I started playing WoW on day 7. I just canceled my account this February. I still enjoy the game, but in the last several years, I've gotten married (which affected playing time slightly), and in January had a baby - which completely killed all available playing time. I wasn't going to pay to not play a game I didn't have time for any more. Now, my games consist of facebook games, because I can play for 5,10,15 minutes and drop it and take care of the baby - not possible in WoW. Maybe when my daughter doesn't need as much attention, and I don't need to sleep every chance I get, I'll re-join, but until then, I'm one of those non-subscribers.
I suspect that I'm not the only person who's gone through several life stages over the last several years, and well, that's what happens.
As another needlephobe - I've found that you can ask all you want for capillary puncture, the docs just tell you they can't do it that way and to suck it up and act like an adult. Until I got pregnant, I had a double dose of Xanax or valium to get me to submit to a blood draw. They don't like giving those drugs to pregnant women, so my care providers and I have a "plan" for my issue. It really does make me feel better just knowing that my midwives are aware of my issues and are willing to work with me. Find a provider that is willing to work with you and whatever coping mechanisms you need - whether that's an anti-anxiety drug or a trusted friend.
I have a gold engagement ring, and the jeweler refused to set the diamond in gold, so it's in a platinum setting that's bonded to the gold somehow. Up close it looks a little weird, but it's difficult to tell that the setting is not yellow gold.
Unfortunately, DC's mass transit assumes you're going into the city (which, granted, the majority are - feds), but if you go from one suburb to another - and have to cross the river - sorry, you're stuck on the beltway with everyone else.
I've been on the DNC list for over a year, but I've recently been getting telemarketing calls (and I report every one) because my number is now listed as a business number by Verizon. Why? I had my land line number switched over to my VoIP provider. I'm not sure how Verizon does this internally, but it marks my number as a business number, and guess what? business numbers don't qualify to be on the DNC list - so they're allowed to call me.
I can still verify that I am on the DNC list, and every time I get a telemarketing call, I report the number - I'm almost never home when they do call, and they leave a message with all the pertinent information:)
The school name on your resume gets you on the interview pile, that's about it.
The more important decision IMO, is what kind of education you want from your CS degree. I've been to both stateU and a big name school. I hated every minute of my time at the big name school because they were more research oriented, and I could care less.
Sometimes it's hard to determine from the school, since my stateU was also well known for research as well, but also it's teaching excellence, but decide which you'd prefer, and base your decision on that.
First of all you can use any service you want listening on any port you want. Data in your/etc/services file are only default ports, not mandatory ones. For example, you might run smtp server on port 80 and http on port 25 and they would complete the tcp three-way handshake just fine. If you have ever seen a web url in the form of proto://host:port then you know what am I talking about.
Except the fact that every *other* mail server in the world that might want to talk to me is looking for me on port 25.
One I didn't see in this list or the comments is Lingo. I just signed up for them, but I've made a few long calls and have had no problems with them. Their tech support seems to be in India and I've had a few problems getting useful information out of their tech support (both inaccurate information and hard to understand accents). They initially told me to open ports 5060-5065 on my firewall, and what I needed to open was 1024-1027 to get my VoIP "link" light.
Other than that, I've been happy with them. I'm still waiting until I can figure out if I can configure my firewall to allow incoming calls before I turn off the land line.
One final note. Once you've done your install and get ready to start installing your mission critical apps (Apache, Postfix or whatever) don't use emerge or RPM or Yast etc... grab the source tarball and follow the README/INSTALL directions. It's often a little harder but gives you more control and you learn more about both the app and your OS in the process.
I used to do this as well, but time management trumped. It's great going through an Apache compile from scratch once - but having the packages makes updating/upgrading a hell of a lot easier. "Oh.. there's a new patch for apache? apt-get update; apt-get upgrade" Instead of download, configure, compile, install.
But if you're really ambitious, you can set up your own build scripts and compile from source when needed, but create a package you can install/uninstall/upgrade as necessary. - The best of both worlds...
