Slashdot Mirror


User: sydbarrett74

sydbarrett74's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
929
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 929

  1. Outlaw credit card solicitations on Identity Thief Apprehended By Victim · · Score: 1

    I think one measure that would reduce identity theft is to outlaw credit card solicitation mailings. In almost all cases, people throw away these mailings, and then a criminal fills them out and gets a card in the victim's name. If I want a card, it should be up to *me* to initiate it -- I don't want Podunk Bank of Idaho sending me a solicitation for a Visa card when I didn't ask for it. Plus, think of all the trees that would be saved. And if financial institutions complain that it would make it harder to acquire new customers, boo-fucking-hoo...

  2. Check out Dr Dobb's Journal... on A Digital Picture Frame Without the Lock-In? · · Score: 1

    ...in the May and June issues, the Nisley's Notebook column details the author's adventures constructing a DPF out of a Thinkpad 560Z using entirely free, open-source stuff and minimally-priced accessories.

  3. Rumours of landline's demise greatly exaggerated.. on Landline Holders Increasingly Older, More Affluent · · Score: 1

    For those of us who use our cellphones as *phones* (rather than cameras, email clients, et cetera), we know that cells still don't touch POTS in terms of voice quality. Until cellular meets or exceeds POTS in this regard, I'm keeping my quaint, old-fashioned, landline phones, and only using my cell for what it was really intended: as an emergency substitute to pulling over and using a pay-phone.

  4. Re:A collective yawn, please.... on Is Windows Vista in Trouble? · · Score: 1

    Let me break it down for you, Mister I'm-too-much-of-a-pussy-to-reveal-my-username...
    I acknowledged that the NT codebase is ultimately derived from OS/2. I never denied that NT (as well as OS/2 before it) was multi-user and -tasking. What I *said* is that these features weren't as well-integrated as they are in the various members of the *ix family. Now run along and go take some remedial reading classes. Buh-bye!

  5. Re:A PhD doesn't make you an expert on MIT Dean of Admissions Resigns in Lying Scandal · · Score: 1

    Mod parent up! I have an undergraduate degree in CS, and have been in the IT field for 15 years. I have *yet* to use any of my CS education in any of the IT positions I've held...

  6. Get rid of 98, put XP on those machines, use SMS on Solution for Remote Software Deployment on Windows? · · Score: 1

    Subject says it all...

  7. A collective yawn, please.... on Is Windows Vista in Trouble? · · Score: 1

    The NT code base is a 19-year collection of broken promises (remember, the NT family of operating systems had its genesis with Microsoft's hiring of Dave Cutler and the christening of the 'OS/2 3.0' project in 1988). Say what you want, but ultimately NT is derived from a single-user, single-tasking OS, with multi-user and -tasking provisions tacked on as an elaborate series of afterthoughts. Such a cobbled-together design has reached a head with daily tales of 0day sploits and malware epidemics. After five years in development, Vista has proven to be marginally superior to XP in a few respects, and a regression in many others (witness the ridiculous resource requirements for even a minimal installation). All of the above is why hear about the next version of Windows being a ground-up rewrite, finally breaking a 26-year legacy of backwards compatibility. Why? Because it's about damn time. Legacy support wouldn't be so onerous if we had a solid base (as the various Unices and clones do). Wonder why we hear lots about 0day sploits affecting Linux, OSX, and their ilk -- but it doesn't amount to much? It's not merely because they provide a less-attractive target due to the smaller percentage of people using such systems -- non-Windows boxen now have to account for at least high single-digit percentages. It's largely because the systems are designed in such a way that even if compromised, the damage is largely contained. If Microsoft really wants to thrust a stake into the heart of security vulnerabilities, they need to rewrite the operating system from the ground up. IF they were smart, they would swallow their pride and plop .NET and Win32 personalities on top of an *ix kernel and be done with it. But only in my wildest nocturnal emissions would that ever happen....

  8. I can't believe your post was modded 'insightful' on Digital Media Archiving Challenges Hollywood · · Score: 1

    ...Furthermore, what makes you think you're personally worthy enough to be in the lucky 25% that would remain after your hypothetical cataclysm? And who the fuck made YOU so high and mighty to determine which people would get to live and die, anyway? Suffering from hubris and delusions of grandeur, are we? Get off your fucking high-horse, buck-o!

  9. And people are really surprised? on Thousands of White House E-mails Deleted · · Score: 1

    George 'Duh-bya' Bush has utter contempt for the rule of law, as evidenced by his turning the Constitution into his personal shit-ticket. Why break the precedent?

  10. They're all mobsters... on Democrats Appoint RIAA Shill For Convention · · Score: 1

    Saying you'd rather have a Republican or Democrat in office is like saying you'd rather be whacked by a Gambino or a Genovese.

  11. Re:Yeah, what he said.... on IT Departments Fear Growing Expertise of Users · · Score: 1

    I agree. At the companies where I've worked, marketing and sales are by far the biggest pains in the arse. People in those departments are prima donnas who think their shit smells like Febreze. Those departments in large corporations tend to attract the people we all hated in high school -- the jocks and cheerleaders who, in their eyes, are God's gift to humanity and think they should get whatever they want when they want it. Nothing gave me greater satisfaction than turning them down cold and shoving the pertinent page of the policy handbook in their overly-tanned faces.

