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User: YenTheFirst

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Comments · 75

  1. Re:Is it just me, or is Scribd Super Annoying on Scribd Becomes a DRM-Optional E-Bookstore · · Score: 2, Informative

    hmm. for me, If I just scroll down to the bottom of the page, the actual answer is there. I believe this is something of an open secret.

    Then again, the given 'expert' answers are often no better than other random forum results.

  2. Re:privacy vs anonymity on What Should Be In a Technology Bill of Rights? · · Score: 1

    A minor nitpick, that still is relevant. Privacy also has a second definition, especially historically: the right to seclusion.

  3. Re:I'm buying two. on Danger Mouse Releases Blank CD-R To Spite EMI · · Score: 1

    In the USA, at least, some 83% self-report as being religious.

    Honestly, at that point, I would say the 'organized religion - crime' connection falls under one of Slashdot's favorite lines 'Correlation does not imply Causation'

    I'm sure people were killing each other for greed, or idiotic ideological reasons, long before it was written in stone, too.

    I'd be most interested if someone did a study comparing crime rates across different religious demographics - including the atheist and agnostic. I propose that it would end up mostly flat

  4. Re:No - there are plenty of safer alternatives on Microsoft To Banish Memcpy() · · Score: 1

    The parent's point, though, is that the halting problem, and the diagonalization argument, are inherently infinite.

    If you have a finite amount of memory, say, n bits, then there is a finite number of states the memory can be in (2^n).

    No matter what the architecture of the processor, you can generalize it as something which reads the current state of memory, and other inputs, and produces a new state of memory (and possibly output).

    Ignoring for a moment the infinite possibilities one gets with peripheral input, we address your example, that of a fractal. Given that this should take place entirely in memory, we can safely ignore input. If you have finite memory, there are only a finite number of states the memory can be in. furthermore, because we are ignoring user input, and are using a deterministic processor, any given state of memory will always lead to a certain next state of memory.

    As a process runs, it will either
    a) halt
    or
    b) visit a state it has already visited.

    Simple proof: you have a state machine with n possible states. (in a binary computer with finite memory of m bits, 2^m = n). iterate it n+1 times.
    If it hasn't halted within this time, it MUST have visited one state more than once (pigeonhole principle).

    Cantor's argument is counterintutive, but true, as are the conclusions drawn about computability and the halting problem. The thing to realize, though, is that they apply to infinite sets.

    In finite sets, brute force trumps.

  5. Re:If Lawyers and Judges don't like it its crimina on Adult Website Use At Work Leads To Hacker Conviction · · Score: 2, Funny

    . . . They have erected a multitude of laws and offenses. . . .

    hehe

  6. Re:You know what that means... on Baby Monitors Killing Urban Wi-Fi · · Score: 1

    >

    Who do you call about this sort of thing?

    Ghostbusters!

  7. Re:Other bases? on New Pattern Found In Prime Numbers · · Score: 1

    That confused me at first, too. I believe the parent is referring just to prime numbers in base 2.

  8. Re:A good thing on What's Getting Cut From Science Part of the Federal Budget · · Score: 2, Informative

    Oh, yes, I remember that part of our national anthem.

    I suppose you've never heard the 4th stanza to the anthem.

    http://www.thenationalanthemproject.org/lyrics.html

    O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
    Between their loved homes and the war's desolation!
    Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heaven-rescued land
    Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
    Then conquer we must when our cause it is just
    And this be our motto: "In God is our Trust."
    And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
    O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

  9. Re:So on First Graphics Game Written On/For a 16-Bit Home PC · · Score: 1

    So, Scott Adams thought 'Klingon' was spelled with a 'C'...

    FTFA:

    Since the word Klingon starts with the letter "K," Scott was asked to explain why a "C" was used. His response was that the "K" didn't look as good on the playing field.

