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User: natet

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  1. Re:Good, I guess... on Power Supply Torture Test · · Score: 1

    It should be pointed out that this review was done in Europe, and the lions share of power supplies tested there were by European manufacturers. That is why you haven't heard of half of the brands in the test.

    I was a little supprised at the results of the Ultra X-Connect. I was considering buying one of those, and have read a number of reviews that basically state the power supply was a decent one, and that the 3.3 and 12 v rails were solid. I wonder if part of the problem was that this was the European version of the power supply? The only complaint about the power supply that I have read (until this review) was that Ultra only offered a 1 year warranty. They recently ammended that to a 3 year warranty if you registered the product.

  2. Re:Dremel Casemod on Electrolytic Etching, For What A Dremel Can't Do · · Score: 1

    Ok, so can someone explain to me why he cuts the middle of the D out and then cuts the outside as well? Seems to me he could have saved a step there...

  3. I appologize.... on EU Software Patents Delayed Again · · Score: 1

    I take back every single Polack (sp?) joke I ever told when I was a kid...

  4. My eyes!!!! on Bill Gates in 1983 Teen Beat Magazine · · Score: 4, Funny

    I did not want to see Bill Gates throwing his floppy around....

  5. Re:Serious business on Laser Painting Could Lead to 25-Year Prison Term · · Score: 1
    But, to use the ignorant line "I didn't know" betrays the mind that each of us has in our heads. We have the ability to think through our actions, and we have the responsibility to each other -- as a society -- to do so.

    Be honest. Before you read this article, how many of you would have thought twice about shining your laser pointer at the underside of an airplane. I can't say for certain that I would have (I'd like to think I would). When I got my first laser pointer, I was shining it up the sides of large nearby buildings just to see how high up it was visible. I was smart enough to stay on the brickwork and avoid windows, but still, not the most intelligent thing I have ever done. Those of you who would never have done such a thing, good for you! But the reality is, most of us would probably have gone "cool, I can see the beam on the bottom of that plane!"

    Further, the guys lawyer said that he was stargazing with his kid. Isn't it entirely within the realm of possibility that he was simply pointing out stars to her, and that the jet crossed the path of his beam? And you advocate putting this guy away for more than 1/4 of his natural life?

  6. Re:Get a grip on Inventor of Optical Storage Gets Little Reward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Read the article before you tell people to get a grip. The article says the patents on his technology expired in 1991.

  7. Second Octave and R on Open Source Math Software For Education? · · Score: 1

    I used both of these tools in my math and stats courses while pursuing my undergrad in CS. I found Octave to be much easier to use than Mathematica or Matlab (both of which were in the computer labs at school), and since it was free, I could easily make use of it at home, so the lab closing times didn't affect me at all.

    One major problem that could arise is whether or not your instructor will allow you to hand in homework in either language. Some professors at the school would only allow you to hand in homework that was written in Matlab (we were required to hand in our programs for the class). Fortunately, I had a visiting professor from another University that didn't mind that all my code for numerical methods was writtin in Octave. He could look at the code, and see that the algorithm was correct, and that the output was correct, and that was good enough for him.

  8. Re:Before Trademarks became involved on Apple Threatens iTunes.co.uk Owner · · Score: 1

    I agree. Why is it that realestate speculation is ok, but cybersquatting is not?

  9. Interesting points on Ex-Britannica Editor Reviews Wikipedia · · Score: 1

    but one wikipedia article is not statistically significant. As a researcher, he should know that opinion pieces that only site one example of an issue are usually intended to be inflamatory in nature. Now if this were meant to be a treatise as to the effectiveness of the wikipedia project as a whole, one would have to take a representative sample (say 1000-10000 articles), and verify the veracity of each article.

    Now, people have mentioned that since he has noticed issues with the Alexander Hamilton article, he should edit it to correct them. This he is unlikely to do, because if the wikipedia project ever becomes truly successful in its goals, people like him are out of a job.

  10. Re:Pizza arguments on Earth Simulator, G5 Cluster Drop In 'Top 500' List · · Score: 1

    You are comparing apples to oranges when all you look at is the total cost of the system. First of all, the VT computer doesn't have the same level of support as other computer installations. I can only speak directly of the PNNL computer, as until recently I was on the team of administrators on that computer, but we had a team of hardware engineers on site to handle any of the hardware problems that occur in the operation of the system. Second. the PNNL supercomputer has nearly a half a pedabyte of disk. Yes, that's nearly 500 TB of disk space. That is where the bulk of the $25 million was spent. We purchased such a large amount of disk because the computer was being built to solve a specific class of problems.

    Price per flop is a very poor mesure of the value of a supercomputer. All it amounts to are some good sound bites.

  11. Re:Movies while working are newsworthy & produ on A Dual Monitor Experiment · · Score: 3, Interesting

    How about a multi-desktop window manager AND two medium sized monitors(19" lcd's). That is the setup I currently use at work, and I'm in love! It works especially well for Java development, because I can have the language docs open on one monitor while my editor is open on the other, and I'm not constantly flipping back and forth between them, and interrupting my train of thought to go back and look at what the language docs said. With the multiple desktops, I put other applications that I need to use, but only at infrequent intervals (such as my email program). That way I can switch to them quickly, and then get back to my development window without having to flip through a number of other applications to get back to my editor/browser setup. It works very well, a definite productivity improvement!

  12. Damn... on The Extinction of the Programming Species · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I knew I should have studied accounting...

    Seriously though. I believe that the same things he uses to point to the demise of the programmer could also be applied to his test case of the bookkeeper. I believe that it would be nearly as easy to create a "bookkeeping factory" as it would be to truly create a "Programmer factory". But, I don't believe that either of them are going to happen any time soon.

