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User: itismike

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  1. Linux Voice on Slashdot Asks: Your Favorite Podcasts? And Why? · · Score: 1

    Have to put in my two cents for this very entertaining Linux-centric podcast out of the UK. Nicely produced and always topical.

  2. Re:PC Based Flight Simulators just dont cut it on Open Source Simulator FlightGear Releases v2.4 · · Score: 1

    I used FGFS to practice touch-n-goes during rainy days early in my flight training and also found the frame-of-reference to be a problem - I couldn't look out the window to see when I was abeam the numbers. So I modified my Extreme Pro joystick to use the 'twist' feature as turning the head instead of changing the rudder (since I have pedals) and find it much easier and almost natural to use now. The file I use is located on DropBox as mentioned on this thread: http://www.flightgear.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=9635

  3. queue blender.org to get slashdotted... on Blender 2.57 Released — and It's Easy To Use! · · Score: 1
    and ACTION!:

    500 - Internal Server Error

  4. Re:Solution: DON'T fix it. on Problems With Truncation On the Common Application · · Score: 1

    This is simply a preview of the real world. As someone who has just gone through the agonizing process of filling in multiple, often horrifically-designed online job applications, I wonder how perfecting a 'Common Application' for colleges serves to prepare students for the future job market.

  5. How to help someone use a computer on How Do IT Guys Get Respect and Not Become BOFHs? · · Score: 1

    I've found Phil Agre's tips http://polaris.gseis.ucla.edu/pagre/how-to-help.html to be extremely useful. I re-read it every 6 months just to be sure I'm headed in the right direction.

  6. Terrain-Aware Cruise Control on Fuel Efficiency and Slow Driving? · · Score: 1

    I thought I'd make a bundle coming up with the idea of giving cruise-control systems awareness of hills and allowing them to back off near the crest of a hill and accelerate a bit before the base a hill, but it's already been patented. The idea has been introduced, but I'm not aware of it ever catching on.

    I suspect a major drawback to a company interested in promoting this system is that by design, it would introduce speed variances between equipped cars and non-equipped cars, which opens the door for accidents and litigation.

  7. Re:Read it careful people... on Mystery Malware Affecting Linux/Apache Web Servers · · Score: 1

    What I find interesting (and a little sad) is how quickly the /. community modded the GP's post as +5 Informative. I understand that we're proud to run Linux, but that level of denial is slightly alarming.

  8. Re:Read it careful people... on Mystery Malware Affecting Linux/Apache Web Servers · · Score: 1

    I'm not sure what you're implying here... The news here is that the Linux servers are compromised. Being compromised to pass further damage onto another (Windows) client is still a compromise on the Linux server.

  9. Re:The Subtle Jokes are Always the Best on Hacking the XO Laptop · · Score: 3, Informative

    I had the opportunity to get my hands on one of these last week and was very impressed. I wish the give-one-get-one deal was still available.

    [joke spoiler] The laptop is silent in normal operation. They only chirp if you launch a specific classroom activity designed to use acoustic signals to measure the distance between two laptops. It's quite neat actually. I guess if you have a classroom of students who all launch this particular application at once, it'll be pretty noisy.

  10. Re:Why is it a holiday? on Google Honors Veterans Day, Finally · · Score: 1

    lameness filter workaround

  11. Re:Getting VMWare to work in Gutsy on Ubuntu 7.10 "Gutsy Gibbon" Is Out · · Score: 1
    VMWare Player is broken in Gutsy. Here's the solution I found:

    Click on System > Administration > Software Sources > Third-Party Software > Add the line from this post
    Click on Applications > Add/Remove... > vm player
    Put a checkmark in VMWare Player
    The performance seems much faster than before.
  12. Re:Found a plane... on Help Find Steve Fossett · · Score: 1

    Date: Sep 9, 2007 1:26 AM
    Subject: two images from Amazon Mechanical Turk
    To: office@stevefossett.com

    These are submissions from readers of the Slashdot article who say
    they don't know how to contact you:

    http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=291991&cid=205 25555
    38 3'24.02"N 119 14'56.55"W

    http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=291991&cid=205 23507
    38 29' 02.70" N, 119 24' 21.95" W

    [screenshots attached]

  13. Wooden keyboard and mouse (USB/optical) for $30 on Softening the Edges of Technology · · Score: 1
    I was tipped off about this deal just before last Christmas. The picture is slightly different from the one I received. This one is identical. There are two catches though:
    1. It is currently out-of-stock (or unavailable - see catch #2)
    2. Both keyboards that I received needed modification to work.
    The defect is that the left SHIFT key prints a greater than or less than character. The easy solution is to pry off the left shift key and remove the contact bumper from the right-most contact hole. This restores the keyboard to full functionality. The solution is simple, but because both kbds had the same fault, it wouldn't surprise me if they pulled them from the shelves.
    Interestingly, the customer service manager said that out of the ~1500 they sold, I was the only customer who called to complain about this. Do most folks just put up with or discard malfunctioning devices? Or did I get the only two defective products?
  14. Re:So let the flame wars begin! on The Birth of vi · · Score: 1
    Figured I'd jump into the flamewars myself. So the reference in the Parent post claims that:
    • Users FEEL like they are faster/more productive in Case A.
    • A stopwatch actually PROVES that they are faster/more productive in Case B.
    In the above situation, I would argue that encouraging Case A will likely result in an overall more productive workforce. Maybe not for this particular facet of the operation, but allowing a worker to 'feel more productive' has greater benefits in the long run when considering moral, motivation, etc.
  15. Too bad children won't be able to view the videos- on OLPC Wins Popular Science Award · · Score: 1

