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User: GoodNicksAreTaken

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Comments · 199

  1. Re:ham radio on Drifting Satellite Could Knock Out Cable TV · · Score: 2, Informative

    Stories like this make me happy to be a ham. I don't need a complex infrastructure and global political stability to communicate with anyone, woohoo!

    Except for band allocations and licensing. Even if you operate as a 'pirate' you have to rely upon repeaters, which even if you set up illegal repeaters you've got to worry about access to a suitable location. For DX you've got to worry about sun spot cycles and/or the time of day and ionosphere conditions. Even if everything is in YOUR favor, you've still got to rely upon someone at the other end having access to equipment to receive and/or transmit back. I'm lucky enough to live near a Ham Radio Outlet where I can deal with a bunch of attitude because I'm a ham under 50 years old. Before moving to this state the nearest brick and mortar was this same HRO, over 1000 miles away from where I lived. I can walk a few hundred yards from almost anywhere to a convenience store, Wal-mart, etc. and buy a pay as you go cell phone for $50 USD and talk to my parents who have a cell phone and are currently volunteering at a clinic in rural Romania.

  2. Banksy media campaign on Cleaners Paint Over Priceless Art · · Score: 1

    For those that don't follow graffiti news, Banksy articles are appearing in media all over the world right now as his pieces (or imitations of the original, Blek le Rat , and Banksy style) appear as promotion for his movie Exit Through The Gift Shop

    Banksy pieces showing up in San Francisco
    Banksy in Seattle
    Banksy feud with King Robbo

  3. Fire the accountant on At Issue In a Massachusetts Town, the Value of Two-Thirds · · Score: 1

    From TFA: "A calculation by town accountant Trudy Brazil indicated that 136 votes are two-thirds of 206 total votes, said Town Clerk Cynthia Slade." Sadly, their city directory still lists her as town accountant.

  4. Re:Fight fire with fire. on South Park's Episode 201 — the Expurgated Version · · Score: 1

    If you put up Matt and Trey's info someone may attempt to kill them. Sure, all the geeks in the world can probably figure out what Al-Amrikee had for breakfast this morning or post some distasteful pictures of them on 4chan, but other than a bunch of anonymous phone calls and general harassment I don't see much happening. We're geeks, not lunatics wanting to kill people over something, no matter how angered, even if many of us are well armed lunatics. That is the difference between a terrorist and a geek.

  5. Firefox can keep its bodily functions to itself on Firefox Search In Ubuntu 10.04 Changed To Google · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...change the default search in Firefox that comes Ubuntu 10.04 to Yahoo! from Google.

    Apparently I haven't been watching enough Discovery channel as I've never heard of this type of fox procreation before. Does a Firefox come Ubuntu when you Google it or only when you get it to Yahoo?

  6. Re:So... on NASA Summoned To Fix Prius Problems · · Score: 3, Informative

    A large number of the parts ARE shipped halfway around the world and the cost to ship a complete vehicle likely isn't much more if more expensive. The reason Toyota has a large number of factories in the US (which employ UAW union workers) is because it was a lot cheaper to produce vehicles in the US and Canada and not pay huge tariffs. There is a lot of information on this decision by Toyota in Episode 403 of This American Life.

  7. FA is a troll on Balloon and Duct Tape Deliver Great Space Photos · · Score: 4, Insightful

    FA is a troll and the article likely would not have been published if it wasn't a UK news outlet and didn't include a jab at NASA. NASA funds Spacegrant Consortiums doing high altitude balloon research at several US universities. The one I worked on was very similar except we had a license amateur radio operator so we could legally use an APRS system for tracking the balloon. Back then where was no CHDK to use for a cheap Canon camera so camera was controlled by a 555 timer circuit wired to the shutter button. The highest cost was the helium when you figure in the cost of storing large tanks of compressed gas. Our system was slightly more expensive because the payload usually also contained a logging system that stored additional sensor data like temperature and pressure.

  8. What Obama's Security Question Should Have Been on Obama's Twitter Account "Hacked" · · Score: 1

    His security question should have asked where he was born. A huge portion of the population of the US still can't figure that out :)

  9. Re:Oh Just Release It to the Public Already! on The Lost Film That Accompanied Empire Strikes Back · · Score: 1

    This is why every woman I've ever met hates Monty Python but most males I meet understand that Monty Python, at least in a sense, is the original.

  10. Re:FUCK YOU, Singularity42 on Passage of Time Solves PS3 Glitch · · Score: 1

    Stop attempting to belittle your fellow slashdotters to signal your "moral superiority".

