pi_thagoras - Slashdot User

Reliable, Free Anti-Virus Software? 586

Posted by timothy on Saturday October 25, 2008 @05:22PM from the when's-it-positively-gotta-be-windows dept.

oahazmatt writes "Some time ago my wife was having severe issues on her laptop. (A Dell Inspiron, if that helps.) I eventually found the cause to be McAfee, which took about an hour to remove fully. I installed AVG on her system to replace McAfee, but we have since found that AVG is causing problems with her laptop's connection to our wireless network. She's not thrilled about a wired connection as the router is on the other end of the house. We're looking for some good, open-source or free personal editions of anti-virus software. So, who on Slashdot trusts what?" When school required a Windows laptop, I used Clam AV, and the machine seemed to do as well as most classmates'. What have you found that works?

Security Flaw In Android Web Browser 59

Posted by timothy on Saturday October 25, 2008 @04:13PM from the more-information-would-be-nice dept.

r writes "The New York Times reports on a security flaw discovered in the new Android phones. The article is light on details, but it hints at a security hole in the browser, allowing for trojans to install themselves in the same security partition as the browser: 'The risk in the Google design, according to Mr. Miller, who is a principal security analyst at Independent Security Evaluators in Baltimore, lies in the danger from within the Web browser partition in the phone. It would be possible, for example, for an intruder to install software that would capture keystrokes entered by the user when surfing to other Web sites. That would make it possible to steal identity information or passwords.'"

Couch Potato Gene Identified In Fruit Flies 105

Posted by timothy on Saturday October 25, 2008 @03:06PM from the or-extract-it-straight-from-me dept.

Pickens writes "University of Pennsylvania biologists have discovered a mutation in fruit flies aptly named the 'couch potato' gene that allows them to simply chill out — entering a mild state of quasi-hibernation known as diapause, when winter arrives. 'It's not like they're bears sleeping in a cave,' says Paul Schmidt. 'They just look like they're a little bit more sluggish.' The couch potato gene, first discovered in the early 1990s, got its nickname because flies with mutations in the gene became really sluggish and behaved abnormally. Little is known about the underlying evolutionary genetic architecture, but in diapause, the slacking off is far less severe. The flies' bodily functions slow down, and they are better able to tolerate stress. The fruit fly gene may have implications for human health, as it can help biologists study the function of the nervous system and diseases such as epilepsy, refuting a recent statement by a political candidate that fruit fly research has 'little or nothing to do with the public good.'"

Why the Kill Switch Makes Sense For Android 384

Posted by kdawson on Saturday October 18, 2008 @09:56PM from the open-in-its-bones dept.

Technologizer writes "It came out this week that Google's Android phone OS, like the iPhone, has a kill switch that lets Android Market applications be disabled remotely. But it's a mistake to lump Google's implementation and Apple's together — the Google version is a smart, pro-consumer move that avoids all the things that make Apple's version a bad idea."

Comment Re:How about annoying and irrelevant? (Score 2, Interesting) 1226

by pi_thagoras on Tuesday October 12, 2004 @09:40PM (#10509817) Attached to: Age when new music sounds weird and scary?

Music is something we associate with other events and it becomes "a soundtrack for that space in time."

Unless, that is, you listen to music with the intention of listening to music. For me, at least, music is something in and of itself, and so when I listen to music as something more than background noise, I don't associate it with other events. I hear the music and hear the lyrics, and try to appreciate the musical and poetic qualities of each.

If your appreciation of music isn't based solely in nostalgia, then listing to new music doesn't become scary/annoying/whatever, it's like watching new movies, or reading new books. A new combination of notes and chords, and a new poem, with a new meaning.

That said, in order to appreciate music like this, you tend to have to look beyond what the major record companies push. Look around the more independent streams, look for older music that you haven't heard before. There is a reason some bands have "staying power", and as Pink Floyd and the Beatles are popular among multiple generations, something tells me it's not nostalgia. And if you want to hear some music that was meant for musical appreciation, check out classical music, and support your local symphony (if you have one) by going to a concert.

Good music is always good music.

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