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Comments · 4,106

  1. Re:Or there's the other alternative on How To Vet Clever Ideas Without Giving Them Away? · · Score: 2, Interesting

    What I would do is find someone who's well acquainted in the field, then tell him your idea in great detail. If it's a bad idea, nothing lost, if it's a good idea, you can threaten to slaughter his whole family.

    Or just, like, bring him on as a business partner? Since you don't know enough about the field to even know if your own freakin idea is worth beans or not? The one thing in common between Intel, Apple, Microsoft, and every other large successful 'idea' company that I can think of? Even when they were tiny startups they still had more than one person in the company. Hell, the word 'company' should be a clue, have you ever heard of a 'multinational alone'?

  2. Re:not bublebee on Transformers Special Edition Chevy Camaro Unveiled · · Score: 1

    I guess my gripe is that sure, we pay the same for a Jap family car as you guys do, but if we want something with a bit of pep we're out of luck. Then again our government would put a speed limiter on a Zimmer frame so I guess it's regulations related.

  3. Re:not bublebee on Transformers Special Edition Chevy Camaro Unveiled · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    The '8' in a V8 refers to the fact that it has eight kangaroos tied to the engine block kicking the crankshaft. The 'V' refers to the fact that they run on VB. Likewise your F150 utes run on Fosters, I'll never understand why you still fall for that.

    Sometimes if we want to go very fast we feed them Bundy but after about a mile the male kangaroos stop kicking the crankshaft and start kicking the female kangaroos. :(

  4. Re:not bublebee on Transformers Special Edition Chevy Camaro Unveiled · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This. A thousand times this.

    What also really annoyed me was the kid's attitude, in both movies. "I'm 17 and I've never had a real job. Oh, yeah, this is my first car. It's a 2010 Camaro. Yeah, maybe 350hp at the wheels. Nah, I know, it's a piece of junk." What. the. FUCK. is wrong with this kid? A brand new muscle car just JUMPS into his lap and he's like "meh, who cares". Seriously. Make him drive a fkn Geo Metro for three years so he knows how good he has it.

    In fact on second grumpy thoughts, that applies to all you Americans. $30k US (that's what, like, $35k Australian these days?) for a 400hp V8 muscle car? We pay that for a fuckin' Camry. The cheapest half-decent 'sports' car would probably be the Ford XR6 Turbo which goes for what, $70k new? How the hell do you get such nice cars so cheap? :/ No wonder all your car companies are folding. Grrargh. **CARNERDRAGE** :P

  5. Re:Dangers of blocking on US Agency Blocked Cellphone / Driving Safety Study · · Score: 1

    Sir, it is rare even on Slashdot that I meet a pedant greater than myself. Respect. :)

  6. Re:Dangers of blocking on US Agency Blocked Cellphone / Driving Safety Study · · Score: 1

    Hell, why else do you think that Lunar Lander came out years before Pole Position? :P

  7. Re:how does it compare to lightening? on US Agency Blocked Cellphone / Driving Safety Study · · Score: 1

    Interesting. Thanks for improving my admittedly simplistic former views on the topic.

    I should really have thought more about it in that way, since I was definitely aware of the freaky charge dispersal stuff that lightning does when it strikes. At one point I was in a car on the freeway and we were very close to a lightning strike. There was a loud 'bang' under the car at the exact (to my senses) instant of the lightning/thunder, which I'd guessed was a small arc equalizing the charges on the ground (suddenly went from quite positive to very negative) and the car (floating somewhere in the middle).

    Yhis would also be the missing part of my understanding of why toaster plus bathtub equals electrocutionary funtimes.

  8. Re:News report on US Agency Blocked Cellphone / Driving Safety Study · · Score: 1

    I see no other reasonable legislative route than "though shall not engage in overly distracting behavior while driving.", and letting the police & judges handle the rest.

    I was personally hoping that some day they could introduce legislation more along the lines of "pay attention to the fucking road, dipshit". Unfortunately that's somewhat hard to enforce as yet, and would be a major civil rights issue if it were possible. Doesn't stop me wanting to impose it on the guy in the next lane who's off in la la land.

  9. Re:Dangers of blocking on US Agency Blocked Cellphone / Driving Safety Study · · Score: 1

    Another difference is that the ATC knows when to shut the hell up and let the pilot do his job if something goes wrong, just like someone in the passenger seat would.

