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User: Dracos

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Comments · 1,252

  1. Re:Down the Drain on Report: Microsoft To Buy Minecraft Studio For $2bn+ · · Score: 1

    Not idiotic at all for MS... very idiotic for Notch.

  2. Easiest "Fix" on Could Tech Have Stopped ISIS From Using Our Own Heavy Weapons Against Us? · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Bring it all back home. For all the hullabaloo about letting technology getting into "enemy hands", including export restrictions, the "let's just leave a bunch of military hardware in the Middle East" scenario was apparently never considered a risk.

    Of course, it's too late now for the Mosul equipment, but the same thing could happen anywhere else in Iraq or Afghanistan.

    It's almost as if the belligerent, short-sighted idiots are still in charge.

  3. Re:A list of semantically equivalent image URIs on New HTML Picture Element To Make Future Web Faster · · Score: 1

    Images themselves have no semantic value, only the elements that points to them... furthermore, the dimensions of the image are semantically irrelevant. This is a lame, flawed attempt to solve a visual layout problem with misplaced semantics. You wouldn't invent a redundant element for audio files based on varying bitrate because audio similarly has no semantic value and the media type is inherently non-visual.

  4. Re:That's it? on New HTML Picture Element To Make Future Web Faster · · Score: 1

    I run AdBlock like most /.ers, but it doesn't get the chance to do much because I have ~132,000 hostnames mapped to 0.0.0.0 in my hosts file specifically for this reason (in Linux and Win2k anyway... Vista/7/8 can only handle about 3000). Anyone who watches me surf is amazed at how the Internet looks without ads.

  5. Re:Unnecessary on New HTML Picture Element To Make Future Web Faster · · Score: 1

    Actually, it's unnecessary because everything picture does could have been added to img instead. There's no semantic difference between the two, so why add a new one? Extending img would have been more backwards compatible as well (one of WHATWG's stated goals, despite doing lots of stupid crap like this).

  6. Two possible problems on How the Ancient Egyptians (Should Have) Built the Pyramids · · Score: 1

    I see two possible flaws in this theory.

    First, if the attached rods are wood, wouldn't there be a limit to how much the block could weigh before crushing the rods?

    If the resulting dodecagon utilizes the block's original four edges among its vertices, wouldn't they suffer some damage while being rolled? If those edges are capped in some way to protect them, we inevitably return to #1 regarding the edge caps.

  7. Re:We commenters could freshen CSS, keep functions on Introducing Slashdot's New Build Section · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Obviously Dice Marketing doesn't understand the /. market. We old timers are not impressed by spacious, trendy design, we are impressed by concise content.

    Or maybe they're trying to run the old timers off so they can full tilt ruin /. and the remaining n00bs will think it's awesome.

  8. UX can only go so far on Ask Slashdot: Should You Invest In Documentation, Or UX? · · Score: 2

    Just as there is no such thing as absolute security, there is no such thing as a 100% intuitive and self-documenting UX.

    No matter how simple or complex software is, there is a limit to how much "help" the UX can offer. The UX should have enough hints/labels/tooltips/etc to keep the user from getting lost performing light to medium tasks, but inline is not the place for describing complex workflows, data structures, APIs, or other heavy topics.

    Documentation is the ultimate resource for the users, most documenting elements in the UX should be considered a convenience. The phrase "RTFM" exists for a reason, there is no "RTFUX".

    It also sounds like you're handling your docs wrong... they should evolve with the codebase and not need a complete rewrite for every release.

  9. So when will... on Google Fit Preview SDK Arrives For Android Developers · · Score: 1

    I be able to use Android Studio to develop for Gingerbread instead of it throwing 72+ errors about the Holo theme not existing (because themes were only added in Honeycomb)? I've already changed all the instances of defaultTheme to none in the config files according to StackOverflow, but that didn't help.

  10. Re:This is old news on Microsoft's Olivier Bloch Explains Microsoft Open Source (Video) · · Score: 1

    MS is still actively hostile to open source, except now they're bipolar about it.

  11. Re:Death bell tolling for thee.... on Microsoft's CEO Says He Wants to Unify Windows · · Score: 2

    Three letters: GNX.

  12. Re:Best Wishes ! on Microsoft's CEO Says He Wants to Unify Windows · · Score: 0

    I think it goes back further than that, when they slathered the NT4 UI on top of DOS to create Win95.

  13. I want a faux smart watch on Slashdot Asks: Do You Want a Smart Watch? · · Score: 1

    Smart watches are misnomer, really. They can't do much on their own because of the form factor. Typing? No way. In reality, smart watches are dumber than dumb terminals.