I usually let vulnwatch deliver "important" information to my mail box. I don't keep on top of 0-day vulns any more, so vulnwatch is good enough for me. SANS @RISK is another mailing that's useful, although sometimes out of date.
Just use the user agent switcher. I've only found one page that I use regularly that actually doesn't work in firefox (www.weightwatchers.com). Everything else has been stupid browser checks and using the switcher lets me into the site, although it increases the statistics of IE (but the Netscape 4.7 user agent works most of the time)
Sure you *could* develop games geared more towards middle-aged adults, I don't think it will be very lucrative though. When you start hitting that middle-age lifestyle especially that mid-life crisis you don't want to spend all your time inside on a computer after spending 40+ hours inside an office cubicle. Leave the video games for your kids and enjoy the stuff that you can do now that you're older and hopefully a little richer
Then there are those of us who are just starting to get into middle age where we enjoyed playing the video games when we were younger (in college, whatever), and now we're "growing up". Our parents didn't have the influences that we had, so they were more interested in cars, and golf, and things of that nature.
We like the video games. Now that we have "real" jobs, we have more money to spend on those video games we like.
In addition to the security implications this has, think about the implications this has on OSS writers? Previously, M$ tried to show the souce code to Windows to college students in the hope that they couldn't write OSS code because they'd have seen the Windows source.
This gives M$ a leg to stand on if they attempt to claim that any OSS has Windows code in it.
Any OSS writer that manages to get the code should proceed with caution.
I traded in a 95 F150 truck for a 2003 honda civic hybrid in April (I needed a smaller car). I love zipping around in my little civic. As for why I mention that I traded in a large truck - I'm used to the power that a 5.0L V8 engine brings to the line.
Suprisingly, I notice little difference in the acceleration capabilities of my hybrid. It picks up and goes when I ask it to - and with the CVT, it goes smoothly as well.
I love the looks people give me when I come to a stop and my engine shuts off. It can be kinda annoying on those hot summer days, but that's what the econ button is for - you can tell it not to shut the engine off.
According to the sticker, I get 51 mpg, according to me, I get about 52 on the highway and about 46 in the city - Washington, DC park and go traffic. It takes some getting used to when you first start driving it to maximize your mpg, things like knowing when the auto-stop triggers, not inching up in traffic, and going the speed limit helps a lot. Not that it can't go over the speed limit and accelerate quickly. I've had it up to 120 - when the governor kicks in. I haven't timed myself in a 0-60 sprint because that's just damn impossible in the city.
I test drove a Toyota Prius before I made my final decision, and I found it small and that damn TV screen annoying - I found that my eyes didn't want to stay on the road. The Prius does have more color options than the Civic, and the Civic doesn't have a sunroof, but other than that, I love my civic.
Last advice: if you're worried about the "pick-up-and-go", get off your butt and test drive one - you'll find that it has plenty of power for getting you around. It's not going to win any drag races, but it'll keep you happy.
As a 24 yr old sewer who's been working on it off and on since I was about 6 (altnough I wasn't allowed to use the machine without supervision until I was about 12), I take offense to this statement. Although my reasons for sewing range from enjoyment to making clothes that actually fit right to being on my way to becoming more self sufficient.
Several young people (20-30) I know also sew for similar reasons. All of whom are techies, system admins, and/or security consultants.
Now... just to get my grandmother to go from her fancy electronic sewing machine to a computer......
I find it fascinating that most young people(plenty of whom are over the voting age) get furious when someone challenges their (non-existant, except for Fair Use)"right" to rip off music/movies, but don't blink an eyelid when things like the Patriot Act are passed, a FAR more serious violation of ACTUAL rights. I want to scream into their ears "who gives a SHIT about your music? Look at what they're doing to our FREEDOM!"
While the PATRIOT Act is devastating to our liberties and freedoms, Any erosion of our rights is a start down a slippery slope.
