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User: esldude

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  1. Re:Well... on Ask Slashdot: How To Make a DVD-Rental Store More Relevant? · · Score: 1

    Vudu is another good option. More current choices than Netflix. Seems in my area they use less compression or do it better than Amazon. They claim to get new movies the same day as DVD is released. Amazon isn't too far behind though. Either service seems better than Netflix on anything other than old TV shows. Vudu isn't a subscription service. You merely pay for what you watch as a rental. Though on some movies they offer a buy option.

  2. Re:Well... on Ask Slashdot: How To Make a DVD-Rental Store More Relevant? · · Score: 1

    This is the kind of thinking that might work. Obviously, buggy whips is an apt comparison. You do need either your own niche, and unless in a huge market you probably still can't make it work. But creative combinations of a new product or service, only part of which is the DVD is what will work. Pizza and DVD might work as would others. Basically you still are going to morph your business from DVD rental to something else. Either DVD plus something or something altogether different. You might recognize it when you see it. And until you do, you will possibly think,....hmmm I can't think of anything so it cannot be done.

  3. Re:...and ground based is better now on Small Telescopes Make Big Discoveries · · Score: 3, Informative

    Modern telescopes with the ability to compensate for atmospherics are now so good they can work at higher resolution than even the Hubble could manage above the atmosphere. That is one reason they decided to end the Hubble's service. Better images are possible from the ground now at much reduced cost vs the Hubble. Or in other words they can be almost completely effective to remove the ill effects of the atmosphere. Then the limit to resolution is simply the diameter of the instrument which on the ground can be larger than the Hubble.

  4. Re:Practical in some, but not all, applications. on Toyota Abandons Plans For All-Electric Vehicle Rollout · · Score: 1

    In the southeast US, warms temps and high humidity mean you will want to run AC all the time. I am guessing this will probably take out as much range as cool temps in winter up north. In stop and go traffic it might mean AC is where most of your juice gets used. I really like the idea of electric cars. Other than the batteries they can be cheap, reliable and have much longer lifetimes than IC drivetrains. But the batteries as mentioned elsewhere need to get twice as good for half as much. The physics of it make it appear that is doubtful. Take out the batteries and the things would be great. Making me think somewhere down the road when oil gets more scarce we will need a shift to trollies or other devices powered by overhead or in road bed electricity. No batteries needed that way.

  5. Re:Betteridge's Law of Headlines on Fusion Power Breakthrough Near At Sandia Labs? · · Score: 2

    A simulation shows that experiments scheduled for next year could work. And if they do work, they would maybe be a breakthrough. Yes, I think the proper answer to the query posed by the headline is clearly....NO! Get back to us with breakthroughs once you have actually done it for real one time.

  6. Not that useful advice given here on Exposure to Backlit Displays Reduces Melatonin Production · · Score: 1

    "For now, the researchers recommend dimming backlit devices such as tablets when using them at night, and they suggest limiting their use at night in the first place." Heck, I have important or fun stuff to do in the daytime when there is plenty of light. Best time for such back lit devices is at night. Sigh.

  7. The Day we Found the Universe on Hubble Neatly Captures Messier's Ancient Stars · · Score: 5, Interesting

    http://www.amazon.com/The-Day-We-Found-Universe/dp/0307276600/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345962369&sr=8-1&keywords=the+day+we+discovered+the+universe#reader_0307276600 Delightful book about how we came to figure out there was more than the milky way, and just how much more. Details the history of the instruments used, the scientists involved and the ideas that battled it out until we understood how big things were. The Hubble is in the lineage of important instruments helping us learn how big all of space is. All the way back to 13 billion years or so of it.

  8. Re:Drug test the final standard? on Lance Armstrong and the Science of Drug Testing · · Score: 1

    Well, this guy seems to have an axe to grind. For one thing a more qualified expert than him on the retest results has said they were questionable, but not to the point he was willing to call the test a fail. For another this fellow claims no on has shown muscle efficiency increase ever in training though plenty have looked. Try and google that and in about 30 seconds you will have a couple dozen such cases documenting it. So that rather decreases this guy's credibility.

