I'm reminded of watching a movie years ago when I moved to LA. The neighbourhood I moved to was fairly well-to-do, but still had a certain pre-yuppie bohemian charm to it. These were the days before Starbucks was on every street corner. The local theatre, don't remember whether it was independent or part of a small chain, was fairly large and it was where the locals went.
When the film began, there were the usual previews, of course, but then a lengthy ad appeared for The LA Times. The Friday night crowd burst out in a chorus of hisses and loud booing (in response to the ad, and to the LA Times), and I was only to happy to join in. If I had been in the Westwood area (where the film industry concentrated its attention at the time), the only reaction would be the munching of popcorn. The movie itself I don't remember, but what struck me about that experience was realising that not only had I moved to the "right" neighbourhood, but also that shared public experiences could me more profound and lasting than solitary ones.
My experience was probably little different than what the ordinary folks in east Texas feel when they attend Friday services for the local religeon, high school football. By comparison, the on-line equivalent of posting emotionally-charged comments to a blog, or participating in a Slashdot flame-fest, doesn't really compare. Then again, not all things invite public participation, and not all movies should be watched in public. Local zoning and vice laws notwithstanding, I'd bet this is something that even Pee Wee Herman has learned.
Now for entertainment sake, that's fine. In this case however, many of the videos were meant to be informative or persuasive instead of strictly entertainment.
It's worth noting that what typically passes for discussion and commentary on AM radio is meant to be informative and persuasive, but invariably amounts to little more than half-truths, distortions and nutty theories.
For those able to distance themselves from the "talk radio" genre, there is entertainment value. Only if one doesn't stop to consider the political ramifications of an idiocracy. It's like life becoming one big Monty Python skit, except you and your neighbours are in it.
Protecting children is what parents are for. When we where kids we played in the streets with rusty metal and no one cared.
Agreed, but the reason why we see (and will keep seeing) the introduction of Protect The Children type of legislation is that the parents are at work. Both of them.
Combine that with the toll of overwork and stress of a modern lifestyle, high divorce rates, an alarming number of single parent households, absent or geographically separated relatives, and an abundance of discretionary income for unsupervised kids, and you get the mess we have today where parents have trouble being parents. Or simply don't know how. The burden then shifts elsewhere. In school, teachers, administrators and staff are expected to play some parental role, as does just about anyone else in contact with kids. For those who don't have, don't want, or otherwise having nothing to do with kids, legislation is enacted to accomodate the "just in case" scenarios. Maybe this is what people mean when they say "it takes a village".;-)
So while many of us did play with rusty metal (my favourites were riding my bike barefoot in the rain, or sticking pokey things in electrical sockets), there was usually somone nearby ready to slap you silly.
As for the pornography issue, there was also someone nearby who would, in relatively short order, find those hard-to-get magazines under your bed. (In my case, my mum didn't just throw them in the trash, but wrote nasty comments in the margins!) Also worth noting is that kids are maturing far earlier. That's enough to make everyone nervous. The fact that the internet allows them to be exposed to far more things than we did, and with less trouble, probably doesn't help, either.
Personally, I think we should do away with concept of the relatively-modern invention of adolescence. Treating everyone like an adult would remove the need to legislate all these artificial protections. But then, that might make parents equally nervous. Better to pass another law...
The temptation to cash out is just too great for most companies. The only reason why Slashdot isn't worse is because of Taco.
I was originally planning on waxing poetic about the golden age of business when trust and respect were part of the fabric of things, a time before anyone had even heard of the expression "mission statement", and enlightened leaders guided by tradition and higher principles ruled their dominions, but then the image of Rupert Murdock's grubbing face at a meeting of investors appeared.
We're all fucked.
Or maybe not.
I think Slashdot needs a mission statement. Something between "To Boldly Go" and "Mostly Harmless", maybe?
I rarely have the time to indulge the luxury of reading like I used to, but there isn't a book I've owned that I've not re-read at least once. If the Classics aren't your kind of thing, I'd suggest starting with something like a hard cover edition of Douglas Adams 5 book trilogy. If you don't read that at least a few times, consider turning in your Slashdot card at the door.
I re-read things whenever I can. Being able to quote some poetry or Shakespeare, for example, gets you +5 Interesting mod points from the girls, and nods of approval from everyone else (even from Sun Tzu-spouting MBA weenies). Learning some history from well worn books will set you apart in conversations or arguments where everyone is mouthing ill-informed comments heard on yesterday's TV news. And some basic knowledge of garden botany will make your mom swoon with pride. The thing is, you'll get none of those without reading and re-reading and re-reading.
With regards to pure fiction, you may discover that certain authors you dislike are really quite good after giving a certain book another go, or, in the case of some best selling authors (cough, Dan Brown, cough), you'll discover how bad their writing really is. Often the best writing is the most challenging to read, and merits a second or third try to appreciate fully. In the case of an easy read like something from Douglas Adams, I'd be surprised if you didn't discover how many jokes you've missed.
