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User: CeruleanSilver

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Comments · 39

  1. Re:...and no pop-under ads... on Wal-Mart Enters NetFlix's Business · · Score: 1

    He means that Netflix uses pop-unders to advertise. I've seen them myself when I check my hotmail account (which requires I enable javascript).

  2. Re:Cursive is a massive waste of time. on Why Johnny Can't Handwrite · · Score: 1

    It's all a matter of familiarity, but you can write faster with cursive since your pen doesn't leave the paper for every new letter. Unless of course your printing is so bad that this doesn't apply :)

  3. Re:Big Difference on Peer Pressure Porn Filter · · Score: 1

    the accountability of such morality can be objective

    That is certainly true, but was not your original statement. Instead you claimed that the standard itself was objective, not the accountability of it. For reference, your original words:

    It is an objective standard for them to live by

    Perhaps this is just a case of your words not communicating your meaning properly, but it's easy to see why everyone is arguing with you.

  4. Re:Metroid Prime on Gamecube Finally Plays GBA Games · · Score: 3, Informative

    you have to press at least 4 different buttons to force samus to 'look' at something

    Or you can just move the analog joystick in the direction you'd like to look... that always works for me. If you're referring to the manual aiming mode, then yes, you must press the R button and then use the analog stick. I'm not sure where you got 4 from though.

    button mashing contests to shoot monsters first

    Not exactly. Sometimes if there's a horde of beetles or wasps or something, then it does get frantic. But most of the time this is not the case. In fact, most of your time isn't really spent dispatching enemies in a frag-fest like most FPS. It's more like Metroid on the SNES, where you have to take out some creature roaming around on a platform you'd like to jump onto. Exploration and platforming are key to Metroid Prime.

    you cannot look up or down and walk at the same time

    This is true, but it hasn't been a problem for me. The jumping/platforming in Metroid is quite good and not nearly as frustrating as it normally is in a FPS-- probably because it isn't like most FPS.

    just to keep the hideous hud from blinding me

    You can adjust the HUD's opacity in the options menu.

  5. Re:I'm not too worried on ICANN Eliminates Karl Auerbach's Seat · · Score: 1

    Just FYI, your script is biased to generate octets that are between your two bounds.

    Eg: if the scaled random is 0 to 0.4999 you will have octect=0. If it is between 0.5 and 1.4999 you have octect=1. Thus you can see:

    P(octect=1) = 2 * P(octect=0)

  6. Re:advice backed by practical experience on Designing Computer Animation Software? · · Score: 1

    You didn't finish your thoughts there, but I don't think there's anything wrong with an incremental waterfall design process. Flesh out the overall architecture first, then implement functionality phases incrementally. During each phase you may discover your original design wasn't perfect, but I think you'd be better off that way then just starting to throw things together like you're seeming to suggest.

  7. Re:currency tracking hardly needs rfids on Greenbacks No More · · Score: 1

    If they had any sense at all, they would just keep track of which serial numbers they had allocated. So if someone scans in an unused one, it would immediately be flagged as invalid.

    As far as the store clerk not being able to tell that the printable and bar-code serial numbers do not match: who cares. The scanner could easily display the decoded version on a computer screen. Besides, with the current situation, it's not like most clerks analyze the ink composition while the customer is in line.

    All that needs to be done is flag a purchase with a bad or duplicate bill along with the customer's identity. Once they can analyze the data trails and see where the bad dollars originated, they can (theoretically) nail the source. Also, if they've marked a bad bill by serial, then they can get to work on inspecting the physical characteristics.

  8. Re:OT: DNS on South Africa Wants Control of .za · · Score: 1

    It depends on what the nameserver specifies. Each record has it's own TTL (time-to-live) value that specifies how long a nameserver is allowed to cache it. Typical values are like a day or so.

