Comment Hard Drive (Score 1) 3
First was a 500 MB WD. Last was 500GB WD.
Three orders of magnitude larger. 1000x the size.
Comment Re:This should be a lesson... (Score 5, Informative) 780
It's actually very difficult to truly destroy data, especially remotely. There is actually a reason the DoD spec. requires physical destruction of the media.
Unless you have overwritten the area on the physical disk that contained the data, multiple times, the data can still be recovered.
The article doesn't lead me to believe that he's tried very hard to get this data back.. Maybe somebody (not me) who cares about this resource, should offer an attempt at data recovery.. Just be sure to hurry, before they do something that will ensure you cannot recover the data.
I've recovered data off of formatted HDD's, off of corrupted file systems, off of compact flash cards and other media (Really useful if you want to keep those photo's that someone thought was deleted, be aware of this people).
It's amazing how most people seem to think deleted means gone.
Hacker Destroys Avsim.com, Along With Its Backups 780
el americano writes "Flight Simulator community website Avsim has experienced a total data loss after both of their online servers were hacked. The site's founder, Tom Allensworth, explained why 13 years of community developed terrains, skins, and mods will not be restored from backups: 'Some have asked whether or not we had back ups. Yes, we dutifully backed up our servers every day. Unfortunately, we backed up the servers between our two servers. The hacker took out both servers, destroying our ability to use one or the other back up to remedy the situation.'"
Submission + - Orders of magnitude change in storage 3
dborod writes: About how many times larger capacity is the last hard drive you bought compared to the first hard drive you bought?
1 (I just bought my first hard drive)
10
100
1,000
10,000
100,000
1,000,000
Cowboy Neal has infinite storage density
1 (I just bought my first hard drive)
10
100
1,000
10,000
100,000
1,000,000
Cowboy Neal has infinite storage density
GPS Accuracy Could Start Dropping In 2010 210
adamengst writes "A US Government Accountability Office report raises concerns about the Air Force's ability to modernize and maintain the constellation of satellites necessary to provide GPS services to military and civilian users. TidBITS looks at the situation and possible solutions."
Comment Re:Huh? What? WHAT THE HELL! (Score 2, Funny) 138
Talk about sleeping on the job... I didn't even post this in the right story...
Did you say something?
About right..
However, I wonder if the author has looked into writing books for academic purposes...
Anyone who has a degree knows just how much money is made on textbooks, and the frequency with which they are replaced and updated.
If I was a writer looking to make a living at it, especially in a vertical field, I would seriously consider writing university level textbooks.
Comment Re:Huh? What? (Score 0, Offtopic) 138
Did you say something?
About right..
However, I wonder if the author has looked into writing books for academic purposes...
Anyone who has a degree knows just how much money is made on textbooks, and the frequency with which they are replaced and updated.
If I was a writer looking to make a living at it, especially in a vertical field, I would seriously consider writing university level textbooks.
Comment Re:Abuse of moderation (Score 1) 311
Come on mods.... this was TRULY funny... I laughed in the middle of a meeting!
Is it bad that I'm somehow slightly pleased that I indirectly caused you to laugh in the middle of a meeting????
Comment Re:Abuse of moderation (Score 1) 311
Crayons = wax. As a dad I can tell you when a crayon goes through the dryer it is carnage, so if your memory stick threat model includes going through the wash, I would avoid wax.
LOL- No kids.. Didn't think about the crayon factor..
Comment Re:Abuse of moderation (Score 1) 311
Try alcohol rather than water for washing. It is best if you can get 100% alcohol which may be available from your drug store if you ask for it. It dries quickly and thoroughly with ease whereas water tends to hide and remain moist.
For this application, de-natured alcohol would be a fine product. You can find it at any home construction supply house, and it'll be much cheaper per volume unit than medical grade alcohol.
Comment Re:Abuse of moderation (Score 0, Troll) 311
As an amateur diver, I do NOT recommend gluing your O-ring. These things lose their suppleness and crack, rendering them ineffective.
Make sure the groove is very smooth to prevent nicking the ring, insert the o-ring in it and lube the ring once in a while (once a year should be more than enough) with silicone grease.
As for Epoxy: it should do the job in a pinch, but I would recommend looking at some silicone gelly like Olympus uses for it's Tough cameras. More flexibility = less cracking = less possibility of water seeping to the board. Most USB keys get flexed often in pockets, etc.
Hey, I know it's overkill for a 10$ trinket, but if you gotta do it, you gotta do it in style.
Honestly, at some level, wax would really do just fine too... Easier to work with, and could actually serve as the 0-ring too... (just fill the cap and empty out the central area (so as to not wax up the connector.)
The Hidden Secrets of Online Quizzes 136
LegionKK points out a story on PC World, sending along this excerpt: "Ultimately, deciding whether you should take an online quiz comes down to a question of trust: Are you comfortable putting your information — personal or financial — into the owner's hands? Remember, even if you don't directly input data, it can be passed along. Such is the case with Facebook, where just opening an application automatically grants its developer access to your entire profile. And don't assume that the developer isn't going to use the information within. [...] The ads can follow you long after you click away, too. Just look at RealAge, a detailed quiz that assigns you a 'biological age' based on your family history and health habits. The site, a recent investigation revealed, takes your most sensitive answers — those about sexual difficulties, say, or signs of depression — and sells them to drug companies looking to market medications."
Comment Re:Abuse of moderation (Score 5, Interesting) 311
All you want is waterproof?
USB drives are super cool like that. (No moving parts!)
All you need is a little 2-part epoxy.
Take apart your flash drive (any!) and simply coat the green / black components with as much epoxy as you can stuff into it's exterior shell..
Now, the cap, buy a thin o-ring from your local hardware store, using a knife or dremel, cut a very narrow groove around the inside of your cap. Carefully use epoxy (sparingly here!) to secure the o-ring..
This might not be 100% water proof, but I'm pretty sure it would be very water resistant.
-Cheers,
Cory!
Cory Doctorow Says DIY Licensing Will Solve Piracy 189
An anonymous reader writes "The founding editor of Boing Boing, Cory Doctorow, has written a report about 'do-it-yourself' digital licensing, which he's touting as the panacea for piracy. Doctorow's solution for content creators is two-fold: get a Creative Commons license and append some basic text requiring those who re-use your work to pay you a percentage of their gross income. Doctorow refers to this as the middle ground between simply acquiring a Creative Commons license and hiring expensive lawyers for negotiations. He calls do-it-yourself licensing 'cheap and easy licensing that would turn yesterday's pirates into tomorrow's partners.'"
Submission + - Windows 7's disingenuous "Advantage" (pcpro.co.uk)
Barence writes: "An interesting blog about Microsoft's 'slimy' and 'sneaky' anti-piracy policies. Quote: "Last week, Microsoft announced some details of anti-piracy measures in Windows 7. It sounds like they're going to be slightly less intrusive than those in Vista, and probably roughly as effective. I don't exactly resent all this product validation stuff. I'd prefer it if Microsoft didn't feel the need to do it; but I accept that the company has a legitimate interest in dissuading casual copying, and to me a one-time online authorisation doesn't seem an unreasonable way of going about that. But I do resent all the weasel words and spin that surround the process.""
