Posts by Jordan Davenport

Re: KDE is good

I held out on KDE 4 as well. When Ubuntu finally ditched support for 3.5.x, I briefly switched over to GNOME, but I've since tried later iterations of KDE 4 and have migrated back to it. As many others seem to feel, I concur that KDE 4 was really only starting to feel like a proper replacement for 3.5.x at 4.5. Each version steadily improves, mainly with minor tweaks here and there.

It seems 4.9 hasn't made it into the Qt/KDE experimental repository for Debian yet, but in my experience using it on Ubuntu 12.04 with an added repository, it continues the steady pace of improvements. I know it may be something small, but my favorite improvement in 4.9 is their overcoming the limitation with the Qt4 libraries in handling mouse navigation buttons in Dolphin. Minor, but it speeds up my navigation of directories. There are many other improvements that aren't readily obvious though.

Re: So what

And because of the injunction, Samsung had stock they couldn't sell. Now they'll at least be able to sell off remaining stock of the older model at reduced prices to recover from some of their loss.

If you hadn't noticed, Windows 8 has welded IE even deeper than ever before by using its libraries in conjunction with the new WinRT runtime to make new Windows Store apps*. (Yes, I know, RAS Syndrome.)

I mostly agree with your post except the part about IE10's being the last version. Even if it weren't so deeply meshed into the core now, Microsoft would surely continue developing it simply because some people can't easily switch. Now though, they've cemented it into existence, for better or for worse. That said, it at least isn't the old dog it used to be and does at least attempt to adhere to standards. And after all, healthy competition is good for the consumer.

* Note: Name subject to change by the week.

Re: Android tablet

The ONLY thing I will grant him is that the Nexus 7 does indeed not come with camera software installed by default, but there's a good reason for that - its only camera is front-facing, and it lacks a flash. It quite simply is not meant to be used for taking pictures of things, since you'd have to point its face at the subject. It's more intended to be a media consumption device, as are most tablets in general. The camera is there primarily for video calls such as on Skype.

The Nexus 7 also comes equipped with technology that even the iPhone 5 surprisingly lacks - NFC capability. Android Beam, while not perfect and right now mostly just a bit of a gimmick, is pretty nifty in general. Samsung's S Beam, for instance, adds features to it that make it more than just a toy. That obviously doesn't work with the Nexus 7, but it shows just one implementation of a potentially very useful technology that will evolve over time. Right now, it's mostly useful if you want to use Google Wallet, I suppose, but that's surely to change, especially with the imminent release of the Wii U, whose games in the future will eventually support NFC.

With the Tegra 3 chip in it, I'm certainly happy with the purchase, and so is my mother, for whom I bought the device in the first place.

Re: Give It A Rest

"Just wished there was a /ignore for meaningless drivel like yours."

There is - just don't click to read the comments.

Re: Head hurts...

Typo or Valve Time?

Re: Why the hell should webmail look nice on iPad?

@Roger B: You can sync contacts et al with the Windows Live Mail desktop program without paying, and you get no ads in the desktop client. I've used it before with my Gmail account, and my contacts will still sync with my Windows Live ID/.NET Passport/whatever they're calling it now. Unfortunately, there's no synchronization between it and Gmail, but that's to be expected. That said, you can import from a CSV.

Re: What did they expect?

@AC 10:46: I presume you've never heard of Kerckhoffs's principle. You might want to read about it.

Here's a Wikipedia link to start you off: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerckhoffs%27s_principle

I had an interesting glitch in Google Maps Navigation last week while testing it driving to a known location, which I presume was caused by not updating the variable's contents which stores the next directions to read aloud. Every time it spoke the directions, I was told to "Turn right onto <repeated street name here>". even in the middle of a bridge over the Ohio River.

Re: Free USB sticks?

Choice of filesystems aside, that was my first thought as well, but then I had second thoughts. The malware could be crafted into the firmware of the flash drives themselves rather than written to a partition, potentially affecting any OS. While that may be a much more sophisticated attack and therefore less likely, it's still a possibility, and I wouldn't recommend using the flash drive without at least rewriting a new firmware, if even possible.

Re: Can't do much about the bugs, but coloured icons...

I actually do like a LITTLE of the glass effects, but I can't stand the extent to which they're used in Firefox with tabs on bottom or in Thunderbird in Vista/7. I found other themes such as Silvermel for Thunderbird to fix that a while back when setting it up on my mother's laptop.

Re: I give it a month

"There is nothing to stop computers keys being updated and stored in static ram."

Except for physical installation media. But that's probably why Microsoft is pushing people to download Windows 8 from their online store instead of purchasing it in a brick and mortar shop.

Furthermore, updating from a leaked key to a fresh key would require installing the new public key from a potentially compromised system, which might allow anyone to install a "trusted" public key even for malware, unless Microsoft plans on forcing users to boot into the UEFI config to add the new key manually.

Re: Eaxctly?

Debian and its derivatives allow you to lock packages at specific versions, though it can be a little tricky. The most foolproof way I found was to edit a configuration file manually rather than use utilities for apt.

