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User: sdo1

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Comments · 710

  1. Re:Hmmm... on How Do You Backup 20TB of Data? · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Which, if it takes about 1 minute to load each one, it will take you a mere 243 years to do the backup.

  2. Lastpass on Mitigating Password Re-Use From the Other End · · Score: 1

    I don't know why more people don't use solutions like Lastpass. I have one very long and difficult to guess password (but easy for me to remember), and every site I visit has a unique psudo-random gibberish password. If a site does something really stupid like store passwords of their users in plaintext, a breach will only allow access to that site since that password is used nowhere else. This method is impervious to dictionary attacks, hash-table lookups, etc. It's a tiny bit of an inconvenience, but it's very secure and I don't have to worry about breaches like this at all.

    -S

  3. That's not flying.... on For Jane's, Gustav Weißkopf's 1901 Liftoff Displaces Wright Bros. · · Score: 2

    ... it's falling. With style.

    -S

  4. ISP's = Cable companies = Content providers on Six-Strikes System Starts In U.S. · · Score: 2

    They're either the same companies (Time-Warner cable), or they're in cahoots (Verizon with their NFL deals, Comcast with their sports networks).

    At a minimum, they ask you to pay for things (HBO comes to mind) that you could, admittedly illegally, torrent. They make more off of your cable subscription than they would for just the raw bits for you to take what you want.

    So it should come as no surprise that they're willing to sign up for this.

    -S

  5. No need to get the lawyers involved.... on Motorola Wants 2.25% of Microsoft's Surface Revenue · · Score: 5, Funny

    Motorola Wants 2.25% of Microsoft's Surface Revenue

    So give them a couple hundred bucks and be done with it...

    -S

  6. Why? on Microsoft Releases Windows 8 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Confession: I'm a Windows/PC user. Win 7 works fine for me. I use it at work. I use it a home. I can run pretty much anything I want on it. It's stable and mostly trouble free for me.

    I've yet to see a single compelling reason to move to Windows 8 for desktop/laptop. Maybe it's OK for tablets? I don't know... I use Android and I'm happy with that. Is there *any* "ohhh... gotta have that" feature in Windows 8? Looks like a usability step backwards from Windows 7 to me. Am I missing something?

    -S

  7. Climate change on Obama and Romney Respond To ScienceDebate.org Questionnaire · · Score: 5, Informative
    Romney: "my best assessment of the data is that the world is getting warmer, that human activity contributes to that warming, and that policymakers should therefore consider the risk of negative consequences. However, there remains a lack of scientific consensus on the issue â" on the extent of the warming, the extent of the human contribution, and the severity of the risk"

    No, Mitt. There really is no "lack of scientific consensus". Two years ago it was at 97% of scientists in agreement.

    -S

  8. Re:Socialism on Where To View the Mars Curiosity Landing · · Score: 3, Informative
  9. d|i|g|i|t|a|l on Time Warner Cable Patents Method For Disabling Fast-Forward Function On DVRs · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I do not think d|i|g|i|t|a|l means what you think it means...

  10. Like a tick on Verizon To Kill All Unlimited Data Plans · · Score: 4, Funny

    They're sort of like a tick that attaches itself to a host and keep engorging itself until it pops.

    It's gotten itself firmly attached to the wallets of 93 million people. Now it's sucking hard. The pop will come enough...

    http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/19/verizon-quarterly-revenues-q1-2012/

  11. I've got friends, and I'm sure you do too... obsessive about recycling, shut off the water when brushing their teeth, drive small cars with good gas mileage (and/or take public transportation, ride their bikes), support "green" causes, eat organic foods, etc... I'm sure you know the type.

    But then they go and spawn. Repeatedly. Have I published a peer-reviewed, formal study? No. But I personally know some of those people, and given the limited number of people I know compared to the population of the earth, it is safe to say that those people exist, and in fairly large numbers.

    And while they seem to work tirelessly to "save the planet", the act of having in excess of 2.0 children serves to greatly defeat their environmentalist activities. And yet this fact seems to escape them...

    -S

  12. Sounds like a self-correcting system to me. It's seen in nature all the time. It's just sad to me that we, as a species, are too stupid and stubborn to keep it from happening to ourselves.

    I'll never understand so-called environmentalists who go out and have 5 or 6 kids. I can think of nothing quite so environmentally irresponsible...

    -S

  13. Show me the actual accident data on Smartphones More Dangerous Than Alcohol, When Driving · · Score: 2

    Show me the massive increase in accidents and fatalities that have come along with the massive increase in cell phone usage. Then I'll believe there's a real correlation. The results of a controlled test designed to yield a certain result isn't useful data.