    I had not realized that properly coding leap year algorithms was a moral issue. On slashdot is everything a moral issue? I must be new here.

  11. Re:With all the recent US layoffs ... on NHTSA Has No Software Engineers To Analyze Toyota · · Score: 1

    The number of union made autos in the US these days is next to none. A great number of domestic models, but very few in number. Toyota actually is one of the few companies that still produces a large number of vehicles with US union labor. The Corolla, Matrix/Pontiac Vibe, and Tacoma are all made with union labor and are some of the most reliable vehicles ever made. Poor reliability has very little to do with lazy union workers assembling vehicles on Fridays and everything to do with poor business practices and bad engineering decisions made by US auto makers.

  12. Re:Banking Reform on Paypal Reverses Payments Made To Indians · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Wal-mart would fight this type of regulation to the death as they want all the profitability of offering banking services without all of the regulation and they have the deep pockets to prevent the type of regulation that both Paypal and Wal-mart ought to fall under.

  13. Re:Different Day, Same Crap on Apple Patches Massive Holes In OS X · · Score: 1, Insightful

    You most have missed all the reports on the virus spread through torrents for Photoshop CS4 and iLife.

  14. Re:Must be running bootcamp on Apple Patches Massive Holes In OS X · · Score: 1

    They are busy patching their Macs.. LOL they got pwn3d d00d..

  15. Re:automated tool for locating cells? on Sprint Revealed Customer GPS Data 8 Million Times · · Score: 1

    Funny how you leftists cried foul when the rightists made that argument but now use it yourselves. Fucking hypocrites.

    We would be fucking but our health insurance doesn't cover contraceptives.

  16. Re:Maybes its a good time for them to get on iTune on EMI Sues Beatles Usurper Off the Net · · Score: 1

    1 - Not every person on Earth benefits from public domain music. Some are too damned busy trying to remain alive.

    Don't argue with parent. Why can't you

    Imagine all the people
    Sharing all the world

    You may say that I'm a dreamer
    But I'm not the only one
    I hope someday you'll join us
    And the world will live as one

  17. Re:Evacuate this universe! on LHC Shut Down Again — By Baguette-Dropping Bird · · Score: 1

    Let's leave it on and see just how weird things get. Every time we try to turn it on very random things start happening? What if we could harness that infinite improbability to drive a ship?

  18. Walm-mart secure like Microsoft, CPOs share awards on Details Emerge of 2006 Wal-Mart Hack · · Score: 1

    Wal-mart's Chief Privacy Officer http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2004/oct04/10-28privacy.mspx">took home a privacy innovation award for non-profits while Microsoft took home the corporate award when she worked for USPS.

  19. Re:This article is misleading at best on Porn Surfing Rampant At US Science Foundation · · Score: 2, Interesting

    There should be a mod to 6+ (each additional mod worth 1/8 value?) when something is this insightful.

  20. Re:That's ... on Hardware Hackers Create a Cheaper Bedazzler · · Score: 2, Insightful

    $250 doesn't leave you much money left over to siphon to the NSA or conflicts in Central America.

  21. Re:Hands-free is allowed on For New Zealanders, No More Phones As Sat-Nav Devices · · Score: 1

    The US and Germany have reciprocal driver licenses, AFAIK Germany is the only country the US has this agreement with. This is part of the reason why there are a disproportionate number of exchange students from Germany in the US. In the US they may as well start putting drivers licenses in boxes of cereal and cracker jacks for how difficult it is to acquire a US license. The US is also one of very few civilized countries where it's perfectly legal to drive a vehicle with plastic sheeting duct taped to repair a window and elastic cord used to hold on bumpers.

  22. Re:Eyecandy in cost of usability on Firefox To Replace Menus With Office Ribbon · · Score: 1
    FTA

    Though it will be turned on by default for Windows 7 and Vista users, they will be able to toggle between the old and new interface by holding the Alt key.

  23. Re:A likely story on Tour Companies Battle Over Trademarked Duck Noises · · Score: 1

    This lawsuit really ruffles my feathers.

  24. Re:Court of Appeals is fracking retarded. on Court of Appeals Rejects FCC's Cable Subscriber Cap · · Score: 1

    You work for Bresnan Communications don't you.

  25. Re:No. on Can Unmanned Aircraft Mix With Commercial Planes? · · Score: 1

    I'm complaining that FAA severe regulations for radio control UAVs are absolutely stupid.