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User: idigitallDotCom

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Comments · 35

  1. dna hashtags? on Scientists Attach Bar Codes To Embryos · · Score: 1

    I don't know if that's the right term, but surely a dna "hashtag" is a more effective than sticking a silicon label on to the embryo sack? Or can't one get DNA sequences (unique?) from an embryo?

  2. family games vs pc games on Have I Lost My Gaming Mojo? · · Score: 1

    I'm finding that as I grow older, I need to find more family games, which can be played in your living room with your family -- if you're not too dorky to have one -- or just your partner. Being a full-time software engineer by day, student of computer science by night, the free time I have with wife and kid demands that I not be in front of a pc and instead in the lounge/bedroom. And obv, automatically the platform changes, and if you're going to play with your wife and kids, then the type of game changes too.

    My wife has taken a fancy to God Of War, Tekken, but she doesn't much like Tomb Raider. So my choice in games has evolved to family games, or at least games that we both like. Also, to games that can be played while entertaining family/couple friends.

  3. finding that picture on The FBI's Newest Tool — Google Images · · Score: 1

    But to find that picture, what did the FBI search for?

    "pictures man looks like older osama bin laden lookalike" ?

    What is the search strategy for finding a picture of the future Barak Obama?

  4. Game? on Hackers Counter Microsoft COFEE With Some DECAF · · Score: 1

    My gut feel is that Microsoft (or somebody Big) fucked them (the authors of Decaf) in the arse and that's why they killed Decaf.
    If i were a malicious hacker I'd rip decaf's internals out and either continue or repackage it. What kind of whackjob writes something like Decaf AS A LESSON TO THE WORLD. Sounds like one of those villains from Bond movies..

  5. Why not just USB and normal Networking? on Air Force Extends Plug-and-Play Spacecraft · · Score: 1

    Is there a reason they don't just use usb or normal networking? Perhaps I'm just trivializing space technology, but what's the difference between space computers and home computers [besides the fact they use real-time operating systems]? Surely that just means the computers never go to sleep?

    I'm sure that technology already exists - so it just needs $200 Billion to test and make sure it works in space?

  6. Re:Why did he do it? on Cyber-criminal Left In Charge of Prison Computer Network · · Score: 1

    That's the million dollar question.

    I knew fellow grad student who got into serious shyte for hacking. He was sentenced to a couple of hundred hours of community service - which he did at the very place he hacked in to. The staff, who didn't know as much as he did about computer stuff, handed him on a silver tray the New passwords (once they'd restored the system to normality) and put him in charge of the main servers etc. Of course he didn't pull any similar stunts because he was graduating soon...... If you were a decent guy, you'd try to regain the trust of the people you'd screwed...

  7. The cartoons? on E. Coli Can Be Used To Clean Up Nuclear Waste · · Score: 1

    All jokes aside, nuclear waste "mutated" E Coli. Why am I the only one who thinks this is a bad idea?
    Making life radioactive? is that really a good idea?

  8. big deal. on 3D Images Reconstructed of 300M-Year-Old Spiders · · Score: 1

    How is this amazing news? What does it prove? that spiders existed 10 zillion years ago? That they looked like spiders do now? Or is it just the fact that they made the 3D model? If so, big deal - they've done it before with other fossils.... *shrug*

  9. Re:Obligatory quote on Ant Mega-Colony Covers the World · · Score: 1

    sounds a bit like humans....

  10. Re:Any other science fiction for us? on NASA Suggests Nano Robots To Explore Mars · · Score: 1

    "self-replicating" suggests to me that that the robot would be able to create another object of exactly the same structure as itself.
    On Earth - maybe, just maybe it can find the components necessary to put together another one of itself... but on mars? is there life on mars, firstly, and are there left over nano-robot components from which to build more nano-robots?

    Sounds flashy and all.. but not feasible.

  11. delete vs backspace on Lenovo Tinkers With Larger Delete and Escape Keys · · Score: 1

    really? Is it the delete key or is it the backspace key that is used most?
    Personally, I mostly use the backspace key in favour of the delete key - I think because that's the one that's closer to normal typing keys.

    From personal experience of typing (being a software developer, my life has been on computers for over 15 yrs) - I notice I prefer to backspace over other key combinations.

    Deleting "prefer to" I would backspace X 9, to replace with "'would rather" instead of [ctrl][shift][left,left][backspace]... but maybe that's just me...
    I;'d[backspaceX3]'d be interested n[backspace]knowing who the users were[backspaceX4]are.

  12. Is this for real? on Has NASA Found the Lost Moon Tapes? · · Score: 1

    *snicker*
    No they didn't lose the tapes... They're right here:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy8S9VQ8OhY (vid of Michael Jackson)

  13. Wind + bioenergy on Wind Could Provide 100% of World Energy Needs · · Score: 1

    I reckon they should instead funnel the cr@p and hot air that George Bush emits from his pie-hole into channels for processing. That'll provide more than enough energy for the world and we won't have to 'rape' the earth.

  14. Re:We use Nod32 on Central Anti-Virus For Small Business? · · Score: 1

    I've managed a Computer Lab at an IT college, who's prime users are pesky students with an interest in downloading MP3's, warez and porn. I can confirm the above-said about Avast. Avast is now THE only antivirus tool I use. If you cant purchase it, I think they also have a free tool for cleaning (not the Avast Home version) which works well for support.

    In my books it's either Avast, or Linux.

