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Comment That is why you have something to remove... (Score 2) 170

unwanted software. CleanMyMac2 to the rescue. Found all the Parallels Access files and good-bye. No hunting or anything!! Left Parallels alone just removed the PA that I asked not to install. Though I wish everyone would just create an app that keeps it's files to itself so when I trash it EVERYTHING is gone. But then those that make CleanMyMac2 would not be selling their software.

Comment Re:actually it's pretty irrelevant (Score 2) 391

... I use it with Firefox and also NoScript, Ghostery, RefControl, and CookieMonster, and that set does a fairly decent job of having a more privacy-oriented (and faster) browsing experience.

FYI: Ghostery is created and used by advertisors :

...Originally developed by David Cancel, Ghostery was acquired by the privacy technology company Evidon (previously named The Better Advertising Project) in January 2010. Currently, through the use of a reporting function named "GhostRank" that users can opt into, Ghostery provides reports to Evidon about advertisers and data collectors, which Evidon then provides to advertising industry groups including the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and the Direct Marketing Association, parts of the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA).[3] These agencies then use those reports to monitor how Online Behavioral Advertisers operate and, when needed, refer them to the Federal Trade Commission.

Source: wikipedia So they are still receiving tracking information.

Comment From a Student (Score 2) 215

Having just spent some time at a Community College and was successful in receiving my Associates to continue to a Traditional Four Year school, and being someone who needed to take Online Courses. The biggest problem that I had was that the instructors did not take it as seriously as their traditional classes. They would spend the face to face time in the classroom and even in their office. But they wouldn't spend the online time with their online students. I've instructors that stated they could be reached by email and there would be 48 hour turn around time, others stated that they would use Skype and even have office hours for that. But most of my emails were answered a week after I needed assistance. And forget about ever finding the instructor on Skype at the times they stated.

Now, the best online instructor I had ran a forum and that really worked. Everyone could see someone's questions and even respond to it but the biggest thing was that by each Saturday afternoon the instructor had responded as well. And if he felt that it was something that needed to be one on one, we would receive a detailed email. But he was, unfortunately, the exception.

With the problems you could take it up with the school but ultimately I never received answers just my grades seemed to be better than I expected, which I felt wasn't the right way to handle it. I think the schools are a little out of touch and nervous about online classes due to the testing of the students. Mine packaged the class and rotated the tests every other semester but the test pool came from the publisher and it wasn't hard to gain access to it. I didn't feel that some of the classes I was taught as just repackaging the answers from the book.

My best online instructor, well he had actually made us write in the answers. No multiple choice, nor true/false, according to some students who took his class in person stated he hated them, and nothing seemed to be coming from the publisher, we had to truly think about our answer and give an answer. So no instant knowledge of the answer and when we received a grade we all felt that we earned it and learned something. I actually understood the subject which happened to be Physics. BTW: I received a 'B' in the class I missed an 'A' by a few points on an online lab but I still felt that I learned more in that online class than the other dozen courses I took online.

My experience, if a school has an online course, then the instructor has to run it just like she was face to face and make time for the students questions because there seemed to be a lot more questions online than the students who were face to face. Why? I dunno but I think it had more to do with the course being a one size fits all packaged course versus the instructor actually has to have a discussion of the subject. I think that schools need to make sure their instructors are teaching and not use those publisher online courses. I don't blame the instructor for the online material just not being 'there' with the students.

Submission + - Startup Offers Skype, Facebook, Twitter On Phones With No Data (techweekeurope.co.uk)

judgecorp writes: "VascoDe can offer web applications such as Twitter, Facebook, Skype and more on low end phones that don't even have 3G capability, without even using SMS messages. The service, which is available through operators in South Africa and Indiia, uses the USSD protocol, part of the GSM network used for operators' messages, and hosts text-based interfaces to popular web applications no servers on the operators' network. VascoDe has an impressive video showing the approach actually works, and is planning to use it to bring richer servicse to the world's 5.4 billion feature phones."
Chrome

Submission + - Has the local browser cache become useless? 1

lesincompetent writes: Think about it. In this age of high end hardware and relatively high bandwidth, storing things on a device many orders of magnitude slower than any other is something we should get rid of. Even for static content: is it really worth the disk I\O effort? How much page loading time am i saving? Not to mention the fact that browser caches are among the first causes of system littering. It's been many years now since the last time i had a browser with disk caching enabled on any of my systems (besides chrome, unfortunately, because you can't deactivate it.)

Comment Similar Boat... (Score 1) 433

Background: I worked as a Data Analyst for a small Healthcare company for about 8 years. I learned computer languages (perl), MS-SQL Server, Access, etc. I built a data warehouse from the ground up with only a book, which I lost and it was a great book on data warehousing. I quit that job to be with my partner. His job moved him to a new state and new city. I was unable to get a job doing what I was doing regardless of my experience. I wouldn't get in the door because of no degree in CS or CIS.

Now, I'm 44 and entering a four year university as a Junior. I have spent the last couple of years working hard full time for a bank, and going to community college. I graduated with my Associate's Degree. I've used it to transfer to the university. It was hard. I had to adjust my work schedule, a tweak here and there. Started later, and went home a bit later, and studied my a** off. I worked hard at both of my jobs. Work and School. The result, I'm happier, I was able to find a better job at the bank, using my experience and the fact that I have just an Associate's Degree. It was the combination that helped. And work is still working with me. It is to their advantage that I continue my studies and receive I higher degree.

