jbrodkin - Slashdot User

Comment: Ars story on how to protest (Score 1) 1002

by jbrodkin on Wednesday January 18, @09:36AM (#38737662) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: What Can You Do About SOPA and PIPA?

I wrote a story for Ars on this theme if anyone wants to check it out: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/01/protesting-sopa-what-you-can-do.ars Good luck! I also love the idea of an anti-SOPA Super PAC.

Comment: Always use vacation time (Score 2) 948

by jbrodkin on Thursday January 12, @07:50PM (#38680524) Attached to: Do Companies Punish Workers Who Take Vacations?

Wow, in 12 years in the workforce it has never once occurred to me not to use all my vacation time, and I've also always insisted on comp time for traveling on weekends. I understand the reasoning (and as a work at home type I probably do too much work at odd hours) but most people need time off to recharge. As long as you prove your worth during your days on this shouldn't be an issue.

Mario and Zelda: My 25-Year Love Affair-> 0

Submitted by

jfruhlinger

on Monday December 05, @09:41AM

jfruhlinger writes "Hopefully this year's 25-year anniversary of the Zelda games didn't make you feel too old. One Nintendo nostalgist took a long look back and several decades of Zelda games — and Mario, Nintendo's other most beloved franchise — to try to figure out why these characters have remained fresh and lively (and lucrative) while others have faded."
Link to Original Source

Comment: 3TB drive (Score 1) 304

by jbrodkin on Friday November 25, @07:45PM (#38171284) Attached to: Hard Drive Prices Up 150% In Less Than Two Months

I bought a 3TB drive from Best Buy for $150 or so. By the time I received it in the mail, about 3 or 4 days later, the price was already up to $250. Glad I bought when I did.

The first time I used an Apple computer was...-> 0

Submitted by

jbrodkin

on Thursday October 06, @08:17AM

jbrodkin writes "When I saw the news that Steve Jobs had died, I thought about 1984 (give or take), when I was about 5 years old and my parents bought an Apple IIe. It was the first computer I ever used. Even as a child, I knew there was something fundamentally new and exciting going on, that this was a step forward in human capability. At the very least, typewriters suddenly were archaic. We used the Apple to write school reports and play video games. We used floppy disks to load software and save files, and sometimes when I was bored of video games I played another game called "see if you can destroy a floppy disk." After years of using Windows as an adult, Apple crept back into my life with the iPod, and never quite left. As an occasional history buff, I marvel at the impact Jobs and his competitor Bill Gates had on my life and the lives of so many others. But mostly, I remember what it was like when I first used an Apple computer. All of us technology nuts have stories like this, so I asked my colleagues to share theirs. Here's what we came up with."
Link to Original Source

Comment: Better than Chrome on Mac but worried about addons (Score 1) 495

by jbrodkin on Tuesday September 20, @04:39PM (#37460900) Attached to: Mozilla Contemplating Five Week Release Cycle

I switched from Firefox to Chrome 2+ years ago because at the time FF was constantly crashing. Just this week I switched back to FF because Chrome on Mac has had numerous problems for me over the past month. So far I am liking Firefox, but I am relying on a few plugins or add-ons. The quick development cycle will make it tough for users who have to rely on add-ons that may not be updated to support new browser versions immediately upon release.

Comment: Re:Ziff Davis doesn't publish PC World. (Score 1) 53

by jbrodkin on Thursday September 15, @08:23AM (#37408676) Attached to: Ziff Davis Secretly Paying Sites To Track Users

Parent is correct. Admittedly this story is up to /. standards, but the editors should fix the post. Parent is wrong about "published". PCMag isn't in print anymore, but is still a busy web site. Disclosure: I have written for them for many years and run the Security Watch blog.

Well, as an online writer I use the word publish to mean anything published online or in print. Hell, I read all my books on the Kindle now. Anyway, I used to write for IDG so I noticed the error right away.

correction: Ziff Davis doesn't publish PC World-> 0

Submitted by jbrodkin on Thursday September 15, @08:06AM

jbrodkin writes "just a heads up that Ziff Davis doesn't publish PC World. they do something called PC Mag. as a former IDG employee, I can tell you there is a difference ;-)"
Link to Original Source

Comment: Ziff Davis doesn't publish PC World. (Score 3, Informative) 53

by jbrodkin on Thursday September 15, @07:58AM (#37408496) Attached to: Ziff Davis Secretly Paying Sites To Track Users

PC World is published by IDG. Ziff Davis published PCMag.

2 phones, 1 device: Samsung virtualizing Android-> 0

Submitted by

jbrodkin

on Wednesday September 07, @06:39AM

jbrodkin writes "VMware’s mission to bring virtualization to the mobile market gained a major supporter last week when Samsung pledged to use VMware software to build business-friendly smartphones and tablets. The project known as Horizon Mobile will let Android phones use virtual machine technology to run a second instance of Android, in much the same way virtualization works on servers and desktops. The user essentially has two completely separate phones running on one device, and can switch from the personal one to the corporate one by clicking a “work phone” icon. With Samsung pledging to add VMware software to the Galaxy S II phones and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and 8.9 tablets, virtualized Android devices are expected to ship within "the coming months.""
Link to Original Source