Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments
typodupeerror delete not in
  • Preferences

Slashdot is powered by your submissions, so send in your scoop

Comments: 2 +-   Synchronize data between Linux, OS X, and Windows? on Thursday November 05, @12:23PM aaaaaaargh!

Submitted by aaaaaaargh! on Thursday November 05, @12:23PM
aaaaaaargh! writes "I'm using a laptop with Ubuntu 8.04 for work, a netbook with Ubuntu 9.10 when I'm outside, Mac OS X 10.5 for hobby projects, and Windows XP for gaming. For backups I'm currently using Jungledisk and Apple Timemachine and I use a local svn repository for my work data. Now I need to frequently exchange and synchronize OpenOffice and Latex files and source code in various cross-platform programming languages between one machine and another.

  Options range from putting everything online (but Jungledisk disks seem to be too slow for anything else than backup), storing my data on external medias like USB sticks or SD cards, or working with copies by synchronizing folders over the network. I don't want to give my data away to some server outside without strong encryption (controlled by me, including the source code) and external media like USB sticks are a bit too fragile according to my taste. The solution should be reliable, relatively failsafe, as simple as possible, and allow me to continue to use Jungledisk for backup.

So what would you recommend?"
Read More... 2 comments submission

+-   computer activities for speech difficulties[->] on Sunday November 01, @12:49PM Anonymous Coward

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 01, @12:49PM
An anonymous reader writes "computer based activities for those with speech and language difficulties

My girlfriend is training to be a speech and language therapist here in the UK (pathologist in the US). A number of clients are guys who enjoy playing computer games and for a variety of reasons some have no incentive to try and improve their speech. The issue is it can obviously inhibit options for jobs/other aspects of life etc. I was trying to think of fun computer based activities for those with speech and language difficulties that encourage individuals to speak and furthermore to speak with greater clarity. Or games/activities that might encourage them to do more speech work. The first options that sprang to mind were the online games with team speak/team talk for those with mild difficulties. The sampling/accent issue might force them to speak with greater clarity or wish to have that ability. Obviously they can just type.
Any thoughts?
Cant wait for the Beavis and Butt-head type comments about fun computer based "activities" :)
thanks for your time
Hugh Jars :)"
Link To Original Source
Read More... 0 comments submission

Comments: 1 +-   Documentation Naming Conventions on Thursday October 29, @02:50PM realsilly

Submitted by realsilly on Thursday October 29, @02:50PM
realsilly writes "I am a requirements analyst, and I often find myself in companies where they either have an extremely rigid naming convention and structure for storing documents or there is no structure in place at all. I find myself in the latter of the two situations, where I'm trying to come up with an easy to use and implement naming convention that will be followed by those who don't name things formally. I am avoiding using numbers and dates within document names and in many cases, I have much of my early documentation on internal wiki pages. I'm looking for some best practices ideas from the Slashdot community."
Read More... 1 comments submission

+-   Sci-Fi Reading for an E-Commerce College Course? on Tuesday October 27, @12:54PM Anonymous Coward

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 27, @12:54PM
An anonymous reader writes "My friend will be teaching an e-commerce class at a four-year college starting in the spring. He wants to present not just existing business models (Amazon, eBay, iTunes), but also help students to think about the future — what might be hot in ten, twenty, thirty years. To that end, he's looking to draw from science fiction literature — today's fiction could be the inspiration for tomorrow's billion-dollar idea. Any suggestions for books that he should assign? What sci-fi works have the most intriguing (put plausible) technology and consumer products? The more variety, the better; some kind of anthology would be ideal."
Read More... 0 comments submission

Comments: 2 +-   Ask Slashdot: Reliability of PC Flash SSDs? on Monday October 26, @10:16PM Anonymous Coward

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26, @10:16PM
An anonymous reader writes "SATA and IDE flash solid-state disks (SSDs) are all the rage these days — faster and, allegedly, more reliable than traditional spinning-rust disks. My organization dipped its toe in the flash-disk waters, buying a handful for some PC and Linux boxes. Out of 8 drives from various manufacturers, 3 have failed in the space of four months! Some are reporting bad blocks, others just crapped out and stopped responding entirely. (And no, this isn't a wear-leveling issue, nor were these machines in particularly harsh environmental conditions, nor were all failed drives from the same manufacturer.) So I ask you, the readers of Slashdot: what has your experience been like with basic, consumer-grade SATA or IDE flash drives? Are they failing for you too, or are we just unlucky? It's starting to remind me of the claims about long-lifetime compact fluorescent light bulbs that, in reality, have turned out to be BS!"
Read More... 2 comments submission

