Comment You insensitive clod! (Score 1) 216
I don't pay, I use cold fusion!
Submission + - Ask Slashdot: How to securely share passwords? 1
THE_WELL_HUNG_OYSTER writes: "My tech-savvy father died suddenly and unexpectedly. He did everything online: bill-pay, banking, ebay sales (and other auction sites), paypal, investing, etc. When he died, he still had online auctions up for sale, items I had no idea how to fulfill when sold. He still had unprocessed auction refunds, people claiming they returned items and are waiting for a refund.
Fortunately, he left gmail.com open and logged in when he died. So I was able to configure his account to forward to mine for any future emails he received.
He even had his health insurance automatically debited from his checking account (who needs heath insurance when you're dead?)
I had no way to log into these systems to cancel pending transactions. I called every institution; some were willing to help while others required me to fax/mail death certificates and proof of executorship (which I didn't have yet). Meanwhile, auctions were selling for items I had no idea how to fulfill; debits from his checking account were occurring even though they were irrelevant; etc. You get the idea.
How can I share my login credentials with my siblings so they don't have to go through this when I'm gone? I change my passwords every month and never use the same password on more than one site. I don't want my siblings to be able to impersonate me unless I'm dead, so publishing a monthly list to them won't help and would be insecure."
Fortunately, he left gmail.com open and logged in when he died. So I was able to configure his account to forward to mine for any future emails he received.
He even had his health insurance automatically debited from his checking account (who needs heath insurance when you're dead?)
I had no way to log into these systems to cancel pending transactions. I called every institution; some were willing to help while others required me to fax/mail death certificates and proof of executorship (which I didn't have yet). Meanwhile, auctions were selling for items I had no idea how to fulfill; debits from his checking account were occurring even though they were irrelevant; etc. You get the idea.
How can I share my login credentials with my siblings so they don't have to go through this when I'm gone? I change my passwords every month and never use the same password on more than one site. I don't want my siblings to be able to impersonate me unless I'm dead, so publishing a monthly list to them won't help and would be insecure."
Submission + - Is RIM's Centralized Network Model Broken? (securityweek.com)
wiredmikey writes: Is RIM’s centralized network model broken? Andrew Jaquith thinks so, and provides an interesting analysis on why RIM should move to a decentralized model.
After two long outages this month, many believe that the end is drawing near for Research in Motion, maker of the BlackBerry.
But Is Research In Motion in trouble? Financially, RIM continues to be a healthy company, throwing off billions in profit each year. But if doesn't “think different” about its network strategy, its customers may think different about their choice of handset vendor, Jaquith argues.
Jaquith says that RIM should dismantle its proprietary centralized delivery network, something that has been a key strength for the company.
The BlackBerry was introduced in 1999 as a two-way pager on steroids. Back then, TCP/IP over GSM (and other networks) was just a pipe dream. RIM implemented a system by which all traffic is collected from the mobile networks of the sender, funneled through RIM servers and then routed back onto the recipient’s mobile networks and pushed to the handset.
By moving to a decentralized model for its BlackBerry network, (1) the Internet provides the routing and (2) centralized communications monitoring is much more difficult.
That is what Microsoft and Apple, in essence, do today because the devices connect directly to company servers [via commodity carrier networks] rather than through a single service provider.
Data plans that provide TCP/IP over wireless carrier networks are now ubiquitous, nullifying a key RIM advantage. Does BlackBerry need to rethink its network model to effectively compete moving forward?
After two long outages this month, many believe that the end is drawing near for Research in Motion, maker of the BlackBerry.
But Is Research In Motion in trouble? Financially, RIM continues to be a healthy company, throwing off billions in profit each year. But if doesn't “think different” about its network strategy, its customers may think different about their choice of handset vendor, Jaquith argues.
Jaquith says that RIM should dismantle its proprietary centralized delivery network, something that has been a key strength for the company.
The BlackBerry was introduced in 1999 as a two-way pager on steroids. Back then, TCP/IP over GSM (and other networks) was just a pipe dream. RIM implemented a system by which all traffic is collected from the mobile networks of the sender, funneled through RIM servers and then routed back onto the recipient’s mobile networks and pushed to the handset.
By moving to a decentralized model for its BlackBerry network, (1) the Internet provides the routing and (2) centralized communications monitoring is much more difficult.
That is what Microsoft and Apple, in essence, do today because the devices connect directly to company servers [via commodity carrier networks] rather than through a single service provider.
Data plans that provide TCP/IP over wireless carrier networks are now ubiquitous, nullifying a key RIM advantage. Does BlackBerry need to rethink its network model to effectively compete moving forward?
Submission + - Not a joke: Each book downloaded to ereaders incre (telegraph.co.uk)
whoever57 writes: According to Prof Kubiatowicz from University of California, Berkeley, each time an additional book is downloaded to an ereader, the mass of the ereader increases. The effect doesn't really make the devices more difficult to carry: the professor calculates that 4GB of books adds 1e-18g. to the mass — about the mass of a single virus or DNA molecule.
Comment Best option (Score 1) 314
notepad
Comment a little fishy (Score 4, Insightful) 698
An article on how expensive hearing aids are from a hearing aid company that advertises their low costs.
Comment Only if the ads are good. (Score 1) 167
A while back I took survey that was an ad on /., it disabled the ads. Occasionally I enable the ads just to see what is being advertised. So as long as I'm interested in whats being advertised and its not too obnoxious (i.e. a video banner ad that enlarges on rollover) I actually like ads.
Comment Title (Score 2, Informative) 130
I think the title was meant to be read "Broadband provider that throttles sued in Australia"
Comment OP much? (Score 1) 473
Why do they think that they can order congress around, They shouldn't be able to just say that "we don't like this, change it" and have the law changed, laws are are _supposed_ to be made for all Americans not just monopolies.
Comment tired of these stupid studies.... (Score 2, Insightful) 307
How is this different from normally talking to people?. Ill bet that 90% of people at my school would have a nervous breakdown if they couldn't talk to people. This is simply a different way of talking and expressing yourself.
Steve Jobs Crowned "Person of the Decade" 346
longacre writes "Apple CEO Steve Jobs won over 30% of the vote in an online poll published by personal finance and investing news site SmartMoney.com, enough to earn their 'Person of the Decade' title by a solid margin over luminaries such as Warren Buffett (17%), Ben Bernanke (13%) and Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page (12%). From the article: 'Certainly, Jobs accomplished more than probably any other CEO since he returned to Apple in the late 1990s: Not only did he revive sales at the failing computer company, he led the stock to a more than 700% increase in value, and forever changed the way people buy and listen to music.'"
Comment Re:Programming (Score 1) 799
Im 16 and I would have loved to have been introduced to any kind of programming language at that age.