If they value you and will help you with a degree with tuition reimbursement then they should work with you as you go to school. You may not be able to do more than a couple of classes at a time per semester and it will be hard. It will also be more rewarding than you can imagine. First talk to your employer and let them know your dilemma. Work with them towards a solution, and then apply to school and go. You won't regret it.

Comment Re:A 50's Movie (Score 1) 534

It was actually different. The aliens in that one was concerned with Man destruction of Earth. In the 50's movie it was seen as Man destruction may infect the rest of the galaxy. It was more about nuclear weapons that we were developing in the 50's. The original is, IMHO a much better film. Less special effects and more plot driven. The remake just sucked air.

Comment A 50's Movie (Score 1) 534

Same scenario as the movie "The Day The Earth Stood Still" sans Keanu Reeves. We win, why? I don't remember but I do remember that we are on borrowed time. Surprised that Hollywood as tried to do a sequel of the Aliens coming back after 60 years and saying:

"You know what Earth? We screwed up last time. Say goodbye to all of this...and hello to oblivion."

"Hello Oblivion, how's the wife and kids."

Comment Good is hard to come by (Score 1) 315

For most magazines, and newspaper articles, most of the content is just informative rehash of information that can already be found somewhere else for free. It's just that that particular writer accumulated to present it a bit differently but it's still the same information, so I would necessarily care to pay for that.

Now, information that actually teaches and brings knowledge of how to do something that may be complicated, a DIY project, a new or old computer language, something that, again there are sources, but it represented in a way to actually help the reader gain knowledge or how to do something, I would pay for.

Back in the day there were computer magazines that taught me how to program in a particular language, it meant not to only inform me, but to teach me the ins and outs of doing something useful. I bought those magazine, but National Geographic, which I read because it is a annual Christmas present, is informative but I still could have done some of the research myself to learn about this or that. The articles tend to be more narrowly focused in their thesis but still the information is out there for free.

I pay for the practical, not the informative.
Crime

Online Impersonations Now Illegal In California 217

theodp writes "TechCrunch's Michael Arrington reports that a California bill criminalizing online impersonations went into effect on January 1st. 'There has to be intent to harm, intimidate, threaten, or defraud another person — not necessarily the person you are impersonating,' explains Arrington. 'Free speech issues, including satire and parody, aren't addressed in the text of the bill. The courts will likely sort it out.' So, Fake Steve Jobs, you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya punk?'"
Google

Beware of Using Google Or OpenDNS For iTunes 348

Relayman writes "Joe Mailer wanted to download an iTunes movie recently and his Apple TV told him it would take two hours. When he switched his DNS resolver settings, the download time dropped to less than 20 seconds. Apparently, iTunes content is served by Akamai which uses geolocation based on the IP address of the DNS request to determine which server should provide his content. When you use Google or OpenDNS to resolve the Apple domain name, all the requests to Akamai appear to be coming from the same location and they're all directed to the same server pool, overloading that pool and causing the slow downloads. The solution: be wary of using Google or OpenDNS when downloading iTunes files or similar large files. Use your own ISP's DNS servers instead or run your own resolving DNS server."
Apple

Apple's $1 Billion Data Center Mystery 244

1sockchuck writes "One of year's most tantalizing technology secrets involves Apple's $1 billion investment in a new data center in North Carolina. Is it the Death Star in Apple's plan for galactic domination? Some Apple watchers predict it will be the hub for a 21st century broadcasting network. Other enthusiasts are doing flyovers to film videos of the 500,000 square foot facility. There's also an unofficial FAQ about the new data center. What is Apple up to with this huge facility?"
PC Games (Games)

Blizzard Boss Says Restrictive DRM Is a Waste of Time 563

Stoobalou writes "Blizzard co-founder Frank Pearce reckons that fighting piracy with DRM is a losing battle. His company — which is responsible for one of the biggest video games of all time, the addictive online fantasy role player World of Warcraft — is to release StarCraft 2 on July 27, and Pearce has told Videogamer that the title won't be hobbled with the kind of crazy copy protection schemes that have made Ubisoft very unpopular in gaming circles of late. StarCraft 2 will require a single online activation using the company's Battle.net servers, after which players will be allowed to play the single-player game to their hearts' content, without being forced to have a persistent Internet connection."
Biotech

Patents On Synthetic Life "Extremely Damaging" 171

An anonymous reader writes "Pioneer and veteran of genomics Professor John Sulston is extremely concerned about the patent applications on the first synthetic life-form. The patents were filed by the Venter Institute following the announcement of the first life-form to have a synthetic genome. Sulston claims the patent is excessively broad and would stifle research and development in the field by creating an effective monopoly on synthetic life and related molecular techniques. Prof. Sulston had previously locked horns ten years ago with Dr. Craig Venter over intellectual property issues surrounding the human genome project. Fortunately, Sulston won the last round and the HGP is freely accessible — Venter had wanted to charge for access, just as he now wishes to make 'synthetic life' proprietary."

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