jlavi - Slashdot User

Comment Re:Want old-school Linux? Use Slackware (Score 1) 62

by jlavi on Sunday January 15, 2023 @02:58PM (#63210832) Attached to: Mabox Linux Called 'Throwback to Old-School Linux'

I tried linux for the first time in spring 1992 with v0.12, 386sx and 2MB of RAM. I was able to run shell with swapping enabled. Later on with 10MB of memory and Slackware felt luxurious. I still use Fvwm(2).

Comment Chocolate wrapper short circuit (Score 1) 301

by jlavi on Monday April 12, 2021 @06:00AM (#61262958) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: What's Your Worst Damaged Hardware Horror Story?

In '95 I was playing Nethack and eating chocolate. The PC case was open. I accidentally pushed the tin foil wrapper inside the case where it caused a short circuit and destroyed a hard drive. I didn't have proper backups.

It was a very educational experience. Since then I have taken pedantically backups, used redundant file systems and use Smartctl testing file system scrubbing. The biggest threat is still me.

Comment Re:Two Whole Days!!! (Score 3, Informative) 45

by jlavi on Monday September 10, 2018 @05:17PM (#57287012) Attached to: Qualcomm's Snapdragon Wear 3100 Smartwatch Chip Promises Up To 2 Days of Battery Life

My few years old non-analog Casio has only 7 years battery life. Clearly some progress has happened. I only miss manual drift compensation and digital pocket watch format.

Comment Re:$1220 fine? (Score 1) 107

by jlavi on Friday March 16, 2018 @06:34PM (#56272791) Attached to: Man Fined For Implanting NFC Train Ticket In Hand

Next he will be sued for the irrecoverable damage caused to the australian judicial system by making this case public.

FBI Dismisses Child Porn Case Rather Than Reveal Their Tor Browser Exploit (arstechnica.com) 244

Posted by EditorDavid on Sunday March 05, 2017 @06:47PM from the no-charges dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Federal prosecutors just dropped charges against a child pornography suspect rather than reveal the source code for their Tor exploit. Of the 200 cases they're prosecuting nationwide, this is only the second one where the FBI has asked that the case be dismissed. "Disclosure is not currently an option," federal prosecutors wrote in a court ruling Friday. The Department of Justice is still prosecuting 135 different people believed to have accessed an illegal child pornography web site. Before shutting it down, the FBI seized the site and operated it themselves for 13 more days, which allowed them to deploy malware to expose the users' real IP addresses.

Obesity Is Three Times As Deadly For Men Than Women, Says Study (telegraph.co.uk) 202

Posted by BeauHD on Thursday July 14, 2016 @06:20PM from the dollar-menu dept.

An anonymous reader writes from a report via The Telegraph: Researchers at Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard universities found in the biggest ever study into weight and death that obesity is three times more deadly for men than women, and that being slightly overweight raises the risk of dying early. Telegraph reports: "Obese people can expect to lose three years of life while the average overweight person will die 12 months sooner than they would have if they were a healthy size. Usually fewer than one in five men will die before the age of 70, but that jumps to nearly one in three for the moderately obese, and eight in 10 for the morbidly obese. In contrast around one in 10 women can expect to die early, with obesity raising the risk to one in seven. While obesity raises the risk of early death by just three per cent for women, it is 10 per cent for men, more than three times as much. Around 61 per cent of adults are currently overweight or obese and the average weight of Britons has been steadily increasingly since the 1970s. In 1975 the average Briton had a BMI of 23, which is considered a healthy weight. But today that has risen to 27, with the average person now overweight. It means that since the 1970s, every person in Briton has roughly gained more than three pounds (1.5kg) per decade. Ten types of cancer are linked to excess weight which can also lead to Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease and a range of other health problems. Researchers compiled data from 10.6 million people who took part in 239 studies between 1970 and 2015, in 32 different countries. The study found an increased risk of premature death for people who were underweight, as well as for people classed as overweight." According to a study published in the Lancet in April, obese people now outnumber the underweight population for perhaps the first time in history.

Microsoft Finally Releases New Skype App For Linux (skype.com) 164

Posted by msmash on Wednesday July 13, 2016 @09:40AM from the fixing-things dept.

Four months after Linux users complained about issues with Skype app -- an update in March apparently broke the instant message and video calling app -- Microsoft announced a few minutes ago the launch of the Alpha version of a new Skype app for Linux, a move that "reaffirms the company's commitment to the Linux community." The blog post adds that there will be a two-hour Q&A session todat at 7AM PDT between Linux users and engineering team to welcome the new app. The alpha version uses the "latest, fastest and most responsive Skype UI." The company also says that users on Skype for Linux 4.3.37 will no longer be able to use the app to make or receive any calls -- so you really need to use this new app. In the blog post, Microsoft also adds that anyone with a Chromebook and Chrome for Linux can now visit web.skype.com to make one-to-one and group voice calls on top of text messaging feature. It is also an alpha version of Skype -- and is built on top of WebRTC standard.

Stephen Hawking Calls Trump A 'Demagogue' Who Appeals 'To The Lowest Common Denominator' (go.com) 751

Posted by BeauHD on Monday May 30, 2016 @05:40PM from the political-science dept.

An anonymous reader writes: British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking told ITV's morning show that Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican Party candidate for U.S. president, "is a demagogue who seems to appeal to the lowest common denominator." He said, "Gone are the days we could stand on our own against the world. We need to be part of a larger group of nations, both for our security and our trade." ABC News writes, "Stephen Hawking understands the workings of the universe -- but says he cannot fathom the popularity of Donald Trump. He went on to say that British voters should keep the United Kingdom in the European Union in a June 23 referendum, saying the EU provides essential support for British scientific research as well as its economy and security.

Comment Re:Guess kneeling chairs got it right. (Score 1) 291

by jlavi on Tuesday November 28, 2006 @05:25PM (#17025356) Attached to: Best Sitting Posture Is Not Straight Up

I've had Håg Balans Vital at home for 17 years now. I bought it as a student when my upper back started to hurt due to sitting in bad position on an ordinary chair. I haven't had back problems since then.

When sitting on the chair I feel pressure on shins and it is somewhat straining over long sessions. Strain on knees or hips may be subjective, but I haven't found sitting on this chair to be especially strenous on knees and hips or causing any damage.

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