Comment Re:OMG (Score 1) 240
Really?
top running on an X-less server.
Confusing and foreign enough for the masses.
Comment Re:Requirements? (Score 5, Insightful) 379
Ah the trillion dollar question at last.
Coders don't design faulty business logic. Coders code what they are told to code.
Submission + - The New York Times: The Next Leap for Linux (nytimes.com)
Nrbelex writes: "The New York Times is taking a look at the state of Linux. "Linux has always had a reputation of being difficult to install and daunting to use. Most of the popular Windows and Macintosh programs cannot be used on it, and hand-holding — not that you get that much of it with Windows — is rare. But those reasons for rejecting Linux are disappearing." The article discusses major PC makers' newest offers and compares them to their Windows counterparts. "Thanks to open source developers, there are thousands more free programs. An Add/Remove function actually makes finding programs easier with Linux than it is for Mac and Windows." The article concludes stating, "After using the operating system for writing, Web surfing, graphic editing, movie watching and a few other tasks, it is easy to conclude that Linux can be an alternative to the major operating systems. But since common tasks like watching a movie or syncing an iPod require hunting for and installing extra software, Linux is best for technically savvy users or for people whose needs are so basic that they will never need anything other than the bundled software.""
Submission + - Internet censorship in the US "Red States"
A_linux_covert writes: "I am a consultant that travels frequently. This week I am in scenic Bismarck North Dakota and have found that selective packet shaping is occurring whenever I attempt to access progressive/liberal websites. This is a first for me, but it is disconcerting. The hotel that I am staying in utilizes Basin Telecommunications, Inc for connectivity. What I have found is that if I attempt to hit sites such as crooksandliars.com,thinkprogress.org,huffingtonpost.com and rawstory.com the sites load, but any multimedia clips or youtube video links just don't work. Throughput is 1-2k. Yet if I connect up to the corporate vpn without a split tunnel, these sites are usable and have decent throughput. If I hit foxnews.com, redstate.org, powerline.com, etc. the throughput is just fine and all resources have enough bandwidth be usable. The gist is that if you are interested in what the conservatives have to say, you can listen to their point of view with ease. If you are interested in any other point of view and don't have a way to tunnel around the isp's filters, you are out of luck. This is effectively censoring what the users of the internet in North Dakota can see or get to. Has anyone else ran into this crap or is it an isolated edge case?"
Submission + - Which Lost/Stolen Laptop Trackers Do You Like? 2
saudadelinux writes: "I got held up at gunpoint in July, and my laptop was stolen. Fortunately, I was able to get a new one, and I'm typing this post on it.
There companies out which for a fee, install tracker software on your laptop. If it's stolen or lost, they track its whereabouts whenever it gets on the 'Net and work with local law enforcement and ISPs to find the machine. I'm wondering: does anyone use one of those services? Does anyone have a recommendation for which company to go with? I'm using a dual-boot Ubuntu/XP machine, and the couple of companies I've looked at do Windows-only. Are there Linux options? TIA, saudadelinux"
There companies out which for a fee, install tracker software on your laptop. If it's stolen or lost, they track its whereabouts whenever it gets on the 'Net and work with local law enforcement and ISPs to find the machine. I'm wondering: does anyone use one of those services? Does anyone have a recommendation for which company to go with? I'm using a dual-boot Ubuntu/XP machine, and the couple of companies I've looked at do Windows-only. Are there Linux options? TIA, saudadelinux"
Submission + - IBM developerWorks Opens Linux Security Spaces
LinucksGirl writes: Linux Security Spaces is are micro-site focused on a Linux Security issues and development activity of interest to the Linux Security community. You can easily turn the Linux Security spaces into a Google Gadget, Netvibes module, or a Widget for your iGoogle page. Learn about Linux Security best practices including: Auditing, intrusion detection systems, firewalls, virus scanners, LAMP Security, network among other topics and Linux security tools; NMap, Snort, Chkrootkit, Rootkit Hunter, TripWire, Wireshark, SELenux and AppArmor. The community leader is Mayank Sharma, a contributing editor at SourceForge, Inc.
Submission + - PS3 DVD quality is on par with a $5000 processor (firingsquad.com) 1
An anonymous reader writes: FiringSquad just posted an article with 1080p .PNG screenshots comparing the PlayStation 3 against a $5000 Silicon Optix Realta HQV based video processor. Surprisingly, the PS3 is almost as good as the dedicated processor in terms of image quality and handily outperforms both ATI and NVIDIA HTPC solutions.
Submission + - EU abandons plans to convert UK to metric
SeeSchloss writes: After years of trying to get Britain to switch to the metric system the EU has finally decided to give up the fight. Conversion was initially a precondition for UK's membership of the European Union, in 1973, and the deadline had been regularly extended since then. Should we add back the UK to the list of the three countries in the world which do not use the metric system (Myanmar, Liberia and the United States)? It looks like the more a country waits before switching to the metric system, the more difficult it is, most countries did it while their litteracy rate was low and avoided most of the problems the UK or the US would be facing now. Do you think it is realistic to expect the UK or the US to switch to the metric system now? Do you think such a conversion is even useful outside of technical fields (I hope we all agree that it is needed in space research, for example)?
