A long time ago, MS automatically installed IE and enabled it as the default browser. Doing that killed Netscape because users no longer had to find a web browser.
Even worse, MS claimed that the browser (IE 4.0) and the OS (Win 98) were so entwined that it would be "impossible" to uninstall the browser. And they were believed by the anti-trust lawyers, even though there was a hidden folder labelled "Uninstall IE4"
And yet oddly enough, few question the Microsoft default setting of 42 days
Maybe that was to give you a week to remember to reboot the machine before being locked out, as Win95 and early Win98 would only manage an uptime of 49.7 days before becoming unresponsive
Some years back, Virgin Airlines accused British Airways of "dirty tricks", which included unauthorised access to the Virgin (rented) space on the BA bookings computer
British Airways improperly accessed confidential Virgin Atlantic flight information
IMO, the biggest problem with the current crop of mobile fingerprint sensors isn't the devices, sensors or software, it's the users' perception of them as very high security. They're not. They're relatively weak, but highly convenient security. As long as people don't expect too much from them, they're awesome.
Just a pity that many of the advocates of biometrics have convinced themselves (and hence aim to convince others) that they are high security, rather than convenient security.
Interesting to hear more about the different kinds of photodiodes - my knowledge was far more superficial (coming from hobbyist magazines, that tended not to go into the details)
I remember back in the 80s that light meters in cameras used to use Silicon (SPD - Silicon Photo Diode), but then they all started using Gallium Arsenide (GASP - Gallium Arsenide Photo Diode), as it reacted faster (presumably because of the lower resistance).
There was even talk back then about making Gallium based semi-conductors, for the same reason.
The problem isn't around knowledge, but that it requires equipment not expected to be in a normal home. A house can have tools available to fix large mechanical objects, but not extremely delicate electronics that require an electron scanning microscope to properly fix.
Best thread summary of the year (OK, so the year is still young...)
Seriously though, most houses will have a toolbox with sufficient "stuff" to at least make a stab at fixing mechanical parts (Hammer, screwdriver, awl, pliers). For electrical items, a bit more "stuff" is needed (soldering iron, multimeter), but still there are enough people interested that it can in the house.
Electronics, now is basically "when it breaks, it's trash" (although there are groups of people who are dedicated to restoring 1990s vintage computers - probably the last generation where a steady hand with a soldering iron could still work, and the motherboards weren't multi-layer)
I know that defamation suits can be filed (and sometimes even won) even if the information being published is true... but it's my understanding that in the case where the published information is true, the onus is on the person who is suing to show that the *intent* of the publishers was to actually defame them... which of course is quite difficult to do in court. They would have to, using factual evidence, show how it was somehow considerably more probable that there was actually any malicious intent on the publisher's part than any claim the publisher the might make to contrary being true.
Or, in short, to prove defamation, [citation needed]
Yup, naming ranges has dug me out of a (self-inflicted) debugging hole on more than one occasion.
I find that another good rule of thumb is "do stuff (functions, documentation, formulae) so you can understand it in 6 months' time"
It's when someone asks me "can you just add a few bits on to this one you created?" for something I did literally years ago. That's when a good structured basis saves so much time.
Of course, sometimes I wonder "What was I thinking, when I did that?"...
Spreadsheets are like a blank piece of paper with grid squares. Which means you can put anything down, tied together with some formulae, and it's brilliant.
Which is also why it's complete pants - the "anything goes" really does mean that.
(That, and it will tend to break when you most rely on it)
"I wonder how many CEOs actually believe in this drivel..."
Too many, because they themselves run on high-octane fuel all day
Except, of course, that they don't run high-octane, as they have delegated everything down to the workforce.
The best bosses are the ones who know that they have delegated stuff, and (even better) avoid the "presenteesim" culture by deliberately knocking off work at sensible times (meaning the workforce can do likewise).
The worst are the ones who really think that they doing all the work (like it was back when they were in charge of a tiny operation), rather than realising that they are now part of a large organisation and have grown the company in order to delegate the workload.
"off task probably half the day" Which means that you are "on task" around half the day.
Wow! You rock!
Seriously, on a project management course some years ago, it was pointed out that the best individuals within an organisation can devote about 50% of their time to a task. The rest is taken up with (non-task) phone calls, meetings with others, summaries to your boss, and "personal needs breaks" (and lunch!), and so forth.
The "average" worker can be expected to devote 33% of their time to the task, as they also have to contend with IT issues, "other worker" issues and sheer "I need some downtime" type stuff.
So, if the article suggests "12 doing the work of 10" then that's an unrealistic 80% "on task".
Now, if it was "12 doing the work of 3", then there would be a case.
Until they shut down or start holding your data for ransom...
This story is a perfect example of why I will never trust cloud storage.
True enough - I use it as a means for people to view stuff of mine, without having to send them a large email. But I retain the originals on my own machine.
(And currently migrating a number of club newsletters from UbuntuOne to Dropbox. If Dropbox dies, then I still have the originals)
So, they are going to take down or block all the assorted unsavoury government web sites?