    This, I think, is the key point. Sure, when you're cruising along your passenger will be crapping on about god knows what and it won't affect your driving in the slightest. But someone pulls out in front of you and they're likely to clam up until the danger's passed, whereas if you're talking to someone on handsfree and you suddenly stop in the middle of a sentence, they're likely to start trying to get your attention. "Are you still there? Sorry, I can't hear you. Hello? HELLO?! You ther-" *screeeBANG*

    Fun times. I especially hate when I'm talking to my wife on the phone while driving (which I know I shouldn't, but c'est la vie) and I say "gotta go sorry, lights went green / I have to merge / some guy's trying to kill me with his car". And when I get home she's pissed off at me because I didn't let her finish telling me all about how cute the fucking kitten is or what her friend's ex got up to on the weekend or whatever it is that's going on at the time. Then again she does that when she's in the car too... we're coming up to a set of lights, they go orange and suddenly it's HEY LOOK AT THIS THING I GOT TODAY ISN'T IT CUTE IT'S MORE IMPORTANT THAN US NOT DYING IN A CAR CRASH! Gah.

  10. Re:Dangers of blocking on US Agency Blocked Cellphone / Driving Safety Study · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Also, while the consequences for mishap in a plane are generally more severe, flying a plane generally takes a helluva lot less attention than driving a car. If you're sitting at 100km/h on the freeway, the wrong control input for 1/10th of a second could easily kill you. If you're in the cockpit of an airliner, you have an exclusive packet of airspace that's literally kilometers wide, and unless you're in final approach you're probably at least a kilometer off the ground. Take your eyes off the controls for a few seconds and there's not going to be any huge consequence since there's nothing to hit.

  11. Re:stunned on US Agency Blocked Cellphone / Driving Safety Study · · Score: 1

    Yeah, you fools still haven't discovered iocaine powder.

  12. Re:how does it compare to lightening? on US Agency Blocked Cellphone / Driving Safety Study · · Score: 2, Interesting

    +1, Sad But True. It's like people being far more afraid of sharks or tigers than of killer bees, which are actually more likely to kill them. Or like the way that when you're crossing the street, you'd never step out in front of a semi but at the same distance and speed you'd quite happily step out in front of a mini, completely forgetting that half a ton of mini will kill you just as dead as fifty tons of semi.

    I don't get the 'get out of the pool' thing, though. Doesn't this pool have floodlights and other assorted metal objects projecting far above the surface of the water? And even if lightning does strike nearby, the pool water is far from pure and will probably conduct much better than the people in it. Unless you have a part of you sticking further above the water than the floodlights and shade cloth frames and so forth, you won't be in the path of the current.

  13. Re:I assume the SOURCE fits into 4 kb on Hacking Hi-Def Graphics and Camerawork Into 4Kb · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'd presume that there's a fair bit of self-modifying code in there, even if you don't count the almost-mandatory executable packer. Self-modifying code often gives virus scanners a woody. Or the willies, whichever. ;)

  14. Re:News report on US Agency Blocked Cellphone / Driving Safety Study · · Score: 2, Informative

    Troll? It's obvious that f**king around with your mobile phone while driving is going to take your attention off the road and probably cause you to crash. If NHSA is too scared of upsetting congressmen who dick around with their phones while driving, then I think the attitude towards mobile phone use in cars is pretty clear: they'll never give their phones up, and they'd never let them down.

  15. Re:Easy for you to say on Of Science and Choice In Online Dating · · Score: 1

    "Goes to the gym"? "basic exercises"? My dad used to go to the gym a couple of times a week, but his 'workout' was 20 minutes tootling along on an exercise bike. My general workout is a hard 10km ride to the gym (booo prevailing winds), 30 minutes of free weights (if I don't have trouble moving my arms afterwards then I'm slacking), and an easier 10km ride home (yay prevailing winds). There's a reason that I got different results to dad.

  16. Re:Easy for you to say on Of Science and Choice In Online Dating · · Score: 1

    Ah, but it's not possible to be a real Scotsman. Using your argument, if you are able to carry on a normal conversation (with someone not from your circle of friends) and capable of being sociable on a large scale, you're most definitely not a 'real' introvert.

    I'm talking from the point of view of a guy who, four years ago, physically could not go up to a stranger at a party and talk to them. I just couldn't, I couldn't take that first step and at even the thought my throat would jam up and I'd catch myself making weird groaning noises. I threw myself in at the deep end and learned those skills, and now I have no problem with that sort of stuff. I still like to spend a fair bit of time alone, but I can relax and enjoy company rather than it feeling arduous. I'm definitely not an extrovert, but I'm also definitely not a 'true introvert' any more, and I'm damn glad of the fact.

