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User: oggiejnr

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  1. Error Handling on Knowing C++ Beyond a Beginner Level · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I've always considered error handling to be the most important thing when it comes to knowing a language beyond the beginner level. Every language has it's own idiomatic ways from RAII in C++, finally/using in Java to the myriad of ways of handling return codes in C. It is also frequently undertaught in most programming language courses.

    It is for this reason I despise seeing C/C++ on CVs. It implies that you don't have a strong foundation in either language as idiomatic code is so different between the two. By all means list them as two separate languages, but be willing to demonstrate sound knowledge of both, not the bastardised, resource leaking hybrid I see so often when the term C/C++ is invoked.

  2. Re:Unicode can go fuck themselves on Unicode Consortium Releases Unicode 8.0.0 · · Score: 1

    There was a reason for it. It was to allow for interop with Japanese text messaging systems.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tITwM5GDIAI

  3. Re:Need to think about why it is being done on Recipe For Building a Cheap Raspberry Pi Honeypot Network · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The aim of honeypots in this scenario isn't to bait out people but software. The first thing that a targeted piece of malware is likely to do is find other systems to infect and map out the internal network. If a computer in the accounts department is suddenly firing off CIFS requests at your honeypot it is an anomaly that should be investigated. It's much easier to find dodgy traffic if there isn't supposed to be any rather than looking for it in the corporate network as a whole.

    If it turns out it was a bored intern browsing the local network then the situation can be explained. If it was an opened dodgy e-mail or other attack vector then the machine can be wiped and connection logs gathered so that a clean-up operation can be attempted.

  4. Re:fit both ways on Death to the Trapezoid... Next USB Connector Will Be Reversible · · Score: 1

    Someone I know did have a set of 3.5mm jack to 125A three phase connectors. The rationale was to be able to use an audio cable tester to check for continuity in the heavy mains cable. (N.B. I'm not saying it was a good rationale).

  5. Re:Several enigma machines on Alan Turing Likely To Be Given Posthumous Pardon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What you have stated is not the entire truth either. The Poles cracked Enigma by relying on a protocol weakness (the Germans sent the initial rotor setting twice). Even before cracking the naval Enigma, Turing et al devised a way to break Enigma should the Germans realise they had a vulnerability by using a known plaintext attack. The Germans changing the protocol to only send the initial rotor setting once rendered the Polish cryptanalysis unusable. They also developed the machinery needed to automate the cracking of Enigma on a far larger scale than the Poles had managed.

  6. Re:Start with curiosity, them experiment ... on How Did You Learn How To Program? · · Score: 1

    In my opinion, the "quirks & different ways of doing things" are a key part of knowing a language and are essential for building large or complicated systems. For example, while I may be able to look in the documentation to find the library classes and methods to open a file and write to it, Java/C#/C++ have quite different idioms and constructs to ensure that handles are properly closed in the presence of exceptions. While it would be possible for me to very easily write something hacky that worked most of the time in Java, there is a good chance I will miss some quirks of the language and runtime which either cause things to break or could have been exploited to make the code smaller and more readable.

    I agree that a lot of the hard work goes into the learning the first language most of which can be reused for subsequent languages, but at the same time I would feel uncomfortable putting myself forwards as a Java programmer despite good C++ and C# knowledge and experience.

  7. Re:No it's not. on Xkcd's Long-running "Time" Comic: Work of Art Or Nerd Sniping? · · Score: 2

    Masturbation is Art too

    Apparently so

  8. Re:21st Century Lobotomies on China's Controversial Brain Surgery To Cure Drug Addiction · · Score: 1

    A Hemispherectomy is occassionally used to treat very serious epilepsy. Resorting to brain surgery is usually done only in young children as the brain has an ability to reroute most of the affected functionality. In adults this does not happen as easily. However when patients are having 1000+ seizures a month and anti-convulsants aren't working it is very effective (assuming the source of the seizures is localised)..

  9. Re:Self-Driving cars on GM Working On Wi-Fi Direct-Equipped Cars To Detect Pedestrians and Cyclists · · Score: 1

    Out of interest what is the view of bikers in the US on cars with daytime running lights? In the UK there has been some opposition to making them mandatory for cars as it may make motorbikes less visible (new motorbikes are required to have daytime running lights).

  10. More Information on UK Research Aims For 100x Speedup In Fiber-Based Broadband · · Score: 2

    There is slightly more information in the grant overview from EPSRC http://gow.epsrc.ac.uk/ViewGrant.aspx?GrantRef=EP/I01196X/1 although it is quite light of specifics.
    The proposal appears to be usual blend of new modulation techniques, all optical switching and the usual "green" nonsense which is required to get anything approved these days.

  11. Follow the example of the old BBC on Frustrated Reporter Quits After Slow News Day · · Score: 4, Insightful
    On the 18th April 1930 Listeners to the 6:30pm radio news were informed (paraphrased) "There is no news today, here is some music"

    http://www.historic-newspapers.co.uk/Old-Newspapers/1930-Newspapers

  12. Re:They could just use on Counting the World's Books · · Score: 1

    ISBN check codes are designed to catch common errors back when hand entry was common -

    a run of two digits in the wrong place (eg 556 instead of 566)
    a mistyped digit
    two digits swapped around by one place

    The UPC code does not support the latter at the expense of only requiring the check symbol to be one of 10 regardless of the number of digits in the code. The ISBN algorithm requires n+1 where n is the number of data digits. Whether this is required nowadays given that very few ISBNs are entered by hand is another issue.

