Karma whores are individuals, or messages themselves, that attempt to receive feedback in the form of karma points. Often these will be needless information (such as a link to a Wikipedia article relevant to the subject being discussed)
I bought my laptop a few months before I realised I might want to run Linux full time, so I didn't take any of these factors into consideration and ended up with an ATI card, a wireless card that requires ndiswrapper, and an SD slot that I can't use.
Heat is the main issue though. Every distro apart from Slackware maxes out my CPU temperature at 70+ degrees. Only Windows and Slackware manage not to, for some reason. So heads up - be aware that you might have to try a few distros (not necessarily Slack)
So it's been fascinating to me to see the counterarguments. For example, it was said that because Warcraft's orcs have some noble features, and humans some ugly features, the two races are ethically equivalent. And there were many other, similar arguments, which to me have had very little merit.
And anyway, one man's "dredge up bullshit" is another's "start a discussion".
Yeah, I realise that now. I think it was all the hype talk that confused me. Phrases like "giving the spammers a taste of their own medicine", that got thrown around quite a lot, gave me the impression that the only people being targeted were the spammers.
So I'm not a dumb., I'm just slightly misinformed and unmotivated to properly investigate every story before commenting. To be fair to me, I did read the article.
Reshef's Silicon Valley company, Blue Security Inc., simply asked the spammers to stop sending junk e-mail to his clients. But because those sort of requests tend to be ignored, Blue Security took them to a new level: it bombarded the spammers with requests from all 522,000 of its customers at the same time.
It's exactly what I signed up for. Maybe they got the majority of their users before the DDoS, but I only signed up once it turned ugly, and a lot of people here would say the same.
This really demonstrates the need for a distributed version. Not only is the centralised architecture easy to attack, as we saw with BS vs PM, but also it's at the mercy of its operators. A living breathing antispam system was in place, with many willing users, but had to be shut down because the tiny head at the top of the body wanted out. If it was less monolithic, head shots wouldn't even exist.
Tie that in with my other idea, and maybe there's a good method in there somewhere.
The king spammers are too powerful. If it's vigilante action you're after, it seems that the right people to attack are their customers. Bluesecurity would have done better if they'd sent the opt-out requests to the companies being advertised.
This person has received a promotional email advertising your product, and is not interested in it. They have authorised us to advise you of this on their behalf. Please inform your advertising provider of this and ask them to remove this user from their list.
And underground, it'd be also be helpful to DDoS the fuckers. The problem with that is that the dickhead 13 year old kids running the botnets don't care about spam.
People read too much into the word 'laptop'. All the non-English languages I know anything about don't have the 'put it on your lap' connection in their word for laptop.
That being said, my laptop averages between 50 and 60 degrees, and yet I can easily use it on my lap. It's simple, you just rest it on a long, thin hardback book. That way you don't block the fans and it doesn't burn you.
And before anyone does the 'back in the day' speech, I also have an old Compaq laptop which doesn't run particularly hot and doesn't have fans on the bottom, and yet I can't use that on anything but a desk because of its sheer weight. Laptops have never really been for peoples' laps.
For those of us who don't use Firefox, it's easier and way more satisfying to blacklist those domains completely. Tacoda.net could be in the business of giving away free signed copies of Windows 98 to 3rd world puppies for all I know, but as far as I'm concerned they've dirtied their name with the crappy type of advertising, and I don't want to see anything from their servers. It'll be an annoying day when google catches on and brings google-analytics.com under google.co.uk, though.
Be careful of the steady leak of information that most people go through. After registering on a few forums and stuff like that, it's amazing how much information you can release in a short space of time. After that, your data is only a small search away. Even though I've only used this URL and alias for a short while, it already leads to a Frappr map of users of ##slackware on freenode, with my general location and a photo... someone who really knew what they were doing could whois my site and then they'd have my full name, mobile phone number and my soon to be ex-address.
Sometimes I worry that so much of my data is so freely available, but then I always remember that people routinely provide even more when advertising their business or service. But even so, what do you guys think? Should I take some of that data off the net?
Earlier this year, I was significantly less knowledgeable in webdesign. And I had quite a hostile attitude towards standards zealots. Heh, that page even has a load of factual errors that must have really clouded my judgement on the whole issue, not to mention the stupid ideas (don't you just hate reading old blog posts?).
A lot of stuff has changed since then. My site has a new URL, it now carries a basic doctype and a lone meta tag.
I've developed my ideas a lot since then, through discussion about this issue on Slashdot, coincidentally, but my overall opinion is still that if the HTML is of a good quality and it renders right in about half a dozen major browsers, my job is done. My opinion of standards is that they aren't black and white. There are two layers to almost every rule and standard: the beautiful theoretical layer, and the beaten and twisted practical layer. My 'validators' are the very programs people will use to view my work. Internet Explorer, Firefox, Konqueror and so on.
I think people like the W3C validator because it pats them on the back and gives them big green 'YOU WIN' feedback. It's a way to have something tell you that you made a good site without taking into account the content and aesthetics, which for some people is a crutch.
