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User: diamondsw

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  1. Re:My city, Reykjavík, is trying to do this. on The Chicago Suburb That's Trying To Kill the Car (politico.com) · · Score: 1

    Evanston did a lot of that, too - broad sidewalks, killed off parking, increased density. It was an unholy mess about 15 years ago when I left college. Small businesses hated it (try walking your purchases from the hardware store back) and lots went out of business. Then they built up even more density, built a new downtown center next to the old downtown center, *finally* built some parking garages, and it started to pick up. Post-bubble rebound in the mid 2000's helped.

    Honestly - Evanston is a lovely place full of liberal people on various noble quests (practical is another matter), but "kill the car"? I don't know who is saying you'll find no cars around, because it's still damned hard to find street parking and there's a constant flow of cars through the downtown streets. And where's the nearest grocery store? Closest I'm aware of is still a couple miles out of downtown, either up on Green Bay or down Chicago towards Dempster. Very much not in walking distance of anything. The cars aren't going to disappear just because there's a condo complex next to downtown. Like every other suburb, it's still very much a driving place. After all, every suburb wants to attract people from every other suburb - Evanston has dining, Skokie has Old Orchard (a large mall), Northbrook has shopping and the Botanical Garden, etc. All of that requires cars.

  2. No such problems here on Apple's iOS 9 Breaks VPNs · · Score: 0

    Didn't see any problems with VPNs during the betas, nor with final release. This is with connections to Junos Pulse, StrongSwan/xl2tpd, and racoon VPNs.

    Maybe the reason it wasn't "fixed" is it isn't an issue in the first place.

  3. Flamebait summary on Apple vs. Microsoft: a Tale of Two Mobile Updates · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Microsoft issues an update: it's supposed to update the updating system for future updates. It bricks phones.
    Apple issues an update: Adds a few minor features, fixes bugs, improves web browser performance. It Just Works.

    I find the trolling with "mandatory silencing of complaints" ironic since one of the features in iOS 4.3 - a user preference for the switch on the iPad to function as orientation lock or mute - is specifically in response to user feedback.

    Meanwhile, Google issues an update. You can't use it until your carrier/handset manufacturer says you can (it took a month for Gingerbread to show up even on Google's own Nexus).

  4. And then load balancers... on Firewalls Make DDoS Attacks Worse · · Score: 1

    TLDR, etc - but let's just say you follow the advice to not use firewalls in front of your web servers. Those web servers aren't going to load balance themselves (at least, not short of old "www1"..."www16" DNS entries), so the next bottleneck becomes your load balancers. Admittedly, these do tend to perform MUCH better than firewalls, as their routing and inspection tends to be much simpler.

    However, the common conception of lots of traffic hitting a bunch of web servers directly is not the right way to think about the problem.

  5. Re:Why on SourceForge Down After Attack [Updated] · · Score: 4, Informative

    I have to imagine the majority of users get their stuff second hand through their favorite distro's repository these days.

    Yes, because everyone who uses SourceForge is on Linux. There is such a thing as open source Windows and Mac software you know.

  6. Reminds me of XFree86 vs XOrg on Oracle Asks OpenOffice Community Members To Leave · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I predict within six months "OpenOffice" will be dead and "LibreOffice" (or similar community-owned fork) will have supplanted it. Linux distros will drop it like a hot potato, and Novell and IBM sure aren't going to tie themselves to a hostile third-party for their efforts.

  7. Re:Banned from PSN... on Sony Has Lost the PS3 Hacking War · · Score: 5, Insightful

    First of all, this is just used for pirating purposes. In fact that's the only thing the hack allows, so drop the homebrew bullshit.

    Pardon? I have no interest in either pirating OR homebrew. I just want to load the games that I bought onto the console to improve load times, avoid disc damage from handling, and keep all my games available at all times. What's the point of a 250GB drive it all I have on it are dinky PSN games?

  8. Re:Flash is for more than streaming video on Flash On Android Is 'Shockingly Bad' · · Score: 1

    Said games are also designed for a mouse, and typically require very precise pointing and clicking, which is very difficult on a phone. Many also require hovering - something impossible on a touchscreen.

  9. Re:I guess I'm stupid, too. on US Students Struggle With Understanding of the 'Equal' Sign · · Score: 1

    The actual notation for anyone beyond pre-algebra is x, and that renders just fine in text.

    The use of parentheses here is needlessly confusing - I didn't take it to mean "variable" at first or even second glance. Had the "answer" not been shown, I still wouldn't know what they were asking for with such tortured symbology.

  10. Re:Developers Bitch on Android Data Stealing App Downloaded By Millions · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Such reporting wasn't disallowed until very recently. There was a very good reason for it as well - developers then got that data back so they could tell how many people were still on old OS versions, what the uptake was on a new OS, and could plan their features and releases accordingly.

    The only reason Apple got upset is it revealed prototype OS versions in their lab as a side effect.

  11. Re:Developers Bitch on Android Data Stealing App Downloaded By Millions · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The tethering app wasn't discovered because it was extremely difficult to trigger - it required very specific network settings, a multi-step setup process, and tapping different colors in a specific pattern just to enable the tether. Very different from discovering an app is sending your data off wholesale.

    The hidden tethering app is only going to be discovered via thorough code decompilation and analysis. Sending chunks of data to a random server for no appreciable purpose can be found easily via tcpdump.

  12. Re:Unfortunately on Android Data Stealing App Downloaded By Millions · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Amazing what a gets a +5 Informative these days. Adding links?