Never re-reading a book is like saying "I've already seen that Monty Python episode." when everyone around can't stop laughing because they've memorised every line in the skit and find it even funnier than the first time they heard it.
Because there are cellphone everywhere? But if you find yourself without cellphone in a situation,would some stranger lend you his for a call you want to make?
I don't use a cell phone and don't plan to. That decison puts me in a similar category to people who walk their dogs and notice what most of the world around them is seemingly oblivious to: namely that even moderate speeding and routinely-acceptable inconsiderate driving not only increases noise levels substantially, but also make things dangerous, pissing off and increasing the stress levels of even those minding their own business (in, or out, of their cars). Put another way, it makes for a shitty environment to work, play, shop or live in. Even if you don't have a dog.
When I revisited LA not so long ago, I found it amusing (in a sad and apalling sort of way) to discover that many pay phones had been decomissioned due to, I assumed, use by street-side drug dealers. We're not talking about South Central, but areas like Sunset Boulevard, the Sunset Strip, fashionable Melrose, and the better parts of Santa Monica -- you know, the area tourists and folks with money like to frequent. And of the pay phones remaining, most had been sold off in one manner or another to third-party companies who took advantage of the free market to double or triple the price of using a phone that was now rarely inspected or repaired when broken. If that sounds trivial, imagining putting a few dollars in change (obtained with fuss from a local, hopefully open, convenience store) into a phone that doesn't make the call, or return your money.
Pay phones may not provide a critical public function these days, but leaving it at that misses the point. It's like bus benches and public waste bins. When I was growing up, the city I lived in made it a point to make the benches as attractive as possible, and the same with trash cans. Today, if you see a bus bench, it's covered in graffitti, if it isn't covered in advertising. Sort of like the outside of city buses. Or the inside of city buses. And not too different than that shiny new sports arena erected as a testament to corporate, as opposed to civic, pride. I guess the savings in maintenance for old infrastructure, or the increased tax revenues from new infrastructure, is supposed to make up for a lower quality of life.
Today, I'm fortunate in that I live in city where things like pay phones and bus benches are found everywhere, and are treated with the same importance as landscaping, parks and happily accommodate odd balls like me who like to walk their dogs. Small wonder the residents are happy. And given there's a number of English expats living here, I wouldn't be surprised to discover a vintage Dr. Who style call box showing up somewhere. I'd even call that progress.
With all that the perl community sees in terms of mockery...
Sniff. At the very least, we'd feel better if others could learn that it's Perl and not perl.;-) I'll take this opportunity (in anticipation of the inevitable complaints about unreadable notation) to point out the following:
$ is for scalar, @ is for array, # is for hash
Not so hard, was it? Notice the mnemonic qualities? Much of Perl has a striking resemblance to natural language, given that it's author, Larry Wall is a trained linguist. For the most part, it's those qualities that makes it easy to read and easy to write. And fun. But then, as with any language, there's often a widespread use of abbreviated forms of expression, or alternatively, idioms, the use of which, when used by someone who is skilled, trained, or otherwise knowledgable, is commonplace and second nature, but when encountered by a non-native writer or speaker of that language, are difficult to comprehend and require time and practice to master.
That said, for a language as powerful, widespread, thoroughly documented, and easy to learn as Perl, I do find it disappointing that it's popularity has been eclipsed somewhat over the years. Go Beeb!
For kicks, go to the women's section of your favorite department store and pick up a few jeans that are the same size (pick something that would fit you. Lane Bryant might be a good store choice). Take the jeans into a changing room and try them on. What you'll find is that even though the same size is printed on the label, the actual size varies from item to item.
Dear Sir,
I wish to complain in the strongest possible terms about the aforementioned post, namely, that Slashdot readers might consider trying on women's clothes. Many of my best friends are Slashdot readers, and only a few of them are transvestites.
Moreover, while it is true that certain manufacturers of women's apparel mark down the size of a garment to a lower size to placate the buyer's desire for petiteness, there should be no shame for anyone relegated to shopping in the plus-sized aisles, or otherwise interested in purchasing a copy of Vista.
Yours faithfully, Brigadier Sir Charles Arthur Strong (Mrs.)
Ahh. Now I get it. You're accustomed to lots of real estate. That definitely changes how one works, doesn't it? I suppose I'll go that route eventually, but I've recently found myself going in reverse and now do most everything on my laptop as most everything is running on another system somewhere.
This creates a screen with my default preferences and 3 terminals: one each named epic, mutt, and firewall. The whole config is a bit longer.
Bah. I start with 5 local, with mutt on the sixth.;-) On the other hand, I don't doubt I could spend the next ten years refining my use of screen and learning more about its features.
