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User: SpryGuy

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  1. Re:Waiting for verifiction - roxy on Researchers Model Pluto's Atmosphere, Find 225 Mph Winds · · Score: 2

    To orbit such a small body that far away, you either have to approach much more slowly (meaning it wouldn't get there in your lifetime), or you have to bring a TON of fuel with you, and hope you can slow down enough to be caught by Pluto's meek gravity, with near pin-point accuracy of orbital insertion.

    They choose to get there fast. The fly-by will be very fast, the encounter time very short, and they had to plan a lot so that pictures wouldn't be blurry, but at least we'll see results sooner than 50 years from now. Also, this probe almost didn't get the green light... having to slow down to orbit would have increased the cost and the risk enough that it probably woudl have been canceled outright.

    Not saying I don't agree with your wishes, just pointing out the reality of the situation here, and why it's not doing that.

  2. Re:Only good for testing the model on Researchers Model Pluto's Atmosphere, Find 225 Mph Winds · · Score: 1

    It won't be too long before any atmosphere just freezes solid and falls to the surface. Then, for a very long time (longer than most of our remaining lifetimes I think), this whole issue will be moot.

  3. Re:BB is a business phone on BlackBerry 10 Unveiled · · Score: 1

    Windows Phone "Mango" has built in office apps, connectionst to the cloud/skydrive (move apps between desktop/laptop/phone), and one of the best phone email apps out there.

    This new BB 10 OS and device will have to compete against WP8 "Apollo", which will have even more "business' features, as well as being a competitive consumer phone, with a solid HTML5 browser in IE10. It will also have to compete against, presumably, the iPhone 5 and iOS6.

    I'm not seeing much of a market left for BB.

  4. Re:Modern 120Hz+ HDTVs on Hobbit Film Underwhelms At 48 Frames Per Second · · Score: 2, Interesting

    While true, that is all utterly and completely irrelevant to what I posted. The reality is that the higher refresh-rates and "processing" going on in modern HDTVs makes "film" look like "video", regardless of the source. If you haven't seen the effect I'm talking about, you should make an effort.

  5. Modern 120Hz+ HDTVs on Hobbit Film Underwhelms At 48 Frames Per Second · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Anyone who has watched a movie on a modern 120Hz+ HDTV knows exactly what they're talking about.

    Suddenly "film" looks like "video", and it "just doesn't look right". To the point of being annoying.

    And it's so clear, that sometimes you can see make-up lines on necks, and other signs of "fakery" used in productions, that totally take you out of the moment and spoil the suspension of disbelief.

    When I got my new HDTV, I had to spend an hour or two playing with the settings to "detune" the image so as not to be so damn clear and sharp and, for lack of a better word, "shiney". It took a while to get the colors to look okay, to get the sense of motion/motion-blur right, etc.

    It's still not perfect, but at least it's not visually jarring and annoying.

    I have to wonder if, when the movie is distributed, there will be guidelines for configuring the digital projectors to optimize the movie experience for viewers not used to the "new" look...

  6. Re:Realmedia codec on Mozilla Considers H264 After WebM Fails To Gain Traction · · Score: 2

    Moving toward... but not there yet. Doubt they'll get there before WP8, and Android is already mostly independent. Regardless, my experience with iTunes and QuickTime are enough to make me want to avoid all Apple products in the future. The iPhone itself is nice enough, I guess, but definitely limited (and becoming boring/stagnant).

    I'm still looking forward to an Apple-free future, even if it's not quite here yet for me.

  7. Re:Realmedia codec on Mozilla Considers H264 After WebM Fails To Gain Traction · · Score: 1

    Well, except for the fact that there are still a lot of quicktime movies out there, and that Apple itself forces Quicktime installs on Windows machines when you try and install iTunes.

    Quicktime sucks (the app). Thankfully, Win7's Media Player can play Quicktime movies natively. As long as you don't have to install iTunes (and being forced to is the main reason I'm looking to dump my iPhone), you can have a decent OS unpolluted by the utter garbage that is the QuickTime app. Oh yeah, and iTunes is utter garbage on Windows as well.

