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User: EastCoastSurfer

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  1. Re:Upgrading on Mac Tax, Dell Tax, HP Tax · · Score: 1

    I mostly agree with you. When I bought my SR MBP a couple years ago it was priced about the same as a comparable dell only because the MBP had just been refreshed.

    Nowadays the market has continued to change and prices have dropped even more. Apple really needs to get some lower cost options out there. I looked at the current 15" MBP today and am amazed that anyone would but it for $1999.

  2. Re:Enough already! on Locating the Real MySQL · · Score: 1

    ARRG! The nightmares you just invoked from a job I had while in college. The company I worked for had written a multi-user system in Access (at the time I didn't know any better lol), but access ('95 I think) wasn't really capable of being multi-user. Many a late nights were spent at client sites cleaning up the mess that ensued.

    To this day I refuse to use Access in any way, shape or form.

  3. Re: catering to people who upgrade on Mac Tax, Dell Tax, HP Tax · · Score: 1

    I agree with you except on 3 things. Monitors, RAM, and HDs should *always* be user upgradable.

    Video cards would be next and processors are a distant 3rd, although these aren't usually upgraded by most.

  4. Re:Enough already! on Locating the Real MySQL · · Score: 1

    If only someone had looked at AIG's database!

    Hahaha, the problem is that AIG was most likely using Excel as a database and that is actually a few steps worse than using MySQL as a database.

  5. Re:There is money and publicity on The Global Warming Heretic · · Score: 1

    Truth is, a totally free market doesn't work, at least, it doesn't work unless you happen to be at top of the corporate food chain. In a previous century they called that laissez faire [reference.com], and it didn't work.

    A free market works fine when it is free. What we have now is a bastard child of regulated and free that we are getting the worse of both worlds from. No free market would have a government setting interest rates and printing money at will. The very base of our economy (money) is not free (and hasn't been for a long time) and it is one of the main drivers of the mess we are now in.

  6. Re:Man-made global warming is a hoax? on The Global Warming Heretic · · Score: 1

    Junk science is a good name for a climate change denying website funded by oil and energy money. Every one of your "facts" are rubbish. Why bother with the "man-made" if climate change is a hoax?

    His facts link back to many websites, including gov. sites and other more balanced sites and you offer up what?

    The sad thing is that we have everyone fighting CO2 and ignoring many of the other real pollutants out there (mercury in the oceans for example). How about we just start picking up our trash and cleaning up the environment and then start worrying about CO2?

  7. Re:Here we go again on Going Deep Inside Xserve Apple Drive Modules · · Score: 1

    Bingo, we had to replace a drive in an older server not too long ago and if we hadn't had a support contract I'm not sure we could have found a matching drive. Technology moves so fast that sometimes you need to pay in order to still find older tech (stuff from 5 years ago or whatever). Since the support contracts are going up so much in price we're slowly replacing all the older servers.

  8. Re:Meh on iPhone 3G Finally Available In US Contract-Free · · Score: 1

    I used to the same way until I got the iPhone (any other smart phone will probably do). It's nice not having to open the laptop to check email, maps, or quick fact check. It's also nice having things like books, RSS feeds, etc... in your pocket whenever you are stuck waiting for someone/something. The contact syncing is also nice. I add a contact to the iphone, google, or address book and it shows up in the other 2 almost immediately. Last trip I took I had a couple movies and music on the phone where my other friends brought laptops for the same function (and still had to carry phones).

    It's lots of little things like above that make having a smart phone worth it.

  9. Re:Wow. Are we still this rich? on iPhone 3G Finally Available In US Contract-Free · · Score: 1

    Well your usage is extremely low. What would you pay if you used between 500-1000 texts/month + 1200 or so minutes and then 500-1000mb of data?

  10. Re:So it's true on iPhone 3G Finally Available In US Contract-Free · · Score: 1

    Rumor is there will be hardware to go along with it. The biggest change could be the addition HDSPA to get the 3g data rates up to 7.2Mbps

  11. Do It! on With a Computer Science Degree, an Old Man At 35? · · Score: 2, Informative

    I have a good friend who did exactly what you're describing. We actually met in the CS program in college. He's now an IT manager doing very well. One of things he did well was take his previous work experience and leverage it in useful ways in IT.

    I say go for it.

  12. Re:I've never understood the UNIX world's fascinat on "Slacker DBs" vs. Old-Guard DBs · · Score: 1

    I'm trying not to seem offensive, but it very much looks like a paradigm problem - it seems that it's in human nature that they can't wrap their heads around new things past a certain age. And yes, I notice it in myself also.

    I'm not sure if it is so much age or experience. The things you know end up boxing you in and it can be hard to overcome.

  13. Re:Wow... on Mississippi Passes Law To Ban Traffic Light Cameras · · Score: 2, Informative

    In SC they recently passed a law for motorcycles. You can treat red lights like stop signs in certain situations. I don't remember all the details (I don't have a motorcycle), but it was written to address the situation you are talking about.

  14. Re:Read the DOE Report on 'Cold Fusion' =They fund on 20 Years After Cold Fusion Debut, Another Team Claims Success · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Not necessarily. Back in the day people had no idea how beer was made (and it wasn't always directly repeatable) but somehow the fermenting process started and beer was formed. Only later did scientists realize it was free flying yeast that got into the vats of mash that were out in the open.

    I'm not saying this new CF is real, but looking for the yeast is how discoveries are made.

