Free Republic

The perfect desktop is undoubtedly the one you would design yourself. However, lacking the necessary time and expertise, many users hop instead from desktop to desktop desktop with the same enthusiasm as others hop between distros, hoping to find the ideal distribution.In many cases, they never find their ideal, and for good reason -- even the simplest Linux desktop is a mixture of advantages and disadvantages.Here, for example, are some core reasons for both accepting and rejecting the seven leading desktops of today:Cinnamon Leading Advantage: Like MATE, Linux Mint's other desktop, Cinnamon is a classic desktop for GNOME-based applications. However,...

"You will not impose your Sharia law in our democracies. We will not let your stupidity kill our liberties and our freedom of expression." The hacktivist group known as Anonymous has officially declared war on Al-Qaeda and ISIS. A new video by the hackers' Belgian branch is calling to avenge the killings at satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, with the new operation being called #OpCharlieHebdo. (Watch the video here with English translation.) "We will track you down - every last one - and will kill you,” says an individual wearing a Guy Fawkes in French. "You allowed yourselves to kill innocent...

A security flaw means that users of almost every modern web browser can be surreptitiously tracked online without their knowledge, Ars Technica reports, even when they make use of “private browsing.” Apple users are particularly vulnerable, as their devices do not have a function that lets users delete super cookies from their browsers. Most websites place what’s called a “cookie” on visitors’ computers, which is used to track them and record their preferences. It’s how websites can remember your password, for example. Like your web-browsing history, cookies are easy to delete. If you use your browser’s “private browsing” mode, they’re...

Sometimes even the rotation of the Earth falls behind schedule. Come June 30, our planet's timekeepers will compensate by adding a "leap second" to clocks. The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) announced the change Monday at the Paris Observatory, in a bulletin addressed to the "authorities responsible for the measurement and distribution of time." The bulletin advises authorities the extra second will be introduced to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) during the final minute, of the final day of June. That means that right after the clock hits "23h 59m 59s," it will strike "23h 59m 60s" UTC....

I settled on my New Year’s resolution while giving a lecture to 85 masters students. It was one kid who unintentionally suggested the idea. He was sitting in the back row, silently pecking away at his laptop the entire class. At times, he smiled at his screen. But he rarely looked up at me. I had a choice. I could disrupt the class to single him out. Or I could do what most teachers in higher education do: just ignore it. After all, these students are adults, and they have to take a final exam. Do I have to be...

Too many computers and not enough “hands-on” flying mean most pilots would have fallen victim to the weather that brought down AirAsia 8501. As searchers close in on what appears to be the main wreckage of AirAsia Flight 8501 the retrieval of the airplane’s flight data and cockpit voice recorders should soon follow. The wreckage lies no more than around 100 feet down in the Java Sea. Although there are strong currents and poor visibility, compounded by the high seas generated by stormy weather, divers should be able to locate the rear end of the fuselage where the flight data...

I grew up watching Star Trek and believing that by the time I became an adult we would all be using communicators, replicators, tricorders, and transporters. I was optimistic that the world would be a much better place: that we would have solved humanity’s problems and be exploring new worlds. That’s why my first career choice was one of astronaut. I thought it would best prepare me for Starfleet Academy. Needless to say, I was disappointed. I grew up into a world filled with hunger, poverty, and disease—in which we fight wars over dwindling natural resources. It is a world...

A Favicon. for the "non initiated " that tiny little icon that displays in the address bar whenever a web site provides a the proper file for same. One of my browsers doesnt display a favicon for the drudge report...one has chosen to "adopt" a YAHOO Icon for that site. While I dont necessarily view this ias problematic...it is somewhat of a mystery. anyone have any ideas?

[Most of these, except for a couple, are very positive achievements. Let’s work for more in 2015, Happy New Year!] The Most Futuristic Predictions That Came True In 2014 By George Dvorsky As 2014 comes to a close, it's time to reflect on the most futuristic breakthroughs and developments of the past year. This year's crop features a slew of incredible technological, scientific, and social achievements, from mind-to-mind communication to self-guiding sniper bullets. Here are 15 predictions that came true in 2014. Technologically-assisted telepathy was successfully demonstrated in humans For the first time ever, two humans exchanged thoughts via mind-to-mind...