FWIW, manually setting a title should be unecessary. Something along the lines of the following in.screenrc
should work fine, depending on shell you use and how you have it configured. I've settled in on using bash, so my window titles and prompts are handled automagically by the settings in.bashrc and.bash_profile, which screen then picks up gracefully. The window title is always 'screen no. | user@host cwd' (unless manually overriden by a custom title), and the prompt is a two-coloured variation of 'user@host cwd', with the number of running jobs appearing when applicable. If interested, drop me an email and I'll send you a copy.
I don't remember what the article (or this thread) was originally about, but sometimes it's betterto change the subject and talk about something more interesting or useful. At least until the moderators notice.;-)
Then again, I use screen extensively, and it's basically just a terminal version of multiple desktops.... When I need to monitor multiple sessions in a single screen, though, so I'll open up multiple xterms and 'screen -x'.
But if you're running screen and/or multiple xterms, do you really want a big fat GUI app to be visible on the same desktop? Might make sense if the two of them are related (web development plus an instance of Firefox, for example), but I doubt that's the general case.
As a side note, I've been using screen for years but seem to have missed the '-x' switch, though the way the manpage is written (funny bits mixed in with an assortment of double positives and double negatives), I'm hardly surprised. Thanks for pointing its usefulness.
Looks more like a user manual than a quick set of instructions for a "simple change".
I had a quick look at the PDF, and I'll agree that while it's not pretty on-screen, reading a printed copy wouldn't be too bad. At least no more onerous than browsing the brochure-type instructions you get with many consumer products (Linksys routers, for example).
For comparison's sake, the similar changeover by ATT for their customers was handled by a Yahoo-bot (I'm not making that up) email advisory:
Dear AT&T Yahoo! Customer:
We noticed that you are accessing email using non-secure settings in your email software.
We would like to ensure that your AT&T Yahoo! Member ID, password, and email messages are transmitted securely between your mail software (such as Outlook or Outlook Express) and the AT&T Yahoo! Mail servers. In order to meet this need, please enable [1]SSL via the [2]instructions that are available on the Help site. Since multiple email notifications have already been sent out about this, we request that you please make the necessary changes immediately. Remember, you need to make these changes if you want to continue to send/receive email using a mail client. Thank you for your cooperation, AT&T Yahoo! Customer Support
Then again, the notice makes no mention of or otherwise provide a link to download their Equifax certificate. And where the hell are the OpenSSL instructions, like using c_rehash, or verifying things with s_client!!??? You'd think they could at least have included a quick howto on configuring fetchmail to use SSL certs, but nooooo!
I guess whatever your knowlege level is, you can always find a reason to bitch and moan about things being too complicated.;-)
Mashed pototoes:... Use an electric whisk, whisk the hell out of them. Keep speeding up as you go, and keep going for a minute after it looks fine.
The Way It's Done in Better Restaurants:
Take the hot potatoes (Yukon Gold in the US are rather yummy for this) and, using a large thick-bottomed pot on a medium-high flame, add butter while slowly and gradually adding milk/cream (room temperature or better) and whisk (yeah, a whisk, and by hand), everything together. The process should take 15-30 minutes, depending on any number of factors, or, as they say in professional kitchens, until done. Salt to taste. The end result is perfect every time: silky smooth, light, fluffy (full of air), and at the perfect temperature.
Note that you should be using unsalted butter (erroneously referred to as "sweet" on some supermarket brands). Butter is only as good as the cow is only as good as the grass it eats, so you decide what brand you select. In the kitchen, ingredients (not recipes) are everything. Incidentally, the reason why unsalted butter is exclusively used in a kitchen is so that you can determine (and decide) how much salt to add.
As a side note, I'd never recommend using an electric anything unless you want to compromise and end up with subpar (but acceptable to the average guest/diner) results. That applies to a lot more (finely chopped anything, bread, pastries, nuts, etc.) than just mashed potatoes. Using a mixer will yield something that approaches gluey depending on how much you abuse the potatoes.
Open your mind and your ears. The world of high fidelity is easy to experience. You won't want to go back to iPods, low bit rate MP3s and earbuds - I assure you.
And that's a good thing?
I've been there and back more than a few times, and not just with respect to audio. The more you know (and understand), the more discriminating you become. The more refined your preferences, the more the world around you looks likes like, tastes like, walks and talks like, and, to get back on topic, sounds like, complete shit.
Being discriminating is a good thing. Unless it makes you miserable, which it inevitably does. I'd recommend the OP stick to his earbuds. Chances are, he'll be happier not being able to tell the difference.
Maybe describing it in a context that any Slashdotter would understand might help.
Aztecs:
I, for one, welcome our Mesoamerican, Cortez-hating, Virgin of Guadalupe-worshiping, human-sacrificing, maize-and-bean-growing, empire-building Mexica overlords.
