Slashdot Mirror


User: thesolo

thesolo's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
513
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 513

  1. Re:To those making the point about the Pontiac F-b on Firebird Database Project Admin on Name Clash · · Score: 2, Insightful

    To most everyone out there, a database and a browser aren't that much different, they are both just "computer programs." While a mechanic could probably say a car and truck are vastly different doesn't mean that's how everyone sees it.

    Yes, but they ARE vastly different computer programs. Your comparison of a car & a truck would be like comparing a small web browser to a large web browser; they both do the same thing, in the same space. To make your comparison more apt, you'd have to compare the firebird sports car to a jumbo jet. That's much closer to how different the phoenix browser is from the phoenix database.

  2. This story is a duplicate. on Catching up with Wine · · Score: 3, Informative
  3. Woah woah woah, wait a minute. on CDT Releases New Report on Origins of Spam · · Score: 1

    A former Dayton police officer who was fired in 1996 for selling drugs on the street, Childs said he doesn't rise most days now until 1 p.m.

    So let me get this straight. Not only is this Childs guy a commercial spammer who says people should "Quit your whining" about receiving spam, but he was also a drug dealer and a corrupt cop.

    So now, my question is how the hell isn't this guy in jail? You'd think between dealing drugs, being a corrupt police officer, and being a spammer this guy would be behind bars, wouldn't you? Apparently not!

    Furthermore:
    The Federal Trade Commission, however, has questioned the honesty of at least one of Childs' Internet ventures. The federal agency sued Childs in federal court last year for operating an Internet chain-mail scheme that enriched a few early participants at the expense of others.

    So now he was basically running a pyramid scheme as well. This is just revolting.

  4. Like the article? on The Myth of Radio Spectrum Interference · · Score: 1

    Just a reminder, if you enjoyed reading this Salon article (or any of the dozens of others that /. has posted), you should consider becoming a Salon member!

    I've joined, and it was well worth the money. Their articles on the state of the music industry, Payola, etc., were enough to deserve my cash.

  5. Re:Why? on McDonalds to go Wireless? · · Score: 1

    I'm not worried too much about the food - neither of them eat enough to cause them much harm.

    Actually, eating almost anything from McDonald's is pretty damn unhealthy. I recall reading in the food issue of AdBusters last year that the beef served at McDonalds is from cows that were killed between 10 and 14 months prior. The article then went on to pose the question (paraphrased) "Can you fathom the amount of coloring, preservatives, etc., that had to go into that meat so that it would keep for a year?"

    As for the playgrounds at McDonalds, those playgrounds are a million dollar business. I know a guy who helps design those playgrounds, and he's absolutely loaded.

  6. Re:Hmmm... on McDonalds to go Wireless? · · Score: 1

    I'm actually working with a local coffee shop in Philly to set up Wifi access. We are using custom software that will cut people after 2 hours, and turns the access off when the place it busy at night. She just didn't want to turn the place into a giant office.

    Hrmm, I live in Philly, curious if you can disclose the name of this coffee shop?
    By the way, I'm pretty sure I met you before at the F.I. :)

  7. Re:Isn't SCO under a de facto boycott? on More on SCO vs. IBM Lawsuit · · Score: 1

    I don't think there is much of a point in boycotting a company who has clearly turned away from producting anything and now simply exists to litigate based on its IP.

    While I agree with this, there is real damage to be done by boycotting everything under The Canopy Group, the venture capitalists behind SCO. Guess who falls under their umbrella? Troll Tech.

    That's right, a boycott of The Canopy Group is a boycott of QT and their derived products. So does this mean that KDE now has to be boycotted?? Well, I'm not the one to answer that. But it does show you how far-reaching a full-on boycott could be.

  8. GeForce4 Go, faster than what? on Dell Introduces Laptop With WUXGA · · Score: 4, Informative

    much faster than the ATI Radeon 9000

    What's that? The poster must have meant the ATI Mobility Radeon 9000, which is much different from the Radeon 9000 Pro AGP card.

  9. What about Interstate ISPs? on Pennsylvania Court Forces ISPs to Block Porn Sites · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The Salon article brought up Worldcom, but I'm still curious about this.

