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User: RabidChipmunk

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  1. They've invented the horse. on DARPA-Funded 'Cheetah' Breaks Speed Record For Legged Robots · · Score: 1

    I watched the videos and all I could think was, can we feed it off the local terrain?
    If necessary can we eat it?

    Seriously, the support systems for these will need to be as complex as the machines themselves. However, they are pretty cool.

    -sh

  2. Borg on How Cyborg Tech Could Link the Minds of the World · · Score: 1

    You will be Assimilated.

  3. Share Cookies on Online Tracking Firms To Launch Opt-Out Program · · Score: 1

    What makes the most sense to me is not that we opt out of cookies, but rather that we all use the same cookies.

    We need a repository of tracking cookies and a plugin that sets all of our cookies to the same thing. That way there is no dependence upon the trackers to be good or ill. We just all pretend to be the same "person".

    -sh

  4. Re:Nice to get a watt/CPU on First Actual CPU Energy Use Statistics Published · · Score: 1

    Well, then you have an additional variable. Pulling the compressor out of the room could let you put more servers in without changing the wattage. You'll have to calculate that change yourself though.

  5. Re:Problems with that. on How Can I Trust Firefox? · · Score: 1

    I was thinking more of identification by known public keys. A whitelist of reviewers.

    The whitelist of download sites is almost equivalent, as you can interpret the presence of a file upon a site as having been vetted by the owners of that site.

    I was imagining a friendster trust graph of peer review. Using signatures to verify identity and relationships to establish a trust value for that identity. Kind of like verisign if verisign had a published opinion about the key holder.

    I was thinking you could have the reviewers sign because you can then have multiple signatures on one peice of code and fewer keys need to be in your trust list. Again this is sort of equivalent to only downloading from mozilla.org and it's approved mirrors.

    Take the digital signature from MS's method and add it to the peer review of OSS.

  6. Reviewer Signature on How Can I Trust Firefox? · · Score: 2, Interesting

    What if, instead of having the author sign it, all plugins are signed by one or more reviewers? Then you can choose to only use plug-ins who have been vetted by someone you trust.

    You'd still have the "know your dealer" problem, but it would be better.

  7. Planned slashdotting on Gates, Jobs, Torvalds: Who is Most Important? · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yes, we planned this. We schedule a slashdotting once a year to keep our IT people on their feet.

  8. They changed the cars on EPA Fuel Economy Myth: Too High, Too Low? · · Score: 2, Informative

    The EPA estimate is based on the emissions of the vehicle. Recent cars have a number of additions which reduce emissions, but don't affect mileage.

    Call it optimizing for the benchmark.

  9. Agreed (no significant text) on Building a Better Office · · Score: 1

    Different systems definitely, I was posting too fast.

  10. HVAC Zoning on Building a Better Office · · Score: 1


    If you're building any sizable office space, you NEED good HVAC zoning and control. This means that there are sensors and balancing controls all over the place. I.e. The HVAC system needs to be able to change it's airflow to meet your load needs, and the temperature sensitivities of your employees. Otherwise, half the staff will be too cold and the other half too hot, and lord help you if your server room is too far from the main trunk.

    It also saves money, by not requiring you to assume that people will wear sweaters (or open a windows.)

  11. That's the point I was making on Efficient Power Supply Contest · · Score: 1

    That's exactly the point.

    If I were to give you two 21" LCDs, your cubbyhole would suddenly be less cramped and you'd be happier.

    Maybe not as much happier as if I gave you real walls, but we're talking maximum happiness for the dollar.

    [assuming the LCDs were up to the task.]

  12. Re:If you live in a cold place, efficiency is 100% on Efficient Power Supply Contest · · Score: 1

    Darn, if only it were winter all year.

  13. Not totally unreasonable. on Efficient Power Supply Contest · · Score: 4, Interesting

    That's not a totally inane rational.

    Each worker needs a minimum amount of space to get their work done. My two old CRTs took up my entire desk, requiring me to have another desk in order to do any work that required paper. The new LCDs have freed enough space on my desk that I can use it for both purposes. This would allow them to mandate removal of my other desk and reduction in size of my cubbyhole.