Comments: 6 +-   How to Enter Equations Quickly In Class? on Thursday October 22, @06:53PM AdmiralXyz

Submitted by AdmiralXyz on Thursday October 22, @06:53PM
AdmiralXyz writes "I'm a university student, and I like to take notes on my (non-tablet) computer whenever possible, so it's easier to sort, categorize, and search through them later. Trouble is, I'm going into higher and higher math classes, and typing "f_X(x) = integral(-infinity, infinity, f(x,y) dy)" just isn't cutting it anymore: I need a way to get real-looking equations into my notes. I'm not particular about the details, the only requirement is that I need to keep up with the lecture, so it has to be fast, fast, fast. Straight LaTeX is way too slow, and Microsoft's Equation Editor isn't even worth mentioning. The platform is not a concern (I'm on a MacBook Pro and can run either Windows or Ubuntu in a virtual box if need be), but the less of a hit to battery life, the better. I've looked at several dedicated equation editing programs, but none of them, or their reviews, make any mention of speed. I've even thought about investing in a low-end Wacom tablet (does anyone know if there are ultra-cheap graphics tablets designed for non-artists?), but I figured I'd see if anyone at Slashdot has a better solution."
Read More... 6 comments submission

Comments: 1 +-   Impressing security upon end-users visually? on Thursday October 22, @06:00PM get quad

Submitted by get quad on Thursday October 22, @06:00PM
security
get quad writes "I continually have to remind our end-users to be vigilant about the usual safeguards such as clicking links in the occasional spam email which passes through filters, visiting suspicious websites, why some websites aren't entirely safe or appropriate for the work environment (facebook apps, myspace, remote access apps, proxies, etc), amongst the myriad of other things an end user can do to get into trouble.

What I'm hoping to find are video or flash examples (mind you, in layman's terms) of what web-based exploits/zero-day threats are capable of, how they can happen, and the harm they can ultimately cause rather than posting links to technical docs they will never bother to read. Getting the point across in a purely visual and less technical manner which has some gravitas at the same time seems much more effective; suggestions and links much appreciated."
Read More... 1 comments submission

Comments: 1 +-   Does SORBS matter anymore?[->] on Tuesday October 20, @10:13PM palegray.net

Submitted by palegray.net on Tuesday October 20, @10:13PM
spam
palegray.net writes "As an employee of a well-known VPS provider, I've been observing another employee's efforts to deal with irresponsible behavior on the part of SORBS, a well-known blacklist provider. Although their mission of providing a resource that system administrators can use to gauge the likelihood of spam originating from a particular IP or netblock is admirable, we've encountered consistent issues related to their assertions with a newly assigned block from ARIN. Jed puts it best:

We recently received a large allocation of IP addresses from ARIN and, to our chagrin, the block is listed on SORBS's list as dynamic IP space — a whole /20 worth of addresses. It has been listed since April and we received it in May. What this means is that to incoming mail servers, all of our customers in this block appear like home customers with a cable or DSL connection (who should not be sending mail).

Obviously, as a hosting company we assign a static to each VPS we provision. Our IP allocations are is in no way dynamic; customers may request an IP address change, but we don't receive many such requests. We always ask for justification, and the requests we approve are typically performed on a "one time only" basis. Jed continues:

I approached SORBS about the issue via their automatic contact system. It has been nearly two weeks since their "bot" replied to me and informed me that most of the block was not eligible for delisting due to the naming convention in our reverse DNS PTRs. We use:

liXXX-YYY.members.linode.com

What's wrong with that? It "looks" dynamic, they say.

Despite our attempts to reach out to SORBS, explain our position, and get our IP space delisted, we've being told that we must change our reverse DNS naming scheme across our entire network to be considered for delisting. Needless to say, we consider this a ridiculous proposition.

Our primary concern is that mail administrators are using SORBS to blindly drop mail based on the false "dynamic IP" assertion. Although we would consider such a practice to be irresponsible from an administrator's standpoint, this is an issue that's been raised by some of our customers, and we're concerned about the effect it may be having on their ability to deliver legitimate mail. We've always taken an aggressive stance against anything resembling spammy behavior on our network; we're all I.T. veterans, we all despise spam, and we promptly handle any reports of abuse related to our network. It's distressing to see this situation going unresolved. What advice do members of the Slashdot community have on this topic?"
Link To Original Source

Read More... 1 comments submission

Comments: 5 +-   How to deal with a know-all jerk programmer? on Tuesday October 20, @09:44PM boxlight

Submitted by boxlight on Tuesday October 20, @09:44PM
boxlight writes "I am working with a know all jerk programmer who can't keep his nose out of everyone's business. For example, he's responsible for the object-persistence layer only, but he's always mouthing off to everyone about how they are "supposed" to be doing their work (UI programmers, application server guys, DBAs, and so on) when he's not in charge of anything. Basically he's micro-managing everyone when he's not even the manager!

