Just over a year ago, my friend gene_tailor was killed in a car accident while she and her husband were on their way home from an SCA event. I posted about this in my journal.
Problem: I wanted to tell everyone who knew gene_tailor that she died. I specifically wanted to direct this to her slashdot friends list.
Question: In Slashdot, as an online community, how should I go about notifying others who don't know me that a mutual friend has died? I tried posting responses in her friends journals, but got no response - I guess people thought it might be a hoax.
Just so everyone understands, gene_tailor were very close friends in real life. I introduced her to slashdot.
So the question remains. Surely I'm not the only one to experience this. What have others done? What should I have done?
I submitted a related story to this last month. Kidd of Speed" rides her Kawasaki Ninja into the dead zone through the abandoned towns, cities and villages surrounding Chernobyl.
My brother-in-law is a chip engineer for Sun. Coincidentally, his next door neighbor does a very similar job at HP. We had a very interesting conversation last spring about the latest - last generation of Alpha processors. According the HP engineer, HP sold much of the Alpha technology to AMD for use in the Opteron.
HP will continue to support this last Alpha generation until 2011.
Choice quote from the LA Times (requires subscription)
"We have our suspicions" that a Linux enthusiast is to blame for MyDoom, Stowell said.
But Eric Raymond, a leader of the Linux movement, said SCO's suspicions were misplaced. "If one of our guys had written it," he said, "the thing would be much harder to track and much more
devastating."
I run the suite because AdBlock works in both the browser and mail clients. Meaning: I can block banner ads from my incoming email. Yes, this really is an issue - especially after signing up for comics.com's free subscription service. I absolutely hate their banner ad logo asking me to sign up for their "premium" service.
The AIW 9700 Pro card should be significantly cheaper than the 9800 Pro since it's about 1.5 generations behind ATI's current product set. Last I remember, ATI was providing Linux binary-only divers for the 9700 Pro which enabled accelerated video. The Gatos project enables the TV tuner on these ATI cards.
I'm currently on my third AIW card, the AIW 9800 Pro, and I'm not sure I'd want to use anything else.
BTW, you don't need a TV tuner card to use your PS2 with your computer monitor. You can get a PS2 to VGA cable and plug it directly into your monitor.
Solution? Developer network off the main network. If they blow it up, it's their fault and they fix it. Sounds good in theory. I think programs like Ghost will play a big role in this type of setup.
Yeah, we do that, but we in IT still end up supporting the people who can't be bothered to figure out who actually runs the development network. The development network is behind a firewall and we don't allow pings through (MS-Blaster and Lovesan containment). They run everything on their side of the firewall, DNS, domain controllers, AntiVirus (more frequently disabled or not installed), security patches (NEVER!) etc.
Just before Thanksgiving, I got a call from one developer saying he couldn't reach the FTP server. My call back went something like this:
IT: Can you describe the problem?
DEV: I can't reach the corporate external FTP server. I can't ping it, either.
IT: Pings are disabled between subnets and VLANS for antivirus reasons. How exactly are you trying to get to the FTP server?
DEV: I go into Internet Explorer and type FTP in the location bar.
IT: Can you get to the FTP server from the command line?
DEV: You mean with ping?
IT: No, by using FTP. Ping is blocked by the firewall and on the routers.
DEV: Uhh.....
IT: Open a command prompt. Type nslookup...
DEV: You mean ping?
IT: No, type nslookup ftp.
DEV: It came back with Non-existent domain.
IT: Right. What does it say is your DNS server?
DEV: Develop. It's our Primary Domain Controller.
IT: Let's try using the IP address type ftp xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.
DEV: Hey, I got a login prompt. Let me try this in Internet Explorer. OK it works.
IT: Do you know who administers the PDC/DNS server you're connected to?
DEV: I think IT does.
IT: No, we don't. It's part of the development network. You have a name resolution problem. Try contacting the system's administrator and have them correct the name resolution problem.
DEV: But shouldn't I be able to ping the FTP server?
IT: (Stunned silence)... No, pings are blocked between subnets, VLANS and from behind firewalls to block MS-Blaster and Lovesan. Even when if you could resolve the FTP server name, ping will not work...
Microban Antimicrobial Product Protection is the global leader in built-in antimicrobial solutions and can be found in consumer, industrial, building and medical products around the world. From toothbrushes to humidifiers, foodservice equipment to building materials and dental trays to surgical drapes, Microban technology is your promise of antimicrobial protection that will inhibit the growth of bacteria and mold that can cause stains, odors and product deterioration. And because Microban protection is built-in during the manufacturing process it keeps products cleaner and fresher, for the useful life of the product. For an added level of protection from microbes look for products with Microban antimicrobial protection.
Yeah easily available if you're sitting at your desk. Try using a streaming client with you while jogging or driving...