    If everyone's space needs can be reduced by a few square feet, we can pack in more people without the current occupants feeling more squished. Alternatively, we can improve the working environment for cramped people without actually investing in new office space.

    Thus if I save 2 square feet at $200 per foot, I can actually justify spending $400 on a new monitor. I can spend more on monitors for workers in space limited work areas.

  14. Re:LinuxAnt is really screwed? on Kernel Modules that Lie About Their Licenses · · Score: 1

    This should be the sort of story that scares you toward purely GPL software. You see, the same issues exist in the closed source world. You just never see them.

  15. Eciton Cluster on Cray CTO: Linux clusters don't play in HPC · · Score: 1
  16. Re:Mistakes, damned mistakes and statistics on Hardware Review Sites and Vendor Relationships · · Score: 1

    Yeah, Look at all those Microsoft ads on Slashdot.

  17. Visual Cues on Australia To Use GM To Control Carp · · Score: 2, Interesting

    They should GM the carp so they look different to humans. Maybe put the Glow gene in them. The only problem would be if the change made them less attractive to the opposite sex. Eventually it would, because selection would favor females who can pick males without the gene. It would take a while though.

    The trick is not to create something that is "collectable." It'll have to be ugly and taste bad, but still sexy to other fish.

  18. Warming AND Ice Age on Old School Data Mining, Maritime Style? · · Score: 5, Informative

    Actually, current models look like we're going to get both.

    The basic gyst is that the warming melts Greenland. This diverts the gulf stream; plunging Europe into an Ice Age. [It also cools the NE of North America, but Europe really gets it.]

    The average temperature is rising, that doesn't mean it's getting warmer everywhere.

  19. College Students on Wireless APs in Homebrew Coffee Shops? · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This is no longer true. I went to a comedy show at a local coffee house and there were at least six "stylish" females there with laptops. [No males with computers.] They weren't there for the show. They were there to write papers and socialize while they did it.

  20. It explains something on SCO Code to be Protected in Closed Court · · Score: 1


    Actually, If they believe this-- that seeing code makes it public domain, then that explains why they think invalidating the GPL would allow them to use Linix code. They would be arguing that computer code is a special case that cannot be copyrighted but must be either held as a trade secret or released as public domain.

  21. Patient? on Los Alamos Reconsiders Touch Screen Voting · · Score: 1

    Who are we waiting on?

    WE are the only people who can see this done correctly. Sitting around waiting for ourselves doesn't cut it.

    Appropriate patience in this case is realizing that we will have to keep yelling throughout the process and not get distracted along the way.

    Yes, it will take time for us to fix this. So we'd better start now.

  22. Re:Apple? on SCO Hints at *BSD Lawsuits Next Year, And More · · Score: 3, Insightful

    No. MS is okay because SCO can't read their source code. Therefore they must be complying with copyright law.

  23. Re:Apple? on SCO Hints at *BSD Lawsuits Next Year, And More · · Score: 1

    IBM has more lawyers than Apple has employees.

  24. Re:They are left-wing on Gore Vidal Savages Electronic Voting · · Score: 1
    Measured from the center

    Ahh yes, the chewy nougat center. The one where you find the extremes and measure inward.

    If we only include current American media, FOX might be somewhere near the middle. However, if we include the rest of the world and historical examples, the center is a little left of NPR. Thus putting all of the TV networks firmly in the right. [pun intended] This is closer to what is traditionally considered the center.

    If we only measure by the current US, then the US will always center around the center. You won't be able to say anything meaningfull.

  25. Re:Shady? on Students, ISP Sue Diebold · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "they were gov't documents"

    Well now, this does bring up an interesting question. What makes something a governnment document? If it was created solely for the purpose of performing government business, is only meaningfull within the government and plays a vital role in the functioning of that government? Doesn't that make it a govenment document, even if the people who wrote it were technically private/contractors?

    Wouldn't this arguement apply to a lot of [all?] contracted government services? It is applied if they are social services. Why not software services? This should make all government software a public document.