Recent Posts

551

Living Room / Re: Should I be concerned that my wife opened a Facebook account?

« Last post by zridling on February 23, 2011, 02:11 PM »

No, I'm just talking about how employers are now using Facebook against workers. For example, if the employer is a god-believer, then he/she won't hire someone with atheist on their Facebook page. (But wait, Facebook doesn't even offer "atheist" as an option does it?) Same goes for any other personal info shared is what I'm afraid of. I trust the wife, not the corporation.

552

Living Room / Should I be concerned that my wife opened a Facebook account?

« Last post by zridling on February 23, 2011, 03:01 AM »

Dear DC,
Not a day goes by that I don't see another report of someone being fired (or not hired) for something posted on their Facebook page. I know little about Facebook, but she has a great career in management and though her posts are plain and among her few friends and family, I find it a bad idea to risk your economic future to someone else's perception of your Facebook profile/posts/friends. It seems a lot of employers are using Facebook to get around employment law, e.g., the Human Resources manager who might say: "She's an atheist? Get that heathen out of my company!"

Signed,
Concerned and Worried

________________________________
Example article:
http://itmanagement....s-to-the-HR-Dept.htm

553

General Software Discussion / 20 New User Misconceptions about Linux

« Last post by zridling on February 22, 2011, 06:10 PM »

Matt Hartley's points are true to my experience. Point is, not to believe the rumors, rumors about rumors, and counter-rumors! 

http://itmanagement....ions-about-Linux.htm

554

General Software Discussion / Ubuntu: Where Did the Love Go?

« Last post by zridling on February 22, 2011, 05:43 PM »

A question from Slashdot commenter inkscapee says it plainly:
"Used to be Ubuntu was the big Linux hero, the shining knight that would drive Linux onto every desktop and kick bad old Windows to the curb. But now Ubuntu is the Bad Linux. What's going on, is it typical fanboy fickleness, or is Canonical more into serving their own interests than creating a great Linux distro?"

Original article on Datamation

555

Living Room / Re: No more desktop Linux systems in the German Foreign Office

« Last post by zridling on February 21, 2011, 04:56 PM »

This is pure speculation, but reading between the lines it sounds like they were trying to run Win apps under Wine, thus the source of interoperability gripes. No mention of which distro, how old it was, which kernel, and which software they were having problems with, not to mention what they were doing with it. I presume a foreign office does mostly office work, database maintenance, and perhaps a very good address book? ha. The same presumption leads me to believe they're not using KDE 4.6.

On the flip side, if their whole government is using Microsoft for everything, installing it in this agency isn't really going to cost anymore annually.

556

Living Room / Re: How the Egyptian Government found an off switch to the Internet

« Last post by zridling on February 21, 2011, 08:17 AM »

Libya puts its finger in the dam by shutting off the net at night:
http://thenextweb.co...-night-till-sunrise/

557

General Software Discussion / Re: Google set to steal Opera's thunder yet again, decides to eliminate url bar

« Last post by zridling on February 20, 2011, 10:01 PM »

I saw this, too, and it seems to be fixing something that's not broken. I like looking up and seeing the URL, and while it's there, throw me a couple of buttons on the same bar. All I want is for Google to kill that frickin' download bar!

558

Developer's Corner / Software is too important to leave to programmers

« Last post by zridling on February 20, 2011, 09:58 PM »

Marco makes the case over at Stop blog that private vs. public demands for software have different needs, i.e., proprietary vs. open formats. Simply put: governments can't ask citizens to buy proprietary software to read public data they've already paid for (through taxes).
http://stop.zona-m.n...e-it-to-programmers/

He gets letters.

• trying to write programs or websites “for everybody” is something that requires a lot of development time; therefore, unless the customer paid to have something viewable with any browser/operating system, you do it. Otherwise, you DON’T. You try to make happy the makority of users and who gives a f**k if not all versions of Linux support Vmw (a video format) out of the box. Sure, that’s ugly to say, but that’s the way it goes
• I don’t even care much for people who use Open Source Software that they didn’t pay and then demand to be treated as those who paid something
• Here’s a (deliberately) stupid example: if I build my own car myself with my friends, in our spare time, I certainly don’t expect the same performances as an Audi

559

Living Room / Re: SATA III - why no better rating than SATA II ?

« Last post by zridling on February 20, 2011, 01:01 PM »

How fast are the platters spinning? If it's a storage-designed drive, it may be spinning at 5400 RPM. Many are these days.

560

Living Room / Re: Too many facebook friends linked to anxiety

« Last post by zridling on February 19, 2011, 02:18 AM »

Consider what Facebook is for most people and you can see why anxiety occurs: the "face" that most people on Facebook present to the world is fully positive, rarely if ever negative about self. If you throw yourself out there without your actual flaws listed and still can't gain as many friends as 'Becky,' then you're bound to feel down. My gripe with Facebook is that once you go in, you may never come out; you could spend all day there chasing others' daily trivia.

