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Slashback: Dry Mars, Wet Doc, Keyboard Teaser 159

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the dispelling-the-news dept.
Slashback tonight brings some corrections, clarifications, and updates to previous Slashdot stories, including a possible release date for the long awaited Optimus keyboard, yet another extension in the Blackberry court case, lakebed theory on Mars possibly all wet, US-CERT statistics perhaps not all they are cracked up to be, stem cell investigation reveals papers were faked, the FTC objects to the Netflix settlement, and a new Crossover Office fixes the WMF exploit among other things. Read on for details.

Optimus keyboard may have a real release date? Jacket writes to tell us that the much talked about Optimus keyboard has a suggestive message on their website. With "Good things come in small packages February 1, 2006" could it be possible that this holy grail (for some) keyboard could be available in our near future?

Yet another delay for Blackberry court case. ahsile writes "TheGlobeandMail.com is reporting that 'NTP Inc., the company suing Research in Motion Ltd over the Blackberry e-mail service, wants more time to respond to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's preliminary rejections of its patents.'

Lakebed theory on Mars all wet? Sensible Clod writes "The Meridiani Planum region on Mars, long believed to have been covered with water millions of years ago, may not have been so wet after all, according to a new study from the University of Colorado at Boulder. From the article: 'The new study indicates chemical signatures in the bedrock, interpreted...as evidence for widespread, intermittent water at Mars' surface, may have instead been created by the reaction of sulfur-bearing steam vapors moving up through volcanic ash deposits. Known as Meridiani Planum, the region may have been more geologically similar to volcanic regions in parts of North America, Hawaii or Europe.'"

US-CERT statistics not all they are cracked up to be? jtshaw writes "Tectonic has an interesting article about the latest US-CERT stats. The actual vulnerabilities for a hand full of OS's after wading through the data: Microsoft Windows - 44, Apple Mac OS X - 21, IBM AIX - 21, HP-UX - 15, SCO Unix - 9, Red Hat Linux - 7, Suse Linux - 12, Debian Linux - 10, Gentoo Linux - 5, FreeBSD - 13, NetBSD - 2. It appears to me that commercial unix systems and open source *nix systems did pretty well compared to Windows on the vulnerability front."

Stem cell papers, confirmed fakes. An anonymous reader writes "The committee created to investigate stem cell researcher Hwang Woo Suk has confirmed that his first and second papers were faked. 'dashing hopes that his work is a breakthrough in treatments for diabetes and Parkinson's disease. [...] The panel backed Hwang's claim that he cloned the world's first dog.'"

FTC objects to Netflix settlement. AtariDatacenter writes "Although some question the validity of a recent lawsuit against Netflix, many users were up in arms about the terms of the settlement, which seemed like more of a marketing gimmick. Today, we learned that The Federal Trade Commission agreed, and asked the judge to reject the terms of the settlement."

New Crossover Office fixes,among other things, WMF exploit. ubuntuincleelum writes "Just on the heels of the announcement of new WMF security vulnerabilities Codeweavers is releasing Crossover Office 5.0.1. A bugfix release, this release features a fix for the original WMF bug. Among the changes in this release: Improved support for Gnome, improvements in Debian packaging and improvements in general for operability on Debian and Debian Derivatives."

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Slashback: Dry Mars, Wet Doc, Keyboard Teaser More

Slashback: Dry Mars, Wet Doc, Keyboard Teaser

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  • Optimus (Score:5, Insightful)

    by iMaple ( 769378 ) on Wednesday January 11, 2006 @07:09PM (#14450272)
    Optimus keyboard may have a real release date

    Its highly unlikely that they will release a product by 1 Feb (a a resonable price , say $500). The price of high res OLED displays (required for each key!) is simple too expensive even now. Maybe we will see that in 2007. Notice that their site does not have a clear release date (which it would to hype up the launch).

