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User: Detritus

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Comments · 6,170

  1. Re:why do you need a media converter? on Fiber To The Dorm Room · · Score: 1

    For more than one computer, it would be cheaper and simpler to use the media converter with a copper gigabit switch and NICs for local distribution. Plus, I can buy copper gigabit hardware and cabling off the shelf at COMPUSA. I've yet to see fiber based products in any local stores.

  2. Re:Um. No. on Lord of the Rings Home Marathons? · · Score: 1
    Not to be a curmudgeon. I honestly have never understood people who claim to have seen a film 5, 10, 20, 50 times.

    Try being out in the middle of nowhere, with no movie theaters or television stations, with a VCR and a few prerecorded tapes. Your entertainment choices are limited to listening to shortwave radio or watching a movie for the Nth time.

  3. Contracts of Adhesion on California Offers Cellular Bill of Rights · · Score: 5, Informative

    The problem is that the consumer is rarely in a position to negotiate a contract. It's take it or leave it. Go to the competition, if any, and you find that the objectionable parts of the contract are considered "standard industry practices", and are present in everyone's contract. That's why we have truth in lending laws, lemon laws, warranty laws and other laws that impose standards on the marketplace.

  4. Re:Not an unusual request... on FCC Move Could Shut Down High School Radio Station · · Score: 5, Insightful
    If the station received its license on the basis of its promise to serve Fooville, why should it be allowed to move to a nearby major market? If it can't comply with the terms of its license, it can return it to the FCC. Maybe another broadcaster, who didn't pay an inflated price for an existing station, can build and operate a profitable station in Fooville.

    I've seen this sort of thing happen several times in my local area. A big conglomerate buys a small station outside a major market for big bucks, and immediately applies to move the station to a more profitable location inside the major market. They never had any intentions of continuing to serve the community that the license was originally issued for. They just see an opportunity to gain an outlet in the major market.

  5. Re:This is odd on Circuit Boards + Soldering Iron == Terrorist? · · Score: 1

    The problem is that it is often too easy for them to get a warrant, due to judges who rubber-stamp anything a police officer puts in front of them. Once they have a warrant, you may get a visit from your local squad of testosterone-poisoned SWAT wannabees at 5AM, complete with battering rams and flash-bangs, who will then seize every computer, firearm and gadget that you own. By the time (if) you get any of your stuff back, half of it will be broken and it all will look like they tossed it down the stairs, several times. Most police officers are OK people, but there are enough assholes who are willing to fuck up your life while they laugh about it with their buddies.

  6. Analog Computing on Mechanical Computing · · Score: 1
    Analog computing was useful for well-defined problems such as fire control and process control. Even with the advent of solid-state digital computers, it would be many years before they were small and cheap enough to replace analog computers.

    I've written process control software, and it's a little bit weird to be using millions of transistors to run a software emulation of a fairly simple analog circuit. The advantage is that my emulation doesn't drift with ambient temperature or component aging, and it can be tweaked without using a soldering iron.

  7. I Like TV Dinners on The Single Man's Guide To TV Dinners · · Score: 1
    I can pop it in the microwave, wait 10 minutes, and have a reasonably nutritious meal. Cleanup involves throwing the box and tray in the trash.

    Cooking a similar meal from scratch is much more time consuming and messy, plus the portions are way too big for a single person.

    Looking at the prices in the supermarket, buying fresh meat and vegetables is more expensive than buying the frozen dinners. It only makes sense if you are preparing food for a group of people.

  8. I prefer telephones that work on Do-It-Yourself VOIP Telco · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You can always do it cheaper if reliability and availability are not important. My wireline telephone just works. I've had one outage in the past 15 years. I've never had a dropped call. The switch never crashes, get infected with viruses, or demands that I upgrade to MS Telephone 2.0. It provides battery power to my telephone, ensuring that it still works even during blackouts and storms. It provides enhanced 911 service if I need it.

  9. Common Carrier Status on Will Providers Provide Equally? · · Score: 2, Informative

    Most ISPs would not qualify as common carriers. Part of being a common carrier is offering a service to the public in a non-discriminatory manner. That means that you can't say "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone". If the New Hitler Youth for Nuking Gay Whales orders service, you have to give it to them. You can't disconnect them for being controversial, as long as they pay their bills and do not violate the law.

  10. decnet on Will Providers Provide Equally? · · Score: 1

    Didn't decnet compute the MAC address as a function of the decnet address? My memory of decnet is getting fuzzy.

  11. Property Crime on The Economics of Executing Virus Writers · · Score: 1

    Every time someone says that X is just a property crime, stop and think about it. Someone spent a substantial part of their life earning the money that paid for the stuff that was stolen or destroyed. That's time that they are not going to get back. It's also why I support severe penalties, including capital punishment, for so-called white-collar criminals who knowingly defraud the public. If someone puts thousands of people in the poor-house, they should pay a severe penalty.

