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User: briaman

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Comments · 34

  1. Re:Code patches? on On World of Warcraft's Network Issues · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Then they're daft. If they have a mechanism for detecting unreasonable changes in a character's level / gold / etc - they have no need to implement a patch to fix the problem. They are the admins and can re-edit or delete the character or ban the player. If they're dirupting the play of thousands for just this alone then they have lost sight of the point of their business: To entertain, not frustrate.

  2. He's not your average person on Torvalds Says 'Use KDE' · · Score: 4, Funny
    [Linus Torvalds is] not your average person.

    I heard he's 8 foot tall and that he farts thunder and pisses lightning.

  3. Re:EVOLUTIONISTS: Copy/Paste This Anywhere on Kansas Board of Ed. Adopts Intelligent Design · · Score: 1

    Oh, AC - you are my god. I worship you!

    Hallowed be the father, and the son, and the anonymous coward. [Slashdotians, 404]

  4. Re:no on Computer Science Curriculum in College · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Whatever you do - don't abandon your course. The most common computer job is that of IT Support and Administration. This does not require a degree, any clown with an MCSE can work at this. It's what I do for a living so I know what I'm talking about here. I also know that jobs in IT are becoming less attractive as the number of potential employees rises and the number of available jobs declines due to better remote administration facilities and outsourcing of services. Over the next few years the postition of IT Support Engineer will reduce in standing until it reaches equality with that of building maintenance engineer. IT systems will be so common and transparent that they will largely be used without thought on the part of the users. In order to escape this you need a value added qualification. One that demonstrates the ability to think in a critical manner, perform research and produce technical reports that are accurate and comprehensible to a target audience, from lay people to experts. These reports are needed by companies and organisations so that their boards and committees can make sensible business decisions. A degree is absolutely the right qualification for your long-term employability. Nothing prevents you from getting an MCSE too.

  5. Re:I'm refusing to register for Selective Service on Pentagon Creating A Database Of Students · · Score: 1
    When you say Fight the system and die free, HOW DO YOU THINK WE WERE FREE IN THE FIRST PLACE? It's because those people who entered the military services and fought for it. Fine, the current war by Bush is a big screw-up, but don't take it out on the military.
    With respect, the real reason that any of us have any freedom is because ordinary people rebelled against former oppressive and/or foreign rules. Normally, the members of the armed forced act to support the existing regime : people generally do not enlist into the armed forces of a regime that they oppose.
  6. Re:Roll the dice... on Israeli Army Frowns on D&D · · Score: 1
    Forgive my inexperience, but how does anyone get the Suicide Bomber class past level 1?
    I know. It's a miracle!
  7. NDAs prevent... on Judge Finds For Apple in ThinkSecret Case · · Score: 1

    NDAs prevent you from exploiting the information covered by the NDA - not from revealing it by, say, leaving a copy or 2 of the covered material on a bus, or posting it anonymously to some website or other. Where NDAs are concerned - the implementation does not meet the specification.

  8. Re:Stole my wife! on Developer Retrospective on the MMORPGs of 2004 · · Score: 0

    Bet you've still got your mother-in-law though. :-S

  9. Re:Use of 'hero' gratuitous? on Open Source Geeks Considered Modern Heroes · · Score: 1

    By your definition - Jonas Salk is not a hero: he did not brave danger on a daily basis.

    On the other hand, Wikipedia defines a hero as someone who performs good and praiseworthy deeds. By this definition, anyone who gives of themselves for the benefit of all is a hero. That includes Firemen, Policemen, Jonas Salk ... and open source developers.

    I'm grateful to them all.

  10. Before I buy this... on New Video Game Recreates Kennedy Assassination · · Score: 1

    Is there, um, a multiplayer mode?

  11. Re:Misleading headline. on UK Gov't EU Software Patents Public Meeting · · Score: 1

    A coma? Well, the poster mentions the UK Gov't, the EU and patents in one line. That's usually enough to induce a coma in most people.

  12. Re:Tell me it ain't so ! on Two Women Found With HIV-Immune Mutant Gene · · Score: 1

    No amount of education will help stupid people. Just look on this as natural selection.

  13. Re:Simple answer: no on Can Star Wars Episode III Be Saved? · · Score: 1
    ...

    "American culture makes this movie inevitably what it will be"
    - In that everyone who enjoyed episodes 4-7, hates episodes 1-3? ...


    Episode 7? I must have missed that one!
  14. Re:The worst thing about the open source community on What's Wrong with the Open Source Community? · · Score: 1
    We slashdot each other's sites!
    Thinking about that, how come SlashDot never gets SlashDotted?
  15. Re:Understand.. on SCO Now Willfully Violating the GPL · · Score: 2, Insightful

    No, The BSD licence is a copyleft licence in the same way the the GPL is. If copyleft licences are unconstitutional, and I can't see any way that they are, then the BSD and every other copyleft licence is similarly unconstitutional and thus voided. IANAL, but even in such circumstances, the court does not have authority to set aside the authors ownership of the copyright to the original work. Those who had already received the work would probably have reasonable grounds for continuing their ownership and use of the work as they received it in good faith and with the presumed consent of the author, but they would have no right to redistribute the work as that right derived from the GPL (or BSD etc). A mighty hole would have been kicked into the side of the copyright system as any licence would be liable to challenge using the GPL revocation as a precedent. Microsoft and many other software houses would suffer serious problems as they face the loss of redistribution rights over the BSD portions of code in their products. Ultimatelty, the Free Software movement will continue as the FSF and other organisations establish explicit contract procedures where you sign up to membership of a society and receive access to source-code and documentation in return. There's a little good in every situation. All we have to do is find it.

