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typodupeerror

Comment Three Headers, Not Two (Score 1) 257

> The solution proposed by the author: two headers and error correction code (ECC) in every file."

When there are two possibilities, which one do you chose? Three allows the software to have a vote among the headers, and ignore or correct the loser (assuming that there IS one, of course).

Also, keeping the headers in text, rather than using complicated encoding schemes to save space where it doesn't much matter, is probably a good idea, as well. Semantic sugar is your friend here.

Comment Where's ISO (Score 1) 257

Come on, ISO, where are you? We all need the best (or alternatively, least-worst) glidepath now. When I retired, the argument was all about proprietary formats for formatted text, and this and that. USians seemed to want to take the lead on everything and thereby 'offer' formal Secretariat (and steering). Now there's something worth doing - fixit, folks - and non-proprietary, pretty-please.

Comment Re:SVN etc. (Score 1) 244

All very valid caveats. My core point (which you also addresses) was that using a working copy instead of an export of the files puts tons of extra copies of your files and subversion management data under you don't need for web pages.

I do love the atomicity of your method however, and the trick of exporting from a working copy made my day. Thanks!

Comment Re:You don't ... (Score 1) 902

I need a "DNS entry" or "config file" or something similarly trivial replaced. It's none of your fucking business why I want it. Just fucking do it.

And changing such "trivial" things as a DNS entry or a config file will never cause any serious problems that the aforementioned IT janitor would have to clean up after, right?

Idle

Submission + - Smile! Urine candid camera!

Anon E. Muss writes: Just because you can put a camera somewhere, doesn't mean you should. Apparently, the Department of Homeland Security Theater doesn't grasp this concept. They've installed video cameras in urinals at Houston's Hobby Airport. At least they weren't sneaky about it — they posted a notice saying "Automatic infrared flush sensors also provide video monitoring for security purposes." (Insert bad joke about bashful bladder syndrome here)

Comment Re:English please? (Score 1) 281

Probably, but personally I have no clue. I'm not actually a Hulu user, or even care enough to do more than read the /. article.

Sorry about that. I was mostly just trying to explain the silliness of hiding the important bits behind "sekrit" code which you don't/can't actually keep secret.

Comment Re:English please? (Score 1) 281

General theory for you:

The web browser displays HTML, which is easily displayable and copyable.

It can also run javascript, a programming language that runs inside the web browser and can easily access the web page you are viewing.

In order to "hide" the HTML they are sending your web browser, they instead encode it and send you a page which only has the encoded version and some javascript.

When the browser runs the javascript, that script decodes the HTML and sticks it in the page.

Net results: using View Source in the web browser only shows the encoded HTML.

Reason why it's stupid: Anyone can run the javascript and decode it. The only people who couldn't get around this with the most trivial of effort wouldn't be using the HTML in ways Hulu disapproved of in the first place. It's kinda like using a European keyboard on a US computer in an attempt to stop people from using it. Anybody who can type can still see the letters on the keys. The people who only used the mouse to control the music player aren't going to be able to do weird stuff with your computer anyway.

Slashdot.org

Introducing the Slashdot Firehose 320

Logged in users have noticed for some time the request to drink from the Slashdot Firehose. Well now we're ready to start having everybody test it out. It's partially a collaborative news system, partially a redesigned & dynamic next-generation Slashdot index. It's got a lot of really cool features, and a lot of equally annoying new problems for us to find and fix for the next few weeks. I've attached a rough draft of the FAQ to the end of this article. A quick read of it will probably answer most questions from how it works, what all the color codes mean, to what we intend to do with it.
Movies

Submission + - Girl faces year in prison for 20 second film clip

PizzaFace writes: It's Jhannet's 19th birthday, so her boyfriend borrows a camcorder to memorialize the occasion, and they head to the mall. They goof around, recording each other and the Chick-fil-A cows in the food court, then decide to catch the Transformers matinee, which started a few minutes earlier. During a big action scene, Jhannet takes the camcorder and records a 20-second clip to show her little brother. A few minutes later, cops who were called by the manager come in with flashlights, arrest Jhannet, confiscate the camcorder, and, at the behest of Regal Cinemas, charge her with film piracy. "I was terrified," said Jhannet. "I was crying. I've never been in trouble before." If convicted, she could be sentenced to a year in prison and a $2,500 fine. The police say they lack discretion because Regal Cinemas chose to prosecute: "They were the victim in this case, and they felt strongly enough about it." The National Association of Theatre Owners supports Regal's "zero-tolerance" prosecution standard: "We cannot educate theater managers to be judges and juries in what is acceptable. Theater managers cannot distinguish between good and bad stealing."
Math

Submission + - Winnie Wrote a Math Book

SoyChemist writes: Hollywood is not known for providing a wealth of positive female role models. Danica McKellar, the actress that played Winnie Cooper on The Wonder Years and Elsie Snuffin on The West Wing, has written a math book for teenage girls. Math Doesn't Suck is in the style of a teen magazine. It even includes a horoscope, cute doodles of shoes and jewelry, and testimonials from attractive young career women that use math at work. It focuses on fractions and pre-algebra and uses mnemonics like calling a reciprocal a "refliprocal", because you just take the fraction and flip it upside down. Wired interviewed McKellar about the new book and her crusade to eliminate the achievement gap between boys and girls in math courses. McKellar graduated Summa Cum Laude from UCLA. While studying there, she co-authored a proof and presented it at a conference. After she and Mayim Bialik — star of Blossom and a PhD in neuroscience — appeared in a 20/20 episode about intellectual actresses, several literary agents came knocking on her door.

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