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Operating Systems

Submission + - Ext4: Stable for production systems? 1

Submitted by dr_dracula
dr_dracula writes: Earlier this year the ext4 filesystem was accepted into the Linux kernel. Shortly thereafter it was discovered that applications, such as KDE, were at risk of loosing files when used on top of ext4 http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/19/1730247. This was diagnosed as a rift between the design of the ext4 filesystem and the design of applications running on top of ext4. The crux of the problem was that applications were relying on ext3 specific behavior for flushing data to disk, which ext4 was not following. Recent kernel releases include patches to address these issues. My questions to the early adopters of ext4 is if the patches have performed as expected. What is your overall feeling about ext4? Do you think is solid enough for most users to trust it with their data? Did you find any significant performance improvements compared to ext3? Is there any incentive to move to ext4, other than sheer curiosity?

Comment Why? (Score 1) 184

by ninjapiratemonkey (#27591493) Attached to: Curved Laser Beams Could Help Tame Lightning
Why is there even a need to reduce/eliminate lightning in the first place? from what I can find, there's an average of 90 lightning related deaths per year in the USA, which is not very much at all. There seems to be no reasonable explanation on why lightning needs to be stopped. Seems the resources could be better spent preventing other things.

Comment Can't somebody just... (Score 1) 227

by ninjapiratemonkey (#27324147) Attached to: .CA Registrar Trying To Preempt Conficker
Can't somebody just upload their own code to one of said targeted sites? From what I've heard, the virus checks all sites on its list. So anyone could just upload some code to disable the virus, assuming it contacts their site first. Other than the fact that it's probably illegal to do that, even to disable the virus, why hasn't anyone tried this? Like in another country where it wouldn't be illegal? I'd imagine that no one would push for a criminal case against someone who stopped the worm...

Comment Useless? (Score 1) 346

by ninjapiratemonkey (#27321051) Attached to: New Lossless MP3 Format Explained
Although TFA says it's smaller than the mp3 version + the flac version of the file, how much smaller? from their numbers, it seems you save about 5 MB over having 2 versions of the same song.

But, where ever you listen to it, you're only listening to one version of the song. So it takes up more space than should be required on every single device you use.

Maybe instead of coming up with new formats for music that are backwards compatible with existing tech, they should just make iPods and other mp3 players compatible with lossless formats.

Comment Re:Federally Financed and School Resources (Score 1) 508

by ninjapiratemonkey (#26350359) Attached to: Are My Ideas Being Stolen? If So, What Then?
IANAL, but in Canada, (some) universities have a clause somewhere in the forms you sign when you enrol in your programme that assigns the IP to the university of all projects done for them. it has nothing to do with the fact that you are/are not using the schools resources. The universities that don't have this policy usually point it out, and use it as a selling point to get you to join their university. The University of Waterloo emphasizes that point often. so chances are, that if you don't already know, then your ideas are being "stolen".
Networking

Submission + - Six tips to improve NetFlow/IPFIX net management (networkperformancedaily.com)

Submitted by
boyko.at.netqos
boyko.at.netqos writes: "Network Performance Daily's John Mao has put together six tips for improving the visibility of your network using NetFlow/IPFIX. While the article (and site) are not vendor-neutral (and the article acknowledges this), the tips are useful for anyone wanting to use NetFlow data to improve performance on the company WAN or LAN."
Security

Submission + - Weak GMail Security

Submitted by
Martins
Martins writes: "About a year ago, I was sent an invite to GMail to my email account at the time at Telus. I set the account up but didn't use it immediately. A month later, I changed my ISP and email to Shaw. I then tried to get into GMail but had forgotten my password. I clicked on the appropriate link, and instead of asking me the security question as I'd expected, GMail emailed my password to my old Telus account, which had since been registered by someone else. I've tried contacting Google support to get my account back, even providing them with the original invite email that my friend had sent to me. However, I get back one or two form replies stating that they cannot help me because I don't have the received invite email — the one that has been appropriated by the user @ telus.net. After the form reply, Google tech support ignores my emails. This seems to me to be a huge security risk, what with the transiency of email accounts, to have a forgotten password automatically emailed without a verifying security question first. I was also hoping for better technical support from Google. I don't think my expectations are that unrealistic."
Robotics

Submission + - New Prosthetic Arm Developed By DARPA Team

Submitted by
eldavojohn
eldavojohn writes: "An international team lead by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory & funded by DARPA has delivered their first prototype arm that is "the first fully integrated prosthetic arm that can be controlled naturally and provide sensory feedback, and allows for eight degrees of freedom." The big breakthrough here is that the team used residual nerves & Injectable MyoElectric Sensor (IMES) devices which measure muscle activity at the source verses surface electrodes on the skin. So the good news is that whether you lose your arm in a lightsaber duel or from pushing people around at the Mos Eisley Cantina, modern medicine can give you a hand ... er, arm."
United States

Submission + - Kremlin Gag Order Issued to Russian Journalists

Submitted by
reporter
reporter writes: "In a shocking report, "The New York Times" states, "At their first meeting with journalists since taking over Russia's largest independent radio news network, the managers had startling news of their own: from now on, they said, at least 50 percent of the reports about Russia must be 'positive.' In addition, opposition leaders could not be mentioned on the air and the United States was to be portrayed as an enemy , journalists employed by the network, Russian News Service, say they were told by the new managers, who are allies of the Kremlin." Will the Kremlin now resurrect the Ministry of Truth?"
Space

Submission + - Billionaire Space Tourist Back on Earth

Submitted by SpaceMoon
SpaceMoon writes: An American billionaire who paid $25 million for a 13-day trip to outer space returned to Earth on Saturday in a space capsule that also carried a cosmonaut and a U.S. astronaut, making a soft landing on the Kazakh steppe. The capsule carrying Charles Simonyi, a Hungarian-born software engineer who helped develop Microsoft Word and Excel, touched down after a more than three-hour return trip from the orbital station, a spokesman said at Mission Control outside Moscow.

Feed Sleep Enforces The Temporal Sequence In Memory (sciencedaily.com)

From feed by sdfeed
We have usually quite strong memories of past events like an exciting holiday or a pleasant birthday party. However it is not clear how the brain keeps track of the temporal sequence in such memories: did Paul spill a glass of wine before or after Mary left the party? A research group has now provided evidence that sleep not only strengthens the content of a memory but also the particular order in which they were experienced.

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