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User: yamla

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  1. Re:.NET / Java on Does .NET Sound Like Java? · · Score: 3

    .NET isn't likely to be any better than Java for people with older computers and/or dial-up access only. In fact, Java apps are often very small, just the JVM is huge. So dial-up users are likely to be worse off in a .NET world.

  2. .NET vs Java on Does .NET Sound Like Java? · · Score: 3
    The major differences:

    • Java is multiplatform (.NET will not be unless Microsoft is split up, then it may be ported to Linux)
    • .NET is multilanguage. That is to say, you can write .NET apps in a mixture of VB, C#, C++, etc. whereas Java is just one language.
    • Java is relatively stable now that most of the bugs have been worked out
    • Java is controlled by Sun and is essentially not an open-standard
    • .NET is controlled by Microsoft and is even less likely to be an open-standard
  3. Re:Carribean on Working Internationally--What Should It Pay? · · Score: 2
    For what it is worth, my friend is Canadian. I don't know how the Canadian laws affect him, maybe he found a loophole.

    But what's to stop a U.S. citizen claiming less income than he actually made?

  4. Carribean on Working Internationally--What Should It Pay? · · Score: 2
    A friend of mine works down in the Carribean. He gets about $80K U.S. a year with no taxes. He has two years of university education and no degree or diploma.

    His cost of living is very high. Rent is over $1000 U.S. a month for a hole in the wall. Still, he clears rather a lot.

    I'd expect a person to make as much after paying all taxes as he currently is before taxes. Factor in cost-of-living and I think you'll get a reasonable estimate.

  5. Re:Illegal on Virtual Child Porn: Is It Illegal? · · Score: 2
    I would accept scientific proof of a necessary and sufficient cause. That is, viewing virtual child pornography is required in all cases where someone becomes a child molester. And furthermore, viewing virtual child pornography by itself is sufficient to turn a regular person into a child molester.

    I do not believe this is the case. In fact, I do not believe that viewing virtual child pornography would even contribute to turning someone into a child molester (be careful of correlations here!). Therefore, as it does not harm any real children, virtual child pornography should be legal.

  6. Re:Illegal on Virtual Child Porn: Is It Illegal? · · Score: 2
    If virtual child pornography is sufficient cause to produce child molesters, it should indeed be made illegal. If it is simply a contributing cause then making it illegal may or may not be a good option. It would depend, I guess, on the odds.

    If it is just a correlation, as you seem to be implying, it most definitely should not be made illegal. To do so would be immoral.

  7. Re:Illegal on Virtual Child Porn: Is It Illegal? · · Score: 2
    Hey, Hubick.

    I have no problem making things illegal that directly infringe on anothers personal rights. I have a big problem taking away personal freedoms, which would otherwise bother nobody, just as a preventative measure because of some slim chance they might provoke someone to do something wrong. If we continue in this direction we will eventually have to ban most everything.

    Actually, I am advocating that society pass those laws if and only if we can prove that exposure to virtual child pornography causes regular, non-child-molesting people to become child molesters.

    And I stand by that moral stance. Laws by their nature restrict some freedoms in order to promote others.

  8. Re:Illegal on Virtual Child Porn: Is It Illegal? · · Score: 2
    but it can wet the appetite for individuals to go in search of pictures of real children.

    And here is the central question. Or more accurately, the central question is whether virtual child porn encourages people to produce more real child porn or to abuse real children. The problem is, causation has never been established. If it does not cause this, we should probably allow virtual child porn (although I'm not saying we should advocate it). Because no children are being harmed and we should not make thought crimes illegal.

    On the other hand, if it does cause this, society has a right (and, indeed, a responsibility) to protect its children. In which case, virtual child porn should probably be illegal.

    In my opinion, it doesn't cause real children real problems. Someone who is messed up enough to sexually abuse a child does so because she or he is already messed up. Viewing virtual child porn would not turn a normal person into a child molestor. But of course, this is only my opinion and I'm open to scientific studies proving otherwise.