Incas:
I, for one, welcome our pre-Columbian, sun-loving-with-bare-titicas, Conquistador-fighting, Machu-Picchu coca leaf-chewing, Andean-whistling and bridge-building overlords.
If its "Terabit-Per-Second Class Connection" I wonder what a first class connection gets you.
A premium email account with Yahoo! with an extra 2GB storage, free anti-virus, and a Flickr account? I'd bet Premium(TM) First Class Connection subscribers get a fixed IP address.
Convenient, and typically used, but hardly all-purpose. The better general option, particularly where security is a factor, is making use of a standard serial connection.
Then again, the OP is probably dealing with Windows servers, so both SSH and serial connections are probably out of the question, not to mention that both are fairly useless (typically) when you need access to the BIOS.
My favourite social network, which I've used for decades, is USENET.
My thought exactly, but it's worth pointing out that mailing lists can be as useful and fun. I'm not surprised that any of the large email providers are looking to make more money wherever there's money to be made. What I am surprised and dismayed with is that so many people live in their browsers and set themselves up to be easy prey for this. It reminds of broadcast television. There might be a few good shows here and there, but the price is a loss of control and being required to swallow the advertising that's thrown at you at every turn. But that's exactly what people are willing and eager to do. And keep doing!
To use a cell phone analogy, I want email to be email and I don't want it to try and become or do anything else. If you can't get the features you need by doing it yourself (non-trivial, but hardly difficult), there's lots of better options (fastmail.fm, to cite just one example) that would allow most anyone to move away from likes of Yahoo and Gmail, or such slums like Hotmail.
Whats wrong with dsl? Besides the obvious speed difference.
Most folks tend to have cable TV, and are happy to go along with using the same company to provide internet service. Combine that with the increasing frequency with which people are using cell phones and dumping their landlines, it's not hard to see why cable is so popular. The speed difference you mention isn't something to dismiss, as heavy users need/want those high speeds which, generally, aren't available to most DSL users.
I have DSL (with fixed IPs), and wouldn't even consider using cable. While I could be smug about being insulated from the general cable mess, the Comcast issue is important enough for me (and just about everyone else using the internet) to sit up and pay attention.
Re:posture?
on
Lap Desks
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· Score: 2, Informative
Not sure if it's because of the contortions I have to do to see the screen through the reading part of the bifocals, or if both are because of my age, but it sucks.
Instead of bifocals, why not have your opthamologist come up with a prescription for computer use only?
Something you may or may not know (yet) is that a comfortable distance for a monitor is different than that of a book or newspaper, and again different than what's needed when in front of a bathroom mirror. Put another way, if your glasses (the bottom half, at least) correct for reading at 14", your eyes will work harder when reading at, say, 36". The reverse is equally true. Working harder and not being able to do the work is what happens to the eyes around 40 and people discover they need reading glasses, a new prescription, or multiple prescriptions.
Then there's the issue of bifocals being appropriate for reading something below your line of sight like a book, rather than up or directly ahead like a computer monitor. Assuming your current prescription is good (and you've gotten past the bifocal adjustment phase), it's possible your headaches are due entirely to the cockeyed position of your head and neck to compensate for bifocal use (limited field of vision, wrong angle etc.).
Sucks no matter how you look at, I guess.;-) In my case, I'm still getting away with wearing contacts in combination with one set of reading glasses for the computer, another set for books, but have to remove everything when I'm doing something like shaving.
As for the OP's question, I can't offer anything useful. I prefer to sit and work at a desk, knowing that the ergonomics apply to the neck, shoulders and back, as well as the wrist and fingers, to say nothing of the fact that "less relaxed" positions are generally more conducive to alertness and concentration. Then again, the Romans were known to prefer eating their meals while in a reclining position, so maybe we're all missing something.
.. I'm pretty sure I'd rather have publically-elected and appointed officials be the final arbiters of government secrecy, and not self-appointed anonymous individuals.
I'm pretty sure you wouldn't. I'd also like to think that you believe in the notion that a free press (and everything that comes with it) is necessary for a functioning democracy. Then again, maybe not.
On a side note, I'm alway amused to see governments (or those in governments or similar positions of power) do things us ordinary plebs wouldn't dare. Here we have the Pentagon refusing to adhere to law by "resisting" a FOIA request. Imagine in the case of a traffic violation, for example, how such concepts as "resisting a request", "seeking an exemption", "requesting a waiver", or, to use two favourites of the current administration, "ignoring a subpoena" and "asserting executive privilege", would go over with the cop who pulled you over, or the judge staring you down in court.
"Not guilty, your Honour. Mistakes were made, and bad intelligence is to blame. I can't be held responsible."
