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User: Albanach

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Comments · 1,494

  1. Re:Buy your own on Ask Slashdot: Using Company Laptop For Personal Use · · Score: 1

    Perhaps, but lugging around an iPad or similar tablet won't add much. It's also probably a better device for things like reading a book, watching a movie or quickly checking email.

    As others have suggested, a live CD/USB distro could be used as an alternative OS if the OP needs more, assuming the laptop can boot from either. He could even boot from a portable hard drive.

  2. Re:Nobody remembers .com is for USA on US Shuts Down Canadian Gambling Site With Verisign's Help · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If you're a Canadian company with Canadian customers, use .ca, eh? .com makes it seem like you're targeting your southern neighbors.

    You mean in the same way as US firms with US customers use .us?

  3. Re:Nope, not true. on YouTube Identifies Birdsong As Copyrighted Music · · Score: 1

    Is the OP allowed to have adverts and claim revenue via youtube? If so, wouldn't rumblefish's actions be tantamount to IP theft, depriving him of the opportunity to generate revenue from his original works? Isn't that precisely what they are supposed to be preventing?

    I don't see a link to the video in the summary - had there been one there may even have been enough hits and ad impressions to make such a claim reasonable.

  4. Re:Full HD? on Fraunhofer IIS Demos Full-HD Voice Over LTE On Android · · Score: 4, Informative

    Full HD is a marketing term referring to 1080p-resolution content/screens. Why is it being used here? How does it make any sense whatsoever?

    It makes every bit as much (or as little) sense here as it does when used to describe a television.

  5. Re:DNS Hijacking on Ask Slashdot: Making a Tablet Run Only One Application? · · Score: 2

    Don't you think rerouting DNS, configuring your DNS server specifically for a handful of clients, and running a web server to stream video data over your local wireless network (noting that the OP had network security concerns already) that could easily be stored locally might be overkill if the device itself can be left running only the video app?

    I don't want to deprive you of geek points, but sometimes there might be a simpler solution.

  6. Re:DNS Hijacking on Ask Slashdot: Making a Tablet Run Only One Application? · · Score: 1

    Setup a wireless network where all the HTTP requests go to the server with your content.

    At least on some very popular models of tablets, it is unnecessarily difficult to restrict settings like DNS servers.

    Something like this might be helpful though. Only run the Video client with the videos available locally.

  7. Re:I'll second that. on TomTom Satnavs To Set Insurance Prices · · Score: 1

    So in summary, what you are telling me is that with all the sharp breaking/swerving I have to do as a matter of course on my daily commute, is that I'm a bad driver? I for one, wont be accepting a company that requires such an invasion of my privacy.

    That's a straw man argument. I said nothing of the sort.

    What I'm telling you is that if you have a lot of sharp braking/swerving then you might be more likely to have an accident. Ergo you're a higher risk to insure and the insurance company may wish to raise your premium.

    Being a higher risk doesn't necessarily mean you're a better or worse driver. In your case it's simply that the conditions you have to drive in that may make you more of a risk. However, if most people who live where you do encounter the same number of folk cutting them off, and your hard braking/swerving while being more frequent than you personally would like is below average, you could even see a premium reduction.

    The insurance company doesn't really care about your driving ability per se. They care about your risk. A poor driver who only ever drives along 40 miles of straight rural road once a week is probably a lower insurance risk than an average driver who commutes fifteen miles a day in rush hour city traffic.

  8. Re:I'll second that. on TomTom Satnavs To Set Insurance Prices · · Score: 1

    To clarify, because apparently that's necessary, how vigorously somebody starts/stops, or navigates their turns, depends on a myriad of other conditions that the GPS is simply incapable of recording. Road temperature, ice/snow/rain, other drivers, pedestrians with a desire to tempt fate, wildlife running out into traffic, etc.. The fact that you stop suddenly is not an indication of your inability to drive safely, and could actually be an indication that you're a *good* driver (a bad driver might not react at all and end up hitting the dog that ran out into the road). To use a GPS in that way is bad science at best, and negligent at worst, because it has the potential to reward bad driving habits (such as driving too slow or not paying proper attention to the road) while penalising good habits (such as reacting to sudden changes in driving conditions).

    I'm still unsure as to your point?