  9. Re:Drug test the final standard? on Lance Armstrong and the Science of Drug Testing · · Score: 2

    Actually Hinault and others took a special cocktail. Working from memory it was a bizarre combination, of amphetamines, strichnine, morphine and alcohol. The morphine would be injected into the large muscles of the legs to dull pain, and the alcohol was I believe just a carrier. The injections would be given quickly under cover of sorts from the support car during the ride. In early drug testing when amphetamines were the main abuse, the testing company knew some were using a drug they couldn't detect. At the Giro d'Italia just days before it started they got confirmation of a test that worked on this previously undetectable speed. Assuming the people paying them would want it done they tested for that too without telling anyone. Out of something like 130 riders guess how many were positive? Say like 130 riders or every stinking one of them. So rather than call it off or declare everyone in violation race organizers said since no team doctors or riders knew they would be tested for that substance, they would hold them accountable in the future and let that one go. My guess is Lance doped, and so did very nearly all the other riders. I don't know what will happen, you can't award to someone else not with any legit way. Many of the others doped, some weren't tested as much. Really pitiful to strip Lance and hand it officially to another doper. Merckx, Indurain, Hinault, Fignon, and Anquetil were all known by admission or otherwise have admitted such things. It is a pitiful statement on pro cycling. Seems Lance shouldn't suffer more than these others though. Really messed up situation. And yes, if the rules are we test, and you pass the test, really should leave it at that. Even testing old samples with new technology shouldn't effect old results. Might be useful to see what is going on, but I don't see going back and altering results that way. And the due process in this case seems worse than non-existent.

  10. Re:Another terrible summary on CyanogenMod 9 Achieves Stable Release · · Score: 5, Informative

    You are right the summary was rushed and could have been better. If you don't know what CyanogenMod is, it is an alternate open sourced ROM for Android devices. Phones and tablets can have this replace the stock ROM getting you more control over your device, and some alternate features. Often glitchy Android devices with propietary ROMs work better with this CyanogenMod.

  11. Re:DISCLAIMER: I WORK FOR MS ON THE "METRO" SCREEN on CowboyNeal Weighs In On the Windows 8 "Metro" GUI · · Score: 1

    Yeah, I agree with this. Use it and you find it more useful than it first appears. Still some things I don't like. But some I do. I dislike that seemingly most desktops are moving toward touchscreens. I find a keyboard too useful. And voice input isn't worked out well yet, plus I don't see it in an office setting. But of all the touch/tablet leaning OS systems to choose from I think MS of all people got it morphed together with a conventional GUI by far the best. Gnome 3 is a sad joke and the developers by totally ignoring users are probably on the verge of sending it into a death spiral. Unity was not much better initially, but has improved and is listening to users somewhat. MS doesn't seem to be listening yet, but they did a much better job initially. But just use Win8 for few weeks and I don't think it is as bad as it first seems. It also has some genuine strengths as well. Still my favorite desktop is KDE.

  12. Re:The Road on Ask Slashdot: What's the Most Depressing Sci-fi You've Ever Read? · · Score: 1

    Second this again. Some of these people are suggesting don't seem the least depressing. I don't really get their perspective. But the Road is one I hate to even remember. Well written, and I read it. Never have watched nor have any interest in watching the movie. Once is enough and then some.

  13. Re:The Road on Ask Slashdot: What's the Most Depressing Sci-fi You've Ever Read? · · Score: 1

    Saw the question, and immediately this book came to mind. Lots of ways for things to be depressing. Endings, subjects whatever. This one is depressing in every way. I never have been able to bring myself to watch the movie. I read the book, and while a superbly done book, it is mightily depressing in the extreme. Yikes!!

  14. 23 feet, kinda small asteroid on Astronomers Catch Asteroid In Near-Miss Video · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I conjured up visions of a small asteroid that might have been a real big event if it collided. I am sure 23 feet in diameter would have made for a heck of a meteorite show. Thread to tremendous death and destruction on earth it isn't however. What is the official lower limit for an asteroid?

  15. Re:Doom, right after doomsayer retires/dies on MIT Institute's Gloomy Prediction: 'Global Economic Collapse' By 2030 · · Score: 1

    The Limits to Growth folks haven't been wrong. In fact they have a much better record than most anyone else using other methods. I think even they have been surprised by this. You might try reading some of their actual information on the models instead of listening to what other people say about it. Especially when those people don't like the results. So is the opposite of your pro tip that when someone has been right so far, we should pay attention as they might continue to be right?