Slashdot Mirror
I'm reminded of watching a movie years ago when I moved to LA. The neighbourhood I moved to was fairly well-to-do, but still had a certain pre-yuppie bohemian charm to it. These were the days before Starbucks was on every street corner. The local theatre, don't remember whether it was independent or part of a small chain, was fairly large and it was where the locals went.
When the film began, there were the usual previews, of course, but then a lengthy ad appeared for The LA Times. The Friday night crowd burst out in a chorus of hisses and loud booing (in response to the ad, and to the LA Times), and I was only to happy to join in. If I had been in the Westwood area (where the film industry concentrated its attention at the time), the only reaction would be the munching of popcorn. The movie itself I don't remember, but what struck me about that experience was realising that not only had I moved to the "right" neighbourhood, but also that shared public experiences could me more profound and lasting than solitary ones.
My experience was probably little different than what the ordinary folks in east Texas feel when they attend Friday services for the local religeon, high school football. By comparison, the on-line equivalent of posting emotionally-charged comments to a blog, or participating in a Slashdot flame-fest, doesn't really compare. Then again, not all things invite public participation, and not all movies should be watched in public. Local zoning and vice laws notwithstanding, I'd bet this is something that even Pee Wee Herman has learned.
leads to a lessened ability to learn from experience
I prefer to think of that as the triumph of optimism over experience.
Physics describes how things //should// work.
Now you're trying to defy logic.
Now for entertainment sake, that's fine. In this case however, many of the videos were meant to be informative or persuasive instead of strictly entertainment.
It's worth noting that what typically passes for discussion and commentary on AM radio is meant to be informative and persuasive, but invariably amounts to little more than half-truths, distortions and nutty theories.
For those able to distance themselves from the "talk radio" genre, there is entertainment value. Only if one doesn't stop to consider the political ramifications of an idiocracy. It's like life becoming one big Monty Python skit, except you and your neighbours are in it.
Protecting children is what parents are for. When we where kids we played in the streets with rusty metal and no one cared.
;-)
...
Agreed, but the reason why we see (and will keep seeing) the introduction of Protect The Children type of legislation is that the parents are at work. Both of them.
Combine that with the toll of overwork and stress of a modern lifestyle, high divorce rates, an alarming number of single parent households, absent or geographically separated relatives, and an abundance of discretionary income for unsupervised kids, and you get the mess we have today where parents have trouble being parents. Or simply don't know how. The burden then shifts elsewhere. In school, teachers, administrators and staff are expected to play some parental role, as does just about anyone else in contact with kids. For those who don't have, don't want, or otherwise having nothing to do with kids, legislation is enacted to accomodate the "just in case" scenarios. Maybe this is what people mean when they say "it takes a village".
So while many of us did play with rusty metal (my favourites were riding my bike barefoot in the rain, or sticking pokey things in electrical sockets), there was usually somone nearby ready to slap you silly.
As for the pornography issue, there was also someone nearby who would, in relatively short order, find those hard-to-get magazines under your bed. (In my case, my mum didn't just throw them in the trash, but wrote nasty comments in the margins!) Also worth noting is that kids are maturing far earlier. That's enough to make everyone nervous. The fact that the internet allows them to be exposed to far more things than we did, and with less trouble, probably doesn't help, either.
Personally, I think we should do away with concept of the relatively-modern invention of adolescence. Treating everyone like an adult would remove the need to legislate all these artificial protections. But then, that might make parents equally nervous. Better to pass another law
The temptation to cash out is just too great for most companies. The only reason why Slashdot isn't worse is because of Taco.
I was originally planning on waxing poetic about the golden age of business when trust and respect were part of the fabric of things, a time before anyone had even heard of the expression "mission statement", and enlightened leaders guided by tradition and higher principles ruled their dominions, but then the image of Rupert Murdock's grubbing face at a meeting of investors appeared.
We're all fucked.
Or maybe not.
I think Slashdot needs a mission statement. Something between "To Boldly Go" and "Mostly Harmless", maybe?
since I won't read most books more than once.
Try reading better books?
I rarely have the time to indulge the luxury of reading like I used to, but there isn't a book I've owned that I've not re-read at least once. If the Classics aren't your kind of thing, I'd suggest starting with something like a hard cover edition of Douglas Adams 5 book trilogy. If you don't read that at least a few times, consider turning in your Slashdot card at the door.
I re-read things whenever I can. Being able to quote some poetry or Shakespeare, for example, gets you +5 Interesting mod points from the girls, and nods of approval from everyone else (even from Sun Tzu-spouting MBA weenies). Learning some history from well worn books will set you apart in conversations or arguments where everyone is mouthing ill-informed comments heard on yesterday's TV news. And some basic knowledge of garden botany will make your mom swoon with pride. The thing is, you'll get none of those without reading and re-reading and re-reading.