    The first example was due to a developer "hacking" accounts (i.e., guessing passwords).
    The second example is the same story as the first, from a different source.
    The final example is the only one that holds any water. And that allowing crap apps through, not malicious ones.

  13. Re:Computer Games Too! on Our Video Game Heritage Is Rotting Away · · Score: 1

    Sheepshaver, Basilisk, and Mini-vMac will keep you going on for classic Mac stuff. I actually have a copy of Ancient Art of War on my shelf, as well as a working Mac Plus. However, mini-vMac plays it just fine on my 2010 MacBook Pro.

  14. Pot, Kettle on Forced iAds Coming To OS X? · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Interesting how people are quick to jump on Apple for this, when Android and Chrome are created by an advertising company.

  15. A travesty, except for one thing... on Apple Doesn't Appreciate Toilet Humor · · Score: 1

    They're right, and despite the tone in the summary, Apple's quote pretty much spells out why.

  16. Re:Yes on Does Anyone Really Prefer Glossy Screens? · · Score: 1

    I was also surprised to find that I strongly preferred glossy screens. Yes, there are more reflections, but working indoors - and even with a window right next to me - I really don't see any. Sure, if I actively look, my eyes refocus and I see my lamp in the corner behind me, but it hasn't been anywhere near the problem I was afraid it might be. And this is switching from four years on a matte MacBook Pro to a new glossy MacBook Pro.

    Unless you're going to be outdoors a lot, I'd go glossy. Sorry the submitters particular environment doesn't work, but I don't think it will be an issue for the majority of folks.

  17. Re:I hope they figure out a magsafe type solution on Working Toward a Universal Power Brick For Laptops · · Score: 1

    Don't stop at standardizing the connector - you need to specify wattage as well. Perhaps multiple classes so as not to burden netbooks and low power systems with adapters designed for 17" desktop replacements.

    I found out the hard way that you can't use Apple's older 60W adapters with the new Core i5/i7 MacBook Pro's, which come with 85W adapters (the reverse works fine and is fully supported). It used to be it would work, but charge very slowly - a fine tradeoff. Now with the new i5/i7's it confuses the hell out of the system management controller, and makes the system act as if it has no battery at all - it sleeps immediately if the AC is removed, even if the battery is fully charged. I found that out when I packed my wife's MacBook AC adapter by mistake - which is visually indistinguishable from the new 85W adapter.

  18. Re:Plugin uninstaller for Firefox? on Microsoft Hides Firefox Extension In Toolbar Update · · Score: 1

    By magically circumventing the permissions system in Windows?

    You're telling me there's no way for a program to temporarily request privilege escalation? In other words, no sudo? Seriously?

  19. Re:Because people like it the way it is on Google Introduces, Then Scraps, Bing-Style Background Images · · Score: 1

    What I find amusing is the people going into length explanations about why a background image is such a terrible thing

    • Most of the default backgrounds made the text unreadable - even white, since the text stayed white with a light gray outline.
    • It made the page much larger and slower to load, which is still important for people on metered and unstable (i.e. cellular) connections.
    • It was impossible to turn off without signing into a Google account.
    • It added nothing in terms of usability, functionality - or anything, really.

    For a company that famously limits the number of words on the front page and benches the time results take, this is a very disturbing departure.

  20. Re:Mac OS X on Seagate Confirms 3TB Hard Drive · · Score: 3, Insightful

    And Firefox wouldn't work? If the machine still works for what you need to do, then you don't need to upgrade for the sake of upgrading. If it doesn't meet your needs anymore, then why complain about upgrading?

    Vendor support doesn't dictate what use you can get out of a machine. I have friends who are still running OS 9 (eek) on a G3, because it does what they need it to.

  21. Re:More Methane Ruptures? on Oil Leak Could Be Stopped With a Nuke · · Score: 1

    Not to mention it did fail once...

  22. Re:Military healthcare on Defense Chief Urges Big Cuts In Military Spending · · Score: 1

    Is the VA as good as the best private hospitals? No, it's not the Mayo Clinic. But better than average? Hell yes. The VA is one of the best-run government programs.

    Speaking as the son of a 30-year VA doctor, and of a 30-year St. Jude Children's Hospital doctor (once acknowledged as the best in pediatric oncology). I've seen how they both run inside and out, and the VA is much, much better run than most private hospitals. It's one of the best services we've provided to our veterans and their families.

  23. Re:This has all happened before and it will all .. on Android Sales Surpass iPhone Sales · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Yup, just like the failure of the iPod that idiots predicted was inevitable for years. Now they've moved on to the iPhone - great, more shlock.

    That said, Android is a far better alternative model than the iPod competitors were, but dragging out the tired, old, and inaccurate "Mac vs PC in the 80's" model is just tiresome and worthless. There are so many variances (probably the biggest being price - the iPhone isn't more expensive than its competitors) that it's just a stupid comparison to make, generally only made by PC trolls.

  24. Android did not exceed "iPhone OS" sales on Android Sales Surpass iPhone Sales · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It exceeded iPhone sales, not iPhone OS, as iPhone OS includes the iPod Touch and iPad. The sales of the iPod Touch are far from insubstantial.

    Meanwhile, iPhone sales are down because new ones are due in June, as they have been the last three years. People know this (and if they don't, they ask a geek friend who does), and sales drop. Just watch, they'll skyrocket in June/July, just as they have the last couple years.

  25. Re:In the same speech on Defense Chief Urges Big Cuts In Military Spending · · Score: 1

    Yes, because a couple-hour game of golf is comparable to spending weeks clearing brush.