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User: barfy

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  1. Superfast worm... on Facebook Is Down · · Score: 1

    Just before it all went haywire, a bunch of my friends started getting videos pasted to their wall "What are you doing?". I am guessing that spawned ever more pastings until it went bonkers.

    The videos all pointed to apps.facebook.com but I don't remember and didn't capture the url.

    Shortly thereafter the videos were gone, and the postings were gone, so I suspect that they are getting both a handle on the outage, and then shut stuff down while they fix the code.

  2. This doesn't crack blu-ray... on HDCP Master Key Is Legitimate; Blu-ray Is Cracked · · Score: 1

    It allows you to create a device that connects the outgoing HDMI port on your Blu-ray player or computer that is going to your TV.

    This doesn't allow anybody to copy a blu-ray disk at all. It allows you to make an HDMI device without a license.

    A device to copy a stream is likely not to be cheap, the resultant output stream TONS bigger than the original Blu-ray, and will have to be re-ripped into somekind of hi def format and stored. All of this to take HOURS and some sophistication to pull off.

    This isn't "unlocked" blu-ray like DeCss does to DVD's.

    It is very unlikely that any device created will make it to market without being sued out of existence. It is very unlikely that you will get better results than the 144 dollar HDMI/VGA dongle would allow you to create.

    It is interesting as a hack. As a practical thing, this isn't de-CSS. Not even close.

  3. Re:People have all the privacy they want: on Anti-Google Video Runs In Times Square · · Score: 1

    It's "ain't"" not "are"...

    Though it SHOULD be. TANSTAAFI. Ice Cream. Not Lunch.

  4. Sigh... on New Silicon-Based Memory 5X Denser Than NAND Flash · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    I don't trust universities anymore. If even ONE of the stupid battery things ever made it to market, then I would be excited.

    Show me the product. Otherwise, I want a white one. One with all the gee bees and wai fais.

  5. I think hackers are responsible for on Misconfigured Networks Main Cause of Breaches · · Score: 1

    most of the break-ins.

  6. Wouldn't the moon make WAY more sense. on The Best Near-Term Future of Space Exploration? · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Ok, the real deal here is manufacturing facilities, not mining per se. There are TONS of asteroids all over the moon, that could be used for early mining to support manufacturing on the moon.

    And really the best way to "mine" the asteroid belt as one said in reference to hauling stuff, would be fishing for stones, and then hauling them back to the moon. Thrown down where it would be safe enough, but far enough from the manufacturing facility, and then hauled mined and manufactured back there.

    THis would of course be multiphase and requires just tons of energy. Nuclear batteries are not likely to create enough energy, and other forms of nuclear energy require ALOT of water. So we have a basic problem in creating MINING and MANUFACTURING levels of energy. Energy to create steel for instance. Without water or internal combustion engines, it becomes tough to make that amount of energy.

  7. Re:I don't think this will make a difference on EPA Proposes Grading System For Car Fuel Economy · · Score: 1

    And you represent 99% of the experience? That is pretty bold of you to think that. There are tons of things that people do, and I know a bunch of people that will juggle the range of cars and features and price that they want with the current ratings. The newer ratings provide even more information like comparison to class.

    It may or may not make a difference in their decision, but to say that it won't is naive. Just like believing everyone is like you.

  8. Ok, all of the negative stuff is... on EPA Proposes Grading System For Car Fuel Economy · · Score: 1

    It won't make any difference. Then why the complaint?

    I suspect it will indeed make a difference. People will get a story going forward. There is already experience in the marketplace that labels like this work. Energy Star being the biggest example.

    The fact is, that the labels do provide a wide variety of information. This along with features, price and lust will make a difference (If we were all about features and price we would all be driving Kia Amanti's but very very few people do).

    There are a universe of new cars out there, and the car industry cannot be trusted to provide much objective information that can be compared to other cars. Information that may or may not be useful to all customers, but for some and I would propose a significant number of customers, they will look and understand the information. If presented in a way that makes sense.

    I think the comparisons between all cars, like cars, and cars in its class pretty much provide the information that is most likely to be valuable.

    If you don't think it will work, who cares? If you think it will cause harm, by all means speak up.

    But I really do not think that you should limit the information about cars to that just limited by the manufacturer or the car dealer. To do so, actually does provide harm to the customers. And to expect them to all go to some third party doesn't make sense either. Only a small amount of consumers do that. That is why were are not all driving Ford Taurus's.

  9. Re:This would be a correct ruling... on Prosecutor Loses Case For Citing Wikipedia · · Score: 1

    I think that you will find that not true in many many fields. Because the experts or authorities see the garbage that is written there and correct it. I have no idea why you would bother to complain about your area here, when you could spend the very moderate amount of time to correct, enhance, or replace the article in your field.

  10. This would be a correct ruling... on Prosecutor Loses Case For Citing Wikipedia · · Score: 4, Insightful

    While the Wikipedia site is *likely* to be true. Likely to have been written by an expert and an authority on the subject. There is absolutely no guarantee of it's verity or authority.

