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User: RetroGeek

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  1. Re:Perl is mad powerful on Apocalypse 5 Released · · Score: 1

    Loops. Yes, there a number of ways of doing loops, even to using recursion.

    But the "exit(1) unless $input;" is actually backwards when you read it. It is like saying "Eat something if you are hungry" rather than "if you are hungry eat something".

    You have to read the latter part of the statement to get its meaning. I prefer to read the conditional first.

    But then Perl is a write once, read never language anyways.....

  2. Re:Not Surprising on Open Source Developed by Individuals, Not Large Groups · · Score: 1

    Ah yes, the

    - Mythical
    - Man
    - Month

    strikes again.

  3. Re:Perl is mad powerful on Apocalypse 5 Released · · Score: 1

    How is this better than:

    if ( ! $input )
    exit(1);

  4. Re:key storage on Keeping Private Customer Data...Private? · · Score: 1

    I store its SHA1 hash signature. This is great because you're guaranteed to get a match on the card's record - but you dont have to store the cardnumber itself.

    Except when you get a hash key collision. Hash tables solve this by actually storing the value in a vector off the key entry.

    You cannot do this as you only store the hash value.

  5. Re:Region free? on Taiwan Joining Chinese Royalty-free Video Disk Effort · · Score: 2, Funny

    Can the studios detect these players and make sure their disks won't play on them?

    Probably.

    But all you will need to make it work is a black marker.....

  6. Re:Inkjet broke my habit on HP Must Defend Half-Empty "Economy" Ink Cartridges · · Score: 1

    These I usually read everything on the computer and only print when absolutely necessary

    Read on the computer? No way. I always print out what I want to read.

    For instance, this nested message thread only takes up 30 pages. Makes it much easier to read.

  7. Re:Flip flop on Milky Way Inhospitable? · · Score: 1

    So re-producing is the only purpose in life?

    Bacteria are what it is all about?

    Sorry can't agree with that (I have somewhat of a prejudiced view :-))

  8. Re:we already knew this, really on Milky Way Inhospitable? · · Score: 1

    but would have colonized us long ago

    Well, no, they are waiting for us to develop Warp drive (or any drive faster than light, whatever you want to call it). Then we will be invited into the Galatic Civilization.

    Unless we kill ourselves off first.

  9. Re:Flip flop on Milky Way Inhospitable? · · Score: 1

    I love how science is always finding ways to disprove it self

    Maybe because we are still learning? It would be really dull if we knew everything. We would have no purpose to life IMHO.

  10. Re:Slow searches on Kartoo Search Engine Presents Results as a Map · · Score: 1

    then it needs better hosting, hardware, etc

    What it needs us a better implementation. The page extension is .php3. That means that EVERY request is interpreted. Their servers must be gogin crazy trying to keep up with the PHP disk access requests.

  11. Brrr... on Handheld Dispatches From (Towards) The North Pole · · Score: 2, Interesting

    the first unit was able to withstand temperatures well below -30 degrees Centigrade

    It withstood the temperature, but it did not run at that temperature. Most chip have an upper and lower operating temperature. -30C is too cold to run at.

    I once built a curcuit that operated my headlights (fog lamps, running lamps, ...). I would start the car when it was -25C, then ran back inside the house. The headlights would NOT work. When the car warmed up, the circuit would warm up, and the headlights would go on. Really handy :-)

  12. Re:the truth about virii on How to Own the Internet In Your Spare Time · · Score: 1

    if someone is stupid enough to open "myNakedWife.bmp.exe"

    Except that Windows by default hides the extension, so the user really sees "myNakedWife.bmp". And pictures are safe, right?

  13. Re:Gee-whiz predictions the future tend not to wor on Eight Technologies That Will Change the World · · Score: 1

    Sure, create more SPAM subject lines....

  14. Re:technologies of 70s TV shows? on Eight Technologies That Will Change the World · · Score: 1

    We would probably have to create absolutely incredible new storage and compression technologies to make it work well.