Or better still they clearly need to block themselves in perpetuity (to quote from one of their former "dear leaders", it would deny them the "oxygen of publicity")
Since the requirement was pushed for by politicians (the "won't someone think of the children" view), then the websites of all political parties should be blocked under the same filters until they realise that automated blacklist/whitelist filtering will never work 100% of the way it is expected.
Many of the comments are of the "I need a real machine to do..." kind.
However, there are roughly 2,900,000 Slashdot IDs out there, and, even if 100% of them required the "heavy lifting" of a "real" machine (which they don't...), then the sales figures (http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2623415) show that, in computing terms, Slashdotters are part of the 1%, and hence, despite the vociferous arguments, you (we) are a tiny minority.
Worldwide smartphone sales to end users reached 250.2 million units, up 45.8 percent from the third quarter of 2012
Nearly 90 times the/. list (which took years to build up) created in the last 3 months?
Face it, the PC is dying, not because it's not being used (in the areas that always used to use it), but because it's being overtaken by the "not a PC" uses
It's not just tablets, organisations everywhere have for years been deploying new technology that brings with it the promise of improved productivity. In reality it often does not... You take old hardware and old software that works just fine, and spend a fortune replacing it with new faster hardware running new slower software.
(should be +5 insightful right there) There have been many companies *cough* Microsoft *cough* whose stock answer since the early 1990s has been "throw more hardware at the problem" (because of the implicit "our new software soaks up so much more system resources than the old stuff, that you'll need it"). It's only in the last few years that the hardware has overtaken the software so much that people forget how bad the "new stuff isn't any faster than the old stuff" had got.
instead of the software supporting the business, the business has to adapt to the way the software works.
A previous boss of mine (company director) stated "the needs of the business dictate the IT required. Not the other way round" Unfortunately, there are so many instances of the IT tail wagging the business dog that it really isn't funny any more (as if it ever was). Sharepoint, I'm looking at you, here (amongst many others on the wall of shame)
Slashdot Mirror
Must stop skim reading.... I read that as "Apple just open sourced sex"
A long time ago, MS automatically installed IE and enabled it as the default browser. Doing that killed Netscape because users no longer had to find a web browser.
Even worse, MS claimed that the browser (IE 4.0) and the OS (Win 98) were so entwined that it would be "impossible" to uninstall the browser. And they were believed by the anti-trust lawyers, even though there was a hidden folder labelled "Uninstall IE4"
And yet oddly enough, few question the Microsoft default setting of 42 days
Maybe that was to give you a week to remember to reboot the machine before being locked out, as Win95 and early Win98 would only manage an uptime of 49.7 days before becoming unresponsive
https://sites.google.com/site/...
(The mouse pointer would move, but no click, double-click or right click actions would work)
..Which is why they didn't notice the dupe from a month ago.
https://tech.slashdot.org/stor...
Or 2 years ago, even.
FTFURL: ...slashdot.org/story/14/04/29... means it was 29 April 2014
Some years back, Virgin Airlines accused British Airways of "dirty tricks", which included unauthorised access to the Virgin (rented) space on the BA bookings computer
http://law.justia.com/cases/fe...
VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS LIMITED, Plaintiff,
v.
BRITISH AIRWAYS PLC, Defendant.
No. 93 Civ. 7270 (MGC).
United States District Court, S.D. New York.
December 30, 1994.
Would you have read it if there hadn't been?
IMO, the biggest problem with the current crop of mobile fingerprint sensors isn't the devices, sensors or software, it's the users' perception of them as very high security. They're not. They're relatively weak, but highly convenient security. As long as people don't expect too much from them, they're awesome.
Just a pity that many of the advocates of biometrics have convinced themselves (and hence aim to convince others) that they are high security, rather than convenient security.
that there is always a catch.
So, what's the catch?
At the moment - availability.
Not yet determined - cost
Parental neglect laws don't apply when you are the Prime Minister, though...
http://i2.mirror.co.uk/incomin...
I mean, what kind of person leaves their 8-year old behind in the pub because they forgot about them?
Interesting to hear more about the different kinds of photodiodes - my knowledge was far more superficial (coming from hobbyist magazines, that tended not to go into the details)
I remember back in the 80s that light meters in cameras used to use Silicon (SPD - Silicon Photo Diode), but then they all started using Gallium Arsenide (GASP - Gallium Arsenide Photo Diode), as it reacted faster (presumably because of the lower resistance).
There was even talk back then about making Gallium based semi-conductors, for the same reason.
Good to see it coming to fruition
What's Gallium Nitrade?
It's like lemonade, only 100 times better...
Best thread summary of the year (OK, so the year is still young...)
Seriously though, most houses will have a toolbox with sufficient "stuff" to at least make a stab at fixing mechanical parts (Hammer, screwdriver, awl, pliers). For electrical items, a bit more "stuff" is needed (soldering iron, multimeter), but still there are enough people interested that it can in the house.
