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Comment Re:At least they patched it (Score 1) 214

by j.sanchez1 (#30171266) Attached to: MS Finds Security Flaw In Google Chrome Frame
I imagine 90% of your updates come from noscript. The author essentially just releases updates every few days just so that he can drive up views to his site and try to make money from it.
I guess that's his right, but it's annoying as hell and it's basically just made me stop updating noscript.

about:config, then search for "noscript.firstRunRedirection" and set it to false.

Submission + - Modern Warfare 2 - Infinity Ward Hates You (arstechnica.com) 2

Submitted by Zarrot
Zarrot writes: Modern Warfare 2 was one of the most anticipated titles of the year. I, personally, have been anticipating this game for almost a year months. No longer... It is a slap in the face to PC Gamers what Infinity Ward has done with this title. No dedicated servers, no server admin, cannot kick hackers, no mods, no maps, no community, no customization, no respect... The author is right if we as a gaming community if we do not stand against this sort of behavior, this is the future of PC Gaming. I'm boycotting until they listen to their community of players and address this madness. I encourage everyone else to do the same.
Spam

Submission + - The legality of publishing email addresses.

Submitted by oobayly
oobayly writes: Like most people I receive a fair amount of chain emails, some humourous, most downright idiotic. No matter how I try educating colleagues, family & friends, I still receive them and am now resigned to the fact that you just can't help some people.
One of my explanations of why forwarding these emails is a bad idea was that they are a perfect harvesting ground for spammers: a very high percentage of the addresses will be live. This, it turned out fell upon deaf ears. If you're stupid enough to believe that Dell will give you a free laptop then you're probably the type of person that believes that a Nigerian general wants to give you $150,000,000 (ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY MILLION DOLLARS!!!!).

As a bit of an experiment, I used a few tools (grep, awk, etc) to parse my Maildir for any emails that appeared to have been forwarded and extracted anything that looked like an email address. As one would imagine there were a good few (thousand) email addresses. Most of these email addresses belong to innocent by-standers. The real culprits are the people who forward them, and it takes only a little more effort to extract only those.

Part of me has decided these people who waste bandwidth, time and have caused me to lose my hair deserve to pay. What better way to do it than to publish their email addresses for spammers to harvest?

Of course, this is unethical, but is it actually illegal? By sending an email urging others to forward the content, are they not actively pushing their details into the public domain?

Answers on postcards please.
It's funny. Laugh.

The Commodore 64 vs. the iPhone 3G S 238

Posted by timothy from the next-week-chocolate-torte-vs.-charles-manson dept.
Harry writes "The unfortunate news about Apple rejecting a Commodore 64 emulator from the iPhone App Store inspired me to compare the C64 to the new iPhone 3G S, in more detail than any rational person is likely to compare them, ever again. If nothing else, it's a snapshot of just how far technology has come since the C64's release in August of 1982."

Comment Re:But (Score 1) 366

by j.sanchez1 (#27585975) Attached to: Using Net Proxies Will Lead To Harsher Sentences
Not to argue with the point you are trying to make, but I have always wondered exactly just that. Is there any other use for a stereotypical ski mask other than armed robbery?

I know this is antecdotal and your question may have been rhetorical, but I live in Wisconsin and wear a ski mask when I am clearing my driveway and sidewalks with my snowblower. It is too damn cold to be outside (most likely with blowing wind) for 35-40 minutes without a mask.

Just my 2 cents.

Comment Re:Very tempted to get this (Score 1) 451

by j.sanchez1 (#26787905) Attached to: Amazon Announces Kindle 2, With Slew of New Features
I got a Sony PRS-505 for Christmas, and it is perfect (IMHO). I use Calibre to manage it, instead of the Sony Software. I charged it when I got it, have used it at least 5 days a week since then, and haven't charged it again yet. Most of my books started out life as .TXT files, before I converted them to .LRF files. It fits in my coat pocket.

The only stickler for you would be the comic book format. It displays images in black/white only, and does not support the comic book format (.CBR/.CBZ) unless you extract them so you get the individual images.

It supports PDF, but I'm not sure how they look as I have never read one on the device.

Hope that helps.
Music

Submission + - Buying and Selling "Used" mp3s?

Submitted by j.sanchez1
j.sanchez1 writes: Web Pro News has a quick blurb about a website buying and selling "used" mp3s. I checked the domain registration and it is all private. Is this really something that someone is going to try and pull off, or is it a honeypot set up by the RIAA? How would they be sure you did or didn't keep a copy for yourself after selling to them?
Earth

Acorns Disappear Across the Country 474

Posted by kdawson from the curiouser-and-curiouser dept.
Hugh Pickens writes "Botanist Rod Simmons thought he was going crazy when couldn't find any acorns near his home in Arlington County, Virginia. 'I'm used to seeing so many acorns around and out in the field, it's something I just didn't believe,' said Simmons. Then calls started coming in about crazy squirrels. Starving, skinny squirrels eating garbage, inhaling bird feed, greedily demolishing pumpkins. Squirrels boldly scampering into the road. And a lot more calls about squirrel roadkill. Simmons and Naturalist Greg Zell began to do some research and found Internet discussion groups, including one on Topix called 'No acorns this year,' reporting the same thing from as far away as the Midwest up through New England and Nova Scotia. 'We live in Glenwood Landing, N.Y., and don't have any acorns this year. Really weird,' wrote one. 'None in Kansas either! Curiouser and curiouser.' The absence of acorns could have something to do with the weather and Simmons has a theory about the wet and dry cycles. But many skeptics say oaks in other regions are producing plenty of acorns, and the acorn bust is nothing more than the extreme of a natural boom-and-bust cycle. But the bottom line is that no one really knows. 'It's sort of a mystery,' Zell said."
Image

Verizon Tech Accused Of Making $220K In Sex Calls On User Lines Screenshot-sm 218

Posted by samzenpus from the lots-of-lotion dept.
Joseph Vaccarelli, a former Verizon Technician, has been charged with racking up $220,000 in phone-sex calls by tapping into the land lines of nearly 950 customers. Authorities say that he made approximately 5,000 calls, resulting in 45,000 minutes of call time. Verizon estimated that out of a 40-week period, Vaccarelli spent 15 weeks talking on sex lines. How in the world do you have this much phone sex, period, but especially at work, and not have anyone notice?

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