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User: not-my-real-name

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  1. It doesn't matter on Evolution, Big Bang Polls Omitted From NSF Report · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Why are we concerned if people, in general, accept the big bang theory or evolution? Why not worry about general relativity and quantum mechanics?

    For the vast majority of people, it simply does not matter. Will it pay my mortgage or put food on my table if the sun revolves around the earth or the other way around? If not, then why should they care?

    We're all (sometime I wonder though) nerds here, so we care, but most people don't. I know that the operation of my GPS navigator depends on both general relativity and quantum mechanics, but it works whether I believe them or not. How many other people know or care?

    A better question would be to ask if they believe that the scientific method is a valid method of seeking the truth. Another question would be if the scientific method was the only valid method of seeking the truth.

  2. Re:Jobs always wanted to be Bill Gates on The Apple Two · · Score: 1

    The thing is that Steve Jobs was gone from Apple. The company floundered and eventually begged him to come back. Since he came back the company has been flourishing.

    Personally, I wish that computers still had switches and lights where you could toggle in the bootstrap. Sadly, those days are gone even on mainframe computers.

  3. Re:Apple has made Microsoft look "open". on The Apple Two · · Score: 1

    Apple's darkest days were when they used closed architecture to ensure that Apple was the sole provider of peripherals and (to a lesser extent) software. You couldn't buy a freakin' mouse without going back to Apple. Today, Apple has superb technology that can beat Microsoft (and even Linux) on the desktop. If Apple becomes arrogant and complacent, MS will close the gap, just as they did with the original Macintosh.

    Perhaps your memory is a little different than mine. Fairly early on (I think that it was just after the original Mac) they added a SCSI bus and there were numerous 3rd party hard drives and other peripherals available. The Mac SE did have an expansion slot that had 3rd party cards available. There were also a number of 3rd party gadgets that attached to the ADB. Even now, there's quite a flourishing 3rd party for iPod add-ons.

    Some of the first applications for the Mac were things like Microsoft Word and Excel. My first job out of collage was writing numerical analysis software on a Mac SE using Lightspeed C.

    Now, I'll admit that the iPod family is a different thing than the Mac family, but I'm just not interested in personal/portable music players so I ignore them. I did have a Walkman once, but rarely used it. I like to be able to hear what is going on around me when I'm out and about.

  4. Re:Oh Please on The Economics of Perfect Software · · Score: 1

    ...Have you never read release notes that have a list of "known bugs"? Generally that's open source software. The closed source software has the exact same list, it just exists on the software makers private network...

    This list also exists for aviation (and I'm sure other life critical) software. In the case of aviation software, it gets submitted to the FAA (or whoever your regulatory agency is, along with an analysis of each bug and why it is OK not to fix it.

  5. Re:Adobe was removed 3 years ago on New Malware Overwrites Software Updaters · · Score: 1

    It's still a fake dialog trying to trick the user. In your case, it just didn't succeed.

  6. Re:Here's an idea on Scary Smartphone Motion Control Patent Granted · · Score: 1

    Ever hear of "Big Blue", aka IBM? Even if they haven't patented it, I'm sure that they have prior art and enough lawyers to sink you.

    Sorry about that. You'll have to pick another color.

  7. Re:Your botnet on How To Avoid a Botnet Infection? · · Score: 1

    Yes, and since I don't have a botnet, I should be safe.

  8. Re:Who the fuck cares? on Millennium Prize Awarded For Perelman's Poincaré Proof · · Score: 3, Informative

    Nerds care.

  9. Re:And again my lament... on Lag Analysis For the PlayStation Move · · Score: 1

    Wii-style controllers are for fun. Not for accuracy. Not for performance. Not for precision. They are meant to be a fun tool to play a game...

    Pardon my ignorance, but I thought that games were suppose to be fun, or maybe I'm just not a hardcore gamer.

  10. Mechanical Systems Fail on Toyota Acceleration and Embedded System Bugs · · Score: 1

    Years ago, I had a Datsun B210. There probably wasn't even software in the car radio. I lived in the Seattle area at the time. It's fairly humid there and at certain time a little ice would form in the carburetor and cause the throttle to stick open. The first time it happened to me was a bit of a shock. I stepped on the clutch and the RPMs jumped. I then hit the brakes, and turned off the engine and costed to the side of the highway.

    The next time it happened I discovered that kicking the accelerator pedal would break the ice and let things work normally. Not too long after that, "Oxygenated Fuel" was introduced and the problem disappeared.

  11. Automation is not the Answer on Vivek Kundra On US Government Inefficiency · · Score: 1

    I'm taking a class in enterprise modeling and the professor is adamant that most improvements come from improving the process. A clear streamlined manual process can run rings around a well automated byzantine process.

