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Comment Re: If Google's flying satellites, (Score 1) 118

by webmistressrachel (#46234199) Attached to: Google Earth's New Satellites

Wow, that's a fast downlink, never mind uplink.

I'm a bandwidth-starved Brit from the Northwest backwaters, one of the first to get fibre (spelt correctly) in Leyland, Lancashire - and then use it to spread anarchy in the form of recycled computers with pirated windows and learning software (and yes, games) through that hell-hole, enlightening many a disillusioned soul suffering from the negative effects of the DAF fallout...

So how exactly are you doing that, Sir? And can I come play with it, please? Rachel

Comment Re:Beta font is hard to read (Score 1) 16

by webmistressrachel (#46206855) Attached to: Slashdot Beta Woes

I knew they were new here when I saw the UID... another feature missing from the comments on the Beta.

It's not the lowest, but I'm proud of mine, at least it shows I'm not some muggle who grew up with nothing but Pentiums and pseudo-code / Windows API / scripting being the only shops in town...

Submission + - A Modest Proposal, re: Beta vs. Classic 19

Submitted by unitron
unitron writes: Dice wants to make money off of what they paid for--the Slashdot name--, or rather they want to make more money off of it than they are making now, and they think the best way to do that is to turn it into SlashingtonPost.

They should take this site and give it a new name. Or get Malda to let them use "Chips & Dips".

Leave everything else intact, archives, user ID database, everything except the name.

Then use the Beta code and start a new site and give it the slashdot.org name, and they can have what they want without the embarrassment of having the current userbase escape from the basement or the attic and offend the sensibilities of the yuppies or hipsters or metrosexuals or whoever it is that they really want for an "audience".

Submission + - Slashdot Beta Woes 16

Submitted by s.petry
s.petry writes: What is a Slashdot and why the Beta might destroy it?

Slashdot has been around, well, a very long time. Longer than any of it's competators, but not as long as IIRC. Slashdot was a very much one of the first true social media web sites.

On Slashdot, you could create a handle or ID. Something personal, but not too personal, unless you wanted it to be. But it was not required either. We know each other by our handles, we have watched each other grow as people. We may have even taken pot shots at each other in threads. Unless of course you are anonymous, but often we can guess who that really is.

One of Slashdot's first motto's was "News for Nerds" that Matters. I have no idea when that was removed. I have not always scoured the boards here daily, life can get too busy for that. That excuses my ignorance in a way. I guess someone thought it politically incorrect, but most of us "Nerds" enjoyed it. We are proud of who we are, and what we know. Often we use that pride and knowledge to make someone else look bad. That is how we get our digs in, and we enjoy that part of us too. We don't punch people, we belittle them. It's who we are!

What made Slashdot unique were a few things. What you will note here is "who" has been responsible for the success of Slashdot. Hint, it has never been a just the company taking care of the servers and software.

— First, the user base submitted stories that "they" thought mattered. It was not a corporate feed. Sure, stories were submitted about companies. The latest break through from AMD and Intel, various stories regarding the graphic card wars, my compiler is better than your compiler, and yes your scripting language stinks! Microsoft IIS has brought us all a few laughs and lots of flame wars to boot. Still, we not only read about the products but get to my second point.

— User comments. This is the primary why we have been coming here for as long as we have, many of us for decades. We provide alternative opinions or back what was given in the article. This aspect not only makes the "News" interesting, but often leads to other news and information sharing. It's not always positive, but this is the nature of allowing commentary. It also brings out the third point.

— Moderation. Moderation has been done by the community for a very long time. It took lots of trial and error to get a working system. As with any public system it's imperfect, but it's been successful. People can choose to view poorly modded comments, but don't have to. As with posting anonymous versus with our own handle it's an option that allows us to personalize the way we see and read what's on the site. And as a reward for submitting something worth reading, you might get a mod point of your own to use as a reward for someone else.

Why we dislike Beta and what is being pushed, and why this will result in the end of an era if it becomes forced on the community.

1. Bulky graphics. We get that Dice and Slashdot need revenue. I have Karma good enough to disable advertisements, but have never kept this setting on. I realize that Slashdot/Dice make money with this. That said, the ads sit away from my news and out of the way. I can get there if I want it (but nobody has ever gotten a penny from me clicking an ad... nobody!), but it's not forced into my face or news feed.

2. Low text area. I like having enough on my screen to keep me busy without constant scrolling. Slashdot currently has the correct ratio of text to screen. This ratio has never been complained about, yet Beta reduces the usable text area by at least 1/2 and no option for changing the behavior. I hate reading Slashdot on mobile devices because I can't stand scrolling constantly.

3. JavaScript. We all know the risks of JS, and many of us disable it. We also have an option of reading in Lync or non-standard browsers that many of us toy with for both personal and professional reasons. This flexibility is gone in Beta, and we are forced to allow JS to run. If you don't know the risks of allowing JS to run, you probably don't read much on Slashdot. Those that allow JS do so accepting the risk (which is admittedly low on a well known site).

4. Ordering/Sorting/Referencing. Each entry currently gets tagged with a unique thread ID. This allows linking to the exact post in a thread, not just the top of the thread. In Beta this is gone. It could be that the site decided to simply hide the post ID or it was removed. Either way, going to specific posts is something that is used very commonly by the community.