    • Re:Optimus (Score:5, Informative)

      by ecryder ( 851413 ) on Wednesday January 11, 2006 @07:21PM (#14450339) Homepage Journal
      Check this FAQ on artlebedev http://www.artlebedev.com/portfolio/optimus/answer s/ [artlebedev.com] "...less than a good mobile phone"
      • They can claim that until they turn blue, but it ain't going to happen unless they like losing money on every sale.
        • Or maybe they really meant less than a top of the line mobile phone _before_ the discounts for signing up for a long term committment.

          My guess is this keyboard will cost more than some computers, but for some it might be worth it (it IS massively cool).
      • So, the next question is: What do they consider a good mobile phone?
    • They might just make the spacebar and function keys OLED to save on cost, untill mass production drives down the price. Then they'll make all the keys OLED.
    • We'll see on Feb 1st then. If it is true, it will ROCK. If not, oh well.

    • Re:Optimus (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Crudely_Indecent ( 739699 ) * on Wednesday January 11, 2006 @08:21PM (#14450674) Journal
      OK, 1 joke and 2 serious notes.

      Has anyone considered the ramifications of the "BLUE KEYBOARD OF DEATH" scenario when Windows halts with a BSOD.

      My first serious note is; Why hasn't Apple jumped on this like stink-on-poo. This seems like an item that would be right up their alley.

      Second; Depending on the SDK, of course, imagine writing applications that can modify the keyboard based on available program options.

      Scenario: Using `less`, the left and right keys are dimmed while the up arrow is red (indicating that you're at the top of the document) and the down arrow is flashing green with a number (indicating the number of rows remain in the document.) As you scroll down, the remaining lines decrease.

      If this gets popular, how long 'til spam infiltrates your keyboard? Where's my backspace key.....what the... \/1@6®/\

      • Re:Optimus (Score:5, Interesting)

        by shaka ( 13165 ) on Wednesday January 11, 2006 @09:13PM (#14450917)
        My first serious note is; Why hasn't Apple jumped on this like stink-on-poo. This seems like an item that would be right up their alley.

        My thoughts exactly. I must admit I'm a bit frustrated that even geeks who like the idea of this keyboard doesn't seem to view it as more than a cute toy. I think it might revolutionize human-computer interaction (I explain this in more detail below). Imagine the new Mac Book Pro with a keyboard like this, and application support in every Apple application...

        Scenario: Using `less`, the left and right keys are dimmed while the up arrow is red (indicating that you're at the top of the document) and the down arrow is flashing green with a number (indicating the number of rows remain in the document.) As you scroll down, the remaining lines decrease.

        While this is cute (and I would love it), it's not good enough.

        Scenario: When you point your mouse at a text-input area (such as the one I'm typing in right now), the keyboard is a regular keyboard with a few cool shortcuts. When you're done typing, and click at the browser area (in which you can't type), it all changes. Suddenly, keys are instead shortcuts to Reload, Back, Home, this type of stuff. The "/" key is a magnifying glass, and when you press it, you get your regular keyboard to indicate that you can enter text to search in the page.

        While surfing, the Email-key on your keyboard starts pulsating with an envelope, indicating that new mail has arrived (Biff in your keyboard baby!). You switch focus to your MUA, and the keyboard buttons transform into icons for Reply, Forward, Write new, Next unread message... You reply to the new message, and voilà, there's your regular keys again.

        When you're done, the IM key starts blinking... Well, you get my drift.

        So, what does this change in your UI? Well, for starters, we can finally get rid of all these space hogging, most often ugly, shortcut tool-/buttonbars. All of this functionality will instead be available in the keyboard. Learning shortcuts in a new application will be a breeze - the first times you're using it, the keys show what they mean, and after a while, you have it in your fingers and can make all keys turn black, effectively cloning the Das Keyboard [daskeyboard.com]... ;)

        The real action, of course, happens in applications with heavy use of shortcuts, such as Photoshop, Word, Eclipse and other IDEs, and the ruler of them all: Emacs! Imagine pressing Alt, then Meta, then Ctrl... While the keys are updated to reflect their current functionality!

