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User: jrumney

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Comments · 6,163

  1. Lameness filter on Legislation To Make Web Devices Accessible To Disabled Users · · Score: 2, Funny

    I've heard that some sites even actively prevent users from making use of techniques such as LARGE PRINT. To rub it in, they call this a lameness filter.

  2. Re:No fuel efficiency bonus on Cambered Tires Can Improve Fuel Economy · · Score: 1

    Normally negative tire camber would increase the fuel efficiency for the same reason it increases tire wear - reduced contact area with the road in a straight line in order to have maximum contact area when cornering. However, this setup changes the shape of the tire in a way that will negate both the fuel efficiency and the increased grip when cornering (as the cornering forces will push the tire up onto its side, the same as if you were running normal tires with neutral camber).

  3. Re:Geotags and a WHOLE lot more on The Hidden Security Risk of Geotags · · Score: 1

    Which part was I supposed to be scared of, again?

    Your Nikon toting friends might tease you when they find out you use a Canon.

  4. Conditions apply on The Hidden Security Risk of Geotags · · Score: 3, Funny

    By looking at geotags of uploaded photos, 'you can easily find out where people live, what kind of things they have in their house and also when they are going to be away,*'

    [*] Separate purchase of time machine required for viewing geotags on photographs from the future.

  5. Re:how long before kids fake it and buy bear or sm on The Vending Machines of the Future · · Score: 1

    They sell bears in vending machines these days?

    Only to costumers dressed up as Goldilocks (Harajuku would seem a more appropriate location for such a machine than Shinagawa though).

  6. Re:Nutrimatic Drinks Dispenser? on The Vending Machines of the Future · · Score: 5, Funny

    A bit like the "data plan recommendation" webapp my cell provider has, which asks you a bunch of questions about your usage then recommends their highest price data plan every time.

  7. Re:Why directors shouldn't resist... on Filmmakers Resisting Hollywood's 3-D Push · · Score: 1

    It's just like the move from black & white to colour, from mono to stereo to surround, etc.

    Except its not. I didn't need special glasses to see in colour, and I didn't need special listening equipment to hear surround sound. 3D will remain a marketing gimmick until that is solved.

  8. Download one on The Recovery Disc Rip-Off · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Luckily, numerous varieties of recovery disks are Freely Available on the internet, or you can build your own if you prefer.

  9. Re:What could OLPC learn? on Negroponte Offers OLPC Technology For India's $35 Tablet · · Score: 1

    Touchscreens aren't expensive. LCDs on theater hand are, and there is no escaping that.

  10. Re:US abuse on WikiLeaks Publishes Afghan War Secrets · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Perhaps in the 20th Century the US has been involved in more wars that others (often as a defensive position, ie, WWI, WW2, Korea)

    This must be some new right-wing definition of the word defensive, since in those three wars combined only one single attack was ever made on the US.

  11. Re:First Post? on The Possibility of Paradox-Free Time Travel · · Score: 1

    Probability theory suggests that any time traveller attempting a first post on Slashdot will get the familiar "503 Guru Meditation" message.

  12. Re:Hungarians on Does Anyone Really Prefer Glossy Screens? · · Score: 1

    Perhaps they don't like to be blamed for Microsoft's coding style, so they prefer to remain anonymous.

  13. Re:Euro on India's New Rupee Symbol Won't Show On Computers · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'm pretty sure the Euro symbol was designed several years before the currency ever came into use, so while it might have seemed to be quickly adopted after the introduction of the currency, that was only because the manufacturers all panicked after "don't worry, we've got years to do that" suddenly became "oh shit, we should have done that earlier".

  14. Re:Not Hollywood alone on Hollywood Accounting — How Harry Potter Loses Money · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Or try to get share options in a VC funded startup to pay out.

  15. Re:No other cross platform alternative... on Skype Encryption (Partly) Revealed · · Score: 3, Informative

    SIP based videophone clients are available for all those platforms. They may not be the same client, but because SIP is an open standard they don't have to be to interoperate. Also H.323 clients should be available for all platforms, one even comes with Windows by default (netmeeting) though it doesn't get an icon in the start menu these days.

  16. Re:escalators too on Should Cities Install Moving Sidewalks? · · Score: 1

    BTW, you've got it backwards, in Japan they drive and walk on the left. So the slow lane (standing lane) is on the left and the passing (walking) lane is on the right.

    Actually, it varies. In Tokyo, stand on the left, walk on the right. In Osaka, stand on the right, walk on the left. Elsewhere people aren't in a rush, so there is no real rule.

  17. Re:GM on Avoiding GM Foods? Monsanto Says You're Overly Fussy · · Score: 1

    Putting a label that says "GM" on products that are GM is in no way the same as putting a label "may cause autism" on a product that is a vaccine. One informs the consumer so that they may draw their own conclusions, the other misleads them into a conclusion which is most likely false based on the scientific evidence.

  18. Re:Wow on The Unstoppable 'Tech Support' Scam · · Score: 1

    One emailed me to tell me their email wasn't working.

    What is wrong with that, I've done the same myself? Surely as a sysadmin, you should know that the IMAP/POP3 server being down does not mean the SMTP server is also down.

  19. Re:Doing all my programming in C# on Java's Backup Plan If Oracle Fumbles · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Java doesn't force you to handle exceptions, it forces you to be aware which exceptions can happen. You just have to declare your own functions as throwing them if you don't handle them.

  20. Re:Hrm on Users Report Foul Play In App Store Rankings, Purchases · · Score: 4, Informative

    Let your credit card company fight that fight. They are obliged to refund you, and have bigger pockets for lawyers to make Apple accept liability for its own security problems.

  21. Re:So basically... on Neutrino Data Could Spell Trouble For Relativity · · Score: 1

    Having tried Beef Bacon (the joys of eating breakfast in a Halal restaurant), there is probably a third factor in your equilibrium, as I can verify that it is neither tasty nor healthy.

  22. Re:Zero Sum is NOT productive... on Flash Crash Analysis of May 6 Stock Market Plunge · · Score: 1

    The HFT guys build a position, thereby taking on risk.

    Imagine a blind man walking into a shop, taking something from the shelf and taking it to the counter to ask the price. There's a guy hanging around the counter who can see the price tag says $2, and jumps in in front of the blind man and says $3, taking the blind man's money and passing $2 on to the shopkeeper. What risk did the middleman take in this transaction? What value is he adding to society?

  23. Re:As an N900 user... on Nokia Trades Symbian For MeeGo In N-Series Smartphones · · Score: 1

    With luck the BME will be replaced, since it just controls a chip with plenty of publicly available documentation. OpenGL, well... until Imagination stops acting like Nvidia we're SOL.

    What is needed is for someone to come up with a way to extract the binary blob from the original firmware so the already licensed copy can be reused in an otherwise open source upgrade.

  24. Re:One data model on How HTML5 Will Change the Web · · Score: 1

    XLST is not a data model. It is however a different language than Javascript, and could be used to transform some other data model to DOM on the fly. Also I can't see JSON being replaced by the one true XML any time soon.

  25. Re:What a load of on Cheap ADSL Holds Up 802.11n Router Design · · Score: 1

    In short, you can't buy the magical 802.11n router "because the market is not asking for it".

    The Australian market, no less. As if the factory in China gives a toss what the state of the Australian ISP market is like when they decide what products they are going to clone next week.