I was simply scrolling down, waiting for someone to make the reference.

Quite amusingly, being in Group 17 on the periodic table (also known as Group VII or Group VII-A), it will behave as a halogen. Masterchiefium is a halogen. Go figure.

Haha wow... I completely missed that. This is what I get for posting on /. at 2 am...

When said convenience is free.

Users used to online banking the way they normally do A user that doesn't know anything about security and doesn't realize that doing online banking on the same machine where he/she runs LimeWire is a bad thing will certainly not understand why online banking, which used to be great because it was so convenient, now costs $20 per log-in and you have to reboot. And why the stack of use-once CDs? First, CDs are read-only...how are you going to set that the CD has been used? Second, how is this any more secure and convenient than using a Live CD?

Also, GP gave his telephone idea to make it so it can run in Windows using a temporary password (being temporary, it will render keyloggers ineffective). This was to AVOID booting a custom OS.

Here's the other thing though - If someone steals one of your CDs or if you lose an unused one, you're not going to notice (and yes, people, especially those on business, will likely just throw a stack of them in with their laptops). I also feel like your idea was going somewhere as replacing the telephone idea with having your login credentials built into the CD until you said that the CD would have a custom OS, which brings us back to a LiveCD. So I don't see any way in which this will be better than a Live CD.

Plus...banks will have to print so many of these per user, multiplied by the number of users they have..do you hate the environment or something?

Which happens to come after THIS April (April 2010 is before June 2010)

No, what will happen is that the Macs, Linux, smartphones, etc. will still be praised as incredibly secure, and it will just be Adobe's fault. Nobody likes to take the blame or admit that their favorite platform isn't what they said it was, but everyone loves to insult Flash.

The cases where the user would be "hosed" are few to none.

This bug only applies to documents protected with Rights Management Services, which is part of Active Directory and the Windows Server operating system.

Therefore, the only way you would have an issue is if you were on a network that used RMS but had no internet connection, in which case you'd have your IT guy download a fix from some other internet-connected machine and deploy it to the systems with the bug.

This will not affect people who are simply running their own copies of Office 2003 without RMS or Active Directory or any other fancy add-ons.

I'd suggest trying it again under Windows 7 - although I never had to set up forwarding in Vista, it was a pain. I generally ended up switching to something else instead of trying to help the remote user forward ports if it didn't work right away. However, I've yet to have any issues with it on 7.

However, looking at my router's uPnP port-map table right now, Remote Assistance DOES use uPnP to get its ports forwarded properly. If your router doesn't allow this, then that'll probably cause an issue. Again, back on Vista when it didn't work right away I just switched to something else. I'll probably use the same tactic if/when Remote Assistance fails me.

I've actually used it where both computers were behind separate NAT routers over the internet and did not have forwarded ports...Easy Connect did NAT traversal on both networks perfectly fine.

I have no idea what will happen in a dual NAT, but if Assistance fails I generally just switch to using LogMeIn instead of trying to help a remote user get Assistance working over the phone. Regardless, I still appreciate this and the Problem Steps Recorder in Windows 7...I've found both to be incredibly useful.

Very much agreed. I actually used to use the trial version of LogMeIn Rescue for a while for this purpose (it gives the technician a password which the remote user enters on logmein123.com), however it was only a trial version.

I also very much agree that LogMeIn is a GREAT tool, and I use it all the time to maintain my machines because some are running Home versions of Windows which doesnt support being a Remote Desktop (which I use when available)

In the past before Windows Remote Assistance had Easy Connect I used to ask users to install the logmein software because it was so much easier than having them get the file and save it and email it.

However, Windows Remote Assistance worked for me when both my computer and the remote one (over the Internet) were behind different NAT routers that did not have ports forwarded, which certainly gives it points in my book. IMO, it's all about having as many tools as possible so you always have a backup plan...RDP, Remote Assistance, LogMeIn, GoToMyPC, WebEx, VNC... Personally I'll try Remote Assistance, and if Easy Connect doesn't work I'll walk them through LogMeIn.

Logmein, certainly. Free, and works well.

Also, OP stated that he gets calls from 'friends and family members'

While this would work fine for family, installing logmein that allows you access whenever you want is probably not a good idea for friends, and they would probably dislike it.

If they are running Windows 7, its extremely easy to walk them through
- Hitting the start button,
- Typing 'Windows Remote Assistance' in the search bar
- Clicking 'Invite someone you trust to help you,'
- Clicking Easy Connect and having them recite the letters on their screen.

Works in Vista too, but the added option of Easy Connect in Windows 7 that gives a a password for connection instead of using an invitation file makes it really easy for the technologically illiterate to allow you to connect. Just another very easy-to-use option.

OCZ - OCZ Technology - Manufacturer of hardware - OCZ Technology

SSD - Solid-State-Drive - Type of hard drive - Solid State Drive

MLC - Multi-level cell - Technology used in making SSDs - Multi-level Cell

SLC - Single-level cell - Technology used in making SSDs - Single-level Cell

A little search can go a long way...

Heh...I agree that OpenSUSE is a great distro...I just find it funny that your link contains the word "UNSTABLE" in all caps =D

Agreed - I actually took an old router that only had one working Ethernet port, flashed it with DD-WRT, and made it an Ethernet bridge. I do have the official adapter as well, but I bought that afterward when a friend who was selling his Xbox offered it for $20.

Sure it's nice when I take my Xbox with me various places because I can always find a Wi-Fi signal and it's very easy to configure, but unless you get a great deal like I did it's really not worth it.

I concur.

Simon Singh is an excellent mathematics author. I picked up Fermat's Enigma this past summer (about Andrew Wiles's proof of Fermat's Last Theorem). I went into the history of the mathematics involved, to Fermat, to Andrew Wiles's story. There was a substantial amount of mathematics in there, but it was all explained well, and turned out to be a much lighter read than I initially expected from a math book.

I agree, Blu-Ray is not really necessary for a gaming machine (are any PC games Blu-Ray yet?) And to have two BD burners...(going from first post - article is slashdotted)...this seems less like a gaming rig and more like a video production machine.

Also, Blu-Ray is abbreviated to BD, for Blu-Ray Disc. All of the abbreviations for the format use BD, not BR, such as BD-J, BD+, BD-ROM, BD-R.

"Blu-ray, also known as Blu-ray Disc (BD), is the name of a next-generation optical disc format jointly developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA)"
Taken from http://www.blu-ray.com/info/