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User: kwilliam

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  1. And you're posting this anonymously? on Repairing / Establishing Online Reputation? · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Dude, you just missed a chance to make the #1 Google result for your name a Slashdot article that explains the situation.

  2. Grey Goo! on Amateurs Are Trying Genetic Engineering At Home · · Score: 0

    "We should try to make science more sexy and more fun and more like a game." In context, I think that's the scariest quote I've heard all year. Somebody notify the SciFi channel: all those movies where a killer zombie (or vampire) virus is created by the government or a university lab? Nope, it was made in somebody's garage in LA.

  3. Support the full freedesktop.org specs, Mark on Shuttleworth Proposes Overhaul of Desktop Notifications · · Score: 0

    Hate to be a Negative Nancy here, but I gotta disagree with Mark on this one. Notifications should have actions associated with them. I don't WANT to see "Wifi signal lost" followed immediately by "Wifi signal found". (My Windows installation does this and it drives me crazy!) The only important type of notification is one that prompts a user response, such as "CD burning finished" (action: eject), "Bob sent you a chat!" (action: reply), or "New kernel installed" (action: reboot). I WANT to be interrupted to be told these things. And I can handle notifications that present multiple actions to choose from. Example: "Download finished!" (actions: Open file, Open containing folder) If it's a freedesktop.org spec, support the FULL spec, or we'll risk the spec becoming obsolete. Only supporting a subset will do to notifications what Internet Explorer does to CSS.

  4. But does it run Linux? on 24 Hour Laptops From HP? · · Score: 0

    What's happened to all the "But does it run Linux?" comments?

    Also, will it blend?

  5. Re:What's next? on Modern LaTeX Replacement? · · Score: 0

    You know, someone is working on a vi-like text entry style for Kate (the KDE Advanced Text Editor) for Google Summer of Code. I've never mastered vi, because I spend so much time in GUI programs, but once vi-like editing is available in Kate I'll try learning it, because I've heard once you learn the commands it really is much faster.

  6. Re:Not quite what I said on KDE 4.1 Beta 2 – Two Steps Forward, One Step Back? · · Score: 0

    Sorry to hear it ran slow! But you know, times change. Two years ago, I tried Gnome and it was unbearably slow, and KDE (3.5.7 I think) was lightning fast! Lol.

    I will say that I've been testing 4.x builds for a while, and recently 4.x got a big speed jump for me - I don't know if it was a change in KDE itself, the Nvidia proprietary driver, or the Ubuntu kernel, but overnight the desktop effects became fast enough to use on a daily basis. If you're happy with Gnome though, don't expect KDE 4.1 to be a "better Gnome". Just as Gnome is different from Windows, KDE has it's own style.

  7. Re:Windows 95 called.... on A Look At the Lightweight Equinox Desktop Environment · · Score: 0

    "I'm sceptical about KDE 4. I know I'll probably use it someday, but I'm scared that they're going to fuck it up and the best desktop environment will end up losing a lot of its lead."

    If it stays buggy, KDE may temporarily lose it's lead, because Ubuntu is pushing Gnome so hard. However, I've been following KDE4 the developer's blogs very closely, and I'm confident that KDE will rise above all other desktop environment projects as the best of the best. 'Specially when LinuxMCE comes of age. The underlying technologies (like Qt, Plasma, and Phonon) are so powerful and flexible that KDE4 will morph into whatever the best desktop environment can be.

  8. Opera on UNIX pwns the world! on The Smartest Browser and OS · · Score: 0

    I get a smug little sense of satisfaction seeing "Opera on UNIX" is at the top of the list now. My IQ is high enough to know not to take the test and risk destroying that little boost to my ego, Lol. (Besides, most of these comments seem to indicate it's not a very good IQ test, so why bother.)

  9. Bionic Eyes on Do the Blind Deserve More Effort on the Web? · · Score: 0

    Making the web more accessible to blind people doesn't address the root problem. Blind people can't see! We should fund more research on bionic eyes; make it possible for blind people to see again, and that would fix a lot more problems than just visiting websites.

  10. 60% ACCURACY? Their conclusion is BAD. on Brain Study Calls Free Will Into Question · · Score: 0

    I figure most people won't see my post at the bottom, so I'll steal a slot higher up.

    Here's the scoop. That the computer model only predicted the correct decision 60% of the time. You can see this by either examining the chart on the linked article's page, or by reading the New Scientist version (http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13658-brain-scanner-predicts-your-future-moves.html). Quote:

    "By deciphering the brain signals with a computer program, the researchers could predict which button a subject had pressed about 60% of the time - slightly better than a random guess."

    Slightly better than a random guess does not disprove free will. You'd need close to 100% accuracy. To me, 60% merely suggests that the subconsious had at best a 10% influence on those decisions.

    Did any of you people research this story any further? Google News, people. I thought you were smarter than this. Slashdotters are supposed to be better than sheep.