Submission + - Salt water as fuel?
An anonymous reader writes: For obvious reasons, scientists long have thought that salt water couldn't be burned.
So when an Erie man announced he'd ignited salt water with the radio-frequency generator he'd invented, some thought it a was a hoax.
Dr. Roy said the salt water isn't burning per se, despite appearances. The radio frequency actually weakens bonds holding together the constituents of salt water — sodium chloride, hydrogen and oxygen — and releases the hydrogen, which, once ignited, burns continuously when exposed to the RF energy field. Mr. Kanzius said an independent source measured the flame's temperature, which exceeds 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit, reflecting an enormous energy output.
Dr. Roy said the salt water isn't burning per se, despite appearances. The radio frequency actually weakens bonds holding together the constituents of salt water — sodium chloride, hydrogen and oxygen — and releases the hydrogen, which, once ignited, burns continuously when exposed to the RF energy field. Mr. Kanzius said an independent source measured the flame's temperature, which exceeds 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit, reflecting an enormous energy output.
Submission + - I wnat to relearn programming
Imsdal writes: "I used to be a reasonably good programmer, but life has taken me in a different direction, and my skills are now quite out of date. I want to learn a good, modern language with a good modern IDE. I only have the time and inclination to learn one. Which should I choose?
Here is more background:
I learnt programming 25+ years ago. I started with BASIC and moved to Z80 assembler, Pascal and FORTRAN. In 89-94 I got a M.Sc. in Computer Science with a heavily theoretical focus, so at that time I knew about a dozen languages reasonably well (LISP in several flavors, ML, SQL, PROLOG, C, ADA and a bunch of others. Note the absence of Java and C++, though). I then started working, and spent most of my time working with SQL. I have since moved to "general management", so apart from the occasional spell of SQL and VBA, I haven't really been programming much for almost ten years (and most of you will of course say that VBA isn't programming at all).
Now I want to "get back into the game", but I have found that programming today isn't so much learning syntax and general ideas (which I can still do quickly), but learning and IDE and/or a fairly huge library of supporting functions. Thus, it seems like a bigger project to learn a new environment these days, and I want to make sure I go down the right path.
So, what do I actually want to do with my newly acquired skill set? Let's start with what I don't want to do:
* I don't want to be a programmer as a job, so there doesn't have to be a market for whatever language/environment you recommend.
* I wont write applications that anyone else will use, so robustness/error handling etc is nice but not a critical factor.
* The stuff I write doesn't have to be web applications. It might be, but stand alone stuff that just runs on my computer is fine.
And here are a few examples of stuff I want to actually achieve:
* An application that reads stuff from web pages, analyzes them and stores the result in a DB, for instance:
— Sales data from amazon.com
— Play by play data from Major League Baseball games
* Simulations of games, for example
— Algorithms that play Othello or Mastermind
— Simulations of poker hands
* Solutions to projecteuler.net problems.
The first example requires the easy ability to get a web page and do some pretty basic string manipulation to it (but easy hookups to lex and yacc or variants is a huge advantage), and easy writing to a DB. (I'll do the actual processing of the data from the DB in SQL and won't need support there.)
The second example shouldn't exclude any particular modern language, I would guess.
The third example requires a very good and fast bignum implementation. This is mandatory, not optional.
I have computers running Ubuntu and XP (sorry, no Mac), so whatever you suggest should run on either of those. It's not important (and not even an advantage, really) that it runs on both. Since this is for my own enjoyment and non-professional, the environment should be free or very cheap. It strictly doesn't have to be open source, but maybe that's an advantage.
So, in conclusion, I'm looking for a computer language with a good environment that allows me to get started quickly, is versatile in what I can do in it, has a good bignum implementation and, hopefully, is fun. What would you recommend and why?"
Here is more background:
I learnt programming 25+ years ago. I started with BASIC and moved to Z80 assembler, Pascal and FORTRAN. In 89-94 I got a M.Sc. in Computer Science with a heavily theoretical focus, so at that time I knew about a dozen languages reasonably well (LISP in several flavors, ML, SQL, PROLOG, C, ADA and a bunch of others. Note the absence of Java and C++, though). I then started working, and spent most of my time working with SQL. I have since moved to "general management", so apart from the occasional spell of SQL and VBA, I haven't really been programming much for almost ten years (and most of you will of course say that VBA isn't programming at all).
Now I want to "get back into the game", but I have found that programming today isn't so much learning syntax and general ideas (which I can still do quickly), but learning and IDE and/or a fairly huge library of supporting functions. Thus, it seems like a bigger project to learn a new environment these days, and I want to make sure I go down the right path.
