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User: mu_wtfo

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Comments · 99

  1. Re:The reason is marketing on Line Forms At Apple's Always-Open Manhattan Cube · · Score: 1

    AT&T Store + iPhone launch = line. Pics:
    http://mightymu.net/gallery/v/iPhone/

  2. Re:I've stopped reading... on Neal Stephenson Returns with "Anathem" · · Score: 1

    Yes, Quicksilver was a hard read, my first time through. Then I began The Confusion, and quickly realized that it was Mr. Stephenson's way of saying "Thanks for making it through Quicksilver".

  3. Re:This is no joking matter, people! on How Zombies Work · · Score: 1

    Hey, now - no! That's Pittsburgh you're thinking of.

    There aren't enough brains here in Philly to sustain even a modest horde of the animated dead.

  4. Re:Good movie, but #10 all time movie? on Watch the First 9 Minutes of Serenity · · Score: 1

    I second the Yep and raise you a Hell Yeah.

  5. Re:How is this a confirmation? on Google Declares War on Microsoft · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Well, no.

    From the press release: "the companies have agreed to explore opportunities to promote and enhance Sun technologies, like the Java Runtime Environment and the OpenOffice.org productivity suite".

    Which is quite different from "will launch free spreadsheet and word-processing software online".

  6. How is this a confirmation? on Google Declares War on Microsoft · · Score: 4, Informative

    I've read through all the linked articles, and the articles *they* link to, and while the claims of "Google confirms it!" are plentiful, I haven't seen a single named source or attribution for this story.The Forbes story, in fact, still calls any Google online office venture 'speculation'. Where is this 'declaration of war'?

  7. Re:see top 10 tech we miss article, instead on A Look Back At Ten Dot-Com Flops · · Score: 1

    It's very impressive, the way you've managed to completely hijack the conversation here. I just finished reading through the comments, and did not see a single one about the actual story - they're all replies to your original off-topic post.

  8. Disaster!!! on Megafauna Extinction Due to Climate · · Score: 1

    Am I the only person who misread the headline as "Marijuana Extinction Due to Climate"?

  9. Re:Ben leaves for Google, Hyatt left for Apple on Firefox Lead Now Working For Google · · Score: 2, Informative

    Hyatt has been working for Apple since before there was a Firefox, before there was a Firebird, and nearly before there was a Phoenix.
    He was hired in July, 2002, right around the time the very first test builds of Phoenix were making the rounds. He was, as I recall, one of the main people behind a project called "mozilla/browser" (or m/b for short), which was kind of a spiritual predecessor to what is now Firefox.

    And if you want to see what he's contributed since, take a look around http://tinderbox.mozilla.org. (I'm not linking to all of his chekins out of respect for the server)

  10. I see a problem with this.... on NETI@Home to Examine Net's Strengths · · Score: 3, Informative
    NETI@home apparently uses CAIDA's "NetGeo" database to map network addresses to geographic locations. However, the NetGeo home page proclaims (in big red type):
    NOTE: NetGeo has not been actively maintained for several years, and this will probably not change in the foreseeable future. As a result, there are several known major issues affecting accuracy and service availability. Please be warned that NetGeo may give wildly incorrect results, especially for recently allocated or re-assigned IP addresses.


    That might make it just a bit useless, no?

  11. Re:The future.. on Can Communications Be Learned From Chimps? · · Score: 1

    Oh, dear lord, *PLEASE* let them release a video of this experiment!!!

  12. Re: stable releases on Mozilla 1.7 to Become New Long-Lived Branch · · Score: 1

    There were only two stables releases prior 1.7. Those were 1.0 and 1.4

    No, actually, all the final releases have been stable (for a wide range of values of 'stable') - 1.0, 1.4, and 1.7 were intended to be "long-lived" - meaning maintained for a long period of time, to encourage commercial and enterprise adoption, as well as ensuring API compatibility for third parties.

    Mozilla's 'unstable' versions are the X.x alpha and beta releases which theoretically occur nine weeks and four weeks before the X.x final release.

  13. All I can say is... on FCC to Regulate 'Profane' Speech · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Fuck that.

  14. Re:ClearCom? on Rolling Your Own Wireless Communications System? · · Score: 3, Informative

    I used to work at a theatre which had those Radio Shack wireless headsets. What pieces of crap. They were actually *worse* than nothing. Completely unreliable - I'd have no clue whether the person I was trying to talk to was there or not. They also really, really, liked to break. Usually at the 9v-battery connector, since the batteries died so quickly and had to be replaced so often. You can only solder those things back on so many times...

  15. Re:ClearCom? on Rolling Your Own Wireless Communications System? · · Score: 4, Informative

    Damn, I already commented, and thus lost my ability to mod, so I guess I'll just add a "Me too!" post, to support the parent and grandparent's posts. Backstage communication is really, really, not a complex issue anymore. It's been solved, and solved well. Clear-Com, Telex, and Production Intercom all make extraordinarily reliable products just for this purpose. Yes, they're expensive, and yes, they're worth it.
    Having a cue get missed because your batteries died, or because someone is DDOS-ing your 'intercom server' is just plain unacceptable.
    If money is really tight, check ebay - I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised to find used intercom gear on there. And really, all you need is a base station and a couple of beltpacks and headsets. If you're really cheap, buy raw 2-conductor shielded cable and 3-pin XLR connectors and build your own cables (that's what I do :) )

