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User: efalk

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  1. Re:I didn't abandon Gnome, Gnome abandoned me. on GNOME: Staring Into the Abyss · · Score: 1

    Bloody hell. It's like Linux has heard of the concept of preservation of the species, but wants no part of it.

    Java/swing is sounding better all the time.

  2. I didn't abandon Gnome, Gnome abandoned me. on GNOME: Staring Into the Abyss · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I wrote a couple of major apps under Gnome/Gtk 1 and put them up on Sourceforge. I packaged them for RH7 and Ubuntu 6.

    Gnome 2 came out, breaking both binary AND source compatibility. The new interfaces were baroque and I just didn't have the time to learn them.

    Ubuntu 8 renamed a key package and now my Ubuntu 6 .deb files no longer installed.

    Ubuntu 9 dropped support for Gnome/Gtk 1 completely.

    The only question that remains now is: port to QT or go the whole nine yards and port the app to Java/Swing?

  3. That's how we got listeners to call talk radio on Reddit Cofounder Says Site Was Built By a Horde of Fake Accounts · · Score: 1

    Back in my college radio days, we learned that the best way to get a call-in show rolling was to prime the pump with a number of calls made by station staff themselves.

  4. Re:For the two people who don't already know on FunnyJunk v. the Oatmeal: Copyright Infringement Complaints As Defamation · · Score: 1

    I think he should use the money to fund a defense fund for people in his situation.

  5. Cracking toast, Grommit on Company Creates a Self-Making Bed · · Score: 1

    Anybody else hear that in their head?

  6. C, C++, Python, Java, SQL, Ruby on Ask Slashdot: What Language Should a Former Coder Dig Into? · · Score: 1

    In that order.

  7. Re:Beware of dynamic languages for large projects. on Ask Slashdot: What Language Should a Former Coder Dig Into? · · Score: 1, Redundant

    Python, Ruby, Perl and their ilk are very useful for throw-away scripts, and even small applications. But beware if you're thinking of using any dynamic language for anything beyond a small application, especially if there'll be more than one or two developers working on it at any given time.

    When working on larger projects, especially involving many developers, any time saved due to the capabilities of dynamic languages will be lost debugging problems that the compiler would've caught when using Java, C#, or C++.

    I agree. A friend's startup was originally based on Drupal. It fell over at a million records. They moved to Ruby on Rails. It fell over at 20 million records.

    I'm in the middle of resurrecting the system, and not a day goes by that I don't say "WTF did they do this in a scripting language?"

    Scripting languages are fine for scripts, and even occasional prototypes, but if you need to scale, you need a compiled language. Frankly, I'm not too fond of Java for production systems either.

  8. Don't host in the U.S. on FBI Seizes Server Providing Anonymous Remailer Service · · Score: 1

    When are people going to learn? If your site is at all controversial, don't register it or host it in the U.S.

  9. Prior art on Microsoft Seeks Patent For "Search By Sketch" · · Score: 1

    I wrote a search-by-sketch app in 2003 as a portfolio piece when I was interviewing with Google. And I based it on a 1992 Siggraph paper. So whatever Microsoft has patented, it had better be more specific than "search by sketch".

  10. This is totally prior art on Microsoft Seeks Patent For "Search By Sketch" · · Score: 1

    This patent application is rubbish. I implemented this myself nine years ago as a portfolio piece while I was interviewing at Google. And I did it based on a 1992 Siggraph paper.

  11. First they needed to invent the road on Why Did It Take So Long To Invent the Wheel? · · Score: 1

    A wheel isn't very useful if you don't have a smooth enough road to roll it on. With what passed for roads during most of human history, a wheel just wouldn't be practical. Instead, they used a travois, which basically meant dragging a couple of poles behind a horse with your cargo lashed to the poles.

  12. Re:They're still around? on Occupy Protesters Are Building a Facebook for the 99% · · Score: 1

    4. It's winter and it's no fun camping out at the protests. Let's see if they come back in the spring.

  13. Plan? Here's my plan: on Half Life of a Tech Worker: 15 Years · · Score: 3, Informative

    Never stop learning. You never know what skill you learn today might be the hottest new thing tomorrow. This week I learned Autodesk Inventor. Will it ever help me get a job? Probably not, but you never knew. Three years before that, I learned to program Android, and now I can't get the recruiters to leave me alone. You just never know.

