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User: DarkVader

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Comments · 937

  1. Re:Not really on Chinese Hackers Infiltrate Firms Using Malware-Laden Handheld Scanners · · Score: 1

    Well, Linux versions do go EOL as well, and if it's being embedded in the device it isn't really going to matter what OS it's being embedded in.

    That said, embedding Windoze is pretty dumb for no other reason than it's an absolutely craptacular excuse for an operating system.

  2. Re:EFI BIOS on Chinese Hackers Infiltrate Firms Using Malware-Laden Handheld Scanners · · Score: 1

    [citation needed]

    Seriously, if you've got evidence of this, post it. Name names.

    Making vague "infected EFI" comments is utterly unhelpful.

  3. Re: The Moral? on Chinese Hackers Infiltrate Firms Using Malware-Laden Handheld Scanners · · Score: 1

    Slashdot is no place for your paranoid racist rant. Take it to Stormfront.

  4. Re:Why not force frackers to use salt water instea on California City Considers Restarting Desalination Plant To Fight Drought · · Score: 1

    It's obvious why we don't drink it.

    But... What's the long term cost on desalination vs building a secondary water distribution network? There's no reason we can't shower in filtered salt water, no reason we can't flush toilets with it, no reason we can't wash cars with it. No need to maintain residual chlorine in it, either, just disinfect it at the source. Want a swimming pool? Fill it with salt water (salt water pools are becoming more popular anyway, they're apparently cheaper to chlorinate). Hook it up to all the outside faucets, and if anybody tries to water their lawn, it'll either be self-defeating or they can switch to salt-tolerant grasses.

    I'm sure plenty of industrial processes could run on salt water too - certainly not all of them, but I'd bet it's a large chunk.

    It's not a solution where the runoff and treated sewage end up in freshwater rivers, but for cities that drain into the ocean, it's not a problem.

  5. Re:If not... on Did the Ignition Key Just Die? · · Score: 1

    Well, my Chrysler had a key interface that failed too.

    I went to the auto parts store, got a new key cylinder, and put it in. About $17, tax included.

  6. Re:I have an even better example on Students Remember Lectures Better Taking Notes Longhand Than Using Laptops · · Score: 1

    Good call on the school's part.

    Pay attention to the lecture while it's happening. Re-copy later if it helps you. Don't re-copy if you're like me and that method is physically torturous and only detracts from learning.

  7. Re:The way to prevent verbatim notes on Students Remember Lectures Better Taking Notes Longhand Than Using Laptops · · Score: 1

    Exactly. And THAT is the real advancement in lecture-based education that technology permits. There's no reason to take notes at all if the information is available, and today it can be, with very little difficulty.

    And while not perfect (there is some potential for interaction lost) it also removes the need to be physically present for every lecture. I just finished fixing a server problem for one of my clients from home, didn't waste any gas, didn't waste any drive time, and now get to look at Slashdot until the next call comes in. My physical presence wasn't needed, only my brain and a working net connection.

    Why do we think education should be any different?

  8. BULLSHIT.

    Pure, unadulterated bullshit.

    I'm sorry, taking notes longhand for me is an exercise in self torture. If I try (and I haven't tried since junior high school, I got a laptop in high school to end that stupidity) I have moderate to severe pain in my hand, unreadable notes, and no memory at all whatsoever of the lecture.

    With a laptop, I can reasonable notes, meaning a few key words or phrases to jog my memory of what the lecture was about. I don't bother with a word-for-word transcription, if I wanted that I'd turn on audio recording. With a laptop, I can listen to and look at what's going on with the lecture, I don't have to stare at the paper to make sure I'm staying close to the lines.

    As I've said for years now, if it's worth writing down, it's worth NOT writing it on paper.

  9. Re:Over 18 on IRS Can Now Seize Your Tax Refund To Pay a Relative's Debt · · Score: 2

    That's a common myth, but no, if you owe no tax there is no criminal penalty for failing to file.

    If you're owed a refund, you lose it after three years if you don't file.

  10. Re:I'm for caution first on Google Fighting Distracted Driver Laws · · Score: 1

    It's been that way for years.

    Many of the posters here HATE technology. They don't want it in cars, they don't want it in classrooms, it's almost as if they'd prefer a world without any of it at all.

    It's one of the reasons I don't post here much these days, too many neo-Luddites.

  11. Re:How? I'll tell you. on Rand Paul Files Suit Against Obama Over NSA's Collection of Metadata · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Well, it actually IS society's money, without society money wouldn't exist. And spending money is what keeps the economy going, cut the federal budget too far and you cause a depression.

    And it's time to undermine the federal system even further. Let's do away with the antiquated notion that the Senate should be connected to the states, and district the country so that each senator is representing the same number of people. It's insane that New York gets the same number of senators as North Dakota. And while we're at it, let's take away drawing of districts from the states, they've proven utterly incompetent at it. Let's district with an automated system to completely eliminate gerrymandering.

