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snot....
...
/snot....

Ahh, I think you meant snort.

It means "if I remember / recall correctly."

What if the geeks you are forced to work with don't take notes, don't read e-mail, and reply to e-mail they do read using a telephone?

"There's two S's in SCSI, so one of 'em gotta stand for "serial", right?"

Unless the first S if for "Small," and the second S is for "System," as in

Small Computer System Interface

Which is what SCSI is an acronym for. SCSI is a _parallel_ bus, not a serial bus.

(definition #2)
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=recuperat e

(definitions #3,#4)
http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/recupera te

1. Two-button mice work on a Mac. If it's really such a pain in the ass, go buy a damn $20 Logitech USB mouse, I did. The scroll wheel even works, no extra software required.
2. First off, it's the "ctrl" key you press with one button; the Apple key is used for menu-shortcut combinations, i.e. Apple-X for cut. How can you complain about something if you're not even sure of what you're talking about? Secondly, you dont need the keyboard at all. Click-and-hold for a moment, and the same thing happens. It's an arbitrarily long-enough amount of time as to not be confusing; if it happens it's most likely on purpose.
3. One hand on the mouse and one on the keyboard makes much more efficient use of the computer. Right clicking is for the weak. I learn the menu shortcuts and with a series of three quick button presses, while the rest of you are reading and dragging, sometimes missing that menu and having to do do it again. I can do anything I want in the Mac Finder, as well as other programs. It's almost like mouse gestures.
4. Apple tried to appeal to the steep learning curves of computers that keep people like your own PHB from knowing shit about them, including this day in age. Nothing confusing ever happens when you click a one-button mouse; it just clicks.
5. I wonder why one would keep an Ethernet card hardware address in any kind of case to begin with; surely the chip it has been encoded into is enough? So it's certain that ColorCase wouldnt' have them... In fact I'm confused at what this has to do with the discussion at hand?

On a certain level, I think you might be right. But on the other hand, war itself is so twisted as to almost be black comedy.

Disrepectful? Perhaps. But I don't really understand how it becomes any less disrepsectful to wait until after the people are dead. Is there a "statute of limitations" on respect? (or disrespect?)

I would be ashamed to have one of them see me taking part in reducing the most horific experience of their life to an evening's entertainment.

Well I guess we shouldn't go watch Saving Private Ryan anymore then. Yes, I know the movie is "traumatic" but most all movies still classify as "entertainment" one way or another.

Baud rates have little to do with digital communications. Even with modems (above 1200 baud) they are not an indictation of throughput.

I doubt that's a valid criticism. The point (which must be expressed in less than 121 characters) is that there is no intellectual property, just as there are no winged pigs (would a winged pig be a pigasus?). We can of course put pigs on a plane, and we can pass laws creating intellectual property. We can't make pigs into birds, and we can't give IP the same moral standing as property.

... reifying; just like "Nature abhors a vacuum", this is not a meaningful statement, you are comparing concepts (abstractions) to reality.

IP is an abstraction. Flying pigs seem, if not abstract, at least counterfactual. I'm not stating the abstract is real, I'm stating that the two are similar in that they are both nonsense. Again, I think your criticism is a bit off. Finally, ``Nature abhors a vacuum'' seems more an example of anthropomorphizing than reifying.

Using: ``Talking about intellectual property is as silly as talking about flying pigs.'' might seem a bit clearer, but I'll stick to my original for the moment. It seems pretty clear, too, and does a better job of getting across the idea that intellectual property is a modern legal construct, rather than a natural, fundamental part of how things ought to be.

Lastly, the alternate form might be misconstrued as pointing out that IP is a fuzzy, almost meaningless term, since it lumps together trade secrets, copyrights, patents and who knows what else.

I doubt that's a valid criticism. The point (which must be expressed in less than 121 characters) is that there is no intellectual property, just as there are no winged pigs (would a winged pig be a pigasus?). We can of course put pigs on a plane, and we can pass laws creating intellectual property. We can't make pigs into birds, and we can't give IP the same moral standing as property.

... reifying; just like "Nature abhors a vacuum", this is not a meaningful statement, you are comparing concepts (abstractions) to reality.

IP is an abstraction. Flying pigs seem, if not abstract, at least counterfactual. I'm not stating the abstract is real, I'm stating that the two are similar in that they are both nonsense. Again, I think your criticism is a bit off. Finally, ``Nature abhors a vacuum'' seems more an example of anthropomorphizing than reifying.

Using: ``Talking about intellectual property is as silly as talking about flying pigs.'' might seem a bit clearer, but I'll stick to my original for the moment. It seems pretty clear, too, and does a better job of getting across the idea that intellectual property is a modern legal construct, rather than a natural, fundamental part of how things ought to be.

Lastly, the alternate form might be misconstrued as pointing out that IP is a fuzzy, almost meaningless term, since it lumps together trade secrets, copyrights, patents and who knows what else.

moderation here is a random process.

gave moderator access to the illiterate?

