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User: BenJeremy

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  1. 'Involve' is the key word.. very deceiving. on More Than 1 In 4 Car Crashes Involve Cellphone Use · · Score: 1

    Like "alcohol-related' accidents, where the police are required to check a box if either driver, whether to blame or not for the accident, and whether or not either is actually impaired, if they had a drink earlier in the day.

    Same goes here, I suspect, padding the numbers because somebody was having a conversation at some point in their drive, and considered "involved" even if the driver who had the call wasn't to blame for the accident.

    All this does is serve the personal agendas of "safety experts" who have decided to tie their career to an issue and doggedly pursue it, regardless of the facts and rational analysis.

    Can it be a source for distracted driving? Certainly... but having a hands-free conversation is no different than having a conversation with a passenger, perhaps even less so, since you are less likely to take your eyes off the road when the other person is not in the car with you.

  2. Star Trek Experience and Quark's Bar on Klingon Beer · · Score: 3, Interesting

    They used to have Romulan Ale and Klingon Blood wine, among other things.

    Sad that a Michael Jackson show replaced the Star Trek Experience at the Hilton in Las Vegas. There had been talks of reviving it Downtown, but I guess that never materialized.

  3. What about OS/2? on Linux May Succeed Windows XP As OS of Choice For ATMs · · Score: 2

    I was told OS/2 was the choice for ATM operating systems!

  4. Stage3D? on Flash Is Dead; Long Live OpenFL! · · Score: 2

    Can OpenFL handle something like Stage3D and wrappers like Starling?

    I've used Haxe in the past, but found it lacking in support of things like sound and sprite animation for writing mobile games.

  5. Re:My guess? on Hubble Witnesses Mysterious Breakup of Asteroid · · Score: 1

    More likely Jango Fett detonated a concussion missile to try and kill the Jedi on his trail.

  6. Has anybody asked.... on Scientists Revive a Giant 30,000 Year Old Virus From Ice · · Score: 2

    ...what could possibly go wrong? Because, that simply can't be asked too many times, right?

    Ugh.

    It will actually turn out that this virus will simultaneously cure cancer and all known diseases in humans. They'll call it the Ponce de Leon infection as it also stops and even reverses the effects of old age, and will result in a sharp drop in mortality rates and a rapid increase in population.

    Eventually, the Earth's population of humans will outstrip its ability to support them.

    Then the real carnage begins.

  7. Google will get to you... by 2354A.D. on Google Fiber Pondering 9 New Metro Areas · · Score: 1

    What pisses me off is that Google goes to areas that are already well serviced by other vendors, and taking FOREVER to roll out. At this rate, they'll manage 10% coverage in the US by the turn of the next century.

  8. Re:Um.. Please Explain on HTML5 App For Panasonic TVs Rejected - JQuery Is a "Hack" · · Score: 1

    Abstracting functionality across different hardware platforms is still not a hack. If different algorithms need to be used to get the same results on different browsers, it is still not a hack in the definition of the term. I guess if you want to be lazy in your use of the term, it can be described as just about anything... but no, it's not actually a hack. It's a bit sad that the precision of technical language has deteriorated so much in the internet age.

    I described hacks. Hacks are unconventional workarounds that effectively break the standards/restrictions of whatever medium you are working in to achieve a goal. Exploits are a hack, using functions completely contrary to their purpose, in an effort to accomplish something the system is not supposed to accomplish (for example, causing a buffer overrun that in turn triggers code to operate at a higher privilege level). One might hack a hardware system by crossing specific wires. We might patch compiled binary code to overcome the limitations imposed by the original author's design. A hack might employ a combination of features on a hardware chip to exceed its capabilities.

    jQuery.js is a collection of routines... some of them have quite a bit of code behind them to perform standard tasks that have to be done in completely different ways between two platforms. This is not a hack. It's just more javascript code. That javascript code is not doing anything that the javascript compiler or the DOM for that browser platform isn't allowing them to do. It might fall back to a safe failure mode.... but it isn't magically executing low-level assembly to re-write how the browser works or renders. In some cases, it is just unifying the misguided approaches two different browser development teams interpreted some ambiguous HTML or Javascript specification.