    I live in New Jersey, just outside of Philadelphia. My ISP is Comcast (@home, cable modem). Comcast is based in Philadelphia. Does this mean that now those particular sites would be blocked to me, despite me being a resident of NJ?

    Now don't get me wrong, I have no desire to see child pornography, but say one of those sites is on the same server as another site I go to. Am I blocked from that site? If I cross the Delaware river and go to PA, I legally have to be blocked, right?

    This measure seems overly broad and without real solutions or merit.

  10. 300th Episode has already aired!! on 300 Episodes of the Simpsons · · Score: 3, Interesting

    From SNPP.com:

    "It should be noted that while Fox is promoting "Barting Over" as the official 300th episode, this is not exactly correct. In fact, the 300th episode to be aired will be "Strong Arms of the Ma," on February 2nd. "Barting Over" isn't the 300th produced episode either, as that title goes to "Strong Arms of the Ma" as well."

    We passed the 300th episode Milestone last Sunday! Anyone else celebrate?

  11. Re:I hope they banned bikes on their sidewalks too on Segway Banned In San Francisco · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I hope they banned bikes on their sidewalks too...

    Actually, most major metropolitan cities do have laws against riding bikes on sidewalks.

    I live in Philadelphia, and here it is indeed against the law to ride your bike on the sidewalk. In fact, I've seen several people get ticketed by the police for violating that law. If you go to center city Philadelphia, you will see bike lanes on the sides of the streets, next to the car lanes.

    I would have no problem seeing Segways in bike lanes, but on the sidewalk? No way. They are equally as dangerous as bikes, if not more so (Segways don't have brakes).

  12. Re:Logitech leaving out us Lefties! on Hardware Bytes · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ambidextrous... what?!

    seriously, adapt. i can use a mouse either righty or lefty. not as good lefty, but if i made myself do it all the time i am sure it would not be long before there was little difference.


    Actually, I am ambidextrous. However, I choose to use my mouse with my left hand mainly for ergonomics; the distance from the left side home row of the keyboard to the mouse is far less than that from the right side home row to the mouse; you don't have to move past the arrow keys & numeric keypad on the left!

  13. Logitech leaving out us Lefties! on Hardware Bytes · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That new Logitech MX 500 Optical mouse looks beautiful, but I won't be buying one. Unfortunately (and this isn't just logitech), us lefties are left out of the mouse market, no pun intended! Mice that are designed for right-handed users are just shy of worthless for us.

    What's the point of having quick launch thumb buttons, when the mouse is designed for a right-handed user? Those buttons would be worthless to me, and the mouse becomes counter-intuitive to use. There seems to also be more of a push towards right hand contoured mice; I can barely even find decent symmetrical optical mice anymore (besides Logitech's low-quality offerings)!

    I'm sick of this! Does anyone know of any good optical mice that are either symmetrical or come in a left-handed model?

  14. To be honest, proper sound support! on What's Keeping You On Windows? · · Score: 2

    Here at work, I have to use Windows; we are an MS shop. At least I can use Mozilla and Phoenix instead of IE though. Anyway, at home I run, or at least try to run, Linux. However, I flip back and forth between the two on a fairly regular basis. Why you might ask? Proper sound support!

    My computer doubles as my stereo & alarm clock. In the morning, either XMMS or Winamp wakes me up, and the rest of the time, it's my stereo. I have a nice 5 speaker surround sound system with a subwoofer, connected to a Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 card. I use the digital out on the sound card to the digital DIN jack on the receiver. I also have the creative Live Drive, which has inputs for headphones, midi, etc., on the front.

    The reason I swap back and forth is because this setup is not very well supported under Linux. It does have support under Linux (emu10k1 chipset/module), and Red Hat finally detects it properly as of 8.0 Here are the problems I've run into with this setup under Linux:

    Red Hat 7.3: Took me hours to get this card actually working. Couldn't get more than 2 speaker output. Needed emu-tools (see below).
    Red Hat 8.0: Detects the card properly, but does not turn on digital out on my card; it defaults to analog. You have to install emu-tools and run 'emu-config -d' after logon to get any sound. On the first run of RH8, I get 4 speaker output. If I reboot, only the satellite speakers work.
    SuSE 8.0/8.1: SuSE detects this card perfectly out of the box, and has since 8.0. Their ALSA support is excellent, and they use Gamix, which means I can get support for the headphone jack on the Live Drive, etc. However, there is a problem with their support; their configuration does not use standard PCM controls, so adjusting the volume in programs like XMMS does NOTHING!! You have to physically adjust the volume on the receiver, or bring up Gamix and adjust it there. Did I mention that Gamix is done in Motif, and will randomly exit without warning? Ick.
    Mandrake 9.0: Mandrake 9 does pick up my sound card, and turns on Digital Out by default, but only gives me 2 speakers again. Oddly enough, they give me the front L & R channels, exactly the opposite of RH 8.0.

