Slashdot Mirror


User: cavreader

cavreader's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
1,984
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 1,984

  1. Re:well... on US Puts Tariff On Chinese Solar Panels · · Score: 1

    China doesn't emphasize technological development they just steal what they need from those who do. It's a lot cheaper doing it that way.

  2. Re:They are afraid of GPL on How Big US Firms Use Open Source Software · · Score: 1

    Google is a great OSS supporter except for the fact they never contribute any of the code use in their current applications. Their main OS is supposedly Linux but they have made so many proprietary changes that it almost makes describing it as Linux seem like false advertising. Goggle designs and builds their own CPUs so I imagine the OS and other related code that takes advantage of these proprietary CPUs looks nothing like the code they release back to the community. No for profit company is going to release an OSS application that gives them an edge over their competitors. After some time they will release their old versions that are already outdated to maintain their reputation in the OSS world. After all they are a marketing and advertising company and thier OSS support gives them some good press in the world of technology.

  3. Re:MS development IDE on How Big US Firms Use Open Source Software · · Score: 1

    It ultimately is the developer who makes the decision on which programming IDE to use based on what they are comfortable or proficient with. In mid to large sized IT environments developers tend to make their decisions based on their own biases and pay no attention to maintaining uniformity across the entire development environment. Too many developers have personalized software companies and are prejudiced against any tool the company offers without ever evaluating it's capabilities. The word "evil" tends to pop up a lot in these types of discussions. Programming tools and platforms have taken on religious like approach in this area. I don't give a damn about the company who supplies the software tools and instead decide which one makes my job easier. The MS VS IDE has been a damn solid application development tool for many years. It is not perfect but name one software application in this category that is. I once changed over to the Komodo IDE when developing in a LAMP environment to make it easier but I prefer the MS IDE over the others I have seen and used. If you have an IT development environment where the individual programmers are using multiple tools it only increase the chances of creating problems with little or no effect on the application being developed.

  4. Re:They are afraid of GPL on How Big US Firms Use Open Source Software · · Score: 1

    I mistyped the date. I meant to type 1997. When the contest started Java (JBE) was being updated almost daily. CORBA integration was also a part of the testing to compare it against the COM/DCOM methodology. The evaluation was using pre-release Java (JBE) intended to provide early developer feedback to Sun in order to get 1.0 stabilized and released to the general population. At the time the documentation and API specs were incomplete or missing in action. The marketing at the time focused on the write-once theory which is what attracted a lot of interest at the time. If you are contemplating changing environments in a mid to large size company you should start your evaluation as early as possible even if it means getting incomplete systems. MS Gold Partners were also able to get pre-release versions of their software to get feedback.

  5. Re:They are afraid of GPL on How Big US Firms Use Open Source Software · · Score: 2

    You can trash MS all you want but their development IDE and related services are pretty good compared to the others I have used. MS has always offered good developer support. They cater to the developers to increase the likelihood of people creating more MS programs which in turn bolsters peoples reliance on the basic MS stack. Their original introduction of VB (with all it's short comings) made it much easier for people with limited experience to create applications. On the other hand Java based developer support was much weaker at the same time. I participated in a contest for the Federal Reserve that had 2 teams with equal developer capabilities build the same application and the MS team came out on top by a wide margin. This contest was conducted to determine which platform would become the organization standard. A lot of companies today don't make an effort to decide which environment they want to use. In most instances they rely on a developer to supply that evaluation and there are a lot of developers that are biased when it come to selecting a certain environment.

  6. Re:Barring? on Microsoft Barring Certain Staff From Buying Macs, iPads? · · Score: 1

    Well it looks like the MS guy was trying to help you and get a fix or work around. You make it sound like they told you to fuck off and buy VS2010. They even attempted to reproduce the error using your information and couldn't.

  7. Re:Traitors on Details Of FBI Surveillance In Lulzsec Takedown Emerge · · Score: 1

    "Then we're back to every nightly and cable news show being unfair because they also edit footage to cut to the action. Moron

    I said the main media outlets edit information too support their particular point of view. I never defended their actions. The Wikileaks data was raw and unedited information that should have been released as is. I never mentioned anything about the major news outlets being truthful. I also did not argue that the US military was harmed in any way except for exposing their poor security measures which allowed the data to be collected. The "Collateral Murder" video was edited to influence and obscure the context in which the actions occurred. Wikileaks was supposed to be better than the main media outlets but ended up becoming just like them. The edited version left of a good portion of the radio communications between the pilots and thier commanders. They left out the fact that US ground forces were involved in a fight a couple of blocks away. They also added a sidetrack and captions embedded in the video to make sure their point of view and spin was incorporated with the video. In essence they published their interpretation of the events when they should have released the data with no changes to let people make their own decisions.
    "Wikileaks tried the "release everything, all at once".

