Catch up on stories from the past week (and beyond) at the Slashdot story archive

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror

Comment Quoting out of context is super fun. (Score 1) 2

FTFA:

Why are you telling Amazon what I am searching for?

We are not telling Amazon what you are searching for. Your anonymity is preserved because we handle the query on your behalf. Don’t trust us? Erm, we have root. You do trust us with your data already. You trust us not to screw up on your machine with every update. You trust Debian, and you trust a large swathe of the open source community. And most importantly, you trust us to address it when, being human, we err. In summary – please don’t feed the trolls.

Submission + - Should Developers Install Their Software Themselves?

Paul Carver writes: Should developers be responsible for installing the software they develop into production environments? What about System Test environments? I'm not a developer and I'm not all that familiar with Agile or DevOps, but it seems unhealthy to me to have software installs done by developers. I think that properly developed software should come complete with installation instructions that can be followed by someone other than the person who wrote the code.

I'd like to hear opinions from developers. Do you prefer a workplace where you hand off packaged software to other teams to deploy or do you prefer to personally install your software into System Test and then personally install it into production once the System Testers have certified it?

For context, I'm talking about enterprise grade, Internet facing web services sold to end users as well as large companies on either credit card billing or contractual basis with service level agreements and 24x7 Operations support. I'm not talking about little one (wo)man shops and free or Google style years long beta services.

Feed Google News Sci Tech: Iran reportedly moving on domestic Net plan, blocks Google - CNET (google.com)


The Guardian

Iran reportedly moving on domestic Net plan, blocks Google
CNET
Official says government agencies and offices have already been connected to its "national information network," just as state news says Google is being blocked, Reuters reports. by Michelle Meyers Iran appears to be following through with previously ...
Iran readies domestic Internet system, blocks GoogleReuters
Iran Announces Plan To Launch Domestic Internet By March 2013 (And To Block ... TechCrunch
Iran launching government-run internet network next year, says ReutersThe Verge
Centralia Chronicle-The Guardian-Washington Post
all 136 news articles

Comment Re:Paper (Score 1) 325

RE: paper guitar

Yes, this, absolutely. I got stuck in a crappy situation once and had to sell my guitar. I didn't want to lose the muscle memory while I got things worked out so I wrapped a piece of cardboard with paper and drew a fretboard on it, marked notes, taped toothpicks under the fretlines and wrapped the whole thing in clear packing tape to prevent wear and decomposition from finger oils. When things got slow at work I'd break it out and jam. Good times.

A good analog does wonders. In this case you don't even need an analog, as you said they can just use a disconnected keyboard and start slowly.

Comment WAT?! (Score 1) 459

The only response this deserves is LOL, UMADBRO?

Regardless of my beliefs, this is a matter of classification. Going full-on ostrich mode and pretending that these things don't exist is futile. Restricting TLDs is not going to stop people from doing what they want, that's what beheadings are for. You can't outlaw something without first classifying it.

Comment Re:Why Jailbreak? (Score 1) 68

Jailbreaking has added little to my user experience, but being able to display free memory and your IP and whatnot in the statusbar is convenient for mobile dev. It's also nice to be able to SSH into the machine, poke around in app data and SCP it off to your workstation for further pokery on a system with real software.

But yeah, hooray for supposed perfection, hypocrisy inherent in the system, stick it to the man, lol@fanboyz!!11elevenoneone, etc.

Privacy

Submission + - Richard Feynman's FBI Files (muckrock.com) 1

v3rgEz writes: "The FBI files of noted physicist, esteemed author and all-around geek Richard Feynman have been released:

http://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2012/jun/06/feynman-files-professors-invitation-past-iron-curt/

Feynman and the FBI had an extended encounter after the Bureau discovered he had been invited to speak at the USSR, which set off a flurry of investigations into his loyalty — even as he pestered the State Department for guidance on whether he should or shouldn't go, guidance they only gave belatedly.

Of particular interest to the FBI was his avid devotion to the art of lock picking, his high school membership in a socialism club (for social reasons, he swore), and the fact that he was a godless scientist who loved his bongo drums.

Original Documents are available:

http://www.muckrock.com/foi/view/united-states-of-america/fbi-files-on-richard-feynman/1165/#366921-responsive-documents

One other element? A seven-page letter detailing a conspiracy theory that Feynman was a sleeper agent for enemies unknown, but probably communist ones.

http://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2012/jun/06/richard-feynman-master-deception-and-enemy-america/"

Comment Re:Junior College (Score 1) 416

Junior college instructor.

I came here to say this. You don't have to bang your head against the wall trying to teach the unwilling. Apply to a junior/community college and teach people who actually want to be there, want it badly enough to pay for the privilege because they want to improve themselves. Sounds a lot more fulfilling to me.

Image

The Race To Beer With 50% Alcohol By Volume 297

ElectricSteve writes "Most of the world's beer has between 4% and 6% alcohol by volume (ABV). The strength of beer achieved by traditional fermentation brewing methods has limits, but a well-crafted beer that is repeatedly 'freeze distilled' can achieve exquisite qualities and much higher alcohol concentrations. An escalation in the use of this relatively new methodology over the last 12 months has seen man's favorite beverage suddenly move into the 40+% ABV realm of spirits such as gin, rum, brandy, whiskey, and vodka, creating a new category of extreme beer. The world's strongest beer was 27% ABV, but amidst an informal contest to claim the title of the world's strongest beer, the top beer has jumped in strength dramatically. This week Gizmag spoke to the brewers at the center of the escalating competition. New contestants are gathering, and the race is now on to break 50% alcohol by volume."

Slashdot Top Deals

"In the long run, every program becomes rococo, and then rubble." -- Alan Perlis

Working...