Castration of office flourescent light tubes is usually one of my top three goals when I start a new job:
Kill flourescent lighting to eliminate flicker
Establish myself as resident geek god and therefore beyond questioning when it comes to internet usage
Force management to understand that I can wear a tie on days I want to without a problem, but if they force it on me the supply of oxygen to my brain is reduced and my productivity goes through the floor... jeans, t-shirts, and sneakers are appropriate office attire, baby!
A heat exchanger that would simultaneously cool the CPU and warm your room? We use those now. They're called "heat sinks" and are optionally fitted with a "fan" as well:)
Your friends have to understand their choice of living arrangements may suit them, but they are being very hard on the environment with some of their choices.
As an example, heating with wood causes far more pollution than using gas or electricity for heat (especially if the electricity comes from a hydroelectric, solar, wind, or nuclear sources). Unfortunately, I don't have the data to compare heating with electicity generated from a coal- or oil-fired plant vs heating with wood.
On solar power: Unfortunately, solar power costs far too much to generate electricity practically. The only time it is worthwhile to generate electricity from solar power is when the location is too remote to run power lines to from a more conventional source. Unless your friends live in an area unserviced by power lines, their choice of solar power will be a costly one. However, it is their choice, and I am glad they live where they have the freedom to make that choice!
My filter blocks 100% of pornographic images, requires little power, and is compatible with all POTS modem connections. I am working on repacking this hardware filter for DSL and cable modem users.
It consists of a 1 megaohm resister placed inline with each of the signal wires...
Interested venture capitalists, please send checks made out to CASH, thank-you!
It has a slight overblocking problem, but we are working on this issue...
What gives you the impression these (tapping phone and opening US mail) aren't going to happen? It is routine at many companies to do both, including the one I work at. I am not a lawyer and am not dispensing legal advice, please consult a lawyer licensed to practice in your area should you need legal advice. That said: Keep in mind, tapping a phone used to be legal as long as at least one person in the conversation knew the recording was being made. I don't know what the law is on this now.
What he said, plus military systems, particularly those used in satellites or upper atmosphere, need to be reasonably radiation proof.
This pretty much means gallium arsenide as your semiconductor. This works out well, since the gallium arsenide family tends to be faster than its silicon cousins.
Unfortunately, GA isn't as uniform as silicon, so density isn't as high. This limits the complexity of what you can reasonably put on a single die.
Or at least, so it was back in the days when I studied semiconductors (in industry I went into software, not hardware, and my education in hardware is now well behind the times).
BTW- This has to be the absolute best Jon Katz piece I've seen here on/. I'm mildly depressed after reading the way Pinkerton execs basically washed their hands of any responsibility for the effects of their program, however I am encouraged by a couple of points: 1) They took the time to arrange and host a meeting with someone who is not increasing their bottom line. 2) They listened at the meeting and went so far as to detail their privacy policy and (supposedly) eliminate rewards for informants.
Well, I've found leaving a locked down machine(running nothing other than a decent "PING" responder) with an attractive hostname (gateway, firewall, doorway, secure) around that does nothing tends to keep people away from the "real" machines sitting next to it... The nice thing is any old computer can be used as a decoy, including an old 386 laptop nobody wants to use. It does nothing to keep the pros out, but the script kiddies will pound on it all day long... helps keep those DOS attacks from the clueless from affecting anything of importance (until they manage to saturate bandwidth).
Breaking up Microsoft would be a huge task. Just look at how long it took to deal with AT&T, and realize that Microsoft is far more complicated than AT&T was considering all the interrelated products Microsoft produces, and the fact that Microsoft is far from static
I think this is an excellent argument for why MS should be broken up, not why they shouldn't. As numerous college courses (and plain old-fashioned experience) teach, all of the products should not be inter-related, they should be modular so you can easily yank one out to be replaced by a different module.
