Comment Re:Another variable to consider (Score 1) 165
Parent didn't say the oil boils, s/he said there was boiling going on (the water in the food) in oil. Which is quite correct.
Submission + - Exponential Algorithm in Windows Update Slowing XP Machines (arstechnica.com)
jones_supa writes: An interesting bug regarding update dependency calculation has been found in Windows XP. By design, machines using Windows Update retrieve patch information from Microsoft's update servers (or possibly WSUS in a company setting). That patch information contains information about each patch: what software it applies to and, critically, what historic patch or patches the current patch supersedes. Unfortunately, the Windows Update client components used an algorithm with exponential scaling when processing these lists. Each additional superseded patch would double the time taken to process the list. With the operating system now very old, those lists have grown long, sometimes to 40 or more items. On a new machine, that processing appeared to be almost instantaneous. It is now very slow. After starting the system, svchost.exe is chewing up the entire processor, sometimes for an hour or more at a time. Wait long enough after booting and the machine will eventually return to normalcy. Microsoft thought that it had this problem fixed in November's Patch Tuesday update after it culled the supersedence lists. That update didn't appear to fix the problem. The company thought that its December update would also provide a solution, with even more aggressive culling. That didn't seem to help either. For one reason or another, Microsoft's test scenarios for the patches didn't reflect the experience of real Windows XP machines.
North Korea Erases Executed Official From the Internet 276
itwbennett writes "The North Korean state propaganda machine has edited and deleted hundreds of news articles that mention Jang Song Thaek, the former top government and party official and uncle to leader Kim Jong Un, who was executed Thursday. Earlier this week, Jang was arrested in front of hundreds of senior members of the ruling Worker's Party of Korea and denounced for numerous alleged acts against the state and Kim Jong Un. From arrest to trial to death took only four days and the unprecedented fall from grace is widely being interpreted as an attempt by Kim Jong Un to keep officials loyal and scared."
Scientists Find Olfactory "Memory" Passed Between Generations In Mice 118
New submitter Raging Bool writes "The BBC is reporting that acquired phobias or aversions by mice can be passed on to subsequent generations. From the article: 'Experiments showed that a traumatic event could affect the DNA in sperm and alter the brains and behavior of subsequent generations. A Nature Neuroscience study shows mice trained to avoid a smell passed their aversion on to their 'grandchildren.''"
Submission + - The ultimate anti-action online game: Waiting In Line 3D
Freshly Exhumed writes: Looking a lot like the venerable Wolfenstein 3D or similar Id action games of the DOS days, the new online game Waiting in Line 3D was released Monday by developer Rajeev Basu, and was played 50,000 times in its first 24 hours of activity... er... inactivity. Is the complete lack of any action a brilliant satire of computer gaming? Is it software-based performance art? Is it silly? Judge for yourself, if you can meet the challenge!
Submission + - Boston Cops Outraged Over Plans To Watch Their Movements Using GPS 3
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes: The Boston Globe reports that the pending use of GPS tracking devices, slated to be installed in Boston police cruisers, has many officers worried that commanders will monitor their every move. Boston police administrators say the system gives dispatchers the ability to see where officers are, rather than wait for a radio response and supervisors insist the system will improve their response to emergencies. Using GPS, they say, accelerates their response to a call for a shooting or an armed robbery. “We’ll be moving forward as quickly as possible,” says former police commissioner Edward F. Davis. “There are an enormous amount of benefits. . . . This is clearly an important enhancement and should lead to further reductions in crime.” But some officers said they worry that under such a system they will have to explain their every move and possibly compromise their ability to court street sources. “No one likes it. Who wants to be followed all over the place?” said one officer who spoke anonymously because department rules forbid police from speaking to the media without authorization. “If I take my cruiser and I meet [reluctant witnesses] to talk, eventually they can follow me and say why were you in a back dark street for 45 minutes? It’s going to open up a can of worms that can’t be closed.” Meanwhile civil libertarians are relishing the rank and file's own backlash. "The irony of police objecting to GPS technology for privacy reasons is hard to miss in the aftermath of United States v. Jones," says Woodrow Hartzog. "But the officers’ concerns about privacy illustrate just how revealing GPS technology can be. Departments are going to have to confront the chilling effect this surveillance might have on police behavior."
