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User: sparks

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  1. Re:You know what would be better? on Will Apple's Lion Roar For Business? · · Score: 1

    AD is incredibly easy to integrate with. There are thousands of third-party applications, including open source packages running on Linux or Java which integrate successfully with AD, since it is so easy to do. It is actually a little easier to perform user authentication against AD than against OpenLDAP (for example) using standard LDAP libraries.

  2. Re:First-Sale cuts both ways on Federal Court Says First-Sale Doctrine Covers Software, Too · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Sadly I have to report a similar olfactory experience. So much for the UID/shit-stinkiness correlation.

  3. Re:PostegreSQL 8.3? on PostgreSQL 8.3 Released · · Score: 1

    That's what I get for posting at 4am ;) You're right of course. But I don't suppose too many databases are engineered for two hundred trillion simultanous users...

  4. Re:PostegreSQL 8.3? on PostgreSQL 8.3 Released · · Score: 2, Insightful

    There are 2^16 port numbers, but there are no theoretical limits on the number of connections incoming to a single port.

    A TCP connection is uniquely identified by *all of* the source IP address and port, and the destination IP and port. There can be many connections to a server on a particular port, distinguished by the client address and port number.

    Of course to get more than 2^16 connections you would need more than one client machine.

  5. Re:Firewall Schmirewall on The Setup Behind Microsoft.com · · Score: 1

    I can't read the actual article, but I can assure you that there is a firewall in place for ms.com.

    Hint: Microsoft don't own ms.com!

  6. Re:This answer might annoy you on A Whitelist for Phone Calls? · · Score: 1

    I should add that all these call treatments are handled by the network; I don't manually decide what to do with each call when it comes in; I have programmed these behaviours in advance.

  7. This answer might annoy you on A Whitelist for Phone Calls? · · Score: 1

    My phone line doesn't allow calls from people I don't want calling. If you're not from my area code, and you don't have CLI in the whitelist, you can only make my phone ring if you know the correct PIN. Otherwise, sorry.

    If you are a telemarketer or other phone spammer who has annoyed me in the past, you might get worse treatment. Depending on my mood, or based on your CLI, I might have the phone network tell you that my line isn't in service. Or I might consign you to "virtual ring" hell, where you will hear what you believe is my phone ringing, and ringing, forever until you give up on me. Or heck, I might just forward you to your own phone number so I can waste two phone spammer's time instead of just one.

    All these things are standard features of the VOIP plan I use, which is Talk Broadband from Primus in Canada. It's a delightfully geek-friendly system. Unfortunately I don't know if there is an equivalent in the US which you could use...

  8. Just for contrast on Google Blurring Sensitive Map Information · · Score: 1
    Note how this view seems to have the high-resolution area deliberately extended to show the Sizewell nuclear power plant (in the UK).

    here's the link

  9. Re:SORBS should be avoided at all costs on SORBS - Is There a Better Spam Blacklist? · · Score: 1
    It's not even an RFC. It's a badly written and expired draft.

    Linked here

    There is absolutely no chance of this becoming an RFC. It's utterly facile.

  10. Re:SORBS should be avoided at all costs on SORBS - Is There a Better Spam Blacklist? · · Score: 1

    This is categorically not true. An RFC is a request for comments. A suggestion. That's all. No one is required to comply with anything in an RFC.

  11. Re:It's not funny, don't laugh... on Do Not Flush Your iPod · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Everyone seems to think that was a particularly creepy question to ask him; but they're trying to form a profile of his mood and character. They were asking him that question to help him, not embarass him. Someone who is looking forward to meeting a girl and hoping to get lucky with them is a highly unlikely plane bomber.

  12. Re:Seven dollars a month?! on Podcasting Goes Pay-to-Play · · Score: 3, Informative

    No, not seven dollars a month. Seven dollars for the whole of the season of podcasts. The last season was twelve episodes; they're not committing to a number for this season but are guaranteeing at least four. I'm expecting twelve again in practice.

    Also, it's not a recurring charge but a one-off.

  13. Not $7 per MONTH but per SEASON on Podcasting Goes Pay-to-Play · · Score: 1

    The subscription is for the whole of the season of podcasts, which they guarantee will be at least four episodes; but the last season was twelve episodes so that's probably what they have in mind.

    Also, it's not a recurring charge, but a one-off.

  14. Re:I'd like to see the questions they asked on Britons Unconvinced on Evolution · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Agreed - I have never heard anyone express this opinion in the UK, and I grew up in a prett fundamentalist pentecostal church.

  15. Question for all greens on Milestones and Trends in Renewable Energy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Let's assume that wind, wave, solar, and even cold fusion will be able to provide all our energy needs - in fifty year's time. (I personally don't think that will be the case, but - hey.)

