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User: takshaka

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Comments · 141

  1. Re:they're not supported for dialling on Ask Slashdot: Sounds We Don't Hear Any More? · · Score: 1

    I had forgotten about that. There was a bank of pay phones in the lobby of my high school. We'd leave them ringing and go to class.

  2. Re:It will never go away on HP Brings Back Windows 7 'By Popular Demand' As Buyers Shun Windows 8 · · Score: 1

    Window 8 looks nothing like Windows XP. Most people can't even start Notepad in Window 8.

    My grandmother got a new Win 8 laptop a few months ago. She keeps complaining that she can't find Word even though it is one of the first tiles on her start screen.

  3. Re:2014: YEAR OF LINUX ON THE DESKTOP on Dell Joins Steam Machine Initiative With Alienware System · · Score: 3, Funny

    If a tree falls in the woods and no one knows what kernel it's running, does it make a sound?

    Not if it's running pulseaudio.

  4. Re:I read A LOT of books on Judge Thinks Apple Will Lose E-Book Price-Fixing Case · · Score: 1

    When ebooks first became available I thought that this was a great opportunity to have access to more of them for a cheaper price.

    I won't be satisfied with ebook prices until I can get an epub for the price of its used physical counterpart. I rarely buy new dead tree books and lament that my money doesn't find its way to the author when I buy used books. My conscience doesn't bother me enough to buy one new book instead of several used ones, of course, but I would love to be able to spend the same amount while actually supporting my favorite authors.

    With no legitimate electronic equivalent of a used book, and with publishers and authors only profiting from sales of new books, there is little incentive for the industry to reach for customers like me by lowering ebook prices. If there was, they would've already done so with mass-market paperbacks.

    So the only hope for cheaper ebooks is to reinstate the price war aborted by Apple's price-fixing cartel. Hopefully, this case will get us there.

  5. Re:Sounds like a game name on Mageia 3 Released · · Score: 1

    They would've called it Tasticles, but that sounds too much like those frozen Rocky Mountain Oysters on a stick.

  6. Re:Cutting up all your meat? on MIT's Charm School For Geeks Turns 20 · · Score: 1

    That's great if you don't eat any better cut than skirt steak.

    The last thing I want my rare ribeye to do is sit on a hot skillet where it will overcook and dry out as I eat.

  7. Re:Sensational Submission Title is Sensational on Russian EBookseller LitRes Gets Competing EBook Apps Booted From Google Play · · Score: 1

    Moon Reader doesn't just allow you to add custom OPDS sources. At least one update from the Google Play store came with TUEBL pre-installed as a source. That's pretty sketchy since many of the app's users would have no idea TUEBL is any less "legitimate" than Gutenberg.

  8. Re:What is Perl? on Perl's Glory Days Are Behind It, But It Isn't Going Anywhere · · Score: 1

    The first Perl enemy was PHP. While PHP sucks in many ways, it was better designed to write simple dynamic web pages.

    mod_php installed on every virtual hosting provider is the main reason the language took off. Had mod_perl been a safe alternative in a multi-user environment, much of today's PHP marketshare would be eaten up by frameworks like Mason.

  9. Re:what $2,000 USD got you in 1983... on 30 Years of the Apple Lisa and the Apple IIe · · Score: 1

    Ah, the days when you had to pay for decent software, and you probably did not get the source.

    Pay? Not when we had Copy II Plus.

  10. Re:Nice, but that raises a new question. on Amazon AutoRip — 14 Years Late · · Score: 1

    Mass-market paperbacks are stripped and the covers returned. Hardcovers and trade paperbacks are either returned whole or they are marked as remainders and sold at a discount when publisher needs to liquidate stock.

  11. Re:Hearing aids have been discussed before on Ask Slashdot: Hearing Aids That Directly Connect To Smart Phones? · · Score: 2

    The tech specs of real hearing aids are so much better than the consumer bluetooth stuff that it's like comparing a Hasselblad camera with a iPhone camera.

    In other words, the average consumer can't tell the difference in quality?

  12. Re:LTE on 19 Million Americans Cannot Get Broadband Access · · Score: 1

    I wish I could get LTE. The best I can do is 3G, even though I am 200 yards from houses with cable.

    Even so, 3G is a great improvement over dialup.

  13. Re:Kindle. Period. on Ask Slashdot: I Want To Read More. Should I Get an eBook Reader Or a Tablet? · · Score: 1

    The Kindle (not Fire, the regular with the e-ink screen) has been the best think that has ever happened to my reading habits.