Here:

You can call it overrated, but don't fucking call it redundant.

Look, whatever the dictionary tells you "giga" means, this is a technical term that means something else in the computer world, and has always meant something else in the computer world.

What's intriguing is when a dictionary gives you seemingly inconsistant results.

Look, whatever the dictionary tells you "giga" means, this is a technical term that means something else in the computer world, and has always meant something else in the computer world.

What's intriguing is when a dictionary gives you seemingly inconsistant results.

Look, whatever the dictionary tells you "giga" means, this is a technical term that means something else in the computer world, and has always meant something else in the computer world.

What's intriguing is when a dictionary gives you seemingly inconsistant results.

It is impossible to receive 3rd degree burns from hot water. 3rd degree burns imply that the skin is burnt away with charred and blackened tissue. What she got was a 1st or 2nd degree burn.

You are completely wrong. See an actual definition of third-degree burns.

Coffee is also supposed to be that hot. Hotter, in fact. 204-208F is ideal. In gourmet restaurants you'd lose your job over serving coffee as cold as what McDonald's did.

Coffee served at home is generally 135-140 F. McDonald's served theirs at 200 F, which was approximately 20 F higher than the industry standard.

If you drink correctly served coffee, you will scald your mouth. This is supposed to be common knowledge, and if it isn't (apparently you didn't know either), attack your parents or the school system that doesn't teach you even a minimum of culture.

Food served for immediate consumption is unfit if it is served that hot. It is simply a matter of public safety.

half of the cost of any US product is costs for lawyers and insurance against them

Nice assertion. Got a citation for that?

In a more civilised society than ours, the customer in question would have been able to go to a public consumer protection agency, who would have had the power to judge whether register.com were breaking advertising laws, and warn them or slap them with a fine if they did. In the US, the only recourse that doesn't require the company's cooperation is - tada - litigation.

The problem is that consumer protection agencies are so weak-willed and pussified that they accomplish nothing. I suspect that this is the result of corporate takeovers of public affairs in the US, but that is only my surmise. In any case, consumer protection agencies usually accomplish nothing because of (1) weak laws and (2) case overloads. When they do make something happen, it is usually the result of a settlement in which the corporate wrong-doer is minimally fined.

GF.

Cybernetics is the application of control processes from biological systems to artificial systems.

You're thinking of bionics. (Although the definition you give isn't exact for that, either). Cybernetics is the study of control and communication in both living and non-living systems.

Here are the dictionary links:
bionics
cybernetics

(Triva note: the term "cybernetics" was coined by Norbert Wiener, "bionics" was coined by Dr. Jack Steele -- my father-in-law)

Cybernetics is the application of control processes from biological systems to artificial systems.

You're thinking of bionics. (Although the definition you give isn't exact for that, either). Cybernetics is the study of control and communication in both living and non-living systems.

Here are the dictionary links:
bionics
cybernetics

(Triva note: the term "cybernetics" was coined by Norbert Wiener, "bionics" was coined by Dr. Jack Steele -- my father-in-law)

"baud" is named after J.M.E. Baudot who was French. more info

Because this paranoid "they're all against us" attitude is a typical cultist trait. Has to do with martydom and every cultists wet dream; to become one, just like their Jesus-figure. The next step he'll be saying that the Government is against him and his company, but that might come after defeat in court.

Being a psychopath probably doesn't help either.

What idiot modded this "Troll"? The acronym does stand for "Read The Fucking Manual". Look here.

• I lived in Seattle for the first 18 years of my life - I understand artificial light very well.
• I have narcolepsy, so I know what it's like to sleep during the day & work at night in artificial lighting conditions for prolonged periods of time; However, light definitely doesn't affect me at all since I have no hypocretin receptors in my brain! That's the protein (aka orexin) that is key to the chemical reaction that takes light stimulus & creates dopamine, noradrenaline & other wake-promoting chemicals in your brain.
  • Narcolepsy = lack of hypocretin or lack of hypocretin receptors
  • OK, light does affect me in a couple small ways: We all need UV light to turn 7-dehydrocholesterol into vitamin D
• I'm a chemist, so I understand the scientific method... Here's a recent manuscript that was accepted in JChemEd & is pub pending. (someone asked for a link to an article in a peer-reviewed journal)
• I spotted this poorly written article due to these factors.

For something to rise to the accepted level of theory, it must be based on scientific observations. It must have passed through the hypothesis stage of initial concept deliniation. It must be tested repeatedly, succeeding each time (or the initial hypothesis must be reworked). It has to pass peer review.

What is a hypothesis? A tentative suggestion to explain observed phenomena based on available evidence. A hypothesis leads to falsifiable experiments. As the body of these experiments builds, a hypothesis either grows toward a theory or is supplanted by a hypothesis that successfully explains the experimental data.