  16. Re:Again... on MIT Institute's Gloomy Prediction: 'Global Economic Collapse' By 2030 · · Score: 1

    Actually not sure how the Club of Rome just never gets respect. It hasn't been off in its dates. It only predicted to the nearest decade. And it seems to have been dead on so far, if you actually read it for yourself. Further, it has been updated with new info, additional modeling etc. etc. each of those decades. The essential predictions haven't changed. Further their most likely scenario (the offer several depending on how things might go in the future) doesn't say there will be a big problem mid 21st century due to population. It says environmental degradation will cause so many varied problems a big overall decline will occur. And all this if we don't change some of our paths (which we definitely have not done). The environment is having some problems, it is probably going to cause problems feeding the increased population, energy is getting harder to keep up with demand, and global warming due to carbon emissions is likely going to be the straw that is just too much (if things don't change). Seems CofR was incredibly good with their modeling. It is a model and they never claimed any surefire predicting ability anyway. Just an eye into what might change, and how it might go otherwise. Furthermore, the model has always indicated increasing prosperity, growing economies, and population right up until it doesn't.

  17. Re:Gnome 3 wish list on Tom's Hardware Tests and Reviews Fedora 16 and Gnome 3 · · Score: 1

    Used Gnome 3 Fedora 16 since release on a netbook and laptop. It is characterized as a tablet OS. Sort of is, but not a good one. Too many keyboard shortcuts. What does a tablet lack? A keyboard. Sure touchscreen keyboard is available, but just one more step away from what you want. So if a tablet OS, it is a neurotically ill conceived one. I tried Unity for two weeks and Gnome 3 is definitely preferable. Still, it just isn't good enough. I don't see it as a good tablet OS, Win 8 beats the pants off it for tablets. It has been crippled as a desktop OS. It simply even now months later feels like I am always fighting it to use it. No good OS makes you feel that way. It is stable and solid, just a terrible GUI. Then there is the example of the shutdown. Suspend is available only, actual power off is hidden and not mentioned. I am sorry, that is hard headed dumb assed BS. Why not offer suspend and power off? Only takes one more line, and even on a phone there is plenty of room for it. The developers making these decisions aren't listening. In the end that hard headedness will rightfully cost them. All of these tablet OS's are pitiful. General purpose computers really took off when they were able to allow multi-tasking. Win95 is when PC's became highly useful. Going to APP-centric focus on only one task is a step backwards. Even smartphones will soon have plenty of power for real multi-tasking even on a small screen. This rush to go backwards for most mobile use is stupid. The amount of effort wasted on it is appalling and disturbing.

  18. Re:Old Skool on The Vortex Gun Coming Soon To a Protest Near You · · Score: 1

    I do believe that was a young Kurt Russell in that commercial. We know how he ended up. Snake Plissken, or that guy in 'Soldier' or the guy in Stargate or even (maybe worst of all) an Elvis Impersonator in "3000 miles to Graceland"

  19. Wham-O was there first on The Vortex Gun Coming Soon To a Protest Near You · · Score: 1

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxZu_Y_m8i4 I have, actually still have, one of these. Worked with a tight vortex at least over room distances. Didn't put pepper spray in mine though. In college worked on a larger version. Larger volume blast of air and more air over greater distances. Not too hard to scale up and optimize for pepper spray use. Probably not too bad a non-lethal weapon. All things considered maybe safer than tear gas grenades normally used. Less chance of injury, no fire hazard etc.

  20. Listen To James Lovelock on NASA's Mars News Is Not Life, But Perchlorate · · Score: 3, Interesting

    He explained it to NASA over 40 years ago. There is no life on Mars because life would effect the atmosphere in ways discernible to us. There isn't any need to send missions to figure that out. It of course wasn't the answer NASA wanted from him. There could of course be evidence of life in the past, but it looks unlikely to have ever been the case. Still the missions to Mars on a hopeless search for life are cool.

  21. Re:The 30,000 hour test on Proof That Practice Does Make Perfect · · Score: 1

    I believe you have a decimal error here. The articles on this subject I have seen say 3000 hours.

  22. Re:That ain't much. on Comcast Slightly Clarifies High Speed Extreme Use Policy · · Score: 1

    I think all of your are completely misreading unlimited. Remember way back when you first got internet over the phone. You paid so much a month for so many hours of access. And so much more per minute if you went over. Then everyone started offering 'unlimited' access. Stay on 24/7 if you wanted. That is the context in which they are marketing "unlimited". High speed internet 24/7, no time limit. They aren't referring to unlimited bits.