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User: omnichad

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  1. PDF is the standard for e-Ink.

    Where do you get this idea? The closest to a standard we have is ePub. Just because certain academic publishers have been using PDF does not make it a standard. Wide compatible support makes it a standard.

    Even Adobe InDesign export to ePub. It's built-in. If PDF is the better standard why would they bother? It's in their best interests for their own format to be an integral part of ebooks. Adobe is even a member of the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) that created ePub.

    PDF is a format used by publishers who are too in love with their fixed layouts and don't want their content to reflow (PDF has reflowing text, but only within a single page). And page numbers matching between editions is too important for them. And really, fully reflowable content is not just a feature that can be added. It's a completely different way of thinking about the content- it would essentially throw out most of what makes PDF what it is.

    You're wanting all these things from PDF that it wasn't designed for and it doesn't have. If you want them, why do you reject a format that has these things? Keep PDF for fixed layout printing. It's what it's made for? Why are you clinging to PDF when it needs to be rewritten from the ground up to be what you want it to be?

  2. Estimates are like contracts on The Programmers Who Want To Get Rid of Software Estimates · · Score: 1

    They have to cover every detail and be iron clad. But by the time you've come up with all of these specifications, most of the work is already done. So how do you recover the cost of an estimate if the other party says no?

    I came from the web development world as a one-man department of a larger computer store. Quoting projects was an absolute nightmare and the specifications always changed even when they somehow manage to fit the definition of the words in our estimate.

  3. Re:Well someone has to do it on The Programmers Who Want To Get Rid of Software Estimates · · Score: 4, Funny

    WHY CAN'T WE HAVE BLANK CHECKS

    I thought this was funny, but it probably isn't - especially now that I have typed in all lowercase words to get pass the yell filter.

  4. Bad math on Drones Cost $28,000 Per Arrest, On Average · · Score: 1

    Take the development cost plus all of the manufacturing costs and divide by the number of arrests so far....

    So with every arrest, the average price decreases! Let's see it in 10 years.

  5. Re:Fits right in on Users Decry New Icon Look In Windows 10 · · Score: 1

    I agree that the icons look like an MS paint drawing by a child. It was my first thought when I booted up the preview. I don't think the Windows logo is quite that bad.

  6. Re:FedEx is a private business, isn't it? on FedEx Won't Ship DIY Gunsmithing Machine · · Score: 1

    I'm sure FedEx consulted their lawyers and aren't making an arbitrary judgement call. Just look at what happened when they handled Canadian drug shipments as a common carrier. It sounds like they have 1.6 billion reasons to be extremely careful if you ask me.

  7. Re:So much for the 2nd Amendment on FedEx Won't Ship DIY Gunsmithing Machine · · Score: 1

    If you are registered with the state to be the overseeing signatory on a marriage certificate

    And when did bakers gain that authority? The previous post said decorating a wedding cake.

  8. Re:eReaders are functionally bad on The Case Against E-readers -- Why Digital Natives Prefer Reading On Paper · · Score: 1

    If that doesn't work, it's not the ereader's fault (it's the publisher).

    What part of this did you miss?

    Publishers will eventually get it. But people have to be aware that ereaders are capable of it in order to be able to complain to the publisher.

  9. Re:FedEx is a private business, isn't it? on FedEx Won't Ship DIY Gunsmithing Machine · · Score: 1

    If there is no law against the transport of some item

    And they are only refusing shipment because they think it might be against some law. So doesn't it fit your list?

  10. Re:political preference? on FedEx Won't Ship DIY Gunsmithing Machine · · Score: 1

    Whether it's a Gun Maker's lunch or not, it's still a lunch. If it's an item sold as "Thing for making guns" instead of "Thing for making things" that's where the difference comes in. Your example makes no sense.

  11. Re:UPS - No Problem. on FedEx Won't Ship DIY Gunsmithing Machine · · Score: 1

    EURion constellation. I don't think astronomers have had any problems printing anything.

  12. Re:If I accidently tread on a book on The Case Against E-readers -- Why Digital Natives Prefer Reading On Paper · · Score: 1

    An android tablet is not a true ereader. Try an e-ink reader. You won't be charging it more than a couple times a month even if you use it every day.

    Storing it on the floor is your own fault. Don't blame the manufacturer for their power cord - you have the power to put the charger wherever you want. Your phone probably uses the same charging connector and I don't see you advocating corded wall phones.

    If the book itself is important, breaking a reader doesn't matter in the short term. You can immediately resume reading on a desktop computer or phone. And your location is automatically synced. Try that with a paper book.

  13. Re:When a digital device has a... on The Case Against E-readers -- Why Digital Natives Prefer Reading On Paper · · Score: 1

    The article was about textbooks. Not exactly captivating devices. And they didn't make one mention of e-ink devices.

  14. Re:E Ink vs LCD/OLED on The Case Against E-readers -- Why Digital Natives Prefer Reading On Paper · · Score: 1

    Full page color illustrations isn't the primary use case for ereaders. Some of us read books without pictures.