Freeper tech gurus I have a Motorola surfboard that has served me well for 8 years. It is probably Docsis 2.0...... I am topping out at 30 mbps which is good enough. Some internet reports say I can double this speed with a newer Docsis 3.0 modem I get phone calls from Comcast saying I will need this newer type modem or will have trouble with reception due to them upgrading where I am to a docsis 3.0 system. So I need the compatible modem Do I really need the newer 3.0 modem? THANKS!

James Cook December 22, 2014 North Korea appears to be suffering from a cyberattack that has brought down the country's internet connection. North Korea Tech is reporting, via Vox, that there were frequent outages on North Korea's internet network over the weekend. This chart from Dyn Research shows that North Korean websites have been going through regular outages: North Korea internet outagesDyn Research/North Korea Tech Internet connection issues aren't definite proof that someone is trying to attack North Korea. The country's internet is only accessed by a handful of people, so it doesn't take much to force it offline. Officially...

During the last few years, the semiconductor industry has been having a harder and harder time miniaturizing transistors with the latest problem being Intel’s delayed roll-out of its new 14 nm process. The best way to confirm this slowdown in progress of computing power is to try to run your current programs on a 6-year-old computer. You will likely have few problems since computers have not sped up greatly during the past 6 years. If you had tried this experiment a decade ago you would have found a 6-year-old computer to be close to useless as Intel and others were...

You might only just have got your head round the idea of 4G, but a new network is just around the corner, and it could be 100s of times faster – and the new technology could lead to a world where everything from your car to your lightbulbs ‘talk to you’ via apps. When David Cameron first mentioned research into 5G, he suggested 5G-equipped devices could download HD films in a second – but the new network might be so fast it can download 800 films per second, according to University of Surrey researchers. ‘Latency’ – that annoying ‘lag’ when...

Summary: Yes, you still can trick Microsoft into giving you security updates for Windows XP. No, it's not a good idea. You are not protected. Perhaps the most popular story I've written for ZDNet was the one explaining how you can hack the registry in Windows XP and trick Windows Update into continuing to send you security updates. The basis of it is that Microsoft has an embedded variant of Windows XP and support doesn't end on that until April 2016. The hack makes XP look like the embedded version. I have maintained a Hyper-V VM on a Windows 8.1...

I am using WIN 8.1 OS and yesterday the latest version of Firefox was updated on to my computer. I can't access the browser as when I open it, the page is blank and I get the "page is not responding." According to my computer, it is telling me that this latest browser is NOT compatible with OS 8.1. I am unable to go back to an earlier version of Firefox. Any advice would be most appreciated!

Intel CEO Brain Krzanich has announced, in an email sent to employees on Monday, new company plans to merge its loss-making mobile chip unit with its profitable PC business early next year, writes the Wall Street Journal. "The market continues to evolve rapidly, and we must change even faster to stay ahead," Krzanich asserted in the email. It is well known that Intel has struggled to gain a foothold in mobile computing, but even worse for the business its tablet and smartphone chip-making division has lost billions in the recent months. Intel's mobile communication group posted a $1 billion operating...

E-cigarettes may be better for your health than normal ones, but spare a thought for your poor computer – electronic cigarettes have become the latest vector for malicious software, according to online reports. Many e-cigarettes can be charged over USB, either with a special cable, or by plugging the cigarette itself directly into a USB port. That might be a USB port plugged into a wall socket or the port on a computer – but, if so, that means that a cheap e-cigarette from an untrustworthy supplier gains physical access to a device. A report on social news site Reddit...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The State Department has taken the unprecedented step of shutting down its entire unclassified email system as technicians repair possible damage from a suspected hacker attack.

I am walking through my north London neighbourhood on an unseasonably warm day in late autumn. I can hear birds tweeting in the trees, traffic prowling the back roads, children playing in gardens and Wi-Fi leaching from their homes. Against the familiar sounds of suburban life, it is somehow incongruous and appropriate at the same time. As I approach Turnpike Lane tube station and descend to the underground platform, I catch the now familiar gurgle of the public Wi-Fi hub, as well as the staff network beside it. On board the train, these sounds fade into silence as we burrow...

I've researched the heck out of this BUT still don't get it. Just looking for a simple explanation for a simple man.