  10. Re:Nice on First Graphics Game Written On/For a 16-Bit Home PC · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It's not entirely the same, but I really cut my teeth on programming on a TI-83+ graphing calculator. It had a variant of BASIC, fairly simple graphics capabilities, and it was fairly easy to pick up.

    Incidentally,I think that environment was my first exposure to the ideas of open source software, too. Programs could be shared easily, by linking calculators, and being interpreted, all programs came with source. I certainly learned a bit by reading programs from other students, or downloaded from the internet.

    Also, I get a lot of the same feeling of experimentation, reproducibility, and real capability out of messing with microcontrollers, like the Arduino. I think there's really something to be said for working and playing on a relatively limited system. Limitation breeds creativity, perhaps?

  11. Re:Nice on First Graphics Game Written On/For a 16-Bit Home PC · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I have no clue what a rearden-fill beanbag chair is; mainly what rearden might be.

    'rearden', I suspect, would be a reference to a character in the 1957 novel 'Atlas Shrugged'

    The novel is known for it's viewpoint on capitalism, and unregulated markets, as the ideal. I expect the reference works into that.

    Personally, it's one of the few books I've started reading but didn't finish. The side characters/'bad guys' at the beginning of the book were just way too fake. If I'm going to read a novel that thick, and give its philosophy and arguments real weight, I don't want to wade through strawmen to do it.

  12. Re:People are stupid. on Quantum Theory May Explain Wishful Thinking · · Score: 1

    If you're not just trolling - the poem in question was written in 1781. That's how it's written. The 'f's are really 'f's, not 's's.

  13. Re:Tyranny of the Minority over the Majority on Closing Time At Microsoft's Campus Pub · · Score: 1
    One of my favorites:

    At the start of a recent ecumenical gathering, a secretary rushed in shouting, "The building is on fire!!!"

    The Methodists gathered in a corner and prayed.
    The Baptists cried, "Where is the water?"
    The Quakers quietly praised God for the blessings that fire brings.
    The Lutherans posted a notice on the door declaring the fire was evil.
    The Roman Catholics passed the plate round to cover the damage.
    The Jews posted symbols on the doors hoping the fire would pass.
    The Congregationalists shouted, "Every man for himself!"
    The Fundamentalists proclaimed, "It's the vengeance of God!"
    The Episcopalians formed a procession and marched out.
    The Christian Scientists concluded that there was no fire.
    The Presbyterians appointed a chair person, who was to appoint a committee to look into the matter and submit a written report.
    The Unity Students proclaimed the fire had no power over them.
    The Secretary grabbed the fire extinguisher and put the fire out.
    The Mormons arrived ten minutes late to the meeting, missing the fire completely!!!

  14. Re:Tyranny of the Minority over the Majority on Closing Time At Microsoft's Campus Pub · · Score: 1

    How old was the son? I would conjecture that people under 18 are a lot more likely to be 'fired up' than older people. If nothing else, they've seen less of the 'real world'. It's easier to be idealist when one is younger.

  15. Re:Sad reality on Closing Time At Microsoft's Campus Pub · · Score: 1

    ... For what it's worth (probably not much) you can be alcohol in gas stations and grocery stores even in Utah. ...

    dang. I can't even do that in Vegas. :)

  16. Re:People just don't understand Linux on Linux On Netbooks — a Complicated Story · · Score: 1

    Who the hell besides a few zealots gives a flying fuck about copyright infringement for private use?

    The RIAA, for one.

    off the top of my head, fair use related things:

    • When iPods first came out, there was a big stink over whether ripping CDs was fair use
    • ripping/backing up DVDs
    • playing DVDs at all, on linux (or without paying for software on windows)

    It doesn't matter the only end-users who care about fair use are zealots, because the big companies DO care.

  17. Re:People just don't understand Linux on Linux On Netbooks — a Complicated Story · · Score: 1

    Nitpicking point - if you really like photography, to the point that you're paying $1000+ on software and equipment, you're no longer merely a consumer. You're either a professional, or a seriously enthusiastic hobbyist/amateur.