  12. Nuclear War on Pentagon Climate Change Author Interviewed · · Score: 1

    Even if you survive the direct effects of a nuclear exchange, you still have to worry about radioactive fallout. The government used to print sample maps showing the radiation levels in different areas of the fallout plume of a single blast. It's hard to predict, being dependent on weather patterns and how the nuclear device is fused. The problem is that a major nuclear war is not going to be limited to a few weapons, it would be thousands of weapons. When you start plotting the fallout plumes of dozens of weapons hitting a single region, the results are scary. Large areas are covered with lethal amounts of radioactive fallout. Radiation levels decay rapidly, but that is academic to anyone who can't find an adequate fallout shelter.

  13. Re:Why not nuclear batteries? on Battery Development Off The Beaten Path · · Score: 1

    Pu238 has already been used as a power source in heart pacemakers.

  14. Immunity on Cartoon Guide to Federal Spectrum Policy · · Score: 1

    If the court grants you immunity, you do have to testify. The grant of immunity precludes you from claiming that your testimony might incriminate you. You then have the choice of testifying or being found in contempt of court.

  15. Re:Why you can't use an FM radio RECEIVER on a PLA on Cartoon Guide to Federal Spectrum Policy · · Score: 1
    You are misreading the statement. It says that the device may not cause harmful interference, that means if it does cause harmful interference, it is the legal obligation of the device's owner to stop using the device, have it repaired, or whatever is needed to stop the interference.

    See this page for a listing of the FCC EMC rules.

  16. Re:Ok well on Cartoon Guide to Federal Spectrum Policy · · Score: 1
    That's why they invented the 12 gauge shotgun.

    You should think twice before you trespass on someone's property and vandalize their equipment. Even if you don't get shot, you may end up in jail and have to live with a criminal record.

    Just because you think that someone is operating an illegal transmitter, causing interference to their neighbors, doesn't make it true. Most people are ignorant and will blame any and all problems with their TV/radio/stereo on the guy in their neighborhood with the big antenna. They usually display the same enlightened attitudes that used to cause little old ladies to be burned as witches.

  17. Re:Adelphia cable gave me a whopper on Worst Explanation From Tech Support? · · Score: 1

    There's a bit of truth in there. Many cable companies got in serious trouble with the FCC due to signal leakage from their cable plant causing interference to licensed radio services, such as aircraft voice communications and navigation beacons. Much of the problem was due to poor quality hardware, improper installation and faulty wiring in the subscriber's residence. One way of preventing leakage from the subscriber's wiring is to disconnect the feed at the distribution box. This is usually done if the subscriber has terminated service or if excessive leakage has been detected from the subscriber's wiring.

  18. Re:Then how come i see MSCE CISCO BOOT CAMP faxes. on Cell Phone Directory Coming Soon · · Score: 1

    It is being enforced. It's just that the legal process is slow and the perpetrators are weasels who will start up a new company when their old company is shut down.

  19. Re:A valid concern on WiFi Signals In Between Television Frequencies · · Score: 1
    It is not illegal to cause interference.

    If the person causing the interference is operating their transmitter in accord with the conditions of their FCC license, and the transmitter is operating properly, they are not at fault.

    Most of the reported problems of TVI/RFI are not caused by defective or improperly operated transmitters. They are caused by poorly designed and shielded consumer electronics equipment. Most consumer electronics equipment could be made reasonably resistant to interference with a few dollars worth of parts, but the manufacturers are not willing to spend the money.

  20. Re:no more VHF? on WiFi Signals In Between Television Frequencies · · Score: 1

    I think the plan to move all TV stations to UHF got killed because of lobbying from broadcasters. There were several issues that were brought up. Rural stations on VHF channels that would not be able to replicate their current coverage on UHF and the increased operating costs (transmitter electricity bill) of switching to UHF for some VHF stations. The last I heard, the station has to return one of their channels to the FCC at the end of the transition to ATSC. The station gets to pick which one is returned, meaning that they could switch from NTSC to ATSC on their VHF channel and give up their UHF ATSC channel.

  21. Re:Exactly how would a mobile phone ignite it? on Can Cell Phones Ignite Gasoline Vapors? · · Score: 1

    My vote would be for faulty battery contacts in the phone. Loose or poor battery connections can produce sparks. It doesn't have to be a high voltage to produce plenty of sparks.

  22. Re:Silly on Google to be Sued Over Name? · · Score: 1
    Lets count, who here knew of the word "Googol" prior to this posting?

    I read Kasner's book as a child, many years ago. BTW, it's an excellent book.

  23. Re:New Amigas on Linux To Gain Another Chip Family · · Score: 1

    If I remember correctly, they junked the binary compatibility with the 68K series of chips. This allowed them to redesign the binary level instruction formats and instruction decoder circuits. They kept compatibility at the assembly language level, just reassemble your 68K source code with a new ColdFire assembler.

  24. Re:What I do is.... on EU To Counter Echelon With Quantum Cryptography? · · Score: 1

    You can export it with a license, just like any other military product or technology.

  25. Re:Low-paid employees are complicit on Social Engineering in the Workplace · · Score: 1

    I used to know some people who worked at a well-known department store. They all stole merchandise from the store on a regular basis. It was one of the unofficial benefits of the job. The store ignored it as long as it stayed under some unstated threshold. The staff was so poorly paid that the store could not be picky about their employees.