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User: VividU

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Comments · 234

  1. Player Pianos are supreme tech on Player Piano Roll Production Ceases · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I had the great fortune to apprentice with one of the last remaining player piano craftsman/restorers/repairmen in the west coast. A mad genius if there ever was one. (Hey Larry!).

    Not many jobs gave me to opportunity to make glue from fish guts, cut leather, polish wood with graphite and tinker deep in the guts of Steinway's.

    The player piano's are truly amazing technology. Ask most people how the players work and they'll draw a blank. (Hint: vacuum).

    Sit next to a properly tuned (musically & mechanically) player piano, close your eyes and listen. They can be scary good.

  2. Compression & Compression on Why Music Really Is Getting Louder · · Score: 1

    Slightly misleading line: Songs are compressed once again into digital files before being sold on iTunes and similar sites.

    The first "compression" is traditional audio compression where the dynamic range of the track is "compressed" the second "compression" is digital data compression. These are two completely different things with no relation to each other - the only thing they share is the name.

  3. Yawn on HardOCP Spends 30 Days With Vista · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Go back and you'll see the exact same comments when Windows 2000 came out, when Windows XP was released, when the first Xbox was released and when the Xbox 360 was released.

  4. Re:hmmm? on Early Testers Say Vista RC1 Not Ready · · Score: 4, Informative

    Windows 2000? There's what, six service packs now?

    Four service packs. SP4 was released June 2003.

    BTW, its kneejerk posts like yours that make Slashdot a diminishing resource for all things Microsoft.

  5. Re:Absurdity can be profitable" on Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 Released · · Score: 1
    And who in their right minds would run their web services out of IIS?

    I do. I run Linux/Apache too. And despite the dire warnings of my Linux consultants who advised me not go near IIS, guess what happened? A whole lot of nothing. 100% uptime (so far) and a whole lot of crickets.
  6. Blame the Editors on Tom's Hardware Looks at Microsoft Vista Beta · · Score: 1

    Look at the icon for this story. Broken Windows. And it's been six years since the release of the ultra stable Win2K and five since XP.

    The editors have made a decision to foster this attitude which is no wonder we're still burdened with tragically unfunny blue screen and clippy jokes. Is this to their benefit or loss? I don't know.

  7. Re:Two Minutes Hate on Windows Vista 5342 Screenshots · · Score: 1

    Fantastic comment. It's the great shame of Slashdot really - that they would squander such a great potential resource.

  8. Re:Why is halo so great again? on Halo 3 and the Second Wave of 360 Games · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's a "complete" game. Story, sound, gameplay, graphics, controls, fun factor. It's got it all and it's polished to the hilt.

  9. Re:Not just social problems, my friend. on Buy Vista or Else · · Score: 1

    No, I read your post. It's not Solitaire I was talking about but the those silly internet based games and "cute stuff" that are the source of so much malware.

    "Blame it on the popularity of Windows all that you want; since the transition, we have not had to go back and clean up an infected system yet."

    But thats my point - there is no malware of any significance for non Windows system and your kidding yourself if you think it's becaue BSD is more "secure". Sure MS design is a factor, but so is 90%+ market penetration. The point being, the other OS's have never had the big guns on them - those well financed, smart, overseas bad actors who are out to make a buck.

    To use a military analogy: As far as battlefield target go, if Windows is a aircraft carrier, BSD is a paper boat*.

    *This is purely a market analogy and not based on the technical merits of BSD - which are admirable.

  10. Re:For all the Jawing on CNN On The $500 PS3 · · Score: 1

    (and some of us saw this @ CES)

    What exactly did you see?

  11. Re:Finally, can I turn the GUI off on my server? on Vista's Graphics To Be Moved Out of the Kernel · · Score: 1

    Sorry Sir, your not making any sense. As I type this I have a Remote Desktop window open to a server I'm working on. I'm not physically sitting in front of it, yet I'm in front of it none-the-less.

    What exactly should I be doing to earn your respect? Does the overhead of a GUI system justify losing it in favor of administrating via a CLI? If so, can you back it up with facts?

    Your whole point is silly.

  12. Re:Just Like A PC on Halo 1 And 2 In Hi-Def On 360 · · Score: 1

    Good god. I hate to be a sour-puss here but how is this funny?