  11. ONLY 60% ACCURACY? -- CONCLUSION DEEPLY FLAWED on Brain Study Calls Free Will Into Question · · Score: 0

    I did some cross referencing, and learned that the computer model only predicted the correct decision 60% of the time. You can see this by either examining the chart on the linked article's page, or by reading the New Scientist version (http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13658-brain-scanner-predicts-your-future-moves.html). Quote:

    "By deciphering the brain signals with a computer program, the researchers could predict which button a subject had pressed about 60% of the time - slightly better than a random guess."

    Also, all the "predictions" were done after the fact, by looking over the recorded data.

    To be honest, I am disappointed. Disproving free will would have radically change the world - I'd have loved to see the media coverage.

  12. Re:I for one on Robot Rebellion Quelled in Iraq · · Score: 0

    Nice. I was going to write
    "I for one welcome our killer robot... what? That's been postponed for 10-20 years?"

  13. Re:KDE on From GNOME to KDE and Back Again · · Score: 1, Insightful

    "cluttered, nonsensical and in a way, just plain ugly."

    I am SICK of KDE vs. Gnome wars. WE GET IT! Many Gnome users don't understand KDE, and many KDE users don't understand Gnome. Thank godness many KDE and Gnome developers understand each other. That's why many of KDE4's new technologies (like Strigi and D-Bus) are not dependent on the KDE libs at all, but work equally well in any environment.

  14. Re:I guess that settles it on Linux At the Point of Sale · · Score: -1

    POS = Perfect Operating System

  15. Re: RSA perl t-shirt on Body Heat Could Charge Your Cellphone · · Score: 0

    I don't think you have to worry. According to the RSA website (http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2327) you ought to be able to wear that shirt in any country, except "Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Serbia, Sudan, Syria, and Taleban-controlled areas of Afghanistan as of January 2000". Also, it appears RSA can be implemented in only 2 lines of Perl now! (http://www.cypherspace.org/adam/rsa/)

  16. So it's a bug in Linux, not Seagate on New Seagate Drives Have Real Difficulties With Linux · · Score: 0

    Sigh... so the real headline should be, "Bug in Linux kernel revealed by new Seagate external drives".

  17. Avoid getting Framed (via email) on Subterranean Slashdot Email Blues · · Score: 0

    "I'm used to the swearing and the threats but doctoring mail and trying to get me fired was a new one."

    Play around with Python's email library, and you'll quickly find out how easy it is to send an email from ANY address you want. (It's a terrible system, designed long before security was given any thought!) Anyone with the right knowledge could send a flaming email to your boss (or wife!) that is from your email address. Sure, you could try to argue that the email didn't come from you based on the IP addresses in the "Received:" headers in the message source, but the damage is done as soon as the recipient reads it. You've been framed!

    Do what I do, and get a free security certificate from Thawte or some other company (or use PGP) and digitally sign all your emails to important correspondents. That way, your recipients know right away whether a given email can be trusted as coming from you.

  18. I can't help but say it... on Why Myths Persist · · Score: 0

    You should not give kwilliam all your money. You DEFINITELY should not help him become rich. Don't give him money!

    (hehehehe! bye-bye "negation tags"!)

  19. Re:"Self-introspection" on Self-Introspecting Robot Learns to Walk · · Score: 0

    Self-introspection is more redundant!

    introspection
            n : the contemplation of your own thoughts and desires and
                    conduct [syn: self-contemplation, self-examination]

  20. Use Return Receipts! on DynDNS Drops Non-Delivery Reports · · Score: 0

    It's that simple people. Set the "Request return receipts" setting to ON (and beg your email client to start handling receipts with a checkmark next to the original message in your Sent Items folder). And use digital signatures. People do not understand how easily email can be faked!

  21. D2 updates? on D2 Updates, Text Message Notifcation · · Score: 0

    Alas, I thought the headline referred to the incredible Cowon D2 media player, lol!

  22. In Related News... on Microsoft To Dump 32-Bit After Vista · · Score: 0

    Ubuntu and Dell released a joint statement announcing that their Linux based operating system will continue to be available in 32-bit form. A Dell executive said, "We expect to save a tremendous amount of money by using older processors in our consumer models, which will come dual booted with Ubuntu Zippy Zebra and Windows XP!"

  23. What's wrong with you people? on Google's Sinister(?) Plans · · Score: 0

    Nobody's said "I for one welcome our new data harvesting/search algorithm overlords" yet!

  24. Re:NSFW HTML! on The NSFW HTML Attribute · · Score: 0

    Omg! That's... I'm so disappointed I couldn't figure that out by looking at the HTML code. I had to copy and paste it to a file.

    Some people have too much time... and the author of this code is one of them.

  25. Re:Four easy steps on U.S. Gov't To Use Full Disk Encryption On All Computers · · Score: 0

    What does that have to do with encryption? Are virtual machines encrypted, or are you just advocating OpenBSD?