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User: YoungHack

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  1. Re:He has a point, no? on Shuttleworth Calls Ubuntu Performance Art, Calls Out Critics · · Score: 1

    Instability is also my big beef with the recent Ubuntu. It seems to be due to three causes (so it's been forever for anyone to make progress on fixing anything): Intel wireless drivers suck (kernel issue), gnome-screen saver sucks, and the Unity interface sucks. Getting rid of gnome-screensaver and installing xscreensaver is probably the best improvement I've seen, after finally finding a kernel where the Intel wireless driver worked. But I've put my computers on XFCE (with the menu bar on the left like Unity) and they're finally usable again.

  2. Re:Translation: It's mine, and you don't matter on Shuttleworth On Ubuntu Community Drama · · Score: 1

    It's what I did too. Debian and XFCE4 on my daughter's laptop. I'll be doing the same thing on my own laptop the next time it gets a re-install or upgrade. I've got a few work machines that'll probably go over to Debian as well.

  3. I hope they fix it. on Google Releases Chrome 25 With Voice Recognition Support · · Score: 1

    Since this morning's update on Ubuntu I can't pull up Gmail. It's pretty darned annoying and now I've gone back to Firefox to wait for the next update to fix whatever is really busted.

  4. Re:I have a better idea... on Richard Stallman's Solution To 'Too Big To Fail' · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Bank deposits are not guaranteed by the government. Bank deposits up to a limit are guaranteed. My deposits are guaranteed. So are yours probably. But my employer is big. The amount of money required to make single payroll is more than is guaranteed under the limits.

    So my money is secure and your money is secure. But at the end of the month, suddenly my employer can't make payroll because a bank failed. Perhaps yours can't either. That's a big deal.

  5. Re:Stop rewarding jerk carriers on AT&T: Don't Want a Data Plan for That Smartphone? Too Bad. · · Score: 1

    I use PagePlus too, with a Droid 1. I just turn off the data feature. It's why I chose PagePlus actually, to have a smart phone without the requirement of a data plan. Since they use the same backbone as Verizon (my previous carrier), I get essentially the same service quality I had before.

  6. Re:I prefer to think of inventions as discoveries on Are There Any Real Inventors Left? · · Score: 2

    In the context of this, I'd say the internet was a great invention. Look at how much it surprised a real powerhouse in the domain, Microsoft. No way would I have predicted in 1990 how ubiquitous the online experience would become.

  7. Re:They're worthless anyhow on Indiana Nurses Fired After Refusing Flu Shots On Religious Grounds · · Score: 1

    No, the vaccinate you against what they guessed last year, would be this years flu. They aren't worthless, just a gamble.

    And here's the way I like to think of the gamble. When you actually have the flu and you feel like shit, would you take a 1 in 3 roll of the dice if your symptoms could magically evaporate and disappear? You would. So I don't see what difference it really makes if it isn't 100%. If you avoid the flu part of the time, you're happier.

  8. Re:They're worthless anyhow on Indiana Nurses Fired After Refusing Flu Shots On Religious Grounds · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Adding to your anecdote: I've had the flu shot every year without fail since 1995 and haven't had the flu since. Before that I used to have it every winter.

    Here here. I was a chronic flu sufferer, with the usual complications, particularly bouts of bronchitis most winters. I finally had a nurse practitioner inform me that I was one of those people who should get a regular flu vaccination. And I've probably had bronchitis only once in the 18 years since. Getting my daughter vaccinated made a similar improvement in her winters.

  9. Re:Lousy ideas on Using Technology To Make Guns Safer · · Score: 1

    I doubt a lot of folks do that, and outside of television I've never known anyone who did that. And it's a stupid idea. Rock salt doesn't make a gun non-lethal. Someone is either a grave threat or not. If they aren't a grave threat, you have no business shooting them with anything.

  10. Re:Safe guns on Using Technology To Make Guns Safer · · Score: 1

    How do you teach your children or friends to shoot if your firearms only work for you?

    And if you actually need the gun? The need is unlikely for the individual, yet legitimate defensive uses of guns happen all the time. If you're that unlucky individual, you really really need that gun to function. It can't fail because you happened to grab the grip a little differently or the software had a bug.

    If you keep your weapon secure (locked when not in your possession) then the risk of someone killing you with your own weapon is not substantial.

  11. Re:Computers in Guns? on Using Technology To Make Guns Safer · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Here's why I don't like magazine disconnects. They interfere with the safe consistent operation of the gun in other situations. For example, the Ruger Mark III pistol has a magazine disconnect. You have to "dry fire" the gun in several steps while cleaning. That means, rather than remove all magazines and ammunition from your work environment while cleaning, you need to keep a magazine (unloaded yes) to insert and remove at various points in the assembly and disassembly. It makes the whole process significantly more complex.

    It also means that you can't easily practice with that gun without ammunition. Although the gun is safe to dry fire, when you cock the hammer, the slide will lock back. Without the magazine disconnect, you would simply pull the slide back and let go an you'd be ready to dry fire. Dry fire activities are valuable, but they're also a place where people make mistakes. So it'd be better all around if you could remove all ammunition and magazines from your environment when doing it. Adding complexity to the process makes it more likely you'll commit an error.

