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Submission Summary: 0 pending, 49 declined, 10 accepted (59 total, 16.95% accepted)

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Linux

Submission + - Best Distro For Holiday Fun?

Submitted by rueger
rueger writes: With a few free days coming up over the holidays, I'm ready to play with a new distro. By way of history, I've tried at least a dozen over the years, but Ubuntu was the one that stayed on my PC, and Mint Cinnamon is what I use today.

I'm looking for suggestions for a less mainstream, but still painless distro to try out. I'll take Gnome over Unity any day, and I do need to run VirtualBox for Windows. If it'll make a nice media server to feed our Sony BluRay, all the better.

I don't mind mucking about in the guts of things, but any problem that eats up more than two hours without a solution will likely not be fixed — I'll try a different software rather than spend that much time.
Android

Submission + - Forcing Google to Fix Bugs (google.com)

Submitted by rueger
rueger writes: Does anyone in the Slashdot community know how to get Google to actually respond to problems with their products? As much as I like Android, it frightens me that there seems to be no avenue to get support for it from Google. In my case there's one specific bug that is causing me grief, but bug reports (in ICS and JB); forum posts, and even sneaky attempts to find a living support person at Google have led to no response.

What is a reasonable standard of cxustomer support from a company this size? Do we need to resort to legislation to force companies to offer accessible user support for widely used products like Android?
Education

Submission + - Statistic: More Children Can Use Mice Than Can Tie Their Shoes. (learnstuff.com)

Submitted by rueger
rueger writes: An infographic at learnstuff.com claims that "Today 70% of children between the ages of 2-5 can operate a computer mouse, but only 11% of them can tie their own shoes."

There's no surprise that they don't offer a source for these "statistics, or a reference to how many children could tie their shoes twenty years ago, before computers. And surely they don't bother saying that there's likely no causal link between the two things.

What should we do about "statistics" like this?

Submission + - Staying Safe and Free on the 'Net (theregister.co.uk)

Submitted by rueger
rueger writes: The US government just shut down a website registered, owned, and operated in a foreign country, demonstrating that "anything hosted in the US, registered in the US, or using a domain whose root is controlled by a US corporation is subject to American law.". In Canada the government is likely bringing in legislation that allows warrantless police access to your Internet activity. And of course many countries filter or otherwise block access to various parts of the 'net. Given this increasingly hostile environment, what are the best tools for staying safe, keeping sites and services on-line, and keeping government noses out of your business? Tor is an obvious starting point, but what's the hosting equivalent?
Idle

Submission + - Vintage Toronto Computer Rooms (blogto.com)

Submitted by
rueger
rueger writes: "Over at BlogTO they've found some spectacular, Kubrick-esque shots of "an unidentified computer room that got me wondering if there were any more like them in the City's digitized collection."

Not being much of an expert on old computers, the little collection below is organized by aesthetics more than anything else. The technology used by the TTC, CBC and chartered accountants featured below is obviously quite different, but its size and design (not to mention the way that it's been photographed) places it within a particular historical context that's been all the rage since Mad Men took off a few years ago."

Well worth the time to look!"

Submission + - Earthquake-proof Telecoms

Submitted by
rueger
rueger writes: "Our local emergency preparedness outfit just tweeted "You should have at least 1 traditionally wired landline phone, as cordless or cellular phones may not work in an emergency"

That got me thinking about a number of things. Is this reasonable advice when probably a third of the people I know get telephone service in some way that doesn't involve a copper pair? (Such as via cel or the TV cable company)

Is there real experience that shows that copper wires hanging from wooden poles will survive a good sized quake? (Apparently not)

And — I suggested this to them — wouldn't it be cheaper to suggest that people buy a small generator to charge their phones instead of paying a telco $30 or $40 a month forever to maintain a landline?"

Submission + - A Modern Majordomo?

Submitted by
rueger
rueger writes: "Today I wanted to set up a quick e-mail list for a group of people. In the past I've used Topica.com, majordomo, and list-serv, as well as Yahoo groups and even some PHP packages.

I thought that it would be easy to find a free web based alternative that would let thirty or forty people e-mail each other, and which would be VERY easy to subscribe to and unsubscribe from.

I don't want to get into hosting list software for this group, and figured there must be good solution out there. So far everything that I've found via Google is either very one-way (advertising oriented) or charges more than is reasonable.

What is a fast and easy way to set up a small e-mail list for a small, non-techy group?"