        Again, people view this as cute; I view it as a potential user interface revolution in the hands of someone like Apple (or preferably Gnome!).
        • There are some ergonomic damage issues with this, though. I often spend most of my time typing looking at the screen rather than the keyboard. If my fingerplacing gets really messed up I might peek at the board but that's it. My monitor is usually set up in a position where I can see it without straining my neck.

          Spending all day looking down at my keyboard though? That's got to do some damage, right?

        • Re:Optimus (Score:3, Insightful)

          by joshki ( 152061 )
          Does anyone actually look at their keyboard?? I can't remember the last time I even saw mine! Anyone who seriously uses a computer should be able to touch type, and I don't remember the last time I used an "email shortcut" key or anything like that. In all honesty, I can't even tell you what that key does in Linux at the moment -- I've never pressed it or any of the keys in that row. They're just detritus that I completely ignore. It sounds like your idea would be a neat toy, or maybe a training aide f

          • Re:Optimus (Score:3, Insightful)

            by shaka ( 13165 )
            Well, I'm sure you are a great touch-typist. I'm pretty good, too. However, I'm talking about the other stuff you're able to use your keyboard for. In Photoshop, for instance, all those keys actually are shortcuts right now, but since most people - even someone like my ex-girlfriend who is a photographer and has spent years in school and work using Photoshop - don't know a fraction of the shortcuts available, they bring the mouse and wander away in the menus.

            The same thing with me and Eclipse or IntelliJ Id

            • Re:Optimus (Score:2, Insightful)

              by TheCRAIGGERS ( 909877 )
              In Photoshop, for instance, all those keys actually are shortcuts right now, but since most people - even someone like my ex-girlfriend who is a photographer and has spent years in school and work using Photoshop - don't know a fraction of the shortcuts available, they bring the mouse and wander away in the menus.

              I don't see how this will help. Have you ever watched somebody new to computing do the "hunt and peck" when they're looking for the 'J' key? Just think, if they can't even see the 'J' key, wh
        • Instead of "Punch the monkey" banner ads, we might see something like "chase your moving Escape key around the keyboard" or "every damn key suddenly maps to "OK"...

          Seriously, it does seem promising, but like most improved keyboard designs, we'll probably never see it adopted. It's a problem of human inertia.

        • [...] the down arrow is flashing green with a number [...]

          [...] the Email-key on your keyboard starts pulsating [...] When you're done, the IM key starts blinking...

          And I thought that animated GIFs were annoying: no way I'd want a carnival of winky-lights dancing all over my keyboard, even if having modal key labels turned out to be a good idea.

          This'd be a fine replacement for some touch-screens, since you'd get the flexibility of updatable labels with the usability of actual, pressable buttons. But i

        • My scenario using 'less' was just a simple example. I'm right there with you. No more File, Edit, View menus, no more application menus.

          Key combinations could do all the work, and be intuitive to boot. After learning for a period (by looking), eventually one could touch-type-control any application they use frequently.

          I can think of even nifty uses...that are just cute. How about a screenshot/thumbnail of the next desktop or console in the Fx key when you press Alt or Ctrl?

          I like the idea of Biff and IM
          • My scenario using 'less' was just a simple example. I'm right there with you. No more File, Edit, View menus, no more application menus.

            Well, I think I would like to keep the File, Edit, View menus, but good riddance to the Toolbar (which already is removable in most apps, at least in Gnome).

            I like the idea of Biff and IM on the keyboard (although I personally hate IM), this could extend to CRM and ERP systems as well. Workflow that appears on your keyboard. "Ms. Gradenko, why haven't you processed those fo
        • Hey why not couple it with one of those touch-sensitive screens - then you can type on the screen while watching movies on the keyboard!!

