Re:Freegis?
on
Open Maps?
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· Score: 2, Informative
Semi Off-topic, but I've been making great use of another.gov site recently for the weather - Sure beats the hell out of the other guys with their popups getting worse each day!
Just about every US citizen is familiar with (or at least has seen) an ATM. Financial transactions require amazing amounts of trust and security, yet the technology seems to work just fine in locations from bank lobbies to the mini-atm's w/ 300bps modems in shady convenience stores.
Why can't we cannibalize ATM technology for voting?
Features:
reciept printer for hard copies
speaker and braille for the visually impaired
simple interface
card reader/PIN entry to identify the voter
cash slot to reward you for for voting for the correct candidate;)
So, voter walks up, inserts card & enters pin, voter interacts with candidate selection screen (maybe a slightly larger display than an ATM with up/dn arrows and a select key) - Hell, maybe when choosing a candidate, a blurb about that candidate's platform could be shown on-screen (for that last minute campaigning and public education), but IIRC that's against US voting rules...
And while we're at it, why not issue a freakin smart-card based Social Security Card to use with these machines - I'd gladly replace this blue piece of paper with an ancient version of my signature and seemingly typewritten SSN with something more durable like a credit card!
Whatever... Vaporflick alert!!
on
H2G2 Film Website
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· Score: 5, Funny
Hate to break it to you all, but there isn't anyone in that staff pic with 2 heads. There's no way they can make this flick w/out the coolest guy in the universe!
Instead of replying to this and saying "damn, it must take forever to install software for users" I'd like to ask: Once you determined a base set of applications for each set of users, were there many special cases? and how much time did it take to address those cases?
After running spybot and ad-aware, also be sure to reset the IE security settings!!
I just about railed on one of my users the 3rd time I had to uninstall spyware from her machine, then I realized that "run activex controls marked unsafe" and a whole host of other insecurity settings were set to enable.
Have any of you had good long-term luck with spybot's Immunize feature?
"Users need to think about some of the things they are doing and whether that's the safe thing to do. Users are becoming more sophisticated." - Tony Goodhew, Microsoft Product Manager
Yeah, right... let me tell you a thing or two about the average user.(From the post that became a journal entry)
ACK! "But Miss" sounds like a negative statement. I, for one, wouldn't feel the least bit sad if we're excluded from the city-sized-meteor-strikes-planet team.
What a great way to spread the word!
Excellent idea!
I'm still amazed...
on
Wi-Fi in the Sky
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· Score: 5, Interesting
I'm still amazed at the number of unsecured WAP's! Who are these people!?
Wait, nevermind! All of the unsecured AP's must just be Mom & Pop coffee shops offering free nodes. Right, must be it.
While sitting at my coffee table, Kismet shows 4 wireless networks available (without an external antenna) and each of these networks has WEP enabled, the message must be getting through to some people!
I know absolutely nothing about Microsoft's WI/FI API, but imagine a virus that spreads throughout the mess (er, mesh) created by the unsecured wireless networks. Hmm... and if the virus is smart enough to determine the WAP's manufacturer, it could even use the default admin password to blow massive holes in the router's firewall as well.
While it's not very likely in my geographic location, it could definately be feasible in more densely populated areas.
Oh, and kudos to Kismet for blowing NetStumbler out of the water!
Was I really just visitor #7777777 to the marathon site?! That immediately made me think of FF3 (FFVI Japan) where you'd do massive 7777hp attacks when your character was reduced to 7777hp
I'd have to say the best video game stories are the ones you can talk to other people about. Who cares if I say "Damn, one time I killed a bunch of flood with my shotgun, blah blah" - but when you start talking about getting off that last spell right after Kefka smacked you with "fallen angel" to beat the game with a party total of 4hp, now we're talking!
I think that the same things that keep people playing tabletop RPG's are what make good video games as well: immersing storyline with character development along with the flexibility to let the players creatively interact with the environment. Throw in some opportunities for exploration that provide worthwhile bonuses and develop the story, and you've got a solid starting point. I'd say the Final Fantasy series and GTA 3/VC are good examples of "hit games" that fall squarely into that description.
How does that compare to the Simpsons / TMNT / X-Men / D&D Tower of Doom / Golden Axe games found on classic arcade machines? Amazingly repetitive gaming with uncreative story lines and large fan-bases. What made them so successful?
I just took a look at my work PC and here's the list of apps that I use most often (In no particular order). There are way more than 10 here, but this list covers 99% of the apps that I commonly use (in Windows). Make any judgements that you'd like (or even suggestions!) would be welcome.
Networking
/. login Cookie
VNC
Putty
"Remote Desktops" Term Svcs Client (From Win2003Srvr CD)
GuildFTPD
SmartFTP
Instant Messaging Client (AIM with Aimutation)
System/File Utilities
Norton Antivirus
Spybot
Nero
Ultraedit (Possibly replacing with SciTE)
Acrobat
Ghostscript
Other
Halo:)
Winamp
WinDVD
Realplayer, Quicktime, (Each program is currently configured to turn off as many spyqare/snooping options, probably replacing with Media Player Classic next time)
MOD PARENT UP!
That's definately some good advice, some pretty simple compound interest spreadsheet work will show that any investments you can make at a higher rate than your student loan are worth it. Don't feel bad about paying that minimum amount, invest the rest, retire in style.
