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Programming

How To Get Out of Developer's Block? 601

Posted by timothy from the how-do-you-feel-about-get-out-of-developer's-block dept.
Midnight Thunder writes "I have spent the past six months working on a software project, and while I can come up with ideas, I just can't seem to sit down in front of the computer to code. I sit there and I just can't concentrate. I don't know whether this is akin to writer's block, but it feels like it. Have any other Slashdotters run into this and if so how did you get out of it? It is bothering me since the project has ground to a halt and I really want to get started again. I am the sole developer on the project, if that makes a difference."

Comment Re:Subversion with a touch of bash (Score 1) 421

by infofarmer (#28450789) Attached to: How Do You Sync & Manage Your Home Directories?
Sure, please post it somewhere. I've actually been planning a shell wrapper for svn for my own purposes lately (home configs, but also company configs with multiuser access and good audit/accountability features). I think I won't symlink into the checkout dir, but rather introduce an extra step to sync it with configs all over the system.

Thanks for sharing your experience.
Data Storage

Submission + - Online Storage for Lawyers

Submitted by
alharaka
alharaka writes: "I have a relative that has been a lawyer for over two decades. In passing conversation, he revealed to me that he has a great deal of his data stored on floppies. Naturally, as an IT guy, I lost it on him, telling him that a one-dimensional storage strategy of floppies was unacceptable. If he lost those files, his clients would be enraged. Since I do not know much about online data storage for lawyers, I read a few articles I found on Google. A lot of people appear to recommend CoreVault, since a few bar associations, including Oklahoma, officially endorsed them. That is not enough for me. Do any Slashdotters have info on this topic? Do you have any companies you would recommend for online data storage specifically for lawyers? As a lawyer with recognition in NJ, NY, CA, and DC, are there any rules and regulations you know of regarding such online storage he must comply with? I know IT and not law. I am aware this is not a forum for legal advice, but do any IT professionals who work for law firms know about such rules and regulations?"
The Internet

Submission + - New Data Center Will Heat Homes in London (datacenterknowledge.com)

Submitted by
1sockchuck
1sockchuck writes: "The heat generated by thousands of servers at the new Telehouse West data center in London will soon be used to heat nearby houses and businesses. The Greater London Authority has approved a plan in which waste heat from the colocation facility will be used in a district heat network for the local Docklands community. The project is expected to produce up to nine megawatts of power for the local community."
Networking

Submission + - In-house or Out-sourced email 1

Submitted by teabaggs
teabaggs writes: I am starting work as the sole IT guy for a still small but growing starting start up company. I have been educated, but lack some experience so this is a big step up for me and I don't wanna screw this up. Currently they let Go Daddy handle their site and email hosting. They are becoming concerned about security as business is picking and they trade confidential files with their overseas parent company more frequently. They have basically asked the question what should we do? Move our servers and host everything here, or continue using a third party service. And so I ask you reader what are the pros and cons of each situation?
Businesses

Submission + - SPAM: Acai Berry and Depression

Submitted by
babbbtt08
babbbtt08 writes: "The world of health and wellness has recently been shook-up by a marble sized fruit. Harvested in the rain forests of the Amazon, the acai (pronounced ah-cye-EE) berry is the latest health phenomenon. A lack of vital nutrients could cause a chemical imbalance resulting in depression, insomnia and other mental illnesses. The acai berry is chalked full of many nutrients to improve stability of the mind and body."
Link to Original Source
PC Games (Games)

Submission + - Steam Sux!

Submitted by Archerford
Archerford writes: I check Slashdot several times a day and have done so for years but have never submitted anything today. Recently my brother got his Steam account banned for purchasing a game off of Ebay. I had cautioned him about doing this, but his reply was "the guy's got like 200 postive feedback, how can it be bad?". Needless to say the guy he purchased the games from was using a stolen credit cards to purchased games on Steam and send them as gifts to the people how purchased them. Since my brother accepted these games as a gift, his account has been permanently banned. All his games gone. I myself have gifted him about a dozen games, all lost. Comparably, If I buy a moive off of the interent and it turns out to be pirated, does someone have a right to come in my house and take all of my movies? I guess my question is how can Steam do this, is it legal and what recourse does my brother have to get his account activated again?
Privacy

Submission + - Pirate Bay offers private VPN for $7 a month (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by
Death Metal
Death Metal writes: "The Pirate Bay is planning to launch a paid VPN service for users looking to cover their tracks when torrenting. The new service will be called IPREDator, named after the Swedish Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive (IPRED) that will go into effect in April. IPREDator is currently in private beta and is expected to go public next week for 5 per month.

