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User: cybermace5

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  1. Re:Ok, here's the standard on Locally Secure Email Clients? · · Score: 1

    There certainly is an excuse for the three roommates to not have separate computers: space. Since they are all messing around with a Win98 computer, I highly doubt any of them has money to buy even a cheap laptop. Desktops take up a lot of space (especially monitors and keyboards), we had to build custom furniture to set up two desktop computers the last time I had a roommate in college. Maybe the other roommates don't want to give up the couch and TV, or sleep inches away from a computer fan exhaust.

    At the time, I made some renderings of stuff we were considering during the summer; we went with the one with the two lofts and the square spacer table at the end of the room. The computers went underneath the table, and the intake from the air conditioner kept them nice and cool.

  2. Re:Proof that video game ratings are necessary! on Videogame Character Threatens National Security? · · Score: 1

    Uh, am I living in some kind of alternate universe? The "extremists in charge" of a nation who "without moral or practical imagination" have "gutted liberties" and "invaded and tortured Iraqis" were removed from power in Iraq by American forces. Holy crap. You think that Saddam's removal means that Iraq is now under the control of a cruel and murderous government? Some retarded MPs made some really stupid choices, like many people do within our own borders due to the fact that they are sick freaks. The things that happened in pre-"invasion" Iraq were certainly more frequent and more deadly, and Saddam would never consider apologizing for any of it, since he fully approved.

    When George Bush has the residents of Minnesota systematically killed and bulldozed into mass graves, then I think we can start equating him with Saddam.

  3. Re:Very simple possibility on Free Software Tracking a Stolen Computer? · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I'd rather lose my computer permanently than have something that makes me think "1984" every time I turn it on (or is it really off?). A measure of privacy in my home (or at least the perception) is worth the price of a computer.

  4. Too advanced on Astronauts Get Tricoders (Almost) · · Score: 4, Funny

    While they don't have a full complement of sensors, the practical limit being perhaps sensing some coded IR signals, their display technology far outstrips any tricorder's. HP should rework them into a version where the TFT display is removed, and replaced with a random assortment of LEDs and bargraph displays which convey information via flickering coded signals.

  5. Very simple possibility on Free Software Tracking a Stolen Computer? · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The odds are maybe 50/50 that a person stealing your laptop would have a clue to avoid something like this. If they do consider this, they'll wipe your disk clean at the earliest possibility, in the absence of a network connection. Get rid of the evidence.

    If this is a kid who plans to pawn it or sell it on eBay, or possibly just use it, they might plug it in to make sure the Internet works. What's the first thing they'll run? The web browser. It's just a web browser, that couldn't hurt right?

    All you have to do is set the browser's home page to a page on your own site, not linked from anywhere else. If your laptop gets stolen, you could activate some PHP in that page to send you an email or SMS. The IP address will be logged, so you can (maybe) SSH in and do your dirty work. If the user has a firewall, that would be a problem.

    But anyway, this is a pretty easy way to do it. You could even just start up the web browser on boot, and if they are on the Internet, they're nailed.

  6. Re:Rebranding wrong? on TheOpenCD 1.4 Released · · Score: 1

    No modifications were being made to the programs, he was just slapping CD labels on burned CDs. The eBay description contained zero mention of the fact that the software was free, or even of the actual names of the software. However, the screenshots were copied directly from the project sites.

    It was all an effort to trick someone into buying a product while taking measure to keep them ignorant of the true nature of the product. While I am not a legal expert on the GPL and do not know if this violates it in any way, it seems deceitful to me.

  7. Re:Oh great on TheOpenCD 1.4 Released · · Score: 1

    I think that might be someone reselling the original junk. The Luxuriosity guy seemed to have moved on a while back, probably selling under another name.

  8. Re:Oh great on TheOpenCD 1.4 Released · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Why don't you provide a link to some of your auctions? Do you talk and hawk OpenOffice and GIMP but fail to mention that they are free programs that could be downloaded if the poor modem user wanted to spend the time?

    I've seen some really bad examples on eBay. One guy was rebranding everything, QCad was LuxuriosityCAD, and then there was Luxuriosity Office. Basically, trying to profit from the work of others, or trick people into buying something they could have gotten for free.

    If your eBay blurbs do state that you are distributing open-source software for free, and only charging for media and shipping costs, then I'd consider you to be an exception to the rule.

  9. Re:Oh great on TheOpenCD 1.4 Released · · Score: 4, Informative

    No, I'm talking about people who sell programs like OpenOffice under some other name, and do not mention at all that it is free. I'm talking about sellers like this.

  10. Oh great on TheOpenCD 1.4 Released · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Now we'll see this CD turning up on eBay. There's a surprising amount of people selling Free software to uninformed people.

  11. Re:Clothing on The First-Ever Installfest in Egypt · · Score: 2, Funny

    That's because they just installed Linux that day. Give 'em a couple weeks.

