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User: duffbeer703

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  1. Re:More conspiracy theories on HAARP Amping It Up · · Score: 1

    Semtex is a chemical, deployed with bombs, it rips the limbs from its victims. Chemical weapon?

    White phosphorus is nasty stuff -- and it has been used as a weapon for over a century. Calling it a chemical weapon is hyperbole at best. Also note that the "progressive" crowd wasn't complaining about phosphorous when NATO dropped it on Serbia.

  2. Re:G4U on PC Cloning Solution? · · Score: 2, Funny

    This is /. so we cannot recommend using Microsoft tools, even free ones. Even such logical approaches like using unattended installs (see unattended.msfn.org) are acceptable, because they do not involve Linux or arcane unix commands.

  3. Re:Accessibility isn't needed for everyone on Open Source Accessibility · · Score: 1

    The law says that you must accomodate the disabled, which means conforming to various accessibility standards. If OpenOffice doesn't conform to those standards, it won't be using in government!

  4. Re:MySQL Cluster != master/slave on High Availability Solutions for Databases? · · Score: 2, Funny

    MySQL was prone to massive data loss for years... what's the big deal?

  5. Re:Does anybody use Ebay anymore? on EBay Drops Charges for Developers Network · · Score: 4, Informative

    EBay doesn't give a shit. I discovered a scam, which is still going on two years later, where theives would build webs of bogus accounts and buy/sell stupid shit like $0.99 recipies and similar items between accounts. I found one account that was buying 50-60 <$5 items a day for a few weeks. They leave comments like "Great TV, supar ebayer A++++++" and "Laptop shipped on time A++++++ ASSET TO EBAY" for rolls of yarn or supermarket coupons.

    Then they stop all eBay activity.

    And then the thief doesn't do anything for about 3-4 months. At that point a regular user cannot get any details on the users history... Then the guy starts selling nonexistent laptops, iPods, etc.

  6. Re:Buying a new computer on California Class Action Suit Sony Over Rootkit DRM · · Score: 3, Informative

    Get an AMEX card, pay with it and dispute any nonsense like this with them, you'll likely get your money back.

    A body shop pulled a similar stunt with my car after I was in an accident. The repairs that they made were of poor quality, and the insurance company refused to do anything since I didn't tow the car 50 miles to the nearest authorized center.

    Fortunately, I charged it to my amex blue card, and wrote them a letter describing the situation in detail. There was some back and forth with the body shop, but the end result was a $3,000 chargeback which allowed me to get the shoddy work replaced.

  7. More like BSD on OpenSolaris-based OSes a Threat to Linux? · · Score: 2, Insightful

    OpenSolaris will be more like the *BSDs, since the core is controlled by one organization and will dictate architectural things. (And avoid the bickering and bullshit that often hinders Linux development)

    Competition is a good thing. If OpenSolaris takes marketshare from Linux, the end result will be a better Solaris and a better Linux.

  8. Re:Why would it be a democracy? on GPL 3.0 Rewrite Drive Is No Democracy · · Score: 1

    "They're not going to succeed at doing that, though"

    Don't count on it -- the great consolidation of media has made it possible to control most mainstream literature and recordings. Do you expect somebody on Viacom/CBS/Simon&Schuster's CBS to speak out about copyright injustices?

    I'm not a Stallman fan by any stretch of the imagination; but he represents the other extreme and does deserve some credit for managing to be heard.

  9. Re:Guilt on Oracle CFO Leaves after Four Months of Service · · Score: 1

    Sales in the Fortune 1000 are all about who you know, not what you are selling.

    Look at an Oracle or IBM shop. There's a salesman who calls on the executive management every quarter (at least) and usually at least a few vendor consultants or business partners on-site at the client. So when Joe IGS/Oracle Consultant hears about the new Foobar 3.0 project, he mentions it to his boss. Then, somehow, magically, the sales rep appears before the execs and knows exactly what they are going to want.

    Not all mission critical apps run on Oracle or DB2. Things like aircraft control, reservation systems like SABRE, hospital systems, etc are usually based on heavily customized solutions.

  10. Re:Kibbutz (Re:Why would it be a democracy?) on GPL 3.0 Rewrite Drive Is No Democracy · · Score: 1

    It is relevant, because you can't have a large-scale communal society without some sort of government framework enforcing the rules of the commune. We're wired to desire property.

    The Soviets didn't set out to be despotic; most party members in the early days were true believers in the communism and desperately wanted it to work. But the ambituous see communal living as an opportunity to gain political power and the lazy see an opportunity to goof off.

    But small tight-knit communal structures work and work well. You see it today in cities with large asian communities -- immigrant socities provide capital for members to start businesses.

  11. Re:Moglen is mistaken on GPL 3.0 Rewrite Drive Is No Democracy · · Score: 1

    "Each version of the GPL won't take rights away from the original author (that's pretty much, literally impossible.)"

    Nonsense. The FSF folks have mentioned numerous times that GPL v3 will "deal with" software patents. Who knows... maybe GPL v3 will grant a license to applicable patents held by the author.

    That may not be a big deal to you, but such a move will have a chilling effect on companies contributing to GPL v3 projects. Its simply to expensive to risk losing patent protection.

  12. Re:Why would it be a democracy? on GPL 3.0 Rewrite Drive Is No Democracy · · Score: 1

    Until recently, possessing the ability to read was a special privledge only granted to the elite of society. Even european fuedal lords were dependent on the Catholic clergy to maintain records and communicate with the outside world.