Electronics, now is basically "when it breaks, it's trash" (although there are groups of people who are dedicated to restoring 1990s vintage computers - probably the last generation where a steady hand with a soldering iron could still work, and the motherboards weren't multi-layer)
I know that defamation suits can be filed (and sometimes even won) even if the information being published is true... but it's my understanding that in the case where the published information is true, the onus is on the person who is suing to show that the *intent* of the publishers was to actually defame them... which of course is quite difficult to do in court. They would have to, using factual evidence, show how it was somehow considerably more probable that there was actually any malicious intent on the publisher's part than any claim the publisher the might make to contrary being true.
Or, in short, to prove defamation, [citation needed]
Yup, naming ranges has dug me out of a (self-inflicted) debugging hole on more than one occasion.
I find that another good rule of thumb is "do stuff (functions, documentation, formulae) so you can understand it in 6 months' time"
It's when someone asks me "can you just add a few bits on to this one you created?" for something I did literally years ago. That's when a good structured basis saves so much time.
Of course, sometimes I wonder "What was I thinking, when I did that?"...
Spreadsheets are like a blank piece of paper with grid squares. Which means you can put anything down, tied together with some formulae, and it's brilliant.
Which is also why it's complete pants - the "anything goes" really does mean that.
(That, and it will tend to break when you most rely on it)
"I wonder how many CEOs actually believe in this drivel..."
Too many, because they themselves run on high-octane fuel all day
Except, of course, that they don't run high-octane, as they have delegated everything down to the workforce.
The best bosses are the ones who know that they have delegated stuff, and (even better) avoid the "presenteesim" culture by deliberately knocking off work at sensible times (meaning the workforce can do likewise).
The worst are the ones who really think that they doing all the work (like it was back when they were in charge of a tiny operation), rather than realising that they are now part of a large organisation and have grown the company in order to delegate the workload.
"off task probably half the day"
Which means that you are "on task" around half the day.
Wow! You rock!
Seriously, on a project management course some years ago, it was pointed out that the best individuals within an organisation can devote about 50% of their time to a task. The rest is taken up with (non-task) phone calls, meetings with others, summaries to your boss, and "personal needs breaks" (and lunch!), and so forth.
The "average" worker can be expected to devote 33% of their time to the task, as they also have to contend with IT issues, "other worker" issues and sheer "I need some downtime" type stuff.
So, if the article suggests "12 doing the work of 10" then that's an unrealistic 80% "on task".
Now, if it was "12 doing the work of 3", then there would be a case.
Until they shut down or start holding your data for ransom...
This story is a perfect example of why I will never trust cloud storage.
True enough - I use it as a means for people to view stuff of mine, without having to send them a large email. But I retain the originals on my own machine.
(And currently migrating a number of club newsletters from UbuntuOne to Dropbox. If Dropbox dies, then I still have the originals)
So, they are going to take down or block all the assorted unsavoury government web sites?
Or better still they clearly need to block themselves in perpetuity (to quote from one of their former "dear leaders", it would deny them the "oxygen of publicity")
I looked at the beta, and thought "I'll give it a go"
And then found the large default font, the lack of auto-copying the OP subject and the general "messiness" of it all too painful.
Just as well I had the classic in another tab...
I'd say they are becoming more like "Buy N Large" from Wall-E - all pervasive, all providing.
Since the requirement was pushed for by politicians (the "won't someone think of the children" view), then the websites of all political parties should be blocked under the same filters until they realise that automated blacklist/whitelist filtering will never work 100% of the way it is expected.
Many of the comments are of the "I need a real machine to do..." kind.
However, there are roughly 2,900,000 Slashdot IDs out there, and, even if 100% of them required the "heavy lifting" of a "real" machine (which they don't...), then the sales figures (http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2623415) show that, in computing terms, Slashdotters are part of the 1%, and hence, despite the vociferous arguments, you (we) are a tiny minority.
Nearly 90 times the /. list (which took years to build up) created in the last 3 months?
Face it, the PC is dying, not because it's not being used (in the areas that always used to use it), but because it's being overtaken by the "not a PC" uses
It's not just tablets, organisations everywhere have for years been deploying new technology that brings with it the promise of improved productivity. In reality it often does not... You take old hardware and old software that works just fine, and spend a fortune replacing it with new faster hardware running new slower software.
(should be +5 insightful right there)
There have been many companies *cough* Microsoft *cough* whose stock answer since the early 1990s has been "throw more hardware at the problem" (because of the implicit "our new software soaks up so much more system resources than the old stuff, that you'll need it").
It's only in the last few years that the hardware has overtaken the software so much that people forget how bad the "new stuff isn't any faster than the old stuff" had got.
instead of the software supporting the business, the business has to adapt to the way the software works.
A previous boss of mine (company director) stated "the needs of the business dictate the IT required. Not the other way round" Unfortunately, there are so many instances of the IT tail wagging the business dog that it really isn't funny any more (as if it ever was). Sharepoint, I'm looking at you, here (amongst many others on the wall of shame)