Remember that at 4% (conservative mutual funds) your $1,000,000 investment will give you $40k/yr which isn't bad if you're playing bingo & eating prunes.
Slashdot Mirror
Which gets better gas mileage - the model H2 or the genuine article?!?
Kidding, of course...
j/k - best of luck on completing the project!
Semi Off-topic, but I've been making great use of another .gov site recently for the weather - Sure beats the hell out of the other guys with their popups getting worse each day!
That is a beautiful case mod and it gives me hope for breathing new life into my old enlight case... Great case for it's time, but damn is it ugly!
In other words, you're saying that my newly placed porn-spam notifier will miss 71% of "the good stuff"!?! Red China, Soviet Russia... Ugh!
We Americans all feel stupid now bc we don't use the metric system (as already pointed out a little while ago)
At least we can all agree on a standard clock!
Why can't we cannibalize ATM technology for voting?
Features:
reciept printer for hard copies
speaker and braille for the visually impaired
simple interface
card reader/PIN entry to identify the voter
cash slot to reward you for for voting for the correct candidate ;)
So, voter walks up, inserts card & enters pin, voter interacts with candidate selection screen (maybe a slightly larger display than an ATM with up/dn arrows and a select key) - Hell, maybe when choosing a candidate, a blurb about that candidate's platform could be shown on-screen (for that last minute campaigning and public education), but IIRC that's against US voting rules...
And while we're at it, why not issue a freakin smart-card based Social Security Card to use with these machines - I'd gladly replace this blue piece of paper with an ancient version of my signature and seemingly typewritten SSN with something more durable like a credit card!
Hate to break it to you all, but there isn't anyone in that staff pic with 2 heads. There's no way they can make this flick w/out the coolest guy in the universe!
Yep, a new way to do an old thing... Patent pending!
Instead of replying to this and saying "damn, it must take forever to install software for users" I'd like to ask: Once you determined a base set of applications for each set of users, were there many special cases? and how much time did it take to address those cases?
I just about railed on one of my users the 3rd time I had to uninstall spyware from her machine, then I realized that "run activex controls marked unsafe" and a whole host of other insecurity settings were set to enable.
Have any of you had good long-term luck with spybot's Immunize feature?
"IP Addresses Hold Hidden Meanings"
"Weatherbug is a Scam"
"Email, It's not Just for Fwd'ing Memes"
"All Your Base Are Belong To Us!"
$699 please.
I'm glad I'm not Canadian, you insensitive clod! ;)
ACK! "But Miss" sounds like a negative statement. I, for one, wouldn't feel the least bit sad if we're excluded from the city-sized-meteor-strikes-planet team.
Sounds like the event was a hit, great job guys!
OTOH, just think about all of the cat litter being tracked around the house in his furry little paws, yum! Hey, get off of the counter!
What a great way to spread the word! Excellent idea!
Wait, nevermind! All of the unsecured AP's must just be Mom & Pop coffee shops offering free nodes. Right, must be it.
While sitting at my coffee table, Kismet shows 4 wireless networks available (without an external antenna) and each of these networks has WEP enabled, the message must be getting through to some people!
I know absolutely nothing about Microsoft's WI/FI API, but imagine a virus that spreads throughout the mess (er, mesh) created by the unsecured wireless networks. Hmm... and if the virus is smart enough to determine the WAP's manufacturer, it could even use the default admin password to blow massive holes in the router's firewall as well. While it's not very likely in my geographic location, it could definately be feasible in more densely populated areas.
Oh, and kudos to Kismet for blowing NetStumbler out of the water!
I'd have to say the best video game stories are the ones you can talk to other people about. Who cares if I say "Damn, one time I killed a bunch of flood with my shotgun, blah blah" - but when you start talking about getting off that last spell right after Kefka smacked you with "fallen angel" to beat the game with a party total of 4hp, now we're talking!
I think that the same things that keep people playing tabletop RPG's are what make good video games as well: immersing storyline with character development along with the flexibility to let the players creatively interact with the environment. Throw in some opportunities for exploration that provide worthwhile bonuses and develop the story, and you've got a solid starting point. I'd say the Final Fantasy series and GTA 3/VC are good examples of "hit games" that fall squarely into that description.
How does that compare to the Simpsons / TMNT / X-Men / D&D Tower of Doom / Golden Axe games found on classic arcade machines? Amazingly repetitive gaming with uncreative story lines and large fan-bases. What made them so successful?
Networking
/. login Cookie
VNC
Putty
"Remote Desktops" Term Svcs Client (From Win2003Srvr CD)
GuildFTPD
SmartFTP
Instant Messaging Client (AIM with Aimutation)
System/File Utilities
Norton Antivirus
Spybot
Nero
Ultraedit (Possibly replacing with SciTE)
Acrobat
Ghostscript
Other
Halo :)
Winamp
WinDVD
Realplayer, Quicktime, (Each program is currently configured to turn off as many spyqare/snooping options, probably replacing with Media Player Classic next time)
Productivity
OO.o (or MS-Office depending on licenses)
The GIMP
Remember that at 4% (conservative mutual funds) your $1,000,000 investment will give you $40k/yr which isn't bad if you're playing bingo & eating prunes.