5. Eye candy. Most of us are not here for "eye candy" and many have allergic reactions to eye candy. Slashdot has a good mix currently. It's not as simple as the site starting with a r-e-d-i-t, which is good. That site has a reputation that keeps many of us away, and their format matches my attitude of them (s-i-m-p-l-e-t-o-n). At the same time, it's not like watching some other "news" sites with so much scrolling crap I can't read an article without getting a headache. The wasted space in beta for big bulky borders, sure smells like eye candy. Nothing buzzes or scrolls yet, but we can sense what's coming in a patch later.

The thing is, the community cares about Slashdot. We come here because we care. We submit stories because of that, we vote because of that, we moderate because of that, and we comment because of that. At the same time we realize that without the community Slashdot loses most of its value. We respect that we don't host the servers, backup the databases, or patch the servers. Slashdot/Dice provide the services needed for Slashdot.

It's a give give relationship, and we each get something in return. Slashdot gets tons of Search hits and lots of web traffic. We get a place to learn, teach, and occasionally vent.

Look, if you want to change default color scheme or make pre-made palettes for us to choose from, we would probably be okay with that. If you want to take away our ability to block ads by Karma, or move the ads to the left side of my browser window, I would be okay with those things too.

If you want to make drastic changes to how the site works, this is a different story all together. The reason so many are against Beta is that it breaks some of the fundamental parts of what makes Slashdot work.

User input until recently has not been acknowledged. The acknowledgment we have received is not from the people that are making the decision to push Beta live. We told people Beta was broken, what it lacked, and we were rather surprised to get a warning that Beta would be live despite what we told people. People are already making plans to leave, which means that Slashdot could fade away very soon.

Whether this was the goal for Dice or not remains to be seen. If it is, it's been nice knowing you but I won't be back. A partnership only works when there is mutual respect between the parties. A word of caution, us Nerds have good memories and lots of knowledge. The loss of Slashdot impacts all of Dice holdings, not just Slashdot. I boycott everything a company holds, not just the product group that did me wrong.

If that was not the goal of Dice, you should quickly begin communicating with the user base. What are the plans are to fix what Beta has broken? Why is Beta being pushed live with things broken? A "Sorry we have not been communicating!", and perhaps even a "Thank you" to the user base for helping make Slashdot a success for so many years.

Submission + - Slashdot BETA Discussion (slashdot.org) 60

Submitted by mugnyte
mugnyte writes: With Slashdot's recent restyled "BETA" slowly rolled to most users, there's been a lot of griping about the changes. This is nothing new, as past style changes have had similar effects. However, this pass there are significant usability changes: A narrower read pane, limited moderation filtering, and several color/size/font adjustments. BETA implies not yet complete, so taking that cue — please list your specific, detailed opinoins, one per comment, and let's use the best part of slashdot (the moderation system) to raise the attention to these. Change can be jarring, but let's focus on the true usability differences with the new style.

Comment Re:Price (Score 1) 220

Best. Comment. Yet.

In fact, so good, that I'm only posting this in return for a cid so that *I* can come back here, and do exactly the same thing!!!

I've been saying it since modems and HDDs first began to grace the consoles, ESPECIALLY the Microsoft ones... after all, critical mass, monetization of the online services, and collection of personal data make it an almost inevitable, and high-value, target right now. Not the mention the possibilities for using all that excess CPU and GPU as a distributed server farm.

Here's a fascinating chain of thought to leave you with - just how powerful would that server farm be? So powerful that it may even outweigh any of the other benefits of hacking consoles? Would a potential "owner" be more likely to leave personal data and short-term gains (cc info etc.) aside in order to "fly under the radar" whilst captaining the biggest ship (couldn't help it!) / server farm no-one ever knew about?

Well, if I'm not on the watchlist yet (ha!), I am now! ;-) (dons lead hat)

Comment Re:This is goddamned appalling (Score 1) 209

We're aware of it, which means we're on to it.

I reckon, with projects like Wayback already operating (and already saving, among other things, my election results, which have since moved around a lot on the City Council's rubbish website, old company sites I've created, various iterations of my personal site, and some of my +5 comments here) that there's a chance this comment (if modded up!) WILL be available in 100 years' time.

If so, hello everyone! You're reading 100 year old bits and bytes! The real question is, will they teach bits and bytes in 100 years' time, and will people be able to write their own parsers in 100 years' time?

Submission + - London Mayor to Spend £90,000 on Water Cannons (ubmfuturecities.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: London Mayor Boris Johnson is planning to spend at least £90,000 on truck-mounted water cannons in order to control rioters. While the mayor says he intends to consult citizens about this potential investment before moving ahead, the city has been in the process of training police on the use of water cannons since last summer. Johnson claims that the water cannons would only be used in "extreme" situations; however, those who oppose the idea fear that water cannons will be used to quell peaceful protests, not just riots.

Comment Re:First... (Score 1) 829

by webmistressrachel (#45777531) Attached to: Microsoft's Ticking Time Bomb Is Windows XP

Thanks. My FP was shallow - but no worse than most, and I took my chance, it made me smile posting it! Saying that, I sometimes smile wryly at "Fr0sty P!ss" posts, too, so I can't claim much credit for wit, at all!

I rarely post aiming for moderation or credit, but if something makes people smile, why not share it?

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