Generally multiple versions of a library that break compatibility with previous versions have different package names and can be installed simultaneously. I've installed older boost libraries before just to install Amazon's mp3 downloader in more recent versions of in Ubuntu. Repositories do allow for manual installation, but when you do that, keep in mind there are associated risks.

Re: So, no one noticed the desktop bit?

Netflix is not yet supported on the Linux platform in general, but Chrome OS and, as you pointed out Android, do support Netflix through specialized clients. That said, as far as I'm aware, it is only available in the closed-source Chrome OS builds in secure boot mode, not in the open source Chromium OS itself.

See: http://support.google.com/chromeos/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1401467

Re: Tap? TAP?

Have Microsoft stopped selling Vista?

Yes, actually.

"Microsoft no longer sells Windows Vista, though we will continue to support it."

Source:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/products/get or

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows-vista/products/get

Re: Look at the savings!

I really should've proof-read that a bit better. Two decimals in one number and forgot to put the $62.78 price for the starter kit. I'll just blame this cold that won't go away.

Re: errr . . .

LTS releases had 3 years' support on the desktop and 5 years' support on the server until this release. This is the first release to have 5 years' support on both. Non-LTS releases have 18 months' support only. Lucid Lynx (10.04 LTS) and Oneiric Ocelot (11.10) will both lose support on the desktop in about a year from now, but Ubuntu Server 10.04 will continue to be supported for two years after that.

Re: Relax, Fred

That said, Eta Carinae is thought to have a Wolf-Rayet star co-orbiting the larger star. Being so close to such a massive star going supernova could perhaps cause it to undergo a GRB. Though I do agree that we should relax. It's pointless to worry about something beyond our control that may or may not ever happen.

Human Vision

Our own eyesight uses lossy compression. We don't view entire images and process every detail instantaneously. If we did, optical illusions wouldn't work. Why should we distribute photographs using lossless compression when at first glance the human eye can't even tell the difference? We save bandwidth and provide acceptable results with lossy compression. Man-made inventions often are inspired by biological adaptations - lossy compression is just a digital example.

Not quite the same!

In this case, "app store" is a generic term that describes what the actual subject is. "Windows" is trademarked as the name of the actual operating system, not the name of the graphically divisible application instances within it; it's perfectly acceptable to refer to such instances as "windows" with no trademark infringement.

Two Bookmarks Icons

One Bookmarks icon is a dropdown list just like in the menu bar with a little arrow to the right of it showing that it's a dropdown list. That's the default icon that's on the toolbar. The other is a button that toggles the Bookmarks sidebar, the same as it's always been. The behavior of the former depends on what toolbars you have visible. Bookmarks toolbar? It's now on it instead. Menu bar? It's now only visible on it from the Bookmarks option. It's a dynamic interface that changes based on what is visible to the user. The other one shows regardless.

Blame the plugins

The plugins sit there watching all the time and, as soon as they see the links, get excited and load themselves fully in the browser. I make sure QuickTime is *not* installed on my own machines for that very reason - because I know how it likes to sink its teeth into everything and ignore other applications' settings.

Perhaps this is a flaw in how NPAPI lets plugins work, I don't know, but if it is, fixing it now could break well-behaved plugins that may not see update. Though, I do admit sometimes you do have to break away from the past and stop legacy support. (Unfortunately, this doesn't happen often enough, or else SMTP would've been replaced by now with something you can't easily spoof.)

In any case, mini-rant aside, Mozilla COULD probably change how file associations are handled and make user settings prevent the loading of plugins that lust for those formats, but that's not necessarily a simple task. Since the matter is easily fixable by disabling those plugins in the Addons Manager, I'd rather they work on higher priority bugs first.

Finally, for those complaining about a feature freeze, just how much work do you think it really is to add one setting that simply modifies a single string it sends to a server, and how many bugs in Firefox do you think that that would actually introduce?

@TeeCee

IE8's Compatibility Mode is for IE7 compatibility, not IE6 compatibility. See, IE7 didn't follow standards either. IE8 defaults to a fairly standards-compliant mode that actually lets the browser pass the Acid2 test (not that that should be a real judgment of standards compliance). Running IE6 itself, either virtualized or not, is the only thing Microsoft offers for legacy support. They DO offer Expression Web SuperPreview which can render pages using IE6's engine, but that is for debugging only and cannot be used as a proper web browser.

Makes banning specific users a nightmare

I'm an operator on a medium-sized IRC network, and the thought of having hundreds of users behind a single NAT simply makes me cringe. Any one troublemaker would cause ALL behind that address to receive a ban, either channel-wide or network-wide, which is already enough of a pain due to dynamic IP addresses. Then there are session limits... Our servers by default limit users to up to 5 simultaneous sessions for security purposes. Putting users behind a NAT would cause all sorts of "fun" not only for us but for any type of server that limits the number of simultaneous connections. Mobile phones already do this to an extent, and that sort of situation makes some sense... But overall, using one giant NAT for many users is NOT a good idea at all.

