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Comment Try the 'Dasher' text input method (Score 1) 1

On:
http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/dasher/SpecialNeeds.html

It says:
  Special Needs

Dasher is highly appropriate for computer users who are unable to use a two-handed keyboard. One-handed users and users with no hands love Dasher. The only ability that is required is sight.

Dasher can be driven using a mouse, a trackpad, a touchscreen, a rollerball, or a joystick - any two-dimensional pointing device that can take over the role of a mouse. A foot mouse and a head mouse are additional options.

It can also be driven using an gazetracker, giving a completely-hands-free writing system. After one hour's practice, some users are able to write at more than 20 words per minute using Dasher with an gazetracker. Experienced users reach 30 words per minute. We got these results with the Quick Glance gazetracker from EyeTech Digital Systems.

For a movie demonstrating Dasher with an gazetracker, see the demonstration page.

Compared to an gazetracker + on-screen keyboard, Dasher is

        faster
        more accurate
        more fun

Comment Try 'SmartOS' from the makers of Node.js (Score 1) 168

You can see it here: http://smartos.org/

This OS allows for ZFS+DTrace+Zones+KVM

In the regards to the original poster, I would use this since the ZFS file system would protect against silent data corruption. And (Zones/KVM) would allow for Virtual Machines to be used as part of the cloud.

I'm actually thing of using this for my dad's photo collection.

Comment Re:Accurate? So it's curved? (Score 1) 67

After doing some testing, it appears the map scale is around 1 block equals 1/2 acre.

You can see this by teleporting to 10545 100 24400 which drops you on the south side of Hyde Park's Serpentine Lake (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serpentine_%28lake%29_)

The lake is around 80 blocks of water and is reported to be 40 acres big in Wikipedia.

Also, the map is is just a single layer of blocks covering over stone blocks.

Comment If you have an Android Device, use this app.... (Score 5, Informative) 58

It's call Mobile Observatory:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kreappdev.astroid&hl=en

And right now it's telling me:
1. When the shower will be next above the horizon, and which direction that will be.
2. When the shower will reach it's peak, and which direction and how high above the horizon it will be.

So here's the app's blurb from Google Play:

You want to know if the next lunar eclipse is visible from your location or when the next bright comet is visible? You would like to be notified by your smart phone the next time, Jupiter and the Moon meet in the sky? You want to know what the blazing bright object in the evening sky is? You want to be always up-to-date which celestial events are visible from your location? Then this app is a must-have for you!
The app does not only include a live, zoomable sky map telling you what sky object you are looking at but provides you with loads of detailed extra information on stars, planets, deep sky objects, meteor showers, comets, asteroids, lunar and solar eclipses as well as detailed ephemeris of all included sky objects and an interactive top-down view of the Solar System. All that in just one app!
Main Features
- Zoomable sky map showing stars, planets, asteroids, and more (above and below the horizon)
- Interactive top-down view of the Solar System
- Live mode (point device on sky and get information on what you see)
- Calendar showing detailed descriptions of celestial events
- Push celestial events to your phone's calendar and set a reminder alarm
- Rise, set, and transit times for any object
- Position of any object in the sky (altitude and direction)
- Twilight times, length of day
- Bright Star Catalog (~9000 stars) with detailed information
- More than 400 000 additional stars from the PPM Star Catalog (Android 3.1 or higher required)
- 2500 selected NGC objects (galaxies, clusters, ...)
- Messier Catalog (110 objects) complete with images
- Caldwell Catalog (110 objects) complete with images
- Hidden Treasures Catalog (109 objects) complete with images
- Meteor streams (begin, maximum, hourly rate, ...)
- Lunar and solar eclipses information
- Lunar librations, ascending node, maximum declination
- Bright comets (automatically selected according to the date)
- Dwarf planets: The five known dwarf planets
- Minor planets: bright, near Earth, trans-Neptune (more than 10000 in the database)
- Update database online: download up-to-date orbital elements of comets and minor planets
- Moon phases, the apparent view of the sun and planets
- Current image of the Sun and sunspot number
- Automatically generated visibility report for any object
- Intuitive User Interface: quickly find what you are looking for
- Widget with rise & set times of the Sun and Moon
- Automatic location determination from the mobile network or GPS
- Select a location from a built-in database or online via Google Maps
- Choose any time and date
- Detailed ephemeris, visibility information of all objects
- Dates of conjunctions between any object with planets or the Moon
- 3D-view of the Moon and the planets
- Accurate calculations for dates between 1900 and 2100

Comment The 'Maestro I' - 1975! (Score 1) 181

The 1975 article (in German):
http://www.computerwoche.de/a/interaktives-programmieren-als-systems-schlager,1205421

Google Translate:
"New to PET is the online resource management deck with a kind of list management. The next step of development is certainly the effect that the list is no longer printed, but will be converted so that only one error list is written - so you can watch the program.

Pioneering is the interactive programming."

