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User: RichiH

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Comments · 1,574

  1. Re:Easy on Ask Slashdot: What Software Can You Not Live Without? · · Score: 1

    Ah, and

    chsh # change to zsh

  2. Easy on Ask Slashdot: What Software Can You Not Live Without? · · Score: 1

    This is my mantra:

    vi /etc/apt/sources.list # switch to testing/unstable and add contrib & non-free
    apt-get update
    apt-get dist-upgrade
    apt-get install vcsh mr vim zsh screen openssh-server # the most important bits & pieces
    vcsh clone /mr.vcsh # clone the repo containing location info of my configuration repos
    cd .config/mr/config.d
    ln -s ../available.d/{what,i,need} . # enable whatever repos for code & config which I need on that machine
    cd
    mr -j 5 up # automagically clone, checkout, whatever ALL the things
    reboot

  3. That design is crap on Open Source Beehives Designed To Help Save Honeybee Colonies · · Score: 1

    Sorry, but it's crap:

    * Uses plywood instead of wood that's naturally resistant to water and insects, line white pine (pinus strobus)
    * That build wastes a huge sheet of wood instead of starting with small pieces. That's a waste
    * Need for CNC
    * Insanely complex build
    * Angled roof, resulting in bad support for the hive
    * No room to extend the hive to harvest honey
    * No immediately obvious way to access the hive from below
    ** No way to check on bees to see if they are all right
    ** No way to deploy stuff that kills varroa destructor

    There's a German non-profit called Bienenkiste.de (literally "bee box"). It's a simply, sturdy design that went through over a decade of improvements and incorporates feedback from professionals. Honey yield is 1/2-1/3 of that what the same hive would get with traditional hives, but they are a lot less work and the bees are in a more natural state. This means that the bees are so relaxed, I can do all my work on the hive without smoke or protective equipment.

    http://www.bienenkiste.de/doku/bauanleitung/ for instructions. Translate into English, the pictures and videos should be largely self-explanatory.

  4. Re:132mph is not terribly impressive on Tesla Model S Can Hit (At Least) 132 MPH On the Autobahn · · Score: 1

    Came here to say this. It's not uncommon to see family-type cars go faster than this.

    I probably go over that speed at least twice a day: during my daily commute.

  5. It needs to be unique, as well. on Secret Security Questions Are a Joke · · Score: 1

    If every site uses the same set of questions that fulfill the four requirements laid out be OP, the system is still broken.

  6. Re:Product Confusion on Google's Own Nexus Tablet Leaks Into the Wild · · Score: 1

    Yah, cause iOS does not. Especially since most people write it as IOS.

  7. Re:Take fewer pictures on Ask Slashdot: Syncing Files With Remote Server While On the Road? · · Score: 1

    > 2-300 pictures a day is a lot

    That's not even close to a lot.

    Even disregarding series of night sky pics for stacking and other continuous shots, there are a lot of reasons to reach 1000 per day. "Birds in flight", for example.

  8. git-annex on Ask Slashdot: Syncing Files With Remote Server While On the Road? · · Score: 1

    If you are using Linux or *BSD (including OS X), git-annex is the way to go. Seriously.

    http://git-annex.branchable.com/
    http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/joeyh/git-annex-assistant-like-dropbox-but-with-your-own

  9. Re:Tom Sawyer Plan on Using QR Codes To Save Lives · · Score: 1

    Not if you are in an area where locals don't speak English. And, for example, neither spoken nor written Latin gets you anywhere in a Chinese pharmacy.

    Still, keeping it low tech is the right thing to do.

  10. Simple... on Ask Slashdot: How Do You Manage Your Personal Data? · · Score: 1

    1) git-annex (if on Unix)
    2) badblocks -swo foo.bb /dev/foo #this will erase all data on disk. If it reports even one single bad block, toss the disk out.

  11. Re:So let me get this straight... on LightSquared Hires Lawyers To Prep For GPS Battle · · Score: 1

    No.

