Comment Yeah, right. (Score 4, Funny) 846
In other news, man tests usability of Duke Nukem Forever running on GNU Hurd by making his GIRLFRIEND play it.
Journal Journal: 311 Bug Is No Y2K But Still Poses Threats
Back in late 1999, there was worldwide paranoia of an impeding Y2K meltdown on Jan. 1, 2000 because of computer bugs that didn't include four spaces for year, meaning 2000, aka "00", would be interrupted by computer networks worldwide as 1900 and everything would come crashing down.
Fortunately, that didn't happen and the impact was relatively minimal.
This March 11 there will be computer glitches all over the United States when Daylight Savings Time officially arrives three weeks earlier for
Bookmark Developers tell Eclipse why it sucks (regdeveloper.co.uk)
Submission + - Gates Changes H.S. Horses in Midstream
theodp writes: "A week ago, in his How to Keep America Competitive Op-Ed, Bill Gates touted the Gates Foundation-backed High Tech High as the future of American education. One small problem. Two days earlier, tearful High Tech High Bayarea students — recruited by a Bill Gates video — were told that their school of the future had no future. So would Bill be too embarrassed to lay out his education plan before the Senate Wednesday? Nah. Not too surprisingly though, mentions of High Tech High were MIA in Bill's prepared remarks, which touted Philly's imaginatively named $65M School of the Future, built under the guidance of Microsoft, as the new school of the future. Committee politicians reportedly embraced virtually all of the suggestions made by Gates."
Crazy Non-Compete Contracts? 193
JL-b8 asks: "I've just encountered a (from what I know) strange occurrence. A group of friends who work for a small web design firm are being forced to sign a non-compete agreement with a clause that prohibits the employee from working with a competing company for 12 months, after the date of their leaving. The owners claim it's a standardly practiced clause, but I don't see how the hell a web developer/designer is supposed to find work in a city for a year, without moving to a completely different city. I'd like more input as to how this weighs in to the rest of the companies out there. Is this a common thing? If you've signed something like this, and had to switch jobs, how did it affect you?"
Microsoft Responds to DOT Ban on Vista, Office, IE 218
roscoetoon writes "From the blog of Mary Jo Foley: What's Microsoft's response to the DOT's charges? A corporate spokeswoman sent this statement, via e-mail: (caution: microbrain double-speak ahead) ... "We respect the customer's decision. As with any of our other Federal customers, it's our job to help DOT maximize the value of its Enterprise Agreement through the adoption of our technology. We are engaged with large, strategic customers across government at every level, and are working closely with them on these products through their participation in our Technical Adoption Programs.""
Submission + - Samsung Begins Shipping Hybrid Hard Drives
writertype writes: "Samsung has become the first company begin shipping hybrid hard drives, we report on ExtremeTech. Unfortunately, there's no word yet (besides "soon") on when retail shipments will begin, or when (or if) 3.5-inch models will be available. Note that these are different than the ReadyBoost USB flash drives optimized for Vista; hybrid drives contain a smaller amount of flash, and work as a write cache for your notebook drive, extending battery life."
Submission + - What the GPLv3 Means for MS-Novell Agreement
eldavojohn writes: "I read a dry but interesting interview with a lawyer (Antoinette Tease) on the effects the GPLv3 would have on the well known Microsoft & Novell alliance. From her answers: "Unlike prior versions of the GNU General Public License (GPL), which did not address patent rights, the current draft of the GPL version 3 has several provisions that address patent rights. Section 2 states that the license to use the open source code 'terminates if you bring suit against anyone for patent infringement of any of your essential patent claims' based on any version of the open source program." She goes on to say "the GPLv3 as currently drafted would impose an obligation on Novell to somehow 'shield' its customers from patent lawsuits brought by Microsoft, or, alternatively, to make the source code publicly available...""
Microsoft WGA Phones Home Even When Told No 403
Aviran writes "When you start WGA setup and get to the license agreement page but decided NOT to install the highly controversial WGA component and cancel the installation, the setup program will send information stored in your registry and the fact that you choose not to install WGA back to Microsoft's servers."
