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  1. Re:No fix for Mac OS X 10.5.8's Java? :( on Flashback Trojan Hits 600,000 Macs and Counting · · Score: 1

    Yup, no fix for Java on Mac OS X 10.5 or older. You can disable the entire Java framework using the Java Preferences in Utilities.

  2. Re:Goram Reaver. on Attack Tool Released For WPS Setup Flaw · · Score: 1

    Hmm, I think I'm mixing threats here... Goram multitasking.
    http://boingboing.net/2011/12/30/printer-malware-print-a-malic.html

  3. Goram Reaver. on Attack Tool Released For WPS Setup Flaw · · Score: 1

    They say the Reaver exploit is a campfire tale, a bedtime story. Well I'm here to tell you it ain't. Code out there on the edge of memory space, just staring into /dev/null until it goes insane. Look, if it takes the printer, Reaver will hack it to death, burn its paper, and sew the entire network into spaghetti. And if you're very, very lucky, it'll do it in that order.

  4. Here is your analogy. on Apple iAd Drawing Antitrust Scrutiny · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You can't seem to come up with the right analogy? This is slashdot, my friend. Let me put this in terms we all understand.

    So you're driving in your car (of course). You're noticing all these annoying billboards, the bane of Appland. But these aren't just passive billboards: these ones are modern, intelligent ads that automatically spy on you! They know where you're going, where you've been, what your license plate is, that sort of thing. They can guess based on your ride if they should be offering you insta-loans or grey poupon! These are just some of the neat features of electronic billboards.

    Now it just so happens that Apple built your car... yes, you're driving an iCar 4, the kind that Gawker twerps are always trying to jack. Looking good, dog! But Apple has laid down the law: "When it comes to these annoying billboards, only independent advertising companies can spy on you. Oh, and us. But that's a given, I mean, come on." When you do the math, you see that they've excluded the other major car manufacturer from spying on your sovereign self!

    Obviously this very annoying, because THAT manufacturer (named Googledroid) is known the world over for the high quality of thier spying techniques. They are so cool, they know how to capture thousands of wireless networks WITHOUT EVEN TRYING! They can create buzz for a product before the participants even know they're participating! And Apple is trying to rain on their parade, trying to evilly block them from doing what they do best.

    Not from putting up billboards... anyone can do that. It's a free highway. No, Apple is telling the world's best spysters that they can't spy on your iCar. They can spy on all the other cars... and everyone else can spy on you... but by God, in this particular instance there will be no spying.

    And I ask you, in all honesty, is that fair? Can you stand for it? Considering all the issues that the world faces today, can you think of something more vital?

    I certainly cannot. And until Apple guarantees the right of every billboard to spy on me 100%, I don't know how I can ever sit behind the wheel of an iCar again.

  5. Wired has a great article about the loss... on NASA Has the Lost Tapes · · Score: 5, Informative

    ...here. Finding the tapes seemed nearly impossible at the time (2007) - the old reel-to-reel machines were dead, whole warehouses were being closed, and the people who were actually driving the recovery effort were mostly Apollo-class themselves - well into their golden years. It reminded me of some of the Library of Congress horror stories, only more desperate and with better special effects. If they do have the footage and can actually decode it, this is an amazing find - I wasn't holding out much hope.

    Another cool site is Colin Mackellar's Honeysuckle Creek Tribute Site. Tons of info on the recording, the differences in quality, etc.

    Really good news.

  6. Re:Proprietary networks are bad on Australia Developing Massive Electric Vehicle Grid · · Score: 1

    I have a feeling their charging plugs, sockets and protocols are proprietary. Anyone who attempts to produce a compatible charger/socket is going to find themselves on the end of a very aggressive lawsuit.

    While I'm not a big fan of proprietary systems, I don't see a problem with their use during initial launch. Better Place and their backers face an enormous challenge here. To burden them with opening their network to everyone as they launch is probably enough to doom the company. Think of quality controls, price competition, and continuing compatibility, all in the maelstrom of launch.

    What incentive does a company have to reduce power consumption on a car when it's getting a cut of every charge?

    I'm guessing that they pay market rates for electricity. But aside from that, the company will face outside competition from alt vehicles. No law is going to forbid other "stand-alone" electric cars from competing. Even in a largely proprietary system, there can be great pressure to be competitive (see Macs).