  15. Bing Error messages on Does Bing Have Google Running Scared? · · Score: 1

    After reading many comments in this feed, I decided to get over to http://www.bing.com/ to search for something I use regularly (eclipse rcp) and compare it to Google's results on that same topic. But, I got this error when I hit [Enter]. In the 5 years I've been using Google, this sort of error has *never* happened [to me]. That was my cue to get off slashdot, stop wasting time with Bing and start some work.

    ASSERT: *** Search: _installLocation: engine has no file!

    Stack Trace:

    0:ENSURE_WARN(false,_installLocation: engine has no file!,2147500037)

    1:()

    2:()

    3:()

    4:epsGetAttr([object Object],alias)

    5:()

    6:SRCH_SVC_getEngineByAlias(http://www.bing.com)

    7:getEngineByAlias(http://www.bing.com)

    8:getShortcutOrURI(http://www.bing.com,[object Object])

    9:canonizeUrl([object KeyboardEvent],[object Object])

    10:handleURLBarCommand([object KeyboardEvent])

    11:anonymous(textentered,[object KeyboardEvent])

    12:fireEvent(textentered,[object KeyboardEvent])

    13:onTextEntered()

    14:handleEnter(false)

    15:onKeyPress([object KeyboardEvent])

    16:onxblkeypress([object KeyboardEvent])

  16. Quake on Why Natal Is a Big Deal · · Score: 1

    I'd be interested in seeing how you play Quake/Prince of Persia (Climbing walls and jumping around) on it......probably have to run around the room - get a lot exercise that way - but what if you don't have the space? I like not having to move much to get things done.

    What I like more is not the gaming aspect, but the VR aspect. I'd love to see the first networked virtual worlds that come out of this system...

  17. used for? on Periodic Table Gets a New, Unnamed Element · · Score: 1

    All jokes aside now... what on earth is the use of such a super-heavy element? And why did they strive to create it - just to prove they could?

  18. Re:WTH is a 3D Laptop??? on Acer To Launch 3D Notebook In October? · · Score: 1

    I'm just thinking.... how would you plug a usb drive into a sheet of paper?

  19. Re:Been done. on Acer To Launch 3D Notebook In October? · · Score: 1

    Currently stereoscopic glasses are needed to view the 3D content. Stereoscopic glasses [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereoscopy] work by exposing a "left" image to the left eye and a "right" image to the right eye - so that the brain puts the two together and it appears 3D.

    How on earth is Acer planning to replace the stereoscopic glasses? Divide the screen in two and display the images in corresponding halves? Might be more possible if the images were replaced by interlaced panels with some sort of curved refractive screen sending the "left" and "right" images out at slight angles so that the right eye sees the right image and the left eye sees the left image. Of course that'd be highly specific to your head location, and if viewed at the wrong angle wont appear 3D. Maybe I'm just talking rubbish..

    I think it CAN be done.... I'd Love to see it!

  20. Re:Take away the cloud on Google vs. Microsoft On the Desktop · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What is with all of you suggesting "the cloud - the cloud - the cloud" all the time. I don't trust you. Why should I? Why should I trust my colleague who wants to borrow my 16Gb flash drive because his doesn't have space, with my "classified" company information that I store on it? And now everyone's suggesting "the cloud - the cloud - the cloud" with GoogleDocs and OpenIDs.

    The cloud is NOT secure. Heck, not even passworded PDFs and DOCs are secure - forget about uploading it onto someone ELSES server and *hoping* that one nosy-parker low level administrator who doesn't have enough to do isn't snooping where he shouldn't be.

    I need proof that the cloud is secure before I'll upload "secret" files to it. I'd much rather password protect the document, then zip it up two or three times in a passworded zip file, then hide it in the hidden folder on my micro SD card, and then embed it under my little fingernail before I trust that frikken' cloud!

  21. key words = "perch and grip technology"? on $10M For Unmanned Aircraft That Can Perch Like a Bird · · Score: 1

    Are the keywords here "Perch and grip" ? Don't we already have unmanned airborne spy hover vehicles? heck I'm sure I could build a mini-hot-air-balloon-with-steering-fans-type drone that transmits surveillance for under $1M. From what I saw on National Geographic channel, it'd be very easy to build a hot-air-balloon with "perch and grip" technology if we just emulate birds...

  22. ground vehicles more useful? on Best Way To Build A DIY UAV? · · Score: 1

    What I'd like to know is this: has building a UAV become easier than building a UGV (unmanned ground vehicle)?

    Is it really that difficult to build a R2D2-type droid with a useful amount of functionality at a reasonable price? Sure we don't have hologram tech yet, but we DO have relatively cheap projector tech - and texture and plane scanning...

    "R2, PROJECT ANNUAL BUSINESS REPORT 2004 PAGE TWENTY SIX"
    surely this has been done by now?

  23. old news, robocode! on Robot Warfare Going Open Source · · Score: 2

    Old news. robocode!

    robot.rotate(90);
    robot.rotateGun(-45);
    robot.fire(3);
    robot.doVictoryDance();

  24. Re:I hate to say it but... on When Hacked PCs Self-Destruct · · Score: 1

    there's something about non-IT professionals that just make them *dumb* in front of a computer.

  25. Re:Robot discovers Humans "unnecessary"... on Robot Makes Scientific Discovery (Mostly) On Its Own · · Score: 1

    In Soviet Russia.... robots build humans with OFF switches.