Submission + - TSA Screener Bled to Death because Police wouldn't let Paramedics Into LAX (foxnews.com)
McGruber writes: An update on the tragic Gunman Opens Fire At LAX (http://news.slashdot.org/story/13/11/01/2014210/gunman-opens-fire-at-lax) story: FoxNews reports (www.foxnews.com/us/2013/11/15/lax-security-officer-bled-for-33-minutes-as-help-stood-by) that shot Transportation Security Administration Officer Gerardo Hernandez laid helplessly bleeding after a gunman opened fire at Los Angeles International Airport while paramedics waited 150 yards away because police had not declared the terminal safe to enter.
33 minutes passed before wounded Transportation Security Administration Officer Gerardo Hernandez, who was about 20 feet from an exit, was wheeled out by police to an ambulance. For all but five of those minutes, there was no threat from the suspected gunman — he had been shot and was in custody.
Formal conclusions may take months to reach, but what is already known raises the possibility that a lack of coordination between police and fire officials prevented speedy treatment for Hernandez and other victims. Victor Payes, President of the Union Local for TSA Workers at LAX explained: "I basically think there's a lack of coordination between entities at this airport. That lack of coordination may have led to something that shouldn't have happened. We may be talking about Officer Hernandez as a survivor."
33 minutes passed before wounded Transportation Security Administration Officer Gerardo Hernandez, who was about 20 feet from an exit, was wheeled out by police to an ambulance. For all but five of those minutes, there was no threat from the suspected gunman — he had been shot and was in custody.
Formal conclusions may take months to reach, but what is already known raises the possibility that a lack of coordination between police and fire officials prevented speedy treatment for Hernandez and other victims. Victor Payes, President of the Union Local for TSA Workers at LAX explained: "I basically think there's a lack of coordination between entities at this airport. That lack of coordination may have led to something that shouldn't have happened. We may be talking about Officer Hernandez as a survivor."
Comment Re:RPN calcs- esp 35s (Score 1) 328
The wiki-p page for the 35s [wikipedia.org]. Wow! - the first time I've seen this; looks like their classic design. Is HP back when it comes to calculators?
Good question, and you'll get different opinions from different folks.
The 35s is arguably the best desktop RPN calculator (that is currently being produced and sold). As you say, for nontrivial stuff, most people would use some desktop program.
As for HP's other scientific RPN calculators: the old high-end RPN HP 50g calculator has the Enter key in a weird location: the lower-right corner. The new HP Prime calculator almost has the Enter key in the correct location; while it's above the number keys, it's to the right (the usual spot is to the left). Also, while the HP Prime is pretty nice, technically, it's really aimed at the educational market (e.g., CAS only works in algebraic mode, not RPN).
Submission + - 5 ridiculous tech fees you're still paying
Esther Schindler writes: None of us like to spend money (except on shiny new toys). But even we curmudgeons can understand that companies need to charge for things that cost them money; and profit-making is at the heart of our economy.
Still, several charges appear on our bills that can drive even the most complacent techie into a screaming fit. How did this advertised price turn into that much on the final bill? Why are they charging for it in the first place? Herewith, five fees that make no sense at all — and yet we still fork over money for them.
For example: "While Internet access is free in coffee shops, some public transit, and even campsites, as of 2009 15% of hotels charged guests for the privilege of checking their e-mail and catching up on watching cat videos. Oddly, budget and midscale hotel chains are more likely to offer free Wi-Fi, while luxurious hotels — already costing the traveler more — regularly ding us."
Still, several charges appear on our bills that can drive even the most complacent techie into a screaming fit. How did this advertised price turn into that much on the final bill? Why are they charging for it in the first place? Herewith, five fees that make no sense at all — and yet we still fork over money for them.