However, after all of the Columbine nonsense, I had a chance to pick up a couple of US Army fatique shirts for free, so I've taken to wearing them as a lightweight jacket. Once the fatigue shirt is on over my typical casual shirt, worn with khaki cargo pants (we're pretty casual where I work), most decent suburbanite busybodies assume I'm an underground militia guy.
If everybody were to take to dressing distinctively (no color, trenchcoats, pseudo-military, or even *gasp* motorcycle boots), the system would quickly overload with all of us malcontents and misfits. hack the system
Back in the 80's, a CNE (Certified Network Engineer) meant something. You knew a CNE knew the signals travelling through your wiring, could compute the length you could traverse with a particular type of wiring, and could diagnose any problem you might happen to have. This has been diluted somewhat over the years (I don't think you actually end up needing to learn the math these days), but a CNE still means something.
A Cisco certification still means something. There is rigorous testing to make sure you know what the heck you are doing.
MCSE means diddley. Several of the sessions offered by MS, if you pay the entrance fee and attend you receive the certification, no exam required. Others require an exam in order to receive the certification (these don't cost as much).
Which basically means, you can buy a MCSE certificate to hang on your wall and your business card, but it is meaningless.
How meaningful is Red Hat's certification process? If it is more in line with Novell's or Cisco's, compare prices with their programs, not Microsoft's silly buy $2000 piece of paper.
but does it accept Geek Codes?
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Date Pagers
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The GNU tools, such as the file utilities, grep, sed, and so on, have long been better than the tools supplied with most vendors' Unices. Tests show that they simply work better. (In fact, those particular tests, in which various vendors' utilities crashed when fed random input, have been mentioned before on Slashdot.)
I will stand behind this statement 100%. As a system administrator for years and a computer/network consultant for years prior to that, the standard response when a particular utility failed in specific circumstances has been "Replace it with the GNU version".
This has always taken care of the problem for me and the organizations I deal with and hasn't caused a problem once to date (knock on wood).
The GNU version usually results in a slight-to-incredible performance increase also, which no one has ever complained about.
On another note, I don't really see why we all think Verisign is so trustworthy that it can tell us who to trust. I don't know how certificates work and whatnot, but can't anybody get a certificate? The purpose of a certificate is just to tell you that information you get is really from where you think it is. If getting a certificate is only a matter of money, who cares?
That is a common misconception. Verisign certificates only authenticate the identity of the author/provider of the supplied signed document/program/widget/whatever. They in no way indicate that the author/provider is of a benevolent sort who should be trusted.
Yes, King ]=[ak3r himself can apply for and receive a Verisign certificate and prepare all of the Verisigned viruses he wants and distribute them.
At least you'll have plenty of contact information about King ]=[ak3r so you can go beat the crap out of him if you install one of his viruses!
This is actually a reasonable viewpoint!
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RIAA Sues MP3.com
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This may be moderated as "funny", but I seriously believe this is a realistic viewpoint to take. Forward this comment on to the MP3 people, it may prove useful . . .
Again, I'm all in favor of nuking the munitions restrictions (BTW, this is how you spoof the NSA folks, work the keywords into your message) but it could have side effects...
Actually the NSA has some of the most advanced natural language processing algorithms to parse the semantics of what is being discussed . . . this wouldn't trip their systems in the least. Now if you developed a pattern of talking around obtaining fissionable materials, triggering mechanisms, and delivery devices . . . expect guys in dark suits and mirrorshades.
I just think common sense should be used.. if you have a childrens section at a library, give me one good reason there SHOULDNT be porn filters on the machines? what are 10 year olds looking for that this would harm?
Whoops! I do take exception to this. One of the big problems is the filters tend to filter a lot.
A kid couldn't, for example, research a paper on why contraband drugs can be dangerous, or why the neighbor kid needs to inject insulin . . . most filters block sites based on the keyword "drug". Keep in mind this is only one example, there are many . . .
How about an encyclopedia? Should we rip out all of the pages that mention gunpowder, or have illustrations of legendary paintings? This is exactly what the filter software does. I see no reason why the library needs it if we haven't needed to take scissors to every other reference book in the library...