    They didn't own the data but they acted like they did. You need to let people see the information and editing it in any way makes them no different than any other news organization. People constantly complain about bias in the mainstream news outlets but Wikileaks did the same thing. They were advertised as an organization to supply information conduits to protect the source but they went far beyond that stated mandate. There were reasons a lot of their top people quit after realizing the Assange had an agenda that contradicted what they should have been doing. If CNN or CBS had the data and used it like Wikileaks I imagine you would be furious.
    The only thing that bothered me a little was the release of the Afghanistan after action military reports. That type of information can be used to pattering US military actions and making it possible for other militarises to look and predict the US tactics based on the situation.

  8. Re:heh on Why Linux Can't 'Sell' On the Desktop · · Score: 1

    One of the biggest drawbacks of switching over to a desktop Linux platform is that companies have custom internal applications would need to be changed. I worked with a company who requested I change an existing application that would run in the Linux environment and I did so but after 8 months they ran into some of their other applications that they couldn't alter because of the time and cost so they backed out of the entire attempt to change platforms. They would also need to either re-train of obtain new people with the skill sets needed for developing in a desktop Linux environment. Also if the company you work for is using another desktop such as Windows or OSX they will use the same desktop OS at home because that is what they are used to.

  9. Re:Traitors on Details Of FBI Surveillance In Lulzsec Takedown Emerge · · Score: 1

    "Still not showing how the video was unfairly edited."

    Just they fact it was edited in the first place before release is the point moron. It should have been posted exactly the way they received it. Instead they released the edited version before the unedited version to make sure their interpretation was seen first. And of course people such as yourself stopped thinking for themselves a long time ago and instead have emerged yourself in partisan group think who believe the first thing they see as long as it supports their preconceived point of view and bias.

    "In return for exclusivity...um, yeah? You don't think that sources regularly make deals with media organizations on such terms? Sounds like another selective argument of convenience."

    What gave him the right to do any thing to manage exclusivity? Wikileaks stated purpose was to release information to the public and keep the source from being identified. Who are they to determine who gets to see what and when they get to see it? That sounds pretty much like any other news organization to me. You know the king of new organizations who slant the information to support their editorial line. In short Assange is a fraud who duped a bunch of idiots into believing his interpretation of the data instead of making up their own minds by looking at the raw data.

  10. Re:Beats real war any day on Iran Blamed For Major Cyberattack On BBC · · Score: 1

    They will. They may negotiate with the US or other countries but they will not base their actions on receiving foreign aid. They had no US assistance in 67 and in 73 all they got was re-supply assistance after the issue had been pretty much been decided. And even then they only received US re-supply after they intentionally reveled to the US and other international security agencies that they were arming their Jericho and F-4 based nuclear weapons. Until that point the US was more concerned about the Russians than the Israelis.

  11. Re:Hard for the little guy on Chinese Writers Sue Apple Over IP Violations · · Score: 1

    One of the smartest policies by China's current ruling party elite is not making any big effort to spread their communist ideology to other countries like Russia attempted. Russia let their communist propaganda take center stage when they tried to influence other countries. The US used this to justify fighting them but China has basically removed that justification in their foreign affairs. They approach foreign relations amorally and basically don't give a shit about other countries ruling methods or the people living there as long as they get what they want in terms of trade. They deal with anyone from brutal dictatorships to democracy based countries without a second thought. If the US would just stop with the "spreading democracy" horseshit it would bolster the US economic position without resorting to military threats or actions. If a country cannot and manage their own society using their own initiatives and policies why waste money and time trying to force foreign help on them? As long as these countries pose no risk outside of their borders who gives a shit? Afghanistan and Iraq were giving the chance to re-build their societies without worrying about Saddam Hussein and the Taliban looking over their shoulder but failed to do so. And while this approach might seem extreme and heartless any private organization is welcome try to support these countries using their own resources without any government involvement. What if Japan had not taking advantage of US intervention and help? They went from a defeated and demolished country to become one of the most successful countries in the world in a relatively amount of time because they bit thier tongues and accepted outside assistance.

  12. Re:Hard for the little guy on Chinese Writers Sue Apple Over IP Violations · · Score: 1

    I have been to China and it definitely does not look like a communist country, at least in the big cities. The ruling party is capitalist but they still tell their citizens they are following the communist doctrine and anyone who has a problem with it and becomes too vocal gets hauled off to the labor camps and prisons for re-education.

