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Submission + - Ask Slashdot: What is the safest router out there today? 4

Submitted by MindPrison
MindPrison writes: As ashamed as I am to admit it, a long time computer user since the Commodore heydays, I've been hacked twice recently, and that has seriously made me rethink my options for my safety and well being, so I ask you dear Slashdot user, from one fellow long time Slashdotter to another:

What's the best router for optimal safety today?

Comment Learn how to interview, and how to sell yourself. (Score 1) 479

by gr33nlantern (#47986451) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Finding a Job After Completing Computer Science Ph.D?

I highly recommend reading the following books (both from the same author):

Both are available online (amazon etc) in hard copy and digital.

If you only have time for one, read the former, and peruse the latter. If you find that you are getting interviews but failing to get through the technical questions, you will definitely want to read all of "How To Crack..."

Employers (especially the big name ones) aren't looking for you to get the right answer when they ask you something, and they aren't looking to see that you have great memorization skills either. They want to see your thought process. How do you approach a problem? Can you debug your code? Do you think about what you're writing before you jump in and start making assumptions? Do you ask questions to eliminate ambiguity? Are you cold and focused only on the work at hand, or are you bright, interested, and pleasant to be around (Culture fit)? This is what the interview process is about.

Maybe you aren't saying the right things on your resume. Maybe you aren't highlighting your projects, and you are only highlighting your skills (does your resume read more like a job description than a list of accomplishments?.. Start there).

Some of the other comments mention networking, and that you should have been looking for your job since your freshman year - interning, making connections, and seeing where you are a good fit. The job search doesn't start graduation day. These mistakes could really put you behind the curve. Hopefully you have a good network established that you can tap into. Ask your professors, your old classmates (Have they been hired? Where? What are they doing? How did they make it past the HR nazis? Take a look at their resumes and see why you're not getting any callbacks), talk to recruiters and job placement specialists that your school may have. You have resources all around you that you have built up over the years - utilize them!

Comment Note Taking Appliance? (Score 1) 313

by gr33nlantern (#44574033) Attached to: Using Laptop To Take Notes Lowers Grades
I would like to see this study re-done with a third group who uses a note taking appliance such as the Surface Pro with OneNote and a stylus. Does the stylus and the act of 'writing' instead of typing change the results? I would imagine someone with an organized method in a program like OneNote that is purpose-built for note taking would have a leg-up on the paper/pen crowd.
Games

Balancing Choice With Irreversible Consequences In Games 352

Posted by Soulskill from the no-takebacks dept.
The Moving Pixels blog has an article about the delicate balance within video games between giving players meaningful choices and consequences that cannot necessarily be changed if the player doesn't like her choice afterward. Quoting: "One of my more visceral experiences in gaming came recently while playing Mass Effect 2, in which a series of events led me to believe that I'd just indirectly murdered most of my crew. When the cutscenes ended, I was rocking in my chair, eyes wide, heart pounding, and as control was given over to me once more, I did the only thing that I thought was reasonable to do: I reset the game. This, of course, only led to the revelation that the event was preordained and the inference that (by BioWare's logic) a high degree of magical charisma and blue-colored decision making meant that I could get everything back to normal. ... Charitably, I could say BioWare at least did a good job of conditioning my expectations in such a way that the game could garner this response, but the fact remains: when confronted with a consequence that I couldn't handle, my immediate player's response was to stop and get a do-over. Inevitability was only something that I could accept once it was directly shown to me."

Comment Re:Okay that's some funny shit (Score 1) 410

by gr33nlantern (#34547698) Attached to: Anonymous Now Attacking Corporate Fax Machines
Working as the IT Director for a copier/MFP sales and service dealership, I can tell you within the past 5 years, nearly all of my clients have converted to sending faxes through the network (using a network fax driver,) and receiving faxes either to a networked folder, or a shared fax e-mail address with strict spam filters... I can't imagine that Joe Schmoe's Realty on the corner is running a more advanced fax environment than the likes of PayPal, Amazon, etc. This seems very trivial indeed.
Image

4chan Declares War On Snow 201

Posted by samzenpus from the common-enemy dept.
With all the recent hacktivism in the news, Anonymous has decided to take on a new and powerful enemy: snow. On Sunday the group announced that it will "do everything in its power to shut snow down by attacking the Weather Channel and North Face websites, boycotting outerwear, and voting for the sun as Time’s 2010 Person Of The Year." I'm sure there are a lot of people in Minneapolis right now that would wish them luck.
Role Playing (Games)