    Let Better Place & their partners make some solid ROI on this risky/crazy venture. If the concept survives and matures, let's talk about standards then. Their customers are entire nations... there is leverage for future changes.

  7. Re:Make Do With Less on Google Goes Green · · Score: 1

    Make Do With Less.

    Actually, the message is about making less do more. You see, it's all about efficiency. Is a Toyota Prius making do with less? Is an LED flashlight "running your standard of living into the ground"? Or are these things just better ways of getting what you with less energy?

    If I'd had points I'd just mod you down (saving energy), but this post didn't take too long. Good thing too, since my energy efficient house just TURNS OFF (like all energy efficient houses do) for 40% of the night...
  8. Re:The Ballad of Big Adobe. on Why Did Adobe Buy Macromedia? · · Score: 2, Funny

    DroopyStonx went on the net
    Feeling kind of bitter
    Can't write epic poems like me
    Let's just call him a quitter

  9. The Ballad of Big Adobe. on Why Did Adobe Buy Macromedia? · · Score: 5, Funny

    Ok, here's my best shot. Thanks to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for the lyrics and karaoke music.

    Big Adobe went to town
    Riding with great worry
    "Microsoft might buy our foes
    Goodness let us hurry"

    Big Adobe, buy them out
    Big Adobe dandy
    Mind the lawsuits and the FUD
    And with your cash be handy

    Macromedia went to the web
    With great Flash and vigour
    Then Adobe said to them:
    "We ownz you, start to quiver"

    Big Adobe, buy them out
    Get yourself a trophy
    Buy a business out of fear
    And call it Macradobe

    All you geeks and all you nerds
    Reading this here story
    Remember what the Parent said
    And call it Macradobe

  10. Re:nothing special until OS X on A History of Apple's Operating Systems · · Score: 1

    Ah, the PowerBook 165c. my very first Mac, way back in 1993. I'm on my... fourth PowerBook now. They keep getting better, but I just love that original sony-based design. They were so damn cute, and pretty rugged too. Except for that crappy back door panel.

    I sold my 165c in 1996 or so, to a man who was about to travel around the world. He sold it somewhere along the way... Brazil perhaps? I'm not sure. Apparently it went on from there. So if you ended up with it in the end, please take good care of the little guy.

  11. Re:Why did Pixar split with Disney? on Steve Jobs' Grand Vision · · Score: 1

    Nuts.

  12. Re:Why did Pixar split with Disney? on Steve Jobs' Grand Vision · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Shrek and Lilo and Stitch weren't as bad...

    And Shrek was by Warner Brothers, which isn't actually Disney...

    The fact that good ol' WB can make a better film than Disney is another sure sign of incoming doom for the Mouse.

  13. Re:So True on The Hidden Costs of Bargain Electronics · · Score: 1

    If we all stopped buying DVD players *from China*, and instead bought them from almost any other country on Earth, we would support job creation in a country where workers are treated better. China's economy would falter, analysts would follow the money... they would see where it's going and why.

    Everyone seems to think that boycotting China kills jobs, but that's only true within the region. People need jobs everywhere, not just in China. Mexico, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan... these countries aren't perfect (who is?), but they're a hell of a lot more progressive than China. Make the choice to support them, and create a job there instead.

    If sweat shops in China aren't working out for the ruling class, they will have a reason to change. Until then, I don't think they will.

  14. Y2K de Jager on The Problem With Abundance · · Score: 2, Informative

    Peter de Jager is, of course, the infamous "Y2K Guru", although he probably hopes we would just forget about that and move on...

  15. Re:iBook does NOT support 1.25 GB RAM on Apple Updates iBook Line With G4 Processor · · Score: 1

    Hmm, now you're right. But I have a cached version of the iBook specs page from earlier today, which does say 1.25 GB. What's up with that?

  16. No, iBook supports 1.25 GB RAM on Apple Updates iBook Line With G4 Processor · · Score: 1

    Although you can order an iBook with a maximum of 640 MB, it still has one slot open. The maximum supported is 1.25 GB.

  17. VeriSign Core Values on VeriSign CEO on Commercializing the Internet · · Score: 2, Interesting

    So, here I was wondering why VeriSign makes these horrible, actively harmful decisions. Their customers will hate them, the entire community will rise against them, people will avoid them at all costs. Then I realized that the company, like Google, must have their own set of "Core Values". Of course, Google's core value is "don't be evil". I think VeriSign's is just slightly shorter:

    "Be Evil".