For example: "While Internet access is free in coffee shops, some public transit, and even campsites, as of 2009 15% of hotels charged guests for the privilege of checking their e-mail and catching up on watching cat videos. Oddly, budget and midscale hotel chains are more likely to offer free Wi-Fi, while luxurious hotels — already costing the traveler more — regularly ding us."
Comment Re:"We believed we knew better what customers need (Score 1) 278
It's more than that (although what you wrote is certainly right).
One of Blackberry's (arguably many) problems is that they failed to realize how the consumer market, being much larger than the enterprise market, could drive the enterprise market. As others have said, by going after the consumer market, by allowing independent devs to profit off the consumer market, and by having a reasonable development system, Apple attracted a boatload of devs and, therefore, features and functionality. Eventually, if you allow the features/functionality to grow properly, the consumer market is going to spill over into the enterprise one. (Side note: by "grow properly", I'm talking about Apple's tight control over the app store. As much as people may dislike it, there's really no disagreeing that the tight control has generally maintained an acceptable level of app quality. I don't think I could say that about BBW.)
Comment Re:Nokia's data source is great (Score 1) 57
While you and others have no problems with Apple maps, I think you're falling into the common trap: "I have no problems, and I don't see how anyone else can have problems, therefore there really aren't any problems". Lots of people are screaming and, if this really was overblown, Tim Cook would not have apologized, and Scott Forstall might still have a job at Apple.
I don't use public transit, and so I can't really comment on the accuracy; however, from the screaming that I've seen, the transit issues seemed to fall into two subcategories:
1. Nonexistent transit POIs. Yeah, accuracy (as in your NYC example) may certainly be an issue, but I'd argue that "borderline unreliable" is still better than nothing (but, see the note below).
2. Google has transit schedules linked to the transit POIs. It's pretty easy to see when the next bus/train is going to arrive/leave.
Note: it seemed to me that the people complaining were "casual/occasional/out-of-town" users of public transit. These people don't use public transit enough to know either the schedules or terminal locations.
Comment Re:Nokia's data source is great (Score 2) 57
In the case of the Apple Maps issues, map data accuracy is just one of three big issues. The other two are:
* POI data, such as public transit info (nonexistent) and POI accuracy (POIs may be in the wrong location or no longer existing).
* Street View. Lots of people use Street View to examine an area (e.g., "What's the parking situation like?").
Comment Re:Not new... but also inevitable. (Score 1) 673
This.
People don't realize that all-in-one, integrated, non-repairable electronics are, in the long run, cheaper., and the majority of consumers are cheapskates. Cheaper electronics always wins out in the long-term, and will largely drive out modular, more repairable products, regardless of superior upgradeability or maintainability.
You can't compare computers with cars, as your typical consumer computer doesn't cost anywhere near a car. And, no, the retina MacBook isn't applicable here, because it's bleeding-edge, first-generation technology, which is always expensive (plus, there's the "Apple tax"). Just wait until the technology matures and the costs dive.
Also, if anything, the move to tablet-based computing is going to accelerate the drive for lower-cost (integrated/non-repairable) desktops and laptops.
Anyone remember when TVs were actually repairable (discrete transistors, anyone)? Anyone remember Sam's Photofacts? Yeah, thought so.
Comment Re:Gmail defeated Exchange, not Hotmail (Score 1) 383
While I think hotmail is pretty awful, the non-free microsoft office365 seems to be pretty decent. Not only does it work with iOS (iPhone/iPad) and MS outlook, but Thunderbird, too (and, yes, IMAP IDLE works, too). A basic email-only account is $4/month/account, and adding web access to office files (e.g., excel, word, etc.) bumps that up to $6/month/account. You get 25GB of mail storage, and you can optionally use your own domain name.
Yes, it's a bit more expensive than google, but (1) contact groups actually work with iOS (google contact groups only work with android and not iOS), (2) it gives me an out if google ever decides to inexplicably nuke my account from orbit, and (3) it's not google.
Comment Re:Own email server (Score 1) 383
It used to be free for 50 users. Some years back, google lowered the limit to 10. People who had accounts before this change were grandfathered and can still have 50 users, but new accounts are limited to 10 free users.