  12. Re:Yeah... on Intel Chief: Don't Call Us Benedict Arnold CEOs · · Score: 4, Interesting

    How does that help them? The U.S. is only 300 million people, and the world is six billion. So a poor, undeveloped country is going to improve by a few people receiving American money, while the actual work they've done has little value in their own country and is sent back to America? They are skipping the industrial development phase and going right to the knowledge worker phase, which means the infrastructure to support their way of life is located in America and not in their own country. This means that their economy can be kept artificially where it is, maintaining the supply of cheap labor.

    These countries need self-supporting industries, roads, hospitals, and the high-efficiency agriculture lifestyles that allowed us to become knowledge workers in the first place. By luring developing countries to skip directly to the desk jobs, we are sabotaging the development of a strong industrial foundation that can make these countries economically independent.

  13. Yeah... on Intel Chief: Don't Call Us Benedict Arnold CEOs · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That whole interview really did collapse at the end. He spouts off about having to compete, and discusses at length how kids need to be taught math and science, and how many teachers aren't educated in the subjects that they teach. But then he has to admit that even if the kids were taught to excel, it wouldn't change anything.

    We are not competing on basis of skill here, we're competing on the basic cost of living. Today's CEO's are pocketing the savings from outsourcing, and will be retired when the house of cards crashes down because no one here has any more money to spend.

  14. Re:Ummmm on Build Your Own Monowheel · · Score: 4, Funny

    I imagine a very comical-yet-terrifying leap into the air followed by a large amount of spinning and bouncing. Of course, the driver would be dead before the wheel came down for the first bounce.

  15. Re:Ummmm on Build Your Own Monowheel · · Score: 1

    Yeah, I read the article. And, what neurojab said.

  16. Re:Ummmm on Build Your Own Monowheel · · Score: 4, Insightful

    But a motorcycle's front wheel is free-rolling, and the cycle has a lower center of gravity. The monowheel already scrapes the ground when braking, it's not very stable as far as pitch is concerned. The driver is basically a bump on a 1100-pound wheel, and if something happens, it's all gonna roll.

  17. Ummmm on Build Your Own Monowheel · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm not so sure that it's a good idea to ride a vehicle that, if it fails at high speed, will run the driver over. All it takes is for something to seize up a little bit.

  18. MPEG4? on Dirac: BBC Open Source Video Codec · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why would they compare it to MPEG2? In order to impress me, you'll have to compare quality and bitrates with MPEG4.

  19. It's a webcam on Turn Your PC into a 'Moblogger' · · Score: 2, Informative

    Isn't it?

    My webcam (currently pointed at robin from a few inches away) uses a neat little freeware app called Cam2Web. Very barebones, it simply accepts a connection and then returns image data. Nice thing is how it uses HTTP 1.1 push to send up the images, which lets me avoid FTP and all that. I use another program to download an image every five minutes and save it for the archive. It all runs on a laptop with Win98.

    I'd use a few simple shell scripts if my webcam actually worked in Linux. Oh well...it's an old cam, and Logitech never released any data.

  20. Re:Edsger Dijkstra? Does not like it on BASIC Computer Language Turns 40 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Hey, I have a great idea! Add an extension to C/C++ so you can put BASIC snippets inline. This would infuriate more than enough people, making it a worthwhile effort.

  21. Re:Forget 7-Zip on First Ten Programs on New Install? · · Score: 1

    I'm fully aware of THAT...I don't use encrypted Zip. However, other people sometimes do, and 7-Zip would not open them. That was a while back, so I haven't tested it recently.

  22. Re:A list on First Ten Programs on New Install? · · Score: 2, Informative

    I know...press T to get the thumbnail view...R and L for rotation, etc. The thumbnails and HTML export utility alone would be a good program. Then throw in the ability to make slideshows and even save them as screensavers...basically everything you could want to do with any image, aside from actual paint tools, is there in Irfanview.

  23. Re:A list on First Ten Programs on New Install? · · Score: 2, Interesting

    How is it possible to not have IrfanView in this list? It's always in my top three installs when I start using a computer or reinstall.

  24. Forget 7-Zip on First Ten Programs on New Install? · · Score: 5, Informative

    I don't like 7-Zip, there are some compatibility issues I've found with encrypted Zip files, and the user interface is really clunky.

    Instead, use the other free alternative, IZArc. It handles everything, plus 7-Zip, actually. The user interface is very clean and contains at least as many features as WinZip. Gets a full recommendation from me!

  25. Re:calculators are dead on TI-84 Plus Released · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I like having my calculator batteries last for months, if not years, on end. My ancient TI-85 is always near, always ready.

    Plus, the input area on a TI calculator is much larger than even the screen on a PDA, which has to display both the input interface and the results.

    Hardcoded keys are fantastic for memorizing quick patterns. Would you try to replace a computer keyboard with a few square inches of touch-sensitive LCD and a stylus?