Slip of the finger - posting to undo moderation.
    Slashdot - Please add confirmation or undo function.

  25. Re:Linux on UK Schools Warned Off Microsoft Deal · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Hey! I practiced my typing with 'touch' and it put tons of empty files all over my /home! grr... buggy software
    On a more serious note, KTouch is a useful program, and you will likely find an open-source program equivalent to pretty much everything.