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Comment Wierd, indeed (Score 1) 2

If it's Ubuntu, it's a new problem, or only affects certain makes and models. I ran kubuntu on an Acer notebook for quite a while, and its wifi was far better than Windows.

I suspect it's an issue with drivers; Linux has had driver issues in the past, especially with newer equipment.

Comment Re:No PHP? (Score 1) 65

Technical skills... You mean like how half of the bubbles say fluffy BS like "leadership", "strategy", "demand generation" and "spanish" (yes, the chart includes "spanish" as a node, over near ITIL)? Yeah, sure, "technical" - If you work in HR, maybe.

"Applicant must recognize a computer, and not attempt to eat the mouse. 2-4 years experience stuffing envelopes preferred, because we don't understand metered trifolds. Ideal candidate can tell Brioni from Armani by smell alone".

Submission + - XKEYSCORE: NSA'S Google for the World's Private Communications (firstlook.org)

Advocatus Diaboli writes: "The NSA’s ability to piggyback off of private companies’ tracking of their own users is a vital instrument that allows the agency to trace the data it collects to individual users. It makes no difference if visitors switch to public Wi-Fi networks or connect to VPNs to change their IP addresses: the tracking cookie will follow them around as long as they are using the same web browser and fail to clear their cookies. Apps that run on tablets and smartphones also use analytics services that uniquely track users. Almost every time a user sees an advertisement (in an app or in a web browser), the ad network is tracking users in the same way. A secret GCHQ and CSE program called BADASS, which is similar to XKEYSCORE but with a much narrower scope, mines as much valuable information from leaky smartphone apps as possible, including unique tracking identifiers that app developers use to track their own users."

also

"Other information gained via XKEYSCORE facilitates the remote exploitation of target computers. By extracting browser fingerprint and operating system versions from Internet traffic, the system allows analysts to quickly assess the exploitability of a target. Brossard, the security researcher, said that “NSA has built an impressively complete set of automated hacking tools for their analysts to use.” Given the breadth of information collected by XKEYSCORE, accessing and exploiting a target’s online activity is a matter of a few mouse clicks. Brossard explains: “The amount of work an analyst has to perform to actually break into remote computers over the Internet seems ridiculously reduced — we are talking minutes, if not seconds. Simple. As easy as typing a few words in Google.”

Comment Speed is indeed important (Score 1) 6

Not everyone has a brand-new computer; The manuscript of the book I'm about to publish is in Open Office Word, about 400 pages and full of large images, and autosave is a real pain because it takes minutes to save the file.

Like another commenter said, I wouldn't make it the most important thing, overall efficiency is. But software speed is important to anyone with an older computer, especially a Windows computer, because the computer slows as the registry grows, and the registry never gets smaller, only bigger.

Comment "Software" has no opinions of race. (Score 4, Insightful) 352

Software doesn't hate black people. Software doesn't dislike Islam. Software doesn't think kids these days need to pull their damned pants up and stop playing that crap music too loudly.

Apologizing for a program miscategorizing an image it has never seen before as somehow "racist" makes about as much sense as GE apologizing because my toaster looks like a frowny-face from just the right angle.

Yes, Virginia, we've taken this shit too far.

Comment Re:linux hard to install and use for desktop users (Score 5, Insightful) 187

1999 called and wants its meme back.

Seriously, have you actually used any modern Linux distros? Hey, good news, it has gotten so easy to install and use, you don't even need to install it! Download any of a dozen LiveCD / DVD / BRD / Thumbdrive versions, burn it to the appropriate media, and reboot. Bam! You have a fully functional modern OS at your fingertips.

Give it a try, and if you don't like it, it comes with a 100% money back guarantee.

Comment Re:Once Again (Score 5, Insightful) 141

Because that should definetly be the benchmark, right?

Not in the way you meant it, but yes, it should!

If it disgusts us to hear about $150M wasted on an endeavor that enriches all of humanity, how much more disgust should we feel over F-35s that cost twice as much and don't even work? How much more disgust should we feel over spending trillions on a never-ending war on terrorism? How much more disgust should we feel about paying 250 times that much to oppress our own citizens in a show of Security Theatre?

Yes, NASA wasting $150M disgusts me - Because of all the complete bullshit our taxes go toward, NASA shouldn't even need to blink at the cost to human-rate this thing.

Comment Re:Game of War: Fire Age is way better (Score 2) 75

Here, let me quote TFS to you:

"I found a game world with a lot to offer. Player created civilizations, unique monsters, and the sheer mystery of the world combine to keep this ancient MMO compelling. For all the ways in which the genre has improved, Ultima Online remains one of just a few MMOs that let you live an alternative life. That feeling of ownership ... combined with the diversity on offer, keeps players coming back day after day."

Does that help, or should someone post an mp3 of themselves reading it for you?

Comment Re:A corrupt company stuggling. Boo hoo. (Score 1) 133

What's sad is that UOP really could have done it! If they offered actual counseling guidance, and curricula that didn't just suck, and made sure that their clients passed classes with rigor, they could have *easily* made a profitable college with good reviews and earned trust.

Instead, they violated that trust, and probably deserve to be shut down.

Comment Re:Easy. (Score 0) 250

How about you respect your wife's choices and let her decide what she wants to do, you're treating her like a teenage child.

The subtext of the TFS makes that pretty clear - Because "sitting around the house watching Oprah and eating Cheetos" doesn't pay the bills.

Hey, guess what - I feel "not very eager" to get my ass out of bed every morning just so I can go make some rich inbreds even more rich. But the mortgage doesn't pay itself.

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