With regards to pure fiction, you may discover that certain authors you dislike are really quite good after giving a certain book another go, or, in the case of some best selling authors (cough, Dan Brown, cough), you'll discover how bad their writing really is. Often the best writing is the most challenging to read, and merits a second or third try to appreciate fully. In the case of an easy read like something from Douglas Adams, I'd be surprised if you didn't discover how many jokes you've missed.
Never re-reading a book is like saying "I've already seen that Monty Python episode." when everyone around can't stop laughing because they've memorised every line in the skit and find it even funnier than the first time they heard it.
Because there are cellphone everywhere? But if you find yourself without cellphone in a situation,would some stranger lend you his for a call you want to make?
I don't use a cell phone and don't plan to. That decison puts me in a similar category to people who walk their dogs and notice what most of the world around them is seemingly oblivious to: namely that even moderate speeding and routinely-acceptable inconsiderate driving not only increases noise levels substantially, but also make things dangerous, pissing off and increasing the stress levels of even those minding their own business (in, or out, of their cars). Put another way, it makes for a shitty environment to work, play, shop or live in. Even if you don't have a dog.
When I revisited LA not so long ago, I found it amusing (in a sad and apalling sort of way) to discover that many pay phones had been decomissioned due to, I assumed, use by street-side drug dealers. We're not talking about South Central, but areas like Sunset Boulevard, the Sunset Strip, fashionable Melrose, and the better parts of Santa Monica -- you know, the area tourists and folks with money like to frequent. And of the pay phones remaining, most had been sold off in one manner or another to third-party companies who took advantage of the free market to double or triple the price of using a phone that was now rarely inspected or repaired when broken. If that sounds trivial, imagining putting a few dollars in change (obtained with fuss from a local, hopefully open, convenience store) into a phone that doesn't make the call, or return your money.
Pay phones may not provide a critical public function these days, but leaving it at that misses the point. It's like bus benches and public waste bins. When I was growing up, the city I lived in made it a point to make the benches as attractive as possible, and the same with trash cans. Today, if you see a bus bench, it's covered in graffitti, if it isn't covered in advertising. Sort of like the outside of city buses. Or the inside of city buses. And not too different than that shiny new sports arena erected as a testament to corporate, as opposed to civic, pride. I guess the savings in maintenance for old infrastructure, or the increased tax revenues from new infrastructure, is supposed to make up for a lower quality of life.
Today, I'm fortunate in that I live in city where things like pay phones and bus benches are found everywhere, and are treated with the same importance as landscaping, parks and happily accommodate odd balls like me who like to walk their dogs. Small wonder the residents are happy. And given there's a number of English expats living here, I wouldn't be surprised to discover a vintage Dr. Who style call box showing up somewhere. I'd even call that progress.
I was moved from a single office, with a door, to a double up office, to a cube farm in a call center with cube walls one foot higher than the desk.
Hope you got to keep that red stapler, at least.
With all that the perl community sees in terms of mockery ...
;-) I'll take this opportunity (in anticipation of the inevitable complaints about unreadable notation) to point out the following:
Sniff. At the very least, we'd feel better if others could learn that it's Perl and not perl.
$ is for scalar, @ is for array, # is for hash
Not so hard, was it? Notice the mnemonic qualities? Much of Perl has a striking resemblance to natural language, given that it's author, Larry Wall is a trained linguist. For the most part, it's those qualities that makes it easy to read and easy to write. And fun. But then, as with any language, there's often a widespread use of abbreviated forms of expression, or alternatively, idioms, the use of which, when used by someone who is skilled, trained, or otherwise knowledgable, is commonplace and second nature, but when encountered by a non-native writer or speaker of that language, are difficult to comprehend and require time and practice to master.
That said, for a language as powerful, widespread, thoroughly documented, and easy to learn as Perl, I do find it disappointing that it's popularity has been eclipsed somewhat over the years. Go Beeb!
For kicks, go to the women's section of your favorite department store and pick up a few jeans that are the same size (pick something that would fit you. Lane Bryant might be a good store choice). Take the jeans into a changing room and try them on. What you'll find is that even though the same size is printed on the label, the actual size varies from item to item.
Dear Sir,
I wish to complain in the strongest possible terms about the aforementioned post, namely, that Slashdot readers might consider trying on women's clothes. Many of my best friends are Slashdot readers, and only a few of them are transvestites.
Moreover, while it is true that certain manufacturers of women's apparel mark down the size of a garment to a lower size to placate the buyer's desire for petiteness, there should be no shame for anyone relegated to shopping in the plus-sized aisles, or otherwise interested in purchasing a copy of Vista.
Yours faithfully,
Brigadier Sir Charles Arthur Strong (Mrs.)
PS I have never kissed Cmdr Taco.
Philosophy is more or less useless, and always has been.
That's a pretty dumb philosophy.
