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User: squeegee_boy

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Comments · 55

  1. Avgas or grass?

  2. Re:Compared to what? on Why It's Bad That Smartphones Have Banished Boredom · · Score: 1

    I have learned a few things: apparently obama has signed a doctrine for complete control, they want to warehouse children with disabilities and the UN is going to force it, and apparently there's a war on christianity that nobody invited me to.

    Oh, and Fort Knox is used to store nothing but tear gas now, replacing all the gold that Obama gave away, or something. And nothing, repeat nothing has been invented in the US for over a decade, and China invents everything now, and the armed revolution is coming so buy your stores now...

    ^ That was from a weird Englishman and his tragically uncoordinated wife during a lunch break at a firearms safety course I attended (prerequisite for a license in Canada, otherwise I don't think they would have been there). The rest of us privately voted them the most likely to blow their own feet off with their own weapons.

  3. Re:More like a "bed that straightens out a sheet" on Company Creates a Self-Making Bed · · Score: 1
  4. I don't know about the Bitcoin connection... on Increased Power Usage Leads to Mistaken Pot Busts for Bitcoin Miners · · Score: 5, Informative
    ...but the grow-op "inspections" in Mission, B.C. are quite real:

    Article

    It's an attempted end-run around obtaining a search warrant, which would require more than just higher than average power consumption. The way it works is the municipality sends a bylaw inspector to a home for a "safety inspection" after someone notices that the power consumption at the residence is higher than it should be.

    The inspector can't force his way in, but a bit of bullying and a stern "What have you got to hide?" or "I'll come back with a warrant and make your week difficult" is often all that's necessary, especially if the homeowner in question isn't actually doing anything wrong, and isn't used to dealing with stuff like this. The inspector brings along a police escort for "safety and security." Convenient.

    The inspector looks around, and if he finds a grow op, well, hey, lookee here, the police just happened to be down the hall! Now they don't need a search warrant because it wasn't "a police search."

    If the inspector finds nothing illegal, he (often but not always) presents the homeowner in question with a bill for the inspection, which can range from $5k to $10k.

    Good news though: A few days ago, the BC Supreme Court has issued a giant "fark you" to the practice:

    Article

  5. Re:true for a whole century. on How Today's Tech Alienates the Elderly · · Score: 1

    I made the display on my PVR blink "12:00." Just 'cuz.

  6. Re:Uh... on How Your Username May Betray You · · Score: 1

    [Cat-like typing detected]

  7. Re:To the HR department on Why Mirroring Is Not a Backup Solution · · Score: 0, Redundant

    I lol'd :)

  8. Re:To the HR department on Why Mirroring Is Not a Backup Solution · · Score: 2, Funny

    OK, you hire him first. I think he's available.

  9. To the HR department on Why Mirroring Is Not a Backup Solution · · Score: 5, Funny

    Important note: don't hire the IT dude with Journalspace.com on his resume.

  10. Re:Storage Density?? on Toshiba To Launch "Super Charge" Batteries · · Score: 1

    Energy consumption of all of those devices, in comparison to the drive motor, is the watt-hour equivalent of chicken feed. Seriously. Your driving style will make a FAR bigger difference to the range than any normal accessory load.

  11. Re:Myth on Ultracapacitors Soon to Replace Many Batteries? · · Score: 5, Informative
    >>As far as I'm concerned, if the battery loses the ability to store the same amount of power as it did when you first bought it, then it has a problem with battery memory.


    Memory is a very specific occurrence in very specific conditions with a very specific type of cell (sintered plane nickel-cadmium). It exists. You've never seen it.

    >>I have an 2 year old cell phone that doesn't hold a charge at all and it has a lithium battery.

    It's not memory. It's worn out (too many cycles) or reached the end of its calendar life (since manufacturing, not since you bought it - newer-generation LiIon cells are much better at this aspect). Or both. All cells do this eventually. 2-3 years for a consumer grade cell is not at all unusual. Yes, there are exceptions; I own a few of them.

    Capacitors have a lifespan of "functionally forever." You're right: perfected, they'll be a whole lot better than any type of cell we have now.

    R

  12. Re:As big an RT fan as I am... on Robotech Heading to Big Screen, Starring Toby Maguire · · Score: 1
    Dances with Breetai


    I sooo want that on a T-shirt.

  13. Re:PHEV already exist on Google Spends Money to Jump-Start Hybrid Car Development · · Score: 1
    >>What is the electric only range of a standard Prius battery pack? I can't believe it's more than 10 miles. IMO, 30-40 miles is the minimum we should be talking about in order to drop fuel use by 75+%.