    Other pieces of his logic are suspect as well. Yes there has been a decline in the number of computer science students enrolled, but the article doesn't say if that statistic takes into account the number of students enrolled in Information Technology majors, or other related majors. I know that a lot of the students that started in Computer Science with me eventually switched to Business Information Technology to avoid having to take all the math required in CS.

  13. Re:wow! on Gartner Says Linux PCs Just Used To Pirate Windows · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This brings up an interesting point. I don't see Gartner doing a report on the percentage of machines that are shipped with windows on it that are going to be used to run Linux.

  14. Re:Wow on Software For Slackers: Lockout · · Score: 1

    For this guy, running this program is him enforcing discipline. If you need web access, there are ways to do that too. Sometimes the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Better that he lock himself down then his employer forced to use heavy handed techniques instead.

  15. What you are looking for is... on Terabyte Storage Solutions? · · Score: 1
    Western scientific.

    They have a rack mountable system that takes up to 24 disks in a 5U space. Up to 3.2 TB of space. More when they start kicking out systems with 400 GB disks.

  16. This will probably get lost ... on What Was Your Worst Computer Accident? · · Score: 1

    in the mass of responses, but the story has to be told. Early in my college career, my roommate and I would connect our computers via a null modem cable strung accross the hallway and play network games. His 486 66 MHz would run better and more reliably than my Cyrus 75 MHz pentium equivalent, which would freeze intermittanly. In an attempt to try and figure out what was causing the issue, we opened up the case, removed the heatsink from the CPU and noticed that there was a lot of dust on the chip. After removing the dust, we began to re-attach the heatsink, which clamped to the corners of the chip. The center of the chip was raised enough that you wanted firm pressure on the corners, but not too much pressure... My roommate use his electric screwdriver for the job. Suddently, we heard this sickening "snap," and one corner of the chip broke away. That pretty much put an end to the network games...

  17. Re:Great News... on OLED Displays Technology Primer and Forecasting · · Score: 1

    But, if they can push the lifetime of the product to 1000%, as you said is sometimes possible, that is 3 years and change for an 8hr per day usage. Coupled with sane power management policies, it could end up being quite useful, particularly if they can push the price down to the range that CRT currently sits at.

  18. Re:3D torus topology on World's Fastest Supercomputer To Be Built At ORNL · · Score: 1

    Fat trees are still alive and well. It appears to be Quadrics topology of choice, as it is applied at LLNL and PNNL, which both user thier interconnect. I'm not sure the folks at ORNL would have specifed a Torus, unless they believed that they could make use of it. I know those guys, and they are some very smart people. I don't recall hearing a reason for the topology decision though.

  19. Hmm, I wonder... on AMD Beats Intel in CPU Sales · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Interestingly enough, that is within 8-10 days after April 15th. I wonder how many people were putting their tax returns to good use that week....

  20. Re:Old! :) on USA Today and NYT on Linux rising · · Score: 1

    Perhaps you should read the article, grasshopper... Yes, 2.6 has been considered Stable, but I know of no Linux based supercomputers currently running a 2.6 kernel.

  21. Re:88 machines per rack? hardly. on How Many Google Machines, Really? · · Score: 1

    I was just about to say something similar. It is possible to purchase racks that are 44U, so I was thinking it was far more likely that the number quoted was 88 CPU's, not 88 dual CPU boxes. In addition, You would have to fit some network equipment in that figure somewhere. I wonder if this guy knows what he is talking about...

  22. Re:Holy cow! on Andromeda And Mutant X Cancelled · · Score: 1

    No, Smallville is a vapid teeny-bopper soap opera masquerading as a sci-fi show. The myriad of love triangles, and frequent use of "meteor rocks" in an attempt to generate sci-fi like tension is the tip off. My wife loves the show, which also should tell you something about it...

  23. Holy cow! on Andromeda And Mutant X Cancelled · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I must be the only person on the face of the planet who actually liked both of these shows. I watched them, not to learn some profound truth, or for their rigid adherance to sound scientific principles, but because they entertained me. Don't get me wrong, neither were my favorite shows, I wouldn't go out of my way to watch them, but if they were on, and I wasn't watching something else, I would watch them.

    Even if I hated both of these shows, I would still be sad to see them go. The main reason is... With the trend of sci-fi shows being cancelled, eventually all we will be left with are the vapid teeny-bopper soap operas (Smallville anyone?) that seem to be so prevalent lately.

  24. The real reason on Study: MP3 Sharing Not Serious Threat To CD Sales · · Score: 1

    I have long held the opinion that the reason RIAA execs are so hot around the collar about P2P is that they need a scape goat to cover their collective asses. What kind of a businessman continues to increase the price of his product in the middle of an economic recession? A moronic one. When people are more concerned about their jobs, they are less likely to spend money. Basically, they passed the threshold of diminishing returns, but rather than admit they made a mistake, they decided to blame P2P. P2P may have had some of an impact on record sales, but I belive the rising cost of CD's had much more of an impact.

  25. Re:"Progress"? on Can Your ATM Play Beethoven? · · Score: 1

    I actually had something similar happen to me. I put my card in, and actually got to the point where I was waiting for the atm to give me some money when it crashed (BSoD). I was appalled to find that that atm was running a Microsoft operating system. What I wouldn't have given to have had a digital camera on me then! It rebooted, and then said that it was offline and to use another atm. Fortunately for me, this atm was located just outside a branch of my bank. I still had to wait several days until the repair man came to service the machine, but I was able to recover my card.