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User: TheGreatOrangePeel

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  1. Re:Honestly not that bad on Ubuntu Will Now Have Amazon Ads Pre-Installed · · Score: 1

    While it is true that ads result in affiliate revenue, it isn't always true that affiliate revenue means that you're seeing ads. My point is that calling it "ad revenue" is likely a misnomer in this case. To me it sounds like all they're doing is placing a links to Amazon in the menu which has a GET parameter get buys them a wimpy 5% cut of whatever it is you're buying. I'll gladly click an Amazon icon; it means that I'm supporting Ubuntu with no money out-of-pocket.

  2. Use referrals, networking on Ask Slashdot: How To Prove IT Knowledge Without Expensive Certificates? · · Score: 1

    My dad was placed in a high-tech job skills program after being laid off by his previous employer. He now has his A+ and Network+ certificates. Using basic terms with him like "CAT-6e cable" he still has to ask questions like, "you mean the yellow wires?" All things fair, he still muddles through his own problems now (which is a relief to me) but I think it speaks volumes how much a certification is actually worth.

    Normally, I'd advise you to use your resume to show potential employers that you've done hard stuff and use your cover letter to point out the holes you're especially good at plugging (e.g. I, personally, tend to make tools that make tedious, manual, error-prone tasks a few clicks or a single command). However, since you're doing the freelance website thing, I suggest that you ask your satisfied customers to write referrals for you that you can reference. If you have an especially good, ongoing relationship with a particular customer, offer them a discount to take phone Q and As with potential new customers. In short: Network.

  3. Not an iPad Slayer on Holy iPad Slayer! Company Releases World's First Christian Tablet · · Score: 1

    Only way this could be an iPad slayer was if the iPad ran OS X Lion.

  4. Not so geeky, imo on Grilling For Geeks · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Some iPhone apps and a couple of gimmicky products ... Where's the Arduino based TC4C with LCD readout to use programming and thermocouples to tell you when your food is done. Where's the PID controlled BBQ smoker from a couple of flower pots and electric stove heating element? These are just the things from the top of my head! I'm probably burning some karma with this post, but I'm very disappointed.

  5. Re:No on Should the FDA Assess Medical Device Defenses Against Hackers? · · Score: 3, Insightful

    More money down the shitter. I can't think of anything a hacker would gain from a medical device.

    Things like record keeping blood bank software is regarded as a medical device by the FDA. Such software can contain sensitive information like you Social Security Number or drivers license number. In Sort, a hacker can gain plenty from breaking into a medical device.

    Speaking as someone who has worked in the software side of the medical industry I just want to say that this is long overdue and the FDA has their work cut out for them. The systems I worked on are laughable in their "security" as they typically rely on how secure the local intranet is. Software vendors rarely put in any kind of serious authentication methods.

  6. Re:That's why I like the basic Kindle on The eBook Backlash · · Score: 1

    I agree with parent, but have no mod points to give. Really the title on /. should read more like, "The backlash against reading eBooks on tablets" which TFA got right ("Finding Your Book Interrupted ... By the Tablet You Read It On") but the mark got missed on /. because it gets more attention this way.

  7. Wait. I'm confused... on Journalist Arrested For Tweet Deported to Saudi Arabia · · Score: 1, Funny

    Journalist Arrested For Tweet Deported to Saudi Arabia

    Right. Okay. Uhm. How do you deport a tweet? /smartass

  8. Re:Bill Gates has kids? on Google's First Employee Departs · · Score: 2

    I remember when Alta Vista came out with natural language searches. You could ask it What's the name of President Clinton's cat? And it would give you links for where to buy sock fetish porn.

    There. Fixed that for you. No, seriously. I'm not kidding.

  9. Trading companies if you want a Linux world on Ask Slashdot: Where Are the Open Source Jobs? · · Score: 2

    First, disregard all the posts calling you a douche. If you're unhappy in your job, you're unhappy in your job. Anyone criticizing you for a 1 paragraph ask /. question that is just one piece in a much larger picture needs to have their head looked at. In my mind, you're being called a douche for staying on-topic and NOT going into detail on all the conflicts you may have had with management. I really can't express how frustrated I am with those posts and the lack of thinking that had to have happened to not only get them posted, but to get them moderated as INSIGHTFUL of all things. /rant

    More on-topic, most major trading firms (at least the ones in Chicago) are heavily Linux/Unix based shops who are more interested in using tools that can get stuff implemented *now* (usually to fix an issue) than tools they have to negotiate a price on and implement in the next month or two. Obviously enough, however, this is only one side of the open-source coin. If you want to do more than just *use* open-source software and you want to be part of a company that is actively building and developing open-source tools, then I suggest you target specific companies like RedHat or specific roles in companies that own major open source tools. Most companies have job postings somewhere on their site, so if you target the right companies and sell yourself in the right way, you should be able to find a good fit.

  10. Re:Two choices... on Ask Slashdot: How To Deal With Refurbed Drives With Customer Data? · · Score: 1

    There are strict laws that govern the receipt, storage and sharing of personal information. To put it simply, you can't do any one of those things without first having the consent of person that you have data about. In this case it could be argued that receipt and storage was given implicitly by the return of the hard drive to the company that refurbished the drive. However, the fact that a drive, potentially fully loaded with highly personal data, made it from one customer to another is a serious issue. All of this is to say that, if Newegg refurbished the hard drive, then yes, it IS Newegg's job to wipe the drive.