          Bah. What a load of self-indulgent shite. Two words, mate. Peak Oil. [lifeaftertheoilcrash.net]

          Civilization is right now on the verge of falling apart permanently - and we are at the beginning of a century of global war for the very last of the planet's natural resources if the US gets its way - and here you are still drooling over the ultimate symbol of the very overconsumption that brought us

        • This is starting to sound like LCARS [wikipedia.org]... Which is a good thing. =)
      • Well, the 'less' feature wouldn't help me much; I look at my monitor while I type. (Even when reaching for the arrow keys.)

        PS Love your sig, watched that episode of Firefly again tonight.

      • I'll take it a step further.

        Combine the Fingerworks zero force keyboard with the o-led display. Now that would be a serious keyboard!
      • Yeah, that should appear on the 'insert' key.
    • You're just being mean. How dare you dash my hopes like that. :`(

      --Neth
    • While the concept is intriguing, what are the mechanics? A quick look at the site didn't answer that question... as a buckling-spring fan I'd reject any keyboard that didn't have my prefered feel, no matter what other bells and whistles it provides.

    • If you look at the keys, they're 32x32 icons. [artlebedev.com] That's not very high-rez, and those are the concept pictures: the real thing may use 16x16 or less.

      Likewise, my understanding was that the larger the display, the more expensive it becomes. This, like chips, is because of the increasing fragility and the increasing likelyhood of a manufacturing defect sending it all to pot. But these are postage-stamp size screens, and as such should be much cheaper.

      And except for the red background in one of the pictures, th

  • FOSS equivalent of optimus keyboard (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    It is software, but gives you the same functionality as the optimus keyboard for (f/F)ree...
    http://www.qliner.com/hotkeys [qliner.com]

    Windows only at the moment :( maybe they'll create a nice Gnome version in the future...
    • lol, that site is blank, perpahs I need javascript

      yeah, I can trust their judgement

      anyway, do you even know what the functionality of the Optimus is - it's the freakin keys, not the mapping, we can do the mapping already !!!

  • Meridiani Planum (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Known as Meridiani Planum, the region may have been more geologically similar to volcanic regions in parts of North America, Hawaii or Europe.'"
    Which means it bears no similarity to volcanic regions in New Zealand?

  • Optimus (Score:2, Informative)

    by ACME Septic ( 936684 )
    If you click on the Answers link on that page for the Optimus keyboard, it says: It's in the initial stage of production. We hope it will be released in 2006. It will cost less than a good mobile phone. It will be real. It will be OS-independent (at least it's going to be able to work in some default state with any OS). It will support any language or layout. Moscow is the capital of Russia. Each key could be programmed to produce any sequence. It will be an open-source keyboard, SDK will be availa
    • http://hardware.slashdot.org/hardware/05/07/18/13 1 4226.shtml [slashdot.org]

      "It seems that Art Lebedev has responded to the Slashdotting that occured to their page about the 'Optimus Keyboard'. They have included a FAQ at the middle-right of the page stating some of the questions that Slashdotters were wondering."

      It's in the initial stage of production.

      We hope it will be released in 2006.

      It will cost less than a good mobile phone.

      It will be real.

      It will be OS-independent (at least it's going to be able to work in some def

    • Re:Optimus (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Tim Browse ( 9263 )
      It will most likely use the OLED technology (e-paper is sooo slow).

      Yeah, because I know I demand my keytop displays to be locked to a 60fps update, otherwise it breaks the illusion.

      • That's actually true. These guys are stuck on the idea of animating the keycaps, not just changing them between static bitmap sets. I personally think the latter is more useful on a keyboard, but these folks are artist. Art-butts think like that.
    • Moscow is the capital of Russia. Our studio is located two blocks from the Kremlin. There's no snow in Moscow in summer.

      Aww, the Russian geeks are shy! How cuute.

