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User: Otis_INF

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  1. What are you whining about? on Judge Lets Sony Access GeoHot's PayPal Account · · Score: 1

    Sony's stuff has been actively hacked by a couple of people. The legal team of Sony gets the order to stop this so they do their job and Sony, if you like it or not, tries to protect what they think is theirs.

    The hackers knew this could happen, and they thought it would blow over. Well, they made a miscalculation. Boohoo.

    And please. all the whining about 'oh this is so bad!', no it isn't. It has nothing to do with you nor any other consumer who buys the product for what's it suppose to do, nor will this lawsuit affect your life in any way.

    That you now will never purchase a sony product again... where have we heard that before? Oh that's right. The CoD boycott. Yeah that worked out fine, didn't it?

  2. You're an idiot. on GNOME To Lose Minimize, Maximize Buttons · · Score: 1

    Sorry, but I can't put it in another way. Here's why:

    Option1: LEFT Click a button.
    Option2: Right-click on title bar, then LEFT click option in context menu
    Option3: Press ALT-F9

    Which one is easier, option1, with 1 left click, or option 2 which forces you to fiddle with a menu and right-clicking? You say: option 2. Sorry... what?

    Oh, of course, minimizing isn't used, right, you should move the window to another workspace by using... right-click, and then left click option in context menu. One LEFT click is easy, it's deterministic and it's well known.

    In windows I use 2 monitors and ultramon. It adds (!) 2 buttons to every window bar: one for moving the window to the other monitor and one for maximizing the window across two monitors. No offense to you, but they are very very easy and add usability to using window objects on a desktop.

  3. Sorry, but glossy screen == no buy on New Apple MacBook Pro Reviewed · · Score: 2

    The reviewer doesn't even enlist the glossyness of the screen. If you look at reviews over at notebookcheck.net, you'll see this review is just 'lame'. A laptop is taken outside, how does it behave under conditions with a lot of light (even indoors)? Stuff a buyer would want to know.

    Ok, maybe not a mac-user, but still.

  4. You missed one big USP for RIM on BlackBerry Devices May Run Android Apps · · Score: 1

    Using a blackberry, internal messaging is free. For businesses this can be a big plus, as they don't have to pay for any messaging between employees.

  5. Bring back Yesterday News! on Slashdot Launches Re-Design · · Score: 1

    The slashbox Yesterday news is what I miss the most. It's now gone and that sucks bigtime.

    Also, you should have implemented a reddit style comment system. The current one is simply too cumbersome.

  6. Github won't put them back online. on Sony Sends DMCA Takedown Notice To GitHub · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Do you really think Github can afford a lengthy trial with mammoth Sony? Not in a million years. The legal team of Sony will bury Github's with so many documents they either have to give up or will lose.

    Big corporations have big law departments. The only purpose of these law departments, which cost a lot of money each year, is to make life as easy as possible for the employer, Sony in this case. This means: they'll do everything they can to make the life of the opponent as miserable as possible: lawsuits, burying with massive amounts of documents etc. Github doesn't have a chance.

  7. Why don't you link to the Microsoft adisory? on New Critical Bug In All Current Windows Versions · · Score: 2

    Now you link to some blogpost/article on some random site, which only rehashes what Microsoft's own article at teched has to say as well..

    Link to direct advisory:
    https://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/2501696.mspx

  8. You can distillate all that from the summary? on Sony Says PSP2 "As Powerful as PS3" · · Score: 0

    There's absolutely NO INFO available on the PSP2, yet you already know what kind of games there will be released on it and that it will not be your cup of tea. Care to share your stockmarket predictions as well?

  9. Medicine isn't an 'elite', it's a numerus fixus on Is Going To an Elite College Worth the Cost? · · Score: 1

    Several courses on dutch universities have 'numerus fixus', which means only a limited number of students are accepted, as the universities can't accept more due to the facilities and the nature of the courses. This doesn't make them 'elite', as the selection isn't really a selection, but a lottery. In other words, it's not 'hard' to get into, you just have to have luck. It's sad it's this way, really, but on the other hand, it's fair.

