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

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×

Comment Free Compuserve with 300 baud modem ... (Score 2) 387

by i-reek (#39594137) Attached to: Online Services: The Internet Before the Internet
purchased for my C-64 in about 1983-84 when I was 12 or 13.

Except ... living in Canada at the time meant long distance charges for connecting to the servers in the US.

When my parents got the bill for my "free" service they took away the modem :(

... but, thankfully, not the C-64. BASIC and the Zork series kept me occupied enough until they gave it back to me. Except when I got it back my allowance didn't go too far with the long distance charges. Something like 2 or 3 hours a month, as I remember.

Comment Re:I've seen governments waste money in worse ways (Score 1) 121

by i-reek (#39521409) Attached to: Australian National Broadband Network Releases 3-Year Plan

I don't know why so many Australians are complaining about this network!

Because it's become an ideological issue. It's a Labor party policy so, ipso facto, rusted on conservatives hate it.

So they sit in waiting for the inevitable cost blowouts, delays, pork-barrelling, and logistic implosions that befall every large infrastructure program and use them to hammer the Labor party over the head with. And the faithful take their cues from that.

Had the conservatives introduced the NBN it would be the other way around.

I predict that once the NBN is completed and its value demonstrated it will become like Medicare - both sides of politics, regardless of ostensible ideology, will regard it as a "good thing". I mean, can you imagine the Coalition ripping out the fibre from people's homes?

Submission + - Australian police spying on web, phone usage with no warrants (theage.com.au)

Submitted by i-reek
i-reek writes: Australian police, along with government agencies, are accessing phone and internet account information, outward and inward call details, phone and internet access location data, and details of IP addresses visited of Australian citizens, all without judicial warrants . In the last two years, some states have shown an increase of more than 50 per cent in these surveillance authorisations, which can be granted by senior police officers and officials instead of a magistrate or judge.

Comment Re:Unfortunate (Score 1) 507

by i-reek (#38088934) Attached to: Occupy Flash?
Pro Tip: Never call an individual or group "ignorant" in the same sentence you confuse "their" with "they're".

It detracts from the rhetoric somewhat.

Comment Please stop as every VPN named ... (Score 0) 164

by i-reek (#37574930) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Trustworthy Proxy Services?

will now have its address block(s) added to the blacklists of Hulu, Netflix et al

I mean, seriously, how many times will the "tech savvy" users of this site fall for ruses like this?

As if anyone who reads Slashdot wouldn't be able to find out;

  • 1) How to use a VPN, and
  • 2) What VPNs are out there.

Please ... just stop.

Comment Re:Yes, but.... (Score 1) 199

by i-reek (#35345270) Attached to: Meteorites Brought Ingredients of Life To Earth
Of course ... the simplest explanation is that a magical sky-daddy waved his hands around and created everything. Case closed.

Let's get over our silly preoccupation with gaining systematic knowledge through observation, hypothesis, and experimentation and just say "God did it".

I mean, since scientists only possess a faith analogous to your average Christian's (for instance) faith, we know science has achieved nothing.

Vaccines? God did it.

Electricity? God did it.

Modern agriculture and food production? God did it.

The myriad of other "advantages" humans now have at their disposal? God did it.

Let's stop this ridiculous pursuit of "knowledge" when we can all just sit back and say "God did it".
Social Networks

Facebook Axes "Beacon," Donates $9.5M To Settle Suit 71

Posted by kdawson from the all-your-data-are-you-know-the-rest dept.
alphadogg sends in a Network World piece that begins "Facebook has agreed to shut down a program that sparked a lawsuit alleging privacy violations, and set up a $9.5M fund for a nonprofit foundation that will support online privacy, safety, and security. The lawsuit centers around Facebook's Beacon program, which let third-party Web sites distribute 'stories' about users to Facebook. Beacon was launched in November 2007 and less than a year later plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit 'alleging that Facebook and its affiliates did not give users adequate notice and choice about Beacon and the collection and use of users' personal information.' ... Facebook never admitted wrongdoing but as part of a proposed settlement the company began sending notices to Facebook users this week. The settlement provides no compensation directly to users who receive the notice. Facebook users can opt out of the settlement, and should do so if they wish to pursue further legal action against Facebook related to the Beacon program. 'If you choose to do nothing and remain in the settlement class, you will be legally bound by the settlement,' a FAQ on the settlement Web site says. "By doing nothing, you will be giving up the right to sue Facebook and the other Defendants over claims related to or arising out of the Beacon program.'" Other defendents included Blockbuster, Fandango, Overstock.com, Zappos.com, and Gamefly. Neither the article nor the settlement site mentions what part, if any, they play in the settlement.
Transportation