Ahh. Now I get it. You're accustomed to lots of real estate. That definitely changes how one works, doesn't it? I suppose I'll go that route eventually, but I've recently found myself going in reverse and now do most everything on my laptop as most everything is running on another system somewhere.
;-) On the other hand, I don't doubt I could spend the next ten years refining my use of screen and learning more about its features.
.screenrc
:fs=\007:ds=\E]0;xterm\007'
.bashrc and .bash_profile, which screen then picks up gracefully. The window title is always 'screen no. | user@host cwd' (unless manually overriden by a custom title), and the prompt is a two-coloured variation of 'user@host cwd', with the number of running jobs appearing when applicable. If interested, drop me an email and I'll send you a copy.
;-)
This creates a screen with my default preferences and 3 terminals: one each named epic, mutt, and firewall. The whole config is a bit longer.
Bah. I start with 5 local, with mutt on the sixth.
FWIW, manually setting a title should be unecessary. Something along the lines of the following in
termcapinfo xterm 'hs:ts=\E]2;screen
should work fine, depending on shell you use and how you have it configured. I've settled in on using bash, so my window titles and prompts are handled automagically by the settings in
I don't remember what the article (or this thread) was originally about, but sometimes it's betterto change the subject and talk about something more interesting or useful. At least until the moderators notice.
Then again, I use screen extensively, and it's basically just a terminal version of multiple desktops.... When I need to monitor multiple sessions in a single screen, though, so I'll open up multiple xterms and 'screen -x'.
But if you're running screen and/or multiple xterms, do you really want a big fat GUI app to be visible on the same desktop? Might make sense if the two of them are related (web development plus an instance of Firefox, for example), but I doubt that's the general case.
As a side note, I've been using screen for years but seem to have missed the '-x' switch, though the way the manpage is written (funny bits mixed in with an assortment of double positives and double negatives), I'm hardly surprised. Thanks for pointing its usefulness.
I had a quick look at the PDF, and I'll agree that while it's not pretty on-screen, reading a printed copy wouldn't be too bad. At least no more onerous than browsing the brochure-type instructions you get with many consumer products (Linksys routers, for example).
For comparison's sake, the similar changeover by ATT for their customers was handled by a Yahoo-bot (I'm not making that up) email advisory:
A bit simpler, I guess.
Then again, the notice makes no mention of or otherwise provide a link to download their Equifax certificate. And where the hell are the OpenSSL instructions, like using c_rehash, or verifying things with s_client!!??? You'd think they could at least have included a quick howto on configuring fetchmail to use SSL certs, but nooooo!
I guess whatever your knowlege level is, you can always find a reason to bitch and moan about things being too complicated.
Mashed pototoes: ... Use an electric whisk, whisk the hell out of them. Keep speeding up as you go, and keep going for a minute after it looks fine.
The Way It's Done in Better Restaurants:
Take the hot potatoes (Yukon Gold in the US are rather yummy for this) and, using a large thick-bottomed pot on a medium-high flame, add butter while slowly and gradually adding milk/cream (room temperature or better) and whisk (yeah, a whisk, and by hand), everything together. The process should take 15-30 minutes, depending on any number of factors, or, as they say in professional kitchens, until done. Salt to taste. The end result is perfect every time: silky smooth, light, fluffy (full of air), and at the perfect temperature.
Note that you should be using unsalted butter (erroneously referred to as "sweet" on some supermarket brands). Butter is only as good as the cow is only as good as the grass it eats, so you decide what brand you select. In the kitchen, ingredients (not recipes) are everything. Incidentally, the reason why unsalted butter is exclusively used in a kitchen is so that you can determine (and decide) how much salt to add.
As a side note, I'd never recommend using an electric anything unless you want to compromise and end up with subpar (but acceptable to the average guest/diner) results. That applies to a lot more (finely chopped anything, bread, pastries, nuts, etc.) than just mashed potatoes. Using a mixer will yield something that approaches gluey depending on how much you abuse the potatoes.
Open your mind and your ears. The world of high fidelity is easy to experience. You won't want to go back to iPods, low bit rate MP3s and earbuds - I assure you.
And that's a good thing?
I've been there and back more than a few times, and not just with respect to audio. The more you know (and understand), the more discriminating you become. The more refined your preferences, the more the world around you looks likes like, tastes like, walks and talks like, and, to get back on topic, sounds like, complete shit.
Being discriminating is a good thing. Unless it makes you miserable, which it inevitably does. I'd recommend the OP stick to his earbuds. Chances are, he'll be happier not being able to tell the difference.
It's disgust.
Indeed. Everyone discussed it and found it disgusting.
Sigh.
Maybe it's time for some to write The Guide To Effective Slashdot Posting: Grade-School Grammar and Spelling for Native English Speakers.
Or would that idea smack of elitism and offend some?
Maybe describing it in a context that any Slashdotter would understand might help.