Final Fantasy XIV Launches To Scathing Reviews 401

Posted by CmdrTaco from the my-fantasies-are-never-final dept.
RogueyWon writes "Now that the massively-multiplayer Final Fantasy XIV has been on the shelves for a couple of weeks, the reviews are starting to arrive; and it appears that the game is the subject of a critical battering unprecedented in the history of the main Final Fantasy series. First it was the Amazon user reviews, then Gamespot weighed in, describing the game as a 'step backwards for the genre,' and now IGN has described it as 'an arduous experience that, in its current state, isn't worth playing.' Given the general dissatisfaction that surrounded the release of the (offline) Final Fantasy XIII earlier in the year, many long-time fans of the series must now be wondering whether the magic hasn't departed."
Government

Wikileaks Publishes $1B of Public Domain Research Reports 231

Posted by timothy from the well-there's-a-nice-circularity-to-that dept.
laird writes "Wikileaks has released nearly a billion dollars worth of quasi-secret reports commissioned by the United States Congress. The 6,780 reports, current as of this month, comprise over 127,000 pages of material on some of the most contentious issues in the nation, from the U.S. relationship with Israel to abortion legislation. Nearly 2,300 of the reports were updated in the last 12 months, while the oldest report goes back to 1990. The release represents the total output of the Congressional Research Service (CRS) electronically available to Congressional offices. The CRS is Congress's analytical agency and has a budget in excess of $100M per year. Although all CRS reports are legally in the public domain, they are quasi-secret because the CRS, as a matter of policy, makes the reports available only to members of Congress, Congressional committees and select sister agencies such as the GAO. Members of Congress are free to selectively release CRS reports to the public but are only motivated to do so when they feel the results would assist them politically. Universally embarrassing reports are kept quiet."
Security

Interview with National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell 112

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the telling-you-who-to-be-afraid-of dept.
Schneier is reporting that Mike McConnell, U.S. National Intelligence Director, recently gave an interesting interview to the El Paso Times. "I don't think he's ever been so candid before. For example, he admitted that the nation's telcos assisted the NSA in their massive eavesdropping efforts. We already knew this, of course, but the government has steadfastly maintained that either confirming or denying this would compromise national security."
User Journal

Journal Journal: SQL function for calculating easter date

Journal by joke_dst

A SQL function to calculate the easter date on any given year:

create function getEasterDate( @yr int )
returns datetime
As Begin

declare @g int, @c int, @x int, @z int, @d int, @e int, @n int

Feed Engadget: Festo's fluidic muscles make us all look weak (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed

Filed under: Robots


Yeah, we've seen some pretty fancy robotic arm work already this year, but Festo is out to show 'em all up with its fluidic muscle-packin' Airic's_arm. This robotic prosthesis sports a "bone structure" which mimics that found on a real live human, and can be moved via the 30 "muscles" built within. Essentially, Festo's approach to movement relies on "an elastomer tube reinforced by aramid fibers, which contract quickly and exert a pulling force when they're filled with a blast of compressed air or liquid." Of course, you'll notice it doesn't offer quite the same range as less bionic alternatives, but this thing's pretty accurate, indeed. Check it out for yourself, the video's right down there.

[Via DesignNews]
Read - Festo's Airic's_arm
Read - Video of Airic's_arm in action

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Feed Engadget: Bank robber tosses GPS tracker in sewer during getaway (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed

Filed under: GPS

Granted, crooks who aren't up to speed on their technology have paid dearly (and rightfully so) for their ignorance, but a comical case involving a witty bank robber proved that even master plans involving GPS can be subverted. Reportedly, a woman who made off with an undisclosed amount of cash from a People's Bank in Connecticut somehow realized that a tracking device was stuffed within one of the oh-so-valuable bags. Rather than panicking, however, she simply removed the chip, chucked it in the sewer, and went about her day. It wasn't noted whether the sly criminal was ever brought to justice, but if the fuzz eventually ran her down, it was most certainly done the old fashioned way.

[Via TGDaily, image courtesy of NYJWJ]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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