Talk to Childs (I think he's still there) - he'll help you out if you think the classes are too easy. I graduated from the CS department in 2000, and I really enjoyed my stay there. I was able to take graduate level classes during my last two years, and that made up for the "easy" classes.
As for the classes being easy - I've since gone on to graduate school, and comparing what I learned in ugrad to what others in my classes learned, I would have to say that A&M is a much better curriculum than most. Hell, Pooch for OS helped me pass the OS class at CMU.
The admins in the CS dept suck - end of story - go find a job in the math or physics department - you'll find that they know what they're doing.
This past semester, I had the "luxury" of teaching freshman in an intro to C course.
We gave written exams. These exams were designed to be hard because we allowed open books, open notes, print outs, whatever - just nothing electronic. There were typically 8-10 questions where we gave code snippets and required the students to write the output or explain why it would not compile or why it would segfault. The other 3 or 4 questions were writing code snippets. Most of the problems were very similar to ones they had seen in class or on their programming assignments.
While grading, we were forgiving about missing ; and {} as long as the indentation made it obvious where they should have been. We were, however, very unforgiving about function calls because they had reference materials in front of them.
This was an intro programming class where they had (supposedly) learned java the previous semester, and we were merely teaching them the syntax and "style" of C.
The goals of the course were to teach them C syntax and dynamic memory allocation. And the majority of written problems were taken from office sessions. Someone would come in and not know why their code was segfaulting, so we'd put that snippet of code on the exam so that everyone got that experience.
The following semester, they will/would have to write their own versions of malloc, and understanding how to debug code with dynamic memory allocation was one of our top priorities. With that in mind, we were hard on them on the written exams.
Use UNIX. None of this windows crap. There are no UNIX e-mail viruses. If you have a UNIX mail reader, it isn't going to execute.exe files or macros. You can open almost any attachment (other than exes) in some UNIX/Linux program. What do we need Windows for?
Slashdot Mirror
Already being used by many educational institutes - specifically higher ed: https://shibboleth.net/
I started playing WoW on day 7. I just canceled my account this February. I still enjoy the game, but in the last several years, I've gotten married (which affected playing time slightly), and in January had a baby - which completely killed all available playing time. I wasn't going to pay to not play a game I didn't have time for any more. Now, my games consist of facebook games, because I can play for 5,10,15 minutes and drop it and take care of the baby - not possible in WoW. Maybe when my daughter doesn't need as much attention, and I don't need to sleep every chance I get, I'll re-join, but until then, I'm one of those non-subscribers.
I suspect that I'm not the only person who's gone through several life stages over the last several years, and well, that's what happens.
As another needlephobe - I've found that you can ask all you want for capillary puncture, the docs just tell you they can't do it that way and to suck it up and act like an adult. Until I got pregnant, I had a double dose of Xanax or valium to get me to submit to a blood draw. They don't like giving those drugs to pregnant women, so my care providers and I have a "plan" for my issue. It really does make me feel better just knowing that my midwives are aware of my issues and are willing to work with me. Find a provider that is willing to work with you and whatever coping mechanisms you need - whether that's an anti-anxiety drug or a trusted friend.
I have a gold engagement ring, and the jeweler refused to set the diamond in gold, so it's in a platinum setting that's bonded to the gold somehow. Up close it looks a little weird, but it's difficult to tell that the setting is not yellow gold.
Unfortunately, DC's mass transit assumes you're going into the city (which, granted, the majority are - feds), but if you go from one suburb to another - and have to cross the river - sorry, you're stuck on the beltway with everyone else.
I've been on the DNC list for over a year, but I've recently been getting telemarketing calls (and I report every one) because my number is now listed as a business number by Verizon. Why? I had my land line number switched over to my VoIP provider. I'm not sure how Verizon does this internally, but it marks my number as a business number, and guess what? business numbers don't qualify to be on the DNC list - so they're allowed to call me.