    I prefer the simpler more consistent operation of guns without a magazine disconnect. But my very first lesson to new shooters is also that a gun with an empty magazine can still be loaded (and I use a dummy round for that lesson).

  12. Free Software Foundation on Ask Slashdot: Where Should a Geek's Charitable Donations Go? · · Score: 1

    Becoming an associate member of the Free Software Foundation is probably worthwhile, and not very expensive. It's true that RMS is an unlikely spokesman, but the GPL has had a profound effect on software freedom.

  13. Re:Bullshit on Exposure to Wide Variety of Microbes May Reduce Allergies · · Score: 1

    This is my experience too. People want to believe this study because it has a good narrative, but it doesn't really ring true for me.

  14. Re:... join the Math Club on University of Minnesota Launches Review Project For Open Textbooks · · Score: 2

    This is also in Project Gutenberg. I know. I had it scanned and submitted (though, as usual, lots of other people did the work of getting it proofed and assembled).

    http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/33283

  15. Re:Can someone explain this to me? on 99.8% Security For Real-World Public Keys · · Score: 3, Informative

    The process of finding that one of P or Q matches actually tells you that P or Q. That means instantly that both public keys can be factored. Hence both private keys can be determined. You don't need prior knowledge of either private key ahead of time, just the public keys.

  16. Re:Get a Lumix on Ask Slashdot: Mirrorless, Interchangeable Lens Camera Advice? · · Score: 1

    I can +1 the Lumix as well. Pretty good as a rule on Auto, but the ability to switch to fully manual mode in challenging situations.

  17. there are other expenses on How Can I Justify Using Red Hat When CentOS Exists? · · Score: 1

    To be fair to your boss, I've witnessed plenty of "issues" arise with different software platforms that had commercial support and where the vendor wasn't particularly interested in resolving the issue. Perhaps we weren't big enough fish in the pond. I've also watched IT staff use that as an excuse for failure. In my personal opinion, designing around a closed source solution and having poor response from a vendor shouldn't let you off the hook. In a way, it's worse than an open system, because often you can't even get into the guts of the problem to fix it, even if you might have the ability.

    The cost to a company for using a commercial platform is not merely in the cost of the licenses, either. You have to also consider the cost of license compliance and tracking. The energy my workplace spends in a year on tracking "seats" and negotiating licenses for closed-source programs is just depressing.

  18. Inspirons are usually good. on Ask Slashdot: GNU/Linux Laptops? · · Score: 1

    I generally buy Dell Inspirons. I always try to limit my choice to the models with Intel wireless and Intel video, though I can be okay with a Broadcom wireless if it has been checked out by others. I've typically been very happy with Inspirons (note, I've had more glitches with Latitudes). The only issue I can think of on my current Inspiron 1520 is that the Svideo out is glitchy. It definitely worked best a couple versions Ubuntu back. But except when I hook up to my TV I have no problems at all.

    Do a Google search for the model you want and Ubuntu, and poke around the Ubuntu forums, and you'll know if people are having trouble or success.

  19. Re:My thoughts on HP Rethinking Wisdom of Spinning Off PC Division · · Score: 1

    I've never heard this rule, but it immediately resonated with my experience.

  20. Re:Sorry state of affairs. on Verizon Makes It Easy To Go Over Your Data Cap · · Score: 1

    I'm not sure how it is in the rest of the country, but if I actually want coverage (i.e. radio signals) my list of carriers is basically 2, US Cellular or Verizon (or competitors who buy access to their networks like Page Plus).

  21. It needs a sense of smell! on Taiwan Develops Face-Recognition Vending Machine · · Score: 1

    They just need to add a mass spectrometer and air intake. Then it could recommend deodorant as well.

  22. Re:Chrome #1 on Google Pushes New Chrome Release, Pays $14k Bounty · · Score: 1

    I've noticed the copy/paste problem with Chrome as well. Generally speaking I can't copy from gvim and paste in Chrome.

    Strangely, I can copy in gvim, paste in a terminal, then copy from the terminal and paste in Chrome. I have no idea why it takes that indirect process.

  23. Re:Collapse? on Social Security Information Systems Near Collapse · · Score: 1

    I suppose it looks the same as when your backup system collapses. The next backup starts before the current backup has finished.

    The system collapses when next month's work has to start and this month's work is still processing.

  24. Re:NASA modernization program? on NASA To Continue Funding Canceled Ares Project Until March · · Score: 1

    For support of this "get lucky" philosophy, I recommend N Taleb's book "Fooled By Randomness."

    People get rich by working hard, yes. People get insanely rich by working hard and getting lucky. But they tend to over-attribute the outcome to working hard and discount the effect of chance. Lots of not-rich people work very very hard, but not everyone can be lucky.

    Read the book.

  25. Re:Export Restrictions, anyone? on Intel's Sandy Bridge Processor Has a Kill Switch · · Score: 1

    This idea seems like a non-starter. Motherboards and chips are manufactured outside the country already. They don't have to be exported.