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User: jr76

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Comments · 27

  1. Ok, so what are we supposed to do now? on Sitting Down Too Long Is Bad Even If You Exercise · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I exercise, and just like most Americans who work in an office, am stuck on my chair for 8 hours a day behind a computer. It's not like I can work while playing basketball or whatever. Are we supposed to either be doing manual labor all day or die?

  2. Useless on Palm Opens Dev Program, Offers $1M For Top App · · Score: 1

    WebOS is like being in 3rd place in a marathon, where the other two people are an HOUR ahead of you. They should give it up and take on android for themselves. Just get it over with. It's so sad they can't let go of a dying technology and move on..

  3. Come on people... who will do it better? on Google Wants To Administer the First White Spaces · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Do you HONESTLY think the government will run it better than google? And, do you think the government won't simply do it in OTHER businesses' interest? Google is the obvious choice.

  4. Admin/Server Ratio?(please contribute if possible) on How Many Admins Per User/Computer Have You Seen? · · Score: 1

    Hello, I cannot give my numbers but I'm pretty damn sure my site is incredibly understaffed, so I'm really curious on how it is done on other sites. I know this article is touching the desktop side of things, but if you can give some input on the ratio for admin/servers, it would be appreciated.

  5. Terrible idea on Uniforms For the Help Desk? · · Score: 1

    Want to make yourself look less valued and more like a McDonald's worker? Wear a uniform. Look, not only for yourself and your career, but for the entire IT industry, do not accept this, at all, EVER.

  6. STILL No replacement repair vehicle planned? on Obama Backs New Launcher and Bigger NASA Budget · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Hello, I do know most people seem to forget about this, but one thing the ARES/Orion programs make no plans for is to have REPAIR abilities available for space. While the Shuttle was far from perfect, it has been the best space repair vehicle created, and when it is retired, there will be nothing else out there to fix extraordinarily expensive satellites. I know people talk about "saving money", but do you know how expensive it would be to have launched four replacement Hubble Telescopes? Or, countless other devices they've spent days and months repairing in space? Someone SERIOUSLY has to make this an issue for NASA...

  7. It's not even 0.5% of the military budget... on Obama Backs New Launcher and Bigger NASA Budget · · Score: 1

    Yeah, FINALLY spending more money on something that can contribute to humanity, not war. Has anyone ever done the calculations if the US had spent even 1% of their military budget on NASA? We'd have bases on Titan by now.

  8. Amway = Worst Possible Company for Genetics Ever on Direct-To-Consumer Genetics Testing Makes a Splash In Boston · · Score: 5, Insightful

    People do not possibly comprehend the accuracy required for genetics tests to have any validity, of which even current companies aren't the best at. By using a company like Amway, all that you're going to get is very rough probabilities, exactly the opposite of what consumers want, but what they'll be left with, since they naturally cut corners and need to do a CYA job, leaving that as the net result.

    The only hope I can come of with this nonsense is that people begin realizing the NEED for accuracy on scales beyond you can imagine as a result of the useless of genetics tests when you don't do them right.

    Note: I've already done these tests (NOT Amway, of course), which is why I know what I'm talking about here.

  9. Having this done in Linux? What? on Making a Child Locating System · · Score: 1

    Sorry, this is a highly profitable sector, something where not having the nuts and bolts open to the world is in your self-interest and something that requires a substantially mature and solid niche technology, of which Linux is the worst thing in the world for. The best developers will be making money off of this, having it not on Linux; People like you should be wanting this to be kept as a more 'private' technology; and while Linux can be rock-solid in highly mainstream products, is not remotely close to it in niche technologies due to the nature of open-source, which requires a huge base with recurring interest, so that enough people have enough free time to burn to make it be stable and secure.

    Keep on dreaming...

  10. Two wrongs don't make a right, people. on Church of Scientology On Trial In France · · Score: 1

    Look, it's getting a bit ridiculous looking at past Church issues to say "oh, they're ok." Two wrongs don't make a right. If the Catholic Church was close to as bad in the past does not REMOTELY justify this predatory scam to be able to operate under the guise of 'religion.' Bravo to places like France and Germany who stand up to these destructive forces in society.

  11. Re:How long does sequencing take nowadays? on 13,000 Volunteer To Put Personal Genomes Online · · Score: 1

    People are not aware that there is no complete gene sequencing available to the masses yet.

    I do believe you could get a private study to do yourself entirely, at around $200,000 if you had that much money to burn. At the rate progress is occurring, in 2-8 years full sequences will be possible for most people (at somewhat of a premium price).

    Regardless, 99% of our genes are identical, so what's done now, focusing on the 1% that fairly rapidly mutates (every~100-500yrs), is almost all of what people will find different when they do the entire genome. We'll only catch the extremely unexpected and be highly more accurate when we do the whole thing.

  12. Terrible Idealism - Quit it, Hippies! on 13,000 Volunteer To Put Personal Genomes Online · · Score: 1

    Ok, as a person who has done DNA tests for himself and believes in the value for people working together on this, I believe this is just terrible.