    If the data they collect shows that for the majority of drivers this indicates you're more likely to be involved in an accident then you're placed in an appropriate group by the insurance company for the risk they can assess.

    A good driver may occasionally be confronted with a car that cuts them off or a pedestrian that forces them to break sharply. However a bad driver would statistically face a similar number of such obstacles while having more hard brakes due to driving too fast and too close. The good driver will still appear statistically safer to the insurance company.

    I don't think the insurance company is claiming it's perfect. But I don't think your argument that some data may be imperfect means none of the data can be used stands muster.

    The insurance company knows random stuff happens, but over 12,000+ miles per year, random stuff should average out. If you're frequently slamming on the brakes because of pedestrians running in front of your car, then however good a driver you are your risk of an accident is higher than mine and I see no reason why your premium should not reflect that.

  9. Re:I'll second that. on TomTom Satnavs To Set Insurance Prices · · Score: 1

    I tend to agree. It's worth pointing out that Progressive Insurance in the US monitor much the same data without the use of GPS. So they monitor time of day, speed and hard braking but don't use GPS so are not invading your privacy to nearly the same extent while still being in possession of useful data.

    Of course GPS data allows your insurer to factor in other aspects too, like the accident rate for the actual road your driving on at the time of day you're using it. I can see why they'd like to have that data, but I'd personally be much more reluctant to hand it over.

  10. Re:I'll second that. on TomTom Satnavs To Set Insurance Prices · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Using GPS data to determine "how well you make a turn" is BS, and a dangerous route to go.

    Why is it BS? If they've tested this, they would know quite quickly whether there's a statistically significant link to your likelihood of having an accident.

    Just because there will be outliers in each group doesn't mean this isn't a sensible way to apportion risk. As a non-smoker I expect my life insurance costs to be lower than those for a smoker. Still I could get hit by a truck tomorrow, while my neighbor who smokes might live until they're 100.

    The biggest problem I can see is the risk that insurance for poor drivers could become so expensive more of them opt to drive uninsured.

  11. Re:Alright on White House Refuses To Comment On Petition To Investigate Chris Dodd · · Score: 2

    It would have been nice if they reply atleast pointed us in the right direction.. who the fuck are we supposed to ask to look into this if not the Whitehouse?

    I agree that would be nice. Since they didn't, and since you ask, the answer would be the FBI and the US Attorney's Office. I believe you can contact them yourself if you believe a crime has been committed, it doesn't require the president.

  12. Re:Dying from lack of surprise... on White House Refuses To Comment On Petition To Investigate Chris Dodd · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Exactly as I predicted when everybody here on Slashdot was insisting the would HAVE TO act.

    This is Obama, he need only make the promise. He doesn't have to DO anything.

    Are you seriously suggesting there should be a criminal investigation against anyone where 25,000 people call for it?

    This has nothing to do with Obama. it has everything to do with Federal prosecutors. Write a letter to both the FBI and the US Attorney's Office stating that you believe a crime has been committed that is within their jurisdiction and requesting they investigate. 25,000 letters like that might achieve something.

  13. Re:We already have email authentication on Big Internet Players Propose DMARC Anti-Phishing Protocol · · Score: 5, Interesting

    There are also issues with PGP and webmail used by probably the majority of home users, as well as the multitude of devices people now have for email.

    You need to sync keys between devices securely, and with webmail you pretty much need to have a browser plugin take over the signing part, unless you want to entrust your private key to a third party.

    Simply checking mail onan untrusted web terminal then becomes problematic - sure you can read signed but not encrypted email, but if you tell people it's okay to trust that sometimes, they won't bother checking at other times.

  14. Re:Obligatory cartoon on Don't Worry About Global Warming, Say 16 Scientists in the WSJ · · Score: 2

    There are very real costs to carbon reduction.

    Correct, it's not like anyone has ever associated California with smog or anything. Not like employees lose millions of potential work days per year to illness from poor air quality.

    Of course there are costs to reducing carbon output. There are also very real costs to keeping carbon output at current levels.

  15. Obligatory cartoon on Don't Worry About Global Warming, Say 16 Scientists in the WSJ · · Score: 4, Funny
  16. Re:really, "nano"? on Launch Your Own Nanosatellite Into Space · · Score: 2

    No, they're saying it's small, as in dwarf, which is the meaning of the Greek word from which science derived its nano- prefix.

