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User: the+eric+conspiracy

the+eric+conspiracy's activity in the archive.

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Comments · 9,198

  1. Re:CD's degrade in less than 2 years on Your Old CD Collection Is Dying · · Score: 2

    That story was about crappy CD-Rs. It has nothing to do with commercially pressed CDs.

  2. Re:I call bullshit on Your Old CD Collection Is Dying · · Score: 1

    I have children (mostly grown now) and a wife. I was not the only person handling my collection.

  3. Re:Number includes marketing budget on Game Industry Fights Rising Development Costs · · Score: 1

    They spend like this because it's what gives them the best financial return. Not really a problem except perhaps it's the way our civilization (sic) is structured.

  4. I call bullshit on Your Old CD Collection Is Dying · · Score: 2

    I have about 500 studio pressed CDs dating all the way back to the freebies that came with my first CD player (one of the very first Sony models, a CDP-200) back in 1983.

    Last year I re-ripped them to flac using dbPoweramp. A few of the 500 had issues due to physical scratches which I was able to handle by buying replacements off Amazon Marketplace. NONE had problems from general bit rot. The 1980's vintage CDs all ripped bit perfect according to the track checksums.

    Now maybe you would have a problem due to some of the fungi that are known to attack CDs in tropical climates but I bet if you are like me and kept your CDs in a temperate zone air conditioned home you are fine, and will remain so.

    By the way, NONE of the other media I have dating back to the 1970's is usable. Even the LPs are no good - worn out long ago.

    Good luck trying to maintain bit perfect rips for 30 years.

  5. Re:Dear Mark on Zuckerberg's $100 Million Education Gift Solved Little · · Score: 1

    You can do anything you want in school. It won't work if the society outside the school is completely dysfunctional.

    Bill Cosby had it right.

    http://www.snopes.com/politics...

  6. Re:Dear Mark on Zuckerberg's $100 Million Education Gift Solved Little · · Score: 3, Insightful

    > Next time hire me to handle it

    Sounds like an example of the Dunning - Kruger effect.

  7. Re:Idle threats on Oil Man Proposes Increase In Oklahoma Oil-and-Gas Tax · · Score: 1

    This is complete bullshit. I received a refund last year too. I also paid over 30% of my income in taxes.

  8. Re:Study is consistent with the way neonics work. on Harvard Study Links Neonicotinoid Pesticide To Colony Collapse Disorder · · Score: 1

    The problem is that the bans haven't stopped bee colony collapse.

    And some places that use these pesticides heavily don't have bee colony collapse. Like Canada and Australia.

    I'm sorry, but the Harvard study involving a mere 16 colonies is farcical when compared to the real extent and complexity of the issues here.

  9. Re:Computer science? on Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, and Lately, Coding · · Score: 1

    In some places they do.

    http://www.doe.mass.edu/news/n...

  10. First Three on Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, and Lately, Coding · · Score: 1

    If you can't do the first three, what makes you think you'll get the Forth?

  11. Re:Don't connect them to the Internet on Eavesdropping With a Smart TV · · Score: 2

    Meh. I'm 63 and so long as I can get ED meds I am NOT going to feel old!

  12. Re:Don't connect them to the Internet on Eavesdropping With a Smart TV · · Score: 1

    Not if you have a decent router.

  13. Re:Well what is the alternative? on Let Spouses of H-1B Visa Holders Work In US, Says White House · · Score: 1

    Number of college graduates is not well correlated with employee skill level, and the OECD report documents.

    The US is DEAD LAST among developed nations in some of these categories. Particularly in ones associated with engineering skills.

  14. Re:Q: Why Are Scientists Still Using FORTRAN in 20 on Why Scientists Are Still Using FORTRAN in 2014 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Legacy code that has been carefully checked to give correct results under a wide range of conditions.

  15. Well what is the alternative? on Let Spouses of H-1B Visa Holders Work In US, Says White House · · Score: 4, Informative

    Sadly I think it's offshoring. If you don't let companies bring workers to the United States they are going to set up shop where the workers live. This has much more negative effects - lower tax base, lower economic activity in the US etc. than letting these workers come here.