Getting Accurate Specifications for Software? 147
spiffcow asks: "I design internal software for users that are largely computer-illiterate, and obtaining accurate specs for these programs has become a huge challenge. In the most recent instance, I asked for detailed specs on what an accounting program should do (i.e. accounting rules, calculation methods, and so forth), and received a Word document mock-up of an input screen, complete with useless stickers. This seems to be the norm around here. When I asked my boss (the head Sales manager) for specs, he responded saying that it was my responsibility to determine what was needed. How do I convey to the users that, in order to develop the software they want, I need detailed, accurate specs?"
Telling Your Superiors Their Financial Data Is At Risk? 100
alterimage asks: "I'm a Computer Science major at night, working by day in Accounting for a major telecom provider, with clients consisting of most the entities on Fortune's Top 20 Most Admired Companies of 2006 list. Daily, I see customer payments in excess of $50,000 come and go. Strangely enough, rather than have these payments conducted by an IVR system or over the Internet, the majority of these payments are conducted over the phone with individuals such as myself, who are instructed to write down, document all the specific banking information, and to keep them on hard-copy in an unlocked file cabinet that is accessible to anyone. Having experience with social engineering and fraud, I've already advised my boss that it's probably not a good idea for those bank routing and account numbers to be laying around unsecured, and was told that I'm over-reacting. So I ask Slashdot: At what point should the human aspect of security be considered in the business environment? Should I just smile, nod, and play along in this situation?"
Submission + - Crazy non-compete contracts???
JL-b8 writes: "Dear Slashdot,
I've just encountered a (from what I know) strange occurrence. A group of friends who work for a small web design firm are being forced to sign a non-compete agreement with a clause that prohibits the employee from working with a competing company for 12 months after the date of their leaving. Is this a common thing? And what has happened to people who have signed these things? The owners claim it's a standardly practiced clause but I don't see how the hell a web developer/designer is supposed to find work in a city for a year without moving to a completely different city. I'd like more input as to how this weighs in to the rest of the companies out there."
Submission + - Pthreads vs Win32 threads
An anonymous reader writes: It's interesting when different people have different opinions. While I was searching for something on Intel's website, I came across an article on why Windows threads are better than Posix threads. Curiously, I also came across this article on why Posix Pthreads are better that Win32 threads. The thing is, both of these articles are written by the same author!
So who is right (metaphorically speaking?), or what has changed since the first article was written?
So who is right (metaphorically speaking?), or what has changed since the first article was written?
VMware-Microsoft Battle Looming 258
An anonymous reader writes "VMWare released a white paper detailing its concerns with license changes on Microsoft software that may limit the ability to move virtual-machine software around data centers to automate the management of computing work. Two choice quotes: '"Microsoft is looking for any way it can to gain the upper hand," said Diane Greene, the president of VMware.' And, '"This seems to be a far more subtle, informed and polished form of competitive aggression than we've seen from Microsoft in the past," said Andrew I. Gavil, a law professor at Howard University. "And Microsoft has no obligation to facilitate a competitor."'"
Is Switching Jobs Too Often a Bad Thing? 208
Career Hot Potato asks: "I've been out of school for little more than a year and I have only good things to say about the job market. So far, there doesn't seem to be any lack of demand for a good .NET developer. I've got to admit, though, I feel a little disloyal at this point. Several great job offers have come my way and I've taken them. My resume is starting to make me look a bit restless and it worries me. Until now I've just chalked it up to 'I'm just settling in,' but now another opportunity has been dropped into my lap. Would I be digging my own grave by taking this job? It'd be my fourth job in 16 months but each offered a promotion and a 30% to 40% raise. I know better than to put a price on job satisfaction but I'm pretty certain I'd be happy there. Is being branded as a 'hot potato' enough to keep you from switching? What's your price on this stigma?"
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Each new user of a new system uncovers a new class of bugs. -- Kernighan