561

Living Room / Re: Rant: I hate cellphones

« Last post by zridling on February 18, 2011, 07:21 PM »

Interesting experiment -- If you want to know what Google knows about you, even with AdBlock installed, go here:
http://www.google.co...ads/preferences/view

They know I'm an old guy (49) who likes music, but that's about it. Good thing they haven't visited my basement.

562

Living Room / Re: How the Egyptian Government found an off switch to the Internet

« Last post by zridling on February 18, 2011, 07:17 PM »

What surprised me is how quickly it went down. Within 5-15 minutes, the country went dark. It didn't take a day or two.

563

Living Room / Re: We are doomed: IBM's Watson debuts on Jeopardy today (14 Feb 2011)

« Last post by zridling on February 18, 2011, 07:16 PM »

But whatever else it may mean, one thing will be certain - it will be a very different world we'll suddenly find ourselves living in.

-40hz (February 18, 2011, 02:54 PM)

As long as by "different world" you mean "Holodeck," then I'm in. That's all I'm asking for. That, or the dream world made possible in the movie "Vanilla Sky." But I figure you can already get that with enough morphine and LSD.

564

Living Room / Re: Rant: I hate cellphones

« Last post by zridling on February 18, 2011, 09:41 AM »

I feel for you, Paul. I have an old crappy cellphone on purpose: it drops calls, the other person can't hear me clearly, and it has no text function. Whereas I'd rather text than talk (everyone I talk to wants to talk to me for 55 minutes except bill collectors; they all hang up on me). However, this little mobile phone number that Google asks saved my butt twice. Once when someone was using my account to send spam and a second time when my ID was being stolen. I was able to use the phone to change my password within five minutes of the first attack, locking them out.

As far as people asking for you phone, I almost always give a false number, such as 222-2228. But here's a trick I use at hardware stores which routinely ask for your phone number at the point of purchase to "help verify a return if needed": I just give them their own store number on the front door. I've never once had an employee notice. And it's almost always within view of the cash registers since they're near the door.

565

Living Room / How the Egyptian Government found an off switch to the Internet

« Last post by zridling on February 18, 2011, 08:23 AM »

Several articles for weekend reading, each interesting.



Egypt's Leaders Found ‘Off’ Switch for Internet
http://www.nytimes.c...1&pagewanted=all

How Did Egypt's Government Halt Internet Access?
http://www.pbs.org/n...11/egypt2_02-16.html

The Exploits of Hackers and How They Have Highlighted the Internet's Insecurities
http://www.pbs.org/w...tline/shows/hackers/

___________________________
Governments really don't like people assembling, and they sure don't like them doing it online. Even US President Obama wants an off-switch at hand "in case of cyberattack." http://www.schneier.com/essay-265.html

566

Living Room / Re: Apple: if we get you subscribers, we deserve a cut

« Last post by zridling on February 18, 2011, 07:50 AM »

I like Google right now, but....

-zridling (February 18, 2011, 07:45 AM)

I should counter that one of the things I do like about Google is that -- like Amazon -- you can buy server space cheaply. 20Gb for $5/year is a great help to what I do. These companies provide valuable services, but why must their bargains be Faustian?

567

Living Room / Re: Apple: if we get you subscribers, we deserve a cut

« Last post by zridling on February 18, 2011, 07:45 AM »

Good question, Qwerty, publishers responded with a list of their own demands to Apple today:
http://paidcontent.c...to-tablet-platforms/
1. Censorship of content is non-negotiable
2. Transparency in the framework
3. Direct relationship with customers
4. Fair business partnership

Steven Musil has more on CNET:
http://news.cnet.com...mp;tag=2547-1_3-0-20

____________________________
[superboyac]: One day... all the services you want will be cloud subscription services.

This is a valid fear of mine, that we're returning to the days of AOL and a walled internet. I'll say it until my tongue bleeds: I don't want to be beholden to a corporation. "The Corporation" is the great evil of our time, doing anything they want, taking anything they want, shutting off anything they want, and suing whatever and whomever they don't like into oblivion. And as long as it can make money, instead of fighting the sanctioned IP theft of China, they join them. But you rip one song, and you owe them $250,000.

I used to like Microsoft, but then I saw what they were doing with their formats and it was costing me a lot of time when I could no longer read documents I'd composed 10-12 years ago. I never liked Apple, but Apple has now told developers which programming languages can and cannot be used to create iPhone apps. Facebook is another evil entity. It might help with movements like those in the Middle East, but Facebook owns your data and doesn't really give a damn about your privacy. And in case you haven't been to court lately, Facebook is used as much as cellphone data these days (against you).  I like Google right now, but Eric Schmidt was a little Himmler in my opinion. I'm sure the day will come when they'll burn me, too. As mouser has pointed out, if they can't compete with the little guy, they buy him out, or they claim patent/copyright infringement and just sue them to death.

