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User: dwywit

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  1. Re:I Got It! on Deloitte: Use a Longer Password In 2013. Seriously. · · Score: 1

    Wouldn't some deliberate misspellings be sufficient for most of us? Such as "stapple" above? Try "Korrekt", and/or "batery".
     
    I don't know how password crackers work, but aren't they going to give up after hitting my bank account more than a few dozen/hundred tries, and move on to the next?

  2. Re:Only over my dead body on Sony Rootkit Redux: Canadian Business Groups Lobby For Right To Install Spyware · · Score: 1

    Pardon my ignorance, but wouldn't the malware need an IP address to get packets out through the NIC? If that IP address isn't going to come from the usual sources (DNS, HOSTS file, etc) to avoid being dead-ended, then it would need to be hard-coded within the malware itself, updatable only by updating the malware or driver. Anyway, it's trivial to block access to a host whether you use its IP address or host name. And, the validation server for a game is not likely to be the same server that the spyware reports to, but I suppose you can tell the game to not start without a connection to the spyware and validation server/s.

  3. Re:Quick, someone trademark the term "Time Machine on Games Workshop Bullies Author Over Use of the Words 'Space Marine' · · Score: 1

    GW also acquired Talisman, removed all female characters, substituted minotaurs and other stupid relics from other games, and released "Talisman third edition". Should've been called "Turd Edition". I was mighty pleased when the fourth edition came out looking much better. My nephew borrowed my second edition and promptly lent it to someone else, and it never came back.
     
    Yeah, the best thing you can say about GW is that they have a flawed outlook on the world of tabletop gaming.

  4. Re:Only over my dead body on Sony Rootkit Redux: Canadian Business Groups Lobby For Right To Install Spyware · · Score: 1

    It won't be long before interested parties find out what hosts the spyware reports to, then that information will become public. Anti-malware suppliers can either provide an option to remove said spyware, or at the very least, block it at the nearest firewall. Hell, anyone with half a brain can just add a 127.0.0.1 entry to the HOSTS file.

  5. Re:Renewable Energy vs Waste of Energy on Will Renewable Energy Ever Meet All Our Energy Needs? · · Score: 1

    Well, I suppose it's reasonable to consider Oz as a benchmark for worst-case scenario. Still, I maintained running water and refrigeration for 3 days while all the mains-connected folk had to throw out their perishables, and flush their toilets with buckets of water from rainwater tanks - those who had tanks, that is.

  6. Re:Renewable Energy vs Waste of Energy on Will Renewable Energy Ever Meet All Our Energy Needs? · · Score: 1

    It's not a gimmick when the cost of connecting to the grid is more than the cost of an off-grid system - it's simple economics. BTW, we recently had a cyclone go through the district (South-east Queensland, Australia) - mains power was out all over the place - including services like water - so people "on the grid" not only didn't have electricity for days (goodbye to the contents of your fridge/freezer), they didn't have flushing toilets. We "off the grid" types managed to avoid such unpleasantness.

  7. Re:Renewable Energy vs Waste of Energy on Will Renewable Energy Ever Meet All Our Energy Needs? · · Score: 1

    That's an interesting point - I have some 55 watt panels on the roof that are over 20 years old, and probably not producing at the rated spec anymore. I want to replace them with newer technology panels - I wonder if the rare earths in the old panels make them a worthwhile "trade-in" option? Anybody know much of the various elements are present in panels?

  8. Re:Renewable Energy vs Waste of Energy on Will Renewable Energy Ever Meet All Our Energy Needs? · · Score: 1

    Switch to LED lighting. Leave the manufacturing energy cost out of the equation for the moment and just concentrate on the day-to-day energy consumption of a traditional tungsten-filament bulb, compared to a halogen equivalent, compared to a CFL, compared to an LED - all with similar or identical output in lumens/sq. metre. The energy consumption drops off dramatically. Of course you now have to consider total energy costs over the lifetime of the device including manufacture, transport, distribution, etc, and how long it will take to deliver a nett "profit" in energy consumption compared to previous technology. My own experience is that reducing your daily energy consumption makes a surprising difference when totaled over a year.

