Slashdot Mirror


User: Zaphod-AVA

Zaphod-AVA's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
290
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 290

  1. Re:Who cares? Anyone like Office anymore? on Retail Copies of Office 2013 Are Tied To a Single Computer Forever · · Score: 1

    Man, putting things in folders inside of filing cabinets is such a pain in the ass. Why can't we just spread them all over the room in piles?

    The home ribbon displays more than 40 buttons, and if the average person uses *maybe* a dozen of those. Why do you want buttons on the screen all the time that you never use?

  2. Re:Who cares? Anyone like Office anymore? on Retail Copies of Office 2013 Are Tied To a Single Computer Forever · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You prefer boxes with symbols instead of an alphabetical list?

    Lets see, number of menu options in Word 2003 top menu:
    File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, Table, Window, Help

    Number of tabs to open new ribbons in Office 2013:
    File, Home, Insert, Page Layout, References, Mailings, Review, View. Of course there is still the Help button cleverly hidden in the upper right corner.
    How is this helping again? Oh, right! The tools we commonly use are on the 'Home' ribbon... where more than half of the UI is taken up by 'Styles'

    The ribbon is not only one of the shitty things Microsoft has made, it's easily in the top 5 along with the Windows Registry, and Clippy.

  3. Which would you rather run on your network? on FDA Closer To Approving Biotech Salmon · · Score: 1

    Which program would you rather run on your network? One with code that got corrupted at random, or one that had a change made by software developers?

    I think we worry too much about the folly of man. We interact with nature all the time. We've created new organisms by breeding, moved them out of their natural habitat into other areas without any thought of consequences, and things are mostly fine. There are a lot of rabbits in Australia, and a lot of pythons in Florida, sure, but we have done an awful lot of good by tinkering with nature and our food supply. Now that we have a better understanding of genetics, why panic when applying it?

  4. Did anyone try a translation app? on New Hampshire Cops Use Taser On Woman Buying Too Many iPhones · · Score: 1

    Seems to me they could have cleared up any communication issue with the very device the customer was buying.

  5. Nitpick: on USB NeXT Keyboard With an Arduino Micro · · Score: 1

    The PS/2 connector predates NeXT computers by a year, according to Wikipedia.

  6. Re:Why do we still use the black list security mod on Interviews: Ask What You Will of Eugene Kaspersky · · Score: 1

    You missed the part where I said 'automated'.

    Imagine a whitelist that checks with a central repository that reputable software manufacturers send their updates to. Even with updates, checking the software you regularly run is now a simpler problem then comparing everything you run to a list of all the malware in existence.

  7. Why do we still use the black list security model? on Interviews: Ask What You Will of Eugene Kaspersky · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Malware continues to be successful despite our current efforts. Why do we continue to use the same failed security model? Automated white listing seems like a better answer to modern security problems.

  8. Victorinox Cybertool 29 on Ask Slashdot: Server Room Toolbox? · · Score: 3, Informative

    The Cybertool series from Victorinox has been a great addition to my kit for years. Sometimes it does better than dedicated tools. Model 29 is small an light enough to have in your pocket for daily use. Much lighter than the Leatherman, it is more tuned for tech use than outdoors.

    http://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-Swiss-Cybertool-Pocket-Knife/dp/B00005ML8H/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354234788&sr=8-1&keywords=cybertool+29

  9. Modern communications and the Constitution on Senate Bill Rewrite Lets Feds Read Your E-mail Without Warrants · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Secure in our papers and effects. When written, this included all private communications. Simply because we use electrons instead of ink and paper doesn't mean we lose the protection of the 4th amendment.

  10. Re:Interesting... on John McAfee Launches Blog, Offers $25K Reward For "Real Killers" · · Score: 1

    Less than one third his age.

  11. Re:doesn't matter on Dr. Richard Dawkins On Why Disagreeing With Religion Isn't Insulting · · Score: 1

    No scientist claims to always be right. This core tenet is what makes science superior to religion.

  12. couple recommendations on Ask Slashdot: Mathematical Fiction? · · Score: 1

    Cuckoo's Egg is good computer fiction you might enjoy.

