Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Software

Submission + - Typesetting documents containing source code? 1

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: I'm looking for advice on software to typeset technical documents containing lots of program listings and related material. I have an opportunity involving publishing various technical articles and possibly a book or two, and would need to produce suitably professional-looking documents output as bureau-ready PDFs. The content of the documents is not a problem, and I have enough budget to buy any of the major DTP or typesetting packages if necessary, but I've never found a good solution to typesetting program listings. Are there any Slashdotters with prior experience of this, who could recommend suitable software?

LaTeX has some useful packages available, but isn't my first choice because of other limitations, particularly the lack of support for professional-grade OpenType fonts and the general unreliability of mixing several complex packages together. The big name DTP packages don't raise these concerns, but I've never found a good way to automate the typesetting of the source code with formatting such as syntax highlighting and line numbering, and the ability to import the code directly from a file on disk so I can use the real, tested code. Perhaps there's some variant in the TeX family I haven't found that is better at this, or a plug-in for one of the major DTP packages? Any advice would be very welcome. Someone must have done this before!
Editorial

Submission + - Psychiatry from a Geek's Perspective?

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: Slashdot has covered articles about Asperger's syndrome, autism, and how it might relate to the (somewhat stereotypical) geek mindset. I've been diagnosed as borderline autistic, so in a similar vein, I've found myself in an unusual position when it comes to getting therapy. I'm very analytical, investigative, and detail-oriented, so when I'm the patient of a psychiatrist, psychologist, or therapist, I feel like I'm coming in at a very different angle than other patients. I want to fully grok the pharmacology of the medications prescribed to me and how they interact with my nervous system. I analyze all of the methods and suggestions my therapist offers. I'm told that working with me as a patient is quite interesting (and often enjoyable), contrasted against many patients who are unaware of the therapy process or have no interest in it or its effects. I see the brain as the machine that coordinates my life, therapists as debuggers, and pharmaceuticals as hardware tweaking.

I'm extremely curious to know if other geeks have this mindset, or have any interesting experiences or viewpoints. There are other questions that can be considered, as well: are you very self-analytical? Perhaps you avoid therapists and attempt to diagnose and debug your own mis-programming?

There's a book online about hacking your body's energy management system. Meditation is also along the lines of hacking your psyche, and there's the OpenEEG project, which is worth noting.

I think there's a lot of unexplored territory here, at least considering that it hasn't been explored by people with a coding/hacking mindset. Do you hack your own mind? If so, then how?

Providing a lot of detail would probably generate the best discussion, so be careful; anything that you might not want future employers to know about you, post anonymously!
Security

Submission + - Jobs in Computer Forensics?

Submitted by raw-sewage
raw-sewage writes: I've got a Computer Science degree and nearly six years of professional software development experience (engineering design applications and trading programs). I like writing code, but struggle to stay "energized" by it day after day. I'm looking for a job that is computer- and/or technology-centric, but also involves a lot of variety and different projects. Computer forensics seems like it would fit the bill. Of course I don't expect CSI-caliber glamor, but variation and the ability to learn about a lot of different technologies sound exciting.

However, I can't seem to find any information on what is required to get into this field. Does anyone have the answers to questions such as:
  • What degree and/or certifications are required?
  • Who does a computer forensics professional work for? Federal, state, local government? Private industry?
  • What kind of compensation can one expect in this field?
  • What are typical/likely career paths for someone involved in computer forensics?
  • How does one find opportunities for this kind of work?
Businesses

Submission + - Career change into programming or IT?

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: How viable is a career change into software engineering or IT later in life? I've been something of a hobbyist most of my life and have started to wonder if I should jump in as a new career. I'm getting close to 40 and have a bachelors degree in physics. I only make about $50K a year, and in my industry now I will cap out at $55K to $60K.

What would be the best approach to making the switch? I only have a couple of CS classes as most of the stuff I have learned was on my own, so should I take some more classes? How about programming certs, do they help at all? What's the best way to get my foot in the door.
Education

Submission + - What is the Who's Who of Security Certification?

Submitted by lunarpaladin
lunarpaladin writes: Okay, so I'm a junior admin (MCSA, Security+, CSA) that has finally come to find what he wants to specialize in. Security. I love reading about different security practices, methods, and technologies. My problem is that when it comes to actual certification, there is an overwhelming amount of certs, courses, books, and the like out there for this area of study. Where does one even begin? I'm totally lost. Is there a recommended or suggested certification/study path for one who wants to become a specialist in this area? What have you guys done to get to where you are now?
Portables

Submission + - Are laptops OK on bicycles? (science.ca)

Submitted by bshell
bshell writes: I commute to work by bicycle and I've been strapping my PowerBook to the bike rack carrier on the back of my bike. It's enclosed in a typical computer carry bag, and strapped down by bungie cords, but it gets all the road vibrations on there. After years, there seems to be no adverse effects. Do other Slashdot readers concur? Does anyone think that subjecting a laptop computer to the daily bumps and bangs of a bicycle commute is harmful to the machine, or are laptop computers fundamentally constructed to handle this sort of treatment? Your experiences might be instructive to other readers.
Networking

Submission + - A better alternative to Synergy2 the software KVM

Submitted by TechnoTheMage
TechnoTheMage writes: Years ago, in 2003 I believe, I asked slashdot for a solution to a piece of fantastic software that no longer worked under WindowsXP. It was called teleffect and it would allow you to control multiple machines over a TCP/IP connection. So if you had say 2 laptops and a desktop next to each other you could use any of the machines to control all of them with one keyboard and mouse.