  • US-CERT faulty stats (Score:3, Informative)

    by gbobeck ( 926553 ) on Wednesday January 11, 2006 @07:17PM (#14450316) Homepage Journal
    Attrition.org posted a nice rant about this on 1/2/2006.

    http://www.osvdb.org/blog/?p=79 [osvdb.org]

    Likewise, good ole /. users made quite a few comments about the US-CERT line of BS at http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/12/31/081 2210&from=rss [slashdot.org]

  • Case for water still strong (Score:5, Informative)

    by amightywind ( 691887 ) on Wednesday January 11, 2006 @07:17PM (#14450322) Journal

    The new study indicates chemical signatures in the bedrock, interpreted...as evidence for widespread, intermittent water at Mars' surface, may have instead been created by the reaction of sulfur-bearing steam vapors moving up through volcanic ash deposits.

    The famed 'blueberries' present in the Martian sediments are concretions. On Earth they only form in the presence of water. They are very widespread in the sedimentary layers of Meridiani. The article gives no alternate explanation. Such concretions are not present in the fumurole-altered sediments of Solfatara Crater. That does not mean the Martian sediments are not volcanoclastic in origin, but the case for water immersion is still strong.

    • Re:Case for water still strong (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Indeed. The two studies that tried to refute the water theory were in the news weeks ago, and already refuted by Squyres by the time they hit the press. Not that they have to be wrong, but they didn't use all the data available (partly because it was still being released).
    • "The famed 'blueberries' present in the Martian sediments are concretions. On Earth they only form in the presence of water."

      In the laboratory -- i.e., on Earth -- blueberries have also been demonstrated to form in the presence of high-intensity electric arcs -- e.g., lightning. A lightning-strike on Earth releases enough energy (if efficiently employed) to excavate an 85-foot crater, but most of its energy is dissipated in the atmosphere ("boom!"). On Mars there's very little atmosphere to absorb such

      • Fulgurites will not be perfectly spherical like the blueberries, they tend to be flattened shapes. Nor would they be uniformly distributed in the host rock. Also the blueberries were examinied closely enough to see that they are not made of glass like fugerites. They are mostly hematite. I can't say much about lightning conditions on early Mars, except that lightning is less likely to discharge in a thinner atmosphere. But with all of the particulates flying around in the atmosphere I wouldn't be surprised

        • Who said anything about "uniformly distributed in the host rock"? Who said anything about "early Mars"? Who said anything about "made of glass"? Zap the soil lying there right on the surface and see what happens. Yes, loose hematite balls.

          If lightning is "less likely ... in a thinner atmosphere", that means charges build up longer before it discharges, releasing more energy when it does. However, a thinner atmosphere (particles or no) is no inherent limit on lightning. What matters is ionization and

          • Zap the soil lying there right on the surface and see what happens. Yes, loose hematite balls.

            You don't know what your are talking about. Here [menzelphoto.com] is a picture of a Fulgerite. The lighting discharge gives the dendritic tubes cylindrical symetry. They are not spherical. Also the process of annealing does not fractionate hematite from the surrounding rocks. How would a lightning strike do that.

            Incidentally, how do you imagine those "particulates flying around in the [wispy] atmosphere" get there -- thunder

            • Electrical discharges leave a wide variety of residues, depending on details of substrate, subsurface conductivity, current density, temperature reached, and duration. Lightning on Earth tends to one extreme, which produces typical terrestrial fulgarites. On Mars, who knows?

              Nobody said anything about current fractionating anything from rocks. When we look at the places where blueberries are found we find nearly pure hematite soil, the natural place to get the material for a hematite spheroid. "Lightni

  • With those buttons, it's going to be expensive. And everybody how most keyboards are nowadays: after a year or two of intense use, they're ruined. So, this Optimus better have mechanical keyswitches, or even hall effect sensors; or else, it'd be a waste of a good idea.
    • Are you serious?
      I've only ever used old keyboards, like circa 1990. I somehow accumulate them. The only times ive switched are after hitting it (before dumping windows) and another that I got bored of what id written on it.

      Makes me glad I haven't broken down and bought a shiny new one.
    • that link to the anti-circumcision page is quite a hoot!