    - on the PopSci.com website because they're encoded with proprietary codecs... When will web designers decide to publish using open formats? I'm straying from the topic, but is there a favorite video format for us to rally around? Flash is nice, but also proprietary - has anyone used the Democracy Player http://www.getdemocracy.com/?

  16. Re:Honey can lead to infant botulism on Fun Things To Do With Your Honeypot System · · Score: 1

    You must be new here. Please click Parent to see the relivance.

  17. Honey can lead to infant botulism on Fun Things To Do With Your Honeypot System · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sorry to do this, but I think that it is somewhat careless to assume that all new parents that might be reading Slashdot are in fact aware of the unique danger that honey presents to infants. Just in case someone comes across this and isn't aware, please look into the concerns related to infant botulism before getting the bright idea to feed your newborn some honey. Now go ahead and make the jokes - I just think that this needed to be said.

  18. Re:where is the open source alternative? on License Plate Tracking for the Average Citizen · · Score: 1

    As phildog's map pointed out, the shootings in this case were widely dispersed. Statistically speaking, it could have made a timely difference in the investigation even if several cars were spotted in close proximity to a few of the shootings. I wouldn't discard the potential value of this resource just because no one has studied it yet.

  19. Re:where is the open source alternative? on License Plate Tracking for the Average Citizen · · Score: 1

    I Googled 10 pages deep but I cannot find any references to this: After the sniper was caught, I distinctly remember hearing a news report stating that the sniper's license plates were run by police at two separate locations after a shooting. The reporter was insightful enough to comment that if a database system existed that could compare license plates in common to a serial crime like this it would be a very powerful tool.

  20. Re:Insane ignorance! on Scientists Blocking out the Sun · · Score: 1

    IANAS, but from what I remember from science class, the scientific method includes applying a stimuli to a subject, as well as not applying that same stimuli to other subjects (the control portion of the experiment) and observing the differences. Adjusting the intensity of the Sun makes changes to the entire ecosystem of Earth all at once which removes any possibility of observing the control portion of the experiment.

    I have not seen Al Gore's latest film, but I am still a bit skeptical about how much change we have caused the planet. I do not think that I am in denial; evidence exists that the temperature of the planet has fluctuated quite a bit in the past without any help from us. The fact that it is on a warming trend as we complete our Industrial Revolution is interesting, and could use some further examination.

    Don't get me wrong - I think it is good that we are examining the byproducts of our manufacturing and energy-producing methods and how they may affect our environment - but I don't think we should make global efforts to artificially cool the planet because, as the grandparent of this thread suggests, we are still quite ignorant about the biosphere that we call Home.

  21. Re:Insane ignorance! on Scientists Blocking out the Sun · · Score: 1

    This is humor, right? Do you really think we should use a non scientific method to find out what might happen to our habitat by making significant changes to our solar system? Isn't this like wondering if you could speed up your hard drive by applying house current and carrying out that experiment on your personal data? Without a backup?

    That's just silly.

  22. Exactly. on Scientists Blocking out the Sun · · Score: 1
    The problem with this type of thinking:
    ...will act like an insurance policy if the world one day faces a crisis of...
    is assuming that the world is in any sort of danger and that we need to save it. The world is not in crisis - if anything, humans may be approaching one. The above language reminds me of the type of thinking that assumed the Earth was the center of the universe.
  23. Re:pre-9/11 on FBI Agents Don't Have Email Access · · Score: 5, Informative

    Phil Agre's article entitled "How to Help Someone Use a Computer" http://polaris.gseis.ucla.edu/pagre/how-to-help.ht ml explains very clearly why such 'dumb' users may make the mistakes that they do. I was fortunate enough to come across this before my job at the Helpdesk and it has helped me realize how many problems are the user and how many are the system they find themselves entangled in.

  24. Re:Solution on Root Password Readable in Clear Text with Ubuntu · · Score: 3, Informative
    Wait, so the fix leaves the cleartext root password on the hard disk?
    No, the patch both removes the PW from the log file and chmod's the log file itself to 600.
  25. Re:UNIX mouse driver released on Root Password Readable in Clear Text with Ubuntu · · Score: 1

    I'm probably walking into this, but just in case: Ubuntu is a version of Linux - a Unix-like OS which fully supports GUI's. Check it out at http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major