RedMage - Slashdot User

Comment So, what was the machine? (Score 2, Interesting) 271

by RedMage on Wednesday November 18, 2009 @03:54PM (#30147784) Attached to: 1977 Star Wars Computer Graphics

Larry said he wrote the software to do the combining of the primitives for the trench, but what was the hardware? I've used E&S consoles similar to those, but those were VAX driven, which wasn't an option in 1976. The terminal looked similar to a VT05, but that was just an impression while watching.

Comment Won't matter (Score 4, Insightful) 277

by RedMage on Thursday August 27, 2009 @10:43PM (#29226383) Attached to: FTC Rules Outlawing Robocalls Go Into Effect Next Week

For the most annoying types (scams mostly) this won't matter any. There's already a "Do not call" mechanism that's ignored. The legitimate ones will obey, the rest will just continue on.
Yes, it gives some teeth for when you actually catch them, but for the millions of us who have been getting the "Your credit rating will be affected!!!" calls lately, I doubt it will make any difference to our evening meals.

Comment Re:Strongly typed language? (Score 1) 299

by RedMage on Tuesday August 18, 2009 @06:23PM (#29112269) Attached to: Scala, a Statically Typed, Functional, O-O Language

Yeah, that would bring new meaning to "Strongly Typed" that I don't think was intended...

"Damn John, that brain fart was really strongly typed!!"

Comment Proving yet again... (Score 1) 195

by RedMage on Thursday June 25, 2009 @10:50AM (#28466427) Attached to: Automated Migration From Cobol To Java On Linux

Proving yet again that you can write COBOL in any language.

Seriously tho, the resulting code can't be all that great for a true Java programmer to maintain after the conversion - at its heart it would still be organized in a non-OOP (procedural) manner, which would certainly require some cross-thinking.

Submission + - Choosing an HDTV with Gaming in Mind (dad-blogs.com)

Submitted by

Nerd Dad

on Monday May 04, 2009 @10:01PM

Nerd Dad writes: "There are few things in life I enjoy more than my console games or my HDTV, so this is right up my alley. Maelstrom brought up a question on the Ask the NerdDad forum about HDTV purchasing and the effect they have on game lag (Will HDTV's make my Wii "laggy?"). First, choosing a TV is like buying a house. You need to do your homework, visit it in person, make sure it will fit your needs and is within your means. Having said that...lets begin with some basic knowledge and terms that will help you in purchasing a TV. Read more"

Draconian DRM Revealed In Windows 7 1127

Posted by kdawson on Monday February 16, 2009 @10:18PM from the just-who-did-you-think-owns-your-machine dept.

TechForensics writes "A few days' testing of Windows 7 has already disclosed some draconian DRM, some of it unrelated to media files. A legitimate copy of Photoshop CS4 stopped functioning after we clobbered a nagging registration screen by replacing a DLL with a hacked version. With regard to media files, the days of capturing an audio program on your PC seem to be over (if the program originated on that PC). The inputs of your sound card are severely degraded in software if the card is also playing an audio program (tested here with Grooveshark). This may be the tip of the iceberg. Being in bed with the RIAA is bad enough, but locking your own files away from you is a tactic so outrageous it may kill the OS for many persons. Many users will not want to experiment with a second sound card or computer just to record from online sources, or boot up under a Linux that supports ntfs-3g just to control their files." Read on for more details of this user's findings.

Low Earth Orbit Junk Yard Nearly Full 443

Posted by Zonk on Tuesday February 06, 2007 @12:50PM from the get-a-vacuum-up-there dept.

vlado4 writes "The New York Times has up an article on the amount of space junk in Earth Orbit. According to NASA officials, the amount of stuff we've put into LEO is at critical levels. Additionally they have great graphics of the nearly 1000 new pieces resulting from testing the new Chinese anti-satellite weapon, as well as the damage to Hubble's solar array. The litter is now so bad that, even if space-faring nations refrained from further interference, collisions would continue to create more clutter just above our atmosphere. Space debris appear to be a difficult problem to deal with and may hinder future space exploration."

Submission + - In Case You Were Unsure: E-Mail is Not Private.

Submitted by

Brad Eleven

on Tuesday February 06, 2007 @12:06PM

Brad Eleven writes: "Wal-Mart, the largest corporation on the planet, has indicated that it is so powerful that it believes that it can do whatever it wants in the name of its own bottom line, reputation, and other concerns exclusive to its own enterprise. It is alleged here that The Company That Sam Built found and paid for potentially incriminating email messages in order to discredit a fired executive. Apparently Wal-Mart doesn't want to lose the suit which Julie Roehm filed for compensation to which she believes she is entitled.

