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User: ToastyKen

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Comments · 570

  1. Re:Incomplete Story on Sport Is Unrelated To Obesity In Children · · Score: 4, Insightful

    And in reverse, lack of obesity doesn't mean you're healthy. You can be skinny all your life but still have high cholesterol and whatnot.

  2. Anyone else amazed by the Minneapolis PD? on SETI Finally Finds Something · · Score: 1

    I'm surprised no one's pointed out how impressive it is that the Minneapolis PD was savvy enough to actually listen to this guy when he sent them IP addresses instead of brush him off.

  3. Re:How Strange on The Twilight Years of Cap'n Crunch · · Score: 1

    Have you ever actually had a friend in such situations? Other people can only help so much. There's a point where any additional help only perpetuates certain patterns of behavior, and being a "good friend" only ends up dragging you down with them, in which case you then have two screwed up people instead of one. Yes, it's important to be a good friend and help out when the situation is truly desperate, but eventually it's the responsibility of the person in trouble to figure out how to sustainably improve their own life.

    Far from a selfish act, it can be the hardest thing in the world to distance yourself from a friend in need, but sometimes it's the right thing to do for BOTH people.

  4. but you're not procrastinating then on Formula For Procrastination Found · · Score: 1

    By the definition in the article, what you're doing isn't procrastination, because you don't believe you SHOULD start sooner. If you think you're fine doing it later, that's not procrastination. Procrastination is when you think you should do it earlier but still do it later anyway.

  5. Actually, /. is kind of amazing me today on The Dark Side of the PlayStation 3 Launch · · Score: 1

    Look at the comments.. Most of them are actually along the lines of, "I don't like much of what Sony does, but I don't see how this is Sony's fault."

    Is it just me, or is /. actually getting less knee-jerk and more level-headed?!

  6. Digital pinhole camera? on 10 Reasons To Buy a DSLR · · Score: 1

    You just gave me a great idea: Someone should make a digital pinhole camera! Get some CCDs and line them up in the back of the box. :)

    If only I were more electrically inclined. :\

  7. Re:Number one reason not to go DSLR on 10 Reasons To Buy a DSLR · · Score: 1

    This is so true for me that it's the reason I haven't bought a DSLR yet at all. I really want to play with a DSLR, but I feel like I'll just never want to lug it around, and it'll be too conspicuous. I just got a Canon SD700 IS, it fits in my front jeans pocket, and I love it... except for those few pictures I can't get with it.

    Let me flip the question around: What sorts of occasions DO you feel comfortable lugging a DSLR around on? I guess I mostly take pictures when I'm out with friends or when I'm traveling, and I just feel like it'd be a pain in most of those cases?

  8. Re:if they ever try to send this invoice on Firefly Fans Fight Back Against Universal · · Score: 1

    If you read the FAQ on the "billing" site, you'll see this quote: "In other words, this site should not be taken as an attempt to actually bill Universal Pictures for all of our time, energy, and effort, nor encouragement for any fan do try to do so. We just believe that there is a point to be made."

    The billing is meant as the kind of statement you make, not the kind of statement you get in your mail. :)

  9. mod parent up on X-Prize Funder Will Be First Female Tourist In Space · · Score: 1

    Kinda sad. Despite all the jokes, /. is pretty progressive compared to the rest of the world, but some biases are hard to shake, I guess. I'm sure /. gets tons of submissions, and yours could've simply slipped through the cracks, but it's also quite likely that the person reading this one was like, "oo! a woman!" :P

  10. Re:A question of fairness and integrity on Pluto Decision Meets with Frustration · · Score: 1

    I completely agree with you, and that's why we've gone centuries without an official definition. :) But then 2003 UB313 came along, and people didn't agree whether it should be called a planet or not. But the public wasn't comfortable with just leaving that fuzzy and open to interpretation, so they demanded that SOMEONE go and make a decision, and thus enter the IAU.

  11. Re:A question of fairness and integrity on Pluto Decision Meets with Frustration · · Score: 1

    This is not like the definition of an electron, in that electrons are clearly different from things that aren't electrons. There is no real black and white between what is or is not a planet, and no real scientific value in the difference. The best analogy I've seen, from astronomer Mike Brown (who discovered 15 of what will now be known as dwarf planets) is with continents: There is no scientific way of determining what is or is not a continent, and what the boundaries among Europe, Asia, and Africa are. Instead, we just decide on something and move on.

    And so I agree with your second statement, that the classification of what is or is not a planet has no scientific value. That's correct. There is none. :) But SOMEONE had to go and make some kind of decision on it, because THE PUBLIC CARES, even though it's not scientific. Really, it'd make more sense to just have everyone in the world vote on it, but that's not feasible, so the IAU decided to go and do that.