Comment He got into trouble because he was in a MALL.... (Score 1) 770

....Not because of the take down.

I refer you to this paragraph (from: http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?21876-Ignorant-Bliss-of-a-Mall-Photographer):

"According to her, the main problem is with all the businesses in the mall. Of course these days most are all corporate brand stores carefully controlling any media exposure. Any advertising photography is supposedly carefully shot so only the store making an ad is in any shots without logos of nearby stores. And she said there are issues of invasion of privacy of customers. I related the Christmas decorations were quite beautiful and that people would find photographing the mall wonderful but she went back to the business issues tangled up with legal issues. I related I'd taken a number of shots, gave her my business card, and said I would not take any more images. I could have related to her a few other reasons why I'd expect photography to be prohibited in stores or malls like security and store marketing issues. I'm sure she could have elaborated more too if she made time to do so."

I personally known someone who ran into this kind of trouble when trying to document the landscape overgrowing the street signs in a open-air mall.

(If you want to know more, search for 'Mall Photography' and ignore the links to photo studios. This same situation has happen before all over the place.)

Comment If you're keeping it simple... (Score 1) 503

...Then I would suggest Kaspersky: http://www.kaspersky.com

It's comprehensive, it has signatures for almost every virus/malware/etc out there. (I've used it to remove stuff from some of my friends' machines that their installed antivirus program wasn't catching.)

It's simple to use, my dad has it on his machine, and he's around 76 so I don't think that your son or you will have problems using it.

It's customizable, you can lock down your laptop as much as you like using the 'Parental Controls'. (My dad uses it to keep from accidentally wandering into parts of the Internet he'd rather not see. Also, you can lock the system down by: limiting the time the computer is run (no more late night sessions), limiting the places on the internet the laptop can connect to (so the laptop could only be connecting to the gaming sites), and limiting which programs be run (limit laptop to running just the game programs)).

It's lightweight on a system, the parts (modules) were designed from the ground-up to work together, so it easily runs in the background without consuming lots of resources.

Comment Tools for the Job... (Score 2) 440

First: Get a copy of Windows Server 2012 and use the new deduplication system (which uses 'file chunk' deuplication level across an entire disk): https://www.usenix.org/conference/usenixfederatedconferencesweek/primary-data-deduplication%E2%80%94large-scale-study-and-system

Now, that you've taken care of the data duplication, let's talk about the tools for sifting through large sets of files:

1. Get 'Everything' (http://www.voidtools.com/): This tool allows for the 'instant' searching for any file throughout _all_ your files, I've used it on 4 million files myself. Just start typing part of the file name and it will show you a list of where those files are located on your system. Also, the list is 'live', you can right click on any icon in the file list, and it will act the same as you right clicked on the file itself in Explorer.

2. Get 'SpaceMonger' (http://www.sixty-five.cc/sm/): This tool shows what's taking up the space on your computer, it's similar to 'WinDirStat' but more flexible, customizable, and detailed.

3. Get 'ZTreeWin' (http://www.ztree.com/): This tool is the Swiss-Army knife program for working on files (finding, searching, viewing). If you remember 'XTree', it's a clone of that which can work on 4 million(+) files.

4. Get 'Beyond Compare' (http://www.scootersoftware.com/): This tool allows for easy comparison/synchronization of folders (and files). Compare two of your old backup folders and merge them.

Comment List of programs... (Score 1) 547

If you can't use DBAN (Darik's Boot And Nuke) [www.dban.org] to wipe the hard drive, then try:

CCleaner [http://www.piriform.com/CCLEANER]: Use this to wipe browser info, temp files, etc. etc plus a whole lot more.

WSCC (Windows System Control Center) [http://www.kls-soft.com/wscc/]: This program allows you to download and use these utility suites: Windows Sysinternals Suite (including support for Sysinternals Live service) & NirSoft Utilities
Download both suites and use the password utilities to look at (and remove) your browser stored passwords.

'Everything' [http://www.voidtools.com/download.php]: This program creates a live list of _every_ file on your computer that you can instantly search through
[for example, to find all PDF files on your computer, type '*.pdf' and it'll be done searching as soon as you type the 'f'] (I've used it to search millions of files on a server).

'Spacemonger' [http://www.sixty-five.cc/sm/]: This program visually shows all files on a drive, allowing you to see the big, buried files and where they're stored.

Comment Read 'Rapid Development' by Steve McConnell (Score 1) 229

Read 'Rapid Development: Taming Wild Software Schedules' by Steve McConnell:
http://www.stevemcconnell.com/rd.htm

I would _start_ with reading chapters 3 ("Classic Mistakes") & 11 ("Motivation")

Also, read these other books by Steve McConnell.
    "Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art." A comprehensive set of tips and heuristics that software developers, technical leads, and project managers can apply to create more accurate estimates.

    "Code Complete 2. A practical handbook of software-construction practices." Updated for web development, object-oriented development, agile practices, and other modern construction issues.

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