    Here's the fatality list through 2009. It shows steady decreases in fatalities per mile driven.

    http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Main/index.aspx

    Of course, that's 3 years old now, but still... there's been an increase in cell phone use through 2009, so if using a cell phone is as dangerous as drunk driving, I'd expect to see a big increase in the fatality rate, not a decrease.

    And here's another flawed study (2010)... http://www.nsc.org/Pages/NSCestimates16millioncrashescausedbydriversusingcellphonesandtexting.aspx

    They estimate that 25% of crashes involve the use of cell phones. Based on that, I would expect accident rates to increase (to a degree) along with cell phone usage. But they don't. Many states have banned cell phone use by drivers. In those states, shouldn't see a big decrease in accidents? Do we? I doubt it.

    -S

  14. The Geek Atlas on Ask Slashdot: Science Sights To See? · · Score: 2

    Get this book... it's very good.

    http://www.geekatlas.com/

    You may also know the author, John Graham-Cumming, as the guy who got the British government to apologize for their persecution of Alan Turing.

    -S

  15. More likely... on HP Investigates Android TouchPads Delivered With Android · · Score: 1

    It's more likely (or at least possibly) a case of "let's see if we can get HP to cough up their Android code for the Touchpad". Step 1: Claim HP shipped Touchpads with Android. Step 2: Tell HP that this obligates them to share the code. Step 3: Hope HP complies.

  16. Contact info for Senator Mikulski on NASA Tries To Save Hubble's Successor · · Score: 2

    http://mikulski.senate.gov/contact/

    BTW, she's also got a crabcake recipe on her site. That scores points in my book...

    -S

  17. Talk to your boss on Clinton Calls For "Ground Rules" Protecting Internet · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Hillary,

    Talk to your boss and let him know that a "kill switch" is a bad idea.

    Thanks,
    The Internet

  18. Extraordinary claims... on Journal Article On Precognition Sparks Outrage · · Score: 1

    "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof." - Marcello Truzzi

  19. It's theater... on Backscatter X-Ray Machines Easily Fooled · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Not to sound like a broken record (does that phase mean anything to people or did I just show my age), but I'm not sure why this surprises anyone. It's not about security. It's about security theater. And until the TSA fundamentally changes the way they do things, it always will be.

  20. Pick a different target on FCC Investigating Google Street View Wi-Fi Data Collection · · Score: 1

    There's *actual* crime happening every minute of every day online and this is the target the FCC is wasting its time and resources on?

    Come on. Google effed up. They admitted they effed up. There's absolutely no evidence that Google did anything or was planning to do anything with this data and all available evidence points to a mistake rather than anything "evil". And besides, if you don't want your data sniffed, THEN ENCRYPT YOUR STUPID WI-FI CONNECTION!

    Please FCC... we pay your salaries. Go after some actual fraud attempts rather than wasting your time (and my tax dollars) on this.

    -S

  21. Missed a paragraph on This Is a News Website Article About a Scientific Paper · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    If ("journalist employer" == "Fox News")
      {
        Add Paragraph
        Hire wack job pseudo scientist to provide doomsday prediction
        Blame Obama
      }

  22. Wait Until Dark (spoiler alert) on Wikipedia Reveals Secret of 'The Mousetrap' · · Score: 1

    Many years ago, I was going to see the play "Wait Until Dark" (Marisa Tomei and Quentin Tarantino were in the play the time, neither of them very good, but that's besides the point).

    I mentioned to my Mom that I was going and she said "Oh, is that the one where he uses the light in the refrigerator at the end?"

    "Gee, thanks. I don't know. I've never seen it before."

    I spent the play looking at that damn refrigerator waiting for the spoiler.

    Anyway, someone going to see a murder mystery has no business researching it online except for maybe reading reviews of known publications if they must. If they look at the Wikipedia article or discussions of the work somewhere else, then it's their own fault for getting spoiled...

    -S

  23. And yet.... on Loss of Personal Info As Stressful As Losing a Job · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ... those same people will continue to use their pet's name as the password to their online bank account.

    -S

  24. Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... on Ted Stevens and Sean O'Keefe In Plane Crash · · Score: 3, Informative

    He gets flack about it because he stood up there talking about something he knew absolutely nothing about, babbling words that some lobbyist paid him (er, um... donated to his campaign) to say.

    A shining example of the worst our legislative process has to offer...

    -S

  25. Graph of Count vs. Distance on Rubik's Cube Now Solvable in 20 Moves · · Score: 1

    Plot the count vs. distance table on a chart and set the count to a log scale. Up to 17 it's almost perfectly linear. I wonder why that is?

    -S