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User: Your+Pal+Dave

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Comments · 357

  1. 5 Story Building and a Case of Beer on What Can Be Done with a Tube Collection? · · Score: 1

    Need I say more?

  2. Re:handwriting analysis? on Bill Gates Handwriting Analyzed · · Score: 1
    Why people still believe this mumbo-jumbo is beyond me.


    Mumbo, perhaps.
    Jumbo.... perhaps not!
  3. Re:Nothing New on Windows XP Starter Edition Review · · Score: 1

    It sure did, and along with the other training videos it used about 11 MiB of HD space, which was not inconsequential in those days. One of the first things I used to do with one of those machines was delete those files to reclaim this space.

  4. Re:Toys today! on Top 100 Toys From The '70s or Thereabouts · · Score: 1

    When I was a child, there were times when we had to entertain
    ourselves. And usually the best way to do that was to turn on the TV.

    -- Jack Handey, "Deep Thoughts"

  5. Re:biodiesel my bet for future fuel on Green Energy Almost Cost-Competitive with Fossil Fuels · · Score: 1
    biodiesel costs more energy to make than you get back from it.

    Wrong:
    Biodiesel fuel yields 220% more energy than is required to produce it, including all the energy used in the agriculture, transportation and distribution. This occurs because the feedstock crop collects solar energy and transforms it into the biodiesel feedstock oil.

    The background for that quote is this report.
  6. Re:Consumer Reports pays cash on Truth in Advertising? · · Score: 1
    They do however tell you what specifically they are testing, how they test it, and how they rank them.

    About a dozen years ago when I was a member of a recreational-level bike club somebody brought a copy of the CR mountain bike review to the Monday night trail ride. The testing criteria were so bizarre that we ended up laughing our asses off.

    The problem is that a first-time buyer probably would not recognise the irrelevence of the tests, and might not make the best choice. They down-rated several bikes for superfluous and even silly reasons. such as being able to lock the brakes if you squeeze really hard.

    That said, at worst they would make a mediocre choice, as the CR tests usually will point out the real turds.
  7. Re:Speech to navigate on Rumored iPod Flash Leaked · · Score: 1

    In fact, this has been possible for a while with the open source Rockbox replacement firmware for Archos units. It is very popular with blind users, and also helpful if you use your player while driving.

  8. Re:Deep linking is still very much possible! on Google Revises Usenet Search · · Score: 1

    You could use the search by message ID function as a surrogate for deep linking:

    http://groups-beta.google.com/groups?selm= msg_id

    IMO this is an improve since the message ID is part of the original message and not dependant upon how the archive is arranged.

  9. Re:To get the comments out of the way on Adieu to Ken Jennings · · Score: 5, Funny

    Please state these in the form of a question.

  10. Re:Can anyone actually get sharpdevelop to run? on Delphi Renaissance · · Score: 1

    This can be caused by having an old version of Windows Scripting Host installed. You should have 5.6, or manually run the batch file as suggested by fiffilinus.

  11. Re:No thanks. on Microgenerators Coming Soon to Electronics Near You · · Score: 1
    I live near a refinery and more often than not they have a 50 foot pillar of flame coming off one or another of their towers. If it's so valuable, why are they just burning it? :-) I don't know how often I've thought, "Man, if they'd just pipe that stuff to my furnace, I'd never be cold again!".


    Unfortunately, the stuff that they are flaring contains a lot of inerts (CO2, N2) along with the hydrocarbons, making it unsellable. It would require more energy to purify out the remaining HC than the HC would yield. To make things worse, just releasing the waste gas would lead to seriouse fire/explosion hazards and a lot of air pollution. So, the HC is usually destroyed by combusting it in a flare, sometimes even using product quality gas to keep the flame going!
  12. Re:Sounds more like... on Mass Transit Meets The Incredibles · · Score: 1
    Nowadays, they can just use RFID


    Better be careful, thems fightin' words around these parts!