  8. Re:On the positive side (for consumers)... on Microsoft's Hotmail Challenge Backfires · · Score: 1

    Sorry, but I think spamming ALL your contacts SHOULD be hard.

  9. On the positive side (for consumers)... on Microsoft's Hotmail Challenge Backfires · · Score: 2

    ...perhaps this will light a fire under Microsoft to get their system a bit more secure (in spite of weak passwords like the one the guy used), and not allow things like spamming all contacts without some second-source notification/response, or some other easy to implement blocks to this sort of behavior.

    And the result for consumers will be a more robust system in general (Microsoft Account/WindowsLiveID, as well as HotMail, Win8, XBoxLive, etc).

    Failures often spur innovation and improvement. They're not always a bad thing (though this one is particularly embarassing, it may be just that level of embarassment that drives the motiviation to work on solutions to the problem).

  10. Re:RTFA on Microsoft's Hotmail Challenge Backfires · · Score: 1

    What he DIDN'T say was that the accronym was "aaa" and the noun was "arch", so it really didn't take many brute-force attempts. :-P

  11. Re:Finally arrives? No, not really... still broken on Skype Finally Arrives On Microsoft Phones · · Score: 2

    The "7" comes from Windows 7, which is the success they wanted to associate it with.

    No matter how much you protest, these are not "WinMo" phones. Get over it.

    My "ferocity" is just a simple matter of being factual. I don't have any vested interest. It's about clarity. When you say "WinMo" people will be thinking about something DIFFERENT than WP7, because they're DIFFERENT.

    If you WANT to be misunderstood, inaccurate, and unclear, then by all means, keep saying "WinMo" and sounding ignorant to any listener who actually knows what's going on.

  12. Re:Too bad if you actually want to receive calls on Skype Finally Arrives On Microsoft Phones · · Score: 1

    There are no details on what WP8 will support beyond the statement that it will run all existing WP7 apps.

    Whether it's possible to write apps that would run across both WP8 and Win8/WinRT (presumably at least a recompile woudl be required) is not currently public knowledge, one way or the other. I'm not even going to speculate.

    WP8 and Windows 8 (and WinRT) share a common OS Core... again, that has been publicly stated. What is layered on top is not public knowledge yet.

    I seriously doubt (but again, just my opinion) that WP8 and WinRT will be in feature/API parity. I'm guessing that WinRT is what it is, and WP8 will be a refinement and enhancement of WP7, and that the common OS core will be a benefit mostly to Microsoft, and most users won't even notice.

  13. Re:Finally arrives? No, not really... still broken on Skype Finally Arrives On Microsoft Phones · · Score: 4, Informative

    You're missing the point.

    "WinMo" is not just a damanged brand, it legitimately sucks and people avoid it because of its history.

    "WP7" is a different beast all together, is very good, and should not in any way be associated with "WinMo". It's NOT the same thing. There is zero app compatibility or UI experience in common between the two.

    Your laziness in using correct terminology notwithstanding.

  14. Re:Too bad if you actually want to receive calls on Skype Finally Arrives On Microsoft Phones · · Score: 1

    You misunderstand or misapprehend. There DO exist APIs to perform background tasks as necessary (such as completing a download even though the user switched away, or continuing music playback). It IS the case that the DEFAULT behavior is to suspend. It is ALSO the case that apps may request, via specific APIs, some specific background functionality.

    This is really little different from iOS.

  15. Re:Too bad if you actually want to receive calls on Skype Finally Arrives On Microsoft Phones · · Score: 1

    WP8 will run all WP7 apps. That is not an unknown.

  16. Re:Still behind iOS and Android on Skype Finally Arrives On Microsoft Phones · · Score: 1, Informative

    How are WP7 phones "too expensive"? On contract, there somewhere between free and $99... singnificantly cheaper than most Android and all iOS phones on average.