    People value their privacy, and for DNA research to make progress, they need as many people involved as possible, which has not been done yet. Less than 0.0000001% of the world has had their DNA tested. So, for that to be able to be done, their privacy needs to be ensured. People, being concerned about identity theft, use of their own information for negative purposes, etc, run for the hills when being brought about DNA tests today because they believe it's the ultimate in risk for that, to do such testing.

    So, the geniuses doing this want to enhance their fears by playing right into it, by exposing everything about themselves as part of this?

    For ALL MANKIND, it is best to get into a method of keeping high security over DNA testing, revealing absolutely nothing to anyone who they don't approve of (normally specific scientists, researchers and doctors) so that we can start testing as many people as possible with every genetically-related condition on the planet, so we can find ways to prevent and eliminate them fully.

    This is about as wrong as possible, in light of that.

  13. Re:Forward Compatibility on Digital Storage To Survive a 25-Year Dirt Nap? · · Score: 1

    My Aunt Currently holds two photos of my family that are 140 years old and still rather legible.

    PRINT THEM.

    Our current technology has no archival ability in their design.

  14. Has anyone here attempted to use it, themselves? on AT&T Could Cut Off P2P Users · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Look, I have made attempts to use it for legitimate reasons (like a linux ISO download) and it overloads the system (probably given the latency over HSDPA, as well as the retries and concurrent connects to the "cloud").

    Sorry, they just bog down the system to the point of uselessness (and that is from the client), so I can't even imagine how bad it is for their cell aggregators.

    On a side note, had it worked, the second problem AT&T would have is that they've not bulked up their infrastructure enough at cell towers to handle full-on 3G traffic. I swear to God that I get only ISDN-ish speeds for internet surfing at airports where there's probably the highest concentration of HSDPA traffic in the area. Of course it is THEIR problem and THEIR false advertising for improperly selling a service that they did not allocate enough backend bandwidth for, not mine.

  15. Let's rework a failed technology on Consumer 3D Television Moving Forward · · Score: 1

    Ok, maybe it's just me but i've seen 3D technology on TV screens and in film and the effect of the whole stereostopic way they do it comes off just too damn crude and is somewhat annoying. For that simple reason alone, it's just a little "oh that's interesting" ... and people just move back to regular TV over and over again.

    Don't get me wrong, I do believe that we will eventually come to a TRUE 3D design for image rendering, something that doesn't require silly glasses and that you can walk around and look in all different directions for three true dimensions, like that omnidirectional multiprojection device that Microsoft borrowed for a promotion event last year at some sort of consumer electronics show. Now, that was a step in the right diretion.

    Re-inventing the failed 50s, "3D drive-in glasses?"

    Asinine.

  16. Re:Summary a bit biased? on How To Check Yourself For Abnormal Genes · · Score: 1

    Ugh. WRONG.

    They're forcing doctors to be the ONLY ones doing the tests themselves (which is a completely standardized and automated process, which a monkey can do).

    It has zero to do with privacy, which was recently protected by a federal bill.

    What it's all about is (a) the medical community (doctors) cashing in on a new market (they can charge and gain a lot more profit if they're all busy doing these automated lab tests) and (b) trying to find a way to gain this data back to the insurance companies so they can deny you for coverage (through some loophole)

    Why don't you tell me why I need someone with an MD behind their name to tell me what a standard output from a machine which takes a centrifuge of my spit, processes it through a standard chip and pulls out my dna composed against probable issues I could have, which THEN I can do a high-end explicit test from an MD afterwards?

    People keep on forgetting that these test are never set as a be-all, end-all for probable medical conditions and therefore you use this as a stepping stone to check out things further.

    I can understand if they were falsely advertising themselves as a substitute to the ultra-stringent high-end tests used for serious conditions, but as long as they aren't, this is anti-american as it gets.

    What's next? Having only automotive engineers be the only people who can run the automated air quality tests you have to do in your respective states?

    It's the SAME DAMN THING!!!

  17. And THIS is how we will colonize space on Supplies of Rare Earth Elements Exhausted By 2017 · · Score: 1

    People keep on forgetting that profit was the prime motive in people colonized and crossed the world.

    As these products become more and more rarefied, the more and more it will become lucrative to get ships out in space to mine asteroids, and hell, even MARS for Indium, Zinc, Platinum, Gallium, Hafnium, you name it. If one thing this solar system is chalk full of, and that is places to mine.

    I do believe in human ingenuity and if we run out of these things on Earth, we're going to look for it in the nearest other places to find it, and WILL find it, with enough time and effort.

    In the meantime, though, prices will rise and recycling firms will be probably a good investment, at least in the near-term future.

  18. Of course, they're going to get that response... on 85% of Chinese Citizens Like Internet Censorship · · Score: 1

    When either (A) the Chinese Government is taking the survey or (B) something could "happen" to them if they respond negatively to it.