    It's actually more like 3-5 miles on all-electric with the stock pack. Getting more than that requires adding more cells. Aftermarket kits are available for ~USD$12,000 last I checked. It's really just a large LiIon pack that fits in the trunk well, a charger, and the necessary outside electrical bits. Nothing changes in the software; the battery just reports "I'm fully charged" for a lot longer than the standard pack, and thus the software runs on the electric motor for longer. ~30 miles on all electric.

  14. Re:Expensive! on Kodak Challenges HP's Printer Sales Model · · Score: 2, Informative
    Don't forget that you have to throw away the cartridges and buy new ones every time you decide to print photos (since you only want to do so occasionally) because the ink will have dried out, rendering the cartridge useless.


    Do lots of people leave their inkjets in front of a south facing window or something? I print only a few photos a month, if that, and I've never had this problem in the 3 years I've owned it. Not once. Canon i960 with the 6 separate inks, if that matters. My Mom's old i860 was the same (until the electrical part of the head went, but that's another matter). Maybe integrated-printhead cartridges are worse for this? I dunno, but my printer is in a cool, dark cabinet. I have a Laserjet 4000 with a duplexer for text work.

  15. Re:What is GM doing? on GM Working on Feasible Electric Car · · Score: 1
    >>It's not the same at all. Diesel trains don't use batteries to drive the train

    Well, MOST of them don't. Some do.

  16. Re:Sims 2 is the least of my problems... on Sims 2 Hacks Spread Like Viruses · · Score: 1

    So did I. She loves it. Unfortunately she *also* needed a new vid card to even play it... So much for my EB credit. Maybe that's the plot.

  17. Re:Wow..! on Which VNC Software Is Best? · · Score: 1
    Sure it does. I use localhost:5000, with that notation. I'm doing it right now. Works great for connecting to WTS & RD.

    The rest of my configuration is pretty much identical to yours.

  18. Re:Psst... on PVR's Head-to-Head: MythTV vs. Microsoft MCE · · Score: 1

    From TivoCanada's front page:

    Plus it is a million times easier to pay for listings than doing these hacks.

    That pretty much sums it up. My effort is far better spent on Myth, which is perfectly supported in Canada.

  19. Re:cost? on PVR's Head-to-Head: MythTV vs. Microsoft MCE · · Score: 1

    All you say is true, except for that pesky B) which assumes a US listing is accurate. They aren't, not even close. Plus the channel numbers are different. Useless AFAIC.

    Still, if I'm going to spend the time, I'd rather spend it with Myth, which does things no STB can, and enables me to put the rip-snorting backend with the multiple tuners in it in a closet. Ahh silence :)

  20. Re:Psst... on PVR's Head-to-Head: MythTV vs. Microsoft MCE · · Score: 1

    Psst, I know. :) I did plenty of homework before jumping into Myth. TivoCanada's approach is OK at best, and besides, Myth does quite a lot more than a Tivo can anyway (videos, games if I want, weather service, multiple frontends (this is a biggie), as many tuners as i can afford, etc. Unless of course I string together many Tivo's...

    No... No! no more expensive hobbies! :P

  21. Re:cost? on PVR's Head-to-Head: MythTV vs. Microsoft MCE · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Has anyone 'rolled their own' and have a price/features overview? Is it worth it yet?

    Well, since I can't get Tivo service at any price (Canada), Myth works better for me. It's cost me well over $1500 so far, but that's for a 3-tuner backend and two frontends. Not too bad for 3 complete computers.

    It sure as heck didn't save me any time, but I learned waaay more than I ever wanted to know about video on Linux. You probably won't ever same money on a roll-your-own, but for me and others, money isn't entirely the whole story :)

  22. Re:Argh! Dilemma! on Linux Kernel 2.6.7 Released · · Score: 1

    I have 382.7 days uptime on 2.6.6. Beat that.

    Also, my resume says I have 10 years experience with .NET ...

  23. Re:Gee... on Researchers To Climb Ararat To Seek Noah's Ark · · Score: 1

    No, the *love* of money is the root of all kinds of evil. I do love money, though.

  24. Re:Auto Applications on iPod Mini Autopsy · · Score: 1

    Yeah, the connection (I think it was actually a cassette adapter) was a pretty big letdown. Especially since the factory head unit in my '97 Golf actually had a CD-in minijack on the front. Though it's not the integration we wish for, it's miles ahead of a modulator or cassette adapter.

  25. Re:oh sure, great... on Broadband Over Power Lines: Coming Soon? · · Score: 1

    Well, yeah, but i replace them with ones of the same spec. Thus I can be assured that nothing will die/malfunction (except, of course, total hardware failure somewhere else in the unit).

    BTW, $CAD110 is about $USD90.