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User: Ponder+Stibions

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  1. Re:Ok now how about an ergo version on Cherry's New Keyboard Switches Emulate IBM Model M Feel · · Score: 1

    If keyboards were designed for typing they wouldn't be QWERTY keyboards! They were designed to slow typists so the typewriter didn't jam! It was also choosen over other arrangements as you can type 'typewriter' entirely on the top row.

  2. Re:Doesn't work? Doesn't matter. on The Wall That Knows If You're a Criminal · · Score: 1

    Use a camera that outputs colour and you can soon generate the desired bias.

  3. Re:That's not DRM on DRM Chair Self-Destructs After 8 Uses · · Score: 1

    I'd be suprised if supermarkets hadn't thought about this for their trolleys - only put off by price of course. Clearly 'analogue' restrictions are often cheaper than digital ones.

  4. Re:So... on UK Court Orders Block of Three Torrent Sites · · Score: 1

    As far as I know none of these have been shut down by authorities since TPB itself was banned in the country.

    I know of only one - the UK Pirate Party hosted one which they were requested to take down and threatened with legal action if they did not comply. I believe some other proxies hosted in the UK may also have been shutdown by similar legal action against them.

  5. Re:How is this done? on High Court Orders UK ISPs To Block More Torrent Sites · · Score: 1

    TPB reported an increase in traffic from the UK with the court order. This wouldn't affect me, I still use TPB - despite the blocks. Oh, and my ISP at work with that nice 25Mb symetrical fibre line...that doesn't block TPB

  6. Think outside the box... on Ask Slashdot: Best Webcam To Augment Impaired Vision? · · Score: 1

    I know it doesn't fit the 'hand held' part of the requirements, but in education there's a tool designed for viewing printed documents on a projector.
    SMART does a document camera which has a built in stand to hold it over the text, an LED light to help in low light conditions, and will output to VGA or DVI/HDMI directly with no need for a computer, so you can just plug straight into a modern TV or any computer monitor. It also can act as a USB webcam as well.
    It does wonderful resolution (720p isn't bad for what is basically a webcam) - the only downside is the price: £450 - there are cheaper alternitives by other brands but they lack the image quality and often the direct VGA outputs.

  7. Re:Faradays cage on Boeing's CHAMP Missile Uses Radio Waves To Remotely Disable PCs · · Score: 1

    Faraday Cages are all very well, but undergound is the way to go. Cave, bunkers etc are age old 'technology' for hiding from all manor of weapons. 2 meters of rock tends to work.

  8. Re:Mini-PC and pulseaudio on Ask Slashdot: Recording Business Meeting Audio On an Intranet? · · Score: 1

    We have a (very nice) audio recorder which is about the size of a walkman and records to SD card in MP3 or WAV formats when the big red button is pressed.
    We use it for recordings where qulity is important so have a high end one, (Roland I think the brand is) but actually there are dictaphones which record to SD cards which will probably cover your use.

  9. Re:I do it for free... on MS Will Remove OEM 'Crapware' For $99 · · Score: 1

    I find the Ubuntu server CD doesn't install nearly as much excess crap. Who needs anything but a commandline anyhow?
    Who, what me use Ubuntu? No, migrated over to Debian since Ubuntu added Unity. ;)

  10. Re:Zero results on Site Offers History of Torrent Downloads By IP · · Score: 1

    I'm am currently downloading using Transmission on Ubuntu with Pirate Bay as one of my trackers. It could not find any downloads on my IP. I call this site out, it can't cope with the scale of the issue to actually be doing this. Even it admits that private trackers stop it from picking you up.....

  11. Re:our setup on Ask Slashdot: Updating a Difficult Campground Wi-Fi Design? · · Score: 1

    I know these aren't the cheapest, but I can backup claims of what they will do, and that they're good. Not mostly using the mesh network stuff, but they do work nicely, and the centralized key management and easy configuration is a massive advantage.

  12. Re:no one CARES what paypal says on PayPal Predicts the End of the Wallet By 2015 · · Score: 1

    ""They" is about the dumbest son of a bitch I have ever met."

    ""They" are". Not ""They" is"

    People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

    And yes, I agree, 'they' often are wrong. The wallet is not just for carrying cash in, it carries your identity which many people are not about to hand over to a centralized database of iris scans, and all a credit card along with your signature or pin number is is an identity. Wallets also carry other more personal things safely - like the picture of your wife/girlfriend/child etc, your receipts and even somewhere to put your ultra high capacity super micro usb pen drive.

  13. Re:Really bad idea. on Roundabout Revolution Sweeping US · · Score: 1

    Magic roundabouts are great fun. Biker gangs are scared of them, and grown men fear driving through them. They make everyone think about things and not drive on autopilot. There's also one in Hemel Hempstead near me, I did it twice as a learner driver. When you have roundabouts on your test, they simply aren't a problem.

