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User: Detritus

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Comments · 6,170

  1. Re:Added When on Leap Second To Be Added Dec 31, 2008 · · Score: 4, Informative

    The length of the second doesn't change. An extra second is added. I work with precision timing systems where this is an issue.

    The sequence is:

    23:59:59 UTC
    23:59:60 UTC
    00:00:00 UTC
    00:00:01 UTC

    That means that the valid range for seconds is 0..60 and it is possible to have 61 seconds in a minute. You need to know this if you are using a programming language with range checks.

    GPS uses its own time scale that isn't affected by leap seconds.

  2. Re:Even if they do decide to sell it on Comcast Facing Lawsuit Over Set-Top Box Rentals · · Score: 2, Interesting

    From what I've read, the FCC is forcing the cable companies to "eat their own dog food" by mandating the use of CableCard in new set-top boxes purchased by the cable companies. With that mandate, the cable companies might finally start fixing their screwed-up internal processes for supporting CableCard devices.

  3. Re:Microcontroller? on DIY USB Servo-Guided Water Gun · · Score: 1

    How do you learn something about the technology if you just buy some generic servo transmitter chip? Why bother buying another chip if the microcontroller can do the job?

  4. GPS on Space Is Just a Little Bit Closer Than Expected · · Score: 4, Informative

    An accurate model of the ionosphere is also important for GPS. GPS works by measuring the propagation delays of radio waves, which are affected by the Earth's atmosphere.

  5. Re:unsurprising. on Not All Cores Are Created Equal · · Score: 1

    Sometimes you see stuff like that due to compiler bugs. The ugly code is a way of not triggering the bug. Simplify it at your peril.

  6. Re: Yes, Mac OS X on generic hardware is great! on Psystar Claims Apple Forgot To Copyright Mac OS · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Technically, it may work. Financially, it's a loser for Apple. It also dilutes their brand.

  7. Re:Weird claims by Pystar - their giant leap on Psystar Claims Apple Forgot To Copyright Mac OS · · Score: 1

    Never underestimate the ability of a human being to rationalize their own stupidity. People would blame Apple, because the alternative would be to admit that they made a mistake and are responsible for their predicament.

  8. Re:Huh? on NSA Patents a Way To Spot Network Snoops · · Score: 1

    Time domain reflectometer.

  9. Re:Analogous to music on Are Newspapers Doomed? · · Score: 1

    That's one newspaper. A very large and unique newspaper with a big staff. They also were forced to mortgage their new headquarters building this month. What about the vast majority of daily newspapers, that are barely getting by with shrinking staffs? When you are losing money, investigative journalism is an unsustainable waste of resources.

  10. Re:Analogous to music on Are Newspapers Doomed? · · Score: 1

    In-depth investigations? Even in the heyday of the daily newspaper, there wasn't much investigative journalism. Most publishers do not like to rock the boat and investigative journalism is expensive.

  11. Re:Huh? on Hardware Is Cheap, Programmers Are Expensive · · Score: 1

    You need to reread Moore's Law.

  12. Re:Depends on the envronment on Hardware Is Cheap, Programmers Are Expensive · · Score: 1

    You're neglecting time to market. I'll write the whole thing in assembler if the customer is willing to pay for it. They also have to be willing to accept the schedule impact.

  13. Re:No surprise at all on Brand Names Take On Generics In PSU Showdown · · Score: 1

    Then there are the adherents of the "Mad Man" Muntz school of engineering. As it was described to me, he would randomly remove components from a prototype television set. Anything that could be removed without causing an immediate and obvious problem stayed removed. This allowed him to cut the component count and cost by a substantial margin. It also resulted in a television that was a POS.

  14. Re:"Cancer" tag on Wireless Power Consortium Pushes For Standard · · Score: 1

    From what I remember from basic physics, when you look at EM radiation, you get both an electric and magnetic field component. You can't have one without the other.

    Electromagnetic Radiation

  15. Re:New York subsidizes the quite a few losers. on New York State Budget Relies On Entertainment Tax · · Score: 1

    New York also has much more economic activity than those "loser" states, so stop whining about how New York is subsidizing a bunch of losers. You also might want to consider the costs to the federal government of all the things that make that economic activity possible.

  16. Re:News? on Plethora of New User Space Filesystems For Mac OS X · · Score: 1

    That certainly wouldn't be news. News implies something novel or unusual.

  17. Re:RAM Question on Intel Quad-Core Price and Performance Showdown · · Score: 4, Informative

    Like I tell people at work, if it doesn't have to produce the correct results, we can make it run as fast as you wish. Just because your system seems stable, doesn't mean that some obscure part of the chip isn't failing in a subtle manner. Intel has insanely expensive test jigs to ensure that their parts meet published specs at their marked speed. You have what?

    For games, who cares. For real work, it's absolutely unacceptable.

  18. Re:the computer is not just the cpu on Intel Quad-Core Price and Performance Showdown · · Score: 1

    I looked into expanding the RAM on my old Pentium IV system (Intel D850GB) and it was much cheaper to replace the old motherboard with a new motherboard that supported DDR2 RAM. RDRAM is still available, but it's damn expensive. The annoying thing is that I couldn't find anything at a reasonable price that supported ECC RAM like the old motherboard.

  19. Re:the computer is not just the cpu on Intel Quad-Core Price and Performance Showdown · · Score: 1

    I sometimes run data analysis applications that could easily use 32GB if it was available. The programs are small but the data sets are huge. There is a large class of applications that could run faster or handle bigger problems if there was more RAM.

  20. Re:the computer is not just the cpu on Intel Quad-Core Price and Performance Showdown · · Score: 1
  21. Re:Devil's Advocate on RIAA May Be Violating a Court Order In California · · Score: 1

    The doctrine of cows? That sounds interesting. If you cannot afford a cow, will the court appoint one for you?

  22. Re:Plot/Series Branching on Canadians Miss Out On Doctor Who Season Finale · · Score: 1

    Don't they shoot it on film? PAL to NTSC should not be an issue.

  23. Re:Would they get sued in the US? on World of Warcraft, the Restaurant · · Score: 1

    I knew a few bakers who used to do it until they were threatened by the copyright holder's lawyers. You would think that the lawyers would have better things to do.

  24. Re:Would they get sued in the US? on World of Warcraft, the Restaurant · · Score: 1

    Ask your neighborhood baker. Want him to put a popular cartoon character on your kid's birthday cake? Up against the wall, you filthy copyright terrorist!

  25. Re:erasure codes on Oracle Adds Data-integrity Code To Linux Kernel · · Score: 1

    It's just error detection. Recovery is handled at a higher level.