  13. Re:Swedish prosecutor is a CIA asset on Julian Assange To Run For Australian Senate · · Score: 2

    Oh well that proves he in league with all the CIA nefarious deeds without a doubt. If that is the proof for your accusations you best keep it to yourself so no one finds out what a gullible idiot you are. Conspiracy theories, blog echo chambers for extremists on all sides, and innuendo is tearing this world apart every day. As far as Assange goes the purpose of Wikileaks was to release information to protect the identities of the source. Instead he took ownership, strong armed media organisations, released selective information in order to boost his viewpoint, and asked for millions of dollars to support Wikileaks. Why the hell do you need that kind of money to serve as a conduit to getting something posted on the net anonymously? A fucking Internet connection should suffice. People need to see the raw facts and make their own decisions based on what they see. You can't achieve that goal by selectively editing and putting more emphasis on someone's opinion rather than just releasing the data as is. And he did not give a shit about putting any one in danger. There is a reason so many people left his organization when they started to realize that Wikileaks is no better than any other media site who shapes the data to represent an editorial opinion. Assange's only goal was gaining attention to himself. He did nothing to be congratulated for. The data was given to him freely and it's not like he is some sort of super spy who got the information all by himself. He can run for any political office he chooses because he certainly displays the same characteristics as most elected politicians today in any country. Does Australia even allow people with a criminal record to run for office?

  14. Re:Swedish prosecutor is a CIA asset on Julian Assange To Run For Australian Senate · · Score: 1

    Prove your CIA assertion or shut the fuck up. It's arguments likes yours that obscure the truth to make a political point. If the US really wanted this guy they would have taking him already.

  15. Re:Hard for the little guy on Chinese Writers Sue Apple Over IP Violations · · Score: 1

    It's clear until Apple drops a few hints about possibly moving their manufacturing to another country. China is not the only country with a large number of worker-slaves willing to work for $1 per hour. Not to mention the Chinese have based thier entire economy and technology advancements by stealing IP from whoever they want. Why spend money on R&D when you can just steal the end result with impunity? The Chinese government makes economic policy decisions that benefit those at the top of the party hierarchy. Any benefits to the average citizen is just a bonus. I am still trying figure out how there can be billionaires in China when the government is supposedly communist in nature At least the US comes right out and clearly states upfront that everything is geared toward generating wealth.

  16. Re:Orwell saw this coming on Microsoft's Lifebrowser Is a Prosthetic For Memory · · Score: 1

    "I don't want MS, Facebook or Google to control me. They are not the robotic overlords I am looking for."

    Nobody is forcing you use any of these services and learn how to "Control" yourself.

  17. Re:SOUNDS SEXY !! on Space Shuttles Discovery and Atlantis Meet One Last Time · · Score: 1

    The X-37 and X-40 programs started in 1999 as a test platforms.and have been very successful since then. And Boeing is also working on a manned version of the X-37 as well. Most of the capabilities and mission profiles are classified due to military capabilities. Air Force has has been using them for over 2 years without any widespread information regarding it's eventual uses, It is very similar to the security precautions that was used in the F-117 program. The US is terrible of keeping secrets but somehow they did manage to keep the F-117 program details from being uncovered by he public or foreign intelligence operations. China and Russia have been voicing their concerns because of the ability to militarize space operations. Every major country in the world relies on satellites and if you have the means to neutralize a countries satellites you can make a huge difference in in a countries communication and military related satellites.. All the talk of the US abandoning space capabilities wrong. Just because the shuttles were abandoned doesn't mean the US isn't developing and improving their space capabilities. Now they need to use what they have learned by the ISS program to build an orbital docking station for these types of machines.

  18. Re:Damn unfortunate on Rutgers Student Ravi Convicted of Bias Intimidation and Spying · · Score: 1

    With all the people bitching and moaning about the right to privacy it is weird that they are now down playing that part of the story. If a person is in the town square throwing around derogatory statements about any group it is OK but spying on someone in their own residence is not not OK. The government doesn't have a monopoly on assaulting first amendment protections.
    Today people can tend to accept any breach of privacy only if it supports their opinion or biases. but anything that clashes with their world view is not OK.

  19. Re:Beats real war any day on Iran Blamed For Major Cyberattack On BBC · · Score: 1

    Computer System consultant gathering and sharing information for several multi-international corporations. The teams involved take turns to for their visits. Intel and Raytheon are 2 of the main companies involved. Been in the IT development environment for 26+ years.

  20. Re:Beats real war any day on Iran Blamed For Major Cyberattack On BBC · · Score: 1

    Well according to a lot of people all the violence in the middle-east is because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict so I would say it's getting close to the pain in the ass the Japanese refusal to surrender in WW2 caused. The US could have refused to use the nukes and prolonged that conflict for years but instead decided enough was enough.

