Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror

Comment uhhh (Score 1) 499

I think Shulman is missing his own point.

"The problem has changed very little over the past 20 years, explained Shulman, referring to a 1990 Unix password study that showed a password selection pattern similar to what consumers select today. Its time for everyone to take password security seriously; its an important first step in data security.

So 20 years later we still have all of exact same problem? The lesson here is _not_ that "it's time for _everyone_ to take pw security seriously". The lesson is that the basic mechanic's of passwords doesn't work. I'm sure they tried to take pw security seriously 20 years ago. The average user doesn't understand the math behind making a complex password. Password requirements add to the confusion: one pw changes every 3 months, another 4, some must use mixed case, ohters 2 numbers and a special character, and don't write it down, etc, then throw in some passwords fields that cannot use special characters, my bank pw cannot start with a number, can't reuse a pw for 12 uses and the result is simplified easier to remember passwords. Same as the last but add a '1' at the end, incriment to '2' in 3 months.

Old Dakota wisdom says that if you are riding a dead horse, get off. Shulman seems to think that if we just get serious and dig in our heals we can suddenly get the dead horse to trot. Meanwhile management will ignore Shulman and instead decide to double the horsepower-- by buying another dead horse.

Comment how do you (Score 1) 467

open a PDF with MS office and edit it, I can't seem to get them to open like they do in openoffice.

openoffice is a bit sluggish to open but definitely has more functionality than MS office these days -- for instance, no retraining workers to use the ribbon interface on a new machine since openoffice works like they expect it to.

Comment distance (Score 1) 383

The distance to Betelgeuse is not known with precision but if this is assumed to be 640 light years- wikipedia

In 1369 AD there was still a star where betelgeuse is susposed to be, but it may go nova before Columbus heads of for Haiti in the next century (verb tense: future past imperfect).
Rigel is 700-900 light years away (years ago)
Epsilon Orionis 1300 ly
Gamma Orionis 250 ly

All are part of orions belt, and looking up at the sky I see them all at the same time, but its an illusion. Like one of those pictures where perspective makes it look like a person is taller than a building, or holding up the moon. Whatever happened to Betelgeuse in 1400 is shown in the same view of Orion next to an image of Gamma Orionis from 1759, and a picture of Epsilon Orionis from the 700's and without using photoshop.

Comment color me not impressed (Score 1) 165

Currently, the deepest-rated vehicles are able to descend to 6,500m, allowing scientists access to 95% of the seafloor.

Deep Flight Challenger

Deep Flight Challenger was built to enable adventurer, Steve Fossett, to set the ultimate solo dive record for all time (37,000 feet). Unfortunately Fossett perished in a plane crash before he could dive the submersible to record depth. Hawkes Ocean Technologies is now the only organization in the world that has full ocean depth technology.

Flight endurance: full ocean depth and back in 5 hours
Speed: Cruise 2.2 knots; Max 3 knots
Ascent/Descent Rate:350 feet/second at +/- 45 degrees
Operating Depth: 37,000 fsw
Crew: 1

http://www.deepflight.com/subs/df_challenger.htm

37,000 feet > 6,500m normally. News reporters seldom seem to actually fully understand reality or what they are reporting, is it any wonder that the rest of the news sounds so distorted and that headlines are usually one way hashes?

Comment why (Score 1) 640

Why are superhero movies even PG as a norm? shouldnt they be G? they are based on comics which conform to the moralist comics code, ie the source material is G rated (dark knight is part of a more recent era of comics which is no longer bound by the old code. its an exception).

To add some perspective, what would you think about a remake of the Wizard of Oz with an R rating for nudity and profanity. How about Tom Sawyer and Huckfinn adapted to the big screen with that R rating, and the screenplay altered to be more commercially viable-- Jim is now secretly working for the 'railroad' and huck and tom have repressed feelings for each other.

How about King Lear being performed for over a 150 years with an alternate 'Happy' ending written by Johnson?

I'm not saying no to non-G super hero movies, just think about why PG-13 or R would be considered the norm, when the source material is so 'clean'

Slashdot Top Deals

There is no royal road to geometry. -- Euclid

Working...