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User: Chriscypher

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Comments · 165

  1. Serious question – what would you have done in you were in Bush’s shoes?

    U.S. Commemorates 9/11 By Toasting Stable Afghan Government From Top Of Freedom Tower:
    http://www.theonion.com/articles/us-commemorates-911-by-toasting-stable-afghan-gove,21332/

  2. Re:Mac Mini is flagrantly unsuitable as a server on Among Servers, Apple's Mac Mini Quietly Gains Ground · · Score: 1

    Why not OS X for a mail server?

    Because its really no simpler to set one up on OSX than on Linux. Its not really any harder either, but why pay for OSX and Mac mini hardware when you can take your pick of free operating systems, with a wider array of more capable hardware than a mac mini.

    Doing postfix and dovecot on OSX is going to involve editing config files, terminal command line interface work, and so on. So if you are comfortable with that on OSX... you might as well use BSD or Linux, and you'll have a lot better community support.

    That's a complete crock. For $50 you add OSX Server software atop OSX, which has all services already installed with noob-friendly GUI configuration panels for setup. The only time you need to get into terminal and the actual config files is if you need something unusual.

    Mail, spam filtering, Open Directory, FTP, file sharing, calendar and contacts server, wiki, web server, database: it's all already there awaiting you to turn it on with a checkbox. It's such a good value proposition for small business that needing only one of these services makes it compelling.

  3. Re:Online security for banks is a joke. on Everything You Know About Password-Stealing Is Wrong · · Score: 2

    ETrade They used to be good. They had the concept of a "trading password" on top of a regular password. Exactly what I wanted. You need to provide the trading password to actually do trade or cash out money or transfer funds. They took it away! I called to complain. They gave me a free RSA dongle. These jokers imagine their customers having an RSA key fob for each account. Cant ditch them. Our company stock purchase plan is with them.

    So what's the problem with Etrade having a RSA dongle? Seems to me it's way more secure to prevent credential capture, as the account login password is 'new' every minute and they timeout active logins fairly quickly.

  4. Re:Help wanted: marketing guru on Microsoft Announces 'Surface' Tablet · · Score: 1

    Microsoft needs to hire more people in marketing. Whoever thought up of this name "Surface", needs to be fired.

    Hey, didya hear about this hot new tablet? It's called "Surface"!!!

    It's an homage to Michael Jackson and his son "Blanket".

    This makes it a cooler name than you could ever imagine!

  5. Re:Apple is going to be stagnant. on Apple to Buy Back $10bn of Its Shares and Pay Dividend · · Score: 1

    It's that kind of thinking which led to Steve Jobs being drummed out of Apple by the Board of Directors in the first place, who thought Apple had outgrown it's startup leadership. It's not an "Apple gizmo fad", but a company which (under visionary leadership) has transformed the world multiple times, with:
      * the first microcomputer (Apple ][)
      * first GUI user interface (Macintosh)
      * first useful mp3 player (iPod)
      * first useful desktop certified UNIX (OSX)
      * first useful smartphone (iPhone)
      * first useful tablet computer (iPad)
      * &etc
    My point is that, as a company, they have a decades long track record of providing groundbreaking, useful technologies. They have had flops. They may not be the first to market in a niche, but when their products ship they come to define the niche.

    The biggest threat to Apple IMHO is that it:
      * concentrate too much on consumer and ignore enterprise level solutions
        - why does not OSX server have built-in iOS policy enforcement features? (instead of relying on 3rd parties) etc etc etc.
        - why has the MacPro line not been updated still long after xServe discontinued?
      * corporate management brain rot redefines Apple as a "cash cow" instead of continuing the tradition of useful and world transforming innovation established by Jobs & company.

    They can continue to push current technologies down the road, with faster/larger capacity devices, but this is incremental improvement. How far can they push the "digital hub" paradigm? What's the next innovative paradigm? What can they do new?
      * iTV (if they can make it not suck like AppleTV)
      * enterprise deployment and management solutions, better business quality scheduling and groupware built-in

    For the last decade I have looked at the market capitalization of stocks like RIM, Motorola, Nokia, Dell, HPQ, MSFT as fodder for Apple growth. This has been immensely profitable to me. The numbers at Apple look great at this market cap, it should be sustainable as phone and computers have fairly limited lifespans and computer market share had lots of room for growth. But how far up is up? Management at Apple must be genuinely visionary, and not what generally passes for this across the industry.

