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Comment Re:100 jobs (Score 1) 44

by pez (#55321975) Attached to: Facebook To Build $1 Billion Data Center In Virginia

I also was surprised to see that a billion dollar investment will only create 100 jobs, but I guess the computers don't need that much maintenance once the facility is built.

Building the facility has just got to create more than 100 short-term jobs though, right?

Comment Re:Always wondered... (Score 4, Interesting) 119

My experience is that at the low end of that 20:1 ratio is the dead weight that should never be in the programming profession. Those are the people you should really fire. A more reasonable number between an average contributor and a top contributor is 2:1 or 3:1... and you sometimes see that big a gap in pay.

Comment One Example (Score 1) 757

by pez (#54355289) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: What Is the 'Special Appeal' of Apple Products?

My favorite example to answer this question is when laptops first became popular, and operating systems became aware of battery levels, both Windows and Mac OS had helpful dialogs that popped up to say something like "Your computer is about to shut down."

On a Mac, if you then plugged in the power cord, the dialog automatically dismissed itself because it was no longer relevant. On Windows, even though you just plugged it in, you had to hit the cancel button.

Now this one example isn't likely to change your mind about Windows vs. Mac, but it was one example of HUNDREDS that you would encounter with Mac products. They had a polish and a "wow that really makes sense" that just wasn't there with Windows.

Both operating systems were capable of roughly the same thing, but IMHO a Mac did it with greater thoughtfulness and ease-of-use.

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: How to deal with persistent and incessant port scanner

Submitted by jetkins
jetkins writes: What would you do if your firewall was being persistently targeted by port scans from a specific group of machines from one particular company?

I run a Sophos UTM9 software firewall appliance on my home network. Works great, and the free Home Use license provides a bunch of really nice features normally only found on commercial-grade gear. One of those is the ability to detect, block, and report port scans, and under normal circumstances I only get the occasional alert when some script kiddie comes a-knocking at my door.

But in recent months I have been getting flooded with alerts of scans from one particular company. I initially reported it to my own ISP's (RoadRunner's) abuse desk, on the assumption that if they're scanning me then they're probably scanning a bunch of my neighbors as well, and any responsible ISP would probably want to block this BS, but all I ever got back was an automated acknowledgement and zero action.

So I used DNS lookup and WHOIS to find their phone number, and spoke with someone there; it appears that they're a small outfit, and I was assured that they had a good idea where it was coming from and that they would make it stop. Indeed, it did stop a few days later but then it was back again, unabated, after another week or so. So last week I called them again, and was once again assured of a resolution. No dice, the scans continue to pour in.

I've already blocked their subnet at my firewall, but the UTM apparently does attack detection before filtering, so that didn't stop the alerts. And although I *could* disable port scan alerts, it's an all-or-nothing thing and I'm not prepared to turn them off completely.

This afternoon I forwarded the twenty-something alerts that I've received so far today, to their abuse@ address with an appeal for a Christmas Miracle, but frankly I'm not holding out much hope that it will have any effect.

So, Slashdotters, what should I do if this continues into the new year? Start automatically bouncing every report to their abuse address? Sic Anonymous on them? Start calling them every time? I'm open to suggestions.
Communications

Google's Project Loon Can Now Launch Up To 20 Balloons Per Day, Fly 10x Longer 116

Posted by timothy from the first-they-said-you-were-crazy dept.
An anonymous reader writes Google [Thursday] shared an update from Project Loon, the company's initiative to bring high-speed Internet access to remote areas of the world via hot air balloons. Google says it now has the ability to launch up to 20 of these balloons per day. This is in part possible because the company has improved its autofill equipment to a point where it can fill a balloon in under five minutes. This is a major achievement, given that Google says filling a Project Loon balloon with enough air so that it is ready for flight is the equivalent of inflating 7,000 party balloons.
Education

Genes Don't Just Predict Intelligence, But Also How Well You Do In School 154

Posted by Soulskill from the banking-on-my-extra-credit-genes dept.
sciencehabit writes: If you sailed through school with high grades and perfect test scores, you probably did it with traits beyond sheer smarts. A new study of more than 6000 pairs of twins finds that academic achievement is influenced by genes affecting motivation, personality, confidence, and dozens of other traits, in addition to those that shape intelligence (abstract). The results may lead to new ways to improve childhood education.
Earth

Ozone Layer Recovering But Remains Threatened 59

Posted by samzenpus from the getting-better dept.
First time accepted submitter i kan reed writes in with some good news from the ozone report of the United Nations. The Earth’s protective ozone layer is on track to recover by the middle of the century, the United Nations today reported, urging unified action to tackle climate change and curb continued fluctuations to the composition of the atmosphere. That is according to the assessment of 300 scientists in the summary document of the Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion 2014, published by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO). “International action on the ozone layer is a major environmental success story,” WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud said in a news release. “This should encourage us to display the same level of urgency and unity to tackle the even greater challenge of climate change.”
Microsoft

Microsoft Killing Off Windows Phone Brand Name In Favor of Just Windows 352

Posted by samzenpus from the a-rose-by-any-other-name dept.
DroidJason1 writes Microsoft is killing off the "Windows Phone" name in favor of Windows. The company also plans to drop the "Nokia" name from handsets in favor of just "Lumia." These details were revealed in a leaked memo. We've already begun seeing these changes in recent advertisements from Microsoft and it makes perfect sense seeing as how Microsoft is shifting towards one operating system to rule them all.

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