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User: Abcd1234

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Comments · 7,617

  1. Re:FUD on Cloned Beef Coming Soon? · · Score: 1

    If 10% is good enough for a newborn baby, it should be good enough for anyone.

    Okay, this is the dumbest thing I've read in this thread so far. By this logic, lactose should be perfectly healthy for everyone, ye, your average African or Asian would probably disagree.

    The idea that the diet for a baby should be used as a measuring stick for that of an adult is, frankly, laughable. Or do you honestly believe that the rapidly growing brain and body of a child has the same nutritional requirements as a sedentary 35-year-old?

  2. Re:Odd, I like it. on Lumines Heralds New Costs for Xbox Live Games · · Score: 1

    Yeah, but in that case, why don't they let you buy the first, say, 2 or 3 levels for $5, and then if you like it, spring $20 for the rest? Oh right, because the point isn't to let people preview the game. The point is to soak people for more money.

  3. Re:Another Brick in the Wall on No Full HD Playback for 32-bit Vista · · Score: 1

    No you couldn't, because the jump from VHS to DVD actually resulted in a marked improvement in video quality on an average TV. The same can't be said for HD, which only really shines are enormous TVs that are out of reach for your typical consumer.

  4. Re:Theres motherf*ckin snakes in the Court!!! on SCO Lawyers Ambush IBM Witness · · Score: 5, Informative

    It may be technically ethical

    No, it's technically legal. It's by no means ethical.

  5. Re:will it cause problems? on Microsoft Flubs Patch, Putting Users At Risk · · Score: 1

    You can get an SP2 CD from MS through the mail at no charge.

    And how many people know this service exists? Or know to update at all? Heck, automatic updates exist for Windows specifically *because* people don't know enough to update...

  6. Re:He refused the Fields Medal? on 2006 Fields Medalists Announced · · Score: 1

    It's odd only because most people want to be famous, make lots of money, be respected, be well known and so on

    What's more odd, to me, is that you think that. Maybe I'm unusual, but about the only thing I actually care about is "[being] respected". The rest I could take or (more likely) leave.

  7. Re:Buttons are needed ... on Tomorrow's Cell Phones · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Personally, I'd love to see a merger of touchscreen technology with something along the lines of piezoelectric polymers. This would make it possible to create flexible, touch-sensitive interfaces with surfaces that could be deformed to provide tactile feedback.

  8. Re:What I really want on Tomorrow's Cell Phones · · Score: 1

    Agreed, Bluetooth is a massive cluster-fuck, but I'd rather the vendors just get their act together and improve interoperability, rather than forcing me to purchase a crappy compromise between a cell phone and a PDA.

  9. Re:e-ink phone seen years ago on Earth Final Confl on Tomorrow's Cell Phones · · Score: 1

    Except that, AFAIK, current e-ink isn't well suited to video, thanks to the relatively long update times.

  10. Re:What I really want on Tomorrow's Cell Phones · · Score: 1

    The way things are going, it'll be cheaper to buy a PDA-phone than a proper PDA

    Great, so now you can replace your PDA and phone with a single device that does neither job particularly well. Yay convergence.

  11. Re:Buttons are "out"? on Tomorrow's Cell Phones · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Well, one advantage of a touch screen is flexibility when presenting user interfaces, as you're no longer limited to a prearranged set of hardware buttons.

  12. Re:Treo using Windows Mobile on Palm to Announce New Treo in September · · Score: 1

    And who's to say that the Windows Mobile OS won't crash just as much?

    And at least in the case of Palm, there are developed remedies for some of the instability problems. The first two pieces of software I installed on my T|X were:

    1. Resco Locker (an absolute must if you have an NVFS-based device)
    2. UDMH

    With those apps, my T|X very rarely crashes.

  13. Re:Sorry, Symbian 60 has won this Palm user on Palm to Announce New Treo in September · · Score: 1

    Bottom line, the Palm OS organizer apps are far superior, IMHO. Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks are clean, fast and very, very useful.

    Indeed... though, if you really want to see what a Palm-based calendaring app can do, check out DateBk5. It blows Palm's calendaring application clean out of the water.

  14. Re:Across the Big Pond on Morphine Relief Without Addiction? · · Score: 1

    You had me at "dosification"!

  15. Re:Addiction not a problem for most morphine users on Morphine Relief Without Addiction? · · Score: 1

    Addiction to psychoactive drugs arises from the psychological instead of the physiological effects of the drugs.

    If that were true, there wouldn't be a physical component to the withdrawl symptoms, which we all know isn't the case.