  6. Re:I am Jack's utter lack of surprise... on Debt Reduction Super Committee Fails To Agree · · Score: 1

    I care about whether a sitting President lied about anything. If there's one person in the country we should expect to be integrity personified...

    When Bush lied, people died.

  7. Re:Failures, what a surprise... on Failures Mark First National Test of Emergency Alert System · · Score: 1

    Not true.

    On 9/11, no one knew how vast the problem was, just that the nation was somehow under attack.
    This is why they grounded all planes in the entire US, not just over certain airspaces.

    It would have been entirely appropriate to have sent out a national warning, and to urge everyone to a high alert status of a problem of unknown extent.

    ie. "Nation under coordinated domestic terrorist attack of multiple targets. Observe caution and report suspicious activity to local police immediately. Tune into news and keep informed.", etc.

    On 9/11 no one knew how big the problem was. We had not seen anything of this type in current generations.

  8. Toasting another TEN! on 10 Years of Windows XP · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    (I Am an OSX user... I do not share your pain)

  9. Re:kid in front, semi in the back. on How Google's Autonomous Vehicles Work · · Score: 1

    When I was learning to drive, my teacher told me before you dodge (or brake for) any deer on the road, always check rear view mirror to make sure a semi trailer isn't following you to brake and kill 15 people behind that. It's easy to say deer.

    But what if it's a kid. Gets harder right?

    I am glad this robot car takes that decision off my hands yeah? :D

    If there's a semi on your ass and you haven't slowed down to allow for their lack of breaking room, then you are at fault for not diffusing a dangerous situation.

    You should always be checking your rearview mirror, and taking tailgaters into the overall account of danger. and reducing it accordingly.

  10. Re:Finally, a meta-thread! on Help Shape the Future of Slashdot · · Score: 1

    Mod parent up!

  11. Re:American can be said on The Press Reacts To Steve Jobs' Departure — in 1985 · · Score: 1

    Do you even remember how Apple was viewed before 1997?

    I brought a Mac magazine to school and was teased and laughed at....

    Ditto that.

    A low point for me was being ridiculed by Sears Auto tire monkeys for wearing an Apple "Been There, Done That" T-shirt while I was waiting for tires to be put on my car. Apple was circling the drain until Steve came back and set Apple back on course.

    Steve is an amazing example of what corporate management should be.
    His greatest skills are:
    * understanding what technology can accomplish
    * the vision to imagine a future where these technologies accomplish real-world needs while being simple to use
    * knowing how to deliver value, in terms of hardware/software implementation and user experience
    * the ability to surround himself with people who can deliver, and to drive them to actually accomplish it

    Usually you only get one or two of these qualities in a person, and then they may not have the additional skills (and luck) required to get into a position of authority to make a difference.

    It's sad that this is so rare.
    If not for Jobs, I think we'd all still be in the mid-80's of computer technology today. Yes Moore's Law would have made everything faster, but the interface, interoperability, devices, and quality would not be there. Imagine a Windows boot stomping a human face forever.

  12. Re:Significance on Building Blocks of DNA Confirmed In Meteorites · · Score: 1

    No one is talking about *finding* DNA in meteorites, just amino acids and other chemical precursors (which are *used in* DNA).

  13. Re:Doesn't seem secure... on Microsoft Demonstrates Practical Homomorphic Computing · · Score: 0

    I am just hoping that Homoerotic Encryption doesn't catch on.

  14. Re:My CJ teacher on Law Enforcement Wants To Try 'Predictive Policing' · · Score: 1

    In Knoxville, TN they used to have mannequins in police cars at the side of the interstate to slow traffic. If you needed help, you could expect only to receive what a mannequin could offer...

  15. Re:Did your congressman do his duty? on Senate Passes 4-Year Re-Up of Patriot Act Provisions · · Score: 1

    Else you're just the comic foil of the next election.

