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User: dwywit

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  1. Re:Squarer is better. on Eizo Debuts Monitor With 1:1 Aspect Ratio · · Score: 1

    It's similar for video editing - one large, high-def monitor for the actual video, and another monitor for the various control panel windows. The second monitor can be any aspect ratio - whatever you prefer to work with - but the first one needs to be big, accurate, and has to be able to cope with at least the most common formats.

  2. Re:and that means it doesn't cost any more? on The Dutch Village Where Everyone Has Dementia · · Score: 1

    Shared the nobel prize with Fleming:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H...

    Invented Gardasil:
    http://www.couriermail.com.au/...

    Perhaps you should do some research before commenting - otherwise you run the risk of being perceived as a troll or a chickenhead.

  3. Re:Why? on Apple Disables Trim Support On 3rd Party SSDs In OS X · · Score: 1

    At least once per month in recent months. "Your system must be restarted to complete installation of the updates"

  4. Re:November 11th? Really? on How Alibaba Turned November 11 Into the World's Biggest Online Shopping Day · · Score: 2

    I'd mod up you but I want to comment.

    They'll get a rude shock if they try it in Australia.

  5. Re:AT&T doing same but here's the opt-out link on EFF Hints At Lawsuit Against Verizon For Its Stealth Cookies · · Score: 1

    That's interesting. It asks me to disconnect my wi-fi before clicking the "opt out" button. As I'm not a networking sage, can someone explain why this would be necessary?

  6. Now we can see on Check Out the Source Code For the Xerox Alto · · Score: 2, Informative

    where Gates & Jobs got all their ideas from.

  7. Re:Time to "stock up" from NewEgg ... on OEM Windows 7 License Sales End This Friday · · Score: 1

    I've recently set up the following linux distros as guests under Win 7 in VirtualBox (all are 64-bit versions):

    Mint 17
    Ubuntu 14.04
    OpenSuse*
    Mageia*

    * whatever the latest version was on Distrowatch or Livecdlist

    NONE of them were able to successfully restart themselves after initial installation. They shut down to a black window, and stayed that way until I forced VirtualBox to power them off. After a manual start, they would all start up and ask for updates. Mint, Ubuntu and Magiea were OK (after installing hundreds of MB of updates), OpenSuse just sat there doing nothing.

    I'm not going to install any Linux/GNU distros on a customer's machine until I can get one to:

    1. install and work in a VM, and then
    2. install and work on generic desktop hardware, and 1st-tier laptop hardware.

  8. Re:China is more capitalistic than the USA on First Commercial Mission To the Moon Launched From China · · Score: 2

    Whoops, forgot about Scandinavia (blame my newly-acquired homebrew kegging system). I'm expressing dismay about the size of the welfare budget here in Oz, and my experiences with people who game the system. I've known professional tertiary students who were smart enough to claim and collect 2 or even 3 student allowances by using fake identities. They liked student life so much, it was preferable to going out and actually getting a job.

    I receive some welfare myself, mainly an income supplement for dependent children, but I wish we could work out a better system.

  9. Re:China is more capitalistic than the USA on First Commercial Mission To the Moon Launched From China · · Score: 2

    We've a lot of evolving to do before socialism can work on a national scale. At the point where it becomes a government function to weigh in and distribute the wealth (e.g. with over-generous welfare handouts) it becomes a disincentive to work, i.e. if I can get free money from the government, why should I work?

  10. Re:Aussie FAQ on Amazon Web Services To Build Two New Aussie Data Centers · · Score: 1

    Not in western Sydney.

  11. Stephen Hawking look out. on Millions of Voiceprints Quietly Being Harvested · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I can see a rapid increase in the customer base of synthetic voice software

  12. Re:Obligatoriness Extraordinaire on Can the Sun Realistically Power Datacenters? · · Score: 1

    My installer said that tracking systems aren't really worth it for domestic situations. They cost about the same as 2 extra panels, and provide roughly the same amount of energy - so why not buy 2 extra panels and not have to deal with maintenance of motors, etc.

