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Comment Re:I skimmed the PDF... (Score 2) 70

by Skewray (#42732251) Attached to: Mozilla Named 'Most Trusted Internet Company For Privacy'

...and it's all about perception and how people feel, not how the world actually works. Therefore, it may give people fuzzy/happy feelings, but it doesn't necessarily mean squat if it's not actually correct.

Well, the Ponemon Institute brought us Pikachu, which makes me feel pretty fuzzy/happy about Mozilla.
Linux

Submission + - Love Ubuntu, but looking for something faster? Go Lubuntu (networkworld.com)

Submitted by colinneagle
colinneagle writes: Here’s the basic overview of what Lubuntu is:

Take Ubuntu. Rip out the Unity user interface and drop in LXDE (aka the "Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment"). This frees up resources (both memory and CPU) and generally makes your systems a bit snappier.

Then take out LibreOffice and Firefox. Sub in Abiword, Gnumeric and Chromium. Lightweight, super-face office suite and web browser? Check.

Those sorts of tweaks, and software swaps, are common throughout the system — and almost invariably resulting in a system that is just that much leaner and peppier. They even opt to use Sylpheed for the email client (instead of the common Thunderbird). Seriously. Sylpheed. Who uses Sylpheed? Well, apparently people who want their systems to be crazy fast and stable.

In many ways, Lubuntu reminds me of Ubuntu of old — back when Gnome 2 was the bee’s knee’s. Lubuntu even comes packed with Synaptic Package Manager (the old graphical software installer from versions of Ubuntu more than a few years back) and full access to all of Ubuntu’s software repositories (it is an Ubuntu-derived system, after all, with close ties to the Ubuntu release cycle).
Science

Submission + - How Maggots Heal Wounds (sciencemag.org)

Submitted by sciencehabit
sciencehabit writes: Maggots have been used for centuries to heal wounds, but no one knew how they did this. Now scientists report that the fly larvae secrete compounds that suppress the immune system, reducing swelling and givng the body time to heal.
Bitcoin

Submission + - Bitcoin-Central begins operating as a Bank (Sort of) (mineforeman.com)

Submitted by
ASDFnz
ASDFnz writes: "In an announcement on BitcoinTalk earlier today Bitcoin-Central reviled that they have partnered with Aqoba and Credit Mutuel to begin operations as Payments Service Provider (or a PSP). While not quite exactly the same as a bank a PSP falls under all the regulatory restrictions and requirements as a bank except they are not able to issue credit.

They will fall under the European Union regulatory body but they are open to international clients so no matter where you live you can now open the equivalent of a European bank account (assuming your government allows it).

If you look at the story on BitcoinTalk you will find quite a few advantages to this move but a short list of advantages to this are;-

* Non bitcoin Deposits stored in individual Credit Mutuel accounts.
* An IBAN Number will be issued within the next few months.
* Non bitcoin deposits 100% guaranteed by the French Government.
* You will soon be able to get a Debit Card issued.
* You will be able to use your BTC with your Bitcoin-Central Debit Card.

As with any new service there are downsides, the one that I can see most bitcoin users borking at is to take full advantage of the service you must positively identify yourself with a scan of a government-issued photographic identification document (Passport, National ID Card, Driver’s License etc..). While this is not an issue for most bitcoiners quite a few value their anonymity and it also opens a new avenue for Identity Theft.

It seems to me that Bitcoin-Central has just gained a step ahead of the other bitcoin exchanges."

Submission + - How Yucca Mountain was Killed (thenewatlantis.com)

Submitted by ATKeiper
ATKeiper writes: The Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, which was selected by the U.S. government in the 1980s to be the nation’s permanent facility for storing nuclear waste, is essentially dead. A new article in The New Atlantis explains how the project was killed: 'In the end, the Obama administration succeeded, by a combination of legal authority and bureaucratic will, in blocking Congress’s plan for the Yucca Mountain repository — certainly for the foreseeable future, and perhaps permanently.... The saga of Yucca Mountain’s creation and apparent demise, and of the seeming inability of the courts to prevent the Obama administration from unilaterally nullifying the decades-old statutory framework for Yucca, illustrates how energy infrastructure is uniquely subject to the control of the executive branch, and so to the influence of presidential politics.' A report from the Government Accountability Office notes that the termination 'essentially restarts a time-consuming and costly process [that] has already cost nearly $15 billion through 2009.'
Graphics

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Best Laptop With Decent Linux Graphics Support? 4

Submitted by jcreus
jcreus writes: After struggling for some years with Nvidia cards (the laptop from which I am writing this has two graphic cards, an Intel one and Nvidia one, and is a holy mess [I still haven't been able to use the Nvidia card]) and, encouraged by Torvalds' middle finger speech, I've decided to ditch Nvidia for something better. I am expecting to buy another laptop and, this time, I'd like to get it right from the start. It would be interesting if it had decent graphics support and, in general, were Linux friendly. While I know Dell has released a Ubuntu laptop, it's way off-budget. My plan is to install Ubuntu, Kubuntu (or even Debian), with dual boot unfortunately required. Thanks in advance, Slashdot!

Comment stock market non-analogy is wrong (Score 1) 130

by Skewray (#42173883) Attached to: Even Capped Prediction Markets Can Be Manipulated
"The same kind of trick wouldn't normally work on the stock market -- if you're wealthy enough that you can increase the share price of a stock by buying enough of it to shift the market, then when you try to reap your profits by unloading the stock, the price will drift back down as you're selling it off."

-

This is incorrect. An investor could buy up the stock and take a profit by investing in options that expire at the value peak.

Comment Re:If it ain't broke don't fix it (Score 1) 823

by Skewray (#41771025) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Rectifying Nerd Arrogance?

Arrogance is never justified. This is why it's never seen as a positive trait in people. Arrogance puts yourself and all of what you are in front of EVERYONE else. Arrogance is NEVER confidence.

My beliefs: - Arrogance is not a virtue. Arrogance alienates you from people. - Humility is a virtue. Humility brings us closer to people.

Be confident yet humble, and people will follow you to the ends of the Earth...

Try hubris over arrogance. Why be the lesser evil?

Comment Re:Code versioning and deployment? (Score 1) 151

by Skewray (#41403597) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Taming a Wild, One-Man Codebase?

I don't understand how code versioning has to be coupled with deployment? You have no test environment, as you said... so just make releases and deploy them manually. Since you are going straight to production, you had better be there in person to roll it back if you screwed up. Right? So, SVN should be all you need...

I used to, as a single programmer, use SVN, but I found it nothing but a burden. It left files all over the place, and was really not convenient when no interlocking with another programmer is needed. Now I just make a tarball of everything at obvious breakpoints and store it away.

Comment Re:My take? (Score 5, Funny) 347

by Skewray (#41250537) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: What's Your Take On Stand-Up Desks?

I've connected two monitors, two keyboards and two mice to my computer. One set is raised, for working standing up, and the other is on my desk. I stand at times and sit the rest of the time. This works great for me.

Clever. I have two mice, two monitors, and two keyboards as well, but I use one mouse+keyboard for each hand and one monitor for each eye. Then I can work and read Slashdot at the same time.

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