e thing you need to protect from is your computer being compromised from the outside by someone intent on using it for a botnet. That's really the only value that your PC has outside of physically stealing it. That means using anti-virus software, getting email filtered for viruses, keeping up on windows updates, using firefox instead of IE, and implenting WPA security . None of those things really interfere with anyones usage of the computer, so they shouldn't have any objections.
That's exactly what I worry about with them. Leaving it logged in like they do leaves it open to exploits. And I'm not talking about logging out every time you go to the bathroom or eat dinner - They leave it logged in literally all the time and leave it on 24/7. It's just asking for trouble.
Some asshole above said something about me being paranoid about "ninjas breaking in and stealing their data." Not hardly. But having an admin user logged into a machine 24/7 is, by default, a security hole, that needs to be fixed.
Even a lot of their non-security issues would be solved by separate user accounts, so that they could have individual bookmarks, email client configs, etc.
I'm talking about my parents - they don't want to believe that they could be targeted. Part of the problem is that they think it's modesty - "Oh, nobody cares about what I do on the internet."
The thing is, no, they don't care about you specifically, they care about everybody who passes information on the net or clicks on the wrong links. They're not singling you out, you're in the path of their drag-net.
It's not like someone breaking into your house or tapping your phone where they have to go to a lot of trouble to get to you specifically. I'm not sure that they understand that you don't have to be targeted specifically to be a victim of identity theft or have your PC zombied.
I am a technical person and I bought an iPod because Creative's own firmware update software fried my Zen Micro. The warranty was up, so I would have had to pay them to get them to fix what their shitty software destroyed. I don't want to be an IT guy during my off hours, I just want my stuff to work.
Also, the iPod is becoming a standard, for better or worse. It has the most accessories, and all kinds of other devices will work with it. Being a rugged individualist with a broken music player kind of sucks.
There's a higher level of tolerance for vulgarity in TV and film because the cultural watchdogs are satisfied that they can be kept from children. The same people still think of games as being strictly kids' stuff, so vulgarity in games is horrific to them.
I do all my writing on my 15" laptop. If it were any smaller, I would have trouble reading it. Jacking the font size up results in a smaller amount of the page on the screen at a time, which results in scrolling incessantly, which means I waste more time with the arrow keys and extreme right side of the trackpad.
So, there is a practical purpose for these things. Believe me, if I could work on a 13" screen, I would.
Funny this conversation should start. I just tried to do the VanCleef quest in Westfall for the first time. It was idiotic. I got in a group, not knowing what I was doing, and these assholes are trying to order me around and tell me what to do. Eventually I got kicked out just because I didn't know what I was doing.
I play games to get -away- from socializing and rules and bullshit like this. It's the kind of thing I hate most in life. Why would I want to subject myself to more of it?
I predict that, soon, I will be cancelling my subscription.
- Writing letters to old friends Don't have their address. And who gives a shit? You stopped talking to them for a reason.
- Tending to the house/yard/animals Point, but sometimes the only things that need to be done require resources you don't have access to (i.e. you need new carpet but don't have the money so there's nothing you can do)
- Creating something, anything Some people consider developing a character to be a creative process.
- Writing your congressperson Like they give a fuck. If voting could change anything they wouldn't let us do it.
- Writing documentation for all your spaghetti code It's Open Source. It doesn't need documentation, just read the source./devils-advocate
You must be my other personality. I started playing WoW a couple of weeks ago. Mainly because I wanted to play an RPG and my PC can't run Oblivion. I only group when I absolutely have to - I still don't get how the loot rolling thing works, need vs. greed and all that. I have no intention of joining a guild or getting involved in stuff outside of the game, or meeting up with friends online. PvP has no interest for me.
the nice thing about WoW is that it's possible to enjoy it casually. I don't think many other MMORPGs are like that.
When people who are obsessed with absolute personal accountability realize that not everything is a conscious decision, then the world will be a better place overall. True addiction, meanwhile, knows no boundaries.
Well said. I don't know why everyone on the internet wants to be an Ayn Rand protagonist.
When we were raising our kids, we didn't allow television at all. That worked out very well; they're all three highly successful, wealthy, well educated and have strong families of their own now. They just don't "get" TV jokes, and I'm not at all sure that's a bad thing. Neither do I.:)
How did they handle it growing up when they didn't fit in with the other kids because they didn't know what was on TV?
I suspect that you never really cared about any social development for your children, since they performed well enough to give you sufficient bragging rights.
I'm not trying to convince you not to use checks. You started this argument. You went off bitching about the use of checks to a US citizen, who you freely admit has a US-only view of banking, where checks are more acceptable. What in the hell is your point?
