johndmartiniii - Slashdot User

Submission + - Ubuntu Partners with Unison (ubuntu.com)

Submitted by

johndmartiniii

on Wednesday August 06, 2008 @01:52AM

johndmartiniii writes: "Ubuntu has apparently partnered with Unison to bring "the first fully-unified communications software" to both Ubuntu Server Edition as well as the Desktop Edition in the form of a beta

Canonical indicated in the news feed at Ubuntu.com that this partnership would present a truly viable alternative to Microsoft Windows, Office and Outlook. It is a bit too early to tell. The link in the news posting had no actual software at Ubuntu's site and at Unison there was a download link, but none for a Debian software package. There is a "unison" package in the Ubuntu repositories, but beware: it is not the same software. The repo "unison" is a file-sync program, not a "fully-unified communications software." Ouch. This might make new or fledgling Ubuntu users a little hesitant to try it out. I suppose only time will tell."

Submission + - ChaCha steps on own feet cutting contractor wages (techcrunch.com)

Submitted by

johndmartiniii

on Wednesday August 06, 2008 @01:25AM

johndmartiniii writes: "The ChaCha human-aided search service has announced that they will be cutting the pay of their "guides" by 50% on August 14th, according to TechCrunch. This seems to have caused an uproar at the forums used by the Guides. The change may cause a huge exodus of the humans inside this Mechanical Turk, leaving ChaCha without enough guides to meet their apparently ever-increasing demand. The company has indicated to its current army of searchers that it will be switching to a "performance-based system" for deciding payment levels. The current rate of $0.20 per assisted search doesn't seem like a great deal as it is, but a 50% pay cut is a 50% pay cut. The ChaCha Official Guide Blog responded to the uproar with this post.

The "guides" are all "private contractors," according to ChaCha's guide manual. What would Slashdotters do if someone they were contracting for informed them of a 50% cut in their previously agreed-upon rate?"

Submission + - Worldwide Scientology Protest (auschanology.org)

Submitted by

johndmartiniii

on Thursday July 24, 2008 @11:47AM

johndmartiniii writes: "Apparently, there is a massive protest being mounted against the Church of Scientology. The group, ANONYMUS or project Chanology—depending on who you ask, has been using viral marketing—who isn't?—to get out their message and the plans for the protest. This could be fascinating, or totally lame. I can only imagine the landslide of litigation in response to "slander" on such a grand scale. And where is Tom Cruise on this?"

Submission + - Retrofit Notebook Reinforcement

Submitted by

johndmartiniii

on Friday July 18, 2008 @02:25PM

johndmartiniii writes: "I am about to move out of the United States, and do quite a bit of traveling in the process. I have a notebook that I really like, but whose case I don't really trust to take the knocks it might receive in traveling. I have looked into all sorts of reinforced cases and sleeves and such, but I was wondering if anyone had any ideas about retrofitting some sort of rugged reinforcement. My particular concern is that the lid of this machine seems particularly prone to bending. Any ideas?"

Submission + - Online Jihad and Internet Free Speech (jpost.com)

Submitted by

johndmartiniii

on Thursday July 10, 2008 @01:48PM

johndmartiniii writes: "This and several older articles identify concern that the traditional security measures taken against Islamic terrorist groups are not effective when it comes to the internet. While I certainly do not endorse use of the internet for recruiting fanatics to be involved in these groups, I wonder what the free-speech cost will be when the hammer comes down on this sort of thing. Will laws spell out more clearly the violations necessary to take down sites or track the data of users? Or, will laws like the USA_PATRIOT act simply be utilized for these scenarios as well? This is a bit scary for researchers (like yours truly) who troll Jihadi websites and forums looking for data which may be help us gain insight into the motivations behind violent actions taken by members of extremists. Who is to say that we will not start detaining them as well? I am trying not to argue for a slippery slope—obviously not a sound argument—but that certainly doesn't help to assuage any anxiety I might have over ever-increasing surveillance, and how it can be misused."

Slashdot Top Deals