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Comment Re:Liar. (Score 1) 431

by gcalvin (#29238079) Attached to: We're In the Midst of a Literacy Revolution

There are even some proper nouns that should not be capitalized, such as k.d. lang or ping. I think that such words should remain all lower case, even at the beginning of a sentence, but I'm not sure there's a rule on that.

1) Ping is becoming less useful as more admins block DHCP traffic.

2) ping is becoming less useful as more admins block DHCP traffic.

3) ping is becoming less useful as more admins block DHCP traffic.

I find version 3 most readable, followed by version 2. Version 1 just looks wrong to me.

Comment Re:Liar. (Score 1) 431

by gcalvin (#29235127) Attached to: We're In the Midst of a Literacy Revolution

You're absolutely right, and upon re-reading, I can see that princessproton meant "with peers" as an adjective phrase.

Your reply brings up another interesting issue. Most grammarians would hold that your first comma belongs inside the quote. I understand why you put it outside -- the phrase you were quoting did not include a comma, and you didn't want to make the quote inaccurate by including it. (I used bold and italics rather than quotes to avoid a similar dilemma.) However, you did capitalize the first letter in both quotes, even though they were not capitalized in the original, as they each started a new sentence. I'm not saying you're wrong in either case -- I just find it interesting.

Comment Re:Signed up in 1987 (Score 1) 224

by gcalvin (#28581455) Attached to: AOL Shuts Down CompuServe

I signed up in 1983 or so, after I got my Atari 800 and 300-baud modem. The CB Simulator was fun. I still remember fondly that people back then typed complete sentences and words, not like the ch475p33k crap that passes for communication these days.

Yes, and it was considered extremely rude to ask someone's age, sex or location, at least without spending a couple of weeks getting to know them. In fact, it was pretty easy to offend somebody by being too familiar too soon. Punishment for such offense was to be completely ignored, as if you didn't exist.
Security

Windows 7 Users Warned Over Filename Security Risk 613

Posted by timothy from the death's-too-good-for-some-people dept.
nandemoari writes "Would-be Windows 7 users have been warned to change a default setting which could leave them vulnerable to attack via bogus files. As a result, Microsoft is taking flak for failing to correct a problem found in previous editions of Windows. The issue involves the way Windows Explorer displays filenames. In all editions of Windows after Windows 98, the default setting hides the filename extension (which identifies what type of file it is). This means that a Word file titled 'partyinvite.doc' will show up in Windows Explorer as simply 'partyinvite'. The only exception to this rule is if Windows does not recognize the file type. The reason for this setting is that it makes for a less cluttered look and avoids filling the screen with redundant detail. However, a flaw in the way it works leaves it liable to exploitation by hackers. They can take an executable file (which can do much more damage to a computer when opened) and disguise it by calling it 'partyinvite.doc.exe.'"

Apple Promises Mother Lode to Billionth App Downloader 119

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the awww-twenty-dollars-i-wanted-a-peanut dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Apple has posted a counter of App Store downloads as they approach one billion downloads. The lucky billionth downloader gets to walk away with a stash consisting of a MacBook Pro, 32GB iPod Touch, Time Capsule and $10,000 iTunes gift certificate. The App Store now has over 30,000 applications."
The Courts

The Copyrightability of Twitter Posts 183

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the no-taking-it-back-once-you-put-it-on-the-intartubez dept.
TechDirt has an interesting look at some of the questions arising about the copyrightability of Twitter messages. I haven't seen any actual copyright lawyers weigh in yet, but it certainly will be interesting to watch the feathers fly until someone nails down the answer. "[...] it seems like there would be two issues here. The first is whether or not the content is covered by copyright — and, for most messages the answer would probably be yes (there would need to be some sort of creative element to the messages to make that happen, so a simple 'hi' or 'thanks' or whatever might not cut it). But, the more important question then would be whether or not ESPN could quote the Twitter message. And, there, the answer is almost certainly, yes, they could, just as they could quote something you wrote in a blog post."
The Media

Investigative Journalism Being Reborn Through the Web? 265

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the i-don't-want-to-go-on-the-cart dept.
Combating the stigma that investigative journalism is dead or dying, the Huffington Post has just launched a new venture to bankroll a group of investigative journalists to take a look into stories about the nation's economy. "The popular Web site is collaborating with The Atlantic Philanthropies and other donors to launch the Huffington Post Investigative Fund with an initial budget of $1.75 million. That should be enough for 10 staff journalists who will primarily coordinate stories with freelancers, said Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post. Work that the journalists produce will be available for any publication or Web site to use at the same time it is posted on The Huffington Post, she said. The Huffington Post Web site is a collection of opinionated blog entries and breaking news. It has seven staff reporters. Huffington said she and the donors were concerned that layoffs at newspapers were hurting investigative journalism at a time the nation's institutions need to be watched closely. She hopes to draw from the ranks of laid-off journalists for the venture."
Image

Managing Humans 87

Posted by samzenpus from the read-all-about-it dept.
Kylar writes "For those of you who have already discovered Michael 'Rands' Lopp's blog Rands In Repose, I congratulate you, as you are clearly an intelligent audience. For those of you who haven't, or for the less discerning (or, perhaps less blog-oriented), this book provides an excellent entry into the writings of Rands. Containing edited selections from his blog as well as new material, Rands uses many anecdotes and stories to convey a startling amount of deep wisdom into the facets of the Silicon Valley programmer, and a bevy of tools that are helpful in attempting to herd, er, manage them." Read below for Tom's review.

Comment Re:Global Warning (Score 1) 877

by gcalvin (#26292015) Attached to: Is the Yellowstone Supervolcano About To Blow?

Everyone will starve to death?

Not quite that level of an apocalypse.

It'd kill off, say, a few billion people. Places such as Mexico could still farm food, enough to sustain hundreds of thousands of people.
And the situation would recover fairly quickly - we'd almost certainly see a complete crash of global economy, energy prices soaring like never before and cannibalism becoming a viable survival strategy, but the end of the human rice? Hardly.

Dude, have a sandwich before you post -- you're scaring me.
Announcements

Submission + - Dinosaur extinction - meteor not to blame?

Submitted by
The Fun Guy
The Fun Guy writes: "Recent microfossil evidence casts fresh doubt as to whether an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs. Prof. Gerta Keller of Princeton University: "We now have evidence that the Chicxulub impact occurred about 300,000 years before the end of the Cretaceous and thus didn't cause the mass extinction and, in fact, didn't cause any species to go extinct." These findings were presented during the October 2006 meeting of the Geological Society of America."

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