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User: i.r.id10t

i.r.id10t's activity in the archive.

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  1. Re:Wow ... on TSA Luggage Lock Master Keys Are Compromised · · Score: 5, Informative

    Actually, if you travel with a firearm - and the action from a sub-$100 single shot shotgun qualifies as such - you can use real locks on your luggage, it will be inspected in front of you, and then you can properly secure it. And, the airline can't flag it as having a firearm in it...

    Bonus is if the luggage doesn't make it you get to ask "You gonna call the BATFE or am I?" and stuff gets found really quick.

    https://www.tsa.gov/travel/tra...

    Recommended to print out the policy for whatever airline you are traveling on as well... but this works for lots of folks.

  2. Re:Did anyone read the article? on Why Patent Law Shouldn't Block the Sale of Used Tech Products · · Score: 1

    but my cat/dog/lizzard chewed the package open, now I have to use it!

  3. Re:They may be legally in the right on Why Patent Law Shouldn't Block the Sale of Used Tech Products · · Score: 1

    Wouldn't Lexmark then argue that they should be the only ones refilling and reselling? I mean, we found this patent from 4 years ago that covers all the stuff you can do to refill it economically, so we're the only ones that can do the job!

  4. Re:trust already lost in Debian on Debian Working on Reproducible Builds To Make Binaries Trustable · · Score: 1

    So... what to do then? What other distribution works well, has the large amount of packages available, is freely available (not a big deal since RH isn't going to be systemd free), and pretty much Just Works?

  5. Re:Not free money on Alaska: The Only US State Where Everyone Gets Free Money · · Score: 1

    Or at least the folks that had paid taxes up to the time of the purchase...

  6. Re:Yesteryears Algorithms on An Algorithm To Randomly Generate Game Dungeons · · Score: 1

    Indeed, on the surface this appears to be nothing more than an updated version of nethack

  7. Re:Marketplace Justice on Despite Reports of Hacking, Baby Monitors Remain Woefully Insecure · · Score: 1

    The cheap monitor we had you had to turn off both the units - if you only turned off one, the other would make a awful static sound fairly loudly and non-stop.

    Which is weird, 'cause it wasn't a two way system - simple broadcast unit for baby's room and receiver for wherever which of us adults was being responsible was located (kitchen, living room, or garage)

  8. Re:Short answer? on Ask Slashdot: Can Any Wireless Tech Challenge Fiber To the Home? · · Score: 4, Funny

    I get online via a RFC1149 compliant system, and first phase dove season starts Sept 26 here in Florida. I'm expecting a lot of packet loss. Of course, the packets that do make it through will be traveling extra fast...

  9. Re:The more things change... on Learn FPGAs With a $25 Board and Open Source Tools · · Score: 1

    How else do you get to the vendor website to order the FPGA and communicate with others? Do you expect him to actually leave his room and socialize with others sharing a similar interest?

    (not attacking op, read above with a dash of humor)

  10. Re:"Online" classes on Buzzwords Are Stifling Innovation In College Teaching · · Score: 4, Informative

    Here in Florida, the term "online class" has a specific legal meaning - 80% or more of the class and class work takes place online.

    Note that it may be synchronous - ie, using Big Blue Button for a lecture session, or old IRC style chat. Or it may be asynchronous - 3am or 3pm doesn't matter.

    There are also definitions of "reduced seat time" or "hybrid" - where about 50% of the class and class work take place online or some other non-classroom environment. So the traditional Tuesday Thursday class, only meets Tuesdays and rest is done online.

  11. Re:The entire point of a corporation on Court: FTC Can Punish Companies With Sloppy Cybersecurity · · Score: 1

    Paperwork should never be protection from criminal liability

  12. Re:Nothing New Here... on A Breakdown of the Windows 10 Privacy Policy · · Score: 1

    I recall a /. article a few years back explaining why 2 identical (hardware wise) laptops had different prices when shipping from Dell with Windows or Linux installed. The trial/crapware on the Windows system - those vendors pay Dell a couple of bucks per install to get eyeballs in front of them. No such thing on the Linux side. So the Linux laptops were $50 or so more than the same hardware with a Windows install on it.

  13. Re:Should it be still called an tablet? on Samsung May Release an 18" Tablet · · Score: 1

    Still smaller than a Nabi BigTab (24") - https://www.nabitablet.com/nab...