    John and Jane Q. Public don't pay for a lens and a body, they pay $100 for a point-n-click, and $50 for a printer dock that spits out Polaroid size photos. If they do any editing, it won't be on Photoshop CS3, it'll be in Elements, at best. A consumer won't be messing with curves or layers, they'll be cropping and using auto-red eye, and if they're really fancy, adding some text.

    The point is, GIMP isn't on the same plane as CS3 or 4 or whatever we're up to now, it's comparable to Photoshop Elements, and provides similar features at a comparable price point. ($100 or whatever for Elements, time and effort for GIMP)

  18. Re:Yes on Shouldn't Every Developer Understand English? · · Score: 1

    In English one can just add "not" in front in an expression to negate it.

    I disagree with you. Therefore I write:
    Not in English one can just add "not" in front in an expression to negate it.

    We accept using "not" as a prefix because of roots in basic first-order-logic, and because it makes the syntax cleaner.
    Not using "not" as a prefix is an accurate approximation of typical English.

    [in fact, that's ambiguous. Consider that phrase as written vs. "using 'not" as a prefix is not an accurate ..."]

  19. Re:nice... on Is That "Sexting" Pic Illegal? A Scientific Test · · Score: 1

    +5 funny? I think it's +5 sad.
    Then again, most cases don't go to trial anyway, so the ones that make it there are already fringe cases.

  20. Re:ways to combat it on Is Your IM Buddy Really a Computer? · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Wonder if japanese-speaking bot would fare better, I do. Similar, Yoda-speak and Japanese grammar, are.

  21. Six years ago on Strip-Search Case Tests Limits of 4th Amendment · · Score: 1

    to those who didn't read the article ...
    The event in question (and the whole "Zero Tolerance" fad) was six years ago, not yesterday.

    The strip search itself is not news..its just now getting to supreme court, is all.

  22. Re:Actully, that is not quite correct. on Taxpayers Fund AIG Lawsuit Against US · · Score: 1

    It all goes to hell when all the houses burn down.

    It doesn't even have to be all the houses. You just have to have enough houses burn down that the insurance from the standing ones isn't enough to cover the losses on the burned ones.

    Assume (made-up numbers):

    1. Replacing a burnt house costs (on average) $100
    2. you're insuring 100 houses
    3. on average, 5 houses burn down in a year

    In order to pay for the 5 houses ($500), each house has to pay $5/year in insurance.
    In order to make a profit, you could bump it up to, say, $10/year, but insurance is competitive, so you can only get it up to $7/year.
    What happens if there's an especially dry year, and 8 houses burn down? You're in the negative.
    Typically the insurance would have reserves, or a line of credit, but either way they're running that year in the negative. If the market is stretched tight, a bad run can ruin it.

    And on the original topic, that's what happened. The problem is not JUST the NINA loans, or all the insurance and whatnot, it's that they were given out too plentifully, and insured at the wrong rate.

    Most people did not default on their mortgages. More people defaulted than was expected. The market was oversaturated; strung too tight. If a couple % less people defaulted on their mortgages before, it might not have collapsed, and we could work our way out slowly and less painfully. (if the practices continued as they were, though, collapse was inevitable anyway)

  23. Re:People who already bought a converter on Digital TV Coupon Program Under Way Again · · Score: 3, Insightful

    But people will die without tornado information, among other things. Yes, radio is an option. When dealing with people, however, sometimes a graphical representation is just much more useful.

  24. Re:remove the Mormons tag on Utah Trying To Restrict Keyword Advertising ... Again · · Score: 1

    Then again, this deserves to be modded off-topic. that's what I get for feeding the trolls.

  25. Re:remove the Mormons tag on Utah Trying To Restrict Keyword Advertising ... Again · · Score: 1

    erm...my google-fu is weak today. The only dr. card I find at the moment is a cardiologist. Searching for card in relation to lds/social services/homosexuality turn up third-party pages which mention him in passing, but I can't find any of his publications. link please?