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User: John+Bresnahan

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  1. Re:$907? on Attackers Steal $12.7M In Massive ATM Heist (mainichi.jp) · · Score: 0

    Over the two hours attackers withdrew the equivalent of $907 in 14,000 different transactions.

    It should say something like "Over the two hours, attackers withdrew the equivalent of $907 in each of 14,000 different transactions.

    As is, it is terribly unclear.

  2. Re:But does it run Linux? on HP Says It Made the World's Thinnest Laptop (time.com) · · Score: 1

    Has anyone gotten Linux working on the 12" MacBook? Last I heard, neither the keyboard nor trackpad would work at all.

    Of course, it's hard to be sure, since any search invariably also includes the other "Macbook" lines (Pro and Air), making it more difficult to zero in on relevant hits.

  3. Re:Why do you need an iPad and an app? on TSA Paid $1.4 Million For Randomizer App That Chooses Left Or Right (geek.com) · · Score: 4, Informative

    A simple micro-controller, a button, and two LEDs would work just as well for just a few bucks.

    A die (singular of "dice") would work just as well, and would handle up to 6 checkpoints.

    Amazon has them, 100 for $2.79.

  4. Re:Yeah yeah on George Lucas Criticizes the Force Awakens (theguardian.com) · · Score: 1

    Disney could have made it a fucking musical for all Lucas could have done about it.

    Lucas already did it:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

  5. The Texas Instruments TI99/4 had this back in 1979...

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik...

  6. Re:It came true.... on Raspberry Pi Unveils New $5 Mini-computer · · Score: 2

    We're already there...

    http://www.amazon.com/Tide-Pod...

  7. swap drives on Ask Slashdot: Patch Management For Offline Customer Systems? · · Score: 2

    I worked on an airplane-based system, and we had removable hard drives which we swapped any time we had to update the software. This way, each upgrade also restored the system to a pristine condition.

    I've also done this with CD-ROMs. One nice thing about booting and running from a CD-ROM is that it's impossible for it to be "hacked" (short of creating a new version and sneaking it in to the physical machine).

  8. Re: The joys of youth on .NET 4.6 Optimizer Bug Causes Methods To Get Wrong Parameters · · Score: 1

    And if you have to support multiple applications, tied to various versions of .NET?

  9. Re:C? on C Beats Java As Number One Language According To TIOBE Index · · Score: 2

    Labeling a C function "static" makes it invisible outside of the source file, and uncallable from anywhere else in the program.

    That's how we C programmers practiced encapsulation way back in the '70s.

  10. Re:How long... on Ask Slashdot: How Can I Explain To a Coworker That He Writes Bad Code? · · Score: 1

    This!

    I had the exact same experience early in my career. The senior programmer just smiled and let me work it out for myself.

  11. Re:David Letterman on Ask Slashdot: Typing Advice For a Guinness World Record Attempt? · · Score: 1

    Presumably, the typist didn't even notice the gag until after she finished typing. Not having to look at the output (or the keyboard) is a major advantage of touch typing, as opposed to hunting-and-pecking, no matter how fast one can hunt and peck.

  12. Re:Mechanical Keyboard on Ask Slashdot: Typing Advice For a Guinness World Record Attempt? · · Score: 1
    I loved my old Model-M keyboard, but IBM made one that I liked even better. It was the keyboard for a block-mode terminal for an old System/34 system I used in school. The keyboard was essentially the same one used on the Selectric typewriter, and with the power off, it felt terrible. However, with the power on, a solenoid in the keyboard case would bang the case with each keystroke, simulating the effect of the typing ball in the Selectric.

    Having the physical feedback (*BANG*) made the keyboard a delight to use. Of course, it was even noisier than the Model-M (which is the chief complaint of those sitting near a happy Model-M user).

  13. Re:Won't happen on Microsoft Urges Businesses To Get Off XP · · Score: 1

    Tried the VM approach with a materials stress testing machine. Didn't work out too well. It's software that can only run on XP with an RS232 port to access test results. To say this specific vertical hardware/software solution is expensive would be an understatement.

    I'm not sure why this would be a problem. I helped move a SCO Unix-based legacy system to Windows, while running the legacy system in a VMware virtual machine. One of the major reasons to do this was because VMware allowed us to make USB- and Network-based peripherals look like legacy parallel and serial ports. The last I heard, the system was being used in over 14,000 locations.