Of course, I could sit at my desk with my FM radio, wait for the program to start, manually begin the recording, capture the audio stream to MP3, Ogg or whatever, burn the captured audio to CD (or transfer it to a USB MP3 player) and *THEN* us it on the road.
But I'd rather have the convenience of a TIVO-like
digital audio recorder where I could *automatically* time-shift a program, copy it to the medium of my choice and play it back wherever I like. I'd also want this TIVO-like digital audo recorder to be able to capture streams from sites like NPR, PRI, CBC, BBC, SHOUTcast, etc.
SCO has very few resources left to pursue these cases against IBM, Red Hat and SuSE. That all could change if Microsoft buys SCO for very short money. Suddenly, Microsoft would have a very strong tool to threaten Open Source Software companies.
This went over the Boston Linux User's Group discussion list. Netscape.net and Citigroup addresses are bouncing mail as well. Here's the solution suggested on the list:
With Red Hat Linux 8 running sendmail, setup a mailertable. Create/etc/mail/mailertable and add the following lines:
The worst part of this new legislation is the associated gag order. If the FBI does come to your library, your librarian is forbidden by law to tell you or anyone else that they have been there, or what they did. If they installed surveillance equipment on the computers, they can't tell you. If they asked for the list of the last 50 books you or everyone who uses the library checked out or purchased, they can't tell you. The same is true for bookstore owners and employees. The USAPA creates an entirely new class of prosecutable criminal: librarians who tell the truth.
I have been using Mozilla since 0.92 as my primary browser and email client. I'm surprised at the new features added - like about:config - I mean, who knew!?! This is cool!
However, I still have a problem with a few sites, like tvguide.com. When on the listings page, I click the program name and get a blank pop-up window where the description should be. I've tried turning off popup-blocking and disabling all script control options (leaving the boxes checked). Does anyone else see this problem? More importantly, does anyone have a solution.
Perhaps web-file will get improved. And I really hope either some filing software or online forms become platform-independent (so I can work under Linux) or that someone will come up with a way I trust to do online paperwork (data saved locally with a viewer mechanism, perhaps?).
Perhaps I should be more paranoid, but the IRS and their filing partners have a strict code that prohibits sharing of your information.
To be honest, the one part of the whole e-file process that just CHAPS MY ASTERISK is getting charged $10 for the privilege of helping the IRS avoid labor-intensive hand-data-entry. I am paying them to save themselves money. That's just sick and wrong.
The site I used to prepare my taxes charges $7.95 per return only if you file online and you don't meet the qualifications for free-file. Millions of people will be able to use free-file, especially those filing form 1040EZ.
You still have the option of filing a paper return once you complete the forms. The site produces PDFs of your completed tax return. Print your return sign it, attach your W-2s and other documents, put it in an envelope and mail. Cost: Postage ($0.37).
I agree that charging the tax payer to file returns electronically is a bad idea. However, in this case, I don't think its the IRS making the money. I think its the web site that keeps the $7.95.
Now that the IRS's e-file program is officially available, Intuit will have to radically change their business model for TurboTax. I completed my federal and MA state taxes online last night through TaxAct. It was quick, easy and without hassle.
There are several other IRS e-file Partners, many of which will allow you to file online for free. And if you don't qualify for free filing, you can file for as little as $4.95 for federal and $7.95 for state taxes, which is much less than the cost of TurboTax Basic Plus State, never mind the additional $9.95 cost of filing each return.
Web filing will beat out packaged tax software because it can be delivered more cheaply and is platform independent.
In my last job, one of the last responsibilities I had before collecting my severance check and unemployment, was data security.
Jeff (my boss) and I destroyed many hard drives. We kept and wiped anything over 6 GB, but there were many, many smaller drives. Jeff would drill through the desktop hard drives a few times with a 1/4 inch bit.
But we saved the most interesting method of destruction for the laptop drives. When you hit them with a hammer, the platters literally shatter (they're made of glass). Jeff handed me the remains of one such drive. I shook the remains and it made the sound of pebbles sliding around a metal box.
I could be wrong, but I don't think anyone would ever be able to recover anything from one of these drives.
This was posted to the SpellChecker Email List on 14 Nov 2002. After 2.5 months without a spellchecker for Mozilla on Win32, someone finally released one that works. See
http://mozillacafe.org/MozSpell_1.2f_w32.xpi.
Alternatively, you can download working spellcheckers for Linux and Windows from here.
Just in case anyone wondered, using the spellchecker from
http://spellchecker.mozdev.org has not worked for Win32 nightly builds, Mozilla 1.1 or 1.2b releases since the end of August. The spellcheck.xpi from Netscape 7 may work for these Linux builds but does not work for Win32.
Slashdot Mirror
People talking on a cell phone while driving is bad enough. Can you imagine some idiot in an SUV waving one of these things at other drivers?