  9. Re:No more time travel! on J.J. Abrams To Direct Star Wars VII · · Score: 2

    "A world out of time" by Larry Niven. None of the usual "kill your grandfather" paradoxes, but a well-thought-out and entertaining story about a man catapulted a L O N G way into the future.

  10. Re:Siding Spring Observatory on Bushfire Threatens Major Telescope · · Score: 1

    Next to Tumba-bloody-rumba, Ulla-bloody-dulla and Beula-bloody-dealah.

  11. Re:Never the less on Bushfire Threatens Major Telescope · · Score: 2

    An interesting strategy, and I hope it works out for you.
     
    Coonabarabran doesn't have that sort of reliable rainfall - it's not in or near a rainforest, you see.

  12. Re:Why so many bush fires? on Bushfire Threatens Major Telescope · · Score: 1

    Good point - I think it's local, though. I won a consolation prize, once - 2 smoke alarms, a fire blanket, backpack, cap, AND a Garmin Nuvi!. When the next call came I told the caller I'd be happy to buy double tickets, because of the prize. He started talking about what a great little package of items it was, and he had been given the package for some reason - so that makes me think it wasn't outsourced to a city call centre.

  13. Re:Why so many bush fires? on Bushfire Threatens Major Telescope · · Score: 4, Interesting

    2 reasons. The size of the area to be burnt, and funding.
     
    When you have limited funds, you have to be very selective where you spend it doing this years' choice of burns. Rural Fire Brigades (at least here in Qld) have to do a lot of fundraising to stay afloat - they're volunteers, and one of the few charities I always support when the phone rings to sell me raffle tickets.

  14. Re:A matter of perspective... on In Vitro Grown Meat 'Nearly Possible' · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You might be right - but it's your choice whether to eat that sort of meat, or not. I'm prepared to pay more - sometimes a lot more - for free-range meat. Doesn't have to be "organic", just not raised or fattened in pens or feedlots or cages.

  15. Re:Nuclear Power, now, and put it in my backyard on Coral Reefs In Grave Danger, Say Climate Simulations · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I like your open-minded approach - no, that's not sarcasm, I mean it. Yes, electricity from nuclear fission is cleaner overall than most other so-called baseload sources. It's still scary when something goes wrong - it doesn't matter about new designs, assurances, technological advances (which ARE impressive) - human fears are a factor, and must be dealt with, whether based on solid evidence, or FUD from greenpeace.
     
    I live off-grid using subsidised solar PV, and a petrol generator for backup when it's rainy. If I was really strict about appliance usage when the weather is less than ideal (e.g. turn off the kids' computers), we wouldn't need the generator very much at all. Let's put aside the environmental impact of manufacturing solar PV for the moment, and focus on whether it's possible to live off-grid with solar PV. Is it possible to continue a high-energy-consumption lifestyle with old-style incandescent light bulbs, air-conditioning, electric clothes dryers, electric dishwashers, electric coffee-makers, electric ovens and stovetops? No, it's not. Is it possible to minimise your consumption of fossil fuels and still enjoy life? Hells yeah. No aircon, occasional use of the clothes dryer run directly off the generator, wood-fired stove (also supplies hot water and heating), hand-wash dishes while listening to internet radio, 2-3 major appliances at any one time, e.g. 2 computers and a washing machine, or vacuum cleaner and washing machine, etc. It can work, if you want it to. Right now, I'm typing this on a laptop, on a sunday evening, listening to internet radio (B.B. King, if you're interested) via another laptop amplified through an old boombox, my daughter is watching some silly movie on Nickleodeon on a 55" LCD TV, sourced via a HD decoder from a satellite dish, my wife is playing minecraft on her laptop with an external 24" LCD screen, and my son is doing the facebook thing on his iPad - it's about 5:45pm, so house lights will be coming on soon - they're a mix of 24VDC halogen, and 240VAC CFL. All it takes is willpower, and (gratefully acknowledged) Govt subsidised PV - yes, I DO pay my taxes, BTW. Mind you, even if it the gear wasn't subsidised, it still would have been cheaper than getting the mains extended to my place.
     