    Mr. Trump, is that you?

  16. Re:There IS a problem with the cars on Drivers Blamed For Out of Control Toyotas - Again · · Score: 1

    Don't forget the 2010 Prius was recalled for software bugs in the anti-lock braking system which led to crashes.

  17. Re:Internet kill switch on Egypt Shuts Off All Internet Access · · Score: 1

    Doesn't this make you want to have an internet kill switch in the US?

    Mr. President, we must not allow a kill switch gap!

  18. Re:Burden of proof. on Running Your Own Ghost Investigation? · · Score: 1

    The problem is that the statement "there are ghosts" is not falsifiable. There isn't an experiment you can perform that will prove they don't exist. Maybe the experiment scared them away, or they just didn't turn up etc.

    The statement "there are no ghosts" is falsifiable. It can be proved wrong by demonstrating the existence of the ghost.

    Au contrare.

    "there are ghosts" is falsifiable.

    Just find a ghost and ask them if they exist.

  19. Re:Polarity? on Unwise — Search History of Murder Methods · · Score: 1

    Just be sure not to cross the streams!

    It would be really really bad.

  20. Re:but they should have apprenticeship not work fo on Is Going To an Elite College Worth the Cost? · · Score: 1

    What in hell's name were you interning in? $3k plus housing a month, assuming after-tax, is something like $60k a year. That's well north of what I made as a medical resident, and I'm pretty sure you weren't doing nights and weekends.

    These amounts are typical for internships at Bender's University for Male Hookers. The downside is that it does require working nights and weekends.

  21. Re:Atheist Fundamentalists: Angry, Violent, and... on Hi-Tech Nativity Security · · Score: 1

    [ Why would you "respect" a practice that is sending innocent people to hell? ]

    As an Atheist why would this even concern you as you don't even believe in Heaven or Hell, or do you? Why would you care if someone somewhere thinks you are going straight to hell unless deep down you were troubled they might have the slightest possibility of being right about you possible eternal salvation?

    And why would you take offense if I claimed as fact that you deserve to suffer because of your membership in an ethnic group? You are different from I, therefore it's your fault. I'm just the messenger. String 'em up boys.

    It's all bigotry, plain and simple.

    "Because you are [insert ethnic group here], you are subhuman and deserve to suffer" ... is no different from ...

    "Because you do not believe as I do, you will suffer infinite, endless pain."

    Just because someone claims to know God's will does not whitewash the fact that they are spewing bigotry.

    Intolerance must not be tolerated.

  22. Re:Well... on Underwear Invention Protects Privacy At Airport · · Score: 1

    the underwear's inserts are thin and conform to the body's contours

    Is that a rocket in your pocket, or are you happy to see me?

  23. Re:you're doing something wrong on Horizontal Scaling of SQL Databases? · · Score: 1

    "I'm currently responsible for operations at a software-as-a-service startup, and we're increasingly hitting limitations in what we can do with relational databases. "

    Relational databases scale to pretty amazing heights. The notion that you are hitting some limit of relational databases at a startup stretches the imagination. I mean, really, you've already hit exabyte data sizes? That's typically where relational starts to struggle.

    You really need to define your problem with much greater specificity to get a valuable answer.

    Duh!

    Maybe this guy's startup company specializes in exabyte database optimization... ... which explains why they are constantly struggling with relational database limitations !!!!

  24. None of the Above on From Apple To Xbox, Tech Companies Lean Left · · Score: 1

    You might not be able to change the system, you might not be able to make a huge impact, but at the very least you will have your vote as "none of the above" registered.

    What I want to see is a legally binding 'none of the above' on every ballot.

    If 'none of the above' wins, then the election for that office is re-held and none of the previous candidates may run again.

    The ballot needs a reset button.

  25. Another point is not "missing the point" on Firefox Extension Makes Social-Network ID Spoofing Trivial · · Score: 5, Insightful

    squabbles about Facebook's changing privacy settings and various privacy breaches simply miss the point.

    Another point does not "miss the point".

    Transport security != corporate marketing of private data