Power

Spotlight's Impact on PowerBook Battery Life? 161

Posted by Cliff from the hits-the-juice-pretty-hard dept.
Viltvodlian Deoderan asks: "So, Spotlight for Mac OS X Tiger is very cool. I can now let my innate ability to disorganize things shine through. However, when using my PowerBook unplugged, it seems that my battery lasts a noticeably less time. A close reading of Ars Technica's description of how spotlight works suggests that this is due to keeping the index file up-to-date on disk. Has anyone else noticed the same thing? Does someone have a better explanation for why my battery seems to drain out, prematurely? Is there some way real-time indexing can be turned off to conserve power?"
Businesses

ISPs Known for Defending Their Customer's Rights? 85

Posted by Cliff from the not-rolling-over-for-corporate-interests dept.
lieumorrison asks: "With the recent examples of some US based Internet service providers going overboard in their desire to stay on the good side of the law, I ask Slashdot readers: What ISPs have a reputation of protecting their costumers by not arbitrarily giving in to C&D orders and such, without first contacting their lawyers? (ISPs hosting in the US or abroad; based on reactions in the past)"
Technology

Accessibility for People with Limited Mobility? 36

Posted by Cliff from the hands-free-computing dept.
rscrawford asks: "There's an older woman at my church who suffers from advanced Parkinson's Disease. She's in good spirits but misses being able to communicate with her children who live far away. Because she she has advanced tremors and her muscles have atrophied, she can no longer use a keyboard; and because her voice quavers, she probably wouldn't be able to use voice recognition software. Now, I've seen tools for people who are vision impaired or who have cognitive impairments, but what about people like this woman? Are there any tools that would help her use her computer to e-mail her children?"
GNU is Not Unix

Convincing Your Superiors to GPL the Code? 139

Posted by Cliff from the why-not? dept.
jakobgrimstveit asks: "At work I've been developing an intranet/extranet portal framework in PHP based on many other peoples work, including quite a few PEAR modules. I've always wanted to release the coding framework as GPL and publish it on SourceForge, and my boss has - impressively enough - not been too negative about this. This has been going around in the organization for quite a while now, and finally the reply from the company's president was (not surprisingly): 'Why should we do so?' I now have the task of writing a document listing the main reasons for GPLing the code, and this is where I turn to the highly competent Slashdot crowd: How do I convince my bosses to GPL the code I've written? I assume many other developers have the same problems trying to convince their bosses to open up their code."
Toys

Creating a Clever Home? 116

Posted by Cliff from the building-a-better-home-through-hardware dept.
eKto1 asks: "We've recently purchased an older, dated home which we are in the process of gutting and restructuring. While there are no walls, we are obviously running the standard Cat5, and speaker cable to each and every room, however we would also like to modernize the house even more by making it intelligent, as in 'Smart'. I'd like to install touch screens in the majority of the rooms, to control things such as media (separate audio and video to each wall unit), lighting, temperature, etc. For those of you on Slashdot who have done this, what has your experience been? Are there guides for doing this easily and effectively, without having to sell the farm? Is there a way to allow distributed content to head units while keeping servers down to one or 2 units?"

Rootkits: Subverting the Windows Kernel 381

Posted by timothy from the only-for-bad-people dept.
nazarijo (Jose Nazario) writes "A group of people out there, let's call them 'elite hacker d00ds,' are able to skillfully craft Windows rootkits that evade almost any known detection system. Some people want to know how this is done, be they aspiring elite hackers, security professionals who have to try and find these rootkits, or just interested parties. If you're one of them, Grog Hoglund and James Butler's new book, Rootkits: Subverting the Windows Kernel is for you. It's focused like a laser on how to defeat detection at various levels in the Windows OS once you're in." Read on for the rest of Nazario's review.
Education

Introducing a Child to Constructive Computer Use? 131

Posted by Cliff from the educating-while-they're-young dept.
trevorgensch asks: "I have a young boy, about 6 years old, who is starting to take an interest in the computer I seem to spend too much time at lately. Lots of Slashdot readers out there must have had experiences with their young child wanting to learn more. I am all for it! But where to start? He has had a bit of experience with the Internet and children's sites and official sites of Pixar and Disney movies, but he wants more. Any pointers?"
Mars

The Mathematics of a Trip to Mars? 373

Posted by Cliff from the shouldn't-it-be-more-complex-than-this dept.
hakonhaugnes wonders: "Since trips to Mars seems commonplace (NASA has sent one every 26 months), I thought it made sense to try to understand how the interplanetary trajectory is calculated. NASA's page is deploringly void of intricate details. I found this excellent page, but it still left me feeling that I was missing something. Surely the calculus must go beyond two bodies (mars/earth)? (It seems there are commercial MATLAB scripts available but at $150 it went beyond the defensible to satisfy my curiosity). Are there any curious Slashdot readers with the usual great insight into how to calculate a trip to Mars?"
Databases