    We have 1 elite university in the netherlands: Nijenrode University, but compared to Harvard and Princeton, it's very small scale and relatively less expensive.

    You as a law student in Amsterdam should know there IS small elitism among law graduates in the netherlands: Leiden University and Utrecht University law students are considered 'higher educated', by many people, which is of course prejudice bullsh*t, but you know how people are. It's however not the same as with the USA system, as you could have applied to study law in Leiden as well, without any extra effort.

  10. I think you missed the point... on Is Going To an Elite College Worth the Cost? · · Score: 1

    The point isn't which university / college you should choose based on what the quality of the program they offer, but whether it's worth the costs.

    You say you had the 'elite route', and I hope for you that if you had to take a huge debt to make it through college/grad school, you can afford to pay it back. But what if you didn't have the job(s) you had after you graduated, simply because there aren't that many jobs for people with your skillset/knowledge? Not everyone becomes a researcher (most people don't).

    One should really wonder whether it's worth it to take a debt of $100,000+ to visit an Ivy League college/gradschool, as there's no guarantee you will land a job to pay it back.

  11. RISC has downsides... on Intel Talks 1000-Core Processors · · Score: 1

    Because of the limited number of instructions, you have more instructions for a logical operation, e.g. multiply (although many risc cpu's have that operation), so this means you have to load more bytes from ram to do the same thing as a CISC instruction with lesser bytes than the whole piece of code for the risc. As cpu speed vs. ram / bus speed is skewed, it's more efficient to have instructions which take maybe a bit more bits, but on average they don't really take that much more and have microcode on-die to handle them, instead of having to load alot of risc instruction bytes from ram for doing basic operations a cisc can do through microcode. As long as the memory speed/busspeed is not exactly the same as the cpu speed (like on the ps3 where memory/bus runs at 3ghz, equal to the cpu) but slower, risc isn't always more optimal.

  12. Finally the US citizen gets what they do to others on National Opt-Out Day Against Virtual Strip Searches · · Score: 1

    For years, people flying to the USA have been treated as criminals when they entered the USA, with questioning at the home airport, scanners, photos taken, fingerprints taken, several times questioning by assault-rifle carrying border patrols what the F*** you're doing in the USA, laptops searched (and taken), camera's searched, shoes that have to be taken off, belts that have to be taken off, no water you could take with you on board, you have to register on a website which costs 14 euros if you want to be left in....do I need to go on?

    Now, the USA citizen gets what others have been punished with for years. I'm glad the USA citizen finally experience this and hopefully they'll realize what kind of crap they have forced upon foreigners for years. Because, make no mistake: we in europe now have to get new passports because the USA demands passports with biometrical information. The USA demands that people boarding for the USA in europe are questioned by a security officer who asks questions like "Who packed your bag" and if you answer "My wife" he'll respond with "Do you trust your wife?". What the **** is that kind of shit?.

    I do remember the days when I was boarding for Amsterdam on a greece island and all passengers were in a single hall, security was as tough as "Oh is that your bag? Looks ok, carry on!" and everyone had a great time. Did anything ever happen on one of those flights? no.

  13. Of course they're interested in Java on Oracle Needs a Clue As Brain Drain Accelerates · · Score: 1

    ... simply because most Oracle client stuff runs on it/is written in it. Oracle depends on Java in a lot of ways, and I think it's strategic for them as well, especially against IBM which also relies heavily on Java.

    That some high-end people leave Oracle now is not a surprise nor do I think that Oracle will give a hoot: Oracle hasn't become big by sitting on their hands or because they hired only stupid people, they have a lot of clever people on staff as well, they know the brains will come in sooner or later or maybe they already have them on their payroll. Either way: just because some guy did something some years ago at Sun doesn't make that person irreplaceable at Oracle, on the contrary: it might be that person has a vision which worked back then but has no value in the future.