At one time or another everyone on the team has complained about him, and because I work very closely with him people often come to me to ask me what his problem is.

Whenever anyone confronts the guy he flies completely off the handle. It's like he has a screw loose and is unable to accept other people's ways of doing things; it's always an all-or-nothing approach with him; he either gets his way, or he gives a reluctant eye-roll and a "whatever", only to bring up the issue again in a week or so until, ultimately, the other person give in just to shut him up.

The other unfortunate piece of this is he's always in the boss's office doing a song and dance about how hard he's working and how wonderful he is at solving so many complex problems. So he appears to have the boss's ear. Like, when the boss wants to take the temperature of the project, he goes to this guy.

So far I've managed to keep my cool and keep the peace by pretty much giving in on things he wants; . But I feel like there's an anger in me that's simmering under the surface and I'm afraid one of these days I'm going to freak out on him and them *I'm* going to look like the source of the problem to the boss. I don't want to get into daily shouting matches, and I really don't want to lower myself to his level and start sucking up to the boss for perceived credibility either.

Also, I don't want to quit because everyone else at the company are great to work with and the project is fun and the money is good.

So my question for Slashdot is, how do I deal with this??? Please help!"
Read More... 5 comments submission

Comments: 1 +-   What desktop search engine for a shared volume? on Monday October 19, @02:02PM kriston

Submitted by kriston on Monday October 19, @02:02PM
windows
kriston writes "Searching data on a shared volume is tedious. If I try to use a Windows desktop search engine on a volume with hundreds of gigabytes the indexing process takes days and the search results are slow and unsatisfying. I'm thinking of an agent that runs on the server that regularly indexes and talks to the desktop machines running the search interface. How do you integrate your desktop search application with your remote file server without forcing each desktop to index the hundred gigabyte volume on its own?"
Read More... 1 comments submission

Comments: 1 +-   What is your job title? on Friday October 16, @04:31AM chetbox

Submitted by chetbox on Friday October 16, @04:31AM
chetbox writes "I imagine a lot of the Slashdot crowd are software engineers, programmers or something along those lines, but what do you write on your CV/résumé and your email signature? Do you use the word "engineer", "programmer", "developer", "architect" or something else? What job title do you use? How do you make sure it describes your work and, more importantly, your worth without sounding pretentious?

I have my own projects which I plan, design and implement; I work on existing projects, mostly programming new features and tidying up; I also do some research and testing of new ideas, which may later turn into products. (None have yet: I haven't been working here long.) What could my job title be?"
Read More... 1 comments submission

Comments: 5 +-   Is working for the gambling industry a black mark? on Monday October 12, @11:25AM

Submitted by on Monday October 12, @11:25AM
business
An anonymous reader writes "I'm a recent university graduate. I and have been offered a software developer position in a company that supplies software to the gambling and betting industry. At first I was very excited about the opportunity. However, a few of my friends have told me that working for the gambling industry will put a permanent black mark on my career as a software developer. I don't know that many people in the industry with experience in hiring. Google has not helped in any way. And everybody else I ask doesn't know. So I'm asking slashdot. In your experience is this true? When you hire developers, is the fact that they worked for a gambling company a big turn off? Also, I'm currently in the UK, but would like the freedom of working in US or somewhere else later on in life. So experience from anywhere in the world is welcome."
Read More... 5 comments submission

+-   The Best Way To Inform Owners Of Hacked Sites? on Sunday October 11, @09:01AM UnmaskParasites

Submitted by UnmaskParasites on Sunday October 11, @09:01AM
UnmaskParasites writes "I'm an independent security researcher. Every time when I investigate hacker attacks I see thousands of compromised websites. While I can't contact every single site owner and tell them about the problem, I usually try to let the owners of larger sites (their problems affect more people) know that they have security issues. I send them brief descriptions of the problems via email or their contact forms. Unfortunately, the prevailing reaction is lack of any response (and websites remain hacked). I have slightly better results when I publish attack reviews on my blog and then refer to the blog posts when I contact owners of compromised sites. However the success rate is still below 20%, which makes me think that security is not a priority for site owners and I'm wasting my time trying to help them.