IPREDator is clearly a response to the introduction of IPRED in Sweden, which will allow law enforcement and copyright holders to request the personal details of suspected infringers. The copyright holders will then be able to make direct contact with the accused users and presumably threaten them with lawsuits.

If users connect to The Pirate Bay through something like Tor or VPN, however, they're less likely to be tracked. IPREDator's website says that it won't store any traffic data, as its entire goal is to help people stay anonymous on the web. Without any data to hand over, copyright owners won't be able to find individuals to target."
Google

Submission + - Google Earth spawns revolution in conservation (yale.edu)

Submitted by
rhettb
rhettb writes: "Armed with vivid images from space and remote sensing data, scientists, environmentalists, and armchair conservationists are now tracking threats to the planet and making the information available to anyone with an Internet connection.

In October 2008, scientists with the Royal Botanical Garden at Kew discovered a rich pocket of biodiversity, including several notable new species, in a remote highland forest in Mozambique. What's significant about this find is that it was initiated not by some intrepid adventurer, but rather by a scientist sitting behind his computer. Three years prior, conservationist Julian Bayliss identified the site — Mount Mabu — using Google Earth. Bayliss, a Tanzanian ecologist, then helped plan and lead the expedition.

The use of Google Earth to make a virtual discovery, which then led to an actual one, is just the latest example of how the spread of satellite technology — and related computer applications such as Google Earth — are changing the way scientists, conservationists, and ordinary citizens are monitoring the environment and communicating their findings to the public."
Displays

Submission + - Keyboards and mice won't disappear, says HP (pcauthority.com.au)

Submitted by Slatterz
Slatterz writes: Despite the current emphasis on touch-screen functionality for everything from smartphones to table-top PCs, HP believes that touch computing will have only limited use for desktops and laptops. Speaking at an HP workstations event this week in Los Angeles, Phil McKinney, chief technology officer of the Personal Systems Group at HP, said that touch is not the "magic answer to everything", and will not replace the keyboard and mouse . Regarding Microsoft's entry into the market with its Surface PC, McKinney was quick to point out that HP developed its own version of a table-top PC in 1999, although it was not until 2002 to 2004 that the firm went public with the details.
Sun Microsystems

Submission + - Sun has been looking for buyers for months (ostatic.com)

Submitted by ruphus13
ruphus13 writes: While the deal with IBM is being well received by the public markets, Sun has been in 'sell' mode for quite a while, it now appears. Suitors such as Intel were also approached for all or parts of Sun. From the post, "It turns out that Sun was seeking a buyer and being actively shopped around to tech companies for months before the IBM news, as Intel CEO Paul Otellini has reportedly confirmed. "I can tell you that Sun was shopped around the valley and around the world in the last few months," he said, during a Q&A session that was revealed in a regulatory filing, according to TheStreet.com. "A lot of companies got calls or visits on buying some or all the assets of the company."...[In the past] Sun's stock continued to dive to levels about even with the amount of cash the company has."
Communications

Submission + - Australian Gov's Internet filter harms ICT (technologyandbusiness.com.au)

Submitted by
inkslinger77
inkslinger77 writes: "Most of the debate about the Australian Government's plan to introduce mandatory internet filtering has focussed on issues of privacy and security, debates that have been re-ignited by the recent ACMA blacklist leak. Network engineer Mark Newton also has some thoughts on how the plans will affect ISPs, business and the ICT industry. He also discusses the filter technology itself. "Anyone who thinks they can put a piece of software between a hormonal 15 year old and a boxload of pornography is probably delusional. The 15 year olds certainly think so, anyway. So rather than turning it into a fight between adolescents and ISPs (which the adolescents will always, always win), anyone who wants to ensure the health and safety of children online needs to understand that diligent parenting is and always will be essential — just like it is in every other sphere of human existence," he says."
Networking

Submission + - ISPs Join RIAA's Fight Against Piracy (pcworld.com)

Submitted by
BountyX
BountyX writes: "The Recording Industry Association of America's plan to recruit Internet service providers in its battle against illegal file sharing is now underway. AT&T and Cox both confirmed to PC World that they have begun cooperating with the RIAA in some form. Comcast did not say it was working with the RIAA, but did say it was forwarding messages on the behalf of the recording industry to customers. Still a mystery is to what extent ISPs are cooperating with the RIAA and what it takes to get booted from your ISP for illegally swapping copyright protected content online. The RIAA announced the shift in its strategy last December: Instead of targeting individual file sharers with lawsuits, as it had done in the past, the organization would work with ISPs to find suspected offenders and — after a series of warnings — potentially cut off their Internet access altogether."

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