    Just use lossy compression. You will never know the difference.

    Rely, hw cud u tl?

  15. Re:This script thus far is HORRIBLE on Slashback: Swiftness, Ender's, Streams · · Score: 1

    Keep in mind that a 100-page book

    Ender's Game was originally a short story. I've read both. I don't think the full book adds that much more to the central plot. A lot of political side stuff that detracts from the central theme of having children as generals.

    I kind of liked the short story better.

  16. Re:It has to be said... on New Internet2 Land Speed Record · · Score: 1

    What you need is Raid 0/1 with a hot standby drive.

    Striping and mirroring on dual channels. You can lose two drives and it still keeps working. Add hot swap, and it just keeps on working.....

    Course it costs a bit more :-)

  17. Re:It has to be said... on New Internet2 Land Speed Record · · Score: 1

    747 chock full o' DVD's can beat that any day of the week.

    Not really. You still need to burn the DVD's from the source location onto the DVD's, then at the destination read them onto the local drive. That has to take time.

    The WAN xfer goes right from drive to drive.

  18. Re:Why Mozilla is better than Netscape... on A First Look at Netscape 7 · · Score: 1

    Ah yes, I have thought of this.

    However, I like Heavy.

    I guess I just have to tune the mark II eyeball....

  19. Re:Why Mozilla is better than Netscape... on A First Look at Netscape 7 · · Score: 1

    Yes, and you can block images from a particular server.

    Now, how do you block FLASH from a server. That would be good, as a lot of ads are going Flash :-(

  20. Re:Thousand compromised? on New "SQLsnake" Microsoft Worm · · Score: 1

    That's not bad programming, it's stupid users.

    No not stupid. Just ignorant and uninformed.

    So who does the teaching? The problem is that for each of the activities metioned, the person obtaining the service has at least some idea of what the service is all about, either from personal experience or by having seen it somewhere.

    Now along come the "computer". For the majority of people, this appears as a "magic" machine. And it is sold as one by the major vendors, and it has an OS that hides all the gory details.

    So now the average joe takes this machine home, plugs it in, follows a few simple instructions, and he thinks, "Hey, this is easy, I am an expert".

    When things go BOOM he takes it to a shop pays money, and he is happy again.

    This is why AOL is so successful. Insert CD, type in your name, some userid, and your credit card number. Virus? what's a virus, and why should I care? Hey look I can enlarge my penis!

    Now for cars and trucks there are laws about being at least mildly competent. LAWS.

    Maybe it is time for users to require at least a night school course on this wonderful machine they have just bought....

  21. Re:Millions everywhere confused on AOL-Time/Warner's PVR to Skip Ad-Skipping · · Score: 1

    TV programs cost a LOT of money to produce!

    Not that much money. Most of it goes to ridiculous salaries for the "stars".

    1 million per episode? bah....

  22. Re:Read the book... on Java Tools For Extreme Programming · · Score: 2, Interesting

    You can't take a piece of a bridge out make it better and put it back in.

    Um, well, actually yes you can.

    They took out each segment of the bridge and replaced it with a new one. The work was done at night, with traffic flowing during the day. Quite a piece of work....

  23. It is impossible on Time Travel · · Score: 1

    Because if it was possible, then that means that there is no such thing as free will.

    If it was possible then everything that has happened and everything that will happen, has already happened. How else could you move around time?

    Go forward to a time that has not yet happened? Go back, but from a person in the past our time has not yet happened.

    So time travel cannot exist. Or else there is no such thing as free will.

  24. I've always wanted.. on Your Own Luxury Submarine! · · Score: 1

    to yell "Dive, Dive, Dive" and have something happen.

    Well, other than Pam, um, er, never mind....

  25. Re:Huh? on Camera Meets Speedometer, Travel Across Country Together · · Score: 1

    Actually you DO use a flash in open sunshine.

    Fills in the shadows.

    Of course you need a real camera and flash unit.