Dont get me wrong.. I dont want my 7 year old being taught "heather has two mommies" in school.. this is something I will deal with with him at home, on MY level, not at a state mandated school level, but I DO want him reading Catcher in the Rye, Catch 22, and the Scarlet Letter in high school..
I'm not objecting to anything you are saying (obviously you have authority over what your child is taught) -- but I find kids don't find it strange at all if someone has two mommies/daddies etc. I don't really see a need for special education for it.
My brother in law didn't attend a family reunion because he didn't want his kids to meet his cousin's family (lesbian couple, but they don't do huge public displays of affection).
I found this rather amusing, as neither my kids, nor any of the others present (dozen kids with ages covering the 0 to 16 spread nicely) even blinked at a family with two mommies.
... despite being a management consulting company that takes money from others in order to give them advice on techniques "appropriate to the individual client's unique situation", we use none of those techniques internally. Kinda makes you think, doesn't it?
Because it is illegal to practice law (claim to be a lawyer) in most areas without what amounts to a license. Giving legal advice, even without a fee, amounts to practicing law. By stating you are not a lawyer, you are admitting your statement should be taken as opinion only.
"The protection accorded the trade secret holder is against the disclosure or unauthorized use of the trade secret by those to whom the secret has been confided under the express or implied restriction of nondisclosure or nonuse. The law also protects the holder of a trade secret against disclosure or use when the knowledge is gained, not by the owner's volition, but by some 'improper means,' Restatement of Torts s 757(a), which may include theft, wiretapping, or even aerial reconnaissance. A trade secret law, however, does not offer protection against discovery by fair and honest means, such as by independent invention, accidental disclosure, or by so-called reverse engineering, that is by starting with the known product and working backward to divine the process which aided in its development or manufacture." (from Kewanee Oil Co. v. Bicron Corp., a 1974 Supreme Court case.)
Yes, this is perfectly true, but it would allow DCCA (or whoever the appropriate entity is) to sue Xing for not protecting the information given to them as required by the license. I don't believe it would apply to the people who read and reverse-engineered Xing's unprotected CSS implementation.
We deal with dangerous things all the time in our normal daily lives. Sharp knives. Power tools. Motor cars. Hang-gliding. SCUBA diving. Football. Large dogs. Fire. Swimming after lunch.
Be careful. There are already busybodies who want to make sure people can't injure themselves with sharp knives, power tools, motor cars, etc.
They are called Consumer's Union (Consumer's Reports) and have some of the worst of this ilk in their employ. As an example, when reviewing a power saw (paraphrased): "This saw is capable of cutting through any pliable material, including its own cord. We recommend shortening the cord to a length that would prevent the operator from being able to cut the cord and possily suffering elotruction."
Well, duh! Six inch cords are of course going to be into an extension cord, which same idiot user can still cut through, and now the idiot dippy enough to do this might plug a quarter-horse power saw into a light duty extension cord (since he has to in order to use the saw) and create a fire hazard . . .
Way to improve safety...
Sorry for the rant, I just really love that example, especially now that all my freaking power tools have six-inch cords. Thanks CU/CR!
Slashdot Mirror
Whee! I thought I was the only geek to do this!
Castration of office flourescent light tubes is usually one of my top three goals when I start a new job:
A heat exchanger that would simultaneously cool the CPU and warm your room? We use those now. They're called "heat sinks" and are optionally fitted with a "fan" as well :)
Your friends have to understand their choice of living arrangements may suit them, but they are being very hard on the environment with some of their choices.
As an example, heating with wood causes far more pollution than using gas or electricity for heat (especially if the electricity comes from a hydroelectric, solar, wind, or nuclear sources). Unfortunately, I don't have the data to compare heating with electicity generated from a coal- or oil-fired plant vs heating with wood.