    I thought that a tracking system could be set up to forego motors and use bi-metallic strips to drive the panel movement throughout the day - have the panels point east when "cold", i.e. in the morning, then bimetallic strips would warm with the sun, do their "bendy" thing and push the panels to point west throughout the day as they get warmer. Then overnight, as they cool off, they'd revert to their "cold" state and the panels would move to point east again, ready for the next day. I asked an engineer about this once but he thought bimetallic strips wouldn't be powerful enough to do the job.

  13. Re:Obligatoriness Extraordinaire on Can the Sun Realistically Power Datacenters? · · Score: 1

    Ni-Fe batteries have a long life and more tolerance for discharge levels, but poor efficiency compared to lead-acid. Doesn't mean they wouldn't be useful, but you'll need LOTS more panels to replace what you take out.

    My last set of lead-acid cells (12 x BPSolar 2-volt 1100ah) lasted 8 years of domestic use before the first one failed.

    You're right about the controller - a good controller makes all the difference.

  14. Re:Obligatoriness Extraordinaire on Can the Sun Realistically Power Datacenters? · · Score: 4, Informative

    Read the post again - it's insOlation, which is correct, not insUlation, which was your assumption.

    Solar PV capacity planning, at least in domestic situations, is based on the amount of energy captured/generated by a panel at its PEAK capacity, and is generally calculated at 5 hours/day in temperate zones, less in frigid, more in tropical, with modifiers for local conditions and climate. Panel output throughout, for example, a clear sunny day in the mid latitudes corresponds closely to a steep-ish bell curve (more like a sine wave, though). Low output at either end of the day because the incidence of the sun's rays to the panel are more oblique.

    Panels are getting better at "catching" oblique insolation, but obviously they're much better between the hours of 9-10am and 2-3pm. There is a significant amount of energy captured outside these times, but it's not really useful when calculating the number of panels needed. It's better to state that you'll capture a minimum of x on sunny days, rather than a maximum.

  15. Re:Claim is BS. on Liking Analog Meters Doesn't Make You a Luddite (Video) · · Score: 1

    Eh? "Fastest-revving cars"?

    Perhaps you could explain why analogue tachos on pre-computerised motorcycles were able to cope with 2K powerbands and redlines in excess of 10K RPM. You know, the tacho driven by a cable from the engine.

    People used to win races with those "slow" tachos.

    In any case, if you're driving a high-performance vehicle anywhere approaching its peak performance, you won't really be watching the dials very much.

  16. Re:it's over: the media (in the US) have moved on. on Treasure Map: NSA, GCHQ Work On Real-Time "Google Earth" Internet Observation · · Score: 1

    Tinfoil-lined phone cases will be a growth industry. Ditto spoofing software, data poisoning software, etc, etc.

  17. Re:Start Button ? on Turning the Tables On "Phone Tech Support" Scammers · · Score: 1

    "This is a silent number...how did you get it? I'm in witness protection and my calls are monitored by the {NSA/CIA/GCHQ/AFP}."

    Or, when you get to the point where you've opened the windows event log and they ask you to read the warnings and errors (to prove their claim that your computer has errors), just say "there are no errors or warnings". This usually results in a short wait while they search their script for an appropriate reply, or a transfer to a "supervisor" to continue the fun.

  18. Re:Rife in the UK on Turning the Tables On "Phone Tech Support" Scammers · · Score: 2

    My record was 16 minutes, the sucker on the other end got more and more frustrated and eventually swore at me and hung up.

    I've told them I can't go to my computer because I had a broken leg and couldn't get out of bed.

    I've told them I don't have a keyboard, I use a touchscreen.

    Most recently, I let the operator get through to the stage where they wanted to connect, then I told her I knew it was a scam, she should be ashamed of herself for telling lies, and what would her mother think? That one got 3 seconds of silence, "shit", then she hung up.

  19. Re:Cinelerra or Creative Cloud on Ask Slashdot: the State of Free Video Editing Tools? · · Score: 1

    You might find that Premiere Elements will do what you want. It's about AUD$120 here.

