Phantombrain - Slashdot User

Comment I don't see the problem (Score 4, Insightful) 254

by Phantombrain on Tuesday May 27, 2008 @11:24PM (#23566263) Attached to: Olympic Tickets Contain Microchip With Your Data

I don't see the problem with this. It's not like China has ever has taken advantage of technology to control people there. There aren't any stories of people being arrested just for disagreeing with the government. There aren't any human rights issues in China.</sarcasm>

Submission + - A Windows-Based Packaging Mechanism

Submitted by

FishWithAHammer

on Monday May 28, 2007 @08:09PM

FishWithAHammer writes: "As part of my Google Summer of Code project, I'm working with WinLibre to develop a vaguely Debian-esque software download system for Free/open source software on the Windows platform. My reasoning is that open-source software suffers from poor presentation. Most computer laymen, even those aware of open source software, often don't have any idea how to go looking for it — their Google-fu is lacking — but would use it were it easier to access. What I have proposed is both a Debian-style packaging mechanism (capable of using Windows Installer MSIs or not, as the user wishes) and a software "catalog" that takes the best aspects of Synaptic and Linspire's Click-N-Run system. Seamless, simple installation and removal of programs in as straightforward a way as apt-get (there will be a command-line tool as well). I'm posting to Slashdot to get the ideas of you lot who, while you may not be the target audience, can certainly provide insights that can be of value.

There are areas that I'm personally not familiar with, and while I have done some research I would like the opinions of Slashdotters on some others. While at first I intend to set it up so that WinLibre (and I) run only one repository, I am curious as to how this sort of tool could be most useful to network administrators. Customizable repositories will be available; the code will be under the GPL, after all, so it'd be a little hard for them not to be available.

I'm also interested in the ideas of those who might be in a position to roll together packages. I intend to package a number of open-source language interpreters with the core software to allow special pre- and post-install scripts, as well as removal scripts. C#Script, Perl, and Python are definites, as is a Cygwin sh interpreter. We will have some program requirements — chief among them that no registry changes may be made by the program — but some of them, I fear, will require some flexibility; some programs really do require a way to edit the registry, for example, and I am considering offering some sort of tracked way to make registry changes so they can be rolled back on uninstallation of the program.

I'd love to hear what Slashdotters think of this. Think of it as a wishlist, but you don't get any damn ponies.

Ed Ropple (FishWithAHammer)"

Submission + - RIAA Can't Have Defendant's Son's Desktop

Submitted by

NewYorkCountryLawyer

on Sunday April 01, 2007 @05:48PM

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "The RIAA's attempt to get Ms. Lindor's son's desktop computer in UMG v. Lindor has been rejected by the Magistrate Judge. The judge said that the RIAA

"offered little more than speculation to support their request for an inspection of Mr. Raymond's desktop computer, based on ... his family relationship to the defendant, the proximity of his house to the defendant's house, and his determined defense of his mother in this case. That is not enough. On the record before me, plaintiffs have provided scant basis to authorize an inspection of Mr. Raymond's desktop computer."
Decision by Magistrate Judge Robert M. Levy. (pdf)"

Submission + - NASA Confirms Solar Storm near 2012

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 20, 2007 @07:25PM

An anonymous reader writes: `This week researchers announced that a storm is coming — the most intense solar maximum in fifty years. The prediction comes from a team led by Mausumi Dikpati of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). "The next sunspot cycle will be 30% to 50% stronger than the previous one," she says. If correct, the years ahead could produce a burst of solar activity second only to the historic Solar Max of 1958.`

`Dikpati's forecast puts Solar Max at 2012. Hathaway believes it will arrive sooner, in 2010 or 2011.`

Anyone familiar with the Mayan Calendar? December 21, 2012 (13.0.0.0.0 in the Mayan Calendar) Coincidence?

Submission + - Microsoft gives in to the EU

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 20, 2007 @05:44PM

An anonymous reader writes: Redmond Developer News reports that Microsoft has given in to EU threats of further fines and opened up a whole host of protocols, including the Exchange protocol, under a licence.

http://reddevnews.com/news/devnews/article.aspx?ed itorialsid=192

It doesn't say what the licence will look like though.

Feed Turkey Lifts YouTube Ban (wired.com)

From feed by wiredfeed on Sunday March 11, 2007 @03:12PM

An official for Turk Telekom says the court is lifting the block on YouTube, imposed because of videos insulting to the founder of modern Turkey. By the Associated Press.

Submission + - XP on 8MHz Intel Pentium and 20MB RAM

Submitted by

swehack

on Saturday February 24, 2007 @09:31AM

swehack writes: "The germans over at Winhistory.de managed to get their Windows XP Professional to run on an Intel Pentium clocked down to 8MHz and 20MB RAM. Here is the english version of their article, with plenty of pictures. On a related note they also won the golden hourglass for 'extreme waste of time'. What obscure hardware configurations have you managed to get Windows running on?"

Slashdot Top Deals