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User: AJWM

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Comments · 4,548

  1. Re:rest in peace on John W. Backus Dies at 82; Developed FORTRAN · · Score: 1

    Maybe it's because I was breastfed with BASIC from a very young age, but when I was forced to learn FORTRAN to work on legacy code I discovered [...] that it was really the best way to express myself in code,

    Yes, well, we all know what Dijkstra had to say about BASIC. (link)

  2. Re:Very simple, and not limited to Linux on Microsoft Segments Linux "Personas" · · Score: 1

    Seriously, when was the last time MS came out with something that really got you excited, something elegant and useful?

    Um, Xenix?

    Although come to think of it, that wasn't really that exciting either, Apple's Lisa came out about the same time as Tandy's Xenix box.

  3. Re:My Persona on Microsoft Segments Linux "Personas" · · Score: 1

    5. I ride a bicycle 23 miles each way to and from work. That includes a 900 foot hill. That's a total of 46 miles and 1800 feet total hill climb for the day.

    Up hill both ways, eh?

    16. I still maintain good rapport with my childhood psychiatrist,

    Must...resist...straight...line....

  4. Re:Student != Professional on The Student vs Hacker Security Showdown Rematch · · Score: 1

    Well, that's a different issue, and yes, often necessary. The "unplug them" was to get them off the network right now. If the box is rooted, "ifconfig" might be lying to you.

  5. Re:Student != Professional on The Student vs Hacker Security Showdown Rematch · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It takes significant experience to walk into a network blind and secure it in hours.

    Not really arguing the point, but the first step is to unplug all the network cables. That doesn't take very long. Then you can take your time securing it before letting it back on the net.

    If you don't know what's on it, and there's a cable attached, you pretty much have to assume it's already rooted.

  6. Re:news? on Caves on Mars? · · Score: 1

    Martian Cave Spiders....

    Of course. The spiders from mars are legendary.

  7. Arne Saknussemm on Caves on Mars? · · Score: 1

    In a related story, researchers are trying to determine the significance of what appears to be the letters "A.S." scratched onto one of the cave walls.

  8. 2036 on Yellowstone Supervolcano Making Strange Rumblings · · Score: 4, Funny

    Just wait. The Yellowstone supervolcano and the New Madrid fault are both overdue. Comes 2036, asteroid Apophis hits the Earth, triggering the New Madrid fault which in turn pushes Yellowstone over the edge.

    On the upside, we won't have to worry about the 2038 unix/linux clock rollover.

  9. Re:I'm scared on Yellowstone Supervolcano Making Strange Rumblings · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The last major eruption in SE Asia basically caused there to be no summer in Europe

    Hey, we could use a little global cooling...

  10. Re:But it is.. on Blu-ray Disc Among Top Selling DVDs at Amazon · · Score: 1

    I have a blu-ray player (and HD-DVD), and my opinion of blu-ray is that Sony is just pushing releases out without a care on quality - honestly, some blu-ray movies are worse than if the DVD was upconverted

    Well, what did you expect? I mean, think about it: look at the name, "blu-ray". It's not "blue", there's no "e", so it must be pronounced like "bluh". Put that together with "ray", quickly: "bluh-ray" -- now say it a bit faster "blurry". See?

    You get a blurry player and put blurry discs on it, don't go expecting a good picture.

  11. Re:So what? on Billion Dollar Handout To Upgrade TVs · · Score: 1

    My more-than-a-decade-old TVs still work just fine, thank you, why should I throw it away? (And add to the landfill problem.) BTW it's not just the TVs, it's also the analog receivers built into VCRs/VDRs.

    Arguably the government rendering analog TV useless is a "taking" under the Constitution, so the $40 certificate is "fair compensation". (Realistically it's elected politicians covering their butts from the voters, of course.)

  12. Science projects on Linux Starts to Find Home on Desktops · · Score: 1

    I dunno, it seems to me that the combination of Microsft Windows and Office is one huge entomology project.

  13. Even earlier on TV Airwaves To Deliver Internet? · · Score: 2

    I recall a demo circa 1985 or 1986 at a Usenix of a scheme to send a continuous Usenet feed in the blanking interval of a TV signal. It certainly worked in pilot projects but I guess the broadcasters couldn't figure a way to make it worthwhile (ie profitable).

    Of course the required bandwith for "a continuous Usenet feed" was orders of magnitude lower in those days.

  14. Re:hmm on Microsoft XML Fast-Tracked Despite Complaints · · Score: 1

    As I pointed out on my blog some time ago, it would not be possible to build a spreadsheet today using the ODF specification,

    Well, that's because ODF doesn't incorrectly specify 1900 as a leap year. Start throwing broken bits like that into the mix and it's no surprise that the MSOOXML "spec" is over 6000 pages (and still incomplete).