:)
I can still verify that I am on the DNC list, and every time I get a telemarketing call, I report the number - I'm almost never home when they do call, and they leave a message with all the pertinent information
The school name on your resume gets you on the interview pile, that's about it.
The more important decision IMO, is what kind of education you want from your CS degree. I've been to both stateU and a big name school. I hated every minute of my time at the big name school because they were more research oriented, and I could care less.
Sometimes it's hard to determine from the school, since my stateU was also well known for research as well, but also it's teaching excellence, but decide which you'd prefer, and base your decision on that.
Except the fact that every *other* mail server in the world that might want to talk to me is looking for me on port 25.
One I didn't see in this list or the comments is Lingo. I just signed up for them, but I've made a few long calls and have had no problems with them. Their tech support seems to be in India and I've had a few problems getting useful information out of their tech support (both inaccurate information and hard to understand accents). They initially told me to open ports 5060-5065 on my firewall, and what I needed to open was 1024-1027 to get my VoIP "link" light.
Other than that, I've been happy with them. I'm still waiting until I can figure out if I can configure my firewall to allow incoming calls before I turn off the land line.
One final note. Once you've done your install and get ready to start installing your mission critical apps (Apache, Postfix or whatever) don't use emerge or RPM or Yast etc... grab the source tarball and follow the README/INSTALL directions. It's often a little harder but gives you more control and you learn more about both the app and your OS in the process.
I used to do this as well, but time management trumped. It's great going through an Apache compile from scratch once - but having the packages makes updating/upgrading a hell of a lot easier. "Oh.. there's a new patch for apache? apt-get update; apt-get upgrade" Instead of download, configure, compile, install.
But if you're really ambitious, you can set up your own build scripts and compile from source when needed, but create a package you can install/uninstall/upgrade as necessary. - The best of both worlds...
And here I thought it was another UFO...
Maybe he's talking about "regular" DVDs rather than the new blu-ray DVDs that M$ is supporting er.. paying.
I usually let vulnwatch deliver "important" information to my mail box. I don't keep on top of 0-day vulns any more, so vulnwatch is good enough for me. SANS @RISK is another mailing that's useful, although sometimes out of date.
Just use the user agent switcher. I've only found one page that I use regularly that actually doesn't work in firefox (www.weightwatchers.com). Everything else has been stupid browser checks and using the switcher lets me into the site, although it increases the statistics of IE (but the Netscape 4.7 user agent works most of the time)
Sure you *could* develop games geared more towards middle-aged adults, I don't think it will be very lucrative though. When you start hitting that middle-age lifestyle especially that mid-life crisis you don't want to spend all your time inside on a computer after spending 40+ hours inside an office cubicle. Leave the video games for your kids and enjoy the stuff that you can do now that you're older and hopefully a little richer
Then there are those of us who are just starting to get into middle age where we enjoyed playing the video games when we were younger (in college, whatever), and now we're "growing up". Our parents didn't have the influences that we had, so they were more interested in cars, and golf, and things of that nature.
We like the video games. Now that we have "real" jobs, we have more money to spend on those video games we like.
UUCP used to work pretty well...
you can only upload mail going out to known servers, and it's *really* hard to add authentication to a server to.
Actually, considering I installed exim with SMTP_AUTH in about 5 minutes the other day - why can't other people - it's useable between mail servers.
In addition to the security implications this has, think about the implications this has on OSS writers? Previously, M$ tried to show the souce code to Windows to college students in the hope that they couldn't write OSS code because they'd have seen the Windows source.
This gives M$ a leg to stand on if they attempt to claim that any OSS has Windows code in it.
Any OSS writer that manages to get the code should proceed with caution.
Suprisingly, I notice little difference in the acceleration capabilities of my hybrid. It picks up and goes when I ask it to - and with the CVT, it goes smoothly as well.
I love the looks people give me when I come to a stop and my engine shuts off. It can be kinda annoying on those hot summer days, but that's what the econ button is for - you can tell it not to shut the engine off.