  12. Re:Message from Oregon on California Balks At Internet Sales Tax · · Score: 1

    And an income tax isn't? With all of the loopholes, our 'progressive' income tax is actually quite regressive for all but the wealthiest of individuals. FairTax(sm)

  13. Specks versus motes on Why You & Yahoo Should Like This Human Rights Law · · Score: 1

    Funny how our politicians lambaste overseas dictators for censoring websites when they turn a blind eye to our Il Duce George Bush issuing executive orders emasculating the FoIA in the name of 'preventing terrorism'....

  14. Frivolous lawsuit on Can You Be Sued for Quitting? · · Score: 1

    In most jurisdiction, the contractual relationship between employers and employees is purely at-will: employers can terminate you for any (or no) reason, and employees can leave for any (or no) reason. The fact that you gave two weeks' notice was purely a courtesy: you didn't have to, but the fact that you did shows that you're a capital fellow and must've passed kindergarten with flying colours (unlike a lot of schmucks out in the world). That said, any judge with at least one neuron will throw this out as purely frivolous. Your former employer's lawsuit is utterly groundless. They're just pissy that you're leaving, and want to give you one last 'fuck you'....

  15. Re:corporations don't made decisions... on Cingular, Others Fined For Using Adware · · Score: 1

    I agree. It's kind of like a firearm being put on trial for murder rather than the person wielding it. Guns (and corporations) are only tools and implements. Only *people* are accountable and culpable. If a person fucks up, s/he should get bitch-slapped.

  16. Re:Drinking Age on Maine Rejects Federally Mandated ID Cards · · Score: 1

    Agreed. My father was born and raised in Peru, where they had no practical drinking age (he came to this country in 1951). From the time I was 3 or 4, he would give me sips of his beer, and allow me to drink wine and champagne at parties my parents hosted. As a result, when my buddies in high school purloined beer and booze and thought it was a huge deal, I would retort, 'BFD -- I've been drinking in moderation since childhood.' My father's philosophy is that he would rather I drink under his watchful eye than sneak pulls from a flask behind a building with my friends. And it worked -- at 32, I can literally count on both hands the number of times I've been drunk to the point of wretching. Some states are wise -- they allow minors to consume alcohol if accompanied by a parent or guardian (Virginia being one of those states). Americans like to think we are the biggest party animals in the world, but collectively we're a bunch of schizophrenic, perverted, prudish pussies....

  17. A positive move on Professors To Ban Students From Citing Wikipedia · · Score: 1

    Bravo, Middlebury! In my Honours and Advanced Placement courses in high school, we were not allowed to use any encyclopaediae as a cited work. Doing so meant that we had to rewrite our papers. University professors were more stringent -- the penalties ranged from failing the paper to failing for the semester. My teachers and professors wanted us to delve into primary sources and actually do research, rather than pulling out the old Funk and Wagnalls our parents bought at discount from Piggy Wiggly....

  18. Possible solution on Spam is Back With A Vengence · · Score: 1

    The biggest problem is Uncle Remus and Aunt Daisy Mae who connect their PC's to the network and download a spambot. ISP's (especially broadband ones) should quarantine customers who aren't running things like Windows Defender or other trojan/bot/worm scanners. Until such time as a machine can be reasonably proven clean, it simply shouldn't be allowed on the network.

  19. Technicians versus engineers on Engineering School Grads - Tradesmen or Thinkers? · · Score: 1

    Let the technicians and tradesmen get their education at schools such as ECPI, DeVry, ITT Tech, &c.
    Engineers should be educated for career trajectories, not specific jobs. Engineer != technician!

  20. This has been fixed with the 2.0 patch of WoW on Apple/NVidia Driver Bug — Question Deleted · · Score: 1

    Blizzard and Apple engineers worked on a resolution to this (at least regarding WoW). I have a 4GB Mac Pro and am happy to say that once Blizzard releaseed the 2.0 ('Before the Storm') patch, my kernel panics disappeared. WoW was the only app with which I ever experienced this problem, so if you're still experiencing it with other stuff, my condolences. But Blizzard must have employed a work-around, because my machine hasn't KP'ed since.

  21. Duh on Why Software Sucks, And Can Something Be Done About It? · · Score: 1

    The problem is that most coders write software for themselves (to scratch an itch) or for other coders. Coders should realise that 99% of people just want to get work done. Writing software that impedes this is doomed to failure.

  22. Re:Good job UCPD on Students Put UCLA Taser Video On YouTube · · Score: 1

    Maybe some of us actually have a pair of testicles and aren't pussies.

  23. Re:This is disingenuous Media spin on What's the Problem With US High Schools? · · Score: 2, Insightful

    AMEN! The problem I see is that parents try to cosy up to their children and be buddies. YOU CAN'T BE FRIENDS WITH YOUR CHILDREN AS LONG AS THEY'RE UNDER 18 AND UNDER YOUR ROOF!!!! Parents, stop trying to be your child's best friend, and be an AUTHORITY FIGURE! Give boundaries and parameters; punish them when they stray outside of those boundaries. Stop letting your children walk all over you! Stop being pussies! Grow some ovaries and testicles!

  24. Bilbo to Gandalf on Yahoo! VP Calls For a Shakeup · · Score: 1

    'Gandalf, I'm beginning to feel worn..stretched....like butter scraped over too much bread.'

  25. DotGNU? on New Mono 1.2 Now Supports WinForms · · Score: 1

    For all of those bitching about the cons of Mono, why not use and contribute to DotGNU?