    And finally, as for your last paragraph, "Even those are set by government standards bodies," well, the IAU _IS_ a standards body, and it is in fact THE standards body for astronomy that determines official names of celestial objects and such. :)

  12. More reason to listen to the End-to-End Argument on The Problems of Web Surfing in Public Places · · Score: 3, Informative

    That's all the more reason to listen to The End-to-End Argument [PDF]. (Wiki link if you don't want a PDF.)

    Never trust the network!

    Although, I suppose VPNs technically don't adhere to the end-to-end argument, exactly..

  13. Re:Hungaria? on Stephen Colbert vs The Hungarian Government · · Score: 1

    You mean the "whatever continent it's in" part doesn't tip you off that the misspelling might be intentional? see also this comment

  14. Re:The treaty explicitly allows us to preserve rig on U.S. Senate Ratifies Cybercrime Treaty · · Score: 1

    Well, IANAL, but I imagine that as long as the treaty allows for exceptions (and note that the treaty also explicitly allows for exceptions in the case of political offenses), we could argue before the courts that the Constitution should take precendence over the treaty.

  15. The treaty explicitly allows us to preserve rights on U.S. Senate Ratifies Cybercrime Treaty · · Score: 3, Informative

    Yes, I'm not new here, but people need to RTFM, including the submitter. From the Ars article, just a little further than halfway down:

    The goal of the treaty is not to let the Chinese crack down on dissidents living in America, however, and so countries may refuse to cooperate with requests that involve a "political offence" or if a country believes the request would "prejudice its soverignty, security, ordre public or other essential interests." The US Department of Justice has already announced that "essential interests" would allow the US to refuse any request that would violate the Constitution.
  16. Yeah, Ars Technica actually thinks this is GOOD on U.S. Senate Ratifies Cybercrime Treaty · · Score: 4, Informative
    Ars Technica did not say it's the "World's Worst Internet Law." The EFF did. Poster needs to go RTFA.

    Indeed. The Ars Technica article put "World's Worst Internet Law" in quotes for a reason. In fact, it flat out DISAGREES with EFF, even, and says that, "Given these safeguards, fears of political persecutions seem overblown," and that "the Convention provides enough safeguards to prevent the worst kinds of abuse, and additional protocols can always be negotiated if problems become insurmountable."

  17. Re:Has The Register become The Inquirer? on United States Cedes Control of the Internet · · Score: 1

    While censorship is bad, it is certainly not why people are concerned with ICANN.

    Yes, that's not why other countries want control over ICANN, but it IS a big part of why some Americans are hesitant to give up control over ICANN.

  18. Re:Apple=1 vs. Consumers=0 on Apple Defeats RIAA and France In Same Day · · Score: 1

    "I know that it isn't fashionable to not cheer on /. when Apple wins something"

    Man, you haven't been around here long, have you? Why, back in the day, /. would be full of venomous trolls every time Apple was mentioned. :)

  19. Cmd-C, V came first on New Apple Campaign Target PC Flaws · · Score: 4, Informative

    And let's not forget the history: It was Apple who came up with Cmd-z, x, c, v. Windows started out with that Shift-Ins, Shift-Del stuff. It's Windows that was trying to be more like the Mac in the first place when they finally changed their shortcuts.

    Also, Cmd has been the traditional shortcut key on Macs for a long time, since the days of Apple II, when it was the Apple key, so there's a long history there. In fact, the Control key didn't even exist on Apple keyboards until years later.

  20. I agree that SuperDuper is better on New Apple Campaign Target PC Flaws · · Score: 1

    I used to use Carbon Copy Cloner, but then I was lazy about backing up for a while. When I went back to it, it had fallen behind in features to Sup erDuper</a>, and that's what I use now.

  21. The patent says it's like a camera. on Apple's All-Seeing Screen · · Score: 1

    Read TFP (The Patent): "As a result, the integrated sensing device can not only output images (e.g., as a display) but also input images (e.g., as a camera)."

  22. Re:Blasting Speaker Noise on How The THX Noise Was Created · · Score: 1

    The theater is probably not THX-compliant, then, like the parent post says. One of the central purposes of THX is precisely to avoid overly loud sound systems that ruin clarity!

  23. Re:Ebert is a great critic on Ebert Reviews 'Silent Hill' · · Score: 1

    Are you sure he reviewed Mortal Kombat? How come it's not in his website archives?

  24. Re:Ebert is to Cringley as he is to Dvorak on Ebert Reviews 'Silent Hill' · · Score: 1

    Actually, you're a meta-meta-critic! :D

  25. Google does NOT store email or blogs in China on China Bans Running Your Own Email Server · · Score: 1

    This would be precisely why, according to their testimony before Congress, they are explicitly avoiding storing email and blogs on servers in China:

    (3) Limit Services
    Google.cn today includes basic Google search services, together with a local business information and map service. Other products - such as Gmail and Blogger, our blog service - that involve personal and confidential information will be introduced only when we are comfortable that we can provide them in a way that protects the privacy and security of users' information.