lockem
Joined 16 years ago
Karma
339
Submissions
21
Member since
Nov 7
Recent submissions
Comment · 16 years ago
Comment · 16 years ago
Jobs are like women, if you try too hard - they will loose interest and quickly especially if they already have what they wanted.
Playing hard to get just works - like it or not.
It also seems to me you may have a talent at recognizing talent - you managed to push your friend into that company and you've done that unknowingly - think what you can do if you actually put your mind into find great people and finding a job for them - or even better if they'll work for you even as a freelancer - and you resell their services to various companies as an consultant or contractor.
Comment · 16 years ago
I love reading about the old school hackers,
It amazing what you can do with a whistle for example - https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/John_Draper
Too bad the who wrote this article is no longer with us - https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Justin_Tanner....
In any case my gut feeling is that if you get into trouble - get a real lawyer. Using this or any legal advice you get online might actually make your situation worse.
Comment · 16 years ago
The difference between PRK and Lasik is in the way they reshape your cornea.
In Lasik they create a flap by cutting the cornea and then they use a laser to reshape it, then they reposition the flap back in place.This way the flap acts as a bandage on the wound and reconnects with the cornea. The Flap is never actually healed and may be dislodged even years after the surgery - Although will need significant force like a direct poke in the eye, severe car accident etc.
In PRK a flap isn't created, the laser reshapes the cornea directly (After removing a small epithelial layer) and then a special bandage contact lens is applied to the wound. This is generally considered safer (Nothing to be dislodged), But the healing process is much slower and the time it takes until your eyes are at their best capacity is much longer. As i previously wrote, I was back at work the next day and my sight was almost perfect after 3 days. My cousin had PRK, the total healing time was around 2-3 weeks, and in the first week she could barely open her eyes.
PRK is also considered a little less accurate, but i am not sure why... For a nice comparison see: http://www.lasereyefacts.com/prk-vs-lasik.html
Comment · 16 years ago
I've had Lasik eye surgery about 2.5 years ago.
I had around -2.0 vision in both eyes before the surgery and almost perfect vision right now.
The only complication I have, and will probably be an issue for you as well, is dry eyes. The long hours staring at a screen with almost no blinking combined with the lack of moisture in an air-conditioned office will definitely dry your eyes (For me it happened even before Lasik).
The only thing you should consider is that Lasik is permanent, which means your cornea will always be weaker than before the surgery (The flap never fully heals - http://lasikcomplications.com/flapdislocation.htm).
This can be an issue even years after the surgery, and you should look into alternatives (Like PRK) if you do alot of dangerous physical activity (Full contact martial arts etc.) or any activity that you can get hit really hard in the facial region.
The procedure was rather painless, in-and-out in less than 30 minutes. My eye did tingle a little bit, felt sometimes like little pin pricks, but they were really short lasting. Went back to work the next day.
Make sure you go by the doctors orders to the letter (E.g don't scratch your eyes or the region even if it REALLY ITCHES).
And it obviously changed my life for the better, No need for glasses, my self-esteem went up and i am more confident. And i am not the only one, my experience has affected a couple of close friends and family and gave them the courage to do the surgery themselves, and they have also said it has changed their life.
Comment · 16 years ago
It just seems to me like a coincidence that the upgrade was followed by your G-Mail account being hijacked.
It could be that you have been firesheeped - even though G-Mail uses ssl by default, if you use the same password for something else, trying the same password with your email would the first test any spammer would do. It could also be a simple phishing scam.
As a matter of fact, there are so many ways for an attacker to steal your password so If i where you i would: 1.Boot my computer from a live CD 2.Change all my passwords 3.Do a clean install of all my computers
If you have a lot of free time, before reinstalling everything you can try and find out which one of your machines is actually infected with malware. Try antiviruses, or maybe sniffing the network for random traffic thats not supposed to be there.
That is probably not enough, you should also change your habits : Don't login to your account from public machines/networks.And if you have to - use a live CD/USB to boot it. Don't install just any software on your computer/iphone etc.. make sure it's from a reputable source Don't use the same password for everything.
There is a lot more you can do but i think you get the hang of it - just be sensible on when and where you use your account.
You could try to find something which has monetary value for them and try to create it by yourself and selling it to them.
It doesn't have to be a technological solution it could be any business related thing - potential customer database, sales leads etc.. (I am not sure what you are good at so...)
Basically, if you have something of value you could always try and sell it to someone - and if it is of value someone will pay for it or at least might consider your contributions worth more than what it costs to have you there.