  11. French plane has a special feature on India Turns Down American Fighter Jets, Buys From France · · Score: 0, Troll

    I guess the brass in India really liked France's drapeau blanc auto-recall originally conceived in early September of 1939.

  12. Clearly a fake on 1st Video of Moon's Far Side · · Score: 4, Funny

    The video is clearly a fake. It didn't say, "mystery science theater 3000" ANYWHERE on the surface and I think we all know how largely it's written.

  13. Re:so? on Java Apps Have the Most Flaws, Cobol the Least · · Score: 2

    Are you sure about that? Java has a lower center of balance.

  14. Re:HP isn't exiting WebOS on HP Reviving the $99 Touch Pad On December 11th · · Score: 2

    I've been speculating that they're trying to flood the market with WebOS so they can tell companies who are considering using the platform on their product product things like, "X WebOS devices are currently in use with an estimated user base of Y. Based on sales of WebOS devices from 2011, a projected increase to a user base of Z is expected by Q4 2012." Where X, Y and Z are impressive and rather inflated numbers. Similar to how their server/network hardware support makes them more money than sales of hardware itself, I would expect there to be a lot more money for them in selling and supporting the WebOS platform to 3rd parties.

  15. HostMonster - unlimited space and bandwidth on Webhosting For A Large Art Project? · · Score: 1

    Everyone has their own hosting provider that they prefer. Mine is HostMonster. Hard to argue with unlimited space and bandwidth. Haven't had any issues with uptime in the year I've been hosting with them. They allow SSH access to their hosts (but you have to provide an image of a your drivers license/state ID). Haven't tried to rsync to my server, but then again, I've never had issues using rsync provided I was doing it over ssh (e.g. `rsyc -a -v -e 'ssh -l username' /local/dir hostname:/remote/dir` #going by memory here)

  16. U of I on Ask Slashdot: Parallel Cluster In a Box? · · Score: 4, Informative
    Try getting in touch with the folks doing parallel processing research or the people with NCSA at U of I. I imagine one or both would have a few tips for you assuming they're open to doing that kind of collaboration.
    • http://parallel.illinois.edu/
    • http://www.ncsa.illinois.edu/
  17. Re:Native GUI app development is a pain on Is SaaS Killing Native Linux App Development? · · Score: 1

    Another vote for Qt. Also, if you can show me an IDE that is easy to use, widely supported, actively maintained, but isn't using a mainstream language, I'll show you open-sourced VB6 that never actually went open-source.

  18. Title incomplete. should read... on Anonymous Vows To Destroy Facebook · · Score: 1, Funny

    The full title was intended to say, "Anonymous Vows To Destroy Facebook. Nothing of value to be lost."

  19. Re:Fancy label on Ask Slashdot: Does SSL Validation Matter? · · Score: 1

    Did you post just to agree with me or do you think you're telling me something I don't know?

  20. Fancy label on Ask Slashdot: Does SSL Validation Matter? · · Score: 1

    I like to think of it in the same way that fancy labels like "fair trade" and "organic" make it onto coffee packaging. Coffee growers with money buy the labels so that it is easier to sell to soccer moms who think they're doing good when in reality, they're giving money to people who already have it.

    Signed SSL certificates are a fancy (albeit invisible) label that gets slapped onto your encryption so that a silly warning message that doesn't mean much won't appear in the web browser of a soccer mom. She sees the little "lock" icon, doesn't get a confusing certificate warning message, and is happy to make her purchase on the scams-r-us website because, "Golly-gee! It's $800 less on THIS website!"

    Granted I only have a fundamental understanding of signed certificates (this is me admitting that my understanding might be flawed), but unsigned, unique private/public keys are just that, unique. Not any more or any less difficult to crack given the equivalent level of signed keys.

    I guess the point I'm trying to make is that (tying my thoughts back to the topic) I can't give a damn. I'm going to have to buy the certificate to appease buyers anyway, so debating the future is moot and I might as well put up with whatever changes they decide to make in the future.

  21. T-minus 5... on The Next Phase of Intelligent TVs Will Observe You · · Score: 1

    ... 4, 3, 2, 1. We have Soviet Russia jokes!

  22. Headline incomplete. on Researchers Grow a Brain In a Dish · · Score: 1

    That *should* read, "Researchers Grow a Brain In a Dish, Gets Anamatronic Body, Orders Around Ninjas"

  23. /scoff on Dr. Who's Sonic Screwdriver Exists · · Score: 5, Informative

    Title: "...Sonic Screwdriver Exists."
    Summery: "...could be created."
    I call shenanigans.

  24. Blue... on Minnesota Moving To Microsoft's Cloud · · Score: 1

    Well this would explain why the state is blue most election years. It's not voting for the Democratic candidate; it's crashing.

  25. Re:6% is actually very, very high. on E-Books Are Only 6% of Printed Book Sales · · Score: 1

    Numberless is more or less right. It was a pun/bad joke based off of the ambiguity of the wording of the title.

    That said, I was also trying to illustrate that that 6% is a bullshit number because the comparison is designed to make numbers sound as low as possible. A VALID and unbiased comparison, imo, would be as follows:

    • Books purchased : non-ebook user
    • Books purchased : ebook user
    • Ebooks purchased : ebook user
    • Ebooks purchased : non-ebook users (unlikly, but will doubtless happen)

    What the headline gives us is an incomplete and biased picture.

    So, you're both a bit wrong and a bit right.