Comment Re:Not too surprised... (Score 5, Funny) 247
On the subject of "unlimited" deals, I've taken to asking people trying to sell me broadband what their "unlimit" is.
Comment Re:"Object Oriented Software Construction" (Score 1) 624
One of the best introductions to good programming practice that I know and it instilled in me some good habits I've managed to hang on to.
Comment delivered to Earth the planet by from space (Score 1, Offtopic) 145
Syntax error on line 2 - processing aborted
Comment Re:Simples - Just continue to use Dropbox... (Score 1) 188
The advantage of using something like EncFS is that changing a file only causes the (encrypted) data for that file to be transferred. Using a TrueCrypt volume causes a potentially large amount of data to have to be transferred for every minor change.
My solution to the problem (not exactly DIY, just using tools available to privacy fix Dropbox's otherwise good solution), was to use EncFS to map a virtual file system onto the directory hierarchy synced using Dropbox. Essentially I have a clear text view that I work in, with every change being automatically reflected as a change in an encrypted file which Dropbox client software sees and syncs in the usual way. Since encryption is done on a per file basis rather than a volume basis, Dropbox still works efficiently. I use this to keep a directory tree synced on four OS X and Linux boxes.
Comment Simples - Just continue to use Dropbox... (Score 1) 188
... but use something like EncFS to keep all your files encrypted. You still get the advantages of on the fly synchronization over your various computers, but Dropbox loses the ability to do de-duplication to keep their storage costs down. That's what happens when you start playing silly legal games, users work around them and usually to your detriment.
Debt Collectors Using Facebook To Embarrass Those Who Owe
266
Not even the tranquility of FarmVille can save you from the long arm of debt collectors. Melanie Beacham says that a collector from MarkOne Financial contacted her relatives about her past due car note via Facebook. She is filing suit alleging that the company is harassing her family. Tampa based consumer attorney Billy Howard of Morgan & Morgan says, "Now Facebook does a debt collectors work for them. Now it's not only family members, it's all of your associates. It's a very powerful tool for debt collectors to use."
40 Million Year Old Primate Fossils Found In Asia 91
sosaited writes "It has been widely believed that our ancestors originated out of Africa, but a paper published in Nature by Carnegie Museum of Natural History scientists puts this in doubt. The paper is based on the fossils of four primate species found in Asia which are 40 million years old, during which period Africa was thought to not have these species. The diversity and timing of the new anthropoids raises two scenarios. Anthropoids might simply have emerged in Africa much earlier than thought, and gone undiscovered by modern paleontologists. Or they could have crossed over from Asia, where evidence suggests that anthropoids lived 55 million years ago, flourishing and diversifying in the wide-open ecological niches of an anthropoid-free Africa."
Comment So give them your password... (Score 1) 1155
...and set it to "there is no password"
So what's the password? I keep telling you "there is no password" but you won't listen. Should be interesting when it comes to court.
Oh, and of course use a proper password on your second and third level Truecrypt volumes, you know the ones where you hide your "Hello Kitty" club membership details.
Co-op Neverwinter RPG Announced For 2011 169
Atari and Cryptic Studios are teaming up to make a new Dungeons & Dragons-based RPG called Neverwinter, planned for Q4 2011. Gameplay will center on five-person groups that can include other players and/or AI allies, and there will be an extensive content generation system. Gamespot spoke with Cryptic CEO Jack Emmert, who explained parts of the game in more depth:
"I think there are two very unique gameplay elements in 4th Edition that we've done something interesting with: action points and healing surges. In the tabletop game, an action point lets a player perform a reroll or add an additional die to a roll. In our game, action points are earned through combat and spent to power special abilities called 'boons.' These boons give players special boosts, but only in certain circumstances. Healing surges represent the amount of times a player can heal himself before resting. In D&D and Neverwinter, various abilities let players use a surge immediately or perhaps replenish the number of surges available. It's a precious resource that players will need to husband as they adventure in the brave new world. Positioning, flanking, tactics, and using powers with your teammates are also all things that come from the 4th Edition that are interesting. Of course, we're using power names and trying to keep power behavior consistent with the pen-and-paper counterparts. Neverwinter will definitely feel familiar to anyone who has played the 4th Edition."
Submission + - Telemarketer versus Technology (blogger.com)
Serif writes: The blog of someone working at one of the better quality ISP / telcos in the UK describes his new counter tele-marketing measures and includes a recording of it in action. It's amusing that the usual tele-marketing technique of talking over victims and ignoring what they say plays against them so they don't realise what is going on.
Google Stops Ads For "Cougar" Sites 319
teh31337one writes "Google is refusing to advertise CougarLife, a dating site for mature women looking for younger men. However, they continue to accept sites for mature men seeking young women. According to the New York Times, CougarLife.com had been paying Google $100,000 a month since October. The Mountain View company has now cancelled the contract, saying that the dating site is 'nonfamily safe.'"
The Big Technical Mistakes of History 244
An anonymous reader tips a PC Authority review of some of the biggest technical goofs of all time. "As any computer programmer will tell you, some of the most confusing and complex issues can stem from the simplest of errors. This article looking back at history's big technical mistakes includes some interesting trivia, such as NASA's failure to convert measurements to metric, resulting in the Mars Climate Orbiter being torn apart by the Martian atmosphere. Then there is the infamous Intel Pentium floating point fiasco, which cost the company $450m in direct costs, a battering on the world's stock exchanges, and a huge black mark on its reputation. Also on the list is Iridium, the global satellite phone network that promised to make phones work anywhere on the planet, but required 77 satellites to be launched into space."
Decades-Old Soviet Reflector Spotted On the Moon 147
cremeglace writes "No one had seen a laser reflector that Soviet scientists had left on the moon almost 40 years ago, despite years of searching. Turns out searchers had been looking kilometers in the wrong direction. On 22 April, a team of physicists finally saw an incredibly faint flash from the reflector, which was ferried across the lunar surface by the Lunokhod 1 rover. The find comes thanks to NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which last month imaged a large area where the rover was reported to have been left. Then the researchers, led by Tom Murphy of the University of California, San Diego, could search one football-field-size area at a time until they got a reflection."