    Didn't do so much for your writing habits, though.

  14. Re:Describe the goal, not the step on Ask Slashdot: Best Option For Printing Digital Photos? · · Score: 1

    Some people read the question as "How do I do $step?", infer a most likely goal from the described step, explain why that step isn't optimal in one's own opinion, and propose alternate steps to achieve the same goal.

    How do I get a Sluftwaffle Mark II to slurf the gripple?

    You'll get better results using a Wafsluffle Mark IV.

    I don't have a Wafsluffle.

    You should get one. The Wafsluffle supports up to version 4.0 gripples, while the Sluftwaffle can only handle up to version 2.9.

    That's okay. All of my griffles are version 2.0.

    You really shouldn't be using gripples below version 3.0.

  15. Re:You haven't played "Pong" yet on Computer Games That Defined RPGs In the 1980s · · Score: 1

    My grandmother got the original Sears Telegames-branded Atari C100. I later got a Telstar Ranger, which was pong plus a gun.

  16. Jeff Noon on Ask Slashdot: Good, Forgotten Fantasy & Science Fiction Novels? · · Score: 1

    I'm a fan of Jeff Noon's Vurt series:

    Vurt
    Pollen
    Automated Alice
    Nymphomation

    The best of the bunch is probably Nymphomation, which is a prequel to Vurt that can be read as a stand-alone novel.

  17. Re:Clifford D. Simak on Ask Slashdot: Good, Forgotten Fantasy & Science Fiction Novels? · · Score: 1

    I cut my teeth on Simak books from my public library. Whenever I hear the words "Science Fiction," I still think of him and Frederik Pohl first.

  18. Re:This is a about broadcast rights on iPad Just Another TV Set? · · Score: 1

    A digital TV is a display appliance on which the end user cannot install more applications after buying the device.

    Try telling that to Samsung.

  19. Re:Degrees of definition on Surveillance Robot That is Programmed To Hide · · Score: 1

    But scissors cut paper, and rock breaks sissors.

    Kiff, we have a conundrum.

  20. Re:More companies too on Microsoft Mice Made in Chinese Youth Sweatshops? · · Score: 1

    The film is called China Blue . Definitely worth watching.

    There is also David Redmon's Mardi Gras: Made in China , which reveals the source of plastic Mardi Gras beads.

  21. Re:Oh no, we're screwed! on Real Settles Lawsuits, Will Stop Selling RealDVD · · Score: 1

    And even when I do get a HD TV, I'll still use my trusty DVD players. Heck, I'm still using one about 10 years old that has the annoying habit of automatically closing the tray a second after you open it. So you need to open it, hold the tray open, place the DVD in and *then* let it close.

    Sweet. My old Pioneer player is the same way. I'm so used to holding the tray that I get startled when I encounter a DVD player which doesn't automatically close its tray. It's like when I drive an automatic transmission car and keep hunting for the clutch.

    But, I agree. I have no use for Blu-Ray now, nor do I expect to until DVD is defunct.

  22. Re:No one here's buying it. on German Member of Parliament Joins Pirate Party · · Score: 2, Funny

    No, the child isn't being directly harmed by someone viewing their exploitation, however their honor and dignity are chipped away at with each viewing.

    Indeed. We must preserve the honor and dignity of 10-year-olds so they will have some left to throw away when they are 17.

  23. Re:Nothing to worry about on Pixar's Next Three Films Will Be Sequels · · Score: 1

    Disney's formula has pretty much been lame-ass princess romance stories unless they feel like branching out and ripping off some anime. Lion King was Kimba, the one with what was it, Atlantis? That was ripping off another anime with a hero with glasses who had the hots for some native-type chick in a bikini.

    Fushigi no Umi no Nadia, released in the US as Nadia: The Secret of the Blue Water.

    To be fair, Gainax borrowed elements from Miyazaki's films for Nadia, though they didn't do anything as blatant as swiping the appearance of the two main characters like Disney did.

  24. Re:You never watched did you? on Sarah Connor Chronicles — Why It Died · · Score: 1

    But yes, I expect that she and Nathan Fillion are going to show up as Dolls next fall. There are already actors on the show who could be their body doubles, and what the hell else are they going to do?

    Well, Nathan still has his own show. Castle has been renewed.

  25. Re:perl on Steve Bourne Talks About the History of Sh · · Score: 1

    Backticks? Why on earth would you use backticks to move files around? That's what File::Copy is for. And Archive::Tar handles tarballs.

    Write Perl code, not shell scripts wrapped in Perl code.