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User: Detritus

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Comments · 6,170

  1. Re:Fair and balanced on Microsoft Documentation Declared Unfit For US Consumption · · Score: 1

    These are the same dipshits that gave AAA ratings to a mountain of putrid mortgage bonds.

  2. Cooling on Getting Away With a Cheap Graphics Card · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'd like to see more graphics cards with passive cooling. Every time I see one of these cards with a big honking fan on it, I wonder how long it will last and whether it is even possible to replace the fan if it fails.

  3. Re:Abort, Retry, Ignore set to the Raven on The Thirteen Greatest Error Messages of All Time · · Score: 1

    From what I remember, it did work. Let's say you have a bad sector on a floppy disk. Abort terminated the program. Retry retried the I/O operation. Ignore allowed the program to continue, as if the operation had completed successfully.

  4. Re:Where's the keyboard error? on The Thirteen Greatest Error Messages of All Time · · Score: 2, Informative

    You weren't supposed to do that, it could fry the motherboard.

  5. Fault Horn on The Thirteen Greatest Error Messages of All Time · · Score: 3, Interesting

    My favorite isn't really a message, but a device. I used to work with some old Univac computers that were originally designed to be installed on Navy ships for an integrated fire-control system (NTDS). Whenever the computer crashed, it would set off the fault horn, at about 150 dB SPL. It was guaranteed to wake up anyone inside the building and give the computer operator a heart attack. It also had a "battle short" switch that disabled all safety features.

  6. Re:Mmhmm on Complaints Pour In After Digital TV Test · · Score: 1

    It really depends on the environment. Moisture is the big killer. It can ruin a cable very quickly if it gets inside the cable. That's why you should carefully seal any cable connections that are outside and use UV resistant cable for any outside runs.

    Free TV was never free. In the old days, before cable TV, it was common to have a directional antenna mounted on a mast attached to the chimney, along with an electric antenna rotator. In fringe areas, the antenna was often mounted on top of a 25' or 50' tower. Rabbit ears were only for those people who were luck enough to live near a TV station.

    When the FCC did its computer modeling and frequency planning for digital TV, they assumed that the receiving antenna would be on top of a 30' mast. That's a far cry from a random set of rabbit ears on top of a TV.

  7. Re:Mmhmm on Complaints Pour In After Digital TV Test · · Score: 1

    It's possible that they are over-modulating their signal, but I think it is more likely that your radio is suffering from inter-modulation distortion or inadequate selectivity. The problem is that almost all consumer-grade AM and FM radios are designed for minimum cost, not high performance. You might be able to solve the problem with a directional FM antenna. Another possible solution is to buy a good car radio (Pioneer Super Tuner III) and run it off a 13.8V power supply.

  8. Re:Bad Analog Signal? on Complaints Pour In After Digital TV Test · · Score: 1

    You could do the same thing with a low-rate digital sub-channel that used a robust coding scheme like delta modulation. That's what they use for voice communications with the Space Shuttle. It's very tolerant of high bit-error rates and crappy RF channels.

  9. Re:I expected as much... on Complaints Pour In After Digital TV Test · · Score: 1

    I think the original plan was to go all-UHF and free-up the VHF bands and part of the UHF band. The problem was that many VHF TV stations discovered that replicating their current VHF coverage on UHF was going to require a huge increase in transmitter power and operating costs. This was a big issue in many rural areas.

  10. Re:What benifit anway? (A landfill full of TVs?) on Complaints Pour In After Digital TV Test · · Score: 1

    Spectral efficiency, among other things. Both NTSC and ATSC occupy a 6 MHz wide channel. The trick is that ATSC is more resistant to interference, allowing more stations to coexist in a broadcasting band. The geographic and frequency separation between stations can be reduced. Think of it as improved packing efficiency. In addition, a single ATSC channel can carry more programming than a single NTSC channel.

