Slashdot Mirror


User: PapaSmurph

PapaSmurph's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
29
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 29

  1. In a word . . . on Is the Federal Government the Most Interesting Tech Startup For 2009? · · Score: 2, Informative

    No.

  2. Re:Similar to the unpopular Answer on Desktop As a Cellphone Extension? · · Score: 1

    Bueller?

    Bueller?

  3. Similar to the unpopular Answer on Desktop As a Cellphone Extension? · · Score: 1

    I've been looking for something exactly like that, but for my Windows Vista notebook, that way, I can use my notebook mics and speakers as a hands free phone. HFP for Linux would be great, but not being much of a Microsoft code monkey, I doubt I could get it to work.

    Patrick (thpdg (519053)), any ideas if the software for those dongles would work with the "HP Integrated Module with Bluetooth 2.0 Wireless Technology" in my notebook?

    Anyone?

    Anyone?

  4. Artificial trees? on DoE Considers Artificial Trees To Remove CO2 · · Score: 1

    I don't know. I'm kinda fond of the real ones. And last I checked, they still worked OK. We just may need a few more of them. Maybe we could plant them on the top of some of those buildings.

  5. Wormhole? on Introducing the Warpship · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This sounds somewhat like the way the "Stargate" works in Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis, the main difference is this is a bubble rather than a tube between locations that are generating the "extremely large amounts of energy". We just need to find a few Zero Point Modules. Problem solved!

  6. In the Works? on Reliable Male Contraceptive In the Works · · Score: 1

    There's been a male contraceptive for a long time! All you need to do is put a sharp rock in your left shoe. It makes you limp.

  7. AF Standard Desktop Configuration on Microsoft Releases Super-Secure XP to US Air Force · · Score: 5, Interesting

    While this was an interesting article, the XP and the Vista versions used by the USAF are the same ones used by the general public. The only differences are the security setting, the firewall configuration, and the user configuration. No one is an admin unless they need to be, and no normal day-to-day work is done in admin mode (same thing you do in Linux, no doubt).

    I didn't know this article was going to be published, but when I found it, I was not surprised by the comments. I've been working on this program for more than 2 years. Users hate it. Developers loathe it. Network security staff loves it.

    Nothing can make Windows (or any other OS) completely secure if it's connected to a network. This is as close as the federal government as ever come.

  8. Re:Cyber Security is a job for the Airforce on Pentagon Cyber-Command In the Works · · Score: 1

    OK, while I agree that cyber- anything has been over used, the Air Force has already stepped forward ahead of the other services to stand up a "Cyber Command". However, USSRATCOM has Cyber warfare and defense in its mission statement. A joint task force is the most likely form of any cyber-related activity, either offensive or defensive. The big problem is, how can you defend against something when it's already inside your walls? The Pentagon's networks have been infiltrated more times than I can count with bare feet and my pants down (more than 21). Not to mention DOE computers. All networks are vulnerable if they are connected to the Internet. No one service can do the entire job.

  9. Technology Lag on Why IT Won't Power Down PCs · · Score: 1

    I know from experience that, in the USAF at least, there is a technology lag WRT power savings. Too many old computers that won't wake-on-LAN, too many older servers that won't support Microsoft's SCCM (the new flavor of SMS). We are constantly dealing with computers not getting updated because they were powered off, making them more vulnerable than other computers on the network. And if PCs are put in "sleep" mode and will WOL, if the server isn't running SCCM, you can't send the WOL to wake them up before pushing patches.

    It all comes down to this: you need to spend money to save money. The federal government mandated that all agencies use less energy, but they're all spending more than the savings to get there.

    I think I missed something somewhere.

  10. My poor family on Sarcasm Useful For Detecting Dementia · · Score: 1

    My whole family must be suffering from frontotemporal dementia. They had to stoop to the level of giving me a sarcasm sign so they would know I'm being sarcastic.

    And what about Dr Sheldon Cooper, PhD? I thought he was a genius, not demented.

      I always knew they were a little nuts

  11. Northern Virginia on Online Carpooling Service Fined In Canada · · Score: 2, Informative

    These people would really have a cow in Northern Virginia. Slugging, or waiting for strangers to pick you up to take you to work, has been going on here since the early 1970's!

    Yes, it's odd, and you do exactly what your mother told you not to do: talk to strangers and get in their car. But there have been no serious crimes against "slugs" reported during the entire time.

    It just feels strange the first time you do it, and it never completely feels right!

  12. Re:Just ask an alien... on The Best Fictional Doomsday Devices · · Score: 1

    I should have known I wasn't going to be fast enough to post a witty comment.

    Oh well. Back to the ol' electronic brain.

  13. I thought . . . on Do We Live In a Giant Cosmic Bubble? · · Score: 1

    we live in an airport locker, like in MIIB.