    There's nothing wrong with a tendency towards introversion, you're right. But that's not what I was saying. There's definitely something wrong with being lonely and unhappy, and (unless you have Aspergers or something similar) there's a good chance that if you don't have enough social contact, you will find yourself lonely and depressed (I did) even if you don't understand why (I did but I didn't know how to fix it, now I do).

  17. Re:Problem is on Why the Photos On Wikipedia Are So Bad · · Score: 3, Funny

    No, you fool, they're tits. And they're censored. To be worksave, you know.

    This explains why Wikipedia's article on breasts has less impressive images than, uh, various other sites. And their article on cleavage is downright horrible.

  18. Re:SSD on Best Home Backup Strategy Now? · · Score: 1

    For porn I'd want instant immolation.

    Immolation porn? Sicko.

  19. Re:Us introverts need to stick together on Of Science and Choice In Online Dating · · Score: 2, Funny

    Us introverts need to stick together.

    The irony of this statement made me at once laugh and cry a little.

  20. Re:Easy for you to say on Of Science and Choice In Online Dating · · Score: 1, Insightful

    People have social muscles, just the same way we have physical muscles. Some people actually have clinical disorders that cause excessive introversion, just like some people have muscular dystrophy, but it's not common. And just like real muscles, you can 'work out' with your social muscles to make them stronger and to earn more endurance. Do you think that buff guy up at the bar talking to the hot chick got buff through genetics? No, he did it by working his ass off at the gym 3-4 times a week for a few years. Do you think he got to be talking to the hot chick through genetics? Again no, he did because he's built up his confidence and social skills to the point where he can actually talk to an attractive stranger about any old crap without gibbering and freaking out.

    Save up some money. Get on a plane. Get out of your hermit's cave. I mean get 12,000 KILOMETERS out of it. Find yourself on the other side of the world in a country where most people don't even speak your language, with no internets and no books and no action figurines and no anime and no shell for you to hide in. The first few days will suck, you'll be scared out of your mind. And then you'll begin to realise something. You CAN talk to people. You can sit down in a bar and start crapping on to a total stranger, and they'll actually TALK BACK to you. You'll have interesting conversations with complete strangers. Sometimes even if they're female! You can pick an interesting place on a map and just *go there*. Talk to people. See the world. Live in the world. You'll feel yourself 'stretching', inside, as you unbend from that cooped up creature you were back in your cave, and become a real, live, human being. You'll meet people who lived down the street back home and you'll meet people from all over the world. And eventually, it'll 'click' that we're all basically the same. And when you go back, you'll have changed - you'll be a different, larger, more mature person than you used to be. You'll know that you can take the world on single-handed and not just survive but flourish. You'll be able to talk to people because you'll have worked on those talking-to-strangers muscles every day.

  21. Re:Easy for you to say on Of Science and Choice In Online Dating · · Score: 1

    Actually that was pretty good. I think a lot of people just got told by a monkey with a typewriter.

  22. Re:Easy for you to say on Of Science and Choice In Online Dating · · Score: 1

    Don't do this. The only thing worse for your self-esteem than being a virgin and on the wrong side of 20 is paying to lose it. Local ad for casual relationship could work. Or just hang out at your local cougar bar and bag yourself a high-mileage wildcat who'll really show you a good time.

  23. Re:The biggest problem with dating... on Of Science and Choice In Online Dating · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What are the downsides?

    No boobs to play with. Sore ass. Did I mention no boobs?

  24. Re:And this is what is slowly killing the genre on Massively Single-Player Gaming? · · Score: 1

    Agreed here. Even WoW, which is notoriously easy to level up in, will force a new player to spend literally months playing solo before they can get to a level where people are still running groups. Hell, on my server it's hard to find even a heroic (hard-mode) 5-man dungeon because everyone has already outgeared them and is on to the second tier raid for this expansion.

  25. Re:The 'casual' gamer on Massively Single-Player Gaming? · · Score: 2, Insightful

    8 hours a week is hardcore? Maybe for Tetris or Wii Bowling. 'Casual' MMO players can play anywhere up to 30 hours a week, I don't believe it's possible to play an MMO game at a 'hardcore' level if you have either a job or a partner.