Comment Re:48 vars, not 36, read the code (Score 1) 215
The summary is quoting the blog post. It seems that the code was updated after the blog post was written.
Comment Re:They didn't get the memo (Score 3, Informative) 215
The author of the blog post states that Microsoft required at least 64kb for Windows 8 machines.
Submission + - Slashdot Deploys Annoying Pop-up Ads (slashdot.org)
An anonymous reader writes: Slashdot had been doing this annoying practice for quite some time. Then it stopped for a while and now the last few days it has started up again deploying the most hated feature of the Interent, the pop-up ad. There are many sites on the Internet you would expect this from but not Slashdot. But here they are! What is up with this? And why just on iPads?
Submission + - Canadian ISP Fights Back Against Copyright Trolls (michaelgeist.ca)
An anonymous reader writes: Distributel, an independent Canadian ISP, has fought
back in a file sharing lawsuit by opposing a motion
to disclose the names of subscribers alleged to have engaged in file
sharing. The company did not oppose a similar request in November
2012, but says in court documents filed on Friday that several
factors led to a change in position after it received another
request for more names. Those concerns include evidence of
copyright trolling, privacy issues, and weak evidence of actual
infringement by its subscribers. The decision to fight back points
to mounting ISP frustration in Canada with file sharing lawsuits
that come after the Canadian government send clear signals that such
actions were unwelcome.
Submission + - Samsung laptop bug is not Linux specific (dreamwidth.org)
YurB writes: "Matthew Garret, a Linux kernel developer who was investigating the recent Linux-on-Samsung-in-UEFI-mode problem, has bricked a Samsung laptop using a test userspace program in Windows. The most fascinating part of the story is on what is actually causing the firmware boot failure:
"
Unfortunately, it turns out that some Samsung laptops will fail to boot if too much of the [UEFI] variable storage space is used. We don't know what "too much" is yet, but writing a bunch of variables from Windows is enough to trigger it. I put some sample code here — it writes out 36 variables each containing a kilobyte of random data. I ran this as an administrator under Windows and then rebooted the system. It never came back.
Submission + - helpsmo.com skype call 1
An anonymous reader writes: Just had the first spam call on skype. An automated caller system telling my that my system was slow, undefended and needed a free scan. It also said I should go to www.helpsmo.com
Now I run Linux and yes my system is slow because I run it on old discarded hardware that is still perfectly good (just not good enough for Windows). Vulnerable? Hardly.
I checked their DNS and the IP goes to 46.20.33.71 with port 80 and 21 open. I didn't waste too much time as it is obviously spam and probably malware.
Just curious if this is common? I've been using Skype for as long as it's been out and this is the first for me.
Now I run Linux and yes my system is slow because I run it on old discarded hardware that is still perfectly good (just not good enough for Windows). Vulnerable? Hardly.
I checked their DNS and the IP goes to 46.20.33.71 with port 80 and 21 open. I didn't waste too much time as it is obviously spam and probably malware.
Just curious if this is common? I've been using Skype for as long as it's been out and this is the first for me.
Submission + - Oracle makes Gnu-VirtualBox no longer free (virtualbox.org) 1
Billly Gates writes: Oracle is still making previous versions before 4.0 free of charge, but later versions are for personal and academic use only. Since it is based on the GPL-version 2 is this possible?
Comment Re:Microsoft's definition of Computer Science (Score 1) 168
You're right and I absolutely agree with you. The only thing which I didn't like is what you have already said: the closeness and Windows-only-ness of their visual programming language. I'd probably add that it would be best if there were 3 or more different kinds of free and open-source learning environments which the kids could try and play with so that they know that a program is only a realization of a concept and the concept is independent of the program, i.e. they could learn to adapt to different UIs and mechanisms and achieve their goals in different environments.
Comment Re:Are they teaching real CS? (Score 1) 168
What they do is they train kids as monkeys to press font buttons in Word. This is in fact an example of anti-education. Instead of helping the kids to understand how computer thinks and how to talk to it, they're forcing them to do completely wrong things like changing font size to make headings, etc. I actually remember that a "teacher" in the school I finished once disallowed me to help a girl by enabling a frequently used toolbar in that stupid Word! The teacher decided that she is supposed to change the font size though menu + dialog box... So is this education? And that teacher still works there.
P.S. I hate word processors. They encourage people to do everything by hand. That is computer anti-usage. One has to let the computer do the dirty job of aligning headings, generating indexes, etc. But that's not what the default toolbars suggest. And if they wanted users to think semantically, then they should not have called the functionality "Styles". This is everything upside-down.
P.P.S. I hate when a program treats the user as a monkey. And that's the role they teach kids: to be a monkey in front of Microsoft Word.
Comment Microsoft's definition of Computer Science (Score 3, Informative) 168
Microsoft said "a number of primary schools" already teach computer science using simple programmes like Microsoft’s Kodu, a visual programming language made specifically for creating games, although there is currently no formal programme of training for teachers, admitted Microsoft.
No comment.
Comment Re:Port knocking (Score 1) 157
This is very good news. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Comment Re:Port knocking (Score 1) 157
works out of the box on anything Gecko or Webkit based plus Opera (IE not supported).
Glad to hear there are people who sell things without IE support to businesses. World's changing for the better.
Comment Re:Cracking, not hacking (Score 2) 60
Exactly. It has both meanings, but most people don't know that. If we used the word more carefully, we'd be educating more people that there's some difference between those hackers who have built Gnu/Linux, and those who and steal money from bank accounts. The problem is that most people don't know the other meaning. Why not let them know by occasionally using the 'cr' instead of 'h'? It's only one extra byte.
Comment Re:Cracking, not hacking (Score 1) 60
Someone has to be "goddamn pedantic".
Comment Cracking, not hacking (Score 2) 60
This is a cracking contest: the goal is to break stuff. If the goal was to write a new compiler or OS, then I would call it hacking. Yep, only geeks use that word that way, but isn't Slashdot a geeky site? I believe it's a good idea to promote the distinction between hacking and cracking, because otherwise Gnu/Linux (and possibly things like Wikipedia) could be called 'cancer' again. And yet they are the opposite.