Are you trying to impress us with your ability to do everything in the most efficient, economically sound way possible? That's the usual Slashdot bullshit, everyone around here is the perfect engineer.
You're thinking very UK-centrically. Those things might not be possible in the UK without automatic withdrawal, but almost all services in the USA can be paid for by check and I will continue to do so. It is also illegal to charge a premium for a different method of payment in the USA. Some companies get around this by charging extra for paper billing.
Furthermore, it's not my responsibility to make a creditor's processing of my payment easier. Their processes are their business. It's my responsibility to pay them as contracted. Checks are my preferred method of remittance for such things.
It's disturbingly amusing that I'm finally getting old enough to be called a dinosaur, though.
I stopped doing any automatic payments last year. Paper billing forever.
It was mainly because I had trouble remembering when things were coming out, but it has the added goal of no automatic withdrawal SNAFUs like this thread is all about.
Sure, I have to sit down and write a bunch of checks a few times a month, but I need to plan my budget anyway.
How about a premium news channel. Like HBO, or the movie channels. Pay your $10-15 a month and get real news. there's less chance of a ratings bias and less commercial influence since ads are not the sole source of revenue.
non-cable/satellite owners wouldn't be able to get it, but they don't get CNN or Faux either.
Can they show up to practice drunk and/or stoned? Do their girlfriends get jealous of the other musicians' girlfriends and start drama for no reason? Do they forget spare strings at the gig and have to borrow a bass from the other band? Do they need a place to crash one night and you come to find three months later that they still haven't left?
They can't be REAL musician robots until those conditions can be fulfilled.
Slashdot Mirror
e thing you need to protect from is your computer being compromised from the outside by someone intent on using it for a botnet. That's really the only value that your PC has outside of physically stealing it. That means using anti-virus software, getting email filtered for viruses, keeping up on windows updates, using firefox instead of IE, and implenting WPA security . None of those things really interfere with anyones usage of the computer, so they shouldn't have any objections.
That's exactly what I worry about with them. Leaving it logged in like they do leaves it open to exploits. And I'm not talking about logging out every time you go to the bathroom or eat dinner - They leave it logged in literally all the time and leave it on 24/7. It's just asking for trouble.
Some asshole above said something about me being paranoid about "ninjas breaking in and stealing their data." Not hardly. But having an admin user logged into a machine 24/7 is, by default, a security hole, that needs to be fixed.
Even a lot of their non-security issues would be solved by separate user accounts, so that they could have individual bookmarks, email client configs, etc.
Article submitter here. Not sure what you mean.
I'm talking about my parents - they don't want to believe that they could be targeted. Part of the problem is that they think it's modesty - "Oh, nobody cares about what I do on the internet."
The thing is, no, they don't care about you specifically, they care about everybody who passes information on the net or clicks on the wrong links. They're not singling you out, you're in the path of their drag-net.
It's not like someone breaking into your house or tapping your phone where they have to go to a lot of trouble to get to you specifically. I'm not sure that they understand that you don't have to be targeted specifically to be a victim of identity theft or have your PC zombied.
I am a technical person and I bought an iPod because Creative's own firmware update software fried my Zen Micro. The warranty was up, so I would have had to pay them to get them to fix what their shitty software destroyed. I don't want to be an IT guy during my off hours, I just want my stuff to work.
Also, the iPod is becoming a standard, for better or worse. It has the most accessories, and all kinds of other devices will work with it. Being a rugged individualist with a broken music player kind of sucks.
no, it was a complete typo. he was speaking of karma anoles, specifically the karma chameleon, who comes and goes
There's a higher level of tolerance for vulgarity in TV and film because the cultural watchdogs are satisfied that they can be kept from children. The same people still think of games as being strictly kids' stuff, so vulgarity in games is horrific to them.
raisin nuts tomorrow...
At least they're not ordinary raisins. They take the blah out of bran.
now that was a good one.
I do all my writing on my 15" laptop. If it were any smaller, I would have trouble reading it. Jacking the font size up results in a smaller amount of the page on the screen at a time, which results in scrolling incessantly, which means I waste more time with the arrow keys and extreme right side of the trackpad.
So, there is a practical purpose for these things. Believe me, if I could work on a 13" screen, I would.
Funny this conversation should start. I just tried to do the VanCleef quest in Westfall for the first time. It was idiotic. I got in a group, not knowing what I was doing, and these assholes are trying to order me around and tell me what to do. Eventually I got kicked out just because I didn't know what I was doing.
I play games to get -away- from socializing and rules and bullshit like this. It's the kind of thing I hate most in life. Why would I want to subject myself to more of it?