So, what do I actually want to do with my newly acquired skill set? Let's start with what I don't want to do:
* I don't want to be a programmer as a job, so there doesn't have to be a market for whatever language/environment you recommend.
* I wont write applications that anyone else will use, so robustness/error handling etc is nice but not a critical factor.
* The stuff I write doesn't have to be web applications. It might be, but stand alone stuff that just runs on my computer is fine.
And here are a few examples of stuff I want to actually achieve:
* An application that reads stuff from web pages, analyzes them and stores the result in a DB, for instance:
— Sales data from amazon.com
— Play by play data from Major League Baseball games
* Simulations of games, for example
— Algorithms that play Othello or Mastermind
— Simulations of poker hands
* Solutions to projecteuler.net problems.
The first example requires the easy ability to get a web page and do some pretty basic string manipulation to it (but easy hookups to lex and yacc or variants is a huge advantage), and easy writing to a DB. (I'll do the actual processing of the data from the DB in SQL and won't need support there.)
The second example shouldn't exclude any particular modern language, I would guess.
The third example requires a very good and fast bignum implementation. This is mandatory, not optional.
I have computers running Ubuntu and XP (sorry, no Mac), so whatever you suggest should run on either of those. It's not important (and not even an advantage, really) that it runs on both. Since this is for my own enjoyment and non-professional, the environment should be free or very cheap. It strictly doesn't have to be open source, but maybe that's an advantage.
So, in conclusion, I'm looking for a computer language with a good environment that allows me to get started quickly, is versatile in what I can do in it, has a good bignum implementation and, hopefully, is fun. What would you recommend and why?"
Submission + - IIS twice as likely to serve malware as Apache (arstechnica.com)
abhinav_pc writes: Ars Technica is carrying an article about a study by Google's Anti-Malware Team which seems to confirm that Web sites running Microsoft's IIS are twice as likely to host malware than those running Apache. Last month, Google looked at 70,000 domains that were either distributing malware or hosting attack code. Nagendra Modadugu, at the company's anti malware group, wrote in a blog: "Compared to our sample of servers across the internet, Microsoft IIS features twice as often as a malware distributing server."
Submission + - I want my own enterprise dynamic DNS server!
Biff98 writes: We manage thousands of hostnames for field gear with DynDNS.org. It's always been our intention of configuring our own DDNS server and bring it in-house. Given the recent DynDNS outage due to a DDOS attack, resulting in the inability to resolve names for multiple days, there has been "encouragement" from management to move forward on bringing DDNS in-house. The problem is I can't find any easy-to-use, scalable software to accomplish this task! BIND doesn't scale well, and I don't consider MintDNS an option due to the required platform (Windows Server w/ AD & IIS). Has anyone out there solved this problem before?
Submission + - Is Windows Vista in trouble?
Ken Erfourth writes: I'm a small computer shop owner, and I have noticed how little interest my customers have in Windows Vista. Now, the Inquirer.net is running a story about what they consider two powerful indications that Vista is failing in the marketplace.
One, Dell has reintroduced PCs running Windows XP on its website due to customer demand. Two, Microsoft is conducting a worldwide firesale on a bundle of Microsoft Office 2007/WindowsXP Starter Edition. According to Inquirer.net, at least, these are signs of serious problems selling Vista.
Are we seeing the stumbling of the Microsoft Juggernaught with the slow adoption of Windows Vista?
One, Dell has reintroduced PCs running Windows XP on its website due to customer demand. Two, Microsoft is conducting a worldwide firesale on a bundle of Microsoft Office 2007/WindowsXP Starter Edition. According to Inquirer.net, at least, these are signs of serious problems selling Vista.
Are we seeing the stumbling of the Microsoft Juggernaught with the slow adoption of Windows Vista?
Submission + - Wifi Health Danger
Zaffle writes: "Britain and New Zealand's top health-protection watchdog wants the wireless networks, which emits radiation, to be full investigated because of the concern for students' health. Several European provincial governments have already taken action to ban, or limit, Wi-Fi use in the classroom.
Recent research has linked radiation from mobiles to cancer and brain damage. And many studies have found disturbing symptoms in people near masts.
Professor Olle Johansson, of Sweden's Karolinska Institute, who is concerned about the spread of Wi-Fi, says "thousands" of articles in scientific literature demonstrate "adverse health effects" from Wi-Fi.
"Do we not know enough already to say, 'stop'?"
For the past 16 months, the provincial government of Salzburg in Austria has been advising schools not to install Wi-Fi, and is considering a ban."
Recent research has linked radiation from mobiles to cancer and brain damage. And many studies have found disturbing symptoms in people near masts.
Professor Olle Johansson, of Sweden's Karolinska Institute, who is concerned about the spread of Wi-Fi, says "thousands" of articles in scientific literature demonstrate "adverse health effects" from Wi-Fi.
"Do we not know enough already to say, 'stop'?"
For the past 16 months, the provincial government of Salzburg in Austria has been advising schools not to install Wi-Fi, and is considering a ban."
