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User: just_another_sean

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  1. Re:And... on Switching From Microsoft Office To LibreOffice Saves Toulouse 1 Million Euros · · Score: 4, Informative

    Well, if you read TFA (no, I'm not new here) they have a sidebar call out that answers your question...

    "Software licenses for productivity suites cost Toulouse 1.8 million euro every three years. Migration cost us about 800,000 euro, due partly to some developments. One million euro has actually been saved in the first three years. It is a compelling proof in the actual context of local public finance," says Monthubert.

    So about 8K in migration costs vs. 18K in licensing. Assuming another 2-3K of unforeseen support over training issues or missing features that haven't been caught yet it should be a significant savings. And if you factor in the migration cost as a one time payment and assume support costs go down over time as people get used to the new system than the savings become very large indeed after the three years cited in the article.

  2. Re:Good to hear on Switching From Microsoft Office To LibreOffice Saves Toulouse 1 Million Euros · · Score: 3, Informative

    Most of what I've ever had to use it for was pretty simple so genuinely asking here; is Dia not a good Visio replacement? Are there features in Visio that make it more attractive for even simple stuff or is it that Visio has advanced features that haven't been replicated elsewhere?

  3. Re:Flat UI Design on Mac OS X Yosemite Beta Opens · · Score: 1

    E18 eats all of them for breakfast!

  4. For trivial programming on 'Just Let Me Code!' · · Score: 1

    I find Vi/G**/Make is still pretty simple. And things like SDL, GTK, QT, etc. simplify things even more. Having watched Windows development evolve for a long time I can sort of see what the submitter is saying but on the other hand anyone who ever wrote a C program for Windows in the 90's using the original Petzold books should really appreciate the frameworks available for Windows programming these days.

    Again, I'm talking "Coding for fun, hobby, learning" here, just simple stuff. If it's a business app or something where the subject matter is complex than my feeling is the tools are still more helpful in overcoming that complexity than having to do everything from the bottom up.

  5. 3M on Researchers Print Electronic Memory On Paper · · Score: 2

    Well, if they come up with a scheme to encrypt the paper maybe it will finally be safe for all those lazy users to store their passwords on a post it note. Should be able to squeeze at least 640K onto a post it note, should be enough for anybody.

  6. Re:Privacy Badger on A New Form of Online Tracking: Canvas Fingerprinting · · Score: 1

    Although a bit of a long read, the article about the data collected and what the stat's mean is pretty helpful. And unique among 4.3M is pretty bad. It means you are easy to identify and track.

    What the results mean (PDF): https://panopticlick.eff.org/b...

  7. Re:Privacy Badger on A New Form of Online Tracking: Canvas Fingerprinting · · Score: 3, Informative

    Yes, Privacy Badger is a great tool. It's a little tedious when loading content from CDN's, can make pages look pretty bad unless you let a little tracking in... So I also keep my privacy set to delete everything when I close the browser. I also follow the guidelines here ( Scroll down to the Web Browser section ). It's Debian specific but easily translated to whatever mozilla based browsing experience you're using.

    As mentioned in the HowTo you can check your "fingerprint" here: https://panopticlick.eff.org/.

    And all that said, I have no idea at the moment if any of the above defeats the technique from TFA.

  8. ExoComp, er, Lance! on ExoLance: Shooting Darts At Mars To Find Life · · Score: 2

    Well as long as they don't spontaneously exhibit signs of evolving into living organisms I don't see what else could go wrong.

  9. Non-EU on Bing Implements Right To Be Forgotten · · Score: 1

    You can always visit a non-EU version of Bing to receive uncensored results.

    That's interesting. Is it the same with Google? I guess I never saw one way or another but I have assumed until now that gone from Google's results meant all of Google, not just TLDs in Europe...

  10. Re:Missing information on Pushdo Trojan Infects 11,000 Systems In 24 Hours · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This is what I was wondering... AFAICT the first link is /.'ed and the second link doesn't go in to any technical details. I'm assuming Windows until I hear otherwise but the geographic mix is interesting; are these Windows XP boxes? Is the fact that the infections are concentrated in India and Asia an indication of the many people there that have not upgraded?

    I'd never heard of Pushdo before this, anyone else know more about it?

  11. Re:They should block these 11 IP addresses on Committee Formed To Scrutinize Australia's Web Censorship Law · · Score: 1

    Google of course. I'm sure a lot of Sys Admins recognize that without even thinking, who doesn't ping google.com the minute they have a new machine up, running and online?

  12. Re:Trey Parker and Matt Stone could be liable... on Manuel Noriega Sues Activision Over Call of Duty · · Score: 2

    Oops. Was actually going for "don't really have to worry about [it]"

    Have you seen Weird Al's Word Crimes? It's hilarious.

