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User: CmdrSam

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Comments · 56

  1. Re:Open Source DRM would be cool on Open-Source DRM Ready To Take On Big Guns · · Score: 1

    Can't you do:

    char* getData( ... ) {
    char* encryptedData = getDataFromSomewhere();
    char* key = getKeyFromSomewhere();
    writeToAFile(key);

    ...purchase the key, then look in your file, tell everyone the key, and have them reimplement their getKeyFromSomewhere() methods?

  2. Re:Every time *I* miss a month... on The Sun Has First Spotless Month Since 1913 · · Score: 1
  3. Why will D&D4e be better than other RPGs? on Ask the Designers of D&D Fourth Edition · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Whenever I hear anything about the upcoming 4th edition, the only comparisons I ever hear are comparisons to previous editions of Dungeons and Dragons.

    There are a lot of other roleplaying games in the market these days: the availability of print-on-demand has given rise to a new generation of "indy" games like Spirit of the Century, Reign, Primetime Adventures, and so forth. Even ignoring these, there are all kinds of other competitors in the marketplace: Exalted, World of Darkness, GURPS, etc.

    For someone who moved away from D&D to other game systems, I can't help but feel that discussion and marketing of 4th edition is curiously blind to the existence and advances made by all these other systems.

    Why should I choose to play D&D 4th edition instead of one of the other games? What, in short, are your relative competitive advantages when I am deciding what system to use for a new campaign?

  4. Re:The slogan: on Gaming Portal Announced By Wizards of the Coast · · Score: 1

    They've been working up to this for at least 6 months, if not more. I remember taking a survey on their web site back then about whether I would use a service such as this one.

  5. Re:It is time for the /. community to act! on E-Voting Reform Bill Gaining Adherants · · Score: 1

    Thanks for the links. This was indeed a very straightforward process, and I've contacted my representative and both my senators. I hope other slashdotters do the same!

  6. Re:Stupid is as stupid does on Social Network Users Have Ruined Their Privacy · · Score: 1

    An employer who was willing to peer into your personal life and reject you based on that [i]before[/i] they hire you will no doubt be willing to do the same thing [i]after[/i] they hire you.

    So, all that you've gained by keeping your information off the internet is a job where your employer doesn't trust you, you don't trust them, and they're constantly trying to find your secrets against your will.

    Congratulations?

  7. Re:You missed an important part of the code on Google Formula For Adding New Products · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    If used with proper commenting, it could be a placeholder for a later revision that would need to check something. You could just change the 'true' to whatever it is you want to check rather than having to add in the whole 'if' statement later.

  8. Re:You find yourself in a yearly appraisal... on Games Better Than Books? · · Score: 1

    You might be in trouble if you're at your yearly appraisal and you're wearing a T-shirt but no pants.

  9. Re:Documentation? on Legal Rights for Computers · · Score: 1

    How about a proposition, supported by the United States President, to amend the Constitution so as to enshrine about 5% of the population as second-class citizens and attempt to ensure that they never gain a particular civil right?

  10. Re:Not sure if I'm going to see it on Babylon 5 Movie Starts Filming in April · · Score: 1

    Psst.

    www.suprnova.org

    BitTorrent

    Mix well.

    Yields five seasons of Babylon 5. Start from the beginning.

  11. Re:Experience is key... on How Important is a Well-Known CS Degree? · · Score: 1

    You can go... uh... program on the front lines in Iraq?

  12. Re:Call for civility on US Presidents on Presidential Power · · Score: 1

    What do you do when someone's political position is an attack?

    "Homosexuality is wrong" or "poor people are poor just because they're lazy."

  13. Re:What's wrong with flexibility? on Fedora Project Considering "Stateless Linux" · · Score: 1
    For example, if you asked me a week ago the origin of chopsticks I (like most people) would have responded China, or parts nearby. Now this totally neglects the less-than-common knowledge that they were actually created in America in the 1800s by immigrants to mining communities as a means of differentiating their restaurants from more common fare


    Wikipedia claims differently, as do the California Academy of Sciences and about.com.
  14. Re:Unfortunately, this is illegal on Did You VoteOrNot.org? · · Score: 1

    You don't have to vote to enter into the sweepstakes. You merely have to be registered to vote.

    --Sam L-L

  15. Re:Decision Theory on Did You VoteOrNot.org? · · Score: 1

    But what if they only are right 40% of the time?

    Then P(Yes) = (0.6*0.4*0.4)*3 + (0.4)^3 = 0.352 0.40

    and you are worse off.

    --Sam L-L

  16. Re:Modern Inter-Fic on Magic Words - Interactive Fiction in the 21st Century · · Score: 1

    Hint -- you got an item from the doctor...

    --Sam L-L

  17. Re:OT: Signature line question on Baby Bells Promise Broadband Stagnation · · Score: 1

    Everything else I try (about:microsoft, about:ie, about:internet explorer) just brings up an "Action Canceled" screen...a blue screen seems nicer by comparison :)

    --Sam L-L

  18. Re:Consequence of political correctness on Girls not Going into CS · · Score: 1

    Or maybe women don't go into CS because people like you tell them that they're "just not as as strong in analytical thinking" from the time they are children.

    --Sam L-L

  19. Re:[ More Links to Decentralized News Projects ] on Web of Trust Audio News Distribution · · Score: 1

    This is just the results you get if you search for "decentralized news" on Google, in the same order and everything.

    Bookmarks...yeah right.

    --Sam L-L

  20. Re:Is my front door broken? on Weak Elliptic Curve Cryptography Brute-Forced · · Score: 1

    Your front door may be open, but it's not any easier for me to get into any other door.

    Now, if I developed the algorithm of going in through the window, which I could use on every house in the neighborhood, that might be cause to say the system of relying on the door to keep your house secure has been broken...

    --Sam L-L

  21. As Strong Bad would say... on Flash Version of Adventure · · Score: 1

    Somebody get this freakin' duck away from me!

    (Move your pointer over the e-mail button if you don't get it...)

    --Sam L-L

  22. The Feynman Lectures on Physics on Physics Books for the Novice? · · Score: 5, Informative

    If you're looking for the real, actual stuff (a book of physics as opposed to a book about physics) I would very strongly recommend the Feynman Lectures on Physics. They cover mechanics, E&M, and quantum mechanics: they were the first 2 years of courses at Caltech when Feynman taught them.

    They get tough in places, but are appropriate for a physics major undergrad, someone with an already good general knowledge of mathematics and a little bit of physics, or just a bright and ambitious high school student. They're a little pricey (all textbooks are) but you might be able to find them at the public library.

    Just about every student at Caltech has at least one of these three books...

    --Sam L-L

  23. Re:Socialism is all that works for information on Want Freedom? · · Score: 1

    > That's what's great about this country -- the
    > unintelligent "darwinistically" fall by the
    > wayside

    Dear God -- do you have any idea how horrible and callous that sounds?

    --Sam L-L

  24. Re:Old idea with problems.. but promising.. on Going Up? · · Score: 1

    This is totally false. Think about Newton's Third Law.

    When you throw that bag of garbage straight up, directly away from the center of the earth, it's going to exert a force on you in return directly toward the center of the earth. This won't affect Earth's rotation at all (no torque).

    Besides, by your own figures, it would take 12 quintillion years of NYC's garbage before the effect was noticable. Before that we'll have to worry about the Sun going out ;)

    --Sam L-L

  25. Re:This post is sexist on Social Robot? · · Score: 1

    It's a sad, sad day on /. when this gets moderated up to 5...

    --Sam L-L