    For non-preachy hard sci-fi Charles Stress has some post singularity books that are pretty great.

  13. Flashblock on Ask Slashdot: Securing a Windows Laptop, For the Windows Newbie? · · Score: 1

    Don't use IE, and whichever browser to do use, install Flashblock.

    Also, get an installer from ninite.com for Flash, Reader, and Java. Set it to run every day.

  14. Promoting a wall of separation. on Ask Richard Dawkins About Evolution, Religion, and Science Education · · Score: 1

    The separation of church and state is the best way to protect people of all beliefs, and none, yet it is often misunderstood or even vilified.

    How can we best work to promote the separation of church and state without being misinterpreted as an attack on faith?

  15. Re:offensive on 520-Million-Year-Old Arthropod May Have Had the First Modern Brain · · Score: 2

    Not entirely fair. It's certainly a terrible attempt at a Starship Troopers movie, however when I mentally rename it to "Bugs From Space" and ignore the sound of Heinlein spinning in his grave, it becomes a lot more enjoyable. The effects are decent, it has a good sense of humor, a lovely redhead, and Neil Patrick Harris

  16. None of this should be needed. on Mozilla To Bug Firefox Users With Old Adobe Reader, Flash, Silverlight · · Score: 4, Insightful

    None of this should be needed.

    Microsoft should just allow third party critical updates through Windows Update. Flash, Reader, and Java flaws account for most of the malware installs, and most users are bad at keeping these things up to date. Running a stack of update utilities is irritating to advanced users and confusing to novice users. All this does is make the malware industry happy.

  17. Re:I'm running Windows 2000 on Mozilla To Bug Firefox Users With Old Adobe Reader, Flash, Silverlight · · Score: 1

    The methods the malware industry commonly use. If you can't run the patched version of Flash, you can visit a legitimate website and get attacked by an infected advertising server. Easily.

  18. Where Google Glass will take us on PlaceRaider Builds a Model of Your World With Smartphone Photos · · Score: 2

    These kind of thoughts make the Google glass project fascinating and terrifying. Street View the world. Capture all the print material. How much more?

  19. Re:Inside Job on Did Microsoft Know About the IE Zero-Day Flaw In Advance? · · Score: 1

    What is their goal in this? What to they gain from having MSE installed on systems?

  20. Blade Runner flashbacks on Grumman Building Football Field-Sized Robotic Surveillance Blimp · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm having Blade Runner flashbacks.

    Flashbacks to the future are strange.

  21. I don't mind them telling me how to use their software. I do mind them telling me I don't have all of my legal rights if they should be irresponsible. Important difference.

  22. Too late on John Carmack: Kudos To Valve, But Linux Is Still Not a Viable Gaming Market · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Now that Steam insists I must sign some of my rights away, it doesn't really matter what platform it runs on anymore.

  23. Can't we build space vehicles instead of weapons? on NASA Considers Apollo-Era F1 Engine For Space Launch System · · Score: 1

    If the problem with space exploration is the politics of paying the bill, why can't we point some significant portion of the military industrial complex at the problem? We can have all the pork-barrel juicy government contracts and create jobs, and be working towards improving mankind instead of mass murder.

  24. If you can't wipe it... on Ask Slashdot: How To Clean Up My Work Computer Before I Leave? · · Score: 1

    If you can't wipe it, do this.

    1) Create a new user account with Administrator privileges.
    2) Log in to the new account
    3) Delete the old account
    4) Review the laptop for remaining personal information and delete it. Check the public folders, and program files directories, particularly if you used financial software.
    5) Use a program to wipe the free space on the drive. Single pass is sufficient. Here is an open source utility to do it pretty easily: http://eraser.heidi.ie/

  25. To those thinking gun control would help: on 12 Dead, 50 Injured at The Dark Knight Rises Showing In Colorado · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Lets say for a moment that gun control laws would have kept this individual from acquiring them. Waiting for the movie to let out and then driving a vehicle at high speed into the crowd would likely kill and injure as many or more people. If someone loses their mind and wants to kill people, there is little we can do to stop them. It's tragic, but it's part of the price of a free country.