568

Living Room / Re: Apple: if we get you subscribers, we deserve a cut

« Last post by zridling on February 17, 2011, 08:41 PM »

[40hz]: If you don't want to live with: arbitrary policy and decision-making,  predatory business tactics, 'rules' based on (and changed at) whim, high nonnegotiable pricing, blatantly unfair and constantly rewritten licenses -  then stop doing business with companies that make no bones about the fact that's exactly what they're going to subject you to. Your single, most effective response to a bad deal is to walk away.

Meanwhile, Apple is taking this opportunity to shift the long-term future of mobile computing in its favor, without concern for short-term disruption. Sounds like another company I know -- cough, Google -- who recently dumped H.264 in order to avoid another generation of disruptive patent lawsuits and licensing disputes (enter WebM/VP8).

[Renegade]: As a developer, you need to write for the devices/platforms that people are using. If that means Apple, well, then it's Apple.

Loic Le Meur on the "new nightmare of developers and brands" that all these platform ecosystems are creating, and I can only imagine how devs might be tearing their eyes out of their sockets: http://www.loiclemeu...pers-and-brands.html

You need to be on all the above platforms stores, of course. But wait, there is more. You need to submit and manage your app to the mobile carrier app stores, they all have one. That's only a start, wait until the manufacturers themselves, the Samsung, Dell, HP and Sony have theirs, HP has one with the Palm acquisition... Even Amazon has an store for applications. Bonus startup idea of the day: create a service to help register and manage my app in all those stores in all languages, I can be your first customer.

569

Living Room / Re: We are doomed: IBM's Watson debuts on Jeopardy today (14 Feb 2011)

« Last post by zridling on February 17, 2011, 08:36 PM »

What you'll see is Watson-like computers drudging through all the raw data -- the analytics -- and making sense of the common, recurring patterns of info there. For example, all those tech support jobs we sent to India a decade ago won't be needed with Watson on the line, especially if Watson can login and mirror your actions. For anyone who has a job that requires analyzing vast amounts of info -- a doctor who needs evidence that a symptom is true rather than a diversion from a proper diagnosis. (Someone like Gregory House, MD, wouldn't need his staff anymore, so they should probably be looking for other jobs soon.) For financial analysts and investors who are tired of getting ripped off by humanoids (and no governments with enough guts to police them).

As long as Watson's offspring don't become sentient and discover the nuclear launch codes, we should be fine.

570

Living Room / Re: We are doomed: IBM's Watson debuts on Jeopardy today (14 Feb 2011)

« Last post by zridling on February 17, 2011, 07:52 AM »

Last word:
Watson gets smashed on Conan:
http://news.cnet.com...2_3-20032645-71.html

571

Living Room / 3Tb Drives are Here! That's 500,000 songs. Enough yet?

« Last post by zridling on February 17, 2011, 06:26 AM »

I'm going to need a lot of floppies to back that up. No seriously, I could use that for my various "collections." Price expected to be about $240.
http://www.linux-mag.com/id/7897/

572

Living Room / Re: Apple: if we get you subscribers, we deserve a cut

« Last post by zridling on February 17, 2011, 06:11 AM »

Google says the 10% only covers their cost, but they never tell you exactly how they come to that tidy figure. To me, that's yet another "Trust us, we're a corporation" statement. All together now:

The cut is (still) too damn high!   

573

Living Room / Re: Apple: if we get you subscribers, we deserve a cut

« Last post by zridling on February 17, 2011, 06:00 AM »

Google's One Pass takes a swipe at Apple's 30% by taking only 10%. Still too much! "The cut is too damn high!"
http://googleblog.bl...shers-to-manage.html

More detail at WSJ:
http://online.wsj.co...148142926860706.html

Steve Jobs said his company is protecting user privacy and simply seeking the same compensation for periodicals as for other content sold through iTunes. He said the revenue split is justified because Apple is bringing additional subscribers to publishers.

Jobs talks like he owns his customers, and almost monomaniacal about mega-profit.

574

General Software Discussion / Re: IE9 Release Candidate...Released

« Last post by zridling on February 16, 2011, 08:51 PM »

@Josh; f0dder
Not certain, but I don't think HTML5 is not scheduled for standardization until 2014.

575

Living Room / Re: List of Top 100 Design Websites

« Last post by zridling on February 16, 2011, 08:48 PM »

That's really cool -- "Cats who code" is one. I could spend days with typography, but that's a list worth spending time with this week.