    • Re:That keyboard looks cool, but... (Score:5, Funny)

      by DrSkwid ( 118965 ) on Wednesday January 11, 2006 @07:47PM (#14450489) Journal
      All my new keyboards are dead, all my old ones are still going.

      I don't know how old this Silcon Graphics one is but it has a "YES Netware Approved" sticker on the bottom and I bought it *used* 3 yrs ago. None of the keytops show's the slightest wear, despite all day use sine it arrived.

      I could hit burglars with the beast and still keep typing.

      even at $400, 2 years is only $4 a week

      I'm sure I'd pay $400 for the gee whizzest keyboard in the world, esp. if no other geek in town has one.

      The bitches'll be on me like gnats on a dog's dick when I attach mine to my laptop at the WiFi hotspot.

    • It might almost be worth it, assuming it doesn't crap out after a year. I noticed the sample pictures, one showing key mappings for Quake, the other labeled with keyboard shortcuts for photoshop. I can never remember keyboard shortcuts for all the programs I use, so I generally end up sticking to the mouse and the menues. While I'm sure you probably have to set up the key-mappings yourself (someone correct me if that's wrong...that'd be cool), if these got popular enough, I could see some collaboration betw

  • "Good things come in small packages" (Score:3, Funny)

    by renrutal ( 872592 ) <renrutal@gmail.com> on Wednesday January 11, 2006 @07:24PM (#14450363)
    Are they only delivering the keys?
    • I think they're going to release:

      - A box with a handful of customizable keys that you use in conjunction with a regular keyboard, like the USB numeric keypads some people have.
      - It will use B&W LCDs instead of colour OLEDS.
      - It will be twice as thick as the rendered Optimus keyboard.
      - It will cost $100 or more.
      - The drivers and configuration software will be flakey.
      - It will not stand up to a year's worth of regular use.

      Seriously, I like the original idea, but it's not practical right now.
    • Yes, and you have to sleep with them to get more...
  • Don't expect the results of the inquiry to reflect reality, just what they want people to believe. He may have made those breakthroughs, or he may have done much worse than they say. It is immaterial.

  • The world's first dog ? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by DrSkwid ( 118965 ) on Wednesday January 11, 2006 @07:32PM (#14450410) Journal
    I had a dog long before this guy cloned one.

    Perhaps the submitted meant "the first to sucessfully clone a dog"

    Talking of dogs, you can sponsor the poor beggers here [dogstrust.org.uk] (after looking at the one I sponsor)

  • The only two keys: "DO" and "Undo". The software is supposed to be able to figure out (correctly!), what to do (or undo).

  • I dont see it (Score:2, Insightful)

    by TwentyQuestions ( 945020 )
    I dont see that keyboard happening this year, maybe not at all.

    They obviously dont even have a protype worth photographing because all their pictures are CG.

    The whole thing makes me suspicious.

    It says "It will cost less than a good mobile phone". I really cant see that happening. The displays will cost alot, but the microcontrollers to make this thing be "OS-independent" would put it over $200-$300 alone I think.

    "It will most likely use the OLED technology (e-paper is sooo slow)."
    Its just a keyb

    • Re:I dont see it (Score:1, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Above of all to me the silliness on their answers page("Moscow is the capital of Russia." etc..) shows they arent very serious.

      [ironic remark]yeah, i know what you mean... just like winamp... http://www.winamp.com/about/team.php [winamp.com] [/ ironic remark]
    • It says "It will cost less than a good mobile phone". I really cant see that happening. The displays will cost alot, but the microcontrollers to make this thing be "OS-independent" would put it over $200-$300 alone I think.

      $200 - $300 for a microcontroller? Maybe I'm confused about what you are trying to say but last time I checked, good-enough "microcontrollers" were only about $4 each in bulk. I'm guessing the keyboard is USB, and will just work like a normal USB keyboard if it is connected to a system t

      • Yes microcontrollers are very cheap. But the products cost usually goes up many times the actual cost of the hardware. Exspecialy if its a new and innovative feature.