  14. This is likely a dumb question but... on How the Web Rallied To Review the P != NP Claim · · Score: 1

    ... given that SAT already is NP complete, doesn't that already prove P!=NP? For P to be equal to NP, it has to be equal for SAT too, which it isn't.

    So isn't it then coming down to: WHICH classifications can be made, so P==NP for class X and P!=NP for class Y?

  15. No, it was secure due to on-die decrypting on PS3 Hacked via USB Dongle · · Score: 1

    Read Shimizu's paper about protecting software through hardware (She's the lead designer for the CELL's protection mechanism). It has nothing to do with obscurity, you simply can't reach the place where things get decrypted as it's on the CELL, in hardware. There are no 'key's to be found, it's not protected by software.

  16. You go out the door much? on Tor Developer Detained At US Border, Pressed On Wikileaks · · Score: 1

    A few years ago I flew from The Netherlands to the USA for a Microsoft conference. At the airport I was asked who packed my suitcase. I was first unwilling to answer that kind of stupid questions but I was told to cooperate or I couldn't board the plane. I asked why these questions were necessary and I was told the USA required them. So I answered "My wife" (which was true). I was then asked "Do you trust your wife?". I was amazed about these kind of questions... wtf do you think .. of course I trust my wife. It went on and on...

    When I arrived in the USA, I had my picture taken like I am some kind of criminal, fingerprints were taken (my own country doesn't even have my fingerprints!), I was asked where I stayed, when I would go back (it was written down in the passport), what I was going to do in the USA, why (!), and after that I was asked 10 (!) more times by various people what my business was in the USA, what I was going to do there. And not by normal people, but by people with assault rifles, army boots and what looked like combat police uniforms.

    At that moment I decided: I'll never ever go to the USA again, until they become sane again.

    Ps: when I and the rest of the people from my plane were waiting for the first customs counter (where you get your mugshot taken and fingerprints seized) border patrol was actively looking for people who held a passport with arabic characters in their hand. These people were taken aside.

    Isn't there a line in the USA anthem which says 'land of the free' ? I don't know but what the USA is doing has little to do with 'freedom' IMHO.

  17. err... on Sometimes It's OK To Steal My Games · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I, as a professional ISV owning developer, can only pay my bills because of copyright. This way, I can write software for a living and sell licenses of my work to my customers. What you wrote is IMHO one of the most stupidest things I've ever read about copyright: why would someone who created something NOT own that work? You seem to think that person doesn't own that work, 'society' does.

    Sorry, but that's just an excuse for ignoring the fact that you don't own the hard work of other people, they do.

  18. Sorry? on A Composer's-Eye View of the Copyright Wars · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I write software for a living. I have worked for 2 years full time on a new version and I sell that version for money. I can do so because copyright law exists: I _own_ the work I created.

    I therefore fail to see why this is a bad thing. Who are you to say what *I* should do with the software I worked on for over 2 years full time? (mind you: I payed my bills from my own pocket) Copyright is a right given to people who create stuff to make THEM decide what they do with it, instead of the people who want to USE it. You for example are not in charge what should happen with my work, I am. And I think that's fair, as I wrote it, spend all my time on it and payed for it from my own pocket, you didn't do a thing for it, so why should you be entitled to use it freely? How am I then going to pay the bills?

  19. GPL on A Composer's-Eye View of the Copyright Wars · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's shocking how much people here bash this composer, as this is a site which always has taken the stance against GPL violation.

    If a person X writes a piece of code and licenses it under the GPL, it's X' decision. If I take that code and embed it in my own code, not giving credits to X nor open my own code, I thus 'stole' X' work. It's the same thing as with this sheetmusic: the composer asks money for his work, that's HIS choice, not anybody's elses. If someone else wants to use / have the sheetmusic, that person has to pay: obey the rules the creator of the work has stated.

