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User: lamadude

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  1. Wasn't this technique used already on Call To "Open Source" AIG Investigation · · Score: 2, Interesting

    during this year's big UK politicians expenses scandal? All citizens could look over the lists of expenses and find the abuses. I'm not from the UK, so I don't know how this story ended, perhaps somebody from the UK could fill me in?

  2. MTV Cribs is ruined on Where Are Your Contact Lens Displays? · · Score: 1

    Welcome to my crib, here is the master bedroom, no plasma TV, but I've got some pretty sweet contact lenses in a drawer somewhere.

  3. seems to work on IBM Smartphone Software Translates 11 Languages · · Score: 5, Funny

    the german phrase "Mein Luftkissenfahrzeug ist voller Aale" was correctly translated as: "My hoovercraft is full of eels" However the Hungarian translation was completely wrong

  4. Re:Sigh... on Pirate Bay Closure Sparked P2P Explosion · · Score: 1

    But who would pay for "designing stuff?" Let's say you make a movie which costs 100 million $ to make, how can you recover those costs if not through the small contribution of 10$ from the millions of people who watch (consume?) that movie? I can't see any business model in which the illegal downloading of movies would not hurt the money that is available for "designing stuff." If there is one, then maybe you have found a solution for the entire problem of file-sharing?

  5. Asterix on Asterisk Vishing Attacks "Endemic" · · Score: 1

    Asterix was fishing when he was attacked by the Romans again? Where was Obelix? He'll win in the end, he always does.

  6. The EU is a really small place on Developing Nations Crippled By Broadband Costs · · Score: 1

    The EU has half a billion (mostly rich) people living in an area half the size of Australia, this is an ideal situation for broadband development. If you look at just Sudan and DRC together, these are already larger than the 27 member states of the EU combined. I suspect that in Africa, just like everywhere else, relatively wealthy countries with a high population density will have the best broadband connections. (Egypt? South Africa?)

  7. Not really a reverse brain drain on The US's Reverse Brain Drain · · Score: 1

    This is about foreign people returning to their home countries, that's just a diminishing of the brain drain towards the US. A real reverse brain drain would be if those people returned home AND all the best US born students left the US to study in Europe or Asia.

  8. Re:Capitalization on First European Commander of the ISS · · Score: 1

    Yups, every "word" in a last name is capitalized in Flanders. So Ruud van Nistelrooy would have been Ruud Van Nistelrooy had he been born in Flanders.

  9. Re:We rule the ISS and IOC now :-) on First European Commander of the ISS · · Score: 1

    Actually Belgium was a member of the security council in the past 2 years and next years president of the UN General Assembly will probably be Belgian as well, so you're not too far off from the truth. The pope even made one Belgian a saint yesterday. Also, I don't think Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson are making movies about Belgian reporters with little white dogs because they want to. I think it's time for a belgians-are-taking-over-the-world (and space) conspiracy theory.

  10. Re:Can you spell Face Plant? on New Zealander Invents Segway Alternative · · Score: 1

    I see people with foldable bikes on the train every day. I haven't seen a foldable ELECTRIC bike yet though, but maybe they exist.

  11. They didn't think this trough. on Opera Being Composed On Twitter · · Score: 1

    Announcer: Ladies and gentleman, the twitter opera is about to start, please turn of all cell phones and other mobile devices. *audience storms out of the opera, tweeting: OMG you never believe what they just asked*

  12. Re:Antitrust avoidance on Microsoft Acknowledges Linux Threat To Windows · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A monopoly does not necessarily mean that you have no competitors.

  13. Re:Take back the seconds on David Pogue Wants to Take Back the Beep · · Score: 1

    And yet a large majority of Europeans complain that the EU never does anything for them.

  14. Re:Not "sadly" or surprisingly on Microsoft's Code Contribution Due To GPL Violation · · Score: 1

    Something sad can still be understandable

  15. Re:Quid pro quo, or something along those lines? on Belgium Tries to Fine Yahoo for Protecting US User Privacy · · Score: 1

    Every country is a "historic aberration." Every country was formed through a series of historic events that could easily have happened in another way. Sure there is no "Belgian" nation, but I kind of like it that way. There is very little patriotism and maybe that's a good thing. I don't see why Belgium has failed, it is still a rich, free and democratic country, where people have the luxury to endlessly argue about languages instead of, you know, actual problems.