    What I do want is a nice looking, not too big, watch with a full color LCD matrix screen, maybe touch enabled, where I am able to customize the interface and make my own "themes". This, and being able to sync the time via NTP, would be the only reason for it to have WiFi or BlueTooth (unless a micro SD card could be squeezed in, then it could sync via WWVB or equivalent).

    For context, I've owned several Casio DataBank watches, all digital/analog hybrids. My favorite of them was the one where the LCD displayed a fill month calendar. The Wave Ceptor was a neat gimmick, but watches don't generally need that much precision on a daily basis.

    The Pebble comes close, except for the lack of color screen. It's been a while since I looked at what's out there. So far it seems the manufacturers are using smart watches as an excuse to tether users to their walled gardens (I'm looking at you Samsung).

  14. Re:PHP is a very solid choice on Ask Slashdot: Choosing a Web Language That's Long-Lived, and Not Too Buzzy? · · Score: 1

    PHP of old used to make it very easy to write applications with large security holes, but newer versions do a much better job of preventing developer's tendancies to shoot themselves in the foot.

    If that were true, then fetid garbage like WordPress wouldn't even run on PHP 5.3+, being as its code hasn't changed at all since the days of PHP4.

    Globals... globals everywhere...

  15. Re:all i really want from IE on Next IE Version Will Feature Web Audio, Media Capture, ES6 Promises, and HTTP/2 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    MS can brag about whatever, whenever they want, but IE's standards support has always been abysmal. I believe the hype you're talking about accompanied IE9, and everyone laughed at it.

  16. Re:all i really want from IE on Next IE Version Will Feature Web Audio, Media Capture, ES6 Promises, and HTTP/2 · · Score: 2

    LOL, not even close. No version of IE has ever had 100% support for any web standard, not even HTML 1.0

  17. Re:Supernothing. on Review: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 · · Score: 3

    Hollywood has all but given up on original content. There are more and easier profits to be had by adapting works in other media which will bring a built-in audience to the theaters.

    That being said, I'm sick of comic book movies.

  18. Re:I'd dump my iPhone for one of these... on OnePlus One Revealed: a CyanogenMod Smartphone · · Score: 1

    Furthermore, what about those of us who want--nay, require--a hardware keyboard? I don't give a rat's ass about gestures or voice recognition, but I do want to type on real buttons while my entire screen is visible. Such things are no longer being developed, which is why I still have my Epic 4G. In the 3 years I've had it, it has has been connected to WiMax (yeah, it's a Sprint pre-LTE device) for a total of about 4 minutes, because there never was WiMax coverage where I live, but I still have to pay a stupid $10/month data surcharge.

  19. Re:Wordpress is crap on Large DDoS Attack Brings WordPress Pingback Abuse Back Into Spotlight · · Score: 1

    I agree, WP is shit from end to end. Poor practices, horrible architecture, and just generally bad code quality... pretty much the most offensive plate of spaghetti I've ever seen. It's almost worse that many people now insist that WP is a CMS, rather than just a blog playing dress-up.

  20. Re:I'm just scared shitless on Ford Dumping Windows For QNX In New Vehicles · · Score: 1

    I'm sure I'm not the only person to see a BSOD on the flight arrival/departure screens at an airport.

  21. Re:Ford Explorer on Ford Dumping Windows For QNX In New Vehicles · · Score: 1

    There's a Firestone joke in there somewhere.

  22. Re:Need that keyboard. on Ask Slashdot: Life After N900? · · Score: 1

    I'm still on the Epic, because the Photon Q's non-removable battery made it a non-option.

  23. Re:So, can it play Crysis at full framerates, or.. on Intel Puts a PC Into an SD Card-Sized Casing · · Score: 2

    Come on, even an Arduino Uno has an MSRP above $20.

    Intel priced their Galileo at $70 to compete with Arduino, RasPi, Teensy, BeagleBone, etc, almost all of which are less than $50. I expect Intel to price Edison even higher. If Intel really wants to be a player in the Maker segment, they've got to get serious about the price points.

  24. Corruption? Maybe. But what if... on Indian Government Lifts Nokia's Asset Freeze, Factory Can Transfer To Microsoft · · Score: 2

    ...the real reason this got cleared is that MS assured the Indian government that all Nokia phones in India would have a backdoor accessible by the Indian government, like they demanded from BlackBerry?

  25. Unnecessary service processes on Ask Slashdot: What Makes You Uninstall Apps? · · Score: 1

    If an app doesn't need to be a service, then it shouldn't be running as a service. LED Light? Not a service, and I'm almost fed up with having to kill it every time I close Opera. I spend an outrageous amount of time killing things that I don't want running, and freeing RAM.