  9. Re:Common Sense... on South Africa Wants Control of .za · · Score: 1

    I'm only starting to read my DNS & BIND book, so anyone feel free to correct me, but...

    the US root servers would see a request for .za and know that it should send a secondary request to the .za root servers to resolve the IP

    You can already do that. Each subdomain can be a delegated zone, which means that when a query arrives at the name server it just replies with "I don't know exactly, but this guy does".

    When your local DNS tries to resolve "level.sub.za." it first goes to the root name server (if it doesn't have the information cached). The root replies that it doesn't know the exact IP, but give you back the DNS for the entire "za" TLD. Your local DNS then goes out to that DNS and asks the same question (what's the IP for "level.sub.za."? Once you get down to a non-delegated zone, the last name server can give you the actual answer.

    I doubt the root name servers themselves allow recursive lookups, since that would put incredible strain on them (and it would be impolite for your local DNS to ask in the first place). But your local DNS almost certainly uses it. Plus, contacting all those other name servers along the way gives your local DNS plenty of information to cache. For instance, say you wanted to lookup "level2.sub.za.". From the previous query, your DNS would already know the IP address for the authoritative name server for "sub.za." and issue only a single request this time.

  10. Nintendo price drop on PS2 Price May Fall, Gamecube Staying Put · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Meanwhile, Nintendo says it won't be making ANY price cuts before or during the show

    I'm still holding out for one, since at $149 to $129 (or dare I think it: $99) I would be incredibly happy to finally get one. Besides, just because Nintendo says they won't be cutting prices, doesn't mean that it won't happen. Hell, just 6 days ago Sony was saying they wouldn't be making any price cuts at E3:

    We're definitely comfortable at $299 ... I can't imagine that we need to change our strategy one iota.
    source
  11. Re:I don't get ... on MS Judge to Allow Demonstration of Modular Windows · · Score: 1

    I don't follow how the XBox is an example of a modularized version of Windows just because it uses the DirectX API. They took one component used in Windows and implemented it on a specially designed, fixed piece of hardware. As others have pointed out, that's an entirely different scenario than taking the current version of Windows, spliting it cleanly apart, and then reassembling it back together again and maintaining compatibility.

  12. Re:That would NOT be legal on Internal MP3 Server? 1 Million Dollars Please · · Score: 2, Informative

    ^^^ Mod parent up ^^^

    I know everyone is too lazy to copy-paste, so the section he refers to says:

    "The performance of a sound recording publicly by means of a digital audio transmission, other than as a part of an interactive service, is not an infringement of section 106(6) if the performance is part of -
    ...
    a transmission that comes within any of the following categories -
    ...
    a transmission within a business establishment, confined to its premises or the immediately surrounding vicinity;"

  13. Re:Huh? on Declawing Windows: Impossible? · · Score: 1

    Its an operating system, why on Earth is a Media Player a core technology?

    Because video/audio playback is something most consumers expect when they buy a computer. Sure, OEMs could stick in some custom 3rd party app to do the same job if they wanted, but then do you think support for audio/video would be so ubiquitous among Windows programs? If it wasn't as simple as telling the OS to render media type X, because you knew it was supported, do you think there would be so many apps like Morpheus that have a "preview media" button built in?

    The point is, MS has made media playback part of the core technology. It may be "fluff" to you, or to anyone who thinks an OS need only provide bare minimum functionality, but where do you draw the line? Personally I see the inclusion of such features as a good thing-- even if Media Player is the most unresponsive app I've ever had the misfortune to use.

  14. Re:Periods on Huygens' Clock Puzzle Solved · · Score: 1

    A related pheromonal phenomenon is the Lee-Boot effect. When groups of female mice are housed together their estrous cycles slow down and eventually stop until they are exposed to the scent of a male mouse or his urine.

  15. Re:Don't hate them because they're brilliant... on Cooperation Works if Majority Can Punish Freeloaders · · Score: 1

    Looking at the rest of your fine postings on /. I'm going to guess you're not really serious here, but I was going to post somewhere in this topic, so why not here...

