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User: Isao

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  1. Also known as BOB on Scuba-Doo Underwater Scooter · · Score: 4, Informative
    As seen and rented here, here, here, etc.

    I've done it - snuba is more fun, but this can be less intimidating for inexperienced people.

  2. Re:Exploring on Forget Mars. Should We Go To The Moon? · · Score: 2
    I can't believe you wrote that. Death is no longer seen as an acceptable loss... You have got to be kidding.

    Thousands died constructing the Panama Canal. Race car drivers die periodically. Hundreds of US soldiers have died in Iraq (and many more Iraqis).

    Yes, we shy from death-creating situations, and work to minimize risks. But derail a project? Not above the PTA level.

  3. Call Cray on How Much was a CDC 1604 in the 60's? · · Score: 1
    I suggest calling Cray Public Relations. If you explain your request, I'm sure they can find Steve Chen or someone who worked with him. Their corporate number is on their website.

    Good luck.

  4. Here's a source for hard tech info on Comcast Signs Deal To Acquire TechTV · · Score: 3, Informative
    There is such a station. It's called the Research Channel.

    It's available free in the U.S. on Dish Network (channel 9400), many cable networks or direct from Ku-band satellite on Galaxy 10R (11.805GHz, Horizontal, 4580ksym/sec).

    Straight from the lab to your living room.

  5. Passive Solar on Cheap Solar Cooling Solution? · · Score: 1
    Use your linux control system for passive solar temperature control. Shade windows automatically when they are in sun.

    For active, use fans to circulate cooler air. Use an underground thermal sink to reduce the load on the A/C unit. (Can also be used to heat in winter).

    Look at smaller, room-based A/C units designed for mobile homes (not the LPG powered ones).

    I'm not that conservationally-minded, do some Googleing. In 30 seconds I found this page.

  6. Re:One site on Flat Panel Antenna for C-band TVRO? · · Score: 2, Interesting

    FYI, that's not a C-Band antenna, that is a C-Band feedhorn (the part that goes at the focal point of a parabolic or spherical dish).

  7. Re:Dreaming Prior Art ...? on Microsoft Seeks Patent On Virtual Desktop Pager · · Score: 1
    Can a dream constitute prior art?

    Yes, if properly documented.

  8. Really? I believe the opposite is true on What is the Worst Tech Mistake You Ever Made? · · Score: 2, Insightful
    The more experience I and my coworkers have, the fewer mistakes we make, and they are less severe than before. This is because we learn from previous errors, and apply those lessons to entire classes of problems, not simply the error itself.

    I think the articles implication of "the more we learn, the less we think" is wrong.

  9. Re:The Sender is quite vulnerable... on MUTE: Simple, Private File Sharing · · Score: 1

    What you're looking for is Freenet.

  10. Canon WordTank on Useful English-Japanese Handheld Dictionaries? · · Score: 1
    Kana or Romaji input, and on sale for US$150.

    Canon has more than a decade of history providing Denki Jisho to the Japanese market.

  11. "Physical Binary Decision Device" on The Death Throes of crypt() · · Score: 2, Funny

    A quarter.

  12. Re:Ever *truly* Anonymous? on Japanese P2P Users Arrested, Creator Targeted · · Score: 1
    You should look at the Freenet specification. A single server does not contain everything needed to recreate the file, nor do you necessarily know on which servers the file fragments are stored ahead of time. If you are the server owner, you cannot determine what's in the file fragments you carry, nor can you reconstruct the files without knowing the correct key, which Freenet will use to gather fragments from all over the network.

    Oh, and the fragments move across the network and expire, based on usage.

  13. Not an Open Source Issue on Human Interference In Computer Chess Championship? · · Score: 3, Informative
    This isn't being looked at because it's open-source, but because code may have been used without credit (plagerism) and the code may be too similar to the original (tourney rules prohibit gameplay too similar to other programs).

    The author also has failed to reveal his code to the committee despite several opportunities.

  14. We Already Have Some on Wanted: a Real Science Channel · · Score: 1
    Not that I want to get in the way of Ann Druyan (seriously), but there are already a few channels that do this. They might not be included in your TV lineup, so contact your provider.

    The Research Channel, University of California, The University of Washington channel, HealthTV, University House, Educating Everyone.

    The Research Channel in particular has some great lectures, and is available for free on Galaxy 10 Ku band with a 1 meter dish.

    I'd like more, though, and if Cosmos Studios gets behind it, perhaps they will retransmit the Cosmos series for all to see.

  15. Re:Not surprising on Sun Posts Increasing Loss · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Check the I/O performance.

    Not to excuse Sun's business behavior, but I've done side-by-side comparisons of database jobs on Sun and WinTel gear (with the Window box clocked twice as fast), and the Sun server beat it by a factor of two.