Obviously there's a balance between these two sides, one which I have yet to reach. My experience is that the real experts don't tend to have extreme views on stuff like this. An extreme view impairs your ability to know when to use the tool for its intended purpose.
Some people will do the typical Slashdot thing with this, which is to take everything you disagree with as a sign that the person who said it is evil or a dickhead. The reality is that there are different kinds of pathetic nerd. Some enjoy the inital creation almost exclusively, and others get equal enjoyment out of the refining stage at the end. I'm the first kind, the typical lazy programmer who prefers writing cool new features to debugging. So please take a deep breath if you're thinking of singling me out as the cause of all evil in society.
Wait, I screwed that up. My point is that the language makes up for deficiencies in one thing by promoting another thing, and intonation is as much a part of "English" as phrases and words.
Somewhat ironically, you should have been more specific. English phrases are ambiguous, not the language itself. When speaking, people make up for it with intonation, where other languages would make distinctions using word order and choice. It's the reason I tend to use a lot if italicised words in my typing.
Hey, I'm the first guy to spew the "who cares about marketshare" speech when I think people are confusing priorities. But I say that we're "getting there" because we are. A hell of a lot of work is going into making Linux work for dummies, and I honestly think that in a few years it will be for everyone. Whether or not you care about this, it's an ongoing process.
It's for super ninja hackers who like to change their drive geometry, dot clock their X servers, hack window managers in Lisp, screw around with the framebuffer, add optimization switches to their compilers, program in assembly, and generally get down and dirty with things in the service of serious, expert-level computing.
I disagree with this. I use Slackware, a supposedly down-and-dirty CLI distro, but I use KDE and the only programming I do is PHP. You're kidding yourself if you think that most Linux users are the person you describe there. What you've just described is a Linux enthusiast, and Linux has certainly expanded beyond those. By now, you only have to be a computer enthusiast to run Linux exclusively. Pretty soon, you'll only have to be a webdesign enthusiast, or a musician, or a graphic designer, or a programmer. From there it's only a step or two to Joe Servicepack.
Unfortunately, to be easy to use, Linux has to coexist with proprietary codecs and closed source drivers. There are a lot of GNU zealots out there who fail to grasp the symbiotism between free and proprietary software, and so the Linux community literally won't tolerate that level of ease of use.
Update them? Most day to day Linux users update quite infrequently. Even the more frequent updaters are only on a similar rhythm to those who follow Windows Update. And there are people like me on Slackware who only upgrade every 6 - 9 months.
And as for Linux not being for work... loads of us spend huge amounts of time programming. Sure, inital setup can be difficult, but don't overlook the motivation.
Some kernel developers (Arjan van de Ven and Andrea Arcangeli) are very concerned about the popularity of binary kernel drivers, and see it possibly eroding Linux's freeness, and interfering with the process of kernel development even for those not using the binary drivers.
That's where it gets interesting, because the Koraraa guy has hinted that it was a kernel dev that emailed him.
People choose the GPL over the BSD license because it fosters better software by keeping the codebase free and available. That is a pragmatic benefit of the GPL.
But in this case, it's a closed source binary that's not doing much more than looking at some GPL code. The intention of the GPL is that improvements to GPL code must remain free. It'd be incredibly arrogant to say that these closed source drivers are no more than "improvements" to some kernel module interface code.
They aren't. And even if there was a case in all of this, it'd be the case of one man's (RMS) hatred of closed source software, and it would have exactly zero to do with creating quality free code. So like I said, stop worrying about this licensing crap, and get back to worrying about writing better software.
You chose well. Zonk goofed. The obvious course of action for you is to eat Zonk, wear his skin, and take over his job.
Seriously though, Apple? Quotas suck. If there hasn't been any Apple news for a day, then that's hardly Slashdot's fault. Why twist stories to fit them into the wrong section? Are they worried about losing the Apple crowd? They do seem to be fairly rabid and whatnot - they did a good job of playing along and talking about Apple in this story.
Ah, you see this is just why I implemented this little security measure. I knew that naughty little boys like you would try something like that, so I limited the link to the prize winner.
He has now claimed his prize, and it will be FedExed to him tomorrow morning. I'm shocked at your mistrust of the noble craft of FANTASTIC INTERNET PRIZES!!!
Slashdot Mirror
- Linux
- The distro name chosen by the vendor
Either way, according to your way of thinking, someone's getting undue credit.Heat is the main issue though. Every distro apart from Slackware maxes out my CPU temperature at 70+ degrees. Only Windows and Slackware manage not to, for some reason. So heads up - be aware that you might have to try a few distros (not necessarily Slack)
So I'm not a dumb., I'm just slightly misinformed and unmotivated to properly investigate every story before commenting. To be fair to me, I did read the article.
See what I mean?Ah okay. From inside the Slashdot cocoon, I thought that all they did was to annoy the spammers themselves.