    And let's come up with a way to make federal government even more direct, it's time for federal referendums.

  12. Re:Cult leader's son behaving like a cult leader on Rand Paul Files Suit Against Obama Over NSA's Collection of Metadata · · Score: 1

    Rand Paul is an idiot just like his idiot father.

    But even a broken clock is right twice a day, and he is right on this issue.

  13. Re:Go for it on How To Hack Subway Fares Using Fare Arbitrage · · Score: 2

    What if there were an app for that, to arrange easy swaps? It sounds like a daily commuter could save hundreds of dollars a year.

    And yes, screw the beta.

  14. Re:Net Neutrality on Reason To Hope Carriers Won't Win the War On Netflix · · Score: 1

    48 of 535.

    Not exactly a consensus.

  15. Re:Huh? on FCC Wants To Trial Shift From Analog Phone Networks To Digital · · Score: 1

    I've got UPS power, and I've got the ability to run power from an inverter in the car. I've got cell phones. And I've got ham radio.

    I will not pay for POTS service, since when I last had it, it wasn't used for anything but telemarketers to call me.

    Oh, and I live a block from the fire station, where they have paramedics. :)

  16. Re:Using encryption is the better option on Where Old Hard Disks (with Digital Secrets) Go To Die · · Score: 1

    No, they were moved by stepper motors on quite a few hard drives. I'm sure some may have used linear actuators, but certainly not any hard drive I ever worked with back then.

  17. Re:It doesn't offer free shipping on Price of Amazon Prime May Jump To $119 a Year · · Score: 1

    I dunno. All of the prime stuff is also free shipping anyway, so long as it's over $35 on your order and you don't mind it not getting there in two days. I'm not usually that impatient, so everything is free shipping, stuff shows up in 3-4 days, and I don't have to pay for prime.

    And now that they've started charging sales tax, I'm definitely not paying for prime, I'm buying from alternate sources whenever I can. Sales tax adds damn near 10% to the price.

  18. Re:Nice idea but... on Australian Team Working On Engines Without Piston Rings · · Score: 1
  19. Re:How will I heat my home now? on 60% of Americans Unaware of Looming Incandescent Bulb Phase Out · · Score: 1

    With the new no light bulb required EZ-Bake oven maybe?

  20. Re:If it bother you that much on 60% of Americans Unaware of Looming Incandescent Bulb Phase Out · · Score: 1

    Rewire your house? How bad is your wiring?

    My house was built in 1920. While the plug circuits have been replaced since then, the overhead lighting circuits are still the original knob and tube wiring (and the dual-fuel lighting gas pipes are actually still up there too, they're just disconnected now). The stuff is actually incredibly safe (big air gaps and ceramic insulators are, you know). And most of those overhead lights are now CFL and LED, they work perfectly with 93 year old wiring.

  21. Re:what about metal goths? on Can a Computer Identify Your Urban Tribe? · · Score: 1

    Sure, I could see biker goths. Makes perfect sense. And well, yeah, kinda been there done that.

    I could see biker surfers, I suppose, but wouldn't transporting the gear be difficult?

    But goth surfers? Such a thing exists?

    I'm not quite a boring old fart yet, or at least I'd like to think I'm not.

  22. Re:Seriously? on US Light Bulb Phase-Out's Next Step Begins Next Month · · Score: 1

    Actually, $0.10 is more than I pay, it's $0.08358 per kWh here as of 11/1.

  23. Re:Seriously? on US Light Bulb Phase-Out's Next Step Begins Next Month · · Score: 1

    I just bought 3 LED bulbs, 9.5 watt - 60 watt replacements. They were $13 each.

    I think that alters your cost calculation a bit.

    I didn't get them for the cost savings, though that will be nice. I got them because they're going in a ceiling fan with a remote control dimmer, and CFLs won't work there. I've been using incandescents, but I'm nearly out of them.

  24. Re:Fail on Nokia Insider On Why It Failed and Why Apple Could Be Next · · Score: 1

    Maybe their GSM phones, I don't know. But they sold a LOT of really cheap TDMA/CDMA phones in the US that were absolutely horrible. For years, when I got a call with bad audio, I'd ask "Do you have a Nokia?" and the response was almost always yes. I don't know if it was bad microphones or bad audio circuits, but Nokia was synonymous with bad phone. I remember being surprised when I discovered that they were European and not Korean (remember when Korea made low end electronics?) or Chinese.

  25. Re:Fail on Nokia Insider On Why It Failed and Why Apple Could Be Next · · Score: 1

    And it was obvious to anyone watching that it would happen. I mean, a Microsoft phone? Everybody HATED their phone OS, and as soon as alternatives became viable (iPhone, Android) people ran screaming, never to return. Throw in that their new phone OS was even worse than their old one, and it was a forgone conclusion.

    Throw in that Nokia made some of the worst dumbphones on the US market, phones that had a reputation for being cheap but having horrible audio quality, which is pretty much fatal for a phone where audio is the only feature, and they were doomed.