Comment Re:Old Aggie joke (Score 1) 234
That is I thank you for making my morning.
Comment Re:Old Aggie joke (Score 1) 234
And as a Red Raider I thank you.
Comment Re:And that attitude is the whole problem (Score 1) 773
never mind that if he actually understood that underlying database, he'd know that a VARCHAR is not padded to that max length. If someone just entered "Alex", the same 4 bytes will be actually used in the database, regardless if the field is a defined as maximum 4, 32, 256 or 2000 characters.
That is not entirely true. While you are correct VARCHAR does not pad the string (char does), older versions of MySQL and other RDMS had/have an upper limit of 255 characters. Newer versions do allow for varchar of a larger length, however the storage size of each value increases.
Comment Re:Value (Score 1) 178
I pay $30 per month to AT&T. For that insanely high price, my wife, our two kids, and I can all send unlimited text messages, including MMS messages with attached pics. Each of us sends an average of about 1000 messages per month; that works out to 0.75 cents per message. Not 75 cents, 0.75 cents. I honestly don't get where the hate on SMS charges comes from.
FTFY, units are always helpful.
Comment Re:I like it because it's crazy (Score 1) 236
I don't think anyone here is going to argue that Dell makes a better server, workstation, or laptop of various styles than HP.
Umm, I will. At least when it comes to laptop I have had horrible experiences with Dell. Of the three laptops that my company has from Dell each has had serious problems. 2 laptops of the same model failed at roughly the same time with a bad motherboard / graphics card. The third has had to be repaired by Dell on no less than 4 occasions in the past 2 years. Again for motherboard and other card failures. About the only good thing about Dell is their on-site repair and support (which does not come cheap mind you.) On the other hand my HP laptop has had next to no problems in the same time frame, other that a crappy AC adapter that is starting to fall apart.
Comment Re:Patent risks (Score 1) 421
That said, I definitely think something like the RSA algorithm was as worthy of a patent as most anything else out there.
You do the realize that at the heart of the RSA algorithm (and most if not all cyptography algorthims for that matter) is a series of mathematical equations (See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSA#Operation). Therefore under US law it should not be patentable, yet for some reason because it relates to computing it is was granted a patent.
Comment Re:Don't they have (Score 5, Informative) 135
Dude RTFA (I know, I know, shame on me). The backup generators kicked in, but 25% of the machines in data center did not receive power before crashing.
Comment Re:I've Still Yet to See the Code from Them (Score 1) 237
No if it floats like duck, then it's GPL compliant.....or a witch, I am not sure.
Comment Authorize.Net did have a backup (Score 3, Informative) 118
...except it failed as well. From their twitter:
"@gotwww The backup data center was impacted too. Don't have info as to why. The team is solely focused on getting us back up for now."
"@gotwww The backup data center was impacted too. Don't have info as to why. The team is solely focused on getting us back up for now."
Comment Re:MS Updates (Score 1) 578
Updates in Vista uses a seperate contral panel applet, presumably its the same in 7.
You are correct updates appear in a "Windows Update" control panel.
Submission + - Threat from Time Warner Cable that Requires Action (realsoftwareblog.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Take action against a recent threat from Time Warner Cable as they announce plans to introduce bandwidth caps.
Quoting: "Time Warner Cable, the 3rd largest Internet provider in the US, has been testing capping bandwidth in Beaumont, Texas and recently announced that they plan to put these restrictions in place here in Austin and San Antonio, and a few other cities as well. It is only a matter of time before these caps are rolled out to all Time Warner Cable customers around the country."
A Time Warner Cable representative said they will charge $1 for every gigabyte you use over the limit.
http://www.realsoftwareblog.com/2009/04/threat-from-time-warner-cable-that.html
Comment Who needs the constitution... (Score 4, Insightful) 319
...it's just a piece of paper anyways.
New CyberSecurity Bill Raises Privacy Questions 319
Nicolas Dawson points out coverage in Mother Jones of the early stages of a new cybersecurity bill that conveys sweeping powers on the President. Quoting: "The Cybersecurity Act of 2009 (PDF) gives the president the ability to 'declare a cybersecurity emergency' and shut down or limit Internet traffic in any 'critical' information network 'in the interest of national security.' The bill does not define a critical information network or a cybersecurity emergency. That definition would be left to the president. The bill ... also grants the Secretary of Commerce 'access to all relevant data concerning [critical] networks without regard to any provision of law, regulation, rule, or policy restricting such access.' This means he or she can monitor or access any data on private or public networks without regard to privacy laws."
Submission + - SPAM: Twitter Saves A Life? 1
narramissic writes: "If you don't follow Demi Moore on Twitter you might think she's an unlikely target for someone crying out for help. Yet that's just what happened last night when a woman (@sandieguy) started sending out Tweets saying she was going to kill herself. Luckily for her, Demi is routinely contacted asking for help with some traumatic event (an upcoming operation, say) and she'll pass it on so that the person in question ends up with a stream of supportive tweets. But was this cry for help really a cry for more Followers? Blogger Peter Smith notes that @sandieguy's Follower count jumped by 75 in the time it took him to write his post on the subject, suggesting the number was quite a bit lower than that before all the drama. Not ones to fall into the Twitter trap, San Jose police confirm that @sandieguy was in the hospital for evaluation. And Ashton Kutcher is calling his wife a life saver. So let's just go with that."
Link to Original Source
Link to Original Source
Submission + - Google may buy Twitter story sparks blog battle
An anonymous reader writes: NEW YORK-Two prominent technology news blogs clashed on Friday morning over a report one of them issued that said Google Inc. may try to buy Internet start-up Twitter....TechCrunch proprietor Michael Arrington, citing three unnamed sources, said on Thursday night that Google would pay for Twitter in cash, stock or a combination of the two.
Hours after Arrington's blog entry, Kara Swisher reported on her Boomtown blog said the story was inaccurate, citing "a number of sources." "In fact, Twitter and Google have simply been engaged in 'some product-related discussions,' according to one source," Swisher wrote.
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/613030
Hours after Arrington's blog entry, Kara Swisher reported on her Boomtown blog said the story was inaccurate, citing "a number of sources." "In fact, Twitter and Google have simply been engaged in 'some product-related discussions,' according to one source," Swisher wrote.
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/613030
