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User: davemabe

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  1. Bail out this industry on Pro Video Game Leagues — Another Economic Casualty · · Score: 1

    The professional video gaming industry is part of the fabric of our country. It has become too important to fail.

    I think they deserve a bailout.

  2. Re:$400 a month? on Switching To Solar Power — Six Months Later · · Score: 1

    Can you give a link to the thermostat you're using? I've got a "programmable" one but it's a piece of crap.

  3. Re:80 hours on How Does a 9/80 Work Schedule Work Out? · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Sounds like you're one of the most unproductive workers I can imagine.

    The first thing that comes to my mind when I hear about people working these long hours is that they're wasting a lot of time.

  4. Re:Maybe to some, not to me. on Google to Offer Real-Time Stock Quotes · · Score: 1

    Day traders who know what they're doing love this type of attitude.

    Yes, please, everyone read this book and continue believing it.

  5. Re:RIM is looking for multimedia on AppleBerry Predicted? · · Score: 2, Informative

    RIM often polls its large corporate customers asking what they need and what they'd like to see in future devices. One of the most compelling features of the BlackBerry is the centralized management that corporate customers get with the BES. Through policies, administrators can turn on and off certain features selectively by user or by group.

    This is one of the main reasons that BlackBerry has been so popular in large corporations.

    It will be no different with future versions of the device - they are slow to add new features because they also need to implement the central control before rolling them out.

    Dave Mabe

  6. RIM is looking for multimedia on AppleBerry Predicted? · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There's been a lot of speculation that RIM will be coming out with a BlackBerry with a camera in the near future, too. However, the current 8700 has lots of multimedia features already (support for video, etc) and there's talk of an impending software release unlocking even more capabilities (like more frames per second).

    With that always on data connection and most users subscribing to an unlimited data plan, it's easy to imagine ways where as iTunes enabled BlackBerry would solve a lot of Apple's iPhone problems (OTA podcasting anyone?)

    I've always thought of both of these companies as user interface kings in their respective categories. I'd bet that they've at least had some discussions about the possibilities of such an agreement.

    Dave Mabe
    Shameless plug: Author of BlackBerry Hacks

  7. Review with Screenshots on Google Launches Mobile Mail · · Score: 4, Informative

    Here's a review with screenshots as seen on a BlackBerry 7100g.

  8. RIM Nemesis NTP Funded "Startup" Visto on Microsoft Sued Over Patent Infringements · · Score: 1

    NTP, the company that has so far successfully brought suit against RIM for its patents on "wireless messaging" (can you imagine a broader term?) bought an equity stake in Visto just days before this announcement. Sounds like a pretty lucrative business. More on my O'Reilly blog.

  9. Problem Not SQL, It's DB Implementations on How Would You Improve SQL? · · Score: 0, Redundant

    SQL is great - it's trying to get all the database vendors to support it consistently. Ever tried doing in Oracle what is a piece of cake in MySQL:

    SELECT * FROM table LIMIT x,y

    You can easily page through results using that LIMIT function. Try doing the same in Oracle. I'm told it can be done, but it ain't pretty.

  10. Wireless Controllers Worth Any Price on Xbox360 Pricing, 2 Models at Launch · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I would pay $1000 to get rid of the mess of cables that I have with my current Xbox. What a mess!

  11. Re:Treo is killing it anyway on Blackberry Future Uncertain · · Score: 3, Informative

    There *is* a BlackBerry port of the J2ME VNC client software. You'll have to think of another reason to justify the money you spent on the Treo 650. There are a couple reasons - like perhaps you prefer to have to retrieve mail rather than have it pushed to you immediately.

  12. Do It Better on Students Do Better Without Computers · · Score: 1

    Oh yeah, well swimmers do it better in the water. Runners do it better in the woods.

    Oh wait. Never mind.

  13. Re:AT&T callvantage prices drop to $20... on VoIP Price War Declared · · Score: 1

    You are incorrect. AT&T just announced yesterday that the price of their service dropped to $29.95. So that makes it $20 for 6 months and then $29.95 after that.

  14. Re:Vonage rocks (dissenting opinion) on VoIP Price War Declared · · Score: 4, Informative

    I've recently switched from Vonage to AT&T. The call quality on Vonage was not very good. There is often a nagging local echo and there were several times that I had to reboot the telephone adapter to get it to function. This was unacceptable. Everything about AT&T's service has been better so far: call quality, customer service (much lower hold times!), and more features (locate me!).

    Also, AT&T's telephone adapter sits on the internet side of your home network - this allows the device to perform QoS functions by prioritizing the voice packets. Vonage's device sits behind your router and therefore can't do anything about a busy connection. There will inevitably be dropped calls if you use your internet connection heavily while on the phone.

    Dave

  15. Re:For those who may have forgotten on SpamAssassin 3.0 Released · · Score: 3, Informative

    There's also sa-exim which is a local scan plugin for Exim that does site wide spam filtering at SMTP time. It is quite nice.

    Dave

  16. Re:Not so easily manipulated on Microsoft Developing Linux Policy, Plan of Attack · · Score: 1

    I've started using YAML for config files for anything I write. YAML is far more readable than XML and it's still machine parseable.

    http://www.yaml.org

    Dave

  17. Google Cache on Microsoft to sue Mike Rowe for Copyrights · · Score: 1
  18. No Registration Link on Free VoIP for Dartmouth Students · · Score: 5, Informative
  19. Sweet! on TiVo For Radio? · · Score: 1

    This is great! Now I can record Casey Casum's Weekly Top 40 each week so I can listen to it at my leisure! Those songs rarely air on normal radio.

  20. Now that's odd... on "False" Open source Representative Tells EU Patents OK · · Score: 5, Funny

    It must really be an odd article if we should actually read the article before posting a reply.

  21. I had same concerns, too. on Active Directory - Organizational Units or Discrete Domains? · · Score: 2, Informative

    I worked in a medium sized division of a large company and we were in the exact same situation. I had the same concerns that you do. We ended up collapsing into an OU and have not looked back. There are several services that get consolidated as well. For example, you would (probably) no longer have to support domain controllers if you went into an OU. Also, there is very little that can be done with a domain that can't be accomplished with an OU (password policy is one).

  22. Re:It's an excellent strategy. on Windows 2003 Going Gold · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Maybe Microsoft should release the source code to products that they no longer support so that users can fix the unfixable flaws.

  23. Re:People won't pay... on IBM Researcher Offers an E-Stamp Spam Solution · · Score: 1

    The solution you suggest will cost money as well, although it still might be the best solution.

  24. Kind of like the NFL's Minority Hiring policy on Oregon Bill Would Require Open Source Consideration · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This sounds kind of like the NFL mandating that owners must interview at least one minority candidate when filling a coaching vacancy. That policy doesn't work too well - just look at the recent Lion's hire.

  25. Re:Longer ride != faster lines on Tallest Roller Coaster in the World · · Score: 1

    Usually the turnover is dictated by the size of a train and how fast you can load/unload them.

    Usually? Why just usually?