    For legal argument, the site would be an excellent place to start. It is easy to search, and the articles are written in quick scannable ways which would make research fast and quick. BUT, that research should *LEAD* to legally sound authority and more complete argument on any topic.

    It would be horrible, horrible for the law to place Wikipedia on the pedestal of authority, and it would be bad for the public which wikipedia only exists because of its structure.

  11. As the kid's say... on The Strange Case of Solar Flares and Radioactive Decay Rates · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    This is really gross. Seriously. All the marijuana smoking pseudo physics guys on /. are going. "Woah".

    This is a really big macro affect, that hadn't been discovered yet, and it effects out understanding of Radioactive decay and Neutrino (flux) action.

    This is the kinda stuff that turns people into superheroes, and shit.

    This simply doesn't happen every day.

  12. This is about VoIP. on Verizon Hints At Scrapping Unlimited Data Plans · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Unlimited Data ultimately means that VoIP wins and the entire pricing structure for cell phones is over.

    Cellular "minutes", must still be worthwhile or cell carriers are over.

    This will be a big hit for mobile internet radio.

  13. The real reason for the data cap... on Sleeping iPhones Send Phantom Data · · Score: 0

    All of the crap and tap dancing about data caps comes down to one thing. Phone calls.

    ATT is very very worried about SKYPE. Data caps allow them to still be in the minutes selling business. If these things become pure data machines, then they eventually lose.

  14. Re:Who the hell would trust this? on Lenovo Trying Face Recognition For Logins On New Laptops · · Score: 1

    It is something you know: password a secret question.
    Something you have: a key, a dongle, a passcard.
    Something you are: biometrics of some sort.

  15. Tons of things do it. on A File-Centric Photo Manager? · · Score: 1

    Iphoto, picassa, lightroom, aperture.

    Besides finding bits of useful metadata in exif, filename, date, and content, the biggest issue will be able to wade through the data quickly and in human time.

    Lightroom is available for Beta. If you have the images, try it with say Picasso. This should give you a good enough feeling as to whether you should pay for it.

    But products like lightroom and aperture are exactly designed for your problem.

  16. Two words... on Sega To Bring Dreamcast Titles to PSN, Xbox Live · · Score: 1

    Samba Di Amigo, and Seaman....

    I could finally ditch my dream cast.

  17. High Empathy, Low Sympathy... on Students Show a Dramatic Drop In Empathy · · Score: 1

    I have always had these traits, and while I feel your pain, I don't comfort that much. I can explain it, I can tell whats going to happen next, and I can feel your motivations, I just don't provide the shoulder.

    This has worked really well for all sorts of things, but I have never thought that high empathy wasn't self-centered. Just because I can sense what you are feeling, doesn't mean I give a damn.

  18. Lets not let this go like Anti-venom on New Ebola Drug 100% Effective In Monkeys · · Score: 1

    Let's somehow keep this around, unlike coral snake anti-venom which is months away from being lost.

  19. Good, this means we will get to arrest some people on Long Odds For Online Gaming Legislation In US · · Score: 1

    Send them to jail, before we legalize it.

    Nice.

  20. 79% on Using Twitter Data To Approximate a Telephone Survey · · Score: 1

    That is NOT nearly correlated? That is BARELY correlated. And will not get you meaningful results. This will also stop being meaningful as soon as it is publicized people are paying attention to the content of the tweets.

    Cripes.

  21. These are NOT big numbers. on 13 Open Source Hardware Companies Make $1+ Million · · Score: 1

    A billion dollars is not a big number, and not really worthy of tooting ones horn over. Are you kidding me? And 50 million dollars for an industry isn't even enough to launch a magazine over. Wow.

  22. No IP if it is worth it? on Can We Legislate Past the H.264 Debate? · · Score: 1

    No to patents, if it gets in the way or makes things tough? Really? Then the value of patents is zero?

    This is not the right argument.

  23. Both... on Best Seating Arrangement For a Team of Developers? · · Score: 1

    Seriously. The coders need to be in offices, with doors that are mostly open, and central spaces to talk and mingle, and tons of white boards.

    There will be time to talk, time to think, time to type, time to test, time to recover. There is no one best at all times, but you need to provide best at all times. If you skimp, then you cost yourself maximum productivity.

    We did this best by having a ring of offices surrounding test and support, with a large conference room.

    Having test and support nearby developers helped a lot. Test and support didn't tend to need as much "quiet and focus" as developers, but having close access to test and support, meant that there feedback, and listening to development helped get the product out better faster.

  24. Did you notice on NASA Solar Satellite's First Sun Images · · Score: 1

    That little thing in the lower left side of the sun. It is a perfect rectangle. It couldn't be made in nature. It must be a door!

  25. Are you kidding? on Android Copy of Young Woman Unveiled In Japan · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is exactly the valley. It looks like a robot. The valley is huge, and it won't be solved by 12 actuators. Unless you're mostly blind.