    I like good sound, and I want all my speakers to work. I don't play many games, so Windows isn't an issue there, and the Cisco VPN client is available on linux too, which is great. However, lack of proper 5.1 sound is enough to keep me on Windows. Also, gamix is impossible to install manually; the instructions are in Japanese only, and it fails about a dozen different dependencies that I was unable, even after several hours, to resolve.

    I should be able to install a major distro, have it detect and initialize my card correctly, and I should NOT have to recompile my kernel for more than 2 speakers! My live drive should work without having to use a flaky motif program on SuSE. This is a big problem, and I'm not happy with it. At this point, I'm tempted to wait until ALSA lands in the kernel before buying another distro. I'm using RH 8.0 right now, but only having 2 speakers is really starting to get to me.

    P.S. If anyone else has gone through this problem, please post your experiences or any assistance you can offer; I would really like to stick with Linux and have proper sound!

  15. Joisey Joke? on Boston TV Signals Disrupting Police Radio in NJ · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Ok, this is slightly OT, but speaking as someone who lives in Southern NJ, I would like to state for the record that no one around here speaks with that type of accent. We all pronounce Jersey with the letter R, thanks!

    Most people have a large misconception about New Jersey, especially thinking that it all looks like Newark, every woman has huge hair and long fingernails, and that none of us pronounce the letter "R". While this isn't entirely untrue (head up to Northern NJ to see what I mean), it does not describe the area of NJ being affected by the Boston signals. As I always say, they should split up Northern & Southern NJ, and combine the Dakotas. :)

    Back on topic, I saw this story on the local news here tonight. It's a very big problem, as peoples lives can potentially be at stake. This is something we will be seeing a lot more of in the future; we already have frequency problems with 802.11, and now it seems that TV broadcasts will be continuing the trend.

  16. Re:there are only two classes of users on Debian Desktop Subproject Launched · · Score: 3, Funny

    How about all those novices who think they're experts?

    I believe they are called MCSEs. ;)