    Sorry, but this 'survey' is about as reliable as a survey made by Karl Rove.

  19. Garbage Semantics - A "datacenter" on my BB on Data Center In a Shoe Box · · Score: 1

    "Okay, okay. We'll grant you that the system limps along on a single 400MHz (AMD/Raza) Alchemy MIPS chip."

    Current Blackberry 8100 Pearls run the Intel PXA901 processor @ 312 MHz (and have a CF slot, the same), so should I be calling my phone now a "datacenter" too?

    *rollseyes*

  20. Old News on Humans Nearly Went Extinct 70,000 Years Ago · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Maybe it's because I pay attention to genetics and genealogy (and I thought people were geekier than I am here) but I clearly remember this news from 2006. Why is it getting recycled now, two years later?

  21. Insufficient Research on Storing Data For the Next 1,000 Years · · Score: 2, Interesting

    They completely ignored the fact that the chips and memory managing the system will likely have some degree of failure in the 1400 years the data will survive on their media architecture.

    Look, I am into genealogy quite a bit and see this as a tremendous problem.

    The only thing approaching a viable solution is the Rosetta Disk ( http://www.rosettaproject.org/ ) using etched nickel media (rock) in a human readable format, which you could theoretically create a binary cipher for a global archival format.

    But, that would take a lot of foresight, which unfortunately us people don't have (yet).

    However, seeing that as completely inaffordable for us mere mortals, that leaves me with PAPER, yes, paper, as the only trustworthy medium-term solution.

    I do hope everyone here realizes that if we had some sort of cosmic EMP-like event traversing the globe, we'd lose 99% of data and be plunged into the dark ages, right? We couldn't even re-create all of the machines that surround us since virtually all designs are kept digitally now. Factories would just shut down and never be able to be brought back up and every history of our existence would be forgotten in a few generations.

    Our civilization is sitting on a house of cards.

  22. Ok, i'm SICK of this FIOS argument... on Comcast, Pando Partner For "P2P Bill of Rights" · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I believe less than 5% of the US has this as an option, with most areas getting less and less options daily, with DSL prices going higher and higher.

    In my area (Chicago), which is a very large metro area, you basically have Comcast or nothing else. Seven (yes Seven) years ago you could get full 1.5mbps SDSL at $80/month, but just like all of the local cable companies, most of the local Internet providers got bought out and dropped all of their customers.

    Now, the same service is somewhere in the ballpark of $250/month, which is still somewhere in the range of 1/4 of the speed of what cable offers standard.

    If the government actually did it's job and did not allow these buyouts / mergers!, competition would still exist and none of us would be having this argument today. Net neutrality and P2P would be a non-issue since people would just pick another option.

    It's unfortunate people aren't educated enough to know that it's the politicians that are the problem, and that this will continue until we force them to change things.

    Do people even remember when there was more than one option out there and how capitalism actually works then?

    When you have a monopoly it is broken, plain and simple. We need to bust up Comcast, Microsoft, you name it, like Ma Bell and then things will start working again, and that will require different politicians in office.

    But, this is really a pipe dream since most people just don't get economics (or care to educate themselves) and they'll keep on electing people who won't change a damn thing.

  23. Well, Since None of us are Cyclops... on The End of Non-Widescreen Laptops? · · Score: 1

    As far as I know, the only one who was, was that kitty who died in a day a year or so ago.

    And, as long as we have two eyes positioned as they are, it is more natural and comfortable to have a widescreen display with an aspect ratio designed for it.

    I've been working widescreen for a few years now and it's far more comfortable to me.

    Not to mention, the two window / document thing is (obviously) handy...

  24. No need for debate on Ben Stein's 'Expelled' - Evolution, Academia and Conformity · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I still am in awe on how idiotic people are in 2008.

    There is no need for conflict between the two.

    It is not incomprehensible to see the universe was created by a higher power, who set into motion the laws of natural selection and everything we see in it.

    Ugh.

    I firmly believe in science and a higher power that created it all, so it baffles me every day (well, it doesn't entirely, an average IQ of 100 does explain it well) that people are debating something that doesn't need a debate and are arguing something that has no conflict.

    Now, does anyone have a link to that paper?

  25. Lies, Lies and More Lies... on Ballmer Calls Vista 'A Work In Progress' · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Look, if anyone just does a basic analysis, you'll see that there's this circular process where the heavier operating system requires new hardware, forcing people to buy both to keep up with the times, which both them and the manufacturer want.

    Therefore M$'s strategy of making it bigger and bigger is clearly intentional, so that they both continue their same profit model.

    This will not end until they have a solid competitor, period, and that means the linux geeks have got to get off their high horse and make an easy, packaged, "buy your box from dell with it pre-loaded" version of it your grandma can use.

    Because, personally, i'm getting a little sick of getting these operating systems from Microsoft which I swear to God have code running several extra loops just to bog it down so that only the most bleeding edge (aka money I don't want to spend) boxes can handle it reasonably.