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Comment Re:Window 8 game plan - tablets first? (Score 2) 671

by mkkohls (#40948055) Attached to: CowboyNeal Weighs In On the Windows 8 "Metro" GUI

I have no way of knowing, but I would guess Microsoft expects Windows 8 to be adopted by Surface/tablet users first. Windows 7 will be the enterprise desktop of choice for some time. If things go according to Microsoft's plan, a few years from now users will be comfortable with the UI formerly known as Metro. Then the enterprise will migrate to Windows 9+ with whatever refinements it has. Whether this works or not, we shall see.

That makes logical sense except for the fact that after windows 8 ships you won't be able to get a regular desktop with 7 in the normal routes. They positioned it wrong for that.
United States

Submission + - The U.S.'s Insane Attempt to Build a Harbor with a Two Megaton Nuclear Bomb

Submitted by pigrabbitbear
pigrabbitbear writes: Its destructive force aside, the atomic bomb represented the pinnacle of American scientific development in the mid-20th century. And even as scientists like J. Robert Oppenheimer seemed rather horrified at what they’d unleashed, others became more consumed by the scientific possibilities of the atomic age. The most famous proponent of nuclear was Edward Teller, the father of the hydrogen bomb and one of the inspirations for Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove.

As the world’s superpowers raced towards mutually-assured destruction, Teller became more enthusiastic about finding potential non-weapon uses for the phenomenal power of splitting or fusing the atom. Teller liked nuclear energy; his final paper, in 2006, would detail how to build an underground thorium reactor. But as the Cold War heated up, Teller became obsessed with using actual atomic bombs for civil engineering. Thanks to that type of numbers-driven thinking — if a bomb is as powerful as a million tons of TNT, why not use it to reshape the Panama Canal? — as well as Teller’s incessant prodding, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) created Project Chariot. The mission: to create a new port in northwestern Alaska using a series of underwater nuclear explosions.
Network

Submission + - When Is a Terrorist Not a Terrorist? (homelandsecuritynet.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: When is a terrorist, not a terrorist? Is it when Washington says so? How about if Washington refuses to say anything at all? In this particular case, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s office and the White House have indicated that it is a case of not wanting to upset the Taliban and in the same breath not wanting to offend the Pakistan military and security establishment[i]. The answer may be, when the ‘militant organization’ was previously a tool of the CIA against Russia in Afghanistan.
Apple

Submission + - The Future of Apple OSX (blogspot.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The future of Apple OSX will exclude end user programming. Only certified Apple App programmers will be able to develop and run native program.

Resistance is futile.

Submission + - Anonymous to Revive Demonoid, Avenge Closure (anonpr.net)

Submitted by hypnosec
hypnosec writes: Anonymous, the notorious hactivist group, has sworn to avenge the closure of Demonoid through actions on responsible authorities and to revive the torrent sharing and tracking site. Anonymous, through its common DDoS tactics and operation codenamed #OpDemonoid, hammered several Ukrainian government-owned websites rendering them offline for some time. The group’s long term goal is to restore Demonoid and its operationsby getting mirror sites hosted across the globe by members and ultimately creating a group called “open-source Demonoid”.
Upgrades

Submission + - Are Laptops Really Upgradable? 1

Submitted by
Heliar1956
Heliar1956 writes: "O.K., I’ve noted the discussions about the “upgradability” of the new Mac Book Pro Retina and the Macbook airs, and want to ask, “Is it really feasible to upgrade a laptop?” I think the answer is no, depending on how old it is and what you’re upgrading.

A secondary question is how much usable life would you expect out of a significant upgrade like in my example below?

I have a 5-year old Sony Vaio VGN FZ140E, which was a high-end laptop when I purchased it, not a mid-level or bargain. The specs are 200 GB hard drive, 2 GB memory, a bad battery, and Windows Vista, stable but corrupt enough not to update since February 2012. It works fine and currently I’m just using it to browse on the nightstand, mostly because of the dead battery.

I believe a nice upgrade would be a 250-ish GB SSD, at least 2 GB more memory, a battery, and Windows 7, all of which would amount to roughly $500-$650 depending on how you source parts. Such an upgrade would make it usable for mobile computing again at some level.

Can you reasonably put $500-$650 into a 5-year old laptop and what do you get? I know that resale value will not increase or increase by a tiny amount. Note these models were also known for getting hot, especially batteries (some spectacular failures).

I’ve also noted no one seems to discuss the upgradability of cell phones, and upgrading MacBook Airs seem to be a non-topic anymore.

Comments? Suggestions?

Cheers, Steve"
Education

Submission + - Hacker Highschool teaches students the importance of information security (opensource.com)

Submitted by
ectoman
ectoman writes: "Pete Herzog, co-founder of the Institute for Security and Open Methodologies (ISECOM), recently announced that the organization has begun work on the next iteration of Hacker Highschool, a set of of license-free security and privacy awareness materials that educators in elementary, middle, and high schools can use to teach students the importance of information security. Herzog explains that teaching kids to be hackers not only keeps them safer online but also helps them build better worlds. "It might sound strange," he writes, "but every industry and profession could benefit from an employee as creative, resourceful, and motivated as a hacker.""
Education

Submission + - In Hacker Highschool, students learn to redesign the future (opensource.com)

Submitted by
caseyb89
caseyb89 writes: "Hacker Highschool is an after school program that teaches students the best practices of responsible hacking. The program is open source, and high schools across the country have begun offering the free program to students. Hacker Highschool recognized that teens are constantly taught that hacking is bad, and they realized that teens' amature understanding of hacking was the cause of the biggest issues. The program aims to reverse this negative stereotype of hacking by encouraging teens to embrace ethical, responsible hacking."

Comment Re:Triple? and also - selection bias (Score 1) 36

by mkkohls (#40907335) Attached to: Vietnamese Bank Issues Fingerprint-Enabled Debit Cards

That is exactly what the point of the statement was. Banks want to have people with large accounts, implementing the print scanners on the cards increased the number of large accounts they have, therefore increasing the bank's profitability. It's probably taken directly out of a press release full of self-praise for what a great decision it was, which explains why the intent of the statement got so muddled.

Exactly the point was to say that the decision was good for the bank. I've used fingerprint scanners in the past, and I have to wonder if the higher balances are from people not being able to take their money out versus actually having wealthier customers given how finkiky these scanners can be.

Comment Re:Shills aren't new (Score 2) 84

by mkkohls (#40907245) Attached to: The Underground Economy of Social Networks

Bulk shills are. Welcome to the future, where the difference between a valid viewpoint and an astroturfed attempt to hornswaggle you out of your own money and political power has shrunk to the imperceptible.

That's why Mitt has to use them. Not very many of the people who *actually* agree with him are competent enough to use the "new fangled internets" and yet her feels he must seem as if they are.

Comment Re:Finally! (Score 1) 102

by mkkohls (#40874671) Attached to: AT&T Killing Its 2G Network By 2017

I no longer have to worry about my crappy call-dropping 2G coverage since it has since been replaced by my crappy call-dropping 3G coverage which is now being replaced by my crappy call-dropping 4G coverage.

Not only that but with a larger phone and less battery life. Progress is awesome.

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