  21. Re:Beats real war any day on Iran Blamed For Major Cyberattack On BBC · · Score: 1

    My analysis is my own based on 16 trips to the region in question and seeing the situation up close and personal. Let Isreal put an ewnd to the BS like the US did with Japan.

  22. Re:Beats real war any day on Iran Blamed For Major Cyberattack On BBC · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It doesn't matter who provided weapons and miltary support for those fighting the USSR. Pakistan, England, and Saudi Arabia contributed way more military assistance than the US while the US got stuck with paying for the refugee camps. They Taliban made their own choice to use the weapons on their own population all by themselves. The accusation of US military support is just as much BS as the US given Iraq large amounts of weapons in the Iran-Iraq war when they actually supplied less than 2% of the total. There is no point in the US government even recognizing Afghanistan since there is nothing to gain. It would actually save a ton of money by letting them do whatever the hell they want to on their own dime. The US can also ignore Iran and let their neighbors deal with them. Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have certainly purchased enough cutting edge military technology from the US and it's time for them to use it if they feel threatened. Let them deal with Syria all by themselves if the are so outraged. The only thing the US has every provided these countries is a focus point to blame the US for all their troubles. After the US leaves they can get back to killing each other in peace just like Iraq and if we are lucky the might eliminate each other all by themselves while also depriving them of using the west as an excuse. The US also has no business getting involved in the Israeli-Palestinian never ending cluster fuck. The Palestinians have as much chance of recovering territory as Mexico would have trying to re-take Texas or California. Every time they have tried to force the issue the have been bitch slapped by the Israelis. The most important thing the US has contributed in this never ending conflict is keeping Isreal from finishing the job once and for all. Isreal could have flattened Cairo and Damascus in 1973 if the US had not pressured them to stop. The Israel-Palestinian conflict has never been about land it's been about the surrounding Arab countries trying to undo the humiliation they have suffered every time they have tried to use their state militarises. 1973 was especially humiliating because the Arabs had total surprise, the latest Russian technology, and more soldiers and equipment. The conflict has also created a group of very wealthy people directing the Palestinians sitting in their villas in Lebanon. End the conflict and these people lose money. Arafat died a billionaire by stealing aid money targeted to help the Palestinians. While he was playing liberator of the downtrodden his wife was living it up in their fancy residence in France. And while the US might supply some military systems today Isreal has a very advanced domestic military industry of their own. They know without a doubt that they can not trust anyone, including the US, to come to their aid so they have developed most of their own weapons themselves to lower the risk. Iran should also be thinking of ways to solve this nuclear issue or Isreal is liable to give them a couple for free and the only consequences Israel would face is a strong worded statement from the UN. Personally I don't care if Iran does have nuclear weapons because if they actually used one Iran would be a smoking radioactive crater about 30 minutes later. I wouldn't be surprised if Isreal did not already have the coordinates of every major middle eastern capital hardwired into their nukes to make sure any nuclear attack on their tiny country would take everyone in the region down with them regardless of who fired the first shot. What would they have to lose in such a scenario?

  23. Re:profitable business model on Open Source Advocates' Attitudes Toward Profit · · Score: 1

    Those who promote open source always ignore the complexity and costs of switching to open source. The licensing complexity tends to stop using open source because the possibility of a lawsuit regarding rises. The change over to open source can be daunting when you are talking about 100,s or +1,000s changes needed to make it viable. Retraining leads to significant cost to the change over. Modifying existing data from one program to another can be a bitch. User retraining is costly. Support departments also need to be retrained to use the new software when implemented. I believe there are no restrictions when using and modifying open source source code as long as they do not make any profit by sailing open source code. But they do use the code internally to enhance their system. A non-profit open source project also removes the incentives to develop programs in the first place. I am severely allergic to doing anything for free. The biggest problem is with the open sourced Linux variants. A company would need to convert most of their existing software which is expensive and a major headache. It would also require it's developers to adapt a new skill set.

  24. Re:real ugly truth on Is Onlive Pirating Windows and Will It Cost Them? · · Score: 1

    They come out with a lot of ingenuity by cloning the tech from others, re-branding it, and selling it in the internal marketplace.

  25. Re:Read: on FBI Warns Congress of Terrorist Hacking · · Score: 1

    Corporations are responsible for paying for the bulk of the Internet infrastructure. How is the US government fucking with it? Besides taking down a very small number of sites that are breaking the law with their actions is hardly proof that the government is hurting the Internet. There are other countries all over the world that block all content to any site that dares to criticise or offend them. The Anonymous group are amateur nuisances at best. Defacing an website or initiating DDOS attacks are idiotic and have accomplished nothing except given the government the ammunition to make more stringent laws and draw attention to those victims who do not administer there sites correctly. The best thing the US government has done is prevent the UN from taking over ICANN and root server services.