befletch - Slashdot User

Google Stops Ads For "Cougar" Sites 319

Posted by samzenpus on Tuesday May 18, 2010 @10:52AM from the here's-to-you-mrs-robinson dept.

teh31337one writes "Google is refusing to advertise CougarLife, a dating site for mature women looking for younger men. However, they continue to accept sites for mature men seeking young women. According to the New York Times, CougarLife.com had been paying Google $100,000 a month since October. The Mountain View company has now cancelled the contract, saying that the dating site is 'nonfamily safe.'"

Comment Vista vs Win7 (Score 5, Insightful) 378

by befletch on Tuesday December 22, 2009 @02:41PM (#30526564) Attached to: The Best, Worst, and Ugliest OSes of the Decade

I fully admit to bashing Vista, even viciously, before I had even actually got a copy to live with for a while. I repent.

I fully admit to bashing Vista too, and I continue to do so. It was pushed out the door unfinished and with poor driver support (thanks to Microsoft changing video architecture too late in the dev cycle, not due to any 3rd party failings) and while the driver issues have been resolved I still find Vista feels unfinished. But leaving Windows 7 off the good OS list is just wrong. Windows 7 is a well designed and executed OS, and Microsoft deserves credit for it. And I say that as a dyed in the wool UNIX / Mac OS X fan and frequent Microsoft critic. (Did I mention how bad I think Vista is?)

Mozilla Thunderbird 3 Released 272

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday December 08, 2009 @06:48PM from the hot-bits dept.

supersloshy writes Today Mozilla released Thunderbird 3. Many new features are available, including Tabs and enhanced search features, a message archive for emails you don't want to delete but still want to keep, Firefox 3's improved Add-ons Manager, Personas support, and many other improvements. Download here."

Canadian Blood Services Promotes Pseudoscience 219

Posted by samzenpus on Tuesday December 01, 2009 @07:49PM from the type-A-negative-personality dept.

trianglecat writes "The not-for-profit agency Canadian Blood Services has a section of their website based on the Japanese cultural belief of ketsueki-gata, which claims that a person's blood group determines or predicts their personality type. Disappointing for a self-proclaimed 'science-based' organization. The Ottawa Skeptics, based in the nation's capital, appear to be taking some action."

Comment Re:my choice (Score 2, Insightful) 667

by befletch on Tuesday October 21, 2008 @03:42PM (#25458365) Attached to: Practical Reasons To Choose Git Or Subversion?

I'm in the same camp. I have to manage version control with some less than sophisticated Windows-based web guys, and TortiseSVN works well for that purpose.

Personally, I come from a CVS on UNIX background so the smooth repository transition and similar commands and usage style were handy. All I needed out of a "better CVS" was the ability to version file name changes. If you aren't coming from CVS, I think SVN loses much of its charm.

I'd be all over Git if I thought distributed repositories would be helpful for my projects, and I'm thinking of tooling around a little with it on the side just to keep up on all this new fangled stuff you kids are using these days.

Rails, not so much. It looks nice, but it tickles my "get off my lawn" reflex.

800 Break-ins at Dept. of Homeland Security 276

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday June 20, 2007 @10:26AM from the well-i-feel-safer-already dept.

WrongSizeGlass writes "Yahoo is reporting about the computer security nightmare going on at the Department of Homeland Security. Senior DHS officials admitted to Congress that over a two year period there were 800 hacker break-ins, virus outbreaks and in one instance, hacker tools for stealing passwords and other files were found on two internal Homeland Security computer systems. I guess it's true what they say ... a mechanic's car is always the last to get fixed."

Submission + - Michael Geist Sued for Defamatory Blogroll

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 29, 2007 @05:22PM

An anonymous reader writes: Michael Geist, the well known Canadian law prof and columnist, is apparently being sued for a defamatory blogroll. The suit apparently claims that Geist should be considered the publisher of a libel because his site includes a blogroll that links to a site that in turn links to a site that contains some allegedly defamatory third party comments. At this rate, Slashdot will presumably be sued for linking to Geist who links to a site that links to site that may contain a defamatory comment.

Google Wins Nude Thumbnail Legal Battle 204

Posted by CowboyNeal on Thursday May 17, 2007 @08:03PM from the over-for-now dept.

eldavojohn writes "Google is currently fighting many fronts in its ability to show small images returned in a search from websites. Most recently, Google won the case against them in which they were displaying nude thumbnails of a photographer's work from his site. Prior to this, Google was barred from displaying copyrighted content, even when linking it to the site (owner) from its search results. The verdict: "Saying the District Court erred, the San Francisco-based appeals court ruled that Google could legally display those images under the fair use doctrine of copyright law." This sets a rather hefty precedence in a search engine's ability to blindly serve content safely under fair use."

Independent Human Interface Guidelines 245

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday May 15, 2007 @09:08PM from the because-somebody-has-to dept.

