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User: Detritus

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Comments · 6,170

  1. Re:Another reason....... on Thompson Goes After Sims 2 Nudity · · Score: 1
    Some people have short memories.

    Nanjing Massacre

  2. Re:... But Graphic Violence is just fine. on Thompson Goes After Sims 2 Nudity · · Score: 1

    Maybe those kids should be in a separate school if they are that sensitive to peanuts. My mother has a very bad reaction to certain types of perfumes. Should they all be banned?

  3. Re:more popular now... on Hot Coffee Cooling Off · · Score: 1

    On what basis? I can't think of anything that would be the legitimate basis for a lawsuit.

  4. Re:I'm really puzzled on Hot Coffee Cooling Off · · Score: 1

    You can't easily buy a machine gun. It requires a background investigation, fingerprints, a bunch of paperwork, and the signature of a local law enforcement official. Even then, it may be prohibited by state or local law.

  5. Necrophilia on Hot Coffee Cooling Off · · Score: 1

    What rating would the game get if it included necrophilia? Obviously, game characters having sex with live characters is out, even though pulverizing them with a baseball bat is OK.

  6. Re:sad thing is... on Top 10 Web Fads · · Score: 1

    I'd like to see a dancing Mohammed. That would tweak the fundamentalists.

  7. Re:Concessions... on VoIP Providers Worry as FCC Clams Up · · Score: 1

    Some areas no longer have emergency phone numbers for the fire and police department. The only way to talk to an emergency dispatcher is by calling 911.

  8. Re:I'll tell you what happens.. on VoIP Providers Worry as FCC Clams Up · · Score: 1

    If you don't have 911 service properly configured, you are asking for a lawsuit. Similar problems have happened in the past with PBX systems. Someone has a heart attack and the ambulance gets sent to corporate headquarters, where the PBX is located, not to the satellite office where the 911 call was originated. The legal system being what it is, I'd expect the lawyer to sue the owner of the phone and everyone else who had any involvement in providing service to the phone and routing 911 calls. If I was a VOIP provider, I'd dump any customer who didn't provide information for handling 911 calls. It just isn't worth the legal exposure.

  9. Re:Why is it ... on Riot Control Ray-Gun for Use in Iraq · · Score: 1
    I've been to enough demonstrations to know that there is almost always a small contingent that is only interested in causing trouble. These are the people who smash windows, loot stores, light cars on fire, etc. They don't require a provocation, just a big crowd to hide in.

    In some countries, rioting is a national pasttime. All you need is a juicy rumor to get the mob out on the street.

  10. Re:Why is it ... on Riot Control Ray-Gun for Use in Iraq · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I suppose you would be happier if we used old-fashioned riot control techniques, like a volley of buckshot.

  11. Re:Better Qualiy? on IP Telephony Drives in Power over Ethernet · · Score: 2, Informative
    Digital is not necessarily better than analog. The PCM encoding process significantly limits the bandwith (3400 Hz) and the signal-to-noise ratio (36 dB). It was designed to be "communications quality" and compatible with the existing FDM infrastructure.

    There were major improvements in the audio quality of radio broadcasts from remote locations, like sports, when they switched from POTS to custom codecs over one or more ISDN B channels.

  12. Re:Make little sense... on IP Telephony Drives in Power over Ethernet · · Score: 1

    Bandwidth isn't the issue, it's latency under load.

  13. Re:I like it on IP Telephony Drives in Power over Ethernet · · Score: 1

    A computer system can be designed to recover from a power failure. DEC used to do it on their minicomputers. The problem is that it has to be designed into the hardware, operating system and device drivers. The power supply can generate a power failure interrupt which allows the CPU to save its state in non-volatile storage and prepare for shutdown. I'm not aware of any modern systems that support power failure recovery.

  14. Re:Hell no, not me! on IP Telephony Drives in Power over Ethernet · · Score: 1

    You can't put that much voltage on a cable without having to redesign everything to comply with various electrical, building and safety codes. Low voltage and limited energy wiring, like that used for most computer networks, doesn't have to meet the same standards as wiring used for power distribution, which has the potential to start fires and kill people.

  15. Re:Decent programmers... on What is Mainframe Culture? · · Score: 1

    Properly designed testing can improve reliability. See this article. Statistical models can be used to estimate and measure reliability, and to design a testing process that will ensure that a product meets its reliability requirements.

  16. Re:internet vs phone line on IP Telephony Drives in Power over Ethernet · · Score: 1

    VOIP can be reliable, but it takes money and real engineering. It also takes a change in attitude, from "how cheap is it, how fast is it, and when can we ship?", to "how can it be broken and how do we prevent it from happening?". Although the Bell System is no more, they knew a lot about reliability and how to design fault-tolerant systems. I'm afraid that the same bean-counters that think that cheaper is always better will decide that 95% availability is good enough for VOIP, and if you are having a heart attack during a power outage, well, it sucks to be you.

  17. Re:Chavs? on Death Star Subwoofer · · Score: 1

    It's the British version of white trash.

  18. Simple? on Researchers Create 3-Dimensional Chips · · Score: 3, Insightful
    "A simple way to make them shorter is to stack the transistors."

    There must be a new meaning of the word "simple" that I'm not familiar with.

  19. Re:Don't reboot on What is Mainframe Culture? · · Score: 2, Interesting

    That's assuming that you have access to the machine. I've run jobs on mainframes that I've never seen. I'd just drop off the job at the service desk and pick it up the next day. The mainframe was in a restricted area, where users and programmers were not allowed without an escort and a good reason to be there.

  20. Re:Decent programmers... on What is Mainframe Culture? · · Score: 3, Insightful
    There are differences, and ignoring them can be a career-limiting move.

    Have you ever written a program in an environment where if it malfunctions once during operations, the incident will be investigated by a review board? The board will want to know why it failed, and what is being done to prevent it from happening again. Then there is configuration control, requirements traceability, test plans, software build procedures, security audits, etc.

  21. Re:Cheap hardware makes for strange support option on Spyware Removal: Drop PC in Dumpster · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Some computers need ME due to applications and/or device drivers that only run under 9X/ME. I used to have one. The manufacturer refused to release any softwafe updates that would allow it to work properly with Windows 2000 or Windows XP. They suggested that I buy a new computer.

  22. Re:Sophistry at its finest... on SpamSlayer - should we DDOS spammers? · · Score: 1

    It doesn't matter where you live, any scumbag lawyer can file a wrongful death lawsuit for the thug's family. Even if you win, you'll have some major legal bills.

  23. Re:It happened to me too on Nigerian Scammers Brought to Justice · · Score: 1

    I'm not familiar with British law, but US law makes a distinction between acts by government officials and acts by private citizens. Evidence may be excluded if a government official did not obtain a search warrant, but it may be admissable if a private citizen, acting independently, obtained the same information.

  24. Re:$100 a pop!? on Shrimp Bandages Clot Blood Faster · · Score: 2, Insightful
    1. Getting FDA approval for anything is very expensive.

    2. Setting aside reserves for the inevitable lawsuits.

  25. Re:PETA's going to have a cow on Shrimp Bandages Clot Blood Faster · · Score: 1

    PETA lied about it and violated state laws in the process.