    I do agree with your point, the biggest problem with the original system is that it was more of a prototype system that wasn't ready for prime time.
  13. Re:Sounds more like... on Mass Transit Meets The Incredibles · · Score: 1
    Plus, they did get the Denver system working eventually - it just too a long time, and they demoed it well before it was ready.


    They got the DIA system working eventually by scaling back most of the automation and going back to a more conventional system. Parts of the original system are now being sold as scrap
  14. Re:Other Ogg Vorbis streams on Canadian Public Radio Streaming Ogg Vorbis · · Score: 1

    Here's some for you.

  15. Re:The Athlon64 is very cool on What Makes Apple's Power Mac G5 Processor So Hot · · Score: 1

    Dammit, I used the preview button (and even checked those URLs). I guess I better go turn up the old thermostat.

  16. Re:The Athlon64 is very cool on What Makes Apple's Power Mac G5 Processor So Hot · · Score: 2, Funny
    a few degrees more than the room temperature of 43C


    Holy Crap! You must be really roductive !
  17. Re:I play poker with my kids with real money on Neopets Gambling Controversy · · Score: 1

    I taught one of my daughters blackjack in the 1st grade to help her with her addition drills. It's a whole lot more entertaining than flash cards. We only played for chips, though.

  18. Re:No on IBM Tech Detects & Changes Spin of Single Electron · · Score: 3, Funny

    Of course it's dead. It's been in that box for almost 80 years!

  19. Re:Already done? on War of the Worlds Remake Already Shot Overseas · · Score: 1
    1958, try and find an earlier ieteration. And both V and ID4 had the exact same way for the aliens to show up: Surprise appearamce, giant saucers, hover silently over metropolises.


    This is too easy, from IMDB:
    Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956)

    Tagline: Warning! Take Cover! Flying Saucers Invade Our Planet! Washington, London, Paris, Moscow Fight Back!
  20. Re:Maybe it's just me but... on Microsoft Portable Media Center Reviewed · · Score: 1
    Yes, the kid is the biggest MS fanboy on the planet, but that about sums it up.

    Second biggest, perhaps?
  21. Re:Windows option? on Time to Kill Microsoft Word? · · Score: 1

    Pdf is proprietary in that Adobe controls the format and the definition, but they openly publish the specifications and don't try to control implementation. They seem to be more interested in selling high-end solutions than bothering with little stuff like print driver replacements.

    Mind you, they have shown a dark side...

  22. Re:Windows option? on Time to Kill Microsoft Word? · · Score: 1
    Anyone know if there is a DLL/print driver available for enabling the Print to PDF in windows? One that *doesn't* require the purchase of PageMaker (which is how I picked it up way back when).

    There are a bunch of free ghostscript based solutions.

    Free (Gratis): pdf995, cutepdf.

    Free (Libre): PDFCreator

    Cheap to expensive: STFW
  23. Re:Conversion on Tempratech Self-Cooling Can · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Yes, but that's not a pint. The American pint as served in a bar mug or "pounder" can is usually 16 ounces.


    Most places around here (Colorado) will sell you a shaker glass as a 'pint'. While these might hold a pint when filled to the rim, owing to the shape (what ever a rotated trapezoid solid is called) you would be lucky to actually be served 14 oz.

    This is where our EU friends have the advantage; their bar glasses are required by law to have a calibrated fill line on them.
  24. Re:Lawyers Profit! on MPAA Sues DVD Chip Manufacturers · · Score: 5, Funny
    Why? If you're going to sell at a loss, why sell at all?


    They plan to make it up in volume.
  25. Re:Scooby Doo on What's the Worst Movie You've Ever Seen? · · Score: 1
    the gang where hateful caricatures of the originals


    You know, that supports my theory about Scooby Doo: In order to enjoy it you have to be pretty familiar with the Scooby Doo universe. If you have never seen or forgotten the series the movie just seems stupid. If you are a fan it's just too mean.

    But there is a third demogrphic here; parents who have seen each SD episode about a zillion times. They get the in-jokes but really appreciate the meanness. I'm in this group, as are a number of my friends, and we were all pleasntly surprised by SD after all of the horrible reviews it got.

    Scooby Doo 2, on the other hand...