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User: ragnar

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Comments · 487

  1. Re:Away with barcodes and in with RFID on Wal*Mart continues push for RFID adoption · · Score: 1

    Good point. I suspect that the barcode would only be removed once the RFID system works reliably, sort of like how price tags were on items even after the UPC system was universal.

  2. Re:Corporations do not care about your rights on Wal*Mart continues push for RFID adoption · · Score: 1

    I'm not being a jerk, here but I don't understand. What is the issue about something being RF sensitive?

  3. Re:why? on Wal*Mart continues push for RFID adoption · · Score: 1

    Why would you want to remove the tag?

  4. why? on Wal*Mart continues push for RFID adoption · · Score: 1

    Why would you want to destroy these at the store? If you feel so strongly, remove the tag after you leave the store.

  5. Re:Corporations do not care about your rights on Wal*Mart continues push for RFID adoption · · Score: 1

    Were you out there protesting bar codes in the 80s? I think walmart is evil as well, and I don't patronize them, but why should I care if they use RFID tags? What is the harm in tagging the products?

  6. Re:Privacy?? on Wal*Mart continues push for RFID adoption · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I agree with you. When barcodes were picking up momentum in the mid 80s I remember some people getting all weird about them. It is as if they expected the government to mandate a tatoo of a barcode on everybody. It didn't happen and it won't happen.

    Big clue to the paranoid people out there... the government has you right where they want you. You pay taxes and generally don't create a nuisance. Anything more is gravy.

  7. Re:Away with barcodes and in with RFID on Wal*Mart continues push for RFID adoption · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The barcode still has one significant advantage over RFID. Sometimes a code doesn't scan (smudged ink or whatnot) and the cashier can manually key in the number. With RFID I suspect it would require some form of product lookup, or sending someone to grab another like-item off the shelf. I wonder if Walmart is calculating the failure rate into the cost model?

  8. Re:Dock on Tog Takes on Mac OS X 10.3 · · Score: 1

    While technically true, image you are a novice user and you drag something out of the dock. Poof! It disappears. This would be terribly confusing and disorienting. I think Tog is right when he suggests that moving an icon from the dock to the desktop should move the thing, be it an alias or the real thing. On one level all of the icons are aliases to some file inode, but we are comfortable with that abstraction.

  9. Yes, very good on Lego Goes Back to the Basics: Building Blocks · · Score: 1

    I have fond memories of building all manner of things with my lego sets. For reasons I don't know, I didn't have transformers (model planes & cars that transform into action figures), so I used my legos to build my own. Before you think this sounds lame, I actually liked it. I made space ships, fortresses and all sorts of cool things. Ah... the sweet memory of childhood.

  10. Re:Insurance? on Earthquake Prediction Months In Advance · · Score: 1

    They do this already with hurricane and flood insurance on the east coast. If a storm is coming you can't get insurance until after it passes.

  11. Re:Interesting on USAF Wants To Find Steganographic Content · · Score: 1

    Yep, planning a prison break is a good example. LOL. I'll keep that one handy in case I get thrown into the clink, however for the rest of humanity I still think we are better served by improving the system than by creating a smoke screen.

  12. Re:Interesting on USAF Wants To Find Steganographic Content · · Score: 1

    Why are you interested in creating a smoke screen? I have always been of the opinion that anyone who wants to attempt to crack my encrypted material is welcome to try. If they succeed then it represents a security failure in the chain. Fine. Now we just have to improve the encryption or the means by which we keep our keys secret.

    In short, rather than creating a smokescreen of false positives for their system, why not take it as an incentive to improve stenography.

  13. Re:It's about skills 99.9%, only to the short sigh on Getting Over the Stigma of a Previous Job? · · Score: 1

    You have to pick your battles and it sounds like you have chosen your battle, but don't assume that everyone who wants to earn a good wage and live in a nice house is a sell out.