Submission + - Best Off-Road Smart Phone? 5

Submitted by
rueger
rueger writes: "I walk dogs for a living on the mountain trails above the North Shore of Vancouver. I rely on my smart phone for emergency contact, and use the GPS pretty constantly if I'm on unfamiliar trails. In general terms I like my Android smart-phone, and have fell in love with the platform. Problem is the cheapy Motorola Charm is a lousy phone with mediocre 3G reception, and GPS that can't always be relied upon unless you reboot regularly. That hasn't been an issue since the battery usually dies after five or six hours of use.

I'm opening a can of worms, but what's a good 3G Android phone with good reception in fringe areas, reliable GPS, and really good battery life? In other words, if you're heading for the woods, what's the tool that you rely on?

PS — don't like Apple products — 3 years with a Powerbook didn't convert me. And a good camera is a big plus."
Censorship

Submission + - Osama the Gun (blogspot.com)

Submitted by rueger
rueger writes: After having the book rejected by every American publisher, but accepted by the French, noted author Norman Spinrad is releasing his presumed to be controversial book "Osama the Gun" as an e-publication in the US.

OSAMA THE GUN, set in a not-so-far future when the “Sons of Osama” have re-established a powerful Islamic Caliphate with Pakistani nuclear weapons and Arabian oil money, is the story of one of those sons of the martyr, a naive and sincere young man named after him, who becomes a Caliphate secret agent just to escape its closed confines to see the world, and stepwise finds himself becoming the reluctant hero of the title, as told to the reader by Osama the Gun himself.

Previously Spinrad circulated a portion of the book in an e-format to build interest, and I found it more than a good read.
Security

Submission + - Capital One Security Breach

Submitted by rueger
rueger writes: Capital One in Canada has e-mailed all customers telling them that their e-mail information has been compromised via a marketing company that they employ. They say: Epsilon "a marketing vendor that sends e-mails on our behalf—notified us about unauthorized outside access to files that included Capital One® customer e-mail addresses ... We’re working with Epsilon and law enforcement, and we’re thoroughly investigating this incident to help prevent future ones like it. "

Submission + - String Quartets on the Web

Submitted by rueger
rueger writes: Lots of people love iTunes. I'm partial to emusic.com. Ubuntu comes pre-equipped for Jamendo and Magnatune. These are great for those of us hunting popular music, but where do lovers of "classical" music go to find new artists and albums, download music, and generally keep informed, up to date, and satisfied? Or as my girlfriend put it "I used to go the the big classical record store downtown, but they're gone. Where do people go to find the newest Ligeti String Quartet recording?
Entertainment

Submission + - Facebook (etc) Alternatives

Submitted by rueger
rueger writes: Over a couple of years I have actually found Facebook pretty useful and/or entertaining. It has certainly allowed me to stay connected with a lot of people with whom I otherwise would have lost track, and for its weaknesses it was handy for sharing links and such. This week though the privacy escapades have pushed me (and a lot of other people) over the edge.

If Twitter's 140 characters aren't enough, Linked In is too business oriented, MySpace too ugly, and Buzz... does anyone even use Buzz? ... what social media options are out there for all of those non-uber-techy folks?
Government

Submission + - Poll suggestion 1

Submitted by rueger
rueger writes: Now that the government owns 60% of GM, we should also nationalize:

Banks
Insurance Industry
The Phone Company
Microsoft
Seven-11
MySpace
Cowboy Neal's corporate overlords.
The Courts

Submission + - Minn. demands breath-test machine source code (threesquirrels.com)

Submitted by
Appalbarry
Appalbarry writes: " AP reports that

The state of Minnesota is suing the Kentucky-based maker of a machine used to test drunken-driving suspects, saying it needs to see the software that runs the machine.

Defense attorneys have been challenging drunk-driving charges by saying they have a right to examine the software that runs the Intoxilyzer breath testing machine. Judges in more than 100 cases statewide, including the state Supreme Court, have ruled that defendants have a right to examine the software.

Minnesota's Department of Public Safety says Intoxilyzer maker CMI of Owensboro, Ky., signed a contract allowing the state to look at the software. The federal lawsuit says CMI is refusing to live up to that contract. CMI has said the software is a trade secret.
From the Intoxilizer 5000 product page: "No Unproven Technology Here!""
Privacy

Submission + - Comcast Blocks P2P - tests confirm (www.cbc.ca)

Submitted by rueger
rueger writes: According to CBC and AP "Comcast Corp., the second-largest U.S. internet service provider, actively interferes with attempts by some of its high-speed subscribers to share files online, a move that runs counter to the tradition of treating all types of net traffic equally. The interference, which the Associated Press confirmed through nationwide tests in the United States, is the most drastic example yet of data discrimination by a U.S. internet service provider. It involves company computers masquerading as those of its users."

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