  16. Re:LOL! on Are Linux Zealots Terrorists? · · Score: 1
    Yes, Linux enthusiasts are just as fanatic as terrorists. What this moron failed to realize is where terrorist are obsessed on hurting and promoting Fear (uncertainty, and doubt?), Linux zealots are obsessed with making better software, helping people and making the world a better place.

    When was the last time a terrorist helped a little old lady cross the road?

    Well, a Linux Zealot would be too busy flaming the council for putting the road there in the first place!
  17. Re:New version of what? on MS vs. Open Source Office Suite Compatibility · · Score: 5, Funny
    The Great Old Ones will return to bring unimagined terror to mankind and it truly will be hell on earth.

    Yeah, I keep hearing rumors about a Spice Girls reunion too.

  18. Call sales on The Increasing Cost of Red Hat Linux? · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Have you considered calling / writing to Red Hat's sales section with your concerns? You may be able to negotiate a more acceptable price. Especially where there's such a significant sum involved.

  19. Re:Big desert on DefCon WiFi Shootout Winner Announced · · Score: 1

    Earth is only 80km across? Boy, no wonder property is so expensive!

  20. Shouldn't that be ... on Chinese Manned Space Flight Set For Autumn · · Score: 1, Funny

    Shouldn't that be a Mandarined Moon Mission?

  21. Re:Potentially more effective strategies on Dismal Failure of Internet Filters In Australia · · Score: 1

    Well, you could always use the old faithful trick of starting a war and bringing in your measures under the guise of providing security during this time of conflict. Corny but still surprisingly effective.

  22. Re:Well now on Amazon Scores Another Patent · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I think this patent is a little broader than that. A cursory read found this passage

    One skilled in the art would appreciate that the discussion system may be used in conjunction with a non-commercial environment and with a network other than the WWW or even with a system that is not based on a network. Also, one skilled in the art would appreciate that the term "item" refers to anything (e.g., book, news story, musical score, electronic product, scientific theory) for which a user wants to share information about with other users or to elicit comments from other users.
    Surely /. counts as prior art against this.
  23. Re:There's Nothing New Under the Sun on The New Face of Global Competition · · Score: 1
    Bright minds leave computer science for management pathed careers largely because they tend to offer better pay and benefits. Very few people make it to the top by going into computer science, but an MA in Business Studies means that you can get a job for a company that you know nothing about in an industry that you know nothing about managing staff who perform roles that you know nothing about.

    Obviously, someone recruited under these circumstances is going to suffer from a serious loss of face if they admit their lack of knowledge, so many of these managers cover their ignorance by restructuring the department and changing the way that operations are performed using the confusion to cover their own incompetence. Meanwhile they spend time looking for a new job and move on before the consequences of their mismanagement catch up with them. A new MA Business Studies graduate is then recruited who is equally clueless and the whole pantomime begins again.

    Companies like Wipro are thriving largely because they are led by innovative and energetic technically minded people who know their business. All successful first generation startups have this in common. As the company ages the higher echelons loose contact with the people at the sharp end of the business and so the company begins to stagnate. By the third and fourth generation of management very little that is said by staff reaches the dizzy heights of the bosses and more of the companys efforts are focussed on it's image than are focussed on it's product. It then becomes inevitable that a new, well led startup will appear to be moving quickly by comparison.

    These new and innovative startups appear everywhere, not just in the Tiger economies. However, two key differences exist between western markets and the markets of the east. The first is that many of the mega-corps are located in the west. This means that even a moderately successful eastern company stands out from the crowd while equally successful western companies languish in obscurity. The second difference is that companies in the west suffer more severe impediments to their progress in the form of hard-ball tactics by the encumbant market leaders. These come in the form of legal blocks, onerous contracts, and numerous other tactics right up to buying the new competitor out.

    It only stands to reason that the current western dominance - which is wholey economic and entirely due to past innovation and former energetic leadership - is going to decline and be replaced by similar traits elsewhere.

    If you want something to blame - dont blame the sweatshops. It's our own complacency that's at fault.

  24. Erm - GPL, I think! on SCO Threatens to Press IP Claims on Linux -$99/cpu · · Score: 1

    Let's say that I have a patent for xyz operation. If I write a piece of software to perform that operation and then release that software under the General Public Licence, then my understanding is that anyone else can make a dericative work from my software so long as they continue to hold to the terms of the General Public Licence. Under those conditions I think I would have a very hard time enforcing my patent against you so long as your software was a LICENSED AND PERMITTED GPLed derivative of mine. Were you to make a non-GPL version, things would change, but until that point I'm sure you wouldn't have a worry.

  25. National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace? on Deliberation of "National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace" · · Score: 1

    Sounds like a US proxy to me. Soon the citizens of the US will be as safe as the people of China.