quadcitytj - Slashdot User

The Broken Design of Microsoft's "Fix it" Tool 165

Posted by kdawson on Friday February 06, 2009 @12:52PM from the teething-problems dept.

$luggo writes "Curious about MS Fix It, I recently went hunting in the MS knowledge base for articles that provide the new EZ-button. After locating on few, I decided to click the button to download the Microsoft Installer package containing the executable and/or files that automatically enable the DVD Library feature in Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate — on my XP Media Center. 'Surely, MS will use some scripting, HTTP User-Agent sniffing, or even Genuine Windows validation to verify that I am running Vista,' I thought. It did not and I canceled the download when I received the prompt to save the file. So, I wonder: is there a Fix-it for Fix it? Because I can easily imagine someone doing what I did without scrolling to the bottom of the KB article and verifying that the article applies to their OS/version. This is a great example poor design. Why not simply use the download approach that other articles / fixes / service packs use, whereby the user must select the appropriate OS?"

Submission + - Education Journal Says Schools Should Use OSS (linuxinsider.com)

Submitted by

pfaffman

on Tuesday June 12, 2007 @04:55PM

pfaffman writes: "LinuxInsider has a Two part copy of a piece that a University of Tennessee professor wrote for TechTrends (original article by paid subscription only). The article makes the case that proprietary software is inconvenient and that when schools choose to use proprietary products they spend their constituents' money."

Feed News: Narc network mgmt software comes to OS X Server (macworld.com)

From feed by macworldfeed on Tuesday June 12, 2007 @04:53PM

Narc, the network management software for educational institutions, is now available for Mac OS X Server as a Universal binary.

Feed Connecticut AG may investigate Google's charge against Microsoft (com.com)

From feed by cnetfeed on Tuesday June 12, 2007 @04:52PM

Blog: The U.S. government rejected Google's initial complaint that Microsoft was engaging in anticompetitive behavior, but at least one state attorney general is willing to look into it.

Submission + - Yahoo says Beijing likely blocking photo site (sciam.com)

Submitted by

slashthedot

on Tuesday June 12, 2007 @04:52PM

slashthedot writes: "In another instance of censorship against websites about anything anti-establishement in China, Flickr, popular among a growing class of digital photo enthusiasts in the world's second-largest Internet market, has not shown photos to users in mainland China since last week, amid rumors Beijing took action after images of the Tiananmen massacre in early June 1989 were posted.
"It is our understanding that Flickr users in China are not able to see images on Flickr, and we have confirmed that this is not a technical issue on our end," a spokeswoman for Yahoo Hong Kong said in an email in response to a Reuters inquiry."

Feed Open Wi-Fi proves no defence in child porn case (theregister.com)

From feed by registerfeed on Wednesday April 25, 2007 @07:52AM

Appeal court allows evidence despite unsecured network

A man has been found guilty of possessing child pornography despite arguing that his open wireless internet network meant the case against him could not be proved.

Help Make Firefox On Mac Suck Less 375

Posted by kdawson on Wednesday April 25, 2007 @07:46AM from the native-fox dept.

bluephone writes "Colin Barrett, one of the new Mac geniuses, and an Adium developer, has posted an entry on his blog offering an open call to all Mac users of Firefox asking them, 'What sucks about Firefox on the Mac?' He says he already knows about and is trying to solve such things as: 'Native Form Widgets (currently scheduled for Firefox 3), Keychain Integration, Firefox should have a Unified toolbar (not completely hopeless, it turns out), Performance...', but he wants to hear what else Mac users want from Firefox. So please, if you're a user of Macs and the interwebs, then RTFA, unclog your tubes, and send him your ideas."

Feed Privacy activists attempt block of Google's purchase of DoubleClick (theregister.com)

From feed by registerfeed on Wednesday April 25, 2007 @07:32AM

Too much power

Privacy groups have lodged a complaint (pdf) with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over Google's proposed acquisition of online advertising company DoubleClick. The merger will give the combined company unprecedented power, they argue.

Feed Smarter people are no better off (pheedo.com)

From feed by nsfeed on Wednesday April 25, 2007 @07:32AM

Contrary to common expectation, intelligence does not always predict financial wellbeing, and neither does it protect people from financial difficulty

Feed Take this job, and compare the pay online (com.com)

From feed by cnetfeed on Wednesday April 25, 2007 @07:32AM

Web site let's you see how your paycheck fares compared with others with similar skills and experience.

Static Code Analysis Tools? 87

Posted by Cliff on Friday March 30, 2007 @08:31AM from the something-else-for-the-tool-box dept.

rewt66 asks: "We are looking for a good static analysis tool for a fairly large (half a million lines) C/C++ project. What tools do you recommend? What do you recommend avoiding? What experience (good or bad) have you had with such tools?"

Bookmark U.S. and North Korean nuke talks may restart (forumpolitics.com)

by forumpolitics on Friday March 30, 2007 @08:25AM

Bookmark Supoenas Approved For Bush's Aides (forumpolitics.com)

by forumpolitics on Friday March 30, 2007 @08:25AM

Submission + - ICANN Cans .XXX Top Level Domain

Submitted by

eldavojohn

on Friday March 30, 2007 @08:01AM

eldavojohn writes: "ICANN has finally rejected the .xxx TLD which was initially proposed to be an indicator that a website had pornographic material on it. The debate has gone on for quite sometime between the obvious benefits of being easier to control where people go on the web versus the obvious problems of deciding what technically is 'pornographic.' From the article, "Many of the board members said they were concerned about the possibility that ICANN could find itself in the content regulation business if the domain name was approved. Others criticized that, saying ICANN should not block new domains over fears like that, noting that local, state and national laws could be used to decide what is pornographic and what is not. Other board members said they believed that opposition to the domain by the adult industry, including Web masters, content providers and others, was proof that the issue was divisive and that ".xxx" was not a welcome domain.""

Bookmark Uncensored Free Porn Galleries (freepornogalleries.com)

by cleoolga on Friday March 30, 2007 @07:58AM

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