Journal Journal: Today
Today was the first day I wrote in my journal.
Comment Been there, done that :0) (Score 1) 1
I was stationed in Tongduchon, South Korea in 1988. Pirated movies, music and software were freely available there in the little market places in each town. We had a field day with the shops in Itaewon (a section of Seoul) - movies for $1, cassettes for 50 cents, and software games like Zork for $1 on 5 1/4" floppy disks.
Comment Re:google says.... (Score 2, Informative) 123
It's cross-browser and it's very good at what it does.
I've used it and loved it for a long, long time.
But they announced a closure, so I switched by sync apps around.
I'm not going to go back to them "just in case" they decide to stay in business.
Comment Re:North-hemisphere centric (Score 1) 525
I spent the summer in Saudi Arabia for Gulf War I - now that was hot! No A/C, little wind, and lot's of dust!
It dropped down into the 80's (Fahrenheit)at night - so cold that we crawled into our cold weather sleeping bags.
Stand-Alone Antivirus Software? 159
An anonymous reader writes "I work for a company that repairs specialty devices that have an embedded Mini-ATX motherboard without a CD-ROM drive and run Windows XP Home. And while the USB flash drives we insert into them have a physical write-protect tab, we still encounter a (rather annoying) display dialog from malware/viruses to remove the write-protect so the malware can infect the flash drive. We don't remove the write-protect, obviously, but would like to offer our customers the option of removing the malware/virus without having to install any software. We would rather not install/uninstall antivirus software even for one-time use, due to various licensing issues, nor do we want to connect to the Internet to use web-based online scanners. Is there any stand-alone anti-virus/anti-malware software for Windows that can be run directly from the write-protected flash drive itself?"
Comment Re:Oh dear (Score 2, Interesting) 281
Things change - if the company feels that a certification is now necessary to do the job, then that's what they get.
If you choose not to have the certification, then you'll be competing with those who do have it for a job that requires it.
FYI - I have chosen not to be certified in anything. It makes the hiring process more difficult for me, but I enjoy flaunting my knowledge in the face of those who are certified :0)
Astronomers Discover 33 Pairs of Waltzing Black Holes 101
Astronomers from UC Berkeley have identified 33 pairs of waltzing black holes, closing the gap somewhat between the observed population of super-massive black hole pairs and what had been predicted by theory. "Astronomical observations have shown that 1) nearly every galaxy has a central super-massive black hole (with a mass of a million to a billion times the mass of the Sun), and 2) galaxies commonly collide and merge to form new, more massive galaxies. As a consequence of these two observations, a merger between two galaxies should bring two super-massive black holes to the new, more massive galaxy formed from the merger. The two black holes gradually in-spiral toward the center of this galaxy, engaging in a gravitational tug-of-war with the surrounding stars. The result is a black hole dance, choreographed by Newton himself. Such a dance is expected to occur in our own Milky Way Galaxy in about 3 billion years, when it collides with the Andromeda Galaxy."
NASA Tests Flying Airbag 118
coondoggie writes "NASA is looking to reduce the deadly impact of helicopter crashes on their pilots and passengers with what the agency calls a high-tech honeycomb airbag known as a deployable energy absorber. So in order to test out its technology NASA dropped a small helicopter from a height of 35 feet to see whether its deployable energy absorber, made up of an expandable honeycomb cushion, could handle the stress. The test crash hit the ground at about 54MPH at a 33 degree angle, what NASA called a relatively severe helicopter crash."
Zombie Pigs First, Hibernating Soldiers Next 193
ColdWetDog writes "Wired is running a story on DARPA's effort to stave off battlefield casualties by turning injured soldiers into zombies by injecting them with a cocktail of one chemical or another (details to be announced). From the article, 'Dr. Fossum predicts that each soldier will carry a syringe into combat zones or remote areas, and medic teams will be equipped with several. A single injection will minimize metabolic needs, de-animating injured troops by shutting down brain and heart function. Once treatment can be carried out, they'll be "re-animated" and — hopefully — as good as new.' If it doesn't pan out we can at least get zombie bacon and spam."
The Psychology of Achievement In Playing Games 80
A post on Pixel Poppers looks at the psychological underpinnings of the types of challenges offered by different game genres, and the effect those challenges have on determining which players find the games entertaining. Quoting:
"To progress in an action game, the player has to improve, which is by no means guaranteed — but to progress in an RPG, the characters have to improve, which is inevitable. ... It turns out there are two different ways people respond to challenges. Some people see them as opportunities to perform — to demonstrate their talent or intellect. Others see them as opportunities to master — to improve their skill or knowledge. Say you take a person with a performance orientation ('Paul') and a person with a mastery orientation ('Matt'). Give them each an easy puzzle, and they will both do well. Paul will complete it quickly and smile proudly at how well he performed. Matt will complete it quickly and be satisfied that he has mastered the skill involved. Now give them each a difficult puzzle. Paul will jump in gamely, but it will soon become clear he cannot overcome it as impressively as he did the last one. The opportunity to show off has disappeared, and Paul will lose interest and give up. Matt, on the other hand, when stymied, will push harder. His early failure means there's still something to be learned here, and he will persevere until he does so and solves the puzzle."
Comment Re:dont overthink (Score 1) 1095
I traveled to Egypt a couple of months back with an older XP laptop.
I was able to connect wirelessly almost anywhere that there was an access point (the Cairo airport was difficult - but I suspect I was accessing things that I wasn't supposed to :0).
And, most AC adapters for laptops are 110/220 - so you'll only need a plug converter to convert to UK plugs.
Comment Re:$125.00 per hour (Score 1) 454
If someone asks, I'll try and help them.
If they become a pain, I'll arrange things so they cannot contact me to whine.
When they eventually do contact me, my response is "Bring it into the shop, it's too complicated to troubleshoot remotely."
When they get to the shop, I turn them over to another person who'll help them (forewarning the other person). The reason that I give is that I'm really tied up in an important job just now.
Submission + - TSA changes its rules, lawsuit dropped (washingtontimes.com) 1
ndogg writes: "A while back, there was much ado about a Ron Paul staffer, Steve Bierfeldt, being detained by the TSA for carrying large sums of money. The ACLU sued on his behalf, and the TSA changed its rules stating that its screeners can only screen for unsafe materials. With that, the ACLU dropped its suit."
Comment Re:I'd never do it, but (Score 1) 783
Retire - then you can do what you want.
I retired in 2003 - and now I give away my services. If the customer isn't appreciative - I just walk out on them.
Comment Re:stretching to type (Score 1) 344
But couldn't the "keyboard" adapt/learn one's keystroke/handspan? While the keystroke would be limited to the flat surface, software could interpret the direction and force of the key strike and could interpret the desired key.
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