    Just because science has borrowed a word and given it a meaning does not then exclude others from using that same word, especially if in doing so they are using the original meaning and not the one added by scientists 50 years ago.

  17. Re:Sorry, what was the problem? on Judge Doesn't Care About Supreme Court GPS Case · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The precedent would be the appelate court ruling that was being appealed to the Supreme Court.

    Actually, no. The case being heard by the Supreme Court is being appealed from the D.C. Circuit. Decisions of the D.C. Circuit are not binding on other circuits. However the article says the Judge cited an Eighth Circuit decision United States v. Marquez. As the Eastern District of Missouri is part of the Eighth Circuit, the decision in that case is binding on the lower court.

    Effectively, it appears the judge had no choice. If the case citation is accurate, binding precedent in the Eighth Circuit appears to be that no warrant is required for GPS tracking unless and until the Supreme Court decides otherwise.

  18. Not just iPads on Running Great Britain? There's an App For That! · · Score: 4, Informative

    I have no idea why the summary says MPs are only allowed iPads in the House of Commons. Members are allowed to use smartphones or tablet computers, there are no brand restrictions placed upon them.

  19. Re:How I Made My High School Lab on Ask Slashdot: Ideal High School Computer Lab? · · Score: 1

    You could see over/round them more easily, allowing teacher/student interaction. That would be one advantage.

    Keeping a couple of hot spares would be a second advantage - no need for a class to be interrupted by a failed computer, the teacher can swap it out and the school tech can diagnose and repair or make the warranty call later.

  20. Re:How I Made My High School Lab on Ask Slashdot: Ideal High School Computer Lab? · · Score: 1

    I think the suggestion above, to use monitoring software, would be an improvement. Student desks can then be situated in a U shape around a raised instructor platform so that kids can see the teacher and the teacher can see the kids, while at the same time being able to monitor any/all of the student's desktops.

    As long as the monitors aren't too huge, and the kids aren't too small, that should be achievable.

  21. Re:Is "sub-$100" supposed to be a selling point? on Sub-$100 Android 4.0 Tablet Coming Soon · · Score: 1

    Considering we all know that inexpensive Android tablets suck bad, I just can't fathom the pile of poop this sub-$100 tablet will be.

    Has there previously been a sub $100 android device running an OS actually designed for tablets, with a 1GHz processor and capacitive screen?

    If not, you're comparing apples and oranges.

  22. Capacitive screen on Sub-$100 Android 4.0 Tablet Coming Soon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The problem with the other cheap android tablets has been the resistive screens. If the article is correct and this has a capacitive screen it could revolutionize the tablet market.

  23. Re:Best use of money? on Apple, Android Devices Swamp NYC Schools' ActiveSync Server · · Score: 1

    Bear in mind that with Zimbra, if you can live without support, the OSS version is free, and has a very capable web and desktop client. I and many users I have supported much prefer it over outlook. The OSS version also allows mail, calendar and contact syncing with iOS devices using open standards.

    For a large organization, support will almost certainly be important. For many, activesync functionality will be required. If you can get by without either, and especially if you're using iOS for mobile devices, the free version of Zimbra is exceptionally functional.

  24. Re:Best use of money? on Apple, Android Devices Swamp NYC Schools' ActiveSync Server · · Score: 5, Informative

    their proprietary commercial mail system that sucks is the problem.

    You really think so? Microsoft sell Exchange to some of the largest organizations on the planet. It might not be my choice of mail server, but I don't think blaming the software is the right think to do here. There's plenty of evidence that Exchange can scale - it might need powerful hardware, or specialized configuration but it's clearly possible and widely implemented.

    The real trouble here was not not the choice of software. Rather it was a failure to anticipate the growth and react to it before it became an issue. That's a very basic SysAdmin issue for any software, proprietary or otherwise.

  25. Gmail problem on Domain Theft-for-Ransom Hits css-tricks.com and Others · · Score: 5, Interesting

    it looks like the big problem here is that 4 years on it's still apparently possible for websites to silently create filters on gmail accounts if a logged in user visits their site. That effectively allows a malicious site to compromise hosting accounts, bank accounts and much more.