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Comment Re: This is the fault of Windows 11 (Score 1) 199

This is not a damning review of Windows, more of a WTF did you do to it question

I put in a new SSD(albeit, a slightly newer SSD than the one that came with the machine). That is the sum totality of what I did (and of course checked it was seated properly and was detected in BIOS, which it was.) The BIOS found it. Linux found it. Windows couldn't, without help.

Comment Re: This is the fault of Windows 11 (Score 5, Informative) 199

I had the weirdest experience setting up Dual-boot with Ubuntu/Windows 11 over the weekend. W11 couldn't detect the new drive (A samsung 990 pro). Samsung's driver was an exe file, which of course required a working Windows install, which I didn't have. It didn't work on a VM either; so in the end I had to resort to some questionable legal trickery to source the driver files I needed. Even once it had detected the drive, it couldn't find the WiFi, the mousepad driver or the fan control. The Ubuntu stick... just worked. Out of the box. Boom. Done. I remember when everything I've just said was the expectation but in the opposite direction. What the F is going on?

Comment Web Dev here. (Score 1) 335

The main answer, at least in my own career, is this: Lack of formal architecture training. I'm self taught, as many web devs are. Now, I was considered a pretty good Web Dev, by Web Dev standards, but I noticed that the projects my team was working on ran into common problems. No matter what fancy programming methodologies and delivery tools we were using, we always reached a point where the solution ossified and became difficult to develop for. This meant that in projects with complex requirements we always overran. Also, while we could make the client happy on delivery, we struggled to *keep* them happy. We tried 'Agile', we tried 'Extreme', we tried a thousand different buzzwords, but nothing worked. As a Web Dev, when you see this happening, there are two ways you can go. You can: A: Accept this as a reality of the field, and carry on as before. You can then have a breakdown at thirty and never work again. B: Refuse to accept crappy software and look for a better way. If you're thoughtful, and not too vain to learn the lessons of the sages, you discover the Gang of Four, Design Patterns, etc, and achieve enlightenment. I went for B and finally, after ten-odd years as a professional, am finally writing good software that *stays* good.
Encryption

How To Replace FileVault With EncFS 65

agoston.horvath writes "I've written a HOWTO on replacing Mac OS X's built-in encryption (FileVault) with the well-known FUSE-based EncFS. It worked well for me, and most importantly: it is a lot handier than what Apple has put together. This is especially useful if you are using a backup solution like Time Machine. Includes Whys, Why Nots, and step-by-step instructions."
Idle

Directed Energy Weapon Downs Mosquitos 428

wisebabo writes "Nathan Myhrvol demonstrated at TED a laser, built from parts scrounged from eBay, capable of shooting down not one but 50 to 100 mosquitos a second. The system is 'so precise that it can specify the species, and even the gender, of the mosquito being targeted.' Currently, for the sake of efficiency, it leaves the males alone because only females are bloodsuckers. Best of all the system could cost as little as $50. Maybe that's too expensive for use in preventing malaria in Africa but I'd buy one in a second!" We ran a story about this last year. It looks like the company has added a bit more polish, and burning mosquito footage to their marketing.
Games

Game Industry Vets On DRM 372

An anonymous reader points out an article at SavyGamer in which several game industry veterans were polled for their opinions on DRM. Cliff Harris of Positech Games said he didn't think his decision to stop using DRM significantly affected piracy of his games, accepting it as an unavoidable fact. "Maybe a few of the more honest people now buy the game rather than pirate it, but this sort of thing is impossible to measure. You can see how many people are cracking and uploading your game, but tracking downloads is harder. It seems any game, even if it's $0.99 has a five hour demo and is DRM-free and done by a nobel-peace prize winning game design legend, will be cracked and distributed on day one by some self righteous teenager anyway. People who crack and upload games don't give a damn what you've done to placate gamers, they crack it anyway." Nihal de Silva of Direct2Drive UK said his company hasn't noticed any sales patterns indicating customers are avoiding games with DRM. Richard Wilson of TIGA feels that customers should be adequately warned before buying a game that uses DRM, but makes no bones about the opinion that the resale of used games is not something publishers should worry about.
Social Networks

Courts Move To Ban Juror Use of Net, Social Sites 288

coondoggie passes along a NetworkWorld report on the pronouncement of a judicial conference committee recommending that trial judges specifically instruct jurors not to use any electronic communications devices or sites during trial and deliberations. Here's the committee report (PDF). "If you think you're going to use your spanking new iPhone to entertain yourself next time you're on jury duty, think again. Judges are going to take an even dimmer view of jury member use of Blackberry, iPhone, or other electronic devices as a judicial policy-setting group has told district judges they should restrict jurors from using electronic technologies to research or communicate. ... The instructions state jurors must not use cell phones, e-mail, Blackberry, iPhone, text messaging, or on Twitter, or communicate through any blog or website, through any internet chat room, or by way of any other social networking websites, including Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, and YouTube."
Software

OpenOffice Tops 21% Market Share In Germany 252

hweimer writes "A novel study analyzes the installed base of various office packages among German users. (Here is the original study report in German and a Google translation.) While Microsoft Office comes out top (72%), open source rival OpenOffice is already installed on 21.5% of all PCs and growing. The authors use a clever method to determine the installed office suites of millions of web users: they look for the availability of characteristic fonts being shipped with the various suites. What surprised me the most is that they found hardly any difference in the numbers for home and business users."
Science

Why Time Flies By As You Get Older 252

Ant notes a piece up on WBUR Boston addressing theories to explain the universal human experience that time seems to pass faster as you get older. Here's the 9-minute audio (MP3). Several explanations are tried out: that brains lay down more information for novel experiences; that the "clock" for nerve impulses in aging brains runs slower; and that each interval of time represents a diminishing fraction of life as we age.
Science

Studies Reveal Why Kids Get Bullied and Rejected 938

Thelasko writes "I'm sure many here have been the victim of bullying at some point in their lives. A new study suggests why. '...now researchers have found at least three factors in a child's behavior that can lead to social rejection. The factors involve a child's inability to pick up on and respond to nonverbal cues from their pals.' The article sketches out some ways teachers and councilors are working with bullied kids to help them develop the missing social skills."
Image

US Grants Home Schooling German Family Political Asylum 1324

A US judge has granted political asylum to a family who said they fled Germany to avoid persecution for home schooling their children. Uwe Romeike and his wife, Hannelore, moved to Tennessee after German authorities fined them for keeping their children out of school and sent police to escort them to classes. Mike Connelly, attorney for the Home School Legal Defence Association, argued the case. He says, "Home schoolers in Germany are a particular social group, which is one of the protected grounds under the asylum law. This judge looked at the evidence, he heard their testimony, and he felt that the way Germany is treating home schoolers is wrong. The rights being violated here are basic human rights."

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