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User: tundog

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Comments · 242

  1. Re:Mod parent down, troll/flamebait. on For Microsoft, Market Dominance Isn't Enough · · Score: 1

    If you recall, under the Clinton administration, prosecuters went to great pains to bring MS up on charges and were even able to have MS found guilty; all those efforts were essentially thrown out immediatly after W took office with a weak-ass penalty phase.

  2. 73 Brits a year injured by toothpaste... on Spam, Milord · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    ...so that explains their reluctance to practice proper oral hygiene...

  3. Pepto to the rescue on Primordial Soup: Interview with Stanley Miller · · Score: 4, Funny

    I stopped eating primordial soup because the amino acids keep giving me heartburn.

  4. Re:How about others (AMD, Mot, IBM) on Intel Reveals Itanium 2 Glitch · · Score: 1

    Bugs are the reality of commercial software. This happens to everyone, even with the best quality assurance processes, no tests can ever replace the testing en masse that occurs when you release a product.

    That being said, some companies have better track records than others. You will never be able to catch all the bugs, but some companies have a corporate culture of releasing products whether they are ready or not. In the long run that's bad business.

    The funny thing about all this is that we all learned back in 2000, that the dot bomb model didn't work, but a lot of executive boards are still running their companies thinking only of the short-term and not the long-term. That simply amazes me.

  5. Bugs on Intel Reveals Itanium 2 Glitch · · Score: 1

    Jesus! Talk about a difficult bug to find. I would be interested in how they figured out which instructions in which order with what data.

  6. Re:I hope this doesn't rescue the recording indust on Apple Sells A Million Songs in Debut Week · · Score: 1

    Thanks for the tip, Steve!

  7. In Soviet America... on U.S. Says Canada Cares Too Much About Liberties · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    police control YOU!

  8. Re:Stop Blocking Spam? on AOL Blocks 2 Billion Spam/Day · · Score: 1


    The only kind of change that dissatisfaction associated with recipt of spam 'en masse' would be AOL users canceling their accounts. IMHO, the only way for AOL to stay profitable is to continue market themselves as 'User-Friedly' and 'Child-Safe'. That's about one of the only (potential) advantages that AOL has left these days.

    That image is promptly destroyed when little Jimmy starts reading about free pr0n and starts clicking on links to goatse.cx

  9. Re:Fair Use on Penny Arcade vs. American Greetings · · Score: 1

    The correct quote is:

    "...but their buns have seeds, ours are seedless"

  10. Re:Available NPR stream on Slashback: Discipline, License, Name-calling · · Score: 1

    Thanks for the link.

    Any insight into why negotiations with Apple failed?

  11. Re:The Blackboard Presentation on Slashback: Discipline, License, Name-calling · · Score: 1

    Let me see if I can answer your question with a question:

    Was there a sales team involved when Blackboard sold the system?

  12. This consistent with current strategy on Former DoubleClick Exec Named Privacy Czar · · Score: 1

    Read "Stupid White Men" by Michael Moore. He goes on to enumerate Bush's cabinet. It's loaded with picks like this.

    For example, Christie Todd Whitman was named Environment Czar. In case you were wondering, she's the former Govener on New Jersey, the toxic waste capital of the US.

  13. Re:Stereotype is true on EverQuest - Not Just For Geeks? · · Score: 1

    Yeah, well I saw about 12 different people with the conference name tags, and if there was a single one of them that didn't fit the bill, I'd go along with the argument that the sample size was too small. But really, this is just reaffirming what is already widly accepted as true.

    I guess you could argue that only geeks attend the conference, but since I played EverCrack for about a year, if can say that the geek bet is a safe one.

  14. Stereotype is true on EverQuest - Not Just For Geeks? · · Score: 1


    I was recently at an indusry convention in Las Vegas. As it turns out, the convention hotel, (Las Vegas Hilton) was hosting the Everquest 'Fan Faire' convention in the convention section of their hotel/casino.

    On the last day of my convention (first day of theis), several EQ fan faire attendees sat down at my black jack table, and I can assure you, the stereotype is right on the money!

  15. Waste of Time on The Hundred-Year Language · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The author starts be describing the effect of moore's law on computing power (i.e. computers will be wicked fast)and then starts ranting about how today's constructs are so inefficient, then admits that inefficiency won't really matter because computers will be wicked fast (And it takes him half the article to impart this wisdom).

    huh!?!?