  17. Re:Usability Problems on Phoenix 0.3 Is Out · · Score: 5, Informative
    This seems like a troll, but I'll bite.
    I like my browser to mesh with my operating system. Not so far to where the OS doesn't let you uninstall it, but to where it blends in with the look of my OS. I use Windows XP, and Mozilla does not look like XP. Sure the GUI is nice, but it looks odd with my Luna style. In addition, IE meshes with Explorer. So I can easily switch between Explorer and Internet explorer. Try typing "C:\Program Files" in Mozilla/Phoenix. Very different.
    Phoenix DOES mesh with the OS; Go ahead, change your colors in Windows, Phoenix picks them up. If you are complaining that the iconset for Phoenix doesn't look like the default icons for Windows, well, neither do the icons in IE6! As for meshing with Explorer, oh well; I personally DON'T want a browser integrating with my shell, I want JUST a browser. How many IE security holes resulted from that shell integration??
    In addition, there are many usability issues. Click on the address bar, while it's highlighted, click, hold and drag towards the left or right. It attempts to drag the entire address, maybe to drag and drop in the bookmarks menu. Now try it in IE, it's different. It will highlight the portion and allow you to edit it etc. That is very annoying in Phoenix/Mozilla.
    This is NOT a usability issue. If you highlight a section of text in IE, then try to click, hold, and drag, you CAN'T DO IT. I just tried even to verify this; as soon as you click on the highlighted text, it removes the highlight and starts editing text. Personally, I don't like this behavior, as it prevents me from dragging URLs. If you just want to edit text, then don't try clicking & dragging! That sounds like much more of a user problem than a software problem.
    Another usability problem is the placement of the Address bar. Why is it at the same layer as the toolbar? (Back, Forward buttons). I believe there is a Bug reported in BugZilla about this in Mozilla, but of course... nobody cares about Usability issues.
    So right-click on the toolbar and select "customize...", then place it where ever you want it. Have you even *tried* Phoenix??
    As for Mozilla, blame Netscape, their graphic designers wanted it that way, which is why, despite having been patched, it hasn't made its way into the Moz trunk. That particular bug doesn't even have an owner right now!!
    Why can't I have "Selective Text on Right". And that "Toolbar Customizer" with the drag and drop has bad usability problems. It's very confusing to use. And having to "Name" your toolbars?? Err..
    Selective Text on Right is actually very bad for usability, but if you want it, file a bug and see what the Phoenix developers say.
    As for the toolbar customizer, how do you figure that it has usability problems? It works the same as almost any other toolbar customizer; you move what you want onto the toolbar! The whole point of the Phoenix customization is to have the customizing happen LIVE, as opposed to making a queued list, and then applying your settings. This is a GOOD usability practice.
    Lastly, you name a toolbar when you create a new one so that you can turn the toolbar on and off! The new toolbar appears by name in the Toolbar list. I personally create a new bar called "Address Bar", then drag the address text field onto it. Go to View, then Toolbars, and there it is! Now you can create toolbars and turn them off and on as you wish. Again, this is GOOD UI practice.
    Also, the Bookmark Management is very sloppy. They need sidebar management for bookmarks.
    They have it. You can add, delete, rename, move, etc., your bookmarks from the Boomark sidebar. Again, have you really used Phoenix, as in for more than 30 seconds? I really don't think you have. Almost all of your "complaints" are false.
  18. Phoenix: Everything I always wanted in a browser! on Slashback: Cinelerra, Dolphiname, Phoenix · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm using Phoenix right now, and seriously, I'm blown away by it. Not only is it lightning fast in comparison to Mozilla, but it already has the things I've been trying to get in the Mozilla trunk for a long time now. (For those of you who browse Bugzilla, you know how frustrating getting something into the trunk can be sometimes!) Some of the notable features of Phoenix are:

    1) Customizable Toolbars

    2) Home button where it SHOULD BE!

    3) Inline form management (Mozilla's form manager is all but worthless unless you've already filled out 20+ pages of forms.)

    4) Theme that respects my system colors! (Go ahead, change your system colors, Phoenix changes with them!)

    5) No bundled on software--I just want a browser! And if you use Mozilla for the mail, don't worry, the Mail client will be getting the same overhaul as the browser. It's a project called Minotaur, and will be started on roughly when Phoenix hits .5

    There are tons of other things to mention here like the extensions manager, default popup blocking, tabs, worthwhile sidebars, ability to remove the throbber, a clean statusbar that actually works, etc., but it's best if you just see it for yourself! Go grab a copy, and then while you're enjoying it, thank Asa Dotzler, Blake Ross, Dave Hyatt, and the other guys who are making this a reality!

    Thanks guys!

  19. Re:Some explanation of New Jersey on New Jersey Officially Limits G-Forces on Coasters · · Score: 2

    I strongly doubt that. It's more likely that the 10-20 cents extra per gallon is added in.

    As a resident, I can say that you are incorrect here. NJ actually has some of the lowest priced gasoline in the US. We also have some of the lowest-taxed gasoline as well. I commute from NJ to PA for work. The gasoline by my house in NJ is currently $1.22 per gallon for regular unleaded (it's even lower elsewhere in the state); its $1.52 here in PA. 30 cents more per gallon, and you pump it yourself.

    Given a choice, I'd rather pump my own gas than risk having some minimum-wage flunky spill gas all over the paint on my truck. Besides, I usually check the oil and other fluids while the gas is pumping, and I definitely wouldn't want the aforementioned minimum-wage flunky nosing around under the hood.

    First off, I just want to say that this is a damn insulting attitude. Many of the people who are attendants at the stations are also the managers and/or owners of the station. Several of them are also trained mechanics. Even the teenagers I know who work at NJ gas stations are not "minimum-wage flunkies". Please check your condescending attitude, thanks. If anything, I would say someone who pumps gas for a long period of time would be much more likely to not spill any on your car than you yourself would, especially when it's 25 degrees outside and your hands are shaking and shivering from the cold.