    * LightSquared gets an assignment of free spectrum
    * LightSquared invests tons of money
    * The GPS industry has been violating FCC rules by not filtering out non-GPS spectrum _as they are required to_ on all devices. Independent tests say 75% are not FCC-compliant
    * The FCC performs tests with models chosen from said 75%
    * The FCC states that the risk is too large and destroys LightSquared's business model, assets and tells them they are not allowed to use their spectrum.

    Now, I do get the safety aspect. This is valid.

    In my opinion, the willful neglect by the GPS manufacturers requires them to fix it at own cost. It does _not_ make if OK for the FCC to destroy LightSquared. As much as I disagree with the sue-happy stance in the USA, this is a valid way to recoup their losses.

  12. Re:So people really have this much time and money? on Anti-Whaling Group Using Drones To Find Whalers · · Score: 1

    > As for aiming... yes, it is trivial. The Mariana Trench is very big, and GPS quite precise.

    No.

    > > > There is no possibility of anyone getting it back,
    > > Correct. No one ever went down there. Especially not robots.
    > Three times in total

    Whatever.

    > Not much down there. Just lots and lots of water, and very little life.

    You don't know that. Touching down stirred up loads of silt so people couldn't see anything.

    > Water that takes a very long time to circulate to the surface.

    That is true.

    > It's a perfect disposal site. Deposit-only, no withdrawals. Cheap. The only place that might get contaminated is a vast expanse of uninhabited nothing.

    Based on our current knowledge and even then it's not even close to an undisputed fact.
    As we have vast amounts of experience dealing with time frames that are several times longer than even the farthest reaches recorded history, this one is a no-brainer.

    What is your take on faster-than-light travel and endless energy? We could use some help there, as well.

  13. Re:So people really have this much time and money? on Anti-Whaling Group Using Drones To Find Whalers · · Score: 1

    > The easiest would be to just put it in boxes and throw it down the Mariana Trench.

    No risk of an accident at sea; storms never happen. Aiming is trivial, as well.

    > There is no possibility of anyone getting it back,

    Correct. No one ever went down there. Especially not robots.

    > and if it ever comes back up naturally it'll be long after safe decay.

    Again, correct. The only natural way for it to come up is by the boxes growing feet and walking to shore. No other way. And no contamination of whatever is down there, either.

    > The problem is political: Throwing nuclear waste in the ocean violates international law, and for some reason no politician wants to start the process of changing that.

    Pity.

    I just have one question: Are you being sarcastic and why did people mod you insightful instead of funny?

  14. Fuck Phoronix on Linux Kernel Power Bug Is Fixed · · Score: 1

    I see the sensationalist and wrong headline; the blurb is folded in.

    I click expand and, lo behold, it's an anonymous submission that links to Phoronix. Yet. Again.

    I guess none of the mods will read this anyway, but why can't we let this cesspool die by ignoring it into oblivion?

  15. Re:Multi-step plan on Ask Slashdot: Best Long-Term Video/Picture Storage? · · Score: 1

    btrfs is simply not there, yet.

    My off-site git-annex machine uses zfs-fuse with RAIDZ2 and copies=2.

    Just because I can reasonably assume that one location is safe does not mean that I can't use a tool to manage and verify all copies automagically ;)
    Especially since my laptop does not have any checksumming FS but I still need to use it to make copies while on the road.

  16. Actually useful advice here on Ask Slashdot: Best Way To Destroy Hard Drives? · · Score: 2

    I am going to be boring and tell you what I learned from the founder of a data recovery company.

    1) One single pass of zeros is enough. urandom if you want to be paranoid.
    2) If you want, or need (auditing, etc), to physically destroy the drives: Bend the platters. As soon as the platters are bent, you can not spin them for data extraction, any more. Keeping in mind the distance between head and platters, even the slightest bend becomes irreparable. And as soon as you can't spin them, you are looking at scanning the whole platter without any fancy off-the-shelf controller logic.