    It's strange that on a site where every GPL violation is big news and a lot of people show their support for the GPL etc. etc. it's apparently 'ok' to violate the rules some composer has stated for HIS work. It's not YOUR work, it's HIS work. Don't want to pay? don't download it.

  20. It's not your call, it's that simple. on A Composer's-Eye View of the Copyright Wars · · Score: 0, Troll

    You are not the one who makes the decision how a creator of a work should distribute that work, unless YOU created that work. Take GPL-ed software. That's IP, if you want it or not. Why? Because that's what the law says.

    If I take a GPL-ed piece of software and embed it in my proprietary piece of software and sell it, slashdot and the rest of the open source world would be up in arms, like they have been in the past. That's exactly the same thing as what this composer did.

    I.o.w.: it's exactly the same as with the GPL: a work created by a person has distribution rights, and the owner of the work decides which ones, no-one else. Don't like it? Don't use the work. It's that simple. Same with GPL-ed software.

    Furthermore, this isn't about some RIAA douchebag bullying some teen. This is about some composer who rightfully wants freeloaders to pay for his work, the same as what a software engineer who wrote a piece of GPL licensed code wants: s/he licensed it as gpl-ed code so users of it in other pieces of code have to follow the rules: it's not their code, they have to follow the rules what the OWNER of the code has stated.

    The 'brenna' person is really not that bright. The claim that people can't afford expensive sheet music and really need it because they otherwise will never have a chance in the profession they've chosen is utterly lame. Not only does the composer show that the sheetmusic costs 4$ (which is on par with a starbucks latte in some cities) but what does this brenna person tell the cashier at the local grocery store? "Please give me this food for free, I can't otherwise make a living in this tough profession"? I don't think so.

  21. This is why I won't go to the USA anymore on Writer Peter Watts Sentenced; No Jail Time · · Score: 1

    This kind of border crap is something I want to avoid at all cost. Last time I entered the USA (through seattle airport) I was questioned 10 times (TEN TIMES) what my business was there. And not by polite people who were friendly, no, by soldiers with M16's.

    Why would anyone voluntarily want to go through all that?

  22. Not in the US, but in Europe you have to on The PalmPilots That Never Were · · Score: 1

    At least in some European countries: if you file a patent of an idea it's thrown out without being looked at, you have to file a patent of an application of the idea.

    To me these 'patents' are nothing more than results of brainstorms which were then patented in case someone else created the idea in real life.

  23. Nonsense on Multicore Requires OS Rework, Windows Expert Says · · Score: 1

    The research on software for multi-core/cpu computers wasn't stopped once people thought their desktops were fast enough, it's been continued for decades and the results have lead to more and more efficient servers. The point is that the PC, the desktop/laptop computer isn't setup as a server with multiple cpu's, shared memory and what not, and in there lies the problem. Not the research, not the software design principles, not the lack of research in languages.

  24. It's "Not Only SQL" on Digg Says Yes To NoSQL Cassandra DB, Bye To MySQL · · Score: 3, Informative

    The 'n' stands for 'Not' and the 'o' stands for 'Only', so it's wrong to read it as NO SQL, it should be seen as Not Only SQL. I.o.w.: not a move away from sql, but exploring other options besides SQL

  25. Re:You can't artificially put down competition on Schooling Microsoft On Random Browser Selection · · Score: 1

    So, considering it's not entirely random, which browser is likely to land in the spot where most users will look first (in the middle) ?

    As 5 choices are offered, in which order they are presented is not really that interesting. What's interesting is how users will pick their choice: if the vast majority will pick the 3rd one (middle) because they don't have time / want to read all the choices' options, it's more interesting which browser that will be.

    Unfortunately, unless we know what kind of user patterns are likely, we can't really judge the numbers. For example if it was the most less likely that a user would pick the most right one from a set of 5 characters on screen, MS would put its biggest competitor there. And they don't see FF as their competitor, but google.