    Yes it depresses US wages and makes the job market tighter for US citizens. But at least the company still has operations and employees in the US that are paying taxes.

    Ideally there would be US citizens working in the US taking these jobs. But non-US citizens working in the US on these jobs is better than non-US citizens working in Bangalore some other non-US location doing these jobs.

    If you want to cut down on this, it is absolutely necessary to improve the US education system. What we have now truly sucks, as this OECD report describes:

    http://www.oecd.org/site/piaac...

  16. Re:Any slap on the wrist for the CIA? on Polio Causes Global Health Emergency · · Score: 1

    The Taliban was actively campaigning against vaccinations well before the CIA used a local doctor to collect DNA under the guise of hep B vaccinations.

    It didn't help however the idea it was a turning point is sadly mistaken.

  17. Re:Meanwhile, on the technician frontlines on Microsoft Cheaper To Use Than Open Source Software, UK CIO Says · · Score: 1

    anecdote != data

  18. Streaming is Canibalizing DVD not BD on Sony Warns Demand For Blu-Ray Diminishing Faster Than Expected · · Score: 2

    This summary has it wrong. Read the article and its BluRay sales that are still increasing, presumably due to the quality problems (both audio and video) currently inherent in streaming. Anyone with a 60" or better LCD and a decent sound system will notice the difference immediately. Despite the DRM.

    It's DVD sales that are cratering, due to the following factors:

    1. Streaming quality is competive with DVD.
    2. Why buy DVD when BD is better?
    3. Easy piracy due to non-invasive DRM.

  19. Re:Streaming's great until it not available on Sony Warns Demand For Blu-Ray Diminishing Faster Than Expected · · Score: 2

    While awful DRM on BD media is a giant pain in the rear end, there is a lot of stuff just not available for streaming at all.

    Then of course DRM on DVDs is usually not so awful.

    Lack of availability is a far worse problem than awful DRM.

    And of course what is available on streaming today may well be gone tomorrow.

    So I'm sticking with physical media as my preferred source.

  20. Re:You dont want a car completely reliant on the e on Did the Ignition Key Just Die? · · Score: 1

    All of the cars I've owned with electrical gizmos in doors could still be opened manually, and with a key from the outside if the battery was dead.

    Even your Beetle still has to have a working distributor, coil and alternator to push start with a dead battery.

    I do miss working on my own cars though. When I was a grad student in the 1970's I had no money so I did everything - honed out master cylinders, tuneups, water pumps, put in a manual choke because the heat riser rusted out yadda yadda yadda. Of course once I got a job I didn't have time to do this crap.

    Now that I'm retired I do have some time, but I work on small engines now because cars - well they just aren't as rewarding. When you are retired 5000 miles is a year's worth of driving, and spark plugs now last 100,000 miles. Do the math.

  21. Re:Tried it, liked it on Did the Ignition Key Just Die? · · Score: 1

    Automobiles in the USofA generally have this as an option these days. I have one in my Acura. It's convenient to not have to dig the keys out of your pocket.

    I never really had problems with ignition keys. However I did have occasional problems with neutral start switches, and eventually had to rig up a bypass on one of my cars.

  22. Cameras on Finally, Hi-Def Streaming Video of the ISS's View of Earth · · Score: 1

    I could provide a content free stream at a lot higher resolution than this from my webcam.

  23. Re:Useless on Finally, Hi-Def Streaming Video of the ISS's View of Earth · · Score: 2

    A gray dot is just a round gray square.

  24. Re:They still exist? on Yahoo Stops Honoring 'Do-Not-Track' Settings · · Score: 1

    Startpage is cool too.

  25. Re:You're not the first person to think of this on Ask Slashdot: How To Back Up Physical Data? · · Score: 2

    By paying off my mortgage the bank did me the favor of sending a letter to the county records office showing that they disclaim their lien on the title for my home.

    Given this records office has deeds and records going back to 1637, and physical copies in a second location I am fairly confident of their ability to maintain this information without loss. I also have a backup copy in my personal records.

    I would definitely prefer to have no liens on my property and rely on long standing government institutions than take my chances with a bank.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...