    This is the kind of mental constipation that is better left for blog sites.

    Somewhere there is parallel between the logic in this article and the dot.bomb busniess model.

  16. The same things goes on in software... on Matrix Special Edition Cancelled · · Score: 1


    I just picked up a copy of Soldier of Fortune II, since my last shoot-em up was Quake (as in one). Ran in and out of a games store to pick up a copy. Later, when I'm installing it i realize that its the "Gold Edition", which basically means its the core game with all the content you can download from the web as patches. I probably could have gotten the regular edition for $20 less and download the patches myself. Next time I'll pay more attention.

  17. Re:Why? on AOL's Mystro TV vs Tivo? · · Score: 2, Informative

    The problem is that despite having capable hardware, what you need are the program listings. That's essentailly what TiVo is selling you on a monthly basis, a list of times that the programs offered by the networks are being aired. While you could (theoretically) do this yourself, it makes you own PVR as about as useful as a VCR.

    What will be interesting is the potential for another technology arms race. Right now TiVo cuts out commercials by sensing black frames that are inserted between prgramming and commercials. Based on the current technology, if the networks start getting fancy with the splices, (say green frames instead of black) Tivo is SOL, that is, atleast, until they upgrade your Tivo software; let the arms race begin.

  18. April Fools! on Slashdot Subscribers Now See The Future · · Score: 1

    Lol, are they for real? Is it April 1rst already?

  19. Re:German DSL on International Connectivity · · Score: 1


    Sorry, but I don't care how much it costs them. That's the cost of doing business. If they want me to pay them every month, they need to absorb those costs. 50 bucks is an outrageous amount of money to have to pay for the priveledge of paying them more money every month.

    They can charge these rates because you have no other choice. Despite the fact that there has been a lot of deregulation since 1998, the whole system is still structured around mother Telekom.

  20. Re:Serious Answer on International Connectivity · · Score: 1


    Yeah, ARLT rocks. I lived in Karlsruhe and got all my stuff from them. They's always have these killer sales where the'd be cleaing out old merchandise > 1 year old. That's all I ever bought and saved a ton.

  21. Re:German DSL on International Connectivity · · Score: 3, Interesting


    Having just left Germany (was there for 3 years) the one thing you need to make sure of is that you set up ALL your phone options at the time you become a customer, otherwise they (Telekom) charge you this bullshit 100 Marks (50 euros) every time you make a change to your service.

    For example, I paid 50 euros top get my analog line. Then I moved 3 months later (another 50 Euros). Then I upgraded to ISDN (another 50 Euros) because DSL wasn't available at that time and is was faster than analog. Then, finally, another 50 euros to updgrade to DSL. This 50 euro fee is a super scam, especially considering all they have to do is flip a switch.

    In related news, get ready to get reamed on any retail-related transaction. In Germany, the customer is always wrong.

  22. Re:Flip side on Do Scripters Suffer Discrimination? · · Score: 1


    You raise an intersting point. I've been making a transition from Java to C++ because I want to start my own consulting gig soon and IMHO if you're serious about a User interface, MS is the only way to go.

    One of the things I have been considering alot lately is, in an MFC environment, why does the language 'short' variables (aside from backwards compatibility issues). I mean really, in a Moore's Law world with minimal desktop machines packing 256M+ ram, the saving you get in using a short versus an int are insignificant. Why even bother? I wouldn't even be surprised if some compilers allocate short as int.

  23. Should this guy be taken seriously? on Do Scripters Suffer Discrimination? · · Score: 1
    'He goes on to say that some companies will assign Java and C++ programmers tasks that take them weeks but could be done by Perl or Python programmers in a few hours.'

    While any scripting language offers advantage over other languages with respect to parsing et al., any Programmer that takes weeks to do something in ANY language when it would only take a few hours in another language is not worth his salt. It's a matter of how well you know the libraries in the language you implement that makes the differece. While something might be quicker and easier in Perl, if it takes you weeks in Java, then the chances are you learned Java from either "Java Programming for Dummies" or the "Java in 14 Days" series.

  24. Re:Don't get all excited on Microsoft At Middle Age · · Score: 4, Insightful


    Well, as far as Standard Oil goes, you will need someone of with the level of itergrity that Teddy Roosevelt had. And that is certainly not in the cards with the current administration. Moreover, IMHO that kind of politician is dead. Parties control the system, and