    And WP7 has many features the other's lack, helping to make up for some of the features it lacks that others have. It's a trade-off, and individuals can decide what set of functionality is really important to them.

  17. Re:Finally arrives? No, not really... still broken on Skype Finally Arrives On Microsoft Phones · · Score: 4, Informative

    Just as in iOS, Metro apps can do background tasks via specific APIs to support it (such as music playback). Apps have to be specifically written to support background execution/behaviors, and there are certainly limits on what can be done (but, for instance, downloads can complete, music can play back, etc). By default, Metro apps are suspended when they're no longer foreground... just like iOS.

    Android has battery issues from multitasking apps. iOS and WP7 attempt to mitigate the battery problems and provide much longer battery life by limiting background processing to only those things that absolutely need it, and then manaing those things in an intelligent, energy-conserving way.

  18. Re:Finally arrives? No, not really... still broken on Skype Finally Arrives On Microsoft Phones · · Score: 2

    They are NOT "Windows Mobile" phones. The last version of "Windows Mobile" was 6.5.

    Win7 is a 'Windows Phone'. It's a completely different animal. Call it "Mango" for short, or "WP7". But calilng it "WinMo" just advertises that you don't know what your'e talking about. WinMo vs. WP7 is apples and oranges. Completely different beasts. And NOBODY I know calls them "WinMo" phones... because they're not.

  19. Re:Finally arrives? No, not really... still broken on Skype Finally Arrives On Microsoft Phones · · Score: 1

    You realize that Apple copied Windows Phone in allowing access to the camera directly from the lock-screen in iOS5, right?

  20. Re:Free phone calls? on Skype Finally Arrives On Microsoft Phones · · Score: 1

    So... carriers aren't pushing the iPhone because it has iMessage (bypassing text revenue) and FaceTime (equivalent to Skype), as well as the ability to install Skype?

    Did you think for even two seconds before posting that? Or were you just champing at the bit to post a knee-jerk bashing of Windows Phone (if you'll excuse my slightly mixed metaphors)?

  21. Re:Consumer expectations vs. corporate on Did Microsoft Simply Run Out of Time On Windows RT? · · Score: 1

    Not talking about hardware (although they still expect new models every year).

    I'm talking about software. The OS itself. You know, where iOS is updated with every new model release (we're up to iOS5) and where Android is updated every 6-18 months (we're on "IceCream Sandwich" now, which is the ninth major version of Android since initial release).

    People are going to EXPECT that their "WinRT" and "Win8" Tablets get updates every year. If they don't, then they're just going to fall way behind the competition, and excitement will ebb, and consumers will abandon ship to the other, more exciting platforms.

  22. Consumer expectations vs. corporate on Did Microsoft Simply Run Out of Time On Windows RT? · · Score: 1

    WinRT is targed squarely at consumers... casual users, to compete with the iPad. The problem is, Consumers expect significant updates at least annually. Will Microsoft update WinRT every year, vs. every three years? And if they do, will other Windows 8 versions update as well?

    The problem with THAT is that Enterprises and businesses want stability. It's why so many are still on XP. They don't WANT to update every year. It's too much risk, and it's too much expense (training, IT expenses, etc).

    I have no idea how Microsoft is going to walk this tightrope. Maybe that's why they partitioned ARM/WinRT off sparate from other verisons. But it's still going to be an issue regardless.

  23. Re:Does anyone even care? on Did Microsoft Simply Run Out of Time On Windows RT? · · Score: 2

    WinRT/Win8 isn't really "big", "Fat", or "Honking". WinRT by itself is pretty lightweight actually.

  24. Re:No. on Did Microsoft Simply Run Out of Time On Windows RT? · · Score: 1

    Or more likely, they expect Enterprises to buy new Win8 slates/tablets with actual Win8 on it to get the enterprise features.

  25. Re:The most important lesson in life being taught on Florida Thinks Their Students Are Too Stupid To Know the Right Answers · · Score: 0

    Oh please...

    (rolling eyes)

    Not EVEN.