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Comment WFMT Best Programming Music Ever (Score 1) 1019

by billmil (#30454068) Attached to: Music While Programming?

I highly recommend listening to WFMT classical radio station (streaming, or in Chicago 98.7) while coding.

WFMT is the only station in the country that has announcer-read ads (i.e no jingles or pre-recorded commercials. Thus their commercials are non-intrusive.). Their announcers are excellent. The programming is accessible but a good mix. It's really great around Christmas.

Classical music for me helps me concentrate and, unlike my rock/rap doesn't distract me from intense concentration. (As a rule, I put on rock only when I'm doing work that doesn't require much concentration).

Don't like classical? It's actually good stuff if you develop a taste for it.

Comment Re:Of course being in China, (Score 1) 315

by suomynonAyletamitlU (#30453958) Attached to: Microsoft Steals Code From Microblogging Startup

"Capable of getting around your restrictions" is not the same thing as "free". Even if you are capable of doing it, they resist.

I like to say that there is only one guaranteed freedom -- the freedom to try. You can freely try to murder people, but you may well be caught, jailed, possibly executed. You can freely try to get around those restriction. You can also freely try to stop someone else's attempt to do whatever it is they're trying to do.
Programming

The "Doctor Who" Model of Open Source 116

Posted by kdawson from the chemistry-in-a-phone-booth dept.
Glyn Moody writes "Open source projects are generally fine when there's a long-term leader like Linus; but what happens when nobody is able or willing to run things for extended periods? Peter Murray-Rust explains how the open chemistry group known as the Blue Obelisk has evolved what he calls the 'Doctor Who Model of Open Source': 'You'll recall that every few years something fatal happens to the Doctor and you think he is going to die and there will never be another series. Then he regenerates. The new Doctor has a different personality, a different philosophy (though always on the side of good). It is never clear how long any Doctor will remain unregenerated or who will come after him. And this is a common theme in the Blue Obelisk.' Could other open source projects learn from this experience as long-term leaders start to move on?"
Space

Could Betelgeuse Go Boom? 383

Posted by timothy from the betelgeuse-betelgeuse-betelgeuse-winona dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The answer is No. In space, nobody can hear you scream. However, it might go supernova in the near future, if it hasn't already. I wanna see that, even if it would permanently disfigure Orion. Ka freaking bam!"
Internet Explorer

IE8 Released As Critical Update For XP 409

Posted by kdawson from the standards-are-critical-you-betcha dept.
Binestar was one of several readers writing in to note that Microsoft is listing IE8 as a critical update to Windows XP. CNet reported a couple of weeks back that Microsoft would be rolling our IE8 to users in a gradual fashion, and requiring an opt-in before installing it. Opinion has been split as to whether IE8 is worth installing or not. Binestar notes delicately, "For those not interested in upgrading to IE8 at this time, the MSDN released information back in January on how to keep IE8 off your machine."
Image

The Best Burglar Alarm In History 137

Posted by samzenpus from the suck-it-Edison dept.
Sportsqs writes "When Nikola Tesla got creative with transformers and driver circuits at the turn of the 20th century he probably had no idea that others would have so much fun with his concepts over a hundred years later. One such guy is an Australian named Peter who runs a website called TeslaDownUnder, which showcases all his wacky Tesla ways, or rather electrickery, as Peter calls it." Very cool stuff, I wish I would have had something like this to protect my comic books from my little brother when I was a kid.
Transmeta

Torvalds's Former Company Transmeta Acquired and Gone 150

Posted by kdawson from the here's-to-you-mister-robinson dept.
desmondhaynes sends along a posting from the TechWatch blog detailing the sale of Transmeta (most recently discussed here). Linus moved ten time-zones west, from Finland to Santa Clara, CA, to join Transmeta in March 1997, before this community existed. Here is our discussion of the announcement of the Crusoe processor from 2000. Our earliest discussion of Transmeta was the 13th Slashdot story. "Transmeta, once a sparkling startup that set out to beat Intel and AMD in mobile computing, announced that it will be acquired by Novafora. The company's most famous employee, Linux inventor Linus Torvalds, kept the buzz and rumor mill about the company throughout its stealth phase alive and guaranteed a flashy technology announcement in early 2000. Almost nine years later Transmeta's journey is over." Update: 11/21 16:25 GMT by KD : It's not the 13th Slashdot story, only the 13th currently in the database. We lost the first 4 months at one point.

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