  15. Re:PROFIT!!! on Want a Science Degree In Creationism? · · Score: 1

    Or you could just teach your kids the fundamentals of critical thought; presumably they will learn to read at school and not grow up to look at the world in black and white.

    Exactly! This is what my parents taught me (not sure how since they didn't do it explicitly), and it has guided me to question everything and be naturally curious.

    I was the kid that asked 'why' in Sunday school and was never satisfied with 'because' or 'the bible says so'.

  16. Re:It seems ironic... on Ballmer Scorns Apple As a $500 Logo · · Score: 1

    Sell the iMac. Macs seem to have a great secondary market.

  17. Re:It seems ironic... on Ballmer Scorns Apple As a $500 Logo · · Score: 1

    They STILL after over 12 years DO NOT HAVE A HEADLESS MID RANGE MAC.

    And they probably never will. Apple seems to have made the bet that laptops were the direction that computers were moving. The numbers seemed to have proved them right with laptop sales finally moving past desktop sales. At this point only the absolute cheapest (mini) buyers or the true desktop needing power (macpro) buyers are buying desktops.

  18. Re:PROFIT!!! on Want a Science Degree In Creationism? · · Score: 1

    A complete history book should probably also mention that Reagan gave a number speeches in which he made extravagant, if somewhat simple-minded, claims about the superiority of the USA to other countries (notably the USSR) - and that these speeches were very popular with certain (primarily US) demographics. Such information is factual and is properly the domain of public school education.

    You may, however, also feel that a public school education should include speculation as to Reagan's role in bringing about the end of the cold war. As long the speculation was clearly labeled as speculation, I would not disagree. On the other hand, if you are advocating presenting the speculation as fact then, IMHO, you fall into the same category as the creationists who want their mythology presented as fact in public schools.

    I agree. I used the Reagan example because it was the freshest in my head. I had read the other day about some history books that had entire sections on the cold war with Gorbachav, etc... and no mention of Reagan. Even if you think he had zero to do with the end of the cold war he still has to be mentioned in the conversation as the in control when it all went down.

  19. Re:PROFIT!!! on Want a Science Degree In Creationism? · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Come off it - the people demanding the ability to grant degrees in "Creation Science" are the ones trolling the rest of the country, and trying to ruin the educatio system.

    True, but it's not just the creationists. Education in this country is being ruined by everyone with an agenda. Look at the history books that refuse to mention Reagan when addressing the cold war. It's the same type of thing, just from a different groups agenda.

    I don't have kids yet, but I've already started thinking about how I will teach them all the things that schools either leave out or PC up. The problem is that to do it right it's going to be nearly a full time job doing research.

  20. Re:A better solution on Taxpayers Fund AIG Lawsuit Against US · · Score: 1

    Everyone is happy.

    Except the banks and credit unions who didn't fail who get screwed when the NCB starts offering below market rates to 'help struggling families' buy houses.

  21. Re:Is anyone surprised? on Taxpayers Fund AIG Lawsuit Against US · · Score: 1

    Basicly, letting AIG fail would not just crash the American economy. It would crash the world economy.

    I just don't buy it. To me it seems like a fear mongering so that the rich people who are friendly with the government don't loose their asses. It's also a great cover for a huge government power grab.

    Reminds me of all the crying that lending had/has stopped. It was complete BS. I knew multiple who had zero problems getting loans. I know companies that had no problems getting the loans. The people/companies that couldn't get loans were ones that shouldn't have been getting them in the first place.

  22. Re:Is anyone surprised? on Taxpayers Fund AIG Lawsuit Against US · · Score: 1

    Deflation will lead to a depression.

    Citation please. Over the course of history depression has also had deflation, but deflation has occurred many times without depression.

    The problem with deflation in our current situation is the amount of debt most people have. When the average american is 10k in credit card debt deflation (where prices and wages fall) will kill them.

  23. Re:Is anyone surprised? on Taxpayers Fund AIG Lawsuit Against US · · Score: 1

    Yes, the New Deal made the Great Depression a little worse, but it also kept people from dying of hunger or maybe only losing every bit of wealth and happiness they had been building up in their life.

    The great depression was made worse and deeper by the new deal. The country would have recovered fast enough that few people would have been harmed. Look at the depression in the early 1920s. The government at the time specifically said it would not do anything because the bubble needed to bust. The bubble burst, things unwound and the country was once again on its way.

  24. Re:Is anyone surprised? on Taxpayers Fund AIG Lawsuit Against US · · Score: 1

    The problem with letting giant corporations fail is all the jobs lost after a corporation of that size collapses rather than have it slowly deteriorate over time.

    AIG had/has plenty of profitable functioning units that would have been grabbed at a bankruptcy hearing. Some people would have lost their jobs, but no more than if AIG merged with some other company. The worst part of the bailout is that by preventing the company from being broken up the bad parts are destroying the good parts. By the time this is done you are right that all the jobs will be lost and the cause will be the gov. intervention.

  25. Re:Is anyone surprised? on Taxpayers Fund AIG Lawsuit Against US · · Score: 1

    What's wrong with deflation? If you look at history deflation != depression. Now its true that when we have had depressions they came along with deflation, but the reverse is not true.

    The reason why deflation is seen as bad now is because we have encouraged everyone to carry loads of debt. The problem is that this is eventually unsustainable. Each individual can only take on so much debt before it has to finally be repaid.