Corporate malfeasance is old news. Even discounting the cultural problem of Big Money paying goons to bend/break the law to get what it wants, this underscores the fallacy of the widely-held belief that one's personal email is private. At least not when powerful entities want to see it. You and I probably can't afford to dig this deeply into the electronic effluvium, but we also tend towards encrypting our private communications. The larger concern is that our privacy means nothing to the elite. Though somewhat protected in many parts of the world by law, this is another example of how corporate leaders presume that the world really is their oyster. If your email isn't protected from prying eyes, you might want to take an hour or so to get it that way. Or just don't discuss anything which could ever possibly be used against you in a court of law of any kind. And don't presume that deleting email makes any difference at all in this context. That is, it's not that Wal-Mart's pinkertons broke into Ms. Roehm's email store. They got it from her alleged lover's wife. By reminding her that they knew which church she attended, and that he hadn't yet received his $200K bonus.

What if it wasn't just the world's largest corporation that wanted the email? Ramifications of the US Patriot Act are left as an exercise of the reader. The perception of FUD on your part is optional."

Submission + - GPS for cyclists?

Submitted by antifoidulus on Tuesday February 06, 2007 @12:05PM

antifoidulus writes: As an avid cyclist but someone who gets lost frequently, I have always wanted a GPS system like some of my friends have in their cars. But I wasn't sure that I could find soemthing that was accurate enough for cyclists as well as something that wouldn't tell me to go on a highway when it was obviously unsafe. However, as always technology has marched forwards and there seem to be several handheld units that are accurate enough for cyclists. Some seem to be a very fancy(and somewhat expensive) bike computers without much navigation aid, others seem to be navigation aides with a bit of bike computer tacked on. Have any slashdotters ever used a GPS on their bike? If so, what kind? My ideal GPS would have maps for both North America and Europe(and maybe Japan as well). Any suggestions?

25 Games Tested in Vista 102

Posted by Zonk on Tuesday February 06, 2007 @06:00AM from the games-for-working dept.

mikemuch writes "Jason Cross at ExtremeTech has installed more than 25 PC Games in Windows Vista and reports back with his experiences with each. For the most part, the OS handled games with aplomb, but on the whole ran them slightly slower than XP, and some required logging in as administrator to install them. These and other minor issues were the result of immature drivers. It was hit or miss whether games would appear in the Games Explorer correctly with box art, and GameTap doesn't work yet at all."

Submission + - Firefox popup blocker can allow access to local FS

Submitted by cj on Tuesday February 06, 2007 @05:21AM

cj writes: Whitedust has an interesting article where it appears that Michal Zalewski has unearthed a potentially dangerous vulnerability in the stock behaviour of Firefox's popup blocking element — when used in conjunction with another 'little trick' the vulnerability can apparently allow a malicious user to read files from an effected system and potentially gain access to sensitive information there on.

Submission + - Should I be forced to close source my software?

Submitted by

masonisdrunk

on Monday February 05, 2007 @05:25PM

masonisdrunk writes: "Having recently started a company providing Wireless Internet access, it was time for a cash injection and having found a investor he now wants me to close source my software (which I was just developing a homepage for) and sign a non-competiton agreement. Do I have a leg to stand on with this? I need the money to further the project, but also believe in the open source community and how that can help further develop the software bwyond what i could ever do.

Do slash dotters have any useful suggestions? or I'm i best to keep my mouth closed and do what i'm told.

Thanks in advance"

Journal Journal: Comcast gets tough on HighSpeed Internet Customers.

Journal by u-235-sentinel on Monday February 05, 2007 @04:13PM

I've been a Comcast customer nearly 4 years and have had a pleasant experience with them until recently. We received a phone call in December from someone claiming they were a Comcast rep to warn us of excessive bandwidth usage. After multiple calls to Comcast Customer Service that same day, we were told to ignore the call since their records said our account showed no issues.

How To Tell Open-Source Winners From Losers 218

Posted by Hemos on Monday February 05, 2007 @03:27PM from the sifting-chaff-&-wheat dept.

An anonymous reader writes "There are 139,834 open-source projects under way on SourceForge. IWeek wonders which projects will make lasting contributions, and which will fizzle. Sure, Linux, Apache, and MySQL are winners, but what about OpenVista, FLOSSmole, and Hyperic HQ? What's your list of open-source winners and losers?"

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