    Not the right solution for everyone, obviously, but saying it can't be done is simply not true.

  16. Re:31km in an Earthquake Zone on Ask Slashdot: Should Scientists Build a New Particle Collider In Japan? · · Score: 1

    'bout time somebody mentioned Oz. We gots big flat expanses, and bucketloads of sunlight for the PVs needed to offset the energy needs, everyone likes us, and the native critters can provide security services.
     
    Oh, and we've got Michelle Jenneke to keep the lonely scientists entertained.

  17. Re:A spoof by, not of, the leader on Australian Prime Minister's Spoof "Apocalypse" Speech Goes Viral In China · · Score: 1

    Oh god yes - she's such a national treasure. Any politician, no matter what else I think of them, gets a bonus point for being prepared to look silly on national TV. Intentionally silly, that is. Not when spouting party policies. And Barnaby Joyce just makes my day whenever I see him giving a sound bite. I can't tell whether he's a master troll or just an idiot, and that's not sarcasm - I've actually heard some well-reasoned words escape his lips.
     
    Offtopic - anyone surprised about the outcome of the Peter Slipper court case?

  18. Re:Filter on Electrical Grid Hum Used To Time Locate Any Digital Recording · · Score: 1

    And that won't leave a suspicious notch or gap in your recording - sure, it's removed the police's "timestamp", as it were, but it raises their suspicion level, and gives them a bit more motivation to spend more time and effort focussed on your activities.
     
    Why not find some other 50 or 60 cycle hum to substitute instead?

  19. Re:Still sceptical on Electrical Grid Hum Used To Time Locate Any Digital Recording · · Score: 1

    Yes, it's tricky, and the local generators/distributors where I live (South-east Qld, Australia) are starting to become worried about the amount of grid-connected solar systems. Still, you cannot connect your solar PV to the grid without approved inverters, which not only match phase, but also disconnect whenever the grid has an outage.
    br.Lucky I'm off-grid - the energy from my smug grin keeps the batteries topped up when the weather's lousy.........

  20. Re:But it's leading edge tech! on Electrical Grid Hum Used To Time Locate Any Digital Recording · · Score: 1

    Kind of how the funniest joke in the world was translated into German - if the mods see more than two words together, they'll be hospitalised.

  21. Re:Audio compression on Electrical Grid Hum Used To Time Locate Any Digital Recording · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well, I'm sure that the 50Hz hum sounds much warmer in its original format without digital sampling errors and whaarrrgarrbbll bitrate rhubarb rhubarb harmonics frequency blah-diddy blah blah blah oxygen-enhanced one-way digital cables, so there!

  22. Re:A spoof by, not of, the leader on Australian Prime Minister's Spoof "Apocalypse" Speech Goes Viral In China · · Score: 3, Informative

    No - it was definitely her. I mean, "Brave" was pretty good, but I've yet to see a female ranga with a broad Aussie accent successfully rendered on a computer.
     
    And Gillard's got enough of a sense of humour to do this. Actually, some of our other PMs have said/done some funny things - Hawke's "bum" comment when we won the America's Cup, Howard's ability to take "The Chaser" on the chin - whatever else you thought of him, he kept on going for his morning jog, knowing they'd be waiting for him.

  23. Re:pronounciation on Swimming Robot Reaches Australia After Record-Breaking Trip · · Score: 1

    Can't think of Bundy Rum without thinking about Rich Hall's take on the stuff:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkH5_aGRC8g

    "'holy shit this is liquid crack, what the fuck are you lookin' at? Come over here and I will beat you like a drum"

  24. Re:Over My Cold Dead Body on ITU Approves Deep Packet Inspection · · Score: 1

    "Zed, we've got a bug"

  25. Re:Kthxbai on Newzbin2 Closes For Good · · Score: 2, Funny

    Get it? apt-get, gettit?