Aztecs:
I, for one, welcome our Mesoamerican, Cortez-hating, Virgin of Guadalupe-worshiping, human-sacrificing, maize-and-bean-growing, empire-building Mexica overlords.
Incas:
I, for one, welcome our pre-Columbian, sun-loving-with-bare-titicas, Conquistador-fighting, Machu-Picchu coca leaf-chewing, Andean-whistling and bridge-building overlords.
If its "Terabit-Per-Second Class Connection" I wonder what a first class connection gets you.
A premium email account with Yahoo! with an extra 2GB storage, free anti-virus, and a Flickr account? I'd bet Premium(TM) First Class Connection subscribers get a fixed IP address.
I've got a secret for you: ssh
Convenient, and typically used, but hardly all-purpose. The better general option, particularly where security is a factor, is making use of a standard serial connection.
Then again, the OP is probably dealing with Windows servers, so both SSH and serial connections are probably out of the question, not to mention that both are fairly useless (typically) when you need access to the BIOS.
My favourite social network, which I've used for decades, is USENET.
My thought exactly, but it's worth pointing out that mailing lists can be as useful and fun. I'm not surprised that any of the large email providers are looking to make more money wherever there's money to be made. What I am surprised and dismayed with is that so many people live in their browsers and set themselves up to be easy prey for this. It reminds of broadcast television. There might be a few good shows here and there, but the price is a loss of control and being required to swallow the advertising that's thrown at you at every turn. But that's exactly what people are willing and eager to do. And keep doing!
To use a cell phone analogy, I want email to be email and I don't want it to try and become or do anything else. If you can't get the features you need by doing it yourself (non-trivial, but hardly difficult), there's lots of better options (fastmail.fm, to cite just one example) that would allow most anyone to move away from likes of Yahoo and Gmail, or such slums like Hotmail.
Whats wrong with dsl? Besides the obvious speed difference.
Most folks tend to have cable TV, and are happy to go along with using the same company to provide internet service. Combine that with the increasing frequency with which people are using cell phones and dumping their landlines, it's not hard to see why cable is so popular. The speed difference you mention isn't something to dismiss, as heavy users need/want those high speeds which, generally, aren't available to most DSL users.
I have DSL (with fixed IPs), and wouldn't even consider using cable. While I could be smug about being insulated from the general cable mess, the Comcast issue is important enough for me (and just about everyone else using the internet) to sit up and pay attention.
Not sure if it's because of the contortions I have to do to see the screen through the reading part of the bifocals, or if both are because of my age, but it sucks.
;-) In my case, I'm still getting away with wearing contacts in combination with one set of reading glasses for the computer, another set for books, but have to remove everything when I'm doing something like shaving.
Instead of bifocals, why not have your opthamologist come up with a prescription for computer use only?
Something you may or may not know (yet) is that a comfortable distance for a monitor is different than that of a book or newspaper, and again different than what's needed when in front of a bathroom mirror. Put another way, if your glasses (the bottom half, at least) correct for reading at 14", your eyes will work harder when reading at, say, 36". The reverse is equally true. Working harder and not being able to do the work is what happens to the eyes around 40 and people discover they need reading glasses, a new prescription, or multiple prescriptions.
Then there's the issue of bifocals being appropriate for reading something below your line of sight like a book, rather than up or directly ahead like a computer monitor. Assuming your current prescription is good (and you've gotten past the bifocal adjustment phase), it's possible your headaches are due entirely to the cockeyed position of your head and neck to compensate for bifocal use (limited field of vision, wrong angle etc.).
Sucks no matter how you look at, I guess.
As for the OP's question, I can't offer anything useful. I prefer to sit and work at a desk, knowing that the ergonomics apply to the neck, shoulders and back, as well as the wrist and fingers, to say nothing of the fact that "less relaxed" positions are generally more conducive to alertness and concentration. Then again, the Romans were known to prefer eating their meals while in a reclining position, so maybe we're all missing something.
.. I'm pretty sure I'd rather have publically-elected and appointed officials be the final arbiters of government secrecy, and not self-appointed anonymous individuals.
I'm pretty sure you wouldn't. I'd also like to think that you believe in the notion that a free press (and everything that comes with it) is necessary for a functioning democracy. Then again, maybe not.
On a side note, I'm alway amused to see governments (or those in governments or similar positions of power) do things us ordinary plebs wouldn't dare. Here we have the Pentagon refusing to adhere to law by "resisting" a FOIA request. Imagine in the case of a traffic violation, for example, how such concepts as "resisting a request", "seeking an exemption", "requesting a waiver", or, to use two favourites of the current administration, "ignoring a subpoena" and "asserting executive privilege", would go over with the cop who pulled you over, or the judge staring you down in court.
"Not guilty, your Honour. Mistakes were made, and bad intelligence is to blame. I can't be held responsible."