    How should we generate electricity until that happens? Let's assume that energy demand will not decline any time soon, but rather will continue to rise.

    Coal?
    Oil?
    Natural gas?
    Nuclear?

    Which of these is the least-worst to you?

  16. Re:The Beeb on BBC Opens TV Archive to Remixers · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Having moved from the UK to Canada a few years back, let me just say that I yearn with nostalgic longing for the time when I could watch TV with five-minute ad breaks only every fifteen minutes.

  17. Re:Why? on Google Invests in Power-Line Broadband · · Score: 1

    The FCC have *not* "been keeping an eye" on this at all; on the contrary they have been extremely reluctant to take action against the existing BPL schemes even though they are knowingly and actually interfering with licensed radio users.

    Have a look here for some information on the effects to radio amateurs:

    http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/HTML/plc/aud-vid.html

    Bear in mind it's not just hams, but also the aviation industry, public safety, the military, and thousands of other licensed HF spectrum users who have now been deemed less important than the political objective of widely available broadband.

  18. Odd, Odd coverage on Google Adds Satellite Imagery for the World · · Score: 1
    For instance, Glasgow, the biggest city in Scotland gets crappy coverage, while a desolate mountainside 40 miles away gets the full hi-res treatment.

    It's difficult to imagine how we could end up with half - but only half - of Glasgow Airport, which is of massive economic importance in the area.

    You know that Stephen King story with the people flying around in a plane trying to escape the collapse of their universe? These guys might be going the wrong way.

  19. No brainer - Open University on Studying Computer Science at Home? · · Score: 2, Interesting
    The OU is probably the best (not to mention the cheapest) distance-learning higher education institution on the planet. The academic standard is very high, the price is very reasonable, and the material is of excellent quality.

    Since leaving the UK I don't have access to the OU any more, and I sorely miss it.

    They put a lot of work into making you feel part of a class - so you're not studying alone - with online conferences, a personal tutor, and real-life tutorials and meet-ups if you can get to them. They have a specific BSc (Hons) Information and Communication Technologies degree which is the match of any IT degree in the UK.

    Finally, depending on her particular situation, she may not have to pay anything at all.

  20. Take a "regular" high school job on Internships for Talented High School Students? · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Seriously, just go work at McDonalds or whatever. Many talented geeks suffer later in life because they don't build their interpersonal skills. Spend the summer doing something you aren't automatically good at - for me, that's anything involving actual physical work - with people you wouldn't otherwise interact with.

    I promise you you'll gain enormously from this experience; first of all you'll come to respect the dignity of the average working joe, and secondly you'll get better at forming good relationships with the non-geeks of the world. This is a useful talent. They outnumber us.

    If you're as smart and as driven as you sound, that won't wear off over the summer. I promise you the human skills you'll get from working a McJob for a while are a real benefit. And that won't hurt you when you come to apply for those internships in a few year's time.

  21. Re:Huh... on Canada Says No To DMCA · · Score: 4, Informative

    ...what else can we boast about?

    Progressive, tolerant society?

    High standard of living?

    Excellent international reputation - a beacon of peace?

    Beautiful Canadian women?

    Amazing landscape?

    Good job opportunites?

  22. Re:Allow me to clarfiy on Canadian Government Weary of Patriot Act · · Score: 1

    Margarine.

    (This is the only fact I remember from Mr McRory's Higher Chemistry class at Greenock Academy)

  23. I love spam on Lycos Anti-Spam Screensaver Brings Down Spam Sites · · Score: 5, Funny
    I am always interested in novel commercial propositions. There's nothing I love more than seeing what exciting offers are available in the way of bodily enhancement, alternative medicines, and high-return investment opportunities.

    Don't you feel the same? I'm sure you do.

    Wouldn't it be great if someone would create a screensaver that would automatically visit the websites of the vendors of these enticing offers and display them on my screen? I'm a fast reader so it would be great if it could show a few each second.

    That way, I'd be able to read all about their exciting products without having to do anything at all.

    If there was such a screensaver, maybe lots of people would download it. After all, I'm sure we're all interested in the products on offer. And what e-entrepeneur wouldn't want to have thousands of interested potential customers visit his web site every second?

  24. Re:Damn on Whois Record Falsification Closer To Illegality · · Score: 1, Insightful
    > chopsticks were not actually invented (or popular) in Wisconsin, but in California 200 years ago


    Have you ever thought that your view of world history might be a little American-centric?


    For your information, chopsticks were not invented "in California 200 years ago" but in China at least five THOUSAND years ago.

  25. Re:I'm a bit of a maths dunce but on Google's Math Puzzle · · Score: 1

    Or...

    use bigint;

    Then "bobsyouruncle".

    We're doing this in perl, right? :)

    Andrew