langedb - Slashdot User

Comment Re:Now to get rid of noncompetes (Score 1) 214

by langedb on Thursday November 19, 2009 @11:46AM (#30157250) Attached to: AT&T Loses First Legal Battle Against Verizon

I didn't have a contract with my old Cingular/AT&T service, nor do I have one with my new VirginMobile service. I also don't have a contract with Netscape ISP, or Dish Network. I *chose* not to take their offered contracts, and you could do the same, if you don't like being locked-in for 1-2 years.

I did the exact same thing with Comcast for internet and Dish for TV. They came at me with a contract, I declined & told them I'm definitely going elsewhere then as their competitors contracts come with more stuff. They caved.

Comment Re:Verizon is doubling the phone-subsidy to $350.. (Score 4, Informative) 520

by langedb on Thursday November 12, 2009 @06:02PM (#30079920) Attached to: Verizon Doubles Early Termination Fee and More

Also, unlike most other services, with TracFone you don't own your number. You decide to switch carriers and your phone number goes with it. Personally keeping my number is worth quite a bit more than $350. To each his own though.

According to TracFone's FAQ. They will allow you to transfer your number out of TracFone, but your personal information on the TracFone account must match the information on the new carrier's account. Source

Comment Re:I don't get why PVR-users watch recorded ads... (Score 2, Interesting) 297

by langedb on Monday November 02, 2009 @03:07PM (#29953358) Attached to: DVRs Help Some TV Shows Improve Ratings

I don't understand why those with PVRs still watch the ads. .

In our case, the wife likes watching the ads as it's her primary way to learn about new products and services.

Submission + - SPAM: IBM Webmail aims at Google, Microsoft

Submitted by alphadogg on Friday October 02, 2009 @09:21AM

alphadogg writes: IBM has launched LotusLive iNotes, an on-demand e-mail, calendaring and contact management system meant to compete with the likes of Gmail and Microsoft Exchange, the company said Friday. Pricing starts at $3 per user per month, undercutting Google Apps Premier Edition, which costs $50 per user per year. IBM is aiming the software at large enterprises that want to migrate an on-premise e-mail system to SaaS, particularly for users who aren't tied to a desk, such as retail workers. It is also hoping to win business from smaller companies interested in on-demand software but with concerns about security and service outages, such as those suffered by Gmail in recent months. LotusLive iNotes is based on technology IBM purchased from the Hong Kong company Outblaze.
Link to Original Source

Comment Re:Mesh networks in Aviation (Score 3, Interesting) 131

by langedb on Thursday October 01, 2009 @05:07PM (#29610967) Attached to: A Mobile Phone Mesh That Can Survive Carrier Network Failure

The HAM community already has this sort of thing. It's called APRS, and includes all the capabilities that you describe. All that would be needed is to put the necessary GPS and computer systems into the aircraft and wire them up to warn the pilot when another plane is getting too close.

Comment Re:Snowing ? (Score 1) 335

by langedb on Tuesday August 25, 2009 @04:09PM (#29191735) Attached to: Report That OS X Snow Leopard May Include Antivirus

Unseasonably cool with a 30% chance of flurries. Then becoming warmer.

Comment Re:Now? (Score 5, Informative) 477

by langedb on Tuesday July 14, 2009 @08:33PM (#28698435) Attached to: US Postal Service Moves To GNU/Linux

"Not only that, I just checked and according to fedex it costs $7.39 to mail that same letter from coast to coast for their cheapest option. That's only what, nearly 17 times more expensive?"

factor in how much of your tax dollars when into that and then get back to us with a valid point....

Umm, the USPS is self-funded. None of your tax dollars go towards supporting their operation source

Submission + - What do you do with a personal domain? 2

Submitted by bmerr71 on Wednesday June 03, 2009 @04:05PM

bmerr71 writes: I bought my own domain name to use as a self-promotion tool. I use a subdomain, "profile.mydomain.com", which I selectively put on my email signatures to link to my linkedin profile. I also loaded up Google Apps to use for email. But when you go directly to my domain name, there is nothing there. I didn't want GoDaddy getting ad revenue off my name (and it doesn't look very professional), so I killed the ad page, but it seems like I should be able to put something up on my main page. But, I am not interesting in blogging, I do not want too much personal information up there, and I do not want to spend a lot of money (none, if possible). Are there any free apps that I can load up on my domain to fill the blank space? What do non-bloggers do with their personal domains?