The whole of biological science has build up the evidence to support Darwin's Theory of Evolution (Variation, Competition, Offspring, Genetics, Natural Selection). And while there have been discussions about specifics of components (punctuated vs gradual), neither side disputes the underlying scientific theory. And all sides continue to build the body of scientific evidence to support it.

Trolls and ID'ers continue to abuse the language of science to confuse the issues and attempt to paint some sort of equivalence between their faith -based belief system and a rigorously objective scientific discipline.

But even then they are abusing the term theory. From Hyperdictionary again: theory - 1. [n] a tentative theory about the natural world; a concept that is not yet verified but that if true would explain certain facts or phenomena; "a scientific hypothesis that survives experimental testing becomes a scientific theory"; "he proposed a fresh theory of alkalis that later was accepted in chemical practices"
2 [n] a belief that can guide behavior; "the architect has a theory that more is less"; "they killed him on the theory that dead men tell no tales"
3 [n] a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world; an organized system of accepted knowledge that applies in a variety of circumstances to explain a specific set of phenomena; "theories can incorporate facts and laws and tested hypotheses"; "true in fact and theory"

As we can see, their use of the term fits into none of those categories. I propose a different term: wild freakin' guess. That matches the evidence advanced so far.

From the HyperDictionary: scientific theory - a theory that explains scientific observations; "scientific theories must be falsifiable"

Proponents of ID and other some such notions love to brutally abuse the term theory to confuse the issues. For something to rise to the accepted level of theory, it must be based on scientific observations. It must have passed through the hypothesis stage of initial concept deliniation. It must be tested repeatedly, succeeding each time (or the initial hypothesis must be reworked). It has to pass peer review.

ID and other notions don't even rise to the level of hypothesis.

go suck a cock, moron

There is no way to do transgenetic breeding, iow. to introduce genes from one species into another species by breeding.

Lindows is not targeted at the average /.er so donÂt start bashing M$.

Option 1:
-You recommend this 200$ lindows PC and replace it with tyour corparate key XP
Option 2:
-You let them have their lindows PC since it works great in browsing porn, as long as they do not bother you .
Option 3: (Since 1: you live in the US and want to be legal, and 2 the buyer is a nice female )
-You install debian on their PC and dedicate your life in supporting them.

Um, no.

For example, despite a variety of implementations, Java(tm) is a proprietary language; though Sun currently grants others certain rights in its use, Sun is still the sole owner.

It is entirely possible to own a format and still grant others the right to know the details of that format. Now, whether one should be concerned about getting locked into the Oo format is another matter.

... either a fully assembled computer system or non-peripheral computer hardware component. (bolding mine)

So desktop OSes must be sold with a full computer system, non-peripheral hardware.

As Rumproast points out, a cable is certainly a computer hardware component, while under some definitions it isn't a peripheral, but under others it is.

Using the first definition, a cable is a "non-peripheral computer hardware component". Even using the second definition, a CPU can be purchased for all of $18...

More to the point, they're a US based company advertising this on the web. I suspect that they might have consulted lawyers about this. Well, either that or they'll be hearing from Microsoft soon...

oops.. forgot the link

Ahhh... Mu.

Techies, professors conclude, must act more like psychoanalysts; they must learn to "appreciate the difference between what people say and what they mean."

Ok, maybe that was a bad reference as a primary reference. Still, I was only pointing out that there are lots of lengths you can choose from when you're using a cubit. The standard English cubit is 18 inches, but there are lots of references to other lengths as well, not only by aol members. 1 2 3 4.

The VMS operating system had (still has?) a configurable boot-time delay which is specified in microfortnights.

If it gets to be a problem, I suggest ANSA's Not Spam Assassin.

Another suggestion; we get to keep the name for the GPL's *NIX version as long as we continue to not release a free (GPL or beer) windows port.

http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/metre

check the bottom of the page there.

From hyperdictionary

2. Occurring rarely; adapted for a special occasion.

1. A consecrated day; religious anniversary; a day set apart in honor of some person, or in commemoration of some event.

Ther is more than just your definition.

A few weeks ago I had $15 removed from my account, without notice. PayPal claims they sent me to chargeback warnings via email, but my mail server logs showed no such emails.

The amount was a donation to an educational site that I run, but the credit chargeback was because I 'failed to deliver merchandise'. How I failed to deliver on a donation is beyond me.

Unfortunatly, PayPal won't give me time of day over the issue. It is a shame that I would have to be an open source project, and rally the slashdot masses, in order to have a chance at reasonable customer support.

-Chris

I was about to post something sarcastic about this, too, but apparently it's a real word.

Btw. IRC is from Europe too... Not sure about newsgroups though.

IRC was also 'invented' by a Finnish guy (Linux --tha kernel too)..
Usenet was probably invented in US (Where's Duke UV?) more info.