Improving Database Performance? 95

Posted by Cliff from the lead-foot-meet-database-gas-pedal dept.
An anonymous reader asks: "An acquaintance of mine runs a fair sized web community. Having nearly 280,000 users in a single MySQL database with about 12 mirrors accessing it, performance has become an big issue. I was wondering what practical methods could be used to lessen the load and decrease user query times. Funds are limited, so he'd rather not pay for a commercial database system at this time."
Graphics

Making Lab Quality Digital Photos? 41

Posted by Cliff from the what's-the-secret dept.
photoFinished asks: How do most photo labs produce their digital prints? It seems to me that there should be a machine that uses an LCD to create a virtual negative to expose standard photo paper to, resulting in a standard-type photograph as the end result. However, since just about every CVS, Walgreens and other pharmacy advertises the ability to produce prints from your digital photos, I'm wondering if there's a quality difference between the various stores? I can produce a 4x6 on a $100 name-brand ink jet that appears virtually identical to a lab print when you look at it behind glass, the only difference is a light reduction in the smooth/glossiness you get from a regular print. Does anyone have information on the methods used by the various chain pharmacies produce their prints? I'd hate to think that the $0.40 I'm paying for each 4x6 is actually nothing more then the result of an expensive ink jet printer. Sorry if this is one of those 'you should try google' type of questions, but I couldn't find the answers I was looking for."

Which PHP5 Framework is Your Favorite? 138

Posted by Cliff from the beyond-your-personal-home-page dept.
matt_j_99 asks: "With all the talk about Ruby on Rails, I've been thinking about PHP frameworks. Ruby on Rails looks pretty cool, but frankly, I don't want to learn a new language. It seems that with all the slashdot discussion about RoR, somebody always makes the valid point that PHP is not a framework. But with PHP5's, Object Oriented features, a standard framework might emerge. Prado, Carthag, BlueShoes, and PHITE all seem like interesting frameworks. What PHP frameworks have you used in your applications? What were the pros and cons of each? Which framework do you think will have the best chance of long-term viability and maintenance?"
Windows

How to Avoid IE-Specific WWW Development? 100

Posted by Cliff from the avoiding-developer-lock-in dept.
IE-less asks: "Can any Slashdot readers help me gather evidence to support the notion that developing an IE-specific WWW site is a bad thing? A state-level US-gov't organization we are contracted with (hence the anonymity) is about to embark on converting a Citrix-based application to a browser-based application, but in order to do so will make it IE Only. Our repeated screams of, 'No! Consider the standards!' have fallen on deaf ears. One of the few things we have found that helps is the Department of Homeland Security's recommendation that people switch browsers (look for 'Use another browser') care of the Get Firefox site. That's the sort of comment that makes people pay attention. The departments in question do not care about monopolies, non-Windows users, closed source expenses, etc. They will pay attention, though, to statements from powerful sources...such as the aforementioned. Anyone else find anything that works?"
Data Storage

Portable, Wireless File Server for the Car? 23

Posted by Cliff from the your-files-as-mobile-as-you-are dept.
Kerhop wonders: "I'm looking to implement an off-site file storage location but want it to be convenient for me to access with the right security credentials by placing a portable file server in my car that has at 802.11b ability and is battery powered (but also recharged via cigarette lighter adapter). I've found the Sony FSV-PGX1. I am curious, though -- what solutions have others found?"
Entertainment

PCs in the Living Room? 78

Posted by Cliff from the comfortable-and-portable-yet-unobtrusive dept.
mwebert asks: "OK. I figure a large number of my fellow Slashdot readers have encountered this same scenario, so please respond. Right now, we keep our Dell Inspiron notebook on the corner of our coffee table in the center of our living room, accessing our home wireless network, and allowing the user to see the TV and multitask their little heart out. (Yay, IMDB!) That said, sitting on the edge of the couch (or worse, the floor) is getting old fast. Of course, I could get a true desk, but I don't want it to face the wall or corner, and I don't want it to turn the decor of my living room into a dentist's office reception area. I'm looking for a handsome (yet unobtrusive and functional) rolling workstation, preferably with a shelf/drawer or two. I've checked out http://www.anthro.com/ - but their offerings look pretty utilitarian, don't they? Any other ideas?"
Education

Best Language for Beginner Programmers? 448

Posted by Cliff from the what-do-you-start-them-off-with dept.
jahardman asks: "I work at a High School that has recently seen a decline in the number of students that want to take our entry level-programming course in Visual Basic. We have been toying with the idea of having the introduction course be in PHP or Ruby on Rails; but are not convinced that they lead well into higher level languages. Does anyone out there have suggestions as to what would be a better language to start students with? Ideally one that might be more 'enticing' as well?"

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