On solar power: Unfortunately, solar power costs far too much to generate electricity practically. The only time it is worthwhile to generate electricity from solar power is when the location is too remote to run power lines to from a more conventional source. Unless your friends live in an area unserviced by power lines, their choice of solar power will be a costly one. However, it is their choice, and I am glad they live where they have the freedom to make that choice!
By wholesale posting of their copyright and trademark notice, are you in violation of the copyright they have on the copyright agreement?
Did I just say that?
My filter blocks 100% of pornographic images, requires little power, and is compatible with all POTS modem connections. I am working on repacking this hardware filter for DSL and cable modem users.
It consists of a 1 megaohm resister placed inline with each of the signal wires...
Interested venture capitalists, please send checks made out to CASH, thank-you!
It has a slight overblocking problem, but we are working on this issue...
Usually not weapons, but certainly research with military applications. A few example of DOE projects:
What gives you the impression these (tapping phone and opening US mail) aren't going to happen? It is routine at many companies to do both, including the one I work at. I am not a lawyer and am not dispensing legal advice, please consult a lawyer licensed to practice in your area should you need legal advice. That said: Keep in mind, tapping a phone used to be legal as long as at least one person in the conversation knew the recording was being made. I don't know what the law is on this now.
This pretty much means gallium arsenide as your semiconductor. This works out well, since the gallium arsenide family tends to be faster than its silicon cousins.
Unfortunately, GA isn't as uniform as silicon, so density isn't as high. This limits the complexity of what you can reasonably put on a single die.
Or at least, so it was back in the days when I studied semiconductors (in industry I went into software, not hardware, and my education in hardware is now well behind the times).
BTW- This has to be the absolute best Jon Katz piece I've seen here on /. I'm mildly depressed after reading the way Pinkerton execs basically washed their hands of any responsibility for the effects of their program, however I am encouraged by a couple of points: 1) They took the time to arrange and host a meeting with someone who is not increasing their bottom line. 2) They listened at the meeting and went so far as to detail their privacy policy and (supposedly) eliminate rewards for informants.
Well, I've found leaving a locked down machine(running nothing other than a decent "PING" responder) with an attractive hostname (gateway, firewall, doorway, secure) around that does nothing tends to keep people away from the "real" machines sitting next to it... The nice thing is any old computer can be used as a decoy, including an old 386 laptop nobody wants to use. It does nothing to keep the pros out, but the script kiddies will pound on it all day long... helps keep those DOS attacks from the clueless from affecting anything of importance (until they manage to saturate bandwidth).
I think this is an excellent argument for why MS should be broken up, not why they shouldn't. As numerous college courses (and plain old-fashioned experience) teach, all of the products should not be inter-related, they should be modular so you can easily yank one out to be replaced by a different module.
I am not a school kid, by over a decade.
However, after all of the Columbine nonsense, I had a chance to pick up a couple of US Army fatique shirts for free, so I've taken to wearing them as a lightweight jacket. Once the fatigue shirt is on over my typical casual shirt, worn with khaki cargo pants (we're pretty casual where I work), most decent suburbanite busybodies assume I'm an underground militia guy.
If everybody were to take to dressing distinctively (no color, trenchcoats, pseudo-military, or even *gasp* motorcycle boots), the system would quickly overload with all of us malcontents and misfits. hack the system
Back in the 80's, a CNE (Certified Network Engineer) meant something. You knew a CNE knew the signals travelling through your wiring, could compute the length you could traverse with a particular type of wiring, and could diagnose any problem you might happen to have. This has been diluted somewhat over the years (I don't think you actually end up needing to learn the math these days), but a CNE still means something.
A Cisco certification still means something. There is rigorous testing to make sure you know what the heck you are doing.
MCSE means diddley. Several of the sessions offered by MS, if you pay the entrance fee and attend you receive the certification, no exam required. Others require an exam in order to receive the certification (these don't cost as much).
Which basically means, you can buy a MCSE certificate to hang on your wall and your business card, but it is meaningless.