  13. Re:Trey Parker and Matt Stone could be liable... on Manuel Noriega Sues Activision Over Call of Duty · · Score: 1

    I'd say Trey and Matt would have lines that rival Apple fans lining up for new iStuff of people ready to sue them. But I think in their case parody and satire protects them where Activision is going for gritty and realistic.

    But IANAL and all that. I really don't know what to think here; Noriega is scum but laws should apply equally to all, regardless of how much of a dick they are. I know I wouldn't want people profiting off my depiction without my permission. Lucky me, I'm a nobody and don't really have to worry about! :-)

  14. Re:double law standards on Manuel Noriega Sues Activision Over Call of Duty · · Score: 4, Insightful

    He's in prison under Panamanian law. Sure, we helped put him there (and profited from his crimes before that became unfashionable and he became less willing to be controlled) but he's in prison for violating Panamanian law and was put there by the Panamanian judiciary.

  15. Thordis! on Marvel's New Thor Will Be a Woman · · Score: 3, Informative

    One of the early What If? comics Marvel put out was about Jane Foster finding Thor's Hammer instead of Don Blake. There is a hilarious summary of it here. Not sure if it's the earliest example of Thor as a woman but's its gotta be close!

  16. Re:He cant or wont? on White House Punts On Petition To Allow Tesla Direct Sales · · Score: 1

    OK, so he means Obama and several other administrations over the last ~60-70 years. Seemed specific to Obama to me in the OP but put your way I guess their's a point to be made in there somewhere...

  17. Re:What? on White House Punts On Petition To Allow Tesla Direct Sales · · Score: 1

    Oh I agree with you. But that's what makes the whole petition thing a great PR machine. I'd argue that almost any change people are requesting will require at least some level of approval from the legislature so Obama can say "Oh, I agree and am as passionate about (insert topic here) as you are, but that do-nothing congress, well, sorry but we can't do much..."

    It's not that it's Obama's fault but I find the whole thing disingenuous at best, similar to his campaign messages* that got everyone excited enough to vote for him.

    * And here again there are really no differences between either party, or one politician over another.

  18. Re:He cant or wont? on White House Punts On Petition To Allow Tesla Direct Sales · · Score: 1

    If he can declare war without congressional approval...

    When did he do that?

  19. What? on White House Punts On Petition To Allow Tesla Direct Sales · · Score: 5, Funny

    An internet petition that went nowhere? Unpossible!

    Seriously, the White House petition site is just PR. I'm no Obama hater but anyone who thinks that would ever be an effective way to influence policy is probably still sitting on the edge of their seat waiting for Firefly to come back on television.

  20. Re:Yippie... on WebODF: JavaScript Open Document Format Editor Deemed Stable · · Score: 1

    Next up! A web browser written in Javascript.

    No need to wait, it's already here.

  21. Re:Corporate interests on The New 501(c)(3) and the Future of Open Source In the US · · Score: 1

    That's easy for you to say, you're the Emperor!

    In all seriousness I agree. And comparing this guy with the Apache Foundation is wrong, not because of his summary of the issue, but for exactly the reason you state. The Apache Foundation has corporate backers with corporate interests. Heck, isn't even Microsoft a supporter?

    They're not going to challenge the Apache Foundation's 501 status because it's too well established, has a lot of powerful backers and provides wealth and benefit to the corporate community.

    This guy either needs bigger friends or at least, as another poster pointed out, a lawyer.

    Oh, and Happy Canada Day Eh.

  22. Re:501(c)(3) Classes on The New 501(c)(3) and the Future of Open Source In the US · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How is that different from other religions?

  23. Re:Perl on Ask Slashdot: Choosing a Web Language That's Long-Lived, and Not Too Buzzy? · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Nobody is forced to program that way in Perl. It can be fun and may or may not look cool on a t-shirt but no one recommends that as a way of doing it. Just because there's more than one way to do it doesn't mean you should choose the worst way.

    And to the submitter, I agree with the OP.

  24. Re:tl;dr or because it's about Rights on Baton Bob Strikes Back Against Police That Coerced Facebook Post From Him · · Score: 2

    Just because this is about a guy in a tutu doesn't mean that a story concerning a citizen of the USA being forced to post something online against his will isn't interesting (and alarming!). I've never heard of this guy and wouldn't look twice if I saw him on the street but I will follow this case now to see if his side of the story is revealed to be accurate and what the eventual outcome is. If these cops are proven guilty and punished than I call that a win for YRO.

  25. Re: lol mimes on Baton Bob Strikes Back Against Police That Coerced Facebook Post From Him · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Sorry, happily married. But we'll always be friends!