Why would you do this? ok short version.. say you have one machine surfing the web and capturing video, the second machine researching outlook email and doing large file copies and a third you are configuring because its a new install and you have to keep rebooting it..

Second scenario: Say you play warcraft and you have two accounts and you want to control both characters at the same time because you are power leveling one of them.. Maybe you have three accounts.. Nuff said for WoW players...

With this software the possibilities for using your nice high end input devices with all your machines becomes wide open. I found Synergy was just not as good as teleffect. There were always slowdowns and gittery control when the cpu was under a large load or even a slight load. This never happened with teleffect and there has got to be something better.

OK so back to 2003.. After trying all the possible options I eventually gave up and have just lived without the software. It has been sorely missed and recently I am in the need of the software again. I have included the link from the original post which outlines all the suggestions and opinions which I am sure will be reproduced again.

Does anyohne know of software like Synergy2 but works better? You should feel like you were sitting in front of any machine you control with no slowdown or stickiness. Yes I have used the latest version of Synergy, I am not just talking about the older version.

Here is the original link on slashdot:

http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/07/29/17 44251&tid=185&tid=130&tid=201&tid=4

Techno The Mage out......
Communications

Submission + - US Interrogation technology

Submitted by
cwatch
cwatch writes: "US Interrogation technologies In the late 90s, someone was developing an intra-cochlear transceiver device for use in remote hostile interrogation, monitoring, tracking and surveillance. The device was designed to sense and transmit sub vocalization (probably like an electromyograph). The device was deployed soon after Bush was elected, along with a bunch of Internet decoy material ("audio spotlight," "acoustic heterodyne,"), to decoy and sidetrack the technologically-challenged subjects. Much of the material appeared to direct subjects to mailing lists mc@topica.com and mc-tech@yahoo.com, where attempts where made to keep them off-track. Does anyone have any additional information on this program?"
Java

Submission + - Web or Desktop Application?

Submitted by Austin Milbarge
Austin Milbarge writes: I'm redesigning a database application I've written in Windows and I would like the application to work from the web with minimal installation headaches. I've narrowed my decision down to either developing the software in Java Swing and then using WebStart as a means to deploy it, or write the whole thing in JSP as a dynamic web application. I like the web application idea because it will work with any browser and requires zero installation for the user. However, developing a desktop Java application gives the developer more control over dialogs, widgets, etc and besides I'm not all that convinced yet with dynamic web pages replacing full featured MDI applications. Web application development seems like a real pain in the ***. Perhaps I'm wrong. Finally, if I were to write a web application I'd like to shy away from using Microsoft servers so I guess that would disqualify ASP.NET. Any suggestions?
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - Putting your keyboard in the dishwasher?

Submitted by The Fun Guy
The Fun Guy writes: A piece on NPR discussed the merits of putting your keyboard into the dishwasher. Any real-world experience with this? Is this only for the old-style, robust Mac II clicky-clicky keyboards, or will modern soft-touch ones work too? What about wireless keyboards?
Businesses

Submission + - Working at Big 4 consulting firm R&D, pros/con

Submitted by
pagalvin
pagalvin writes: "I'm being recruited for an "R&D Architect" position at a Big 4 consulting firm in the U.S, East Coast (but not NYC). Does the community care to share its experience working as "overhead" in a large organization most famous for its consultants working 60 hour weeks and billing 'till the fat lady sings? In such places, do non-billable R&D types get any respect? Is there a a long-term career path that sticks with the technology track?"
The Internet

Submission + - Scoring Systems for credibility of cited sources?

Submitted by
adinb
adinb writes: "Does anyone know of any widely used scoring systems for evaluation of credibility of cited sources? While I've seen guides (like this one from cornell) or this wikipedia article, I haven't seen any standardized scoring systems that apply a numerical score to source credibility. I'm thinking of something as simple as +5 for a current, double-blind study published in a peer reviewed journal, funded by non-partisan sources to -5 for an out of date, non peer reviewed article from a partisan source. If there aren't any "simple" systems out there, is this something we should create to help with evaluation of content on the net and in our society?"
Operating Systems

Submission + - When is it appropriate to go Web-Based?

Submitted by
Nightlyfe
Nightlyfe writes: "I work for a fair-sized resort that is currently exploring changing accounting systems. In our preliminary discussions, the controller asked us to look at web-based systems. I explained that this would seriously limit our options, and may have other drawbacks as well. Going to web-based applications has some serious advantages/disadvantages as I see it. Yes, all of your backup and security is someone else's responsibility, but on the other hand...*all of your backup and security is someone else's responsibility.* I've always felt that that's a pretty significant risk to take with corporate/business applications. We have the hardware and infrastructure in-house to handle an application suite for this, so what are the benefits to going web-based? What are the challenges we could expect to face? I'd really like to know if other slashdot readers have experienced similar situations and what they found out."
Networking

Submission + - How to deal with an abusive web host?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: I recently sent a DMCA takedown notice to a hosting company, regarding a customer who was blatantly posting copyrighted material from my website, along with attacks against me based on sexual orientation. I was told that, because they agreed with the person's attacks, the offending content would not be removed. They also claim that copyright is irrelevant, because they agree with their customer's "comments." I couldn't believe this response, but upon Googling the name of this host, I found dozens of webmasters and ISPs complaining about legal threats and spam attacks originating from this company. What is the correct way to deal with this issue?
Media

Submission + - Where to go for enterprise product information?

Submitted by hal9000(jr)
hal9000(jr) writes: CMP Media announced that they are closing Network Computing print down. That leaves one less place to get independent information and product reviews. Where is an IT guy supposed to go to learn about products?

Slashdot Top Deals

One small step for man, one giant stumble for mankind.

Close