Computer-Controlled Cargo Sailing Vessels Go Slow, Frugal 210

Posted by timothy from the using-up-all-the-wind dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Big container ships are taking it very slow these days, cruising at 10 knots instead of their usual 26 knots, to save fuel. This is actually slower than sailing freighters traveled a hundred years ago. The 1902 German Preussen, the largest sailing ship ever built, traveled between Hamburg (Germany) and Iquique (Chile): the best average speed over a one way trip was 13.7 knots. Sailing boats need a large and costly crew, but they can also be controlled by computers. Automated sail handling was introduced already one century ago. In 2006 it was taken to the extreme by the Maltese Falcon, which can be operated by one man at the touch of a button. We have computer-controlled windmills, why not computer-controlled sailing cargo vessels?"
The Internet

China Denies Role In US Grid Hacks 91

Posted by timothy from the stopped-beating-my-wife dept.
Slatterz writes "The Chinese government is denying any involvement in the reported infiltration of US electric grid systems. Xinhua news agency quoted Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu as saying that any sort of involvement from China in the incident 'doesn't exist at all.' The denial follows a report in the Wall Street Journal which claimed that agents from China and Russia along with several other countries had infiltrated the computer systems charged with managing electricity in the US and left behind software payloads which could be used to control or disable electric grids in the US." Bruce Schneier is skeptical about the whole story.
The Courts

Oz High Court Hears Landmark TV Guide Copyright Case 156

Posted by kdawson from the just-the-facts-ma'am dept.
highways writes "It's rare that that a copyright case is heard in the Australian High Court, let alone a case heard by all seven sitting judges. At stake is a small company IceTV (which we discussed when it launched four years back) taking on Australia's largest television station, the Nine Network, over the copyright status of the weekly broadcast schedule. That is, the schedule itself, not any synopsis or description of the individual programs. Users of PVRs such as MythTV will be well aware of the hassle it is to get a reliable program schedule stream to use for recordings. The saga has gone on for more than two years with Nine unsuccessfully suing IceTV, but later winning on appeal. At issue is whether a list of facts like an electronic program guide is a 'compilation' protected under Australian copyright law. This has implications for the copyright status of many publicly available databases and the limits to which the information can be distributed."
Windows

Windows 7 To Dial Down UAC 390

Posted by kdawson from the cancel-or-allow dept.
Barence writes "Engineers working on Windows 7 have admitted Vista's User Account Control was too intrusive, and are promising to tone it down in the forthcoming Windows 7. 'We've heard loud and clear that you are frustrated,' says Microsoft engineer Ben Fathi. 'You find the prompts too frequent, annoying, and confusing. We still want to provide you control over what changes can happen to your system, but we want to provide you a better overall experience.' According to Fathi, when Vista first launched, 775,312 unique applications were producing prompts — so some may be annoyed that it won't be scrapped entirely, but at least Microsoft is listening. The comments echo those of Steve Ballmer, who admitted at a conference in London that 'the biggest trade-off we made was sacrificing security for compatibility. I'm not sure the end-users really appreciated that trade-off.'"
Image

Slashdot's Disagree Mail Screenshot-sm 202

Posted by samzenpus from the well-here's-your-problem dept.
Slashdot has one of the best discussion systems there is. It's grown and adapted over the years to meet various challenges and suit the needs of our users. A lot of time and effort has gone into it and we are always open to user input to help make it better. Some of our best ideas start as user suggestions and we appreciate the feedback. Of course they can't all be gems and sometimes the suggestions we get are unworkable or just bizarre. Here are a few of my favorite unhelpful, helpful suggestions.

Slashdot Top Deals

The use of money is all the advantage there is to having money. -- B. Franklin

Close