  15. Re:TaxCut on Linux on Open Source Federal Income Tax Software · · Score: 1

    Interesting. I ought to give that a shot, I've got a few previous years' TaxCut around I can compare results with, too.

  16. Re:Does not, eh? on Can Outing an Anonymous Blogger be Justified? · · Score: 1
    We, as humans, have natural rights endowed from wherever it is that we came from.

    What evidence or reasoning supports this?


    Read the Declaration of Independence, note the beginning of the second paragraph. Here I'll quote it for you:

    We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. -- That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, -- That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
    [emphasis added]

    Note that the rights are not granted by governments, but rather that governments are instituted by the governed to secure (ie, protect from others) those rights. Further, the people have a right to alter or abolish any government not protective of those rights.

    Is that evidence? No, it's a postulate; but it is the fundamental principal on which this country was founded.
  17. Re:Cool, and about time. on Open Source Federal Income Tax Software · · Score: 1

    Turbotax Online works perfectly well with Linux and Firefox.

    No it doesn't. "Online" doesn't fit my definition of "perfectly", especially not with financial information. That's one reason I don't e-file.

  18. Cool, and about time. on Open Source Federal Income Tax Software · · Score: 1

    This is great. I've been doing my taxes on computer since MacInTax on a Mac Plus, nice to see something becoming available for Linux. (And while I'm usually very biased toward FLOSS software, I'd even have paid for a copy of TaxCut if it were available for Linux.)

    I don't need the silly "interview style" interface anyway, it's not like even the paper forms are that hard to figure out if you're willing to RTFI (instructions). (And my taxes are complicated enough that I have to include a couple of schedules and a few forms, it's not like a 1040-EZ).

    The lack of e-file is no big deal to me, since I never e-file anyway.

  19. Re:HD (ot) on Microsoft Move to be the End of JPEG? · · Score: 1

    HD is to this decade what turbo was to the '80s

    No kidding. The first few times I heard an ad for "HD radio" I thought it was a gag. I mean, how can radio be high definition? High fidelity, maybe. Maybe it stands for "hyped digital".

    Coming soon, Xtreme HD Turbo Whatever!

  20. Re:This is interesting, but st.p.d on Senators Smack Down WIPO Broadcast Treaty · · Score: 1

    Come now, do you really think that WIPO -- the World Intellectual Property Organization -- is going to do anything to weaken copyrights and patents?

  21. Re:Public Soundwaves on Senators Smack Down WIPO Broadcast Treaty · · Score: 1

    isn't there at least as strong a case for government regulation of audio as for its control of radio?

    Um, ever hear of anti-noise ordinances?

  22. Re:Reverse double-speak? on All Microsoft Updates Phone Home · · Score: 2, Informative

    Well, see, they don't use the illegal IDs and product keys "to identify or contact users". But they do also grab the IP number that those came from. Now, they may not use that IP info either, but if a list of IP numbers and illegal product tags were to be passed along to, oh, say, the BSA (Business Software Alliance, not the Boy Scouts of America, aka the enforcers), and the BSA were to ask ISPs for a name and address corresponding to that IP...

    So Microsoft isn't using that info (and certainly not that specific item of info) to contact users, but they might be passing it on to someone who is.

    Typical Microsoft statement; parsed carefully and in the right context, it might well be literally true, and it sounds good, but it could well be misleading.

  23. Re:Custom deals on Huge Linux Desktop Deals Get HP Thinking · · Score: 1

    Anyone who gets Linux software from HP does indeed get the source. Even under the GPL, nobody else is entitled to it from them.

    However, as far as what HP does to ensure hardware compatibility, those changes all get contributed back upstream for merge into the mainline anyway. (For example, take a look at the cciss drivers.)

  24. Re:They also give free courses on Huge Linux Desktop Deals Get HP Thinking · · Score: 2, Informative

    Nothing says welcome to Linux like go to url h30187.www3.hp.com

    Okay then, go to linux.hp.com -- it gets redirected to some godawful URL, but it still gets you to the HP Open Source and Linux page, with links off from there to whatever aspect grabs you.

  25. Re:Government doesn't like closed formats on Huge Linux Desktop Deals Get HP Thinking · · Score: 1

    The HP hardware side is happy to put Linux on any hardware they sell. Even the Integrity servers (based on the Itanium2 chip and which are the "standard" HP-UX platform these days) are available with Linux. The Pooliant series (x86) of course won't run HP-UX at all, the choice there is Linux or Windows.

    There are plenty of Linux pros at HP, it's well supported.