As Click and Clack say, Drive Now, Talk Later.
Just over a year ago, my friend gene_tailor was killed in a car accident while she and her husband were on their way home from an SCA event. I posted about this in my journal.
Problem: I wanted to tell everyone who knew gene_tailor that she died. I specifically wanted to direct this to her slashdot friends list.
Question: In Slashdot, as an online community, how should I go about notifying others who don't know me that a mutual friend has died? I tried posting responses in her friends journals, but got no response - I guess people thought it might be a hoax.
Just so everyone understands, gene_tailor were very close friends in real life. I introduced her to slashdot.
So the question remains. Surely I'm not the only one to experience this. What have others done? What should I have done?
Lurk more.
Hey, I work for a living. You try running a WAN rollout while simultaneously planning your own wedding (11 days from now).
I submitted a related story to this last month. Kidd of Speed" rides her Kawasaki Ninja into the dead zone through the abandoned towns, cities and villages surrounding Chernobyl.
The pictures are strikingly beautiful.
My brother-in-law is a chip engineer for Sun. Coincidentally, his next door neighbor does a very similar job at HP. We had a very interesting conversation last spring about the latest - last generation of Alpha processors. According the HP engineer, HP sold much of the Alpha technology to AMD for use in the Opteron.
HP will continue to support this last Alpha generation until 2011.
I run the suite because AdBlock works in both the browser and mail clients. Meaning: I can block banner ads from my incoming email. Yes, this really is an issue - especially after signing up for comics.com's free subscription service. I absolutely hate their banner ad logo asking me to sign up for their "premium" service.
The AIW 9700 Pro card should be significantly cheaper than the 9800 Pro since it's about 1.5 generations behind ATI's current product set. Last I remember, ATI was providing Linux binary-only divers for the 9700 Pro which enabled accelerated video. The Gatos project enables the TV tuner on these ATI cards.
I'm currently on my third AIW card, the AIW 9800 Pro, and I'm not sure I'd want to use anything else.
BTW, you don't need a TV tuner card to use your PS2 with your computer monitor. You can get a PS2 to VGA cable and plug it directly into your monitor.
Solution? Developer network off the main network. If they blow it up, it's their fault and they fix it. Sounds good in theory. I think programs like Ghost will play a big role in this type of setup.
...
... No, pings are blocked between subnets, VLANS and from behind firewalls to block MS-Blaster and Lovesan. Even when if you could resolve the FTP server name, ping will not work...
Yeah, we do that, but we in IT still end up supporting the people who can't be bothered to figure out who actually runs the development network. The development network is behind a firewall and we don't allow pings through (MS-Blaster and Lovesan containment). They run everything on their side of the firewall, DNS, domain controllers, AntiVirus (more frequently disabled or not installed), security patches (NEVER!) etc.
Just before Thanksgiving, I got a call from one developer saying he couldn't reach the FTP server. My call back went something like this:
IT: Can you describe the problem?
DEV: I can't reach the corporate external FTP server. I can't ping it, either.
IT: Pings are disabled between subnets and VLANS for antivirus reasons. How exactly are you trying to get to the FTP server?
DEV: I go into Internet Explorer and type FTP in the location bar.
IT: Can you get to the FTP server from the command line?
DEV: You mean with ping?
IT: No, by using FTP. Ping is blocked by the firewall and on the routers.
DEV: Uhh.....
IT: Open a command prompt. Type nslookup
DEV: You mean ping?
IT: No, type nslookup ftp.
DEV: It came back with Non-existent domain.
IT: Right. What does it say is your DNS server?
DEV: Develop. It's our Primary Domain Controller.
IT: Let's try using the IP address type ftp xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.
DEV: Hey, I got a login prompt. Let me try this in Internet Explorer. OK it works.
IT: Do you know who administers the PDC/DNS server you're connected to?
DEV: I think IT does.
IT: No, we don't. It's part of the development network. You have a name resolution problem. Try contacting the system's administrator and have them correct the name resolution problem.
DEV: But shouldn't I be able to ping the FTP server?
IT: (Stunned silence)
It's not like they're destroying Original Master Recordings, which would be entirely different.
Microban Antimicrobial Product Protection is the global leader in built-in antimicrobial solutions and can be found in consumer, industrial, building and medical products around the world. From toothbrushes to humidifiers, foodservice equipment to building materials and dental trays to surgical drapes, Microban technology is your promise of antimicrobial protection that will inhibit the growth of bacteria and mold that can cause stains, odors and product deterioration. And because Microban protection is built-in during the manufacturing process it keeps products cleaner and fresher, for the useful life of the product. For an added level of protection from microbes look for products with Microban antimicrobial protection.
Listen online.
Try listening online while driving or jogging.
