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User: Exawatt

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  1. It's not as bad as he thinks on The Struggle To Keep Java Relevant · · Score: 1

    I'm 20, have pink hair, and my lip pierced, and I program in Java.

  2. My school does. on Does Your College Or University Support Linux? · · Score: 1

    I just moved up to Rochester to attend Rochester Institute of Technology, and I can tell you that Linux is very welcome, as well as PCs and Macs. Most of the student labs are UNIX systems, and our CS filesystems require knowledge of UNIX to submit work. The professors here haven't just heard about other operating systems... most of them (professors) are intimately familiar with almost all of them (OSs).

  3. Re:Shareholders Suing Company on Take-Two Faces $20 Million Settlement For "Hot Coffee" Scandal · · Score: 1

    You'd still be out 1/4 of the cost, plus the fees for two lawyers... And the contempt fines you'll get for running back and forth between tables in the court room, arguing with yourself.

  4. Re:Um, here's a thought. on Nielsen Recommends Not Masking Passwords · · Score: 1

    I agree. There are times I want it to be masked (at a public location), and times I do not wish it to be masked (at home). I vote it's defaulted to show bullets, and has an option to remove them.

  5. Re:If you want real Comcast fun... on Comcast Intercepts and Redirects Port 53 Traffic · · Score: 1

    There's a couple of servers that have similar problems across the country. I have to pass through two of 'em to get to Blizzard's servers to play WoW. It's sad when people from Europe have lower latency than I do. :-/

  6. Re:huh? on Speaking With the Blizzard Cinematics Team · · Score: 2, Informative

    The "crappy prerendered cutscenes" are what we are discussing, and do "count," as those are considered the "cinematic" portion of the game.

  7. Re:You should get a refund for the TV on Should Developers Be Liable For Their Code? · · Score: 1

    That is the policy where I work as well. The problem is that the software is essentially transfered from the disk to the computer. So, with the ability to return opened software, customers would purchase, install, then return everything. If there was some other way to sell software (i.e. some sort of guarantee that the software was uninstalled and in most cases that the key would not be used again), then I'm sure the policy would be different. DVDs share a similar problem. Burning DVDs is common practice, and it would be bad for business if we allowed customers to buy, burn, then return every DVD in the store.

    I've always felt that we could remedy this by keeping track of who returns software (e.g. Driver's License info), and bar certain "repeat returners" from ever returning again. I mean, we already have similar practices on other items, but the "no more returns" threshold is way too high, in my opinion.

    On the other hand, when a TV is returned, I know (with almost absolute certainty) that the person didn't make a copy of the TV.

  8. Re:car analogy on Should Developers Be Liable For Their Code? · · Score: 1

    You should get a refund for the TV, but not be able to sue the manufacturer.

  9. Re:2/12? on Web Analytics Databases Get Even Larger · · Score: 1

    I was wondering what that number was supposed to be. Perhaps 2 1/2? This is why I prefer decimal points.

  10. Re:common sense people! on NASA To Announce Module Name On Colbert Show · · Score: 1

    His show turns mainstream news (urine) into hilarity (water).

  11. RIP Dave on D&D Co-Creator Dave Arneson Dies of Cancer · · Score: 1

    I wish there were more people like him creating such life-enriching games for us masses.

  12. Re:Yay! on Instant Messaging Vulnerable To New Smiley Attacks · · Score: 1

    Is that you, ":-("?

  13. Re:I've got a better script. on How Office Depot Pushes Service Plans On Customers · · Score: 1

    I hear my manager use that all the time. Not with the intention of damaging the laptop, but trying to scare customers into buying plans.

  14. Re:The Script.. on How Office Depot Pushes Service Plans On Customers · · Score: 1

    That's what we do at Staples with the office chairs. If we don't carry it and can't order it, we'll just give you the money back on a cash card. b We make a killing off furniture anyway, so you can replace that chair five times and we're still making a profit.

  15. Re:can come in handy on Xbox Live Players Targeted In Denial-of-Service Attacks · · Score: 1

    Most gamers wouldn't kick out someone for beating them

    You have obviously not played Halo 3.