    Once you understand the motivation, it suddenly makes sense.

  18. Sources point to yes. on U.S. Court: Lexmark Can Tie Rebates To Refills · · Score: 1

    Epson ink is proprietary, and refills generally clog the print head over time. Then you're screwed.

    But Epson's print quality is better than Canon's ("Better" is a subjective opinion, of course). In fact, it rocks. If you want photo-quality, go on, pay for the Epson ink, because it's worth it. If you just want colour for a letterhead, you don't need an Epson.

    I sell Canon and Epson, and supposedly Lexmark, but the last only if the customer absolutely demands it. As a side note, I hardly make anything on Lexmark ink because the wholesale cost is huge. Strangely enough, Lexmark makes decent laser printers. An entirely different division, perhaps, but they're still tainted by association...

  19. A G5 by any other name. on G5 PowerBook "Challenge" · · Score: 5, Informative

    Remember, no-one has said that we'll see the Desktop G5 processor (a PowerPC 970) in a portable form-factor. Just like we never, ever saw the first Desktop G4's processor (a PowerPC 7400) in a PowerBook. What the portables got were more power efficient, less hot chips -- like the PowerPC 7410, which popped up in the first titanium PowerBooks.

    Since Apple can still call these revised chips "G4", "G5", etc, it may seem like they've accomplished this incredible engineering feat in getting the big ol' chip inside that teeny case -- but the first breakthrough is the improved processor, over at Moto or IBM. They still have thier work cut out for them, but at least Apple doesn't need to ring the entire case with fans...

  20. Re:Another net fad that should die on Dotcom Era Fads · · Score: 1

    Well, I'm still proud to say that my website is "powered by electricity". I've used the same version since 1995, and you know, it's always been powerful enough for my needs.

  21. Someone went to meet him on Following the Spam Trail · · Score: 1

    As discussed here, an intrepid blogger actually went to one of the pickup points. What he observed was somewhat... strange.

  22. I know this guy on Following the Spam Trail · · Score: 4, Funny

    Oh yeah, I know him. A real wing nut. He was odd when I met him in 2007, and I must say he's even stranger now, er, then. Who would use an Acme 5X24 anyway? Those things are so unstable... kind of like he is, really.

  23. Kill the software. on Blocking MSN Messenger? · · Score: 2, Funny

    In addition to blocking MSN on the network, why not kill the software? This page discusses in gory detail the various methods of crippling/uninstalling/haxoring MSN software on the user machine, and making sure it won't come back. You have to be careful, as there are right ways and wrong ways to do it. My favourite method is to uninstall the software (made possible on XP via a convoluted run command), then place a blank file called "msn messenger" in Program Files. Installer won't work, and the user never goes into Program Files! It works.

    Having the software right out of the computer is a good thing, because then it can't begin to pester the user or remind them of their painful inability to chat.

  24. Why not? on Apple Store Fans Camp Out for 24 Hours · · Score: 4, Funny

    The kind cool thing is that these guys stayed up all night, foregoing any sleep at all -- and when dawn came there was still no one else in line. So the effort wasn't just to beat out other fanboys (there being no one to beat out that early), it was also to hold an expectant vigil on the doorstep of thier favourite fruit company. Everyone else who got a good night's sleep and woke up to condemn them is missing the point, big time.

    Why would they buy their Mac online with a measly OneClick(tm) when they can have a real-life adventure? Makes sense to me... it's not like they were holed up in a line for a new Gateway Store or Attack of The Clones or something.

  25. Best HTML guide from O'Riely on Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Reference (2nd Ed.) · · Score: 1, Redundant

    During a two-hour marathon at my local bookstore, I was surprised to discover that "Dynamic HTML" was by far the best in O'Reilly's series of HTML guides. Their "HTML & XHTML" tome was padded with a lot of questionable legacy information, including detailed descriptions of obsolete/proprietary browser tags. The Dynamic guide's section on HTML was much better, being more informative / modern in scope and coverage. Old tags are still identified, but we are actively discouraged from using them. This is an attitude that's generally lacking in the HTML publishing industry, which really sucks.

    If you only buy one all-round HTML guide, my vote's for "Dynamic HTML". It's the best I've found in many different categories.