  14. Re:It's about skills, 99.9% on Getting Over the Stigma of a Previous Job? · · Score: 1

    Talk with your previous supervisor and ask him for a letter of recommendation. Offer to write it yourself and let him revise it if he desires. Ask him to include his contact information as a personal reference. While the company chooses not to make an official statement about the quality of your work, there is no reason why your supervisor can't do so.

  15. Re:Skipping Overt Ads Will Lead To Covert Marketin on The State of Automated Commercial Skipping · · Score: 1

    Good points. I personally address this issue by not connecting an antenna to my television, but I'm concerned about advertising in movies. In short, my eyeballs aren't for sale, but there are some occasions where I find it difficult to keep my gaze pure of influence. It isn't like I'm some automaton who will obey advertising, but I don't like the influence.

  16. Re:Missed this media trend: on NYT: 14 Media & Technology Convergence Trends · · Score: 1

    Every once in a while I need a reality check, as I don't have a television antenna (I watch movies at home). I'm amazed anyone watches anymore. Recently at a theatre I was aghast at the advertisements. I think I'll write a letter to my local theatre and vote with my feet if things don't improve.

  17. Re:Next Gen DVD specs to stop/slow copying... on Tech Titans Prepare to Battle Over Next DVD Format · · Score: 1

    Never underestimate the ability of the marketplace to fill people's desire to screw around with stuff. The first simple solution would be external writing devices. From a marketing standpoint, a new media format that is larger would be a hard sell. Progress tends to dictate that electronics get smaller, faster and increase in capacity (or at least two of the three).

  18. bravo on Wal-Mart Music Download Service Launches · · Score: 1

    I too boycott walmart and try to avoid other companies that upset me. Keep up the good fight.

  19. Re:The Ring on The Best and Worst Movies of 2003? · · Score: 3, Interesting

    My fiance doesn't go for scary movies, so I watched this one myself on DVD (I know VHS would be more apropos, but I'm hooked on the fidelity). I like to think I have a pretty firm grip on reality and have rarely seen a good horror film.

    In a word, The Ring kicked my ass. Let me just say I watched it with the lights on. ;)

  20. Re:Updating iTunes on iTunes 4.2 and QuickTime 6.5 · · Score: 1

    In my day, we had to install software on floppy disk. And we liked it!

  21. Re:Well... on Interview with Peter Jackson on LoTR Bloopers · · Score: 1

    I found Mystic River to be one of the best movies I've seen in years. The pacing and acting was incredible, even if it was a pretty depressing story.

  22. Re:Saddam not captured by U.S. but by kurds ? on Saddam Hussein Arrested · · Score: 1

    My intuition says that the Kurds would have killed him, after all the trouble they have endured. A more likely scenario in my opinion is that he was captured at least a month ago, but has been interrogated and tortured moderately to extract any intelligence while it is fresh. I read an interesting article in The Atlantic two months ago about how it is fairly common to detain the big catches (like Sheik Khalid Mohhamed) to obtain intelligence.

  23. Re:Over Time on A Return Of The King Review · · Score: 1

    Long was it Tolkien could not be done

    Agrees with you, Yoda does. :)

  24. Wow on We Are All Nerds Now · · Score: 1

    I wish I had some mod points. The next time someone calls me a dork, I'll point them to your description (at which point they will be impressed with what I know and correctly call me a nerd).

  25. Re:Roaming the Stacks on Remote-Controlled Robot Could Browse The Stacks · · Score: 1

    Good point. One of the defining aspects of the American library experience is the ability to walk the stacks. In many European libraries you have access to the card catalog (or digital equivalent). The process involves peering through the window of metadata in the catalog and requesting the book from library staff.

    Reverting to a metadata only search would decrease the possibility of unexpected discoveries from browsing the stacks. I believe many forms of digital books and organization systems focus too much on metadata for object retrieval and should emulate "walking the stack." I certainly don't think it is helpful to send a robot to do this task.