  16. The real problem here on Belgium Tries to Fine Yahoo for Protecting US User Privacy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    is not that Belgium wants this information, it would help in the fraud investigation that is ongoing. The fraud was commited in Belgium by people using yahoo email adresses, how are they supposed to find these people? The problem is: 1. That Belgium takes Yahoo to court instead of relying on the mutual legal assistance treaty which already exists between the US and Belgium 2. That the court actually followed Belgium's reasoning, which creates a dangerous precedent.

  17. Re:About an Autobahn lane projector ? on Bike Projector Makes Lane For Rider · · Score: 3, Informative

    Here in Belgium, where cycling is a lot more popular than in the US, nearly every bike has a generator on it, it makes it a little harder to bike but it really isn't a big difference, nobody has any trouble biking with a generator on, and they deliver a very bright and even light all the time. And you never need to worry about running out of batteries.

  18. Re:What languages? on Emigrating To a Freer Country? · · Score: 1

    I don't see what the big deal is about ID cards, I don't mind having one. There are other things that I consider more important aspects of freedom, and Belgium is quite free I think. Have a look at the Press Freedom Index http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reporters_Without_Borders#Worldwide_Press_Freedom_Index for example, where Belgium always scores amongst the top ranked countries. It also scored #1 place of all countries in the world for "children's educational well being" where the UK and US usually score the lowest of the OESO countries. These things matter to me more than whether or not I have an ID card. Of course no country is perfect, Belgium has its share of problems in crime fighting and the eternal rivalries between the language groups, but as far as development and personal freedom goes, you could do a lot worse than Belgium.

  19. Re:What languages? on Emigrating To a Freer Country? · · Score: 1

    The exceptions in western Europe is France and Germany.

    There are countries in the EU where people speak less English than France or Germany. Italy is an obvious example here. As a general rule, people in countries with "small" languages will speak better English (Scandinavia, Finland, Benelux) than the ones who speak one of Europe's major languages. Which is logical because if you only speak a small language the incentive to learn another one is big. That being said, if you seriously consider moving to another country, you should always learn the language, otherwise you remain an expat and will never integrate.

  20. Re:If you give up the inch, they'll take the mile on NASA Sticking To Imperial Units For Shuttle Replacement · · Score: 1

    Exactly, I heard many people say that they would never adjust to the euro (for example here in Belgium you have to multiply the price in euros by 40.3399 in order to know the price in Belgian Franc, it wasn't a very intuitive conversion. However after a couple of years, almost everyone "thinks" in euros, with the exception of very old people or in cases where you deal with unusually high amounts of money, for example when buying a house. If the US switched to metric they would be used to it after a couple of years. Not saying they should switch, they can do whatever they like, but saying that it's "impossible to adjust to" is not a good reason.

  21. Re:Was Homer participating? on 400 Battle Bots Fight, Toss Enemies At RoboGames Competition · · Score: 1

    The episode is called "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot" and it's episode 9 of season 15

  22. Re:And with what Pc makers will ship it with ? on Microsoft Will Ship Windows 7 in Europe With IE Unbundled · · Score: 1

    Exactly, all the manufacturers will have the "choice" continue to sell windows 7 with IE. They have connections with microsoft or worry that not shipping would increase the user complaints and after sales problems.

  23. obviously on Survey Finds Airport Wi-Fi More Important Than Food · · Score: 1

    Seems pretty normal to me, you don't need to eat on a plane, you can do that before or after the flight, but wifi will keep you entertained during the flight. If they had asked "what is more important in life: wifi or food?" I'm sure the answers would have been different.

  24. Re:Wrong question on MS Word 2010 Takes On TeX · · Score: 1

    LaTeX is used in social sciences, I just finished writing my political science thesis in TeX on OSX, the advantages of separating content and style are just as useful in humanities and social sciences.

  25. Re:How to get out of a recession in 2 easy steps.. on Intel Receives Record Fine By the EU · · Score: 1

    The Commission has fined tons of EU companies over the years as well, and not just large companies. But the fact of the matter is that if the company is large and wealthy you need a large fine that is proportional with the damage caused by the anti-competitive behavior. Otherwise their behavior won't be influenced at all. Without anti-competitive regulators we would be stuck with tons of monopoly's and cartels, which is the perfect way to get in an even deeper recession.