  11. Re:Mmhmm on Complaints Pour In After Digital TV Test · · Score: 1

    That's only a 3 dB change in power, which is easily compensated for by a larger antenna or a better feedline. Just replacing an old RG-59/U feedline with a new RG-6/U feedline can make a big difference in signal levels. Coax deteriorates with age, especially if exposed to UV light and moisture. A mast-mounted preamp can also make a big difference.

  12. Re:Mmhmm on Complaints Pour In After Digital TV Test · · Score: 2, Informative

    Where do people get these weird ideas? Other than AM stations, which may have licenses that specify different power levels for daytime and nighttime, radio stations broadcast at their authorized power level. They don't vary the transmitter power over the course of a day. If they want to make a permanent change to their antenna or transmitter, they must get the FCC's permission. That includes broadcasting at less power than authorized.

  13. Re:There's plenty of addresses left on China To Run Out of IPv4 Addresses In 830 Days · · Score: 1

    Why not numbers from the complex plane?

  14. Re:In other news on China To Run Out of IPv4 Addresses In 830 Days · · Score: 1

    You are rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, and saying that everything is hunky-dory, while some of us are trying to get off the damn ship before it sinks.

  15. Shoot the Wounded? on Students Are Always Half Right In Pittsburgh · · Score: 1

    It's trying to address a real problem, which most of you are too blind to recognize. Many schools make it easy for a student to quickly get into a hole that they can never escape. If I'm guaranteed an F for the year, no matter what I do or what I know, why should I show up at all? Is the school there to educate people, or is it just a detention facility for young people?

  16. Re:GOOD! on Nevada Businesses Must Start Encrypting E-Mail By Oct. 1st · · Score: 1

    That's supposed to be one of the advantages of IPV6, mandatory support for IPSEC.

  17. Labels on Political Viewpoints Linked To Fear · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I used to be a Democrat and then a bunch of left-wing activists hijacked the Democratic Party and told anyone who disagreed with them to get lost. So I became a Republican, even though I have little in common with the traditional Republican constituencies.

  18. Re:Good Lord! on Bill To Add Accountability To Border Laptop Search · · Score: 1

    They never had to do any of those things, and it's the same in most countries. That's why you never want to piss off a customs officer or border control agent. They can make your life a living hell and they don't have to justify their actions.

  19. Re:Not exactly true on IPv6 and the Business-Case Skeptics · · Score: 0

    why should the likes of HP get multiple class A's?

    Because they were a pioneer and you were not. If you don't like it, lobby for the adoption of IPV6.

  20. Re:"Socialize losses, privatize gains" variation? on NASA Patents To Be Auctioned · · Score: 1

    NASA doesn't get a penny from the auction. All proceeds go straight to the U.S. treasury, like all money collected by the federal government. Only Congress has the power to make appropriations and spend money.

  21. Re:The story keeps changing. on San Fran Hunts For Mystery Device On City Network · · Score: 1

    Of course that's not where it would end.... I would have to explain to his boss what the problem was -- or go even further up the chain of command if he was also a moron.

    It's San Francisco. It's morons all the way to the top.

  22. Re:How in the world? on Verizon Tech Accused Of Making $220K In Sex Calls On User Lines · · Score: 1

    You don't pay him, the company pays him. You are buying a service, not renting a slave.

  23. Pattern of Gouging on Senator Questions Rise In US Texting Prices · · Score: 1

    This isn't anything new for the telephone companies. After they were partially deregulated, they starting gouging their wireline customers with insane markups on optional features like caller-ID, call waiting, etc. To add insult to injury, they refuse to spend any of their huge profits on doing the database lookups that would greatly improve the quality of caller-id data.

    http://calleridunavailable.blogspot.com/2006/09/what-your-phone-company-doesnt-want-you.html

  24. Re:accreditation? on Virginia Begins Open-Source Physics Textbook · · Score: 1

    Yes, they accredit school systems. There was a recent story about a school system in Georgia (USA) that lost its accreditation due to a dysfunctional school board. It's a very big deal for the residents of the county and their children.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/29/education/29clayton.html

  25. Re:Not supposed to be dooms day yet. on LHC Flips On Tomorrow · · Score: 1

    I didn't know that one person could have so many crackpot ideas.