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Comment Re:Why people don't update (Score 4, Informative) 103

There is also a interesting point regarding software repository support. I have a server running Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Server which is supposed to be supported till April 2011, however Wordpress is in the Universe repository and not updated since November 2008 and is vulnerable to a few attacks that delete content.

If these packages are not going to be updated should there not be at least a warning, or method to bar such packages from being installed after security issues have been raised?

Wordpress 2.3.3 in 8.04 LTS Universe repository.

Comment Re:SLA (Score 3, Informative) 135

It should be apparent that quotas have been scrapped as they cannot actually guarantee you can use the bandwidth speed they sold. So when they could have previously sold 1/5/10/50GB/day tiers, they spin that into a flat up to 50GB/day, let's call it unlimited, p.s. you'll be lucky to see 1GB.

Comment ALSA is rouge and OSS is violet? (Score 1) 427

If the user really needs to have a program output sound right until Linux goes into suspend mode, and then continues where it left off when resuming, then ALSA is (currently) the only option. I personally don't find this to be a problem, and furthermore I doubt it's a large percentage of users that even use suspend in Linux. Suspend in general in Linux isn't great, due to some rouge piece of hardware like a network or video card which screws it up.

So we should be using OSS because the author doesn't use suspend on his computer?

The article is just a big rant about how difficult he finds ALSA to develop for, how he doesn't understand the benefits of a user-space audio stack as found in Windows Vista and with PulseAudio empowering Ubuntu and other distributions.

Comment Re:You don't ... (Score 1) 902

I don't know what software I'm going to need for the lifetime of my PC when it's supplied, and I can't afford to wait 3 weeks to get each piece of software I want to install approved because it's not on your list.

This is why we have the Internet, please use and develop new and interesting applications, but they should be webapps. This completely avoids the issue of modifying the desktop and allows immediate availability to everyone in the company.

Comment Re:You don't ... (Score 4, Insightful) 902

Essentially they're treating you like the janitor. They think everything's as simple as unclogging the toilet or getting more toilet paper. And your attitude seems to reinforce their perception of this.

You seem to show them that your time is worthless and that your job could be done by a trained monkey - why would you expect them to treat you differently?

Being an IT person is being a computer janitor. If you are doing the job properly you are simply unclogging the tubes or restocking printer paper. Every machine should be imaged and locked down with something like Microsoft SteadyState, when a user has a problem it's either a reboot, re-image, or a hardware replacement.

The problem might stem from merging IS and IT jobs into the same position with no distinction being made. IS projects should be handled in a more formal manner than re-stocking a printer but because defining such an interaction is widely open to interpretation it has been taken to the users advantage. You need to take ownership of that interaction and make it clear the difference between such projects and cleaning the tubes.

Comment The pertinent point in the article (Score 2, Interesting) 627

Sun is just as bad or worse than Microsoft by implementing incomplete standards leading to the same incompatibility that ODF is supposed to resolve.

Sun should write out formulas in ODF 1.1 format, using the legacy "oooc" namespace prefix that the other vendors are using. Remember, the other vendors are using that namespace specifically for compatibility with OO's ODF documents. This is the current convention. To unilaterally switch, without notice or coordination, to a new namespace, is not cool. When ODF 1.2 is an approved standard, then we all can move there in a coordinated fashion, to cause users minimal inconvenience. But the above table clearly shows the confusion that results if this move is not coordinated. I know OO 3.01 has an option to save in ODF 1.0/1.1 format. IMHO, this should setting should be the default. I'm not sure if the Sun Plugin has a similar configuration option, but I hope it does.

Comment Re:Craigslist has a HUGE amount of scams. (Score 2, Insightful) 193

I thought cashier's cheques were guaranteed by the originating bank? Last time I made one they took the money out of my account, then handed me the cheque. I no longer had the money, I had a note guaranteed by the bank. I could hand this to someone else and they would get the money from the bank, not from me. Does anyone know if NZ banks have this issue?

It's a fallacy with US banking, both cashiers cheques and bankers drafts are as useless as regular cheques for guaranteeing payment. Both can be bounced by the originating bank for a variety of reasons. Cashiers cheque are generally more dangerous as your account can be credited earlier, as required by federal law, than when the clearance occurs so you account can appear in credit but later in debit.

Announcements

Submission + - Steve Furber gets a CBE (bbc.co.uk)

bjorniac writes: Steve Furber, one of the creators of the legendary BBC Micro computer and innovator behind the revolutionary ARM processor received a CBE in the New Year's Honours List. He now joins the revered ranks of Kylie Minogue and Michael Parkinson.
The Internet

Submission + - Setting up a small ISP? 1

Mike_K writes: I live in a small condo building, and at our recent meeting we discussed the idea of sharing internet between the codos. The only problem is that we would rather not expose those actually providing the service to harassment from RIAA, MPAA, etc. The best idea I can come up with to solve this is to create a small ISP for our building and give everybody a static IP. I know enough about networking to be able to set this up, but I don't know anything about actually setting up an ISP. Can anybody help me with where to start looking? Would this ever be economical? Is there a better way to go? We are located in a big city with Comcast and Verizon being choices for consumer internet, and close to some big schools with lots of bandwidth, if you think that would help.
Encryption

Submission + - Hushmail Gives Email Data to Feds (wired.com)

oostevo writes: "According to Wired, Hushmail, who claim that "not even a Hushmail employee with access to our servers can read your encrypted e-mail, since each message is uniquely encoded before it leaves your computer" have given unencrypted email to investigators following a court order from a Canadian court in a steroid-related investigation.

In Hushmail's defense, however, it would seem that they were compelled to exploit a security vulnerability to steal user's passphrases and decrypt their mail. They also have been very frank in discussing the situation and their response [pdf link]."

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