  14. Re:So out of curiosity, on Domain Theft-for-Ransom Hits css-tricks.com and Others · · Score: 4, Informative

    Seconded. I register all my domains with Gandi. Clean user interface, no offensive advertising, no constant trying to upsell me. Easy to understand services and contract. Plus, they're outside of the U.S., which is a huge plus -- it makes it much harder for a U.S. court to seize your domain on a whim.

  15. Always register overseas on Judge Orders Hundreds of Websites Delisted From Search Engines, Social Networks · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is why you never register your domain in the U.S. For maximum safety, host it overseas too. See http://thespamdiaries.blogspot.com/2008/03/dont-register-or-host-your-domain-in-us.html

  16. Uh oh, a scientist lied on Dutch Psychologist Faked Data In At Least 30 Scientific Papers · · Score: 2

    Well, I guess this proves there's no such thing as global warming. http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-october-26-2011/weathering-fights---science---what-s-it-up-to-

  17. Re:So? on OpenOffice Is Dying (And IBM Won't Help) · · Score: 1

    LibreOffice is already a better product. Just let it die. There's no need for it anymore.

    Will LibreOffice read/write powerpoint? Because I tell you, using OO Presentation was one of the most painful things I've ever had to deal with.

  18. Re:skeptical ... on New Gasoline Engine Prototype Claims 3X Current Engine Efficiency · · Score: 1

    I'm guessing that by 60%, they mean 60% of theoretical max. So if the Carnot efficiency for the conditions is 50%, then they're talking 60% of 50%.

  19. Re:Ah we do need Tin Foil Hats on Research Finds That Electric Fields Help Neurons Fire · · Score: 1

    Yeah, I'm waiting to see how much wharrgarrbl comes from this. More paranoia about mind-control satellites. More tin-foil hats. More snake-oil devices to help you think better. Soon, there really will be a market for Thinking Caps.

  20. Re:lol on Does the GOP Pay Friendly Bloggers? · · Score: 1

    Here are some examples: The government makes the air and water cleaner by curtailing the freedom of industry to pollute at will. The government improves our health by curtailing meat packers' freedom to sell tainted meat. The government saved the bald eagle and many other birds of prey by curtailing farmers' freedom to spray DDT at will. The government prevented the thalidomide disaster from reaching the U.S. by curtailing the drug companies' freedom to sell insufficiently-tested drugs. The government curtails the freedom of the poor, old, and sick to freely die of starvation. The government fixes the crime problem by curtailing my freedom to commit crimes. I could go on for pages.

    The government isn't always the problem, and those who say it is are usually the very rich (or those who work for them) whose freedom to exploit and enslave the rest of us is being curtailed.

  21. I just want to know what the aurorae forecast is on The Sun Unleashes Coronal Mass Ejection At Earth · · Score: 1

    How far south will they be visible? Haven't seen an aurora in a very long time.

  22. Don't register or host your domain in the U.S. on US Pirate Movie Site DNS Seizure Fail · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Don't register or host your domain in the U.S. if it's the least bit controversial. It's just too easy for a plaintiff or government agency to seize it. One of the worst examples was a Spanish travel agency that handled trips to Cuba and which was foolish enough to register their domain name in the U.S. See NYTimes article A Wave of the Watch List, and Speech Disappears

    See http://thespamdiaries.blogspot.com/2010/02/dont-register-or-host-your-domain-in-us.html for more on this topic.

  23. "Remember my password" is inherently insecure. on New Tool Reveals Internet Passwords · · Score: 1

    Any "remember my password" feature in any app is inherently insecure.

    Whenever I write such a feature, I encrypt the saved password, but I understand that this will only defeat wannabe crackers whose level of sophistication is limited to running strings on cache files. Any cracker worth their salt will reverse-engineer the encryption used by the app.

    It's for this reason that I never enable "remember my password" where important passwords are involved.

  24. Re:Not just Google on At Google, You're Old and Gray At 40 · · Score: 1

    I always planned on being burned out by 40, but I'm now over 50 and doing Linux kernel development on mobile phones for a living. Mobile phones aren't hard, just different.

  25. Re:Good on Zeus Botnet Dealt a Blow As ISPs Troyak, Group 3 Knocked Out · · Score: 2, Insightful

    All that needs to be done is force ISPs in other countries to stop peering with them.

    "Force"? How do you propose we do that?