Computer Floss » Opinion

FLOSS alternatives for the post-PRISM era

Wed, 21 Aug 2013 09:15:23 +0000

In this post, I’ll describe a few alternative FLOSS programs for any proprietary software you might be using to handle your sensitive data. Exactly how FLOSS makes life harder for peeping toms I’ll describe in a follow-up post. (Edit: You’ll find that follow-up post here.) Background In recent months we’ve learned about how the national […]

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Pursuing Code Simplicity – Does Dr. Dobbs Miss the Point?

Mon, 01 Jul 2013 09:43:08 +0000

This article in Dr. Dobbs claims an obsession with code simplicity exists among some (i.e. agile) programmers. It refers to that old received hacker wisdom that any fool can write complex code, but it takes real talent to write simple code. The author attacks this point of view, saying that in reality some problems are […]

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Why choose Python for teaching?

Mon, 07 May 2012 09:49:58 +0000

I recently read a tweet by a computer science educator claiming the superiority of a particular programming language for teaching purposes (Pascal, if you must know). Now, I don’t really go for religious wars — each to his own and all that — but I did reply with my opinion that Python might generally be […]

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The Oddity of the Pre-facto Quotation

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 10:47:50 +0000

I spend less time than ever these days reading about politics, not that I ever had a great interest to begin with, but I happen across the odd news report from Blighty now and again, just to stay knowledgeable throughout my exile from the Kingdom. I don’t know quite how long this particularly oddity that […]

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Should Educators Use More Visualisations?

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 08:41:30 +0000

Not so many years ago, I was one of the people in the education system, spending much of the working day being lectured to. Being a geek, most of my subjects involved mathematical, scientific or computing related material, which is often complex and requires (from me at least) intense objective mental effort to understand them, […]

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SourceForge Gives Me a Morality Poser

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 10:21:25 +0000

As an administrator on a SourceForge-based project, I was recently sent this email by SourceForge (SF): SourceForge has project settings to help you comply with regulations governing distribution of software to persons from certain countries (aka Export Controls). We’ve had some recent questions about these settings, so have sent out this note to all administrators […]

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You can read, peruse, or scan this post

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 09:48:32 +0000

There’s a little oddity on the GNOME desktop, which you might notice when you unmount a USB device. When you right-click on the USB icon and move the pointer to the relevant option, you’re faced with this: I can either unmount the drive, eject it, or safely remove it. Huh? What questions would go through […]

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The Never-Ending Story

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 11:25:24 +0000

SCO Group’s assault on (among many things) the Linux kernel, has officially been put out of its long-standing misery. SCO does not own the Unix copyrights that it alleged, without any base, were infringed by Linux; most observers have already long since known this. As I learn this, I realise now that have been laughing […]

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