  9. Re:Crusoe's On multiple pc types on Crusoe As Server CPU · · Score: 2
    What's preventing them from plugging them into a mid tower as well? Performance. What's the point of overclocking a CPU that basically underclocks itself so as to draw low power and produce low heat?

    I'm not cutting down the Crusoe here. I think it is quite an impressive chip and would like a laptop with a Crusoe inside. But I wouldn't get it for my desktop and then try and overclock it.

  10. Re:If this is so great... on Why iptables (Linux 2.4 Firewalling) Rocks · · Score: 1
    And what price security if your firewall doesn't stay up long enough to provide it?

    As always, a series of tradeoffs.

  11. Re:My Grade 12 Thesis Paper Was On This Very Topic on Looking For Aliens In All the Wrong Places · · Score: 1
    There are a couple of problems I saw immediately with your paper. Apart from the very casual writing style, you make a few factual errors. You seem unable to distinguish between galaxies and starsystems. You also don't identify the reasons behind any of the numbers in the Drake Equation. Ns is trivially incorrect. Fp looks suspicious, as does Ne and Fi.

    Still, it is an interesting overview.

  12. SMP summary on What Do You Need To Watch For In A Linux SMP System? · · Score: 1
    Strongly consider Alpha for your SMP box. I have never used it but I hear it is better designed. What I'm going to say is only relevant for i86 platforms from here on in.

    Skip the Celeron SMP machines. You have the money, you can afford better SMPness. Look at the Intel Xenon CPUs which are the best for SMP at the moment. You cannot use P4's in an SMP configuration but VERY SOON, you will be able to use AMD Athlons to provide SMP. These will likely be your best option, I would think, for i86 platforms. The AMD SMP bus seems better designed than Intel's, though perhaps AMD won't allow more than two CPUs at once?

    Make sure if you use Linux, you are using the latest stable 2.4 kernel. The difference on an SMP machine compared to a 2.2 kernel is astounding.

    You are going to have some hard questions to answer about memory. DDR SDRAM is almost always the clear winner over RDRAM but perhaps things work differently in an SMP environment, I'm not sure. RDRAM, of course, is Intel's favourite while DDR SDRAM will be what Athlon SMP machines can use.

    Anyway, I hope this helps. Remember, though, that you have the money to spend. Do some more research. Alpha architecture may well be the far superior platform for you, though it will cost lots more money.

  13. 750 Ghz on A Well-Chilled 750GHz Feasible Within 5 Years · · Score: 4
    A peak of 750 Ghz has already been reached? That is not at all what the article says. It notes that data rates of 750 Gb/sec have already been reached, an impressive but totally different thing.

    This is, of course, very impressive but let us not forget that this requires cooling down to five degrees Kelvin. We are well past heatsinks and fans at this point. Unless the prices come down, it will cost around twenty THOUSAND dollars to cool the chip down this much.

    It will be a long time before you see a system like this on your desktop. Unless we develop room-temperature superconductors, of course. But that would change everything...

  14. Re:Why?? on The AMD Duron Gets A Home - Sort Of · · Score: 2
    Some people do not need that stuff. My mother, for example, needs a computer for word processing and emailing and a little bit of spreadsheet work. Why does she need the same motherboard that I do?

    Certainly, a cheap motherboard can cause problems. No USB is almost criminal these days. But some people don't need that stuff!

    The problem comes in when someone doesn't know what they really want and they go out and buy the cheapest system they can find. And then they find out later that they cannot upgrade it or that it doesn't provide the functionality they really want. But the solution isn't to refuse to manufacture low-end motherboards. The solution is in better education.

  15. Re:Missing the point on floppy-based routers? on Theo de Raadt Responds · · Score: 2
    I wrote the original question. I am indeed a little disappointed that Theo seemed to miss the point. While I personally wouldn't mind a floppy-based firewall, my point was that I am looking for something that takes up very little disk space and provides only firewall and NAT. Why the heck should I need even a 100 meg hard drive? Sure, hard drives are cheap. But I have some spare hard drives sitting around and, therefore, free!