According to the sticker, I get 51 mpg, according to me, I get about 52 on the highway and about 46 in the city - Washington, DC park and go traffic. It takes some getting used to when you first start driving it to maximize your mpg, things like knowing when the auto-stop triggers, not inching up in traffic, and going the speed limit helps a lot. Not that it can't go over the speed limit and accelerate quickly. I've had it up to 120 - when the governor kicks in. I haven't timed myself in a 0-60 sprint because that's just damn impossible in the city.
I test drove a Toyota Prius before I made my final decision, and I found it small and that damn TV screen annoying - I found that my eyes didn't want to stay on the road. The Prius does have more color options than the Civic, and the Civic doesn't have a sunroof, but other than that, I love my civic.
Last advice: if you're worried about the "pick-up-and-go", get off your butt and test drive one - you'll find that it has plenty of power for getting you around. It's not going to win any drag races, but it'll keep you happy.
As a 24 yr old sewer who's been working on it off and on since I was about 6 (altnough I wasn't allowed to use the machine without supervision until I was about 12), I take offense to this statement. Although my reasons for sewing range from enjoyment to making clothes that actually fit right to being on my way to becoming more self sufficient.
Several young people (20-30) I know also sew for similar reasons. All of whom are techies, system admins, and/or security consultants.
Now... just to get my grandmother to go from her fancy electronic sewing machine to a computer......
I find it fascinating that most young people(plenty of whom are over the voting age) get furious when someone challenges their (non-existant, except for Fair Use)"right" to rip off music/movies, but don't blink an eyelid when things like the Patriot Act are passed, a FAR more serious violation of ACTUAL rights. I want to scream into their ears "who gives a SHIT about your music? Look at what they're doing to our FREEDOM!"
While the PATRIOT Act is devastating to our liberties and freedoms, Any erosion of our rights is a start down a slippery slope.
And while I know that the slippery slope argument is flawed, it is well used in the legal arena.
if i score, you score ;)
Fuck you bitch, he's mine! *smack!*
Talk to Childs (I think he's still there) - he'll help you out if you think the classes are too easy. I graduated from the CS department in 2000, and I really enjoyed my stay there. I was able to take graduate level classes during my last two years, and that made up for the "easy" classes.
As for the classes being easy - I've since gone on to graduate school, and comparing what I learned in ugrad to what others in my classes learned, I would have to say that A&M is a much better curriculum than most. Hell, Pooch for OS helped me pass the OS class at CMU.
The admins in the CS dept suck - end of story - go find a job in the math or physics department - you'll find that they know what they're doing.
This past semester, I had the "luxury" of teaching freshman in an intro to C course.
We gave written exams. These exams were designed to be hard because we allowed open books, open notes, print outs, whatever - just nothing electronic. There were typically 8-10 questions where we gave code snippets and required the students to write the output or explain why it would not compile or why it would segfault. The other 3 or 4 questions were writing code snippets. Most of the problems were very similar to ones they had seen in class or on their programming assignments.
While grading, we were forgiving about missing ; and {} as long as the indentation made it obvious where they should have been. We were, however, very unforgiving about function calls because they had reference materials in front of them.
This was an intro programming class where they had (supposedly) learned java the previous semester, and we were merely teaching them the syntax and "style" of C.
The goals of the course were to teach them C syntax and dynamic memory allocation. And the majority of written problems were taken from office sessions. Someone would come in and not know why their code was segfaulting, so we'd put that snippet of code on the exam so that everyone got that experience.
The following semester, they will/would have to write their own versions of malloc, and understanding how to debug code with dynamic memory allocation was one of our top priorities.
With that in mind, we were hard on them on the written exams.
Use UNIX. None of this windows crap. There are no UNIX e-mail viruses. If you have a UNIX mail reader, it isn't going to execute.exe files or macros. You can open almost any attachment (other than exes) in some UNIX/Linux program. What do we need Windows for?
What do you mean, "remember the day when...." I still play my atari 2600, with a whole box of games my brother somehow "acquired" for me.