Here is a rather amusing (and at the same time sad) illustration of the issue. Site of Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) offers up to $1 million for piracy reports. This site is hacked. Most of its pages contain cloaked spam links that promote online stores that sell pirated software. I emailed them and described the problem. I created a blogpost with screenshots illustrating the problem and referred to it in my report. SIIA didn't bother to respond, and one week later their site still promotes pirates (they are probably too busy fighting with other pirates?)

I need your advice. What is the most effective way to inform site owners about security problems and have them resolve the issues?

* Should I go on trying to contact owners of compromised sites?
* Should I just report the sites? E.g. report them to Google as malicious or spammy, and let Google punish them (blacklist or remove from search index). I still prefer to give site owners a chance though.
* Should I try to give them some "bad publicity" if they fail to respond to friendly notifications? Is it acceptable? (I wonder if SIIA clean up their site if this question is published on Slashdot?)
* Should I just ignore them (since it's not my own problem) and hope that they'll eventually resolve issues?
* What else can you suggest?"
Read More... 0 comments submission

Comments: 1 +-   When do you fire a headhunter? on Friday October 09, @11:56AM Captain Sarcastic

Submitted by Captain Sarcastic on Friday October 09, @11:56AM
Captain Sarcastic writes "I have been a contract programmer for a few years (with some time off when a contract-for-hire paid off and made me a full-time employee).

Currently, I'm between projects, but I'm a little worried about one of the contracting companies who's helping me.

First off, a little history. "Zeke" (not his real name) was with ABC Contractors (not their real name) when I first met him, and he took my resume and started processing me through the jobs that ABC had available. A bit later, Zeke left, and his replacement Yvonne (standard disclaimer) submitted me to a company (call them "Acme") for a contract-for-hire. Everything looked like a good fit, and she E-mailed me a copy of the resume they submitted to Acme. Came the interview, I realized that Zeke had left out part of my history and had mis-dated other aspects, to keep me from appearing unemployed. Like an idiot, I tried to correct this at the interview, to find out that Acme had decided that I had fabricated all of my experience, and chewed out the rep for ABC for sending an unqualified applicant.

Fine, learning experience for me — double-check what the contracting company says about you, and don't try to correct things in the middle of the interview.

A couple months later, Zeke contacted me from his new position with Blue-Sky Consultants (standard disclaimer), and sent me on a couple of interviews. Once again, I found out he'd "corrected" my resume — the same way he did with ABC. I raised the issue with him, and he apologized and said he'd correct the resume, and he's submitted me for other positions, but none seem to have gotten to the interview stage.

I suspect that he's not trying very hard, and I wonder if he's soft-pedaling submissions for me to keep his own bosses from recognizing he'd altered my resume.

So, I have the following questions:
  1. Am I suspecting malice and/or clumsiness where a competitive market is the true suspect? (An answer of yes would be harder on my ego, but a relief.)
  2. Do headhunters modify resumes, and if so, should I just shut up and go with what the headhunter says? (I was always told that eventually, the truth comes out, so I'd be uncomfortable doing that, but life isn't always comfortable.)
  3. Should I tell Zeke to get lost and stay that way? (I was always told that making enemies unnecessarily was "considered harmful", but I get the impression that Zeke isn't a friend).
  4. Have fellow Slashdotters dealt with similar situations?
"
Read More... 1 comments submission

Comments: 1 +-   on demand video + cms + interactive for museum on Friday October 09, @07:01AM remolacha

Submitted by remolacha on Friday October 09, @07:01AM
remolacha writes "I've been given the task of tech chief for a biggish art museum (1300 m2, or about 13,000 sq ft) in Spain. The museum's designers want 20 "terminals" that will offer on-demand video and interactive content. the terminals' content will change with the exhibits. many will have touchscreens, more interesting forms of input are planned as well (floor sensors, big buttons).

It's all on one floor, and the floors are raised, so I can run cabling and set up floor ethernet jacks. max cable run is 60m / 190ft. The museum may expand to 4x it's projected size once open by comandeering other floors in the building.

To give an idea of where the designers heads are, they were talking about a massive dvd changer in a closet somewhere.

I am thinking an intranet running a webserver with a CMS and flash media server, terminals running firefox in kiosk mode. I'd love to do everything on linux. does anyone have experience with a setup like this, better ideas, or advice?"
Read More... 1 comments submission

+-   Aggregating multiple ISP connections? on Thursday October 08, @08:41PM Anonymous Coward

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 08, @08:41PM
networking
An anonymous reader writes "Has anyone setup a system to aggregate multiple ISP connections to form a high bandwidth site-to-site link? Load Sharing SCTP (http://rivus.sourceforge.net/load%20sharing.html) looked interesting, but it doesn't look like it has been widely adopted. Multi-Link PPP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MLPPP#Multilink_PPP) appears to be more widely supported for clients, but I can't find any good guides for setting up both sides of the connection for a site-to-site link.

