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User: black+soap

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Comments · 653

  1. Re:Unsecured world? on Living In an Unsecured World · · Score: 1
    When, if ever, has mankind not attempted to secure his surroundings?
    • moving into caves
    • building shelters
    • inventing "doors"
    • inventing "latches"
    • inventing "locks"
    • inventing weapons to defend property
    • inventing language and numbers, to identify and quantify property, and communicate ownership
    • inventing laws so that society can help protect his property

    We may have never achieved security, but we have always sought to increase it.

  2. Re:He should know better on Mysterious Object Found In Seabed · · Score: 1

    Whatever it is, I suggest we quarantine any samples we bring up, and any divers who get near it. I saw Alien.

  3. Re:He should know better on Mysterious Object Found In Seabed · · Score: 1

    You'd probably want to be more south than east, and in that area the desert is pretty clear. Unless it is a dark night, you'll want to be farther than a mile out. Also, if you put on too good a show, you risk the 'alien' being abducted BY the rednecks.

  4. Re:Not The Falcon on Mysterious Object Found In Seabed · · Score: 1

    Cylon Raider is definitely not "more benign" than Millenium Falcon. Perhaps author meant to say "more mundane," and is hoping it turns out not to be a spacecraft of any kind.

  5. Re:Prisoner 6 on Swede Arrested For Building Nuclear Reactor · · Score: 1

    That's odd that you could "attempt lynching of a police officer," since California defines lynching as "The taking by means of a riot of any person from the lawful custody of any peace officer."

  6. Re:Now, Come On ... on Swede Arrested For Building Nuclear Reactor · · Score: 1

    No, but when they catch fire and vent radioactive smoke and soot, there might be a problem.

  7. Re:Upstream? on 800Mbps Wireless Network Made With LED Light Bulbs · · Score: 1

    You mean except the method shown in this instructable, http://www.instructables.com/id/LEDs-as-light-sensors/ ?

    Just because it isn't very good at it doesn't mean it can't be forced to do the job.

  8. Re:Summary designed for idiots... on 800Mbps Wireless Network Made With LED Light Bulbs · · Score: 1

    Half the gas pumps around my town ask you to "enter PIN number" when using a debit card. At least the ATM machines don't refer to themselves that way.

  9. Re:Sure, $96 million sounds like a lot on NASA's Plan To Clean Up Space Program Launch Site Contamination · · Score: 1

    As cleanups go, this is a ridiculously small percentage of the cost of making the mess.

  10. Re:And in related news... on Hackers Could Open Convicts' Cells In Prisons · · Score: 1

    And give up a perfectly reasonable argument against sending hackers to prison?

  11. Re:Internet? on Hackers Could Open Convicts' Cells In Prisons · · Score: 1

    During a riot, they will leave the showers running so they can run in and get relief from pepper spray, then go back out and rejoin the festivities. Controlling the showers gives them one less tool.

  12. Re:Happy System Administrator Day on Happy System Administrator Appreciation Day · · Score: 2

    Actually, right now there is a glut of nurses, and recent nursing grads are having trouble finding work. With the economy down, existing nurses are working more hours, going from part time to full-time, and delaying retirements (often because a spouse is getting less work). According to a news story I heard, lots of people out of work means lots of people without health insurance, so planned medical procedures are down - (yeah American healthcare - put it off until it is an emergency) - so hospitals are getting less business, and generally the first cuts at hospitals are to nursing staff. That, combined with the recent aggressive expansion of nursing programs means that many of the recent nursing grads are going unemployed, when a few years ago that was unthinkable.

  13. Re:Smeagol on McCain Decries "Hobbits," Accused of Ringbearing · · Score: 1

    They voted for Tea Party people in many cases because the voters wanted something different, not because they specifically wanted Tea Partiers. Classic political ego: thinking they voted FOR you, instead of AGAINST the other guy.

  14. Re:Obviously McCain doesn't understand the story on McCain Decries "Hobbits," Accused of Ringbearing · · Score: 1

    Does their "less government and regulations" include stopping their attempts to ban abortion, teach creationism in schools, etc.? It looks like a lot of the same old republicans, just pretending they are narrowly focused on the single fiscal issue they have been caught ignoring.