    Also, you make it sound like the attendant can just open your car hood whenever they want, but actually they still need you to pop the lock from inside the car. If you don't want them looking, just say so. If an attendant asks if I would like him to check my oil, I just say no; problem solved.

    Basically, if you lived here, you wouldn't have this attitude. Until that point, please refrain from speaking about what you don't know.

  20. HP Personal & Small Business LaserJets. on Printer Makers' Ploys · · Score: 5, Informative

    I own an HP LaserJet 1200 Personal printer, and it is by far the best home printer I have ever purchased. It's very fast for a personal model, 15 PPM, with the first page always printed within 10 seconds of the print command. Size-scalable paper trays, which are great for envelope printing, and it supports an addon module for scanning & copying. Even the price isn't too bad, Pricewatch.com has it for less than $400.00 US.

    And if you're wondering what OS it works under, well, you're in luck. It is fully PostScript compatible, and works under Windows, MacOS, and Linux. I've used it under all 3 with perfect results. HP gets a big thumb up from me with this printer.

  21. Reminds me of the 3DS Dongle on JVC Announces Technology To Prevent Software Copying · · Score: 5, Informative

    This reminds me of the 3D Studio Max hardware dongle issue. To protect the software from piracy, the authors of 3DS Max had the program check for a dongle on the serial port of the computer. The dongle would return a unique key requested by the program, depending on the activity you were doing in the program at the time. The thought was with all the combinations that the dongle/software combo could possibly have, it would be impossible to emulate with software, thus keeping 3DS secure.

    What happened?? 3DS was one of the fastest-cracked pieces of software I've ever seen. Instead of trying to emulate the dongle, crackers simply went through the program and removed all the calls to the dongle! 3DS was circulating around the internet in less than a week after it's official commercial release, paired with a fully-functional crack.

    I expect this technology to be no different. People won't try to copy the original, they will figure out a way to get around the checking mechanism, then copy the cracked version. As the saying goes, where there is a will, there is a way.

  22. Re:Portable Ogg-based players? on New MP3 License Terms Demand $0.75 Per Decoder · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How is a $0.75 fee per decoder gonna impact MP3 players, exactly? Do you think that *anybody, manufacturer or buyer, is gonna notice $0.75 in a several hundred dollar product? Come on.

    The user won't notice, most likely. However, if you notice, the minimum annual licensing is $15,000 US per year. So even if a manufacturer's product flops, they have to shell out 15 grand anyway. And if the product does well, say it ships 2 million units, that's $1.5 Million dollars in royalties.

    When presented with those options, which one would you pick? Some people, especially much smaller companies, will go with the royalty-free solution.

  23. Re:These prices were up last year. on New MP3 License Terms Demand $0.75 Per Decoder · · Score: 4, Informative

    These prices have always been around. It's just that they have never been enforced. If everyone had to pay for a player to listen to mp3's, mp3's would be nowhere near as popular as they are today.
    This is just another case of /. editors making news out something that's been around for more than a year.


    Actually, you are incorrect; the editors did not do anything wrong in this case. While the rates have been around, they were lower previously. Take a look at the previous royalty page courtesy of the Wayback Machine.

    I also have a feeling that if they are going to increase the rates, they are going to make a point of charging for the royalty fees as well.

  24. Portable Ogg-based players? on New MP3 License Terms Demand $0.75 Per Decoder · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm hoping that this decision will result in (more?) portable Ogg-based players hitting the market! I would have purchased an iPod immediately had it supported Ogg; however, it didn't, and I was not about to convert my music back to MP3 just for it.

    If anyone knows of any portable players that support Ogg Vorbis, please post below! Thank You!

  25. Re:Breaks Galeon? on Mozilla 1.1 Hits The Street · · Score: 2

    Will installing this break Galeon?

    Galeon is probably dependent on an earlier version of Mozilla, either a .9x or 1.0 release.

    What I tend to do is install Mozilla 1.0 to satisfy Galeon & Nautilus, and then install nightlies/future releases in /usr/local/mozilla. Then just run /usr/local/mozilla/mozilla to launch your 1.1 copy, instead of just 'mozilla' to launch 1.0.