    Now... I suppose the OP could just have written code specific to the Panasonic's implementation, but why bother? If he writes jQuery, he can easily port that code... or use other people's code. A good developer tries to not write more code than they have to... design is the important part. We don't build new car models every year with completely new wheels engineered for them, do we? Likewise, there is a WEALTH of javascript code out there and a lot of it works with jQuery. Why should he spend an extra few weeks creating custom code for the Panasonic's platform if he doesn't have to? Worse... why should he forgo leveraging other code that might use jQuery as a base? That's not using a hack, it's using a LIBRARY.

  9. Re:Um.. Please Explain on HTML5 App For Panasonic TVs Rejected - JQuery Is a "Hack" · · Score: 4, Informative

    What is being hacked? What exploit is required to make jQuery.js operate? How does it modify the javascript language to work?

    jQuery.js is just a library of script routines designed to make a javascript programmer's life easier, like every other library out there, whether it's for C++, ActionScript, C# or assembler. It's not a binary... it is a collection of javascript functions.

    Calling it a hack seems a bit ignorant of what hacks are. I've written hacks... patched XBox XDK libraries so I could get my Media X Menu to access extra hard drives in the system... interrupt routines loaded from DATA statements on my old C=64 that allowed me to display more sprites on screen than the hardware was supposed to display, or to do cool things with the borders. I've written multi-tasking kernels with assembler interspersed with the C code so I could directly access or manipulate hardware in embedded systems. Those are hacks.

    At worst, you might call jQuery.js a kluge... but even then, jQuery.js works pretty well and doesn't require you to jump through hoops when making small changes (which kluges tend to do). ...so it's a library. A handy collection of useful routines developers can leverage so they do not have to write all that code again. Nothing more.

  10. Re:Yeah.. on Why Games Should Be In the Public Domain · · Score: 1

    Well, 10 years is fine, maybe a bit longer, but more importantly, 'supporting works' should be submitted with the government to maintain the copyright... in other words, software source code would have to be submitted to the government and kept in the Library of Congress, made available when the copyright expires.

    Let's call this a measure to protect the heritage of technology.

    The side issue is trademarks. I don't have a problem with trademarks not expiring (i.e., nobody could make a Mickey Mouse movie, though the copyright might have expired on Steamboat Willie, for example).

    In that light, you'd be able to, say, use Duke Nukem code to make a new game after the copyright expires, but you wouldn't be able to make money on the Duke Nukem character. The repository would give open source a boost, though there would be problems with the tools themselves.

    I think the copyright period should be extended if the work is receiving "active and significant" support - i.e. the application or game is receiving regular enhancements and not abandoned.

  11. No kidding? on Midwestern Fault Zones Are Still Alive · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Seriously, who writes this stuff? I remember a minor earthquake we had in Michigan in the mid-80s. Why would they suddenly stop? Geological activity occurs over geological time scales, which is to say, thousands, even millions of years.

  12. Experts Exchange on Great Firewall of UK Blocks Game Patch Because of Substring Matches · · Score: 1

    Reminds me of a time when I went to access expertsexchange.com on the job, to get a quick solution to a coding issue I was having, back around 2000... the web filter classified it as "sexually oriented" and it took me a minute to realize how the name had parsed out.

    You can now get to the site via experts-exchange.com, though it is far less useful these days.

  13. TVMobili DLNA Server on Ask Slashdot: Suggestions For a Simple Media Server? · · Score: 1

    I've been using TVMobili on a Kubuntu machine I have set up as a media server. It's not free... you can pay a one-time fee of $30 or $1.50 per month - but you can try it out first, to see if you like it. I've found it just works for everything I've thrown at it, I mostly use it for playback on my Samsung plasma smart TV (AllShare feature), handling MKVs, MP4s without a hitch, as well as the usual formats and containers. It can also do transcoding, and it has a web interface (My server sits in our basement).

    I have streamed to iOS and Android devices, too (with the right media player clients).

  14. SteamOS now supports... on Steam Controller Hands-on · · Score: 1

    ...AMD GPUs, apparently. I haven't tried it yet, but I've been waiting to get it set up on a gaming rig I built for our living room.

  15. Hard to believe on What Would It Cost To Build a Windows Version of the Pricey New Mac Pro? · · Score: 0

    Why do I think they ordered those parts from the most expensive sources possible?