  15. Re:Easy enough on McCain Decries "Hobbits," Accused of Ringbearing · · Score: 1

    All right, you caught me, I substituted flash point for autoignition temperature. I try to avoid both of them.

  16. Re:Obviously McCain doesn't understand the story on McCain Decries "Hobbits," Accused of Ringbearing · · Score: 1

    Even Tolkien was quoted as saying he doesn't know Bombadil's backstory.

  17. Re:It's OK on McCain Decries "Hobbits," Accused of Ringbearing · · Score: 1

    McCain might have stood a chance, if not for Palin. I wonder how many democrats are secretly donating money to her, hoping she'll be prominent enough to cost GOP the 2012 election too?

  18. Re:Easy enough on McCain Decries "Hobbits," Accused of Ringbearing · · Score: 2

    Maybe we are addressing it wrong. If we don't all agree (for some large fraction of "all") that something should be part of the government, maybe it shouldn't be part of the government.

  19. Re:Easy enough on McCain Decries "Hobbits," Accused of Ringbearing · · Score: 1

    8. Congress and staff are subject to drug tests, just like all other federal employees.

  20. Re:Easy enough on McCain Decries "Hobbits," Accused of Ringbearing · · Score: 1

    Oxygen toxicity shouldn't be a problem until the partial pressure of oxygen exceeds 1.4 atm. Flash point of common materials becomes a problem much sooner.

  21. Re:In other news... on British ISP Ordered To Block Links to Pirate Site · · Score: 1

    But what about the analogy of "child sexual abuse" and "a small, rural road in Scotland?"

  22. Re:Umm. No credibility on LulzSec Calls For PayPal Boycott, Spokesman Arrested · · Score: 1

    An update: out of curiousity, I checked the listing. I guess ebay did take down all of her items. They still list her as a seller, though. Looking through the Paypal emails, it looks like for the past few months I haven't gotten anything related to people trying to buy the items, just emails from PayPal telling me that about new ToS and that by maintaining an account she accepts the new terms.

  23. Re:Umm. No credibility on LulzSec Calls For PayPal Boycott, Spokesman Arrested · · Score: 1

    Actually, figuring out the seller's correct address was trivial. Emailing the seller had no effect, even when I translated it into her native language. Her physical address and phone number were also easy to find, but I don't speak German and doubt that would have an impact.

    Emailing the customers who contacted me and informing them that the person they were trying to buy from was apparently an idiot and that I could not recommend doing business with her usually got them to go away, but every few months someone new tries to buy the products. The fact that nobody has successfully purchased the products in over a year has not affected her seller ratings or caused the store to come down.

  24. Re:No Such Thing as "British Police" on LulzSec Calls For PayPal Boycott, Spokesman Arrested · · Score: 2

    So there are several different sets of police, all of whom are British, but there are no British police?

  25. Re:Umm. No credibility on LulzSec Calls For PayPal Boycott, Spokesman Arrested · · Score: 2

    I've been boycotting them for a long time. Problem is, they think I have an account as a seller on e-bay, and won't stop sending me emails related to that account (including banking information.) Try calling PayPal on the phone some time, when you want something actually accomplished. The fact that there are websites devoted to posting the constantly-changing unlisted numbers for PayPal ought to be a clue that it won't be simple.

    Or better yet, the only way to send in a complaint is to login to your PayPal account and go through a menu - which is kind of impossible if I am complaining because it isn't my account. Sending e-mails to abuse@paypal or fraud@paypal just gets you a message to log in to your account if you have a problem. When you get them on the phone, they will even make claims like "Paypal.de is not actually affiliated with PayPal, you should report that to the phishing department," "oh, I see the problem, I'll take care of it right away and call you back," (which is a complete lie), or "there is nothing I can do to get my company to stop sending you emails."

    It seems like the only way to fix the problem would be to use the "forgot password" option (because the account is set to MY personal email address), log in myself, and fix it that way (figuring out the correct email address for the seller was trivial), but I'm sure that is guaranteed to lead to a "hacking" prosecution.