    It would also have to provide a nice (albeit simple and text-based) configuration tool or something similar to set up said box.

    Of course, it could provide more than just NAT and firewall. I don't care. But I do care about keeping the install minimal. That is why I mentioned FreeSco, a floppy-based product. Unfortunately, it seemed as though I was implying that I was only interested in firewall-on-a-floppy. Oh well.

  16. Re:Changing the EULAs on Windows software on EULA In Games · · Score: 2

    But, of course, reverse engineering is legal unless you agree not to. And reverse-engineering before you agree not to is therefore legal.

  17. Canada on Where Can You Buy Low-End Computers? · · Score: 1

    Any places in Canada, apart from Ebay?

  18. Re:Returning software on EULA In Games · · Score: 2
    Not at all. I predominantly use Linux for my operating system. I'll go back into Windows to play the occasional game or to do some programming for work. But if I picked up a game where I was required to allow them to search my hard drive, I would not agree. Or if I picked up an application that did not let me sell it to someone else (after I had completely deleted it, of course), I might not want to accept that.

  19. Returning software on EULA In Games · · Score: 5
    So if I read an EULA (after opening the box, of course) and decide I do not agree to it, what is my recourse?

    I know that Future Shop will refuse to take back the product. And we know that Microsoft normally won't either. So what can I do?

    Can an EULA possibly be enforcable if it is impossible for me to reject it? Is it up to the retailer to ensure that I am able to reject it? Or is it up to the manufacturer to refund my money if I will not accept the license? Anyone know?

  20. Professional musicians on Ask 'They Might Be Giants' · · Score: 5
    These days, it seems that virtually no professional musicians actually make a decent living. Courtney Love has said that she is pretty much playing for free already. TLC declared bankruptcy. And these are just two examples. Yet during this time, the record industry is reporting record sales, record profits.

    What do you think the answer is? Is the day of the professional artist over? Is it still possible to make the music you love and make enough to pay the bills? If so, how? How do you see the record industry changing over the next ten years?

  21. Re:PDA keyboards? on PDA Keyboards Compared · · Score: 1

    If you don't see a reason to pick up a keyboard, don't. Your choice. I got a keyboard because I find it much more convenient for taking notes in meetings rather than carrying around a bulky laptop. The rest of the time, though, I just use the stylus.

  22. I agree on PDA Keyboards Compared · · Score: 3
    I have tried out both keyboards and ended up buying the stowaway keyboard. The points raised in this article are spot-on. One thing that I should emphasize, though, is that the GoType keys are small. Much too small for me to touch-type on them. In fact, they were too small for me to use them properly at all, even hunt-and-peck, and I do not have big fingers.

    The stowaway keyboard, on the other hand, ends up providing full laptop-sized keys which alone was enough to make the decision for me.

  23. Re:7 + or - 2? on FCC Considering 10-Digit Dialing [UPDATED] · · Score: 1
    Yes, there is that rule. That never struck me as particularly the reason that telephone numbers were allocated as seven digits. I mean, it is +/- 2. So while the average person can remember 7 digits, a significant number of people can only remember 6. Or 5.

    Personally, I can only remember 6. This means that if I want to go from my computer (where I have the telephone number for someone) to my phone (in another room), I need to write down the number or I will forget it.

    Strangely, I can remember some IP addresses (though actually, only about six). In that case, though, I'm remembering groups of 2-or-3 digits. Makes you wonder why I can't remember phone numbers as groups-of-3 followed by groups-of-4. Memory is a strange thing.

  24. Re:Canada? on My.MP3.Com's New Useless Status · · Score: 2

    Debatably, yes. Note also that the recording industry were the ones who drove this legislation through. I really think they dropped the ball on this one.

  25. Re:Canada? on My.MP3.Com's New Useless Status · · Score: 2

    Not true, check out the text of the bill. I provided the link elsewhere on this thread.