  15. Re:The temptation to jump ship on The Case Against E-readers -- Why Digital Natives Prefer Reading On Paper · · Score: 1

    To some extent. They can reflow within a single page (not that publishers are even providing that). So one page can take up 4 screens on an ereader. But when you get to the end of the page, you see blank space until you flip pages and it starts on the next physical page.

  16. Re:The temptation to jump ship on The Case Against E-readers -- Why Digital Natives Prefer Reading On Paper · · Score: 1

    Well - PDF's can't be made to be reflowable either. The format is designed for print and absolutely fixed layouts. PDF doesn't really even have a concept of a paragraph. But Adobe InDesign, the tool most likely used to publish the book and make the PDF can generate ereader formats too and they have plenty of information on how to make that content look good on both formats without throwing out the existing layout entirely.

  17. Re:I'm not sure what the article is about on The Case Against E-readers -- Why Digital Natives Prefer Reading On Paper · · Score: 1

    The morons behind the article must not think that e-ink ereaders are a modern, contemporary device. Unitasking devices are great for certain things and this is one of those things.

  18. Re:As a millenial on The Case Against E-readers -- Why Digital Natives Prefer Reading On Paper · · Score: 1

    Today's digital naive's are like the kids 30 years ago that knew how to program the VCR (I was one of them). Sure, the parents might still have a flashing 12:00 otherwise, but that doesn't make the kid fluent with technology except by comparison.

  19. Re:eReaders are functionally bad on The Case Against E-readers -- Why Digital Natives Prefer Reading On Paper · · Score: 1

    It's a little slow handling PDF. I have a paperwhite. It has the same margin issue as the Sony ereader. But is that a problem with the ereader or the publisher? The page numbers are usually in the margin for one thing since that's the way the physical page is laid out. Publishers need to move away from PDF to something reflowable like the common HTML-based ebook formats. If the publisher uses InDesign (likely), I know they've already laid out plenty of tools for exporting to a better ereader format than PDF without redesigning the physical book.

  20. Re:eReaders are functionally bad on The Case Against E-readers -- Why Digital Natives Prefer Reading On Paper · · Score: 1

    If the contents say "figure 120" and you're looking at "figure 4", it's too time consuming to find it.

    I'm not saying PDF is even a proper ereader format, but it does have hyperlinks. If the contents say figure 120, tap on that text. If that doesn't work, it's not the ereader's fault (it's the publisher). Once you're done viewing figure 120, hit the previous location button and you're back where you left off.

  21. It came and went for most because people couldn't justify buying an "inferior" screen and spending more money when they already owned a tablet or phone capable of doing the job.

    That was the mistake. I charge my Kindle Paperwhite only once or twice a month and the brightness setting goes so low I don't even care that much that it's blue light. Though I've considered buying a filter to put over the screen.

    I disagree that PDF is the gold standard for e-ink. Reflowable content is the future, with HTML-based formats like ePub or Mobi. For one thing, it enables low vision people to have a custom-tailored font size. For another, publishers keep the same margins on PDF ebooks that they do for paper, wasting screen space. And it means the content fits the device's screen no matter what the aspect ratio or size.

  22. Re:Where is my maths wrong? on Researchers: Alcohol Health Risks Underestimated, Marijuana Relatively Safe · · Score: 1

    The sensitivity analysis based on human data for ethanol shows that the average MOE result is similar to the result based on animal LD50.

    At least be thankful they didn't use humans to derive those numbers.

    But I don't think that number is the LD50:

    BMDL1.5 = 0.4g/kg bw (liver cirrhosis mortality)
    bAn estimate of BMDL10 is obtained from LD50 by division by 10.2 using method B of Gold et al.25. See Supplementary Table S1 online for distribution functions used for calculation.

    I think they're talking about body damage that eventually ends in death - 1/10 of the LD50. Notice how they say liver cirrhosis mortality and not acute alcohol poisoning.

    Still not real clear why those numbers were chosen.

  23. Re:Self-mummified? on Mummified Monk Found Inside 1,000-Year-Old Buddha Statue · · Score: 1

    Mummifying is preserving a body. This was done by basically drinking poison and then letting it do its work. The scrolls and statue are a bonus. They were already mummified before that was done.

  24. Re:Where is my maths wrong? on Researchers: Alcohol Health Risks Underestimated, Marijuana Relatively Safe · · Score: 1

    13% is by volume (ABV), not by mass.
    Wikipedia says ABV x 0.78924 = ABW {density of beverage at 20C in g/ml}

    Which would be 10.26% and 76.7 g.

  25. Re:Pharmaceutical Industry on Researchers: Alcohol Health Risks Underestimated, Marijuana Relatively Safe · · Score: 1

    There's plenty of money in marijuana, which is now quasi-legal in many states. This is the start of big tobacco all over again and I can only wonder who funded this research.