The hardware solutions I've found are expensive for a small business. Does anyone have experience using hardware solutions from Mushroom Networks (Virtual Leased Line p2 of this document http://www.mushroomnetworks.com/internal/VLLso2sowhitepaper.pdf), Ecessa (Site-to-Site Channel Bonding http://www.ecessa.com/ ), or others?"
Read More... 0 comments submission

+-   Does Anxiety make you a better programmer?[->] on Tuesday October 06, @02:23AM Crash McBang

Submitted by Crash McBang on Tuesday October 06, @02:23AM
Crash McBang writes "In Understanding the Anxious Mind, it is proposed that an anxious temperament might serve a more exalted function: âoeOur culture has this illusion that anxiety is toxic,â Kagan said. But without inner-directed people who prefer solitude, where would we get the writers and artists and scientists and computer programmers who make society hum?"
Link To Original Source
Read More... 0 comments submission

Comments: 2 +-   Science Fiction and Fantasy Class for High School. on Monday October 05, @12:45PM flogger

Submitted by flogger on Monday October 05, @12:45PM
flogger writes "I have been asked to help develop a literature course for Science Fiction and Fantasy literature. What do you, the slashdot crowd, consider to be appropriate selections of short stories and novels in these genres for high school students of all ability levels? I'd also like to know why you choose certain selections. This class will be "regular" class and not a class for "flunkies" to earn a credit by sitting docile and listening to lectures. The following is a course description that I have been given as a guideline. This description can change. Any ideas?
Course description:
"In this Junior/Senior level course, students will focus on the genres of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Students will survey the histories of these genres and recognize how world events have been reflected onto other worlds. From the early formation of the genre, with Verne, and the classics of Clarke, Tolkien, Bradbury, and LeGuin, to the contemporary works of Card, Jordan, and Vinge, the genres have been about portraying humanity in possible scenarios. These works have mirrored events throughout the troubled situations of our history and provided optimistic outcomes and horrifying predictions. Through this course, students will utilize analytical skills and reading strategies to evaluate our current situation and project into the literature of different worlds while sharing and learning of an author's insight. Possible areas of interest will be topics of the environment, energy conservation, war, social issues, and others. ""
Read More... 2 comments submission

+-   Open access to exercise data? on Sunday October 04, @02:38PM identity0

Submitted by identity0 on Sunday October 04, @02:38PM
identity0 writes "A recent Slashdot article about heart rate monitors in schools got me thinking about getting one for my own exercise. It turns out there's a wide range of features, from calorie rate, pedometers, GPS, and PC connectivity. Being a geek, I wanted one that would let me look at my exercise data, and I'm curious what experiences Slashdotters have had with them. Some download data to a proprietary application, so I'm wondering if there are open source alternatives or the data format is easily readable. Others upload data to an online app, and I'm wondering if the data can be pulled off the site or it's forever trapped on their servers. While I'm not paranoid about my data being shared or an open source zealot, I would like to know that I can access my data in the future. Whatever method you guys use to monitor your exercise, I'd love to hear it!"
Read More... 0 comments submission

+-   Choosing a personal printer for the long haul on Wednesday September 30, @11:19PM The Optimizer

Submitted by The Optimizer on Wednesday September 30, @11:19PM
The Optimizer writes "Ask Slashdot: After 16 years of service my laser printer, a NEC Silentwriter 95, is finally wearing its internals out and I need to find a replacement. It's printed over 30,000 pages and survived a half-dozen long-distance moves without giving me any trouble. I believe it's done so well for two reasons. First, it's sturdily built and hails from an era when every fraction of penny didn't have to be cost-cut out of manufacturing, The other reason was its software. Since it supported postscript Level II, it wasn't bound to a specific operating system or hardware platform, so long as a basic postscript level 2 driver was available. A new color laser printer with postscript 3 seems like a logical replacement, and numerous inexpensive printers are available. I'd rather get a smaller, personal-size printer than a heavy workgroup printer. Most of all, I would like it to still be usable and running well with Windows 9, OS X 11, and whatever else we will be using in 2020. Can anyone recommend a brand or series of printers that is built to last and isn't going to be completely dependent on OS specific proprietary drivers?"
Read More... 0 comments submission
Search
I dunno, I dream in Perl sometimes... -- Larry Wall in <8538@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV>

All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners. Comments are owned by the Poster. The Rest © 1997-2009 Geeknet, Inc.