The Laptop Supply Chain 232

Posted by Zonk from the different-parts-come-together dept.
Carl Bialik from the WSJ writes "When a U.S. consumer orders a laptop from HP or other big sellers, how does the machine get made? Often via a complex supply chain in Taiwan and China, shaped by rocky cross-Strait relations, according to the Wall Street Journal: 'Outsourcing to low-cost, high-quality Taiwanese manufacturers has helped make Dell and H-P the world's top two PC companies in terms of sales...But the relationship between U.S. computer firms and their third-party manufacturers can be tricky. In the struggle to retain an element of control over their suppliers, H-P, Dell and others play contract manufacturers against each other to keep prices falling and ensure no supplier gains too much leverage.'"
Privacy

Web Proxies for Anonymous Scientific Peer-Review? 34

Posted by Cliff from the valid-uses-for-open-proxies dept.
nodrogluap asks: "As a scientist, I am often asked to peer-review journal papers. The peer-review process is generally supposed to be anonymous, but often times it is necessary to extensively visit the author's Web site to check and test Web interfaces to software and databases described in the paper. It can be easy for the author to surmise who's reviewing the paper based on Web logs (paper subject + gleaned reviewer's institution), especially when the reviewers are getting the first public crack at the URLs. Are there free, reliable HTTP and HTTPS proxies out there (not including servers run by people who've somehow mistakenly enabled an unrestricted proxy server in Apache)?"

Microsoft Sets Value Of Pirated Windows: $1 581

Posted by CowboyNeal from the same-as-a-frosty dept.
nick_davison writes "The BBC is reporting that Microsoft has reached a deal with the Indonesian government on pirated software - which is believed to affect around 50,000 government PCs. Under the deal, Indonesia will pay $1 per copy and agree to buy legally in the future. Indonesia's information minister, Sofyan Djalil, said, "Microsoft is being realistic. They can't force developing countries like us to solely use legal software since we can't afford it. They want us to gradually reduce our use of it." Somehow it seems unlikely the same rules will be applied to developing companies and poorer individuals in the United States."
The Internet

Who Isn't Paying Attention to ROBOTS.TXT? 85

Posted by Cliff from the bad-spider-no-donut dept.
Kickstart asks: "After wading through the Apache logs, after being hit hard for three hours by a very unfriendly spider, I see that there appear to be real, legitimate, search engines that do not follow robots.txt rules. Looking around, I see that some specialized search engines make no mention of their policy on this or say what servers their spiders come from. Does anyone have information on who follow this standard and who doesn't?"
Businesses

What You Should Know When Taking a University Job? 384

Posted by Cliff from the how-different-is-it-from-the-commercial-sector dept.
FyreWyr asks: "I've been working professionally for more than 10 years, and recently returned to school to refine my skills, and potentially, to change careers. In the meantime I'm seeking income from my University in the most practical fields, i.e., my old technical career (programming, networking, etc). So, a programming job has become available, and with it, questions. While I've done my share of business consulting, I've never worked within a University pay system, and further, project interviews have not revealed a clear project scope. Wanting to accept the project, I'm now working on a basic project overview WITHOUT compensation so that I can (get it reviewed, and) kick out an appropriate time estimate and salary. Can anyone provide 'wish-I-would-have-known' issues regarding the politics, expectations, and monetary realities of working for a major department within a large University?"
It's funny. Laugh.

Realistic Sysadmin Workload for a Company of 30? 181

Posted by Cliff from the don't-underestimate-the-network dept.
An anonymous reader asks: "My company was recently sold to a new owner. Currently I am working as a programmer using a number of languages (Java, C, C#, PHP). I am the only maintainer/developer on a number of important code bases. The new owner wants to add 'Network Administration' to my list of responsibilities. We are moving locations and our infrastructure needs to be rebuilt from scratch. He claims that after being set up (something I am also responsible for) our company IT needs can be met using only 1% of my work week. Our user base will be 30 people, mostly programmers, with a minimum of non-techie staff. I am a professional programmer, but have no real sysadmin/network admin experience. His solution is 'We'll get you a book'. Learning new things is great but, I just want to be a programmer. I'm worried that this network admin responsibility will become my new full time job. Does this 1% statistic hold water?"
Businesses

Tracking Dynamic Completion Dates in Development? 39

Posted by Cliff from the moving-deadlines dept.
cronostitan asks: "We are a small software development department inside a big print media corporation. As in most departments nowadays, we have very few people but a high workload. We are currently working on a code rewrite of an in-house CRM application. Beside this big project, there are always a number of urgent, smaller projects coming in with a timeframe of 1-3 days that we do 'in between.' There is no way to delay these small things, as these are always of the highest priority." What's needed here is a time tracking system that automatically adjusts completion dates based on the current workload. Read on for more details of cronostitan's situation.
Security

Writing Down Passwords? 428

Posted by Cliff from the would-you-write-down-your-safe's-combination dept.
Atryn wonders: "I was recently checking for the latest firmware for a Netgear router when I decided to click on their Guide to Internet Security where it states: 'Contrary to much 'expert' advice, there is very little risk writing down passwords. In fact, years from now you may discover you need them to access old files.' I'm wondering what Slashdot thinks of Netgear's recommendation." Update: 06/08 21:19 GMT by T : Reader 654043 reminds us of the Microsoft recommendation to write down passwords which ran a few weeks back, and which has some pretty sound reasoning behind it.