Submission + - TiVo Wins $103 Million Against Echostar

Submitted by langedb on Wednesday June 03, 2009 @12:54PM

langedb writes: In the Tivo vs Echostar DVR saga, Tivo has won a massive $103 million contempt judgement against Echostar for failure to comply with the injunction against distributing their own DVR.

Submission + - Should Auditors Be Liable for Certifications? (channelinsider.com)

Submitted by

dasButcher

on Wednesday June 03, 2009 @12:40PM

dasButcher writes: "Enterprises and mid-size business rely on auditors and service providers to certify their systems as compliant with such security regs and standards as PCI-DSS or SOX. But, as Larry Walsh speculates, a lawsuit filed by a bank against an auditor/managed service provider could change that (http://blogs.channelinsider.com/secure_channel/content/data_security/breach_lawsuit_could_reset_security_liabilities_to_service_providers.html). The bank wants to hold the auditor liable for a breach at its credit card processor because the auditor certified the processor as PCI compliant. If the bank wins, it could change the standards and liabilities of auditors and service providers in the delivery of security services."

Submission + - TiVo wishlist for patent finally recorded.

Submitted by zapatero on Tuesday June 02, 2009 @07:23PM

zapatero writes: TiVo's now 5 year patent dispute with E*Star/Dish has finally reached a near final point. Today the long awaited ruling from Judge Folsom on whether Echo Star's self-described patch to their DVR made their device compliant under the October 2008 verdict came in. Judge Folsom ruled in favor of TiVo again. He awarded TiVo yet another $100 Million. This ruling puts a serious bite in TiVo's DVR patent. The case has already been appealed and dismissed by the US Supreme Court. It appears that TiVo's Patent is now the real deal. Industry beware. Who will TiVo go after now? AT&T's Uverse? Time Warner?

Cola Consumption Can Lead To Muscle Problems 420

Posted by timothy on Wednesday May 20, 2009 @06:04PM from the but-your-lifting-arm's-doing-fine dept.

wjousts writes "As I'm sure many Slashdot readers live almost exclusively on cola drinks, a new warning from doctors: 'Doctors have issued a warning about excessive cola consumption after noticing an increase in the number of patients suffering from muscle problems, according to the June issue of IJCP, the International Journal of Clinical Practice. ... 'Evidence is increasing to suggest that excessive cola consumption can also lead to hypokalaemia, in which the blood potassium levels fall, causing an adverse effect on vital muscle functions.' And sorry, diet colas aren't any better."

Firefox 3.1 Beta 3 Released 273

Posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday March 12, 2009 @11:44AM from the i-love-daft-punk dept.

ink writes "Mozilla has released the third beta for Firefox 3.1 (which may become Firefox 3.5). This beta includes the new location bar, Mozilla's new JavaScript engine Tracemonkey, new HTML5 features and many other enhancements. It looks the same on the surface, but there are many changes under the hood."

Malware Threat To GNOME and KDE 348

Posted by timothy on Tuesday February 17, 2009 @11:42AM from the turducken dept.

commandlinegamer writes "foobar posted on his blog recently about 'How to write a Linux virus in 5 easy steps,' detailing potential malware infection risks in the .desktop file format used by GNOME and KDE. This is not a new threat, and it appears to still be a risk, as discussions in 2006 did not seem to come to any firm conclusion on how to deal with the problem." There's a followup on LWN.

Comment Central Chat (Score 2, Interesting) 138

by langedb on Tuesday October 14, 2008 @12:23PM (#25370455) Attached to: Online Community For a Call Center?

Over here, instead of a web-board or something like that, management setup a chatroom on our IM server. They then encouraged everybody from front-line tech support up though the developers, sysadmins, engineers, and their managers to join. Attendance is encouraged but not mandatory, and it's been emphasized heavily that people are free to speak their minds about any subject including bashing management without reprisal -- just don't get into a flame-war. What resulted was the room became a mechanism to instantly escalate any issues which the tech support folks couldn't handle as well as a place where you could easily bounce new ideas around to find out how a change would be perceived by the various stakeholders. Our users got a huge win as most problems are now solved while the user is on the phone rather than having to wait while the ticket works itself up/down the hierarchy. The rest of us got a place to blow off steam as well as bounce ideas around people from diverse areas in similiar position levels.

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