  14. DNS Based blacklist finder on Telstra Starts Implementing Australian Censorship Scheme · · Score: 1

    Connect to google DNS/open DNS etc and resolve domain
    Connect to ISP DNS and resolve domain
    Compare 2 results, if 2 do not match, flag up censorship.
    Not 100% foolproof yet...but probably simple enough to create a shell script to automatically go through domains checking.
    Obviously it will take time, but DNS queries are small, have lots going at a time, bit more programming and suddenly the blacklist is very secret anymore....

  15. Re:Caps of traffic management? on Comcast's 105MBit Service Comes With Data Cap · · Score: 1

    This isn't entirely true...BT infrastructure supports FTTC now (in some areas). BTs deal on it is capped at 300GB a month Fair usage policy, but this just throttles your upto 40Mb connection to 2Mb! The 10Mb upload is unaffected I think.

    This tech is avalible to other companies via BT wholesale, and Andrews and Arnold offer it, where you simply pay for a bandwidth you use. No caps, no network management, native IPv6, you just buy as much bandwidth as you want for the month, in blocks of 100GB off peak and I think 25GB peak. Massive downloading is fine by them if you pay for what you use!

  16. Re:Directories on File Organization — How Do You Do It In 2011? · · Score: 3, Funny

    I find these useful, but for family stuff I can't recommend a simple hard drive crash enough. They will suddenly know where copies of everything important is, and it'll come down to only a few gigabytes....

  17. Re:not so easy on Cancer Resembles Life 1 Billion Years Ago · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is exactly the problem: our genes are like Windows, they just keep adding stuff and patching up the old code, and never start fresh. You never know what you'll break by patching the latest issue...

  18. Cat's out the bag on Sony Wins Restraining Order Against Geohot · · Score: 1

    Really, Sony need to admit that once again they have lost. I keys are on Freenet for anyone willing to spend the time to set it up and wade through the spam and porn (like the normal Internet, just outrageous and in your face). The info will stay there as long as my browser keeps up auto-refreshing the page as if stays in demand, it stays stored within Freenet.

    Also, while Sony is out admitting they failed again in a locked down system, maybe they could inform the other major companies still doing this it's an Arms race, and it's always only a matter of time before these keys and details are leaked...

  19. Data is easy... on What's the Oldest File You Can Restore? · · Score: 1

    Slightly off topic, but data is easy to recover! The real problem is when old hardware is required for certain things.

    For example:
    My uncle works for a university in the UK. They have a ~£70K machine for chemical analysis, I forget what exactly now.
    It came with a special 8bit ISA interface card, and talks to a DOS program on a nearby PC. But the PC died. Now ISA slots remained common, they thought no problem....but the software refuses to run on computers which have a processor faster than 100MHz.

    This time around, we managed to find a old 486 for them, load it up with a new HDD, CD drive and floppy drive, those having had problems. When the computer fails again in 7-10 years time....will we be able to find something old enough again?

  20. Re:Nope on Will 2011 Be the Year of Mobile Malware? · · Score: 1

    Will 2011 be the year Windows kills off OSX and Linux and Microsoft takes control of the mobile market? Oh, the 2nd prompts the original suggestion: year of mobile malware.....

  21. Surely the wrong race... on A Klingon Christmas Carol · · Score: 1

    I would certainly have thought that it should be a Fergni tragedy, showing how showing compassion and mercy loses you profit. Bah Humbug.

  22. Re:A little behind? on Walmart Stores Get CCTV-Enabled, Breathalyzin' Wine Vending Machines · · Score: 1

    In the UK it's common to see cigarette vending machines which just state that under 18s don't use them! They're now going to be banned, the ban starts early next year.
    Gambling machines are common in bars, which are mostly open to anyone over 14 years old, which also just display no under 18s signs on them.

  23. USB to game port convertors..... on Where Are the Joysticks For Retro Gaming? · · Score: 1

    Used to see loads of these being offered fairly cheaply a few years back. Surely there's someone still making them or 2nd hand via ebay? Then plug in an old joystick, buying one if you have to, but try looking at your local freecycle group and you can probably get a free one! Then simply plug and erm play.

  24. Do they need TV as TV? on Sidestepping A-to-D Convertors For Town Government's Cable TV? · · Score: 1

    Here in the UK almost all schools have multimedia projectors in all the classrooms. VCRs can be hooked up to show old tapes when needed, but mostly it's either DVD or video files, played via PC or laptop.
    If thats the main use, a stack of boxes for the channels back at HQ and a streaming server. Also in most UK schools, most TVs are not connected to any aerial or cable system at all and do not get live TV!

    More to the point, a stack of boxes, one per channel, each outputting an analogue feed, tuned to frequencies of your choice. I have a feeling you'll find it's how most hotels do it. It's only cheaper when number of channels is less than number of TVs you're supplying.

  25. Re:honey pot on What To Do With Old 802.11b Equipment? · · Score: 1

    Seconded. Set up the system, practice hacking WEP, run a honey pot, use it to infect stupid users who connect to anything open......