    When it came to raw CPU performance, Intel-based systems rocked (though the margin is closing with the higher speed UltraSparc III's). Sun's also done a lot on the pricing side (take a look at the SunFire V240).

    Bottom line: I still deploy plenty of Sun servers. And WinTel boxes. And LinTel boxes.

  16. Rational on Enterprise Grade Project Management Tools? · · Score: 1
    We looked in vain for something Open-Source that was superior to MS Project, particularly when it comes to multiple-project planning. There was nothing.

    On the commercial side, there are a few options, none of them cheap. Take a look at the Rational suite. One nice touch is only having to purchase the modules you need. The way Rational captures multi-project interactions is by becoming part of your development process, from soup to nuts. Yes, it's a commitment, but it's also your business.

  17. Re:Reporting WHOIS abuse? on Exposing Personal Information in the Whois Database · · Score: 1
    Proving that a spammer took source addresses from WHOIS would be problematic.

    Actually, since I seed my domain contact information (having unlimited email addresses is an advantage of being a domain owner), I can clearly see where the address in a spam came from. I can further narrow down when they were harvested, because I change them periodically.

    That said, no one cares or will do anything about it. I would like to only accept digitally-signed messages, but that's not yet workable either.

  18. Re:The Road To Happiness on World's Most Advanced Portable TV · · Score: 1
    Uh, sock away $500 or $1000 in your checking account, and raise your deductable to $500 or $1000 NOW. You'll save greatly in premiums (ask your agent for a quote).

    If you're really daring, use the money you save to buy an umbrella policy.

  19. Re:Serious Flaw on Garmin iQue 3600 · · Score: 1

    It should take one of the upcoming SD WiFi cards in its expansion slot (presuming it supports SD I/O).

  20. Re:Peace on Protecting Cities from Hijacked Planes · · Score: 1
    Peace doesn't cost money?

    Posit: Peace costs less than many alternatives.

    Since when?

    Let's have a look...

    Peace between Israel and Egypt costs billions of dollars a year in aid, assistance, fixed oil prices and so on.

    True. However aside from the detail that this is an enforced peace (via U.S. economic blackmail), it's still cheaper than the alternative, not even counting lives.

    The end of the Cold Wars costs hundreds of millions of dollars a year in securing old facilities, clean up and decommissioning weapons systems.

    True, but again cheaper than the commissioning of those systems in the first place. How much did it cost to keep the B-52's flying for fifty years (not the band).

    Peace between the Koreas costs billions of dollars a year in salaries, equipment expendatures, aid and assistance.

    This is detente, not peace - doesn't count.

    Even if Hamas, Hizbollah, Islamic Jihad and the Israels all sat down, smoked the peace pipe and buried the M-16s there would be people not satisfied and they would conduct terrorist operations.

    True, but it would be much harder for them to hide when the local populations didn't like them either. They'd be in the hills, not in the cities.

    Even if the United States hadn't Tomahawked the Sudan and Afghanistan following the Embassy bombings and played the Peace card to the Taliban there still would have been terror.

    The peace card (or more specifically, the support of arabs in the Middle East) would have disarmed the taliban from the inside, by addressing the disenfranchised who make up their recruits. Their arguments would have less influence, and they'd be relegated to the status of fringe militia.

  21. Re:Lack of privacy for the seller? on eBay Provides No Privacy For Sellers · · Score: 3, Interesting
    So, in essence, sellers on Ebay are as easy to track down as sellers in brick & mortar stores or otuer public places of business, with business licenses, vendor's licenses, or other government checks and controls... I fail to see a problem with that.

    However this also covers buyers... While I can purchase a book at Borders with a credit card, would I be pleased if that then gets sent over to Law Enforcement without a warrant or writ? This is what happened with a D.C. bookstore being asked for Monica Lewinsky's purchase history.

  22. Re:Security on Will Cellular Swamp WiFi? · · Score: 1
    First rule of network security: Never trust the network.

    Assume all sorts of nastiness is happening between you and the other party.

  23. Halo on Two Players, One Console, Cooperative Play? · · Score: 1

    Halo for XBOX, coming soon to PC. Cooperative is MUCH better than single play - so good, my partner (who HATES FPS's) actually likes playing.

  24. Is there a country were people will work for free? on Offshore Outsourcing Threatens Offshore Outsourcing · · Score: 1
    Yes. It's called the land of Open Source.

    Come, be fruitful and multiply.

    Just don't quit your day job where you ask "Do you want fries with that?"

  25. Spoiler on SETI Goes to Arecibo To Stat *Candidates* · · Score: 1
    Don't forget the sequel "Hunt them down and kill them", where they send huge ships to destroy our major cities for our infractions (which were "Baywatch" reruns in seven languages, causing all sorts of confusion).

    In it they plausibly assert that deciding to run the mothership on Apple Xserve's is a good idea because no major Earth government would defy the monopoly and run anything other than a Windows OS.