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

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror

Comment Re:Waterboarding (Score 1) 951

by rblum (#31316482) Attached to: How Do You Get Users To Read Error Messages?

And why wouldn't she?

To a "normal" person, the "certificate" has no meaning. And all browsers couch the message in PC speak - "this *may* be an invalid certificate", etc. Which, to a user, means "sure, it may, but I always go here and it's safe".

If you want users to stop browsing there, three things need to happen:

* Browsers need a "safe" mode, on by default, that flat-out doesn't let you browse to those sites. No warning, no buts, no "Are you sure" dialogs. Just say no.
* If people *need* to get there, give them some training on security issues and then take of the safety measures slowly.
* IT departments need to stop cranking out their own internal certificates, or at least they need to update the CA list for users. God damn it, I don't want to see a certificate warning for internal sites.

Comment Re:Save your sanity, give up now (Score 2, Interesting) 951

by rblum (#31316410) Attached to: How Do You Get Users To Read Error Messages?

Honestly? No.

I don't have to think about error messages, or even actual problems with the tool, when I use a hammer, or a car, or a washing machine. If it's broken, I call a pro and have it fixed, period. (Or, in case of the hammer, I finally give in and buy a good tool, not the $0.99 one from Home Depot ;)

Same goes for software. That's what IT is for, taking care of software. Yes, I could do it myself - but that is not what I am paid for, that's what they are paid for.
The Military

Nuclear Subs 'Collide In Ocean' 622

Posted by CmdrTaco from the that's-gonna-look-bad-on-the-resume dept.
Jantastic noted a BBC report saying "A Royal Navy nuclear submarine was involved in a collision with a French nuclear sub in the middle of the Atlantic. It is understood HMS Vanguard and Le Triomphant were badly damaged in the crash earlier this month. Despite being equipped with sonar, it seems neither vessel spotted the other, the BBC's Caroline Wyatt said."

Comment Re:Programmers? What programmers? (Score 1) 209

by rblum (#18131460) Attached to: The Principles of Beautiful Web Design
It's not a matter of "underlings". I have the highest respect for web designers - it's a tough job, and I wouldn't be able to do it. But exactly as a web designer would never let me touch his web pages, I'd never let a web designer touch our code.

It's a matter of matching skillsets. And judging from the job interviews I get to see, there are plenty of people who have the misguided belief they're programmers - when they are web designers. It's a waste of time for them and me - so why not use proper labels and stop the confusion between both professions?

Listening for Cancer Cells 74

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the sorry-to-hear-that dept.
Roland Piquepaille writes "According to researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia, it's now possible to detect skin cancer cells present in blood samples by listening to the sound of melanoma cells. The scientists have used a method named photoacoustic detection, which uses a laser to make cells vibrate and ultrasound techniques to pick the sound of cancerous cells. This technique is so precise that it's possible to identify the spread of cancer even if there are only ten melanoma cells in a blood sample. Still, large clinical tests must be done before this method can be widely used."

Virtual Economies Attract Real-World Tax Attention 247

Posted by kdawson from the tax-haven-in-Second-Life dept.
doug141 writes to point out a Reuters story on the attention tax authorities are beginning to focus on virtual economies. From the article: "Users of online worlds such as Second Life and World of Warcraft transact millions of dollars worth of virtual goods and services every day... People who cash out of virtual economies by converting their assets into real-world currencies are required to report their incomes to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service or the tax authority where they live in the real world... 'Right now we're at the preliminary stages of looking at the issue and what kind of public policy questions virtual economies raise — taxes, barter exchanges, property and wealth,' said Dan Miller, senior economist for the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress."

The Nanopowers of Spinach 53

Posted by Zonk from the i-yam-what-i-yam-and-that's-all-that-i-yam dept.
Roland Piquepaille writes "Ohio University physicists have used a simple molecule of chlorophyll taken from spinach to develop a complex nanobiological switch. They used a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) to image chlorophyll-a and then injected it with a single electron to manipulate the molecule into four positions. The researchers say this biological switch might be used in future applications for green energy, technology and medicine. Read more for additional pictures and references about this spinach-based biological switch."

Nanocosmetics Used Since Ancient Egypt 252

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the lead-good-for-the-skin dept.
Roland Piquepaille writes "French researchers have found that Egyptians, Greek and Romans were using nanotechnology to dye their hair several thousands years ago. Nanowerk Spotlight reports they were using lead compounds which generated lead sulfide (PbS) nanocrystals with a diameter of only 5 nanometers. At a moment where many people wonder if the use of nanoparticles is safe, it's good to know that nanotechnology has been widely used for a very long time."

Sony Pushes Back Release For Blu-Ray Players 262

Posted by Zonk from the series-of-unfortunate-events dept.
Sony has announced that their first model of Blu-Ray player will release in August, not later this month as originally announced. The BDP-SP1, retailing for $1000, will now ship on or about August 15th. Bad news for fans of the new format, and even worse news for the PS3. Since Sony's lackluster E3 showing, a string of bad news has seemed to conspire against the company's next-gen console. From the Gamers with Jobs article: "With the PS3's high-end model coming it at a whopping $400.00 less than a stand-alone Blu-Ray player, Sony needs to release these players as soon as possible. If they wait too long, the PS3 will begin looming on the horizon, causing even devout early adopters to question the intelligence of buying a stand-alone Blu-Ray unit. Sony also needs the largest possible installed base, come launch-time for the PS3. For the Blu-Ray player to be the PS3's version of the PS2's DVD player, casual technophiles need to be able to see the virtues of the Blu-Ray format. If there are few players, and few titles, this might not happen."

Torvalds Has Harsh Words For FreeBSD Devs 571

Posted by Zonk from the end-of-the-week-frustrations dept.
An anonymous reader writes "In a relatively technical discussion about the merits of Copy On Write (COW) versus a very new Linux kernel system call named vmsplice(), Linux creator Linus Torvalds had some harsh words for Mach and FreeBSD developers that utilize COW: 'I claim that Mach people (and apparently FreeBSD) are incompetent idiots. Playing games with VM is bad. memory copies are _also_ bad, but quite frankly, memory copies often have _less_ downside than VM games, and bigger caches will only continue to drive that point home.' The discussion goes on to explain how the new vmsplice() avoids this extra overhead."

Slashdot Top Deals

You're already carrying the sphere!

Close