    BTW, did you know you can map parallel and serial ports in a VMware virtual machine to named pipes?

  14. Re:I never expected my iPad to run OSX application on Windows RT vs. Windows 8 Could Burn Consumers · · Score: 1

    Just as everyone who buys a current "Windows 7" phone will soon discover that they are totally obsolete. 2012 is not a good year to be buying new Microsoft devices.

  15. Re:I never expected my iPad to run OSX application on Windows RT vs. Windows 8 Could Burn Consumers · · Score: 1

    I can't think of anyone I know who would assume that Windows 8 won't run everything that Windows 7 runs.

    I've been warning people away from Windows 8 (in any form) for the time being, until it becomes clear how big a mess this is going to be.

  16. Re:The problem with FOSS office suites on OpenOffice Is Now, Officially, Apache OpenOffice · · Score: 4, Interesting

    OTOH, I have "saved" several Word/Excel documents that had become too corrupted to be used in Microsoft Office. All I had to do was load them in OpenOffice and then save them with a different name, and they suddenly worked again in MS Office.

  17. An Antenna... on FCC To Allow Cable Companies To Encrypt Over-the-Air Channels · · Score: 4, Insightful

    will also work for many people. I recently cut my cable TV service when I realized that almost everything I was actually watching was programming being broadcast over-the-air. A $50 antenna and I'm all set

  18. Re:Tiny hard disk, limited RAM on Why Ultrabooks Are Falling Well Short of Intel's Targets · · Score: 1

    Most users doing most end user stuff prefer using iPads instead. Who is the target audience for Ultrabooks?

    That would be people who actually create content and who want to be able to conveniently use their work machine wherever they are (including places like airplanes).

    FWIW, I have a 2011 Macbook Air, and the 4GB of Ram and 256MB of SSD are sufficient for me to run everything I want, including Win7 in a VM. My last machine was a 2009 Macbook Pro, and that had twice the RAM and disk space, but I found I didn't really need the extra storage, and the combination of faster CPU and much faster "disk" makes the new, lower-spec Air run (or at least seem to run) faster and better than my old laptop.

  19. Re:The best plan on Ask Slashdot: Best Protection Plan For Your Phone? · · Score: 1

    The same argument could be used to argue against getting health insurance, life insurance, auto insurance, homeowner's insurance, etc. Sometimes, the cost of misfortune is far higher than the cost of protecting against misfortune.

  20. THGTTG, hurray! on BBC Radiophonic Workshop Revived Online · · Score: 3, Informative

    Amazingly, most of the Hitchhiker's Guide fans I know have never heard the original radio production. Many of them didn't even know that it was a radio production first.

  21. My dog ate my math exam... on Fujitsu Building Robot To Pass Math Exams · · Score: 2

    My dog ate my math exam, and later passed it. Thank you! I'm here all week!

  22. Re:Java blows on Recent Apple Java Update Doesn't Fix Critical Java Flaw Claims Researcher · · Score: -1, Redundant

    FlightGear is a multi-platform (Windows, OS/X, Linux) flight simulator written in C++ and QT. Seems to work well enough for them.

  23. Re:Java blows on Recent Apple Java Update Doesn't Fix Critical Java Flaw Claims Researcher · · Score: 2

    FlightGear is a multi-platform (Windows, OS/X, Linux) written in C++ and QT. Seems to work well enough for them.

  24. I'd be happy to use this, but... on Bring On the Decentralized Social Networking · · Score: 1

    First you have to convince my family to switch to it, because the only reason I'm on Facebook is because that's how my family members (non-geeks) communicate these days.

    But, before that, you'll have to convince everyone who is friends with anyone in my family to switch. And, you'll have to apply this recursively until you've switched everyone in the world.

    Oh, and you'll have to add stupid games, because that's why my family and their friends are on Facebook.

    But as soon as you do that, count me in!

  25. Re:Putting words in Apples mouth on Apple Says "No" To Releasing New Dock Connector Specs · · Score: 1

    But the same thing happened last year for the nonexistent "iPhone 5". http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/29/iphone-5-cases-and-realistic-unibody-dummy-show-off-incredible-s/