  14. Re:Yes on Do You Have a Right To Use Electrical Weapons? · · Score: 1

    Thing is, if Miller v US is revisted, the $200 tax stamp on NFA items and the actual NFA registry is unconstitutional

    What is issued to the average infantry soldier in today's Army/Marines? Short barrel rifle, select fire. Often suppressed. Occasional short barrel shotguns (door breaching, etc). The M203 (or whatever current version of it is) 40mm grenade launcher (you can own one, but it is a NFA destructive device)

  15. Re:Old programmers for old systems on Do Old Programmers Need To Keep Leaping Through New Hoops? · · Score: 2

    Niches indeed.

    I've been programming for over 30 years, 15 of it paid (started when I was 11...). While I may not be able to write in Java for a servlet under tomcat like the guys in our "formerly known as mainframe" area do, I also understand the Web better than they do - mixing SSL and non-SSL stuff on a page, using a simple target=_blank for a link instead of using javascript to open a new window and then load a page, etc.

    Would I hire me to work on a payroll system, student registration system, etc? No. Would I hire one of them to do a db driven calendar, or even a simple form processing script to send submissions to an email address? No. But both of us are competent in our niches... Just wish they'd take a little of my advice in the past 10 years after we moved from green screen terminals to the web for student/course registration and such...

  16. Re: One game, one save on The Tech Problems Inside Nintendo's Amiibo Toys · · Score: 2

    And from a marketing stand point, needing to buy a new doll for each game that uses the features is just bonus sales...

  17. Of course it is on The Network Is Hostile · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If you are truly paranoid about security - or these days, at least overly aware of security issues - any network where you are not 100% in control of everything from source to destination and all spots in between should be considered as possibly hostile.

    That said, how many people/groups/organizations/businesses really care about this?

  18. Re:Do you need PSD? on Ask Slashdot: Switching To a GNU/Linux Distribution For a Webdesign School · · Score: 1

    This.

    And for testing with IE, the occasional *real* photoshop need, etc. look into a Terminal Server setup for the Windows stuff.

    Or remove your costs completely - you are teaching students who will then need to go out and get jobs, from what I've seen from our graphic design track is a LOT of folks do freelance work, and occasionally one of them gets lucky and lands a full time gig. So why not just provide connectivity, and have students supply their own machines and own software. Much less admin issues to worry about, much less cost, the students will have the tools they need to start making money.

    If you feel sorry for the students, set up a student centered help desk, or if there is a PC tech certificate track or similar set them up with internships (that is what we do for our CompTIA certificates track).

  19. Re:How to document for Windows 10 privacy? on Windows 10's Privacy Policy: the New Normal? · · Score: 1

    So what about the teeming thousands that are buying new computers as we speak to get ready for the new school year to start?

  20. Re:Bullcrap on Windows 10's Privacy Policy: the New Normal? · · Score: 1

    Even better is to put /home on a RAID device of some sort - mounted via network from a NAS w/ raid, hardware raid on the local machine, or software raid on the local machine

  21. Re:Incompetent contracting on U.K. Government Seeking To End Reliance On Oracle · · Score: 1

    And because of that, the business folks will often just buy extras if there is any question of being out of compliance. Especially if they've been visited by the BSA or have ties to someone who has...

  22. Very loose interp. of the 2A ? on Counterterrorism Expert: It's Time To Give Companies Offensive Cybercapabilities · · Score: 1

    So... for a long time, various encryption algos were considered weapons and subject to ITAR controls. The same is starting up again now.

    So... if code can be a weapon, a (very) loose interpretation of the 2nd Amendment and some Castle Doctrine would already allow someone to hack back ...

  23. Re: Sure you can. on Ask Slashdot: Can You Disable Windows 10's Privacy-Invading Features? · · Score: 1

    It costs money to get "word to the masses", a lot of money

    Word is out there, if we are discussing the Linux kernel - all those Android devices for a start...

    However, my guess is that we are discussing a (generic) Linux Distribution - the kernel, the libraries, the applications, the user interface, the package management system, etc.

    For a utility machine - web browsing, email, the occasional document or spreadsheet - several Linux Distributions work great.. but there is no commercial push to them.

  24. Re: Sure you can. on Ask Slashdot: Can You Disable Windows 10's Privacy-Invading Features? · · Score: 1

    The few places I've put linux for a "average user" I used Mint, setup Chrome for the browser and Thunderbird for pop3 mail, set a cron job to download and install updates, and have pretty much forgotten about them. They call me when they need a new scanner or printer installed. It Just Works for them as well as Windows does.

  25. Re:RTFA? on Ask Slashdot: Can You Disable Windows 10's Privacy-Invading Features? · · Score: 1

    Of the tens of thousands of new machines being bought between now and school starting in late august/early september, what percentage do you think will come with Win 10? Of those, what percentage will run with Win 10 Enterprise? Hooked up to a domain with an admin that has set that policy in GP?