  14. Re:Cyber?? on US Cyber Command Wants Greater Attack Mentality · · Score: 1
    To quote Wikipedia:

    Cyberspace is a domain characterized by the use of electronics and the electromagnetic spectrum to store, modify, and exchange data via networked systems and associated physical infrastructures. The term originates in science fiction, where it also includes various kinds of virtual reality experienced by deeply immersed computer users or by entities who exist inside computer systems. Cyber here refers to the use of the entire EM spectrum.
  15. Re:I'm trying to discover... on Google Pulls Map Images At Pentagon's Request · · Score: 2, Informative
    For those of you who have never been on a military installation, there is a sign as you enter that says "Photography Prohibited". You can't take pictures on a military base. I'm guessing the pictures were pulled because they were taken without permission, not because there was anything secret in them. It's a matter of policy.

    As for the people who let them on the installation, I'm guessing they weren't military. There's a lot of "rent-a-cops" "protecting" military bases right now.

  16. What a shocker on D&D Co-Creator Gary Gygax Has Passed Away · · Score: 1
    I started playing D&D back in 1977. Yes, I admit it. I'm an OLD geek. I met my wife playing D&D. Some of my best memories are of playing D&D with co-workers (including my boss!). Before I went off to college and worlds beyond, I played regularly with a group that included 3 of my 5 brothers and several other friends, all of which were at least 3 years older than me. I believe this helped me learn how to associate better with "adults".

    :-)

    R.I.P. Gary. Know you impacted many lives, and many of them for the better.

  17. Re: Cyber, huh? Neat! on Air Force Seeking Geeks For 'Cyber Command' · · Score: 1

    It makes me want to ask them WTF they think "cyber" means.

    Did you read the article?


    Yeah, the whole thing is a little melodramatic, but there really is a threat out there. I'm not going to go the "I'd tell you but then I'd have to shoot you" route, but there's more going on out there than the average Joe (or even geek) is told about. And for good reason.

  18. Minor point, but... on Facebook A Black Hole For Personal Info · · Score: 1

    it does say deactivate, not delete. There is a significant difference. Deactivation simply removes the information from an active status (makes it slightly harder to find). Deletion would totally remove that information. You must delete before you deactivate.

    Makes sense to me.

  19. I'm guessing here, but . . . on Windows Home Server Corrupts Files · · Score: 1

    maybe it's a write-through cache issue? If the "server" is designed specifically for backups and file storage and not active read / write, maybe that's the problem. Although, I read above that one person applied the fix and it works. Sounds like it was causing problems but has been fixed.

    Don't get me wrong, I use Linux for all my file server needs, too!

  20. One thing you have to understand about Generals on Air Force to Get "Cyber Sidearms" · · Score: 1
    is they have been around a long time. Lieutenant General (3-star) Elder http://www.af.mil/library/biographies/bio.asp?bioID=5337 has been in the Air Force since 1976, and is a pilot, not a computer guy. Major General (2-star) Lord http://www.af.mil/library/biographies/bio.asp?bioID=6233 has been in the Air Force since 1977, but at least he is a computer guy. The thing to understand about these guys is most of them have problems understanding the difference between a desktop computer and a server, and they grew up with mainframes the size of small houses (actually, General Elder is used to flying planes older than he is (B-52, been in the Air Force inventory since 1954 http://www.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?fsID=83)).

    So what am I trying to say here? These guys over simplify everything so that others like them can understand it. Especially the pilots (since most of the generals in the Air Force are pilots). I'm not saying pilots are dumb; far from it. I am saying pilots can't do everything and know their jobs better than they know computers.

  21. Some day I'll learn . . . on Al Gore Shares Nobel Peace Prize with UN Panel · · Score: 1

    to not even bother to read politically sensitive articles so I can keep my blood pressure down. It's just not healthy.

    It doesn't matter which side of the argument you're on, it just doesn't seem to me there's enough data (considering the age of the earth) to say we are / aren't significantly impacting the global temperature. We have maybe one or two millennia of recorded data on climate. That's not a significant sample size.

    Oh, and what exactly does climate have to do with world peace?

  22. Fiber? on World's Fastest Broadband Connection — 40 Gbps · · Score: 1

    One advantage of fiber-to-the-home is, everyone will be regular!

  23. Re:Democrats on Bill to Treat Bloggers as Lobbyists Defeated · · Score: 1

    Flamebait? I guess I'm dense. Can someone explain how being neutral with respect to governmental operations can be considered flamebait?

  24. Re:Democrats on Bill to Treat Bloggers as Lobbyists Defeated · · Score: 1
    Good point.

    What's the difference between apathy and ignorance?

    I don't know, and I don't care!

  25. Re:Democrats on Bill to Treat Bloggers as Lobbyists Defeated · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    IMHO, it all comes down to one thing. Well, maybe 2. Money and control. But if you have money, you have control, so I guess it's only one thing really. If you can limit who has a voice or who can focus multiple voices toward those who have "control", they have more ultimate control.

    Don't forget the US is NOT a democracy. The US is a democratic republic. You don't have a voice unless someone who was elected speaks FOR you. A true democracy would require all citizens to vote on everything. (You think it takes forever to get anything done NOW!)

    It has nothing to do with party affiliation. It has everything to do with control.