  16. Re:Walkie Talkies on Rolling Your Own Wireless Communications System? · · Score: 4, Informative

    Gaaah!!! No, no, no!!! 5 watt transmitters in a backstage environment?!? I recently had to completely ban our Motorola 2-watt radios from the booths in both of our theatres, because when someone tried to talk on them, it would often induce RFI into the sound equipment, headset system, and, worst of all, the light board. You key up one of those things next to an unbalanced signal line, and *everyone*'s gonna know it.
    In a theatre, nearly everything is temporary - speakers need to be in this spot for this show, then, six weeks later, completely across the room - hence, most cabling and playback/processing equipment is portable, and certainly not run in nice steel conduit - which, sadly, leaves it susceptible to RFI.
    Yes, I've also banned the use of cell phones. :)

    (Master Electrician, Arden Theatre Company, Philadelphia, PA.)

  17. Re:But No One's mentioned the most important featu on Mozilla 1.6 Released · · Score: 1

    And they watched as the beast cast off its chains, and with a terrible roar, burst forth and slew those who had bound it. And for days the rivers ran red with their lifeblood.

    from The Book of Mozilla , 7:15
    (Red Letter Edition)

  18. Re:Weirdest units ever... on Neat Stuff In Sin City: CES 2004 · · Score: 1

    2000 hours for a 150w lamp is nothing - when you consider that it's in all likelihood an arc source, so there's no filament to break.
    And even if it were a tungsten-halogen lamp, 2000-hour lifespans are certainly not unheard of - at work, I have a whole cabinet full of HPL 575w lamps, which are rated to last 2000 hours. (okay, okay, they're the long-life versions - the regular versions only last 300 hours)

  19. Re:it's because of your flourescent bulbs on Debunking Full-Spectrum Lighting Claims · · Score: 1

    Actually, in the case of phosphors, the coating *is* the source. UV (in the case of fluorescents and some LEDs) or blue (like you said) strikes the phosphors, and stimulates them to emit their own light.

  20. Re:it's because of your flourescent bulbs on Debunking Full-Spectrum Lighting Claims · · Score: 2, Informative

    Actually, gels are totally plastic. And they *do* melt, but only if you use 'em wrong. The leading US manufacturer of color media used in the entertainment industry (film uses 'em as well) is Rosco Laboratories. Most of their line is now made from polycarbonate, but some is still polyester. The polyester stuff tends to be the lighter colors, since they absorb less IR.
    Rosco has a pretty good technical run-down of the manufacturing process - http://www.rosco-ca.com/products/filters/filters-r oscolux.html#SPECIFICATIONS
    I actually just ordered 26 sheets of gel the other day....most of which will be going into my Altman Sky Cyc units - which, with a 1000 watt lamp less than 8 inches away from the surface of the gel, will burn the dark blues and greens (Lee 120 and Rosco 94, I think) within a week. Bah.
    More on-topic, though - color-correction filters cannot (despite what certain people in the General management department where I work think...) really make a fluorescent source look the same as an incandescent source. They don't have any magic that transforms the light - all they can do is remove some wavelengths from the emitted light, and thereby make its spectrum look a little smoother and closer to incandescent.
    Basically, no matter what you add to a source (whether it be a cut of gel or that blue coating on those "Full Spectrum" lamps), all you're doing is *removing* wavelengths of light.

  21. Re:Full Spectrum Lighting on Debunking Full-Spectrum Lighting Claims · · Score: 1

    x.Spots are nice, but certainly not full-spectrum. They use a MSR 700-watt short arc lamp, so their spectrum is very heavily toward the blue (as with most arc lamps used in entertainment) and *very* spiky. They're also freaking *huge* units - took 4 of us to put 'em in their road cases after the DMB concert last year. If you're in the market for nice, cheap-ish wiggle lights, check out High End's Studio Spot / Studio Color 250 range - small, and with most of the capabilities of their bigger siblings.
    I'm really looking forward to the VL6c I'll likely be renting later this fall - assuming the lighting designer doesn't change his mind again. Oh, right, keep this on topic - the VL6c uses the same source as the x.Spot - 700 watt short arc. 5600K (that K is for Kelvin, remember), but with a truly awful CRI (color rendering index) of 80.
    Yes, I *am* a professional lighting guy. Spent the day starting to cable the 205-unit plot in my theatre.

  22. I know it's been said already... on Solving a Wiring Mess? · · Score: 1

    ...but in case you missed it, here it is again - HIRE A GODDAMN ELECTRICIAN!!! DIY networking and A/V wiring is one thing, but when you start mucking around with stuff that can *easily* kill you or destroy that precious new Sun rack if you fuck up, the only answer is to call a qualified, insured, professional.
    Best case scenario, if you do it yourself and get *everything* right, your business only gets closed down and/or fined the next time the building inspector drops by. Investors hate that.

    (yes, I am an electrician)

  23. Re:You know... on Flavor vs. Flavour · · Score: 1

    You were right, is *is* spelled "theatre".
    That's what it says on my business card, anyway.

  24. Die, server, DIE! on Windows 95 in 4.47MB · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the screenshots :) Oh, and don't hot-link to them, my host will kill me. Thanks!"

    Yes. Yes, he will.

  25. Nice going, guys. on Airborne Video With an R/C helicopter · · Score: 5, Funny

    We've Slashdotted Estonia!!