a-freeman - Slashdot User

Comment Need a records retention policy... (Score 1) 224

by a-freeman on Sunday July 11, 2010 @09:13PM (#32870582) Attached to: Dell Says 90% of Recorded Business Data Is Never Read

(IAAL) Most of the comments here relating records retention for audits or compliance purposes are dead on.

That said, nearly every company that I've worked at could benefit from a new or updated records retention policy. Typically, the mentality is to just keep everything until someone finally realizes that certain records are 27 years old and starts asking around: "hey, can we just delete this?"

The better approach is to actively look for stuff to toss, and do so on a monthly or quarterly basis. Not only is it cheaper to store, but for most industries, *not* having the records available for many common causes of litigation is beneficial.

Microsoft Slaps $250K Bounty On Conficker Worm 258

Posted by timothy on Thursday February 12, 2009 @07:02PM from the sic-the-french-air-force-on-'em dept.

alphadogg writes "The spreading Conficker/Downadup worm is now viewed as such a significant threat that it's inspired the formation of a posse to stop it, with Microsoft leading the charge by offering a $250,000 reward to bring the Conficker malware bad guys to justice. The money will be paid for 'information that results in the arrest and conviction of those responsible for illegally launching the Conficker malicious code on the Internet,' Microsoft said today in a statement, adding it is fostering a partnership with Internet registries and DNA providers such as ICANN, ORG, and NeuStar as well as security vendors Symantec and Arbor Networks, among others, to stop the Conficker worm once and for all. Conficker, also called Downadup, is estimated to have infected at least 10 million PCs. It has been slowly but surely spreading since November. Its main trick is to disable anti-malware protection and block access to anti-malware vendors' Web sites."

Bill Gates Unleashes Swarm of Mosquitoes 841

Posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday February 05, 2009 @09:39AM from the ok-that's-awesome dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft founder turned philanthropist Bill Gates released a glass full of mosquitoes at an elite Technology, Entertainment, Design Conference to make a point about the deadly sting of malaria. 'Malaria is spread by mosquitoes,' Gates said while opening a jar on stage at a gathering known to attract technology kings, politicians, and Hollywood stars. 'I brought some. Here I'll let them roam around. There is no reason only poor people should be infected.'" Say what you will about the guy, that is showmanship. Well done.

AMD Phenom II Overclocked To 6.5GHz 303

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday January 26, 2009 @01:33PM from the freeze-your-bits-off dept.

An anonymous reader writes "During CES a group of overclockers with access to liquid nitrogen and liquid helium for the extra boost of coldness cooled an AMD Phenom II X4 chip to -232 degrees Celsius. Once they got the chip cooled to this frigid temperature, they pushed the clock speed all the way up to 6.5GHz, which is a world record for a quad-core CPU, and then dished out an astonishing 45,474 3DMark05 score!"

Bill Gates' Plan To Destroy Music, Note By Note 659

Posted by timothy on Sunday January 25, 2009 @08:09PM from the too-insane-to-ignore-forever dept.

theodp writes "Remember Mr. Microphone? If you thought music couldn't get worse, think again. Perhaps with the help of R&D tax credits, Microsoft Research has spawned Songsmith, software that automatically creates a tinny, childish background track for your singing. And as bad as the pseudo-infomercial was, the use of the product in the wild is likely to be even scarier, as evidenced by these Songsmith'ed remakes of music by The Beatles, The Police, and The Notorious B.I.G.."

Comment Re:Hope (Score 2, Interesting) 569

by a-freeman on Friday June 27, 2008 @08:37AM (#23965663) Attached to: The Fight To End Aging Gains Legitimacy, Funding

Statistically speaking, an "immortals" probably wouldn't typically live much longer than 500 years anyway.

Although I don't have the link, I remember reading a study on just this question some time ago. The authors made the assumption that each person would retain the body of a 35-year-old forever, and then calculated an average lifespan, given current rates of disease, accidents, and other causes of death, other than those that are related to aging.

Of course, the implicit assumption was that people's behavior wouldn't change, which is probably not correct. However, the study did usefully suggest a plausible average lifespan.

I don't know about you, but living for about 500 years sounds just about right; its long enough to see everything, but short enough not to get too bored.

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