    Clippy and BSOD jokes? This is 2005 right?

  13. Re:Complimenting on how smoothly stuff scrolls... on Windows Vista Build 5231 Review · · Score: 1

    Contrary to the "bloat" myth, Windows has always been light on it's feet. The other day I installed XP Pro on a system with a 64MB,450Mhz system. After turning off the eye-candy and special effects the sys ran just fine.

  14. Re:hack-proof != difficult to hack on Microsoft Aims for Hack-Proof 360 · · Score: 1

    "I would like to think that slashdot would be a place where people (e.g. editors) would know the difference between these two statements."

    Ha-Ha, thats a good one. Slashdot is good for lots of things but journalistic integrity ain't one of 'em.

  15. Re:Bring It On on Ready For the Big Mac Virus? · · Score: 1

    Please. Step up to the Big Leagues first and then talk your big talk.

    My definition of "Big Leagues"? How about at least 33% market share? And I'm not even including servers.

  16. Re:The real power of Skype on Open Source Alternative for Skype · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    "Nothing to see here, please move along."

    Probably the most annoying, oft used phrase at Slashdot. Surely there must be a more creative alternative?

  17. Re:Puh leaze on New Xbox Live Pricing Revealed · · Score: 1

    Considering mods alone, the PC/Internet combo has Xbox/Live whipped.

    Yawn. Easily play your PC/Internet combo from your sofa, on your big screen HDTV with 5.1 and all for under $500 and then we'll talk.

  18. Re:Not to troll, but... on New Xbox Live Pricing Revealed · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Must haves:

    - Unified login/username across all games
    - Global friend/team/clan lists
    - Single payment

    Also, whats up with "$1k" for a console statement? Stop being lame.

  19. Re:The Greatest Console Fiasco In History on Xbox 360 - What You Get For Your Money · · Score: 1

    Good war parody.

  20. Re:What, you fucking idiots? on Windows Vista May Degrade OpenGL · · Score: 1

    Your comment was rated "Funny" but it could also have been rated "Insightful" in that it highlights the hubris that fuels Slashdot.

    The parent post failed in every aspect. The parent post was worst than FUD, it was a sort of faux knee-jerk pretend FUD.

    Simply put, Slashdot has zero credibility in all things Microsoft. Proof? Take a look at the early Xbox posts or the stale BSOD jokes that still earn "funny" ratings.

    The editors are partly at fault here, sabotaging the maturity of their own site so they can please a minority of wanna-be iconoclasts.

  21. Re:This is why I don't use box model "hacks"... on Update on Standards and CSS in IE7 · · Score: 1

    But sometimes you HAVE to use hacks to get a basic effect

    My solution is to never put myself in a position where I HAVE to use a hack. It's a simple as that.

    If a designer or a client demands a certain effect than I explain that there are present and probably future costs involved and that usually ends it right there.

  22. Re:This is why I don't use box model "hacks"... on Update on Standards and CSS in IE7 · · Score: 1

    Exactly. It's how I code all my websites.

    - No Browser specific hacks
    - Must render properly in Firefox
    - Must render properly in IE

  23. Re:And? on Googling for CIA Agents · · Score: 1


    What is the will of the party but another flavor of revealed knowledge? Evidence, consensus, and reason are superfluous when Those On High have told you the answer--never mind that it conflicts with reality, or requires you to sacrifice your sons and daughters, or overrides the ideals of yesterday ("Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" is soooo Eighteenth Century--the new mantra is "Fear and Obedience"). Reality must conform to ideology, not the other way around.


    Pharyngula
  24. Re:There is only one real question on Science's 125 Big Questions · · Score: 1

    Thanks for your thoughtful reply. I agree with the substance of your post. It's a solid practical response.

    Yet the mystery remains. "It is and has been" leaves one hollow, no?

    Clearly there must be a answer.

  25. There is only one real question on Science's 125 Big Questions · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What is the nature and origin of the Universe?

    Now that is the real question. And I'm not talking Big Bang or Grand Unified Theory or whatever. I'm talking "Big Picture" here.

    What existed before our universe? What is the original nature of existence...of what we call "reality"?