An anonymous reader alerts us to the IndieHIG Wiki, which is an independent effort to pick up the ball that Apple has dropped on human interface guidelines (can you spell FTFF?). From the wiki: "The IndieHIG project is an initiative created out of the necessity to document the new look and feel aspects of the Mac OS X experience, outside of the supervision of Apple itself. The project is not intended to replace, but rather to supplement the somewhat dated Apple Human Interface Guidelines (HIG). There are many instances of Apple using new and experimental interface styles, spurring developers to emulate these styles in their own applications. Unfortunately, because Apple provides neither guidelines nor code for developers to work with, the implementation of these interface styles and features by third parties can be lopsided and directionless. The IndieHIG intends to change this by providing a comprehensive set of guidelines governing the use and appearance of new, undocumented interface elements so that their implementation by third party developers adheres to the unwritten standards that Apple has set."

Microsoft Patches 19 Flaws, 6 in Vista 307

Posted by Zonk on Wednesday May 09, 2007 @12:23PM from the many-patches-makes-os-work dept.

Cheesy Balogna writes "Microsoft has just released seven advisories — all rated critical — with patches for at least 19 vulnerabilities affecting the Windows operating system, the widely deployed Office productivity suite and the dominant Internet Explorer browser. Six of the 19 vulnerabilities affect Windows Vista. 'There are patches for 7 different vulnerabilities that could lead to code execution attacks against Word, Excel and Office. Users of Microsoft Exchange are also urged to pay attention to one of the critical bulletins, which cover 4 different flaws. A cumulative IE update addresses six potentially dangerous bugs. There are the six that apply to IE 7 on Windows Vista. The last bulletin in this month's batch apples to CAPICOM (Cryptographic API Component Object Model) and could also put users at risk of complete system hijack attacks.'"

HP Stops Selling Printers, Starts Selling Prints 346

Posted by Zonk on Thursday April 19, 2007 @01:01PM from the does-this-mean-i-get-a-free-printer dept.

An anonymous reader writes "HP has launched a new line of business printers but there's a big catch — you won't be able to buy one. For the first time in history, the company will make customers purchase printing services, rather than the product itself. At its biggest printer launch since the LaserJet in 1984, HP's new business-class Edgeline printers will only be available through a managed services contract. Pricing will be per page, depending on the quality of the printout. Edgeline technology is said to be so ink-efficient that if HP were to sell these printers, they would never match the money they make from consumables (cartridges etc) now."

Why are Websites Still Forcing People to Use IE? 899

Posted by Cliff on Wednesday April 18, 2007 @07:51PM from the betcha-it's-active-x-controls dept.

DragonTHC asks: "I just visited Movielink's website for research. Their site has a nice message saying, 'Sorry, but in order to enjoy the Movielink service you must use Internet Explorer 5.0 (or higher) or Mozilla/Firefox with an IE Tab Extension (IE installation required).' While allowing the IETab Firefox extension is somewhat progressive, why do companies still force people to use Internet Explorer? Surely the site should work just fine in Firefox? With Firefox's steady gains in market share, you would think that webmasters would get the hint. If you are a webmaster, what are your reasons for forcing IE?"

Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Dies At 84 380

Posted by kdawson on Thursday April 12, 2007 @09:57AM from the unstuck-in-time dept.

At least twenty-two readers took the trouble to make sure we knew that Kurt Vonnegut has died at 84. From the Times obituary: "Kurt Vonnegut, whose dark comic talent and urgent moral vision in novels like 'Slaughterhouse-Five,' 'Cat's Cradle' and 'God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater' caught the temper of his times and the imagination of a generation, died last night in Manhattan... Mr. Vonnegut suffered irreversible brain injuries as a result of a fall several weeks ago, according to his wife, Jill Krementz." Reader SPK adds: "He will be remembered not only as a great writer, but also as a staunch civil libertarian (long-term member of the ACLU) and as a 'mainstream/literary' author who integrated science fiction concepts into his writing. So it goes."

Will The iPhone Kill The iPod? 338

Posted by Hemos on Monday March 26, 2007 @12:08PM from the most-likely-yes dept.

Edward Sinovian writes "According to Cnet.co.uk, the days of MP3 players, digital cameras and satellite navigation systems are numbered with cell phones about to take center stage. "PDAs have already been crushed by smart phones and the same thing looks to be happening with standalone MP3 players, particularly the smaller flash ones — a theory supported by Apple's recent entry into the world of music phones. If you then take into consideration the convergence of camera, GPS, TV and laptop-like functionality into mobile phones, it raises the question of how long it's going to take before all you need is a mobile phone." With that in mind, do you think that the iPhone will kill the iPod?"

'Gates for President' Group Gives Up 274

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday March 08, 2007 @02:51PM from the know-when-to-fold-them dept.

netbuzz writes "Dilbert creator Scott Adams had done his best to make this fantasy (or nightmare, depending on your point of view) a viable notion, but after three months of trying the group's leader has acknowledged that it's unlikely Gates will give up his current gig. They've tossed in the towel." Here is our original coverage of this ill-conceived plan.

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