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User: Fieryphoenix

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Comments · 461

  1. 1-Second First Post! on The 1-Second Linux Boot · · Score: 5, Funny

    Guess Linux is faster than Slashdot.

  2. Re:About $2K savings per month on Fuel Cell Marvel "Bloom Box" Gaining Momentum · · Score: 1

    The companies in California got theirs subsidized to the tune of 50%. That means they would only have earned $87,500, and thus come out ahead.

  3. Re:That is fast! on Fallout: New Vegas Coming This Fall, Trailer Released · · Score: 1

    Which has exactly zero bearing on it being a simulation or not. A simulation with a protagonist growing up outside the vault is still just a simulation.

  4. Twin Peaks on What SciFi Should Get the Reboot Treatment Next? · · Score: 1

    And rather than starting where it left off, it should start when Agent Cooper is the older man seen in his visions.

  5. Re:More important question on $26 of Software Defeats American Military · · Score: 4, Insightful

    From what I could make out, it's just the video stream transmitted by the drone that's unencrypted, not communications that control the drone. The obvious reason this might be done is to save on the computational requirements onboard the drone by not making it encrypt the presumably immense data stream of the video. Decrypting the rest of the communication the drone receives is probably an order of magnitude less processing load, or even two.

    If received and understood by the enemy in a timely manner, very useful information. But if it is just the image unencrypted and not GPS coordinates, etc, the enemy would have to have enough people watching the feeds to recognize the terrain that was being photographed... it's easy to see why this might not be considered likely and lead to the poor judgement to leave it unencrypted when the drones were designed, many years ago with less powerful processors available.

  6. Re:Wait, slow this train down on Former Congressman Learns About Streisand Effect · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Even Disney cannot copyright "Disney". What they have is a trademark.

  7. Re:Roman Numerals? on Hand Written Clock · · Score: 1

    Ancient Romans historically represented four as IIII. Using IV to represent four has only been standard in modern times. Clock making tradition predates this standardization.

  8. Re:US Border Security when LEAVING US? on Sci-Fi Author Peter Watts Beaten, Charged During Border Crossing · · Score: 1

    You have your facts wrong, he was leaving the US, or at least that's what the fine article says.

  9. Re:Yeah, right on Somali Pirates Open Up a "Stock Exchange" · · Score: 1

    That's why you additionally crew the ship with marines if you decide to arm it. Probably cheaper just to pay insurance.

  10. Re:Escolar is sold widely in the US on Is That Sushi Hazardous To Your Health? · · Score: 1

    Escolar is the most delicious fish I have ever eaten. A commonly cited guideline is to not consume more than 8 oz.

    Plus, it's REALLY fun to eat some before you know about it, realize it's the best freaking thing ever and go Google it to learn more and come across page after page of people in a panic about the mess. My wife and I kept extra towels around for three days when that happened, but we didn't have any olestra moments.

    Telling a relative that story, he confessed that he once DID have an olestra moment... but not from escolar. His was caused by overeating salmon. So I guess salmon is toxic, too.

  11. Tax Those Seniors Next! on Pittsburgh To Tax Students · · Score: 1

    Seriously... what the heck? There's a reason there are two commonly found discounts out there... for seniors and students. This is because... duh... neither group is expected to be earning money! What's next, a tax on the unemployed and the homeless because they are not pitching in their share? How about cats and dogs, the freeloaders!

  12. Third Hand Smoke on Apple Voiding Smokers' Warranties? · · Score: 2, Informative

    They are probably concerned about this: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/03/health/research/03smoke.html Even so, this does not relieve them of their warranty obligations. If they cannot safely handle the item, then they probably have to simply replace it.

  13. Re:What's wrong with this picture? on FBI Investigates Liberator of Court Records · · Score: 1

    No, he went into the library and used a passwordless computer that participated in the experimental free access and ran a script on it. That computer, which had valid access, received the pages. Then it forwarded each received page to the amazon IP computer(s), which is what the report refers to as the computers outside the library.

    In other words, he didn't falsify any requests for the information or forge their credentials from other computers. He used the genuine, authorized computer and obtained information that that computer was permitted to receive.

  14. Micropayments??? on News Content As a Resource, Not a Final Product · · Score: 1

    No one will ever benefit from "micropayments" so long as idiot publishers hear the term and think four dollars fits the bill!

  15. Re:bipolar mice? on Scientists Levitate Mice for NASA · · Score: 1

    Doubtful. Most animals can't choke on food, human beings have an altered larynx shape that helps us talk but leaves the airway lower in throat.

  16. Re:To whoever tagged story as uk on Irish Astronomers Investigate Sky Explosion · · Score: 2, Informative

    The inhabitants of a country are the authority on how to they are "properly" addressed. Americans are properly Americans because that is how they identify themselves. It is a name, not a geographical description, and hence ultimately determined by the named, even though names are normally bestowed.

    And yes, it is common for other languages to use terms other than what natives call themselves, and are still being proper in their speech. This does not, however, make the natives wrong in their usage.

  17. This is Late News on Sony To Put Chrome On Laptops · · Score: 1

    My parents bought a Sony VAIO for my brother just before he was deployed to Kosovo. It arrived at the very beginning of August and I prepared it for him, installing a few games and other programs. The Chrome browser was preinstalled. This was a Vista Business install with the "no crapware, thanks" option selected when ordering.

  18. Translation costs... duh! on Why Is It So Difficult To Allow Cross-Platform Play? · · Score: 1

    Each console speaks a different language and cannot talk to each other unassisted. Xbox speaks Low Microsoftian, Xbox 360 High, Playstation 3 speaks Smugtanic, and the Wii uses sign language. The difficulty lies in translation. Human translators are nowhere near fast enough, and current automated translation is just not up to snuff. So we'll have to wait for the state of the art to improve before we can have cross platform play, or else pass a law that all consoles must speak English.

  19. Re:Nuts! on After Canadian Prodding, Facebook To Change Privacy Policy · · Score: 1

    You take that back, buddy!

  20. Not the First on Drug Vending Machines · · Score: 1

    A few months ago I went to an independent local urgent care clinic. They had two drug vending machines in lieu of their own pharmacy. Creeped me out.

  21. Re:The geek cannot win this argument on Swedish Authorities Attempt Pirate Bay Shutdown · · Score: 1

    The use of the word piracy to describe the publishing and sale of books without sanction of copyright entered the English language while the Black Flag still flew over the Caribbean.

    There, fixed that for ya.

  22. Re:Seeing Sound? on BrainPort Lets the Blind "See" With Their Tongues · · Score: 1

    Yeah, but they're not actually observing the world with their cross-sensory perceptions. Just because you pop chocolate in your mouth and taste blue, does not mean the chocolate is blue colored.

  23. Re:The Hidden Cost of Hitting the Farmers on EVE Bans Exploiters; Dropping 2% of Users Cuts Average CPU Usage 30% · · Score: 4, Funny

    you'll be holding your ship together with duct tape and using hurled rocks as ammo in no time.

    They made a Firefly MMO??? Sign me up!

  24. Re:Gutless? on World's Only Diesel-Electric Honda Insight · · Score: 1

    Tell that to my '76 V8 Buick LeSabre. 70's cars were absolute brutes. How old are you?

  25. Re:Summary doesn't make it clear... on Arizona Judge Tells Sheriff "Reveal Password Or Face Contempt" · · Score: 1

    Motel Sixes have libraries? Awesome!