I predict that, soon, I will be cancelling my subscription.
- Christmas Shopping
/devils-advocate
What if it's January?
- Writing letters to old friends
Don't have their address. And who gives a shit? You stopped talking to them for a reason.
- Tending to the house/yard/animals
Point, but sometimes the only things that need to be done require resources you don't have access to (i.e. you need new carpet but don't have the money so there's nothing you can do)
- Creating something, anything
Some people consider developing a character to be a creative process.
- Writing your congressperson
Like they give a fuck. If voting could change anything they wouldn't let us do it.
- Writing documentation for all your spaghetti code
It's Open Source. It doesn't need documentation, just read the source.
You must be my other personality. I started playing WoW a couple of weeks ago. Mainly because I wanted to play an RPG and my PC can't run Oblivion. I only group when I absolutely have to - I still don't get how the loot rolling thing works, need vs. greed and all that. I have no intention of joining a guild or getting involved in stuff outside of the game, or meeting up with friends online. PvP has no interest for me.
the nice thing about WoW is that it's possible to enjoy it casually. I don't think many other MMORPGs are like that.
Very good point.
It's the same confidence that people who lead sports teams at school get... and now it's available to geeks.
Beautifully said.
One might postulate that this is why some in the "establishment" feel threatened by MMORPGs. They allow some geeks to get out of marginalization.
When people who are obsessed with absolute personal accountability realize that not everything is a conscious decision, then the world will be a better place overall. True addiction, meanwhile, knows no boundaries.
Well said. I don't know why everyone on the internet wants to be an Ayn Rand protagonist.
When we were raising our kids, we didn't allow television at all. That worked out very well; they're all three highly successful, wealthy, well educated and have strong families of their own now. They just don't "get" TV jokes, and I'm not at all sure that's a bad thing. Neither do I. :)
How did they handle it growing up when they didn't fit in with the other kids because they didn't know what was on TV?
I suspect that you never really cared about any social development for your children, since they performed well enough to give you sufficient bragging rights.
yeah, but it's a real PITA to get them.
It's not the job, it's the people that are attracted to it that are predisposed to divorce.
IT attracts loner types. Long IT hours and parental responsibilities leave married people with limited free time.
Loner types don't do well living with others, because it requires a sharing of space and marital responsibilities limit one's amount of alone time.
Why get married then? Because of social pressure.
I'm not trying to convince you not to use checks. You started this argument. You went off bitching about the use of checks to a US citizen, who you freely admit has a US-only view of banking, where checks are more acceptable. What in the hell is your point?
Are you trying to impress us with your ability to do everything in the most efficient, economically sound way possible? That's the usual Slashdot bullshit, everyone around here is the perfect engineer.
You're thinking very UK-centrically. Those things might not be possible in the UK without automatic withdrawal, but almost all services in the USA can be paid for by check and I will continue to do so. It is also illegal to charge a premium for a different method of payment in the USA. Some companies get around this by charging extra for paper billing.
Furthermore, it's not my responsibility to make a creditor's processing of my payment easier. Their processes are their business. It's my responsibility to pay them as contracted. Checks are my preferred method of remittance for such things.
It's disturbingly amusing that I'm finally getting old enough to be called a dinosaur, though.
I stopped doing any automatic payments last year. Paper billing forever.
It was mainly because I had trouble remembering when things were coming out, but it has the added goal of no automatic withdrawal SNAFUs like this thread is all about.
Sure, I have to sit down and write a bunch of checks a few times a month, but I need to plan my budget anyway.
Microsoft World of Office will include an Orc that will offer helpful hints!
It loooks like you are trying to pwn a n00b!
[] he's camping my lewt!
[] ph3ar!
[] Do not show this again
How about a premium news channel. Like HBO, or the movie channels. Pay your $10-15 a month and get real news. there's less chance of a ratings bias and less commercial influence since ads are not the sole source of revenue.
non-cable/satellite owners wouldn't be able to get it, but they don't get CNN or Faux either.
My nether regions don't emit 2.4 GHz (I connected them up to a spectrum analyser just to make sure).
That wasn't a spectrum analyzer.
Can they show up to practice drunk and/or stoned? Do their girlfriends get jealous of the other musicians' girlfriends and start drama for no reason? Do they forget spare strings at the gig and have to borrow a bass from the other band? Do they need a place to crash one night and you come to find three months later that they still haven't left?
They can't be REAL musician robots until those conditions can be fulfilled.
How exactly will I do that when I'm unemployed and fighting illegal Mexicans outside the day-labor offices?