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User: MrEricSir

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Comments · 2,357

  1. Re:Keep it up. on Linux 3.3 Released · · Score: 5, Funny

    shove unwanted changes down the users thoughts...

    You can uninstall GBrain and/or MindKontrol to prevent Gnome and KDE from controlling your thoughts.

  2. Is Bump secure? on Business Cards the Latest Internet Casualty · · Score: 1

    Seems to me there's a risk in using Bump -- what exactly are you sharing, and with who?

    The iPhone offers a p2p bluetooth network, but as far as I'm aware Bump doesn't use that. Instead it's based on a centralized server which handles all the data. Even if it's encrypted in some way, do you really trust these types of services to be the middle man in your data exchange?

  3. Start reading TheDailyWTF on Ask Slashdot: Getting Feedback On Programming? · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You should start reading TheDailyWTF. If your code ends up there, you are doing something very, VERY wrong.

    And if it doesn't, even better -- you can learn from others' mistakes.

  4. Planet Money on This American Life Retracts Episode On Apple Factories In China · · Score: 4, Informative

    The TAL pieces on the economy are produced by NPR's Planet Money team, which also produce their own short biweekly podcasts and occasionally write for various magazines as well.

    If you liked those TAL pieces, definitely give Planet Money a shot.

  5. Re:Not NPR on This American Life Retracts Episode On Apple Factories In China · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That doesn't mean the show is funded by NPR any more than if a McDonald's employee sells me a necklace it would mean McDonald's is in the jewlery business.

  6. And if that doesn't work... on Sexually Rejected Flies Turn To Booze · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...do the flies give up and turn to World of Warcraft?

  7. Speaking of weight and blood pressure... on Ask Slashdot: Do You Find Self Tracking Useful Like Stephen Wolfram Does? · · Score: 1

    Have you tried the WiThings scale and blood pressure cuff? I believe the later requires an iOS device, but the scale just requires wifi.

    I have the scale and like it a lot. You just set up an account and weigh yourself, their website produces a graph for you automatically and can even export the data to other sites or your own spreadsheet. It takes a chunk of the work out of monitoring your health, which I appreciate.

  8. Re:Neutrino Broadband? on Instant Messaging With Neutrinos · · Score: 1

    If you beamed it directly at them, you'd have to know where they are. If you're at home or work that's not so much of a problem, but what about smartphones? How are you going to know where to point your neutrino ray?

  9. Free Beer on Brewing Beer With Free Software · · Score: 4, Interesting

    On a related note: this might be more of an Ask Slashdot topic than a comment, but has anyone on here tried Free Beer?

    If so, was it any good?

  10. Profit vs. revenue vs. working for free on Open Source Advocates' Attitudes Toward Profit · · Score: 4, Informative

    It seems there's really three different situations we're talking about here, not two as the summary suggests:

    • For-profit: the goal is to make money
    • Non-profit: the goal is to have a steady revenue stream, but only to break even.
    • Working for free: no money ever enters the equation.

    The majority of major open source projects are one of the top two options, but I'd venture to guess the majority of open source projects in general are the later.

    In any case, I wouldn't want to confuse the last two options in the list as they each have a different place in the open source ecosystem.

  11. The ultrasonic remote has come full circle on Reinventing the Clapper With a Knock-Based Home Automation Controller · · Score: 2

    My grandfather had an old Zenith TV set with an ultrasonic remote. Every time someone jingled their keys or flushed the toilet, it would change the channel or adjust the volume. This seems like it will have the same problem.

  12. I was going to disagree with you, but then I realized Farmfille is the most popular "freemium" game ever and I was forced to change my mind.

  13. Already announced on NVIDIA Is Joining the Linux Foundation · · Score: 4, Informative

    From the first article:

    Still, there's an exciting potential in this news, which includes also the addition of multimedia software developer Fluendo, Japanese Lineo Solutions, and security-focused Mocana to the Linux Foundation's membership list.

  14. Re:Exercising easier? Really? on Exercise and Caffeine May Activate Metabolic Genes · · Score: 3, Funny

    Right, because nobody ever gets fat from Mountain Dew.

  15. We had higher priorities on Why Did It Take So Long To Invent the Wheel? · · Score: 3, Funny

    Sex and alcohol were both invented before the wheel. Once we had those, everything else could wait a few thousand years.

  16. Re:Will be worse with self-driving cars on Car Hacking Concerns On the Rise · · Score: 1

    I wouldn't worry so much about that, since autopilot systems are relatively simple and don't necessarily involve general purpose computers at all.

    But the engines, on the other hand...

  17. Driving it is dangerous enough on Car Hacking Concerns On the Rise · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If I can set the car to drive anywhere I want and disable safety features, isn't that dangerous enough?

    So far, those who have insisted their software's security is perfect have a very, very bad track record.

  18. Will be worse with self-driving cars on Car Hacking Concerns On the Rise · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Car hacking is bad. Botnets are bad. But what about a botnet of autonomous vehicles?

    Imagine owning a botnet of cars you could command to drive anywhere at any time. You could effectively close a highway or a bridge, prevent emergency response teams from getting to a destination, or switch the cars into some kind of "Carmageddon" mode where they target pedestrians.

    Yeah, we'd be pretty much fucked if this happened.

  19. Re:Nope.avi on RIAA CEO Hopes SOPA Protests Were a "One-Time Thing" · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I so hope you are correct. Sadly that does not seem to be how these things traditionally work.

    Remember the Blue Ribbon campaign in the early years of the web? The SOPA protest was essentially the latest version of that strategy, where content providers across the web banded together against Hollywood's lobbies.

    So yeah, I'd say there's a pretty good chance we'll be protesting again next time. (And there will always be a next time.)

  20. Re:Another reason on Eric Schmidt: UN Treaty a 'Disaster' For the Internet · · Score: 2

    You'll regret pulling out of the UN when the Angels come and NERV is our only hope.

  21. Did they steal this idea... on Schmidt: Google Once Considered Issuing Currency · · Score: 1

    ...from Emperor Norton?

  22. No. on Remastered Star Trek: the Next Generation Blu-ray a Huge Leap Forward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Despite what Hollywood and their senators want you to think, ripping off copy protection from something you legally bought is not the same as piracy.

  23. That's the problem on Rearview Car Cameras Likely Mandated By 2014 · · Score: 1

    Even if you're looking out the back window, you cannot see everything behind you.

    Imagine a small child on a tricycle right behind your back bumper -- it doesn't matter if you're a great driver or a terrible one, you simply won't see the child without a rear camera.

  24. Or a Blu-Ray drive on Remastered Star Trek: the Next Generation Blu-ray a Huge Leap Forward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Just remember that if you have a Blu-Ray drive, you need to make sure your entire setup is HDCP compliant or it will downsample as a form of punishment. This is especially troublesome for your typical Slashdot reader who has a home-brewed unusual setup.

    But the easiest solution I've found is to rip out the copy protection altogether. There's a (commercial) program for Windows called AnyDVD HD that automatically strips out copy protection from DVDs and Blu-Ray discs on the fly, within a few seconds of inserting the disc into your drive. The program isn't cheap, but this way you don't have to worry about copy protection getting in the way of playing the fucking disc you paid for.

  25. All you need is a clipboard on How To Sneak In To a Security Conference · · Score: 4, Funny

    I used to carry my shopping list on a clipboard, but I had to stop because people kept asking me questions about various products or where to find things. It was funny the first few times, but after a while it started to get old.