Games As The New Advertising Frontier 33

Posted by Zonk from the dance-dance-mcdonald's-mix dept.
TechnoPulp wrote to mention an article running on the CBS News site discussing Gaming and the New Advertising Frontier. From the article: "Advertising in video games isn't like marketing on television or radio. Since each video game title is a world unto itself, advertisements placed inside that world can pollute it and make it uninhabitable. Gamers won't touch it if it becomes fouled with evil ads. To that end, there are companies whose business is to guide other businesses through the gaming universe. Two such chaperons are IGN Entertainment and Massive Inc."
Communications

Practical Cell Phones to Complement Mac OS X? 99

Posted by Cliff from the intel-or-PPC-it-matters-not dept.
Silas asks: "It's about time to trade up my Samsung A500 (a robust flip-phone that has served me well) to a new cell phone, and I'm looking for recommendations. I'd like something pretty no-nonsense that does the basics very well (sound quality, intuitive button placement and UI, compact physical design -- no camera, and no annoying ringtones) but I'm also ready to start connecting my phone to other parts of my life. In particular, I'd like to find something compatible with iSync on Mac OS X Tiger for addressbook and calendar stuff, and I wouldn't mind trying out the bluetooth madness for proximity login/keychain auth, etc. I've also had the ability to connect my Powerbook to the net through the phone with Sprint PCS's Vision program and a USB cable from The Shack, and preserving that capability would be nice, but is less important in a world of hotspots, and I'm fine with switching carriers. Any help is much appreciated, even if it's just brand/category generalizations."
OS X

Does New Development For Mac OS X Make Sense? 394

Posted by Cliff from the despite-change-development-goes-on dept.
DLWormwood wonders: "As a long time Mac developer, originally as a hobbyist and then a professional, I'm feeling pessimistic about the future of the platform now that Apple is embracing Intel and abandoning the few remaining 'Mac' technologies (like the PowerPC and OpenTransport) left to the platform. With the high likelihood that these new Macs will offer a full speed version of Virtual PC and (what I think is) the almost assurance that some clever hacker will make 'X for x86' run on commodity hardware, I'm doubting the willingness of most IT and development houses to even give the Carbon and Cocoa APIs a first glance. (If it wasn't for the poor past performance of VPC, I would not have gotten my first Mac programming job.) Can anybody with a more optimistic view think of a scenario where a modern development house will do Mac development in an age where the help desk will just say either 'switch boot to Windows/Linux' or 'run Virtual PC?'"
Education

Learning Hardware as a Software Geek? 55

Posted by Cliff from the switching-gears dept.
digitalvengeance asks: "I'm a long-time software geek with very little experience on the hardware side. I've configured servers and built various desktops for friends and family, but I'd like to move to the next level. I assume I need to purchase a breadboard to begin tinkering, but is there a particular kit I will find more useful than others? What books, sites, or other resources can the hardware geeks recommend for a software geek wanting to learn the basics of electronics and hardware?"
Communications

Issues Surrounding Installation of a Cell Tower? 54

Posted by Cliff from the more-trouble-than-its-worth? dept.
But They Look Terrible as Trees asks: "My company has been approached by a developer who wants lease a section of our property to install a cell phone tower. The tower would be somewhere between 50 and 110 meters tall and would be located about 250 meters from our main building. I am curious what types of interference and other issues anyone may have noticed having a cell phone tower in the vicinity of their facility, such as disruption of 802.11, VHF radio, aesthetic issues, complaints from neighbors, or truly bizarre plots. Has anyone built their own tower and then leased space to providers on the tower?"

Tokyo's Geek Ghetto 488

Posted by CmdrTaco from the places-you-must-see dept.
anaesthetica writes "The Washington Post is running a story on Tokyo's "Geek Ghetto" which has arisen in the city's electronics retail district, "Electric Town." From the article: "We have been discriminated against for being different, but now we have come together and turned this neighborhood into a place of our own.... In Akihabara, we don't need to be ashamed of who we are and what we like.... We can feel comfortable because here, we outnumber everyone else." There are concerns, however, that the total immersion in escapist culture may be causing social problems, including a growing number of shut-ins." I've gone to Tokyo 3x and visited Akihabara all three times. Highly recommended for anime fans and techies.
Businesses

Writing Letters for Cold Canvassing (IT) Jobs? 60

Posted by Cliff from the getting-yourself-noticed dept.
jtan163 asks: "I'm trying to help a friend write job applications for cold canvassing jobs in the IT industry but we're quite stuck. His CV/Resume shows his skills and employment history and even to some extent, what he is looking for. So, what do you put in the letter for cold canvassing IT (and probably any other field) job applications? With cold canvassing, is the letter really important or is it just 'fluff' so the CV/Resume doesn't get lonely in the envelope (electronic or otherwise)? We'd love to hear about what has worked or not for you. Or, if you happen to be a job application consumer, what you look for in, or at least what would make you consider (or at least not throw out), a cold canvassed application?"

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