    I think what you're saying is *partly* true. In order to reach the stage of physical addiction, you need longer term, high (preferably increase) dose usage. Those self-medicating due to an underlying mental (or perhaps even physical) condition are more likely to express such behaviour, and are thus more likely to become physically addicted. Moreover, it may be the case that susceptability to physical addiction varies from person to person thanks to physiological variation.

    Point being, I think it's very misleading to suggest that these drugs do not have the power to cause true, physiological addiction. Do you magically become addicted after the first or tenth dose? Of course not. But the phenomenon does exist, and it is a danger.

  16. Re:chronic pain on Morphine Relief Without Addiction? · · Score: 1

    Addiction, in terms of economics, is every company's wet dream... If some substance were to be addictive, some other company will soon develop an equally good replacement with MORE addiction.

    Umm, unless they're forcefully administering the product to people on a regular basis in order to induce physical addiction, I fail to see the problem here. If people choose to become addicted to these substances, so be it. They already do, for god sake! The only different, right now, is that the "companies" are embodied in the underground drug trade, where there's no government oversight regarding quality of drugs, dosage consistency, etc, etc, meaning people are dying needlessly, all thanks to ridiculous puritan ideals and unfounded paranoia.

    Honestly, we're surrounded by addictive substances *now* (the most obvious being alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine), but the vast majority of people aren't junkies. Why? Because, thanks to education, they know better. Will that stop a small (though not insignificant) minority from becoming dependant on these substances? No. But the current situation is, IMHO, infinitely worse.

  17. Re:49 people + 180 days = proof?? on First Phase of AIDS Vaccine Trials Successful · · Score: 1

    The People's average life and health is actually harmed because of the socialized health care.

    But it seems great, doesn't it?


    I bet living in your made up fantasy world does, too.

  18. Re:This might not be over yet... on TiVo Wins Permanent Injunction Against EchoStar · · Score: 1

    As I mentioned elsewhere, I'd be shocked if this wasn't precisely TiVo's game plan. And, IMHO, EchoStar would be nuts not to go along with it. This injuction could cause significant damage to their customer base, and a company like EchoStar lives and dies by their subscriber counts.

    Thinking about it, though, the problem I see is that EchoStar is known for doing a ton of home-grown technology development. I think they really prefer to keep everything in-house, if possible, as it gives them the most control over their technology platform. So, unless they EchoStar can convince TiVo to simply license their patents, it's not clear to me exactly how this will pan out...

  19. Re:Can't they License? on TiVo Wins Permanent Injunction Against EchoStar · · Score: 1

    TFA didn't really tell me anything about what's happening here... but, can't EchoStar legally license the technology from TiVo?

    Absolutely, and I'd be very surprised if you didn't see a settlement come out of this fairly quickly (as quick as these things go, anyway). EchoStar would, I think, be more than a little crazy to wait for an appeal to go through while this injunction is in place... by the time they get a favourable ruling, their customer base could by gutted.

  20. Re:Why a GPS enabled PSP? on GPS Map Viewer for PSP Released · · Score: 1

    You're either very lucky or full of shit. Looking here, the average price for a new UMD seems to be around $20, with some, like Pirates of the Caribbean going for closer to $30.

  21. Re:Why a GPS enabled PSP? on GPS Map Viewer for PSP Released · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Aww, yes... for that large "handheld gaming/gps self-positioning" demographic.

    It is an excellent demonstration of how confused I think people are regarding what, precisely, the PSP is intended to be. Is it a video game device? A movie player? A music player? Honestly, I don't know! The movies are crazy expensive, so it's not terribly good for that. As a music player, it's mediocre at best. And we've heard time and again how lack-lustre the game lineup is. So... what is this thing? Frankly, I doubt even Sony really knows the answer to that question...

  22. Re:Now, you see on GPS Map Viewer for PSP Released · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Now, Sony, if you pulled your face out of your ass and stopped trying to screw the homebrew community over, maybe the PSP could have sold more units.

    So people can buy what is ostensibly a portable video game device that (as you point out) has no decent video games, leaving them to settle for hobbyist software? Oddly, I really doubt that's going to convince your average consumer to drop the dough for one of these things...

  23. Assumptions on Gaming When We're 64 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Today's controllers are becoming more and more complicated and require greater dexterity to master.

    I see one right there. The Wii is clearly an example of a controller that's actually become *less* complex compared to it's contemporaries. Frankly, I think we've seen the peak of controller complexity.

  24. Re:Graphical Install For Debian?!? Bah!! on Major New Features in Debian Etch · · Score: 1

    *shudder* I remember the first time I tried to install Debian after using Slackware and then RedHat for some time. I'm still suffering from the dselect-induced post-traumatic stress...

  25. Re:Yeah, this will go no where. on Fake News Stories Probed · · Score: 1

    ... and is, IMHO, a completely different breast.

    Doh...