  13. Re:cue the skeptics on BT Gets Exclusive Rights To OnLive In the UK · · Score: 1

    Except that electrons travel a fuckton slower than the speed of light through a wire. 66% through standard coaxial

    Electrons travel a lot slower than that - although you are correct that that is the wave propagation speed in coax which is what really matters.
    It's still faster than wave propagation in an optical fibre though.

  14. Syscall Wrapper Exploits on Critical Flaw Found In Virtually All AV Software · · Score: 1

    Can someone tell me what the difference is between this and syscall wrapper exploits which have been known about long enough to be lectured in undergraduate security courses?

  15. Re:Down with the aspie defense! on British Hacker Loses Review of Asperger's Defense · · Score: 3, Informative

    This used to be true, however in the last couple of years the treaty has been fully ratified by the US such the the extradition conditions are now the same for both the US and the UK. See http://press.homeoffice.gov.uk/press-releases/UKUS-extradition-traety for details

  16. Re:why use botnet on BBC Hijacks 22,000 PCs In Botnet Demonstration · · Score: 1

    The radio tax was abolished 1971.

  17. Re:Early vote makes your vote count (better chance on Video Shows Easy Hacking of E-Voting Machines · · Score: 1

    The main reason for moving to a secret ballot is to reduce the effects of vote buying due to it begin (theoretically) unable to confirm (although there are discussions as to why this is not perfect). It would arguably be worse for democracy for your employer to make it known that anyone who does not vote for his preferred candidate will be fired.

  18. Re:i just want on Miguel De Icaza On Mono, Moonlight, and Gnome · · Score: 1

    And you if you click a link at the bottom of the page you end up with this which seems to be a bigger list to me.

  19. Re:yes but there was a difference. on Steven Hawking Considering Move To Canada · · Score: 1

    To be fair, we have a Cambridge on this side of the pond, in Massachusetts, and it's home to a rather prestigious institution of higher learning. If one were unfamiliar with the work or background Stephen Hawking, it would be an innocent mistake to confuse our Cambridge (town) with your Cambridge (university).

    And due to some weirdness involving Cambridge University statues and a Cambridge-MIT exchange program, the University has decreed the entirety of Cambridge and Boston, MA to fall within 3 miles of the University Church.

  20. Darwinia not working under Vista? on Linux Has Better Windows Compatibility Than Vista · · Score: 1

    Seems to work for me and that is on a Vista 64-bit system, the most likely to have compatibility problems.

  21. Re:Dumping on Lenovo Delivers SuSE Linux-Based ThinkPads · · Score: 3, Informative

    The reasons appear to be that in addition to the volumes that the large OEMs buy (which generate a discount in any industry), an OEM assumes all the support for any products they sell. If you buy a boxed copy then Microsoft is responsible for supplying support, if you get an OEM copy then the system builder is responsible.

  22. Re:quite useful on Ion-Mask Coating Could Make Waterproofing Electronics Easy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    As far as I am aware the cheap ones simply act as connection changers and allow for keyboard manufacturers to create PS2/USB keyboards with only one connection on the end. The keyboard has to decide to what port it is connected and uses the appropriate protocol. The expensive ones actually change the protocol between USB and PS2 so the device doesn't have to be USB aware.

  23. Re:Everyone knows: I don't know on Deluge Anonymizing Browser Now Includes Bittorrent · · Score: 3, Informative

    According to a quick search (so may not be accurate) current "semi-official" block size is 16KB which easily fits into a single datagram packet (allowing for IP Fragmentation). Or if you are determined to keep your datagrams under the Ethernet MTU then you could employ some form of erasure coding to the data (at the expense of CPU cycles) and then if a few packets get lost then not to worry or you could advertise a 1k block transfer size at the expense of great application level overhead. Any system would rely on the client knowing the available bandwidth and only scheduling to receive a volume of packets it could.

    There was once talk of using the Vivaldi round trip estimation which has been in Azureus for no particular reason to select peers closer to the client, and some research was done into using it for estimating the bandwidth of a pipe to allow for UDP data connections not needing feedback.

    In BitTorrent the sending side never needs to know that a block arrived at the client so in some circumstance UDP could be better due to less connection overhead. Also most home NATs have better support for UDP hole punching than for TCP allowing for greater possibility that two incorrectly set up peers could talk to each other.

  24. Re:Same thing only different. on Monitor Draws Zero Power In Standby · · Score: 1

    If it's the same issue I had then http://support.microsoft.com/kb/909095 should fix it

  25. Re:Well, that would explain on New Theory Explains Periodic Mass Extinctions · · Score: 1

    It was speculated in the BBC series Space that passing through the galactic disk could cause gravitational disruption caused by passing near other starts causing some comets comets in the Oort Cloud and further out to be propelled towards the inner planets.