    Computer systems are avenues of expression. And while Stallman is an extremist who wants all information to be free, the corporate conglomorates want just the opposite -- to own everything.

    Just as the feudal lords demanded tribute from travellers moving across their lands, Disney, Time Warner, RIAA-labels, represent the other extreme that wants to control what you see, hear and read. Want to watch Disney's Song of the South? Too bad. Lose the DRM key that controls access to your media? Tough.

  13. Re:Kibbutz (Re:Why would it be a democracy?) on GPL 3.0 Rewrite Drive Is No Democracy · · Score: 1

    Kibbutz exist to solve a different problem -- originally it was not possible to succeed on your own as a farmer. By forming a collective, the residents of a kibbutz could pool resources and protect themselves in a harsh environment. As things got better in Israel, the kibbutz movement began to decline.

    Communal societies work as long as they are voluntary and small. Unfortunately, people by their nature want MORE, and a society that depends on non-family oriented communal social structures degrades into something like the Soviet Union or China.

  14. Re:Guilt on Oracle CFO Leaves after Four Months of Service · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Have you ever used Oracle? Its a bigger steaming pile of shit than Lotus Notes, and that says alot.

    Oracle can do amazing things. But with the money you need to spend on Oracle consultants, you could custom-write whatever you are buying from Oracle.

  15. Re:They violated a rule in Silicon Valley on Silicon Graphics To Be Delisted From NYSE · · Score: 1

    You can breathe again -- it most certainly is.

  16. Hi, I have a question on Film to X-rays? · · Score: 4, Funny

    I must take a pill to keep me alive, but I don't like paying the $15 copay every month. Could someone on /. tell me how to syntheize it at home?

    I'm willing to exchange my plans for making an MRI out of iPod earplugs.

  17. Re:apoplectic content creators on Google DVRs and TV Advertising · · Score: 1

    You're missing the point entirely. The reason why Google ads are a success is that the price is always right. Google is essentially running an advertising auction, where advertisers bid on specific keywords.

    Ads are all about placement. If I passed out great flyers for a Toyota Prius to 10,000 nursing home residents, I probably would not sell many cars. But if I passed out 100 flyers to people at Whole Foods, I might sell a few cars.

    If I'm a 21 year old male college student watching TC and the ads that I'm seeing are for Metamucil or Tampax, advertisers are wasting money.

    Google offers a value proposition -- show 21 year olds beverage center ads and 75 year old females depends ads. Networks will like that, because they can charge more money for highly targetted ads.

  18. Re:Somehow on SBC CEO: Pay up if you want to use our pipes · · Score: -1, Troll

    We all know that information wants to be free... apparently telecom lines want to be free too.

    Its all ok because phone companies are EVIL and Google represents all that is pure. Now if SBC used Macs, we might have an issue.

  19. Re:Bzzt. Wrong Answer. on MA Lawmakers Question Move to OpenOffice · · Score: 1

    Access databases do all sorts of utility work in corporate and gov't entities. Comparing MySQL to it is missing the whole point... the ability to program little applications without knowing anything about programming is why Access is so important.

    And when you show me how to translate VBA into whatever OO Base is using, I'll agree with you.

  20. Re:I'll be damned on MA Lawmakers Question Move to OpenOffice · · Score: 1

    I love BS public outcry about nonsense. Usually, everyone is up in arms about razor-blades in Halloween candy or the major crisis involving kids throwing frozen pumpkins off of highway bridges.

    But this year its all about child molestation. They passed a special law requiring sex offenders to stay at home on Halloween and extra police and parole officers will be on hand to make sure that these people are at home. We all know that kids only get diddled on October 31.

    This crap about "OpenDocument" is similar hysteria. By the time Massachusetts is done and spends millions on support contracts with Sun and making OpenOffice work with whatever oddball scenarios the initiative's opponents throw out, Romney will be out of office and Massachusetts will end up buying Office again like everybody else.

  21. Re:Bzzt. Wrong Answer. on MA Lawmakers Question Move to OpenOffice · · Score: 1

    The problem with using Oracle, Postgresql, etc is that mere mortals cannot manage it. Many people with varying degrees of knowledge can throw together an Access solution that gets something done without getting corporate IT involved.

    Once corporate IT gets involved, everything takes 6 months and costs 5x more.

  22. Re:Spam on How Darwin Managed His Inbox · · Score: 1

    He likely had one or more secretaries.

  23. Re:Force? on Does Visual Studio Rot the Brain? · · Score: 1

    You really need to go out of your way to do things differently than what VS provides out of the box. I've been a programmer for a decade and the first time I used VS (a few months ago), I felt like I needed to take classes to figure out how to use the IDE.

    I like the Unix model, where you really start with nothing, and build your work environment around what you do.

  24. Re:Sure fire solution on Organizational Practices of an IT Department? · · Score: 1

    That's always the answer...

    When good nurses, IT people, lawyers, plumbers, etc get treated like crap, they quit. Teachers are different -- their tenure tracks and collective bargaining agreements give them security and a career path, but at a cost. And that cost is mobility and flexibility.

  25. Re:Sure fire solution on Organizational Practices of an IT Department? · · Score: 1

    Take teachers off the pedastal. They're workers just like everyone else, they just work half a year for the same pay that you get. They do tell you and your kids how hard they work all day, and have well organized unions that drill the notion that teachers are underpaid and overworked into your head.

    If working conditions and pay were so crappy, you'd see huge turnover for teaching positions. But guess what -- you don't! Between the government-guaranteed pension, the work schedule, compensation the professional status, few teachers quit.