    According to him, those are the only two cases when they tell the customer over the phone that they don't even have to bother sending the disks in.

  17. Re:Drill Press on Ask Slashdot: Best Way To Destroy Hard Drives? · · Score: 1

    The point is that the platters get bent.

  18. Re:The most commonly asked question on "Ask Slashd on Ask Slashdot: Best Long-Term Video/Picture Storage? · · Score: 1

    > Every 3 months

    Aye.

    > , never ceases to amaze me.

    Not me. I care deeply about this topic and all the common answers/options are shit.

  19. You _pay_ for receiving calls? on Congress May Permit Robot Calls To Cell Phones · · Score: 1

    I knew people in the US paid for receiving SMS, but you pay for receiving calls, as well?

  20. Multi-step plan on Ask Slashdot: Best Long-Term Video/Picture Storage? · · Score: 1

    1) Never use DVDs. Ever. They eat data like no tomorrow.
    2) Guard against bit rot. Make sure you have checksums of all files so you know when your media degrades.
    3) Maintain at least three separate copies in at least two different locations.
    4) Ideally, have offline storage, as well. Check on it twice a year, but else: do not touch!
    5) As of today, git-annex is your best bet to automate all of the above. Make sure you use the most current version and prepare for a somewhat bumpy road if you don't know git, yet.

  21. Tectonic movement? on Russia Approves Siberia-Alaska Railway · · Score: 1

    I am sure there is some way to deal with tectonic movement over the long term and I would love to hear about it.

  22. The problem with existing [...] product placement on Digital Tech and the Re-Birth of Product Placement · · Score: 1

    is that it exists and you are not spanked to death with a paddle for it.

    This is brought to you by "fuck you, I already paid for watching that flick with money and/or by watching the clearly marked and separate advertising."

    Also, it does not matter if they hold up soap and grin, all people use Dell/Apple/Nokia/younameit, everyone one two and a half men drinks Radeberger or if companies in Transformers only accept one kind of CC. I like to think I notice that crap and hope others do, as well.
    If anything, it leaves a negative image of the company, for me.

  23. Re:And the sad part is... on Driver Using Two Cell Phones Gets Year-Long Driving Ban · · Score: 1

    > 2) Your brain actually works harder in the weird situation where it's got to talk to someone who's not there â" humans haven't really evolved to do it well.

    Does not really make sense, does it? I don't look at passengers while talking to them so they are not "there", either. Same for people in the back seat unless I see them in the rear view mirror.

    Unless the concept of cell phones is still new and exciting, I don't believe it's inherently weird due to our path of evolution. If anything, we should all be stunned into silence every time we switch on the light.. And we are pretty used to artificial lighting, by now.

  24. Most/all of you are forgetting something... on Intel To Offer CPU Upgrades Via Software · · Score: 1

    ...all of you are more or less pretending that this is a blatant rip-off from day one or Intel giving the consumer more options.

    What no one seems to anticipate is how this will change the market.

    Is this a move that will give the customer more options at the same initial price? Yes.

    But history has shown time and time again that once a company has the ability to press more money out of a customer, they will.
    Be it the scumbag OEM who can now claim speeds of "up to* 3 GHz" or similar, be it Intel who may very well run scary-ish ads and campaigns that urge you upgrade or simply "options" which are really mandatory but the average Joe does not find out until way too late.

    This is not about replacing the artificial crippling of CPUs with upgrade options. This is about creating an infrastructure to get more money out of the end customer.

    And yes, if you are reading this, chances are you will not fall for it even though it annoy you. Consider yourself lucky. Your parents, friends, etc? Not so much.

  25. Here's to hoping he is at least somewhat right on CERN Physicist Says Dark Matter May Be an Illusion · · Score: 1

    I always disliked Dark Matter as too magic and Dark Energy even more so.

    While I have no problem acknowledging that there won't be any definite answers for quite some time, a basic principle we simply didn't find yet seems more pleasing than matter we can't find.

    Either way, interesting times, etc :)