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Comment Re:Netbook question (Score 1) 165

by phil-trick (#30512738) Attached to: Intel Launches Next-Gen Atom N450 Processor

If you want to do PCB design, do yourself a favour and get a display with a minimum resolution of 1280x800.

You need the vertical space for layouts and design. If you can get a higher resolution display, go for it, as it makes it WAAAAY easier for design.

Also, see if you can borrow a netbook from someone to try for a few days. I find them infuriatingly sluggish, even with a fresh install of Windows XP or linux.

You can get good value laptops now for not a huge amount more money than a netbook.

If you have to go for a netbook, get an nVidia ion based netbook, preferably with a dual core atom, like the N330, as you will see way better performance from it.

Phil

Comment Re:dont overthink (Score 1) 1095

by phil-trick (#30244760) Attached to: Geek Travel To London From the US — Tips?

I would thoroughly recommend the three UK MiFi modem, if you have an iPhone or smartphone with wifi capability, then you can get data access on the go without being ripped off.

The details are here:
http://www.three.co.uk/Mobile_Broadband/MiFi

Get the basic top-up which includes 3GB.

Once you are finished with it, sell it on ebay, or try to get it unlocked.

I have one for when I travel to the UK for work, and I have only had it out of coverage once.

Phil
The Internet

New Irish Internet Tax? 242

Posted by samzenpus from the new-pot-of-gold dept.
MarkDennehy writes "The Broadcasting Bill 2009 (currently in the last stages of becoming the Broadcasting Act 2009 and then being commenced into law in Ireland) has thrown up a rather unpleasant little nugget for broadband users in Ireland. It now defines a television set as being an electronic apparatus able to receive TV signals or 'any software or assembly comprising such apparatus' which would mean that even if you haven't got a television set, even if you don't watch streaming content from RTE.ie (the state broadcaster's website), you'd still have to pay 160 euro a year for a television license for your iPhone, or netbook, or laptop or desktop if you have fixed or mobile broadband."
Mars

Simulation of the Mars Science Laboratory Sky Crane 195

Posted by kdawson from the rocket-science dept.
An anonymous reader points us to Gizmodo for a fascinating video of NASA's Sky Crane. "When I read that the UFO-looking Mars Science Laboratory's aeroshell would use a floating crane — called Sky Crane by NASA — to softly land the rover on Mars, I couldn't believe it. Now, watching this hyper-realistic NASA simulation, I still can't believe how the whole thing works. I don't know about you, but the whole operation mesmerizes me to no end."
Media (Apple)

Submission + - IPOD used to ID Body (desmoinesregister.com)

Submitted by Webologist
Webologist writes: 30 year old Online TV Reviewer Adam Ray Finley (tvsquad.com) was killed after being hit by a bus last week. Only carrying a set of keys and his Ipod, his identity was discovered after investigators took the serial number from the Ipod and asked Apple to reveal it's owners name. http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article ?AID=/20070908/NEWS/70908012/1001/NEWS
Slashdot.org

Submission + - Slashdot Ads - Hosting

Submitted by phil-trick
phil-trick writes: Does slashdot have an advertiser list?

I know the adverts that are displayed are from google or doubleclick, but the other day, a hosting advert caught my attention, and for the life of me, I can't get the advert to show again, no matter how much I refresh ;)

It had an offer for cheap dedicated servers, and I think the company had the letters OPC in the name. Google draws some hits, but not the one I'm looking for.

Anyone out there who happened to click on the ad?

I think the offer was dedicated server for $29 a month.

Phil
Networking

Submission + - network upgrade horror story

Submitted by stinkymountain
stinkymountain writes: ``It sounded like a no-brainer back in 2003. The idea was to replace our aging, 155Mbps ATM-over-SONET network with a new network based on 10G Ethernet over dense wavelength division multiplexing. Nobody could have imagined the glitches, snafus and legal holdups that we ran into over the past four years. We finally issued the contract for the project in May, and, needless to say, we learned a bunch of valuable lessons along the way. Here's the whole saga, from the beginning,'' writes network exec Jeff Fritz in this first-person story in Network World. http://www.networkworld.com/research/2007/072307-n etwork-upgrade.html?netht=072307dailynews2
Microsoft

Submission + - How To Crash Vista In 10 Seconds

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Despite its improved security, when Microsoft designed Vista it apparently forgot fix an old Achilles' heel that's plagued Windows for many years. According to InformationWeek blogger Alex Wolfe, Vista can be crashed in 10 seconds or so by simply holding down the "Windows" key and the letter "E." This'll open up hundreds of Windows Explorer, and eventually the system will stop responding. Do you think this is just one of those stupid oversights by normally smart people, or does it say something damning about Microsoft's approach to security?
Music

Submission + - AllofMP3.com talks to p2pnet

Submitted by
newtley
newtley writes: "p2pnet talks to AllofMP3.com about problems it's having with the US administration, and plans for the future. In spite of criticism of AllofMP3.com, and the way it runs its business, no one from either the United States Trade Representative Office, which is behind much of the US-mounted pressure on Russian downloads site, nor music industry 'trade' organizations, has tried to talk with AllofMP3.com to find a way to reach an accord, it says."
Security

Submission + - PAM Authetication via USB storage devices

Submitted by
Tomhet
Tomhet writes: "User authentication is commonly done by verifying user/password tuples. Serious administrators shouldn't use the same password for every authentication-based service, but the increasing number of per-person-accounts finally often leads to laziness (especially when accepting the "holy rules" of passwordmanagement, where passwords should be long and cryptic).

Smartcards offer a well secured alternative to passwords, but in spite of costs, a smartcard-reader is needed everytime you'd like to get authenticated on your system.

pam_usbauth is a module for Unix PAM which allows passwordsless local authentication via ordinary USB storage devices (aka USB-dongles). USBAuth supports password hashing, internal one-time-password management and USB device ID binding to provide as much security as possible, a storage device without integrated programmable logic can offer.

The module isn't based on device mounting or USB libraries, which makes it possible to authenticate before actually logging in to mount the device(s), and can even be used with MMC-, CF- and SD memory cards (if your kernel supports them).

In addition, it uses a triggering system, which makes it possible to automatically lock sessions or unmount certain (possibly encrypted) partitions on plugin- or plugout-events.

The source as well as packages for Debian can be obtained from this site (building via SVN is strongly recommended)."

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