People who want Radio-TiVo want all the same conveniences that you get with an ordinary MP3/Ogg player PLUS TIME SHIFTING of Radio Content.
We want something that will automatically record a program - AM/FM, online, whatever - and have the convenience taking that recording with us.
Gee, when SCO threatened Red Hat and SuSE I was cynical to enough to think that Microsoft might try to buy SCO. I guess the truth is stranger than fiction, or speculation in this case.
Yeah easily available if you're sitting at your desk. Try using a streaming client with you while jogging or driving...
Of course, I could sit at my desk with my FM radio, wait for the program to start, manually begin the recording, capture the audio stream to MP3, Ogg or whatever, burn the captured audio to CD (or transfer it to a USB MP3 player) and *THEN* us it on the road.
But I'd rather have the convenience of a TIVO-like digital audio recorder where I could *automatically* time-shift a program, copy it to the medium of my choice and play it back wherever I like. I'd also want this TIVO-like digital audo recorder to be able to capture streams from sites like NPR, PRI, CBC, BBC, SHOUTcast, etc.
SCO has very few resources left to pursue these cases against IBM, Red Hat and SuSE. That all could change if Microsoft buys SCO for very short money. Suddenly, Microsoft would have a very strong tool to threaten Open Source Software companies.
I checked the currency converter at Yahoo Finance. This number is accurate as of 10:29 AM EDT.
This went over the Boston Linux User's Group discussion list. Netscape.net and Citigroup addresses are bouncing mail as well. Here's the solution suggested on the list:
/etc/mail/mailertable and add the following lines:
With Red Hat Linux 8 running sendmail, setup a mailertable. Create
aol.com smtp:mail.attbi.com
netscape.net smtp:mail.attbi.com
ssmb.com smtp:mail.attbi.com
citigroup.com smtp:mail.attbi.com
Register the mailertable db, stop and restart sendmail.
The DOJ posted their press release about this case on the seized isonews.com website.
From Jessamyn West's article Hey, There's a Federal Agent In My Book! : Jessamyn West runs librarian.net and produced Five Technically Legal Signs for Your Library.
I have been using Mozilla since 0.92 as my primary browser and email client. I'm surprised at the new features added - like about:config - I mean, who knew!?! This is cool!
However, I still have a problem with a few sites, like tvguide.com. When on the listings page, I click the program name and get a blank pop-up window where the description should be. I've tried turning off popup-blocking and disabling all script control options (leaving the boxes checked). Does anyone else see this problem? More importantly, does anyone have a solution.
The site I used to prepare my taxes charges $7.95 per return only if you file online and you don't meet the qualifications for free-file. Millions of people will be able to use free-file, especially those filing form 1040EZ.
You still have the option of filing a paper return once you complete the forms. The site produces PDFs of your completed tax return. Print your return sign it, attach your W-2s and other documents, put it in an envelope and mail. Cost: Postage ($0.37).
I agree that charging the tax payer to file returns electronically is a bad idea. However, in this case, I don't think its the IRS making the money. I think its the web site that keeps the $7.95.
Now that the IRS's e-file program is officially available, Intuit will have to radically change their business model for TurboTax. I completed my federal and MA state taxes online last night through TaxAct. It was quick, easy and without hassle.
There are several other IRS e-file Partners, many of which will allow you to file online for free. And if you don't qualify for free filing, you can file for as little as $4.95 for federal and $7.95 for state taxes, which is much less than the cost of TurboTax Basic Plus State, never mind the additional $9.95 cost of filing each return.
Web filing will beat out packaged tax software because it can be delivered more cheaply and is platform independent.
In my last job, one of the last responsibilities I had before collecting my severance check and unemployment, was data security.
Jeff (my boss) and I destroyed many hard drives. We kept and wiped anything over 6 GB, but there were many, many smaller drives. Jeff would drill through the desktop hard drives a few times with a 1/4 inch bit.
But we saved the most interesting method of destruction for the laptop drives. When you hit them with a hammer, the platters literally shatter (they're made of glass). Jeff handed me the remains of one such drive. I shook the remains and it made the sound of pebbles sliding around a metal box.
I could be wrong, but I don't think anyone would ever be able to recover anything from one of these drives.
This was posted to the SpellChecker Email List on 14 Nov 2002. After 2.5 months without a spellchecker for Mozilla on Win32, someone finally released one that works. See http://mozillacafe.org/MozSpell_1.2f_w32.xpi.
Alternatively, you can download working spellcheckers for Linux and Windows from here.
Just in case anyone wondered, using the spellchecker from http://spellchecker.mozdev.org has not worked for Win32 nightly builds, Mozilla 1.1 or 1.2b releases since the end of August. The spellcheck.xpi from Netscape 7 may work for these Linux builds but does not work for Win32.