    Although (as I mentioned above), Creative Suite/Creative Cloud is a bargain at academic pricing. Are you, or do you know anyone who is a student or teacher?

    My children bought Creative Suite for me......

  20. Re: What about Lightworks? on Ask Slashdot: the State of Free Video Editing Tools? · · Score: 2

    Don't know about Cinelerra, but you're right about Kdenlive vs. Premiere.

    Kdenlive wouldn't talk to my tape camera (miniDV tapes), so I couldn't capture footage. This was using Ubuntu Studio. The computer recognised the firewire card, Ubuntu could see it, but kdenlive (after 4 hours troubleshooting) just wouldn't talk to the camera.

    Premiere Pro can be had for about a third of retail - if you qualify for the academic pricing. I bought the entire Creative Suite 5.5 for AUD$450.

  21. Re:That ship has already sailed. on IBM Gearing Up Mega Power 8 Servers For October Launch · · Score: 1

    Neat! I wish there were more second-hand AS400 boxes in Oz. It's a small market with limited vendors, so prices are out of my reach. Would you mind sharing the cost of the hardware and the licence? Ballpark figures are fine.

    I'd buy an entry-level machine just for the chance to play with OS400 again.

  22. I subscribe to live365 on YouTube Music Subscription Details Leak · · Score: 1

    ~USD70 per annum for ad-free listening. I'd be happy to pay double that if and ONLY if the extra went straight to artists, i.e. not via licencing/royalty agents.

    You can listen to most of the stations for free, if you're happy to hear the ads.

    Unfortunately, their recent website re-design is dreadful. I play it via an eeePC, and the website does not scale very well to a small screen. The standalone player for Windows is OK, but the android app doesn't behave - long connect times, lots of dropouts and crashes. It keeps playing after you tap the "stop" button, and won't terminate until you force stop the app. I can cope with that because there's lots of great music across dozens of genres and thousands of stations.

  23. Re:Pending Restart.. on Windows 8.1 Update Crippling PCs With BSOD, Microsoft Suggests You Roll Back · · Score: 1

    There were some posts in one of the microsoft support forums that indicated removing %system%\FNTCACHE.DAT resolved the problem. That led to discussions that it might have been systems with a large number of installed fonts that were vulnerable.

    Windows will automatically replace FNTCACHE.DAT, so removing it won't hurt.

  24. Re:We already solved this one! on Is Storage Necessary For Renewable Energy? · · Score: 1

    If you don't want to store excess energy from Solar PV, you switch it off, i.e. the "off" switch is just that, an open circuit. The panel doesn't suddenly heat up and explode when you don't want to use its output anymore, but it's a waste when that energy could be used elsewhere. Switching the load to dump the excess into your hot water system is a great idea - it preheats the water, ultimately reducing demand from the grid. You should only switch a solar panel off where there is NO practical use for the energy. My PV/Battery controller (Plasmatronics PL60) is programmable, and has options to divert PV energy away from the batteries (e.g. when they reach float voltage) into other items, such as a water pump. It will even switch to an alternative battery bank, if you have one.

    Wind turbines are different, and need to have a load dump somewhere nearby. Small domestic wind turbines actually use their external casing as a dump.

    "Myopic trolls" is right, too. Electricity supply & distribution companies here are complaining that there is too much PV energy coming into the grid. Presumably this is on sunny days, when the demand for air conditioning is high.

  25. Re:Expert?? on Is Storage Necessary For Renewable Energy? · · Score: 1

    One of these days - HA! - we might see those big 'ol AC induction motors replaced by things that are a bit smarter. Not holding my breath, though.

    An example would be conventional washing machine motors with gearboxes vs. "soft-start" DC motors (e.g. Fisher & Paykel). I couldn't have a conventional washing machine on my system (off-grid, solar PV + batteries, inverter) because the inrush load meant buying an inverter with enough surge capacity to cope with it, in other words, do I buy a massively over-spec inverter, or a smart washing machine? Hint - the F&P cost less than the difference between the two inverter models.