How meaningful is Red Hat's certification process? If it is more in line with Novell's or Cisco's, compare prices with their programs, not Microsoft's silly buy $2000 piece of paper.
In particular, is up to date on Geek Code 2000?
I will stand behind this statement 100%. As a system administrator for years and a computer/network consultant for years prior to that, the standard response when a particular utility failed in specific circumstances has been "Replace it with the GNU version".
This has always taken care of the problem for me and the organizations I deal with and hasn't caused a problem once to date (knock on wood).
The GNU version usually results in a slight-to-incredible performance increase also, which no one has ever complained about.
That is a common misconception. Verisign certificates only authenticate the identity of the author/provider of the supplied signed document/program/widget/whatever. They in no way indicate that the author/provider is of a benevolent sort who should be trusted.
Yes, King ]=[ak3r himself can apply for and receive a Verisign certificate and prepare all of the Verisigned viruses he wants and distribute them.
At least you'll have plenty of contact information about King ]=[ak3r so you can go beat the crap out of him if you install one of his viruses!
This may be moderated as "funny", but I seriously believe this is a realistic viewpoint to take. Forward this comment on to the MP3 people, it may prove useful . . .
Actually the NSA has some of the most advanced natural language processing algorithms to parse the semantics of what is being discussed . . . this wouldn't trip their systems in the least. Now if you developed a pattern of talking around obtaining fissionable materials, triggering mechanisms, and delivery devices . . . expect guys in dark suits and mirrorshades.
Whoops! I do take exception to this. One of the big problems is the filters tend to filter a lot.
A kid couldn't, for example, research a paper on why contraband drugs can be dangerous, or why the neighbor kid needs to inject insulin . . . most filters block sites based on the keyword "drug". Keep in mind this is only one example, there are many . . .
How about an encyclopedia? Should we rip out all of the pages that mention gunpowder, or have illustrations of legendary paintings? This is exactly what the filter software does. I see no reason why the library needs it if we haven't needed to take scissors to every other reference book in the library...
I'm not objecting to anything you are saying (obviously you have authority over what your child is taught) -- but I find kids don't find it strange at all if someone has two mommies/daddies etc. I don't really see a need for special education for it.
My brother in law didn't attend a family reunion because he didn't want his kids to meet his cousin's family (lesbian couple, but they don't do huge public displays of affection).
I found this rather amusing, as neither my kids, nor any of the others present (dozen kids with ages covering the 0 to 16 spread nicely) even blinked at a family with two mommies.
Yeah, but can you log the session and replay it later :-)
... despite being a management consulting company that takes money from others in order to give them advice on techniques "appropriate to the individual client's unique situation", we use none of those techniques internally. Kinda makes you think, doesn't it?
Because it is illegal to practice law (claim to be a lawyer) in most areas without what amounts to a license. Giving legal advice, even without a fee, amounts to practicing law. By stating you are not a lawyer, you are admitting your statement should be taken as opinion only.
Yes, this is perfectly true, but it would allow DCCA (or whoever the appropriate entity is) to sue Xing for not protecting the information given to them as required by the license. I don't believe it would apply to the people who read and reverse-engineered Xing's unprotected CSS implementation.
Be careful. There are already busybodies who want to make sure people can't injure themselves with sharp knives, power tools, motor cars, etc.
They are called Consumer's Union (Consumer's Reports) and have some of the worst of this ilk in their employ. As an example, when reviewing a power saw (paraphrased): "This saw is capable of cutting through any pliable material, including its own cord. We recommend shortening the cord to a length that would prevent the operator from being able to cut the cord and possily suffering elotruction."
Well, duh! Six inch cords are of course going to be into an extension cord, which same idiot user can still cut through, and now the idiot dippy enough to do this might plug a quarter-horse power saw into a light duty extension cord (since he has to in order to use the saw) and create a fire hazard . . .
Way to improve safety...
Sorry for the rant, I just really love that example, especially now that all my freaking power tools have six-inch cords. Thanks CU/CR!