This really demonstrates the need for a distributed version. Not only is the centralised architecture easy to attack, as we saw with BS vs PM, but also it's at the mercy of its operators. A living breathing antispam system was in place, with many willing users, but had to be shut down because the tiny head at the top of the body wanted out. If it was less monolithic, head shots wouldn't even exist.
Tie that in with my other idea, and maybe there's a good method in there somewhere.
It would have been nice if they'd released the software on their way out though.
And underground, it'd be also be helpful to DDoS the fuckers. The problem with that is that the dickhead 13 year old kids running the botnets don't care about spam.
That being said, my laptop averages between 50 and 60 degrees, and yet I can easily use it on my lap. It's simple, you just rest it on a long, thin hardback book. That way you don't block the fans and it doesn't burn you.
And before anyone does the 'back in the day' speech, I also have an old Compaq laptop which doesn't run particularly hot and doesn't have fans on the bottom, and yet I can't use that on anything but a desk because of its sheer weight. Laptops have never really been for peoples' laps.
For those of us who don't use Firefox, it's easier and way more satisfying to blacklist those domains completely. Tacoda.net could be in the business of giving away free signed copies of Windows 98 to 3rd world puppies for all I know, but as far as I'm concerned they've dirtied their name with the crappy type of advertising, and I don't want to see anything from their servers. It'll be an annoying day when google catches on and brings google-analytics.com under google.co.uk, though.
Sometimes I worry that so much of my data is so freely available, but then I always remember that people routinely provide even more when advertising their business or service. But even so, what do you guys think? Should I take some of that data off the net?
Thank you for being that guy that lets the rest of us breathe a sigh of relief that we're not the weirdest person on Slashdot!
A lot of stuff has changed since then. My site has a new URL, it now carries a basic doctype and a lone meta tag.
I've developed my ideas a lot since then, through discussion about this issue on Slashdot, coincidentally, but my overall opinion is still that if the HTML is of a good quality and it renders right in about half a dozen major browsers, my job is done. My opinion of standards is that they aren't black and white. There are two layers to almost every rule and standard: the beautiful theoretical layer, and the beaten and twisted practical layer. My 'validators' are the very programs people will use to view my work. Internet Explorer, Firefox, Konqueror and so on.
I think people like the W3C validator because it pats them on the back and gives them big green 'YOU WIN' feedback. It's a way to have something tell you that you made a good site without taking into account the content and aesthetics, which for some people is a crutch.
Obviously there's a balance between these two sides, one which I have yet to reach. My experience is that the real experts don't tend to have extreme views on stuff like this. An extreme view impairs your ability to know when to use the tool for its intended purpose.
Some people will do the typical Slashdot thing with this, which is to take everything you disagree with as a sign that the person who said it is evil or a dickhead. The reality is that there are different kinds of pathetic nerd. Some enjoy the inital creation almost exclusively, and others get equal enjoyment out of the refining stage at the end. I'm the first kind, the typical lazy programmer who prefers writing cool new features to debugging. So please take a deep breath if you're thinking of singling me out as the cause of all evil in society.
He'll be spinning in his grave.
Wait, I screwed that up. My point is that the language makes up for deficiencies in one thing by promoting another thing, and intonation is as much a part of "English" as phrases and words.
Somewhat ironically, you should have been more specific. English phrases are ambiguous, not the language itself. When speaking, people make up for it with intonation, where other languages would make distinctions using word order and choice. It's the reason I tend to use a lot if italicised words in my typing.
Unfortunately, to be easy to use, Linux has to coexist with proprietary codecs and closed source drivers. There are a lot of GNU zealots out there who fail to grasp the symbiotism between free and proprietary software, and so the Linux community literally won't tolerate that level of ease of use.
Update them? Most day to day Linux users update quite infrequently. Even the more frequent updaters are only on a similar rhythm to those who follow Windows Update. And there are people like me on Slackware who only upgrade every 6 - 9 months.
And as for Linux not being for work... loads of us spend huge amounts of time programming. Sure, inital setup can be difficult, but don't overlook the motivation.
But we're getting there.
But in this case, it's a closed source binary that's not doing much more than looking at some GPL code. The intention of the GPL is that improvements to GPL code must remain free. It'd be incredibly arrogant to say that these closed source drivers are no more than "improvements" to some kernel module interface code.
They aren't. And even if there was a case in all of this, it'd be the case of one man's (RMS) hatred of closed source software, and it would have exactly zero to do with creating quality free code. So like I said, stop worrying about this licensing crap, and get back to worrying about writing better software.
Seriously though, Apple? Quotas suck. If there hasn't been any Apple news for a day, then that's hardly Slashdot's fault. Why twist stories to fit them into the wrong section? Are they worried about losing the Apple crowd? They do seem to be fairly rabid and whatnot - they did a good job of playing along and talking about Apple in this story.
He has now claimed his prize, and it will be FedExed to him tomorrow morning. I'm shocked at your mistrust of the noble craft of FANTASTIC INTERNET PRIZES!!!