    Where was most of the hostility toward the peer-to-peer file-sharing masses emanating form, if not form the hard-working, tech-ignorant, "ordinary joe" segment of society

    I'm pretty sure it came from the RIAA and similar, since "ordinary joe" seemed to be getting along just fine with Napster.

    As for the source of the "urge" to punish freeloaders, I would like to think it comes from the desire to promote well-being in general. If you're a freeloader you're not contributing anything positive to the system, and thus are expendable. Both for me and everyone else, we're better off either reforming you or removing you. I know that when I fire up WinMX and have a bunch of people in my Q, I'll cancel d/ls for those that aren't sharing to let the others through.

  16. Re:What happened on Microsoft Caught Rigging ZD Net Poll · · Score: 1

    ...or probably neither. Besides, what's wrong with promoting a little pride in one's company? I know around where I work, if one of my co-workers finds a personal website/review/whatever about one of our products, it gets circulated around for people to read. I know everyone here hates MS, and expects some big conspiracy when they're mentioned, but I don't see this as being any different.

  17. Re:Hilarious! on Review: Zoolander · · Score: 1

    > I thought the gasoline fight was a little bit of a stretch

    And the rest of the movie wasn't? Come on now, don't gripe about little things like that if you find this type of movie enjoyable.

  18. Re:Rember when you were asking me what irony ment? on Review: Zoolander · · Score: 1

    That's because movies like Zoolander are meant to entertain, while newscasts are supposed to be informative (not that they always are).

    Movies = fake, so it doesn't matter if the towers are there or not (excluding historical documentaries). News = real, so it's kind of hard to remove the towers right now. Nothing ironic at all in the removal process at all, just a consequence of each item's function.

  19. Re:WTC Removal on Review: Zoolander · · Score: 2, Insightful

    > Hollywood is afraid of having anything to do with it

    Wouldn't you if you wanted to produce something that was supposed to make people laugh? Zoolander is a ditzy, no-brains comedy that doesn't need to depress its audience with reminders of the terrorism that just happened. This movie isn't some sort of historical documentary, so either way, removed or not, the towers' appearance doesn't really matter.

    If this had something besides just another silly comedy, you might be able to talk about dishonoring memories (and others about Orwelian nightmares), but as it is it didn't matter one way or the other whether the towers were in this movie or not.

  20. Re:The underside on GameCube Hits the Street · · Score: 1

    The one lowest in your picture is for the broadband | dial-up modem. I don't think they've announced what the other ones are for yet.

  21. Re:Costs on GameCube Hits the Street · · Score: 2, Informative

    It will be $199.95 upon release in the US. That includes the main unit and one controller. I may have read that it also comes with a memory card, but I'm not sure about that.

    http://cube.ign.com/news/35091.html

  22. Re:Nintendo Inovations on GameCube Hits the Street · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Panasonic will also be releasing a DVD player that plays Gamecube games for around $300 in Japan. Not sure if it is supposed to come to the US or not.

    http://formen.ign.com/news/35095.html

  23. Re:Stupid Question time... on GameCube Hits the Street · · Score: 1

    Probably so they could have more hardware units available for the American launch. Also, there will be more launch titles available for the US release, which Nintendo of America may have been holding out for.

  24. Re:I think he's right. That doesn't make him a tro on Pirates! · · Score: 1

    There's a good reason they would like "500 words" on why you think it is lame. As it is now, you're just wasting everyone's time with a worthless post. There's nothing wrong with giving your opinion, but if you expect others to give a damn about it you might want to back it up a little.

    (PS: Extol means to praise, so "extolling the lameness" really makes no sense.)

  25. Re:Whatever happened to personal responsibility? on Gaming Companies Being Sued Over Columbine · · Score: 1

    Oh yes, please, let's drag abortion into this too.

    I really don't think there's too many parents who tell their children, "we got pregnant little Timmy, but we don't want our unborn child, so we're going to kill her."