    The key is to take a big picture look at the whole process and then ask why things are done that way.

    One of the examples from class was a process used to procure prototype parts. The process used to take 80 days and people were happy with it. He and a couple of grad students were able to reduce it to 20 days.

    It's mostly getting rid of boneheaded things. One supplier would build a prototype part before building the final part. Why bother building a prototype of a prototype??? If you take a step back, you can start to find things like this and eliminated them.

  12. Re:Possibly another reason on Vivek Kundra On US Government Inefficiency · · Score: 1

    Just because Republicans say is doesn't mean that they do it (this is generally true of all politicians, not just Republicans).

  13. Re:Apple is the new Microsoft on Apple Sues HTC For 20 Patent Violations In Phones · · Score: 1

    People have been predicting the demise of Apple for 30+ years. Eventually one of then will be right.

  14. Re:lol, where's the iPhone? on BlackBerry Bold Tops Radiation Ranking · · Score: 1

    much of it from bitter people who for whatever reason cannot have an iPhone

    You mean all those people with enough common sense to realise it's overpriced shiny crap ? They must be so bitter and twisted, having to live in the real world instead of "Jobs Worlds".

    Sadly this, in a nutshell, is the caliber of argument over things that are largely a matter of opinion.

  15. Star Trek House on iPad Will Beat Netbooks With "Magic" · · Score: 1

    You guys are all missing the potential. You build a Linux box that controls all the stuff in you house - lights, HVAC, whatever. Add a bunch of sensors. Build some web pages to control it all. Then use your iPad (or iPod touch) to wirelessly network to it and control everything.

    Sure it may not be a great standalone computer, but I bet it would work quite well as a front end controller to some other system.

  16. Re:Hunters.. on iPad Will Beat Netbooks With "Magic" · · Score: 1

    ...nothing says "I have a small penis" like owning something from Apple.

    Of course it's small. My .mac email address filters out all the "enlarge your penis" spam so I never have an opportunity to do anything about it.

  17. Re:Missed out on Python on Learning Python, 4th Edition · · Score: 1

    After programming in Perl, did you ever go back and try to figure out what you did a year ago?

    I've gone back years later and figured out what I was doing with Perl code. If you write your code for legibility and remember that you shouldn't write code to the limit of your cleverness, you can do it too. Now, why I thought that it would be a good idea to write a combination text-based adventure game, symbolic math program is another question ;-)

    Sadly, many people seem to write code to show off how clever they are.

    I've also had experience deciphering obscure code -- a grading system for a school written in BASIC-PLUS with two character variable names and a 256 (or so) character line length limit. After doing this for a while, you begin to see the benefit of writing legible code.

  18. Re:Evolution on Directed Energy Weapon Downs Mosquitos · · Score: 0

    Maybe he means some females will hear the scream of their sisteren after their wings are fried and they're tumbling to the ground and thus avoid that area.

    Fixed that for you. It's the sisters that are being targeted here.

  19. Re:Europe? on Europe's LHC To Run At Half-Energy Through 2011 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Um, Europe does consist of many nations.

  20. Re:My prediction on Apple Tablet Rumor Wrap Up · · Score: 1

    It'll have a stylus and handwriting recognition, and they're calling it the "Newton."

    They will never call it "Newton". My money is on Leibniz

  21. Re:Self-contradictions on Colliding Particles Can Make Black Holes After All · · Score: 1

    I've been taking some simulation/modeling classes and one thing that they have drummed into us is the following quote:

    "All models are wrong. Some models are useful." -- George Box

  22. Re:Thank you... on Spider-Man 4 Scrapped, Franchise Reboot Planned · · Score: 1

    As the rate of reboots increases, we'll eventually get to the point where no movie is completed before the story gets rebooted. Once we reach this point, there will be no more movies and we can all curl up by the fire with a cup of hot cocoa and a good book.

    Well, one can dream...

  23. Re:People aren't robots on Office Work Ethic In the IT Industry? · · Score: 1

    I'm unemployed you insensitive clod.

  24. OpenSim on Whatever Happened To Second Life? · · Score: 1

    If you're interested in something like Second Life, but where you have complete control, check out OpenSim. It's an open source (BSD license) virtual world engine.

  25. Re:Me too! on Monty Wants To Save MySQL · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It's kind of surprising how few people realize this disadvantage of the GPL. Keep that in mind the next time you use it on a project.

    How is this a disadvantage of the GPL?

    If I sell software with anything like a typical commercial license and I decide to stop supporting it, you're SOL. With the GPL, at least you have the source and can spend money to hire someone to support it.

    As far as the trademark is concerned, if I own BobSQL, you can't call your own database BobSQL regardless of how either one is licensed.

    So, how is this a disadvantage of the GPL?