The problem isn't Firefox-specific or Windows-specific

Though it's more common to see on Windows since most applications that bundle such plugins are only for Windows, the problem is theoretically possible on any platform that doesn't prevent program files and directories from being modified by external sources. Not to mention browsers and plugins may be located in different locations in any one Linux distribution as compared to another, which complicates matters somewhat. The Mac is consistent from system to system though and will be more vulnerable to such drop-by plugin installs in the future, even if it doesn't happen now.

Firefox isn't the only browser affected either though. Any browser that supports plugins, particularly ActiveX plugins or NPAPI plugins, is vulnerable to such unauthorized installations - including Chrome, Safari, and Opera. The fact of the matter is that major vendors should clearly state if they are modifying the behavior of other applications.

Real malware is another matter though. All of these plugins require administrative rights, and malicious plugins are no different from any other malware you might find. Proper judgment and/or protection will keep you free of them. Dotzler's point isn't about the underlying security of the browser or the operating system but is instead about these major, generally-trusted vendors using shady tactics to push additional unnecessary software.

Steam can be launched from the browser, and it doesn't install any plugins. Instead, it installs an extra steam: protocol into the operating system itself that when the browser sees it asks you whether you want to launch the default application associated with that protocol or not. iTunes could do the same thing without installing a plugin in the browser.

Re: Cpt Blue Bear

I don't really see why Google should be forced to use more resources to grab data elsewhere from third parties that they already have, so I'll just respond to the rest of your post.

Back in the 90s, my ISP provided Netscape Navigator to its customers on a series of floppy diskettes, which was more convenient than using FTP, I'd say.

Regarding removing search results, Google supports boolean operators. If you want a fun project, you could write a browser extension or script that customizes Google search results based on filter lists, and you wouldn't have to deal with price comparison sites anymore.

I'm glad...

I wasn't the only one that caught that. Then again, in 1/6 the Earth's gravity, "light" may take on a new definition!

You're not using beta 8

You're using Minefield/Firefox 4.0b8pre. The difference is the "pre," much as it was when you were using Firefox 4.0b7pre.

I still find it ridiculous to call it a beta when it's not even feature-complete. I'd argue that what they're releasing as "betas" are really alpha-stage products with the nightlies and such being pre-alpha, not pre-beta. That said, more people are likely willing to test beta software than they are alpha software, so that's probably why they chose to label it so. Eh, marketing.

I've been testing the nightlies on my home computer in Windows and started experiencing crashes on any page that used much JavaScript somewhere mid-4.0b7pre, and they're still not fixed. Are they finally working on merging JägerMonkey into the trunk now?

They still have several features left to implement. I somehow don't see them arriving before the release candidate. I'll be completely disillusioned if they ship a feature-incomplete "release candidate."

Re: They already do, don't they?

No, they don't. OpenOffice.org offers a quick loader to run at startup, but Firefox doesn't. It does a clean start each time. The only things speeding up its launch a tad in Windows are the Windows prefetch and SuperFetch in Vista and 7.

Service Packs and Update Rollups

And then you would inevitably get a giant update to download which contains patches that don't even apply to you, not to mention Apple almost always seem to botch *something* when they release their system updates.

Though that's why Microsoft releases service packs periodically. They contain all updates from the past plus a few extra things never released to the general public before. Perhaps it would be a better idea to release them or their "update rollups" more frequently for the purpose of speeding up clean installs, I'll agree, but for monthly updates, I prefer them all to be separate so I can select what I want and not install what might cause problems.

Don't expect the GBA port

The DSi lost them. Don't expect them to return. Nintendo stressed upon launch of the DS that it was not another Game Boy. The mistake they made in that claim was adding the GBA ports to begin with, making people associate it with being just another Game Boy. That said, having the second port was nice in that it instantly gave the DS a large array of playable games and offered newer games capabilities of linking with older games (Pokemon's usage and Mega Man ZX's usage, for instance). Game Boy Advance games haven't been produced in years though, so continuing support for it would be pointless. Even the Game Boy Micro, admittedly an utter failure on the market, lost support for the original Game Boy and Game Boy Color games, and it could still fit them.

Only twice...

Only twice have Microsoft released significant user-land updates to already-released versions of Windows. The first time was with Internet Explorer 4, when they released the optional Windows Desktop Update for Windows 95 and NT 4.0. The second time was Windows XP Service Pack 2, which provided additional security features such as Security Center to XP and, as someone else stated, turned on the Windows Firewall by default. All other service packs (for the NT series only; no official service packs were ever released for 9x) were mostly just update roll-up packs with the occasional backend framework update that allowed developers to expect certain libraries to be available on end user devices.

Not quite experienced that myself

I've been using the 3.6.4 beta since the first official build. I've not once had it disable Aero on me. I'm using Windows 7 with a Radeon HD 4850, rather recent drivers. I have had random apps disable Aero for their own windows before though. Photoshop CS2 in particular likes to do that, seemingly randomly.