        The features they outline would require alot of in-keyboard intelligence. To be properly "OS-independent" it would require a good bit of processing power in the keyboard.

        Yes it is fairly cheap to manufacturer, but its not a cheap feature when bought to have a "mini" computer in a usally passive device.

        will just work like a normal USB k

    • Actual Date (Score:2, Funny)

      by El Royo ( 907295 )
      It was a small typo on the web page. The release date is April 1, 2006.
    • Ummm... Check out Apple.com. They obviously dont even have a protype worth photographing because all their pictures are CG. Oh wait... you can actually buy that stuff right now? Perhaps something is wrong with the logic here...
  • but i'm not sure i want to pay as much for a keyboard as i would for a high end video card...

    what is it with computers lately... first they want me to pay for 2 video cards (sli, crossfire) then two processor cores.....Now with the $500 keyboards....

    I'm going to have to take out a 2nd mortgage when i upgrade my current pc at this rate....

    jeeze....
  • Has anyone else noticed that the keyboard layout is almost identical to a Sun Type 6.
    Those Keys are pretty swank, though I don't really see the point in it, Who looks at the keyboard when they type anyway?
    • Those Keys are pretty swank, though I don't really see the point in it,

      Unless you're learning to type in different kbd layouts, yeah there's not a lot of point to have 100+ keys have little pictures. If it was just the hotkeys on the left, that would be cool, cuz you could program whatever apps you wanted onto it.

    • It's not for typing.

      There are several applications that use an incredible number of essential [logickeyboard.com] keyboard shortcuts.

      I work at a video editing firm, and every Avid suite has a custom, color-coded keyboard. This sort of thing is very useful in non-typing situations. If it was context-sensitive, and would display the new commands when you go into, say, After Effects, your work would get done faster.

      This is for the video editor who switches between Avid and Final Cut Pro. Or the 3d animator who switches b

  • SCO has best flaw/user ratio. (Score:5, Funny)

    by twitter ( 104583 ) on Wednesday January 11, 2006 @08:24PM (#14450689) Homepage Journal
    SCO had only nine.

    That's one for each user, fantastic!

  • Some banks now offer a way to generate a temporary credit card number with a reduced credit limit or a shortened expiration time. (MBNA's implementation is called "ShopSafe.") So if you have to supply a credit card number to get a freebie from some company, and they say they'll charge you if you don't cancel, just give them a newly generated card number that expires at the end of the month or that has a credit limit lower than their monthly fee.

    I've gotten in the habit of using a temp card number for most

  • Should have included that Damn CD story (Score:3, Informative)

    by Crashmarik ( 635988 ) on Wednesday January 11, 2006 @09:31PM (#14451013)
    After I had some time I checked my collection of old burnt CD's. I found 10 from 96 and 10 were good. I had 3 different brands of CD. While 10 CD's may not be any way statiscally indicative. If the things had an absolute max life of 5 years you owuld have expected at least 1 not to read. I also found a couple from 98,99 and 2000 all good as well. I have to ask what agenda does the guy promulgating the short CD life theory have ?? Is IBM starting to manufacture a new tape drive tech ?
  • I've been so completely satisfied with Netflix, I can't even begin to gush enough.

    Screw the settlement. If you don't like Netflix, drop it. Bunch of fucking whiners.

    • IT's one thing not to like a service, it is another when the service out right lies about what they provide. That said..

      you should be happy that this settlement it being tossed back. Too many time corporation have gotten away with settlements that only benefit them instead of punishing then for wrong doing.

  • The point of that report is that MS Windows had so many vulnerabilities that it was split out into it's own category:

    Windows: 800
    Anybody else: 2000
    Cross Platform: 2000

    Three broad categories. Nobody other than Microsoft managed to create software buggy enough to qualify for their own category. PR geeks somehow manage to turn this into a plus for microsoft.

    That various reporters managed to mis-construe this seemingly obvious fact is only peripherally CERT's fault. I've been on the inside of enough

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