  16. Re:Private servers on Xbox Live Players Targeted In Denial-of-Service Attacks · · Score: 3, Informative

    The servers allowing you to find each player are Microsoft's. The servers you play on are the player's own Xboxes (or is it Xboxs?). Some games may not use this method, but many games (e.g. Halo 3) do. Proof would be when the game host leaves, and everyone has to wait while the game says "selecting new host." Microsoft servers determine the game host as the one with the best connection to the other players, but from that point the game is played directly between the involved players.

    It should be noted that many games work this way. Not just Xbox games. Not just FPS games. This "tactic" is nothing new. It's just a DoS targetted at an opponent.

  17. Re:Where else is this glitch? on Atlantis Seekers Given Thrill by Google Ocean · · Score: 1

    Zoomed out far, but obviously not natural. Don't know whether man-made or error-made :P.
    http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=53.826597,-13.73291&spn=7.564472,22.675781&z=6

    Here's something off the coast of Virginia. Looks like it could very possibly be a "glitch." Or just the method of mapping.
    http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=37.453057,-70.337219&spn=1.271132,2.834473&z=9

  18. Re:all your music lost down the back of the sofa on Coming Soon, 250 DVDs In a Quarter-Sized Device · · Score: 1

    There's also the privacy concerns. I lose things often, and have another person looking through my life in pictures somewhat disturbs me.

  19. Re:Don't they send kids to the Vice Principal? on Student Arrested For Classroom Texting · · Score: 1

    The first and last are good examples... But that second one about a "second-grader who was tied to a desk" raises a big flag...

  20. Re:Sounds fine to me on Student Arrested For Classroom Texting · · Score: 1

    "From the buttocks area" may not have meant "from under [her] underwear." It may have been in her back pocket. Also, she may not have had to strip to remove the phone: Those phones are large enough that they can be slid around underneath tight pants.

    But seriously, I wasn't there. Nor was anyone else posting here.

  21. Re:Film at 11... on High Tech Misery In China · · Score: 1

    That isn't even to mention the hundred and fifty years or so we were under the Articles of Confederation... And the many years of colonization before that.

  22. Re:And for $20 more ... on Microsoft Sued Over Vista-To-XP Downgrade Fees · · Score: 1

    We can't "use our favorite" anything. Only what we're provided. It's inefficient, but protects the company.

    And five minutes is a poor estimate. Another poster mentioned set-up, which is probably two or three minutes on its own. There would also be paperwork to be done, and a 5-10 minute explanation what we're doing (to protect the company from idiot customers). The software we would have to have specially made (see first paragraph), will predictably be slow and a real pain in the ass. This is also hoping you don't get called to the floor while setting it up.

  23. Re:And for $20 more ... on Microsoft Sued Over Vista-To-XP Downgrade Fees · · Score: 1

    1. I realized there were other options after I posted. I've worked there too long, and sometimes forget that there's other ways to get computers. :P

    2. They're actually a couple of aisles down. But seriously, there's a problem with that: The computers already come with hard drives. So, we'd have to do even more work to take out the hard drive, open a new one, switch the drives, etc. It'd take more time than a format (in which we would set it up and may be able to walk away). Actually, we already do the drive swapping... It's just considered a computer part install; the customer still has to purchase the hard drive (variable price) and pay for the service ($50).

  24. Re:And for $20 more ... on Microsoft Sued Over Vista-To-XP Downgrade Fees · · Score: 1, Informative

    As a Staples retail employee I can tell you that that would not "cost extremely little to implement." There would definitely have to be a charge, to offset the time an employee would have to be away from the sales floor while wiping a computer hard drive.

    Also, we make very little (if any) profit on the computers we sell. Often times we sell a computer for lower than we purchased it (at a loss to us). We do this because the profit is gained from the protection plans, services, and peripherals (e.g. laptop bags and software).

    And it would "hurt other sales" when that employee isn't there to offer protection plans to customers making purchases.

    It'd be more likely that those who would gain from buying a clean computer are the same ones who would just buy or build their own custom computers.

    Also, as a side note, I'll bet that most of the customers who decide to buy an OS-free computer are the same ones who will bring that computer in a week later for EasyTech because they botched the install. This isn't to say that there aren't some who would benefit--just that the average user isn't one of them.

  25. Re:Slowly Now on Senate Passes Another Bill To Delay Digital TV Transition · · Score: 1

    This is actually a very good metaphor for what's going on.

    I hope you don't mind that I will steal it for use in my own conversations to help me seem more witty and interesting.