  16. Liability on Putting a Panic Button In Smartphone Users' Hands · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Who wants to be the first developer to get sued when your program doesn't dial 911 (perhaps because there is no signal)? Who wants to be the first developer sued because it got the location wrong?

    Way too much liability potential. IT is too important a thing to mess up, and you can bet that something will mess up eventually, and the developer will be blamed, regardless of whether or not they are actually responsible.

  17. Re:Good... alternatives are better on Lawmakers Out To Kill the Corn-Based Ethanol Mandate · · Score: 2

    Just a quick note... sugar cane ethanol costs about US$0.22 per liter to produce in Brazil, or about US$0.83/gallon.

    IF E85 was less than $2/gallon, it would be viable to use, but since E85 has about 80% of the mileage rating as "regular" gasoline, I think it has to be even cheaper per mile to buy, since I am trading fuel range as well for the cheaper biofuel alternative. I might be willing to make more gas station stops for cheaper gas.

    The last time I calculated it, it was still more expensive per mile to buy and use E85 in my car.

  18. Good... alternatives are better on Lawmakers Out To Kill the Corn-Based Ethanol Mandate · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Switchgrass, Sugar Cane, and Hemp all provide more sustainable, easier-to-convert alternatives to creating ethanol, which, even with the subsidy, was more expensive per mile to operate vehicles with when made using corn.

    These alternatives cost about 30% less to convert and are easier to grow.

  19. Brilliant! Ribbons everywhere! on Former Microsoft Exec To Lead HealthCare.gov · · Score: 1

    They can replace everything with Ribbons... allowing users to customize their experience! Not only will they never be able to sign up for health care now, but they won't even know where to click to exit the web site!

  20. Not just Windows 8 on Google Nabs Bing Maps Architect · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Actually, I heard he hates Visual Studio 2012 even more. Something about using bland, similar monochromatic icons tends to bother people who work with image processing and innovate the field using all that wonderful color information in those images.

    Same difference though... some idiot exec at Microsoft has decided the world needs Fisher-price Playschool operating systems and development tools.

  21. Re:Feminist Programming Language on GitHub Takes Down Satirical 'C Plus Equality' Language · · Score: 2

    Ludicrous rantings that apply sexism to tools deserve scorn, satire and parody.

    Are there "Feminist" wheels?

    A better (but still stupid) question might be: Are languages Anglo-centric? At least we could make some sort of case and fluff up enough flowery academic language and references to make it stick - and yet it would also be pointless.

    Programming languages only deserve to be criticized in terms of their ability to produce usable software, measured by productivity, ease of learning, flexibility, and robustness. Anything else is simply inane rambling.

  22. Burnout? Needs a second button... on New Ford Mustang May Have Electronic "Burnout" Button · · Score: 1

    So I can do a "showtime" down the main street during rush hour. I'd like to hit that 25X multiplier and chalk up 30 or 40 million points.

  23. 45mph? on Is the Porsche Carrera GT Too Dangerous? · · Score: 1

    I doubt they lost control at 45mph. 145mph, probably... on a city street.... pretty much any car is dangerous in that situation.

    Speeding in most cases isn't dangerous, but reckless driving is, and three times or more than the speed limit is certainly reckless.

  24. Consumer vs enterprise tape technology on How the LHC Is Reviving Magnetic Tape · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I've worked as a tape monkey in a large facility (Camp Foster RASC, Okinawa, circa 1989-90), so I know tapes do work well in the enterprise, but my experience with tapes in the consumer space in the 90s was anything but good. 90% of the tape backups made (using several different formats) using consumer-grade systems were corrupt and worthless.

    We took great care with the tapes, but when we checked them (thankfully never needed them, except one occasion), they were mostly all bad.

    Optical isn't much more reassuring as a backup media, given that optical discs tend to degrade over time.

    If somebody has a tape system that can store terabytes on a cartridge, reliably, for say... $10/TB or less, and the system costs less than $200, I'd look at it, though. Otherwise, it is still more worthwhile just to use hard drives to back up data (even at their inflated prices)

  25. Hide-a-key on Driver Arrested In Ohio For Secret Car Compartment Full of Nothing · · Score: 2

    So... if I have a hide-a-key compartment under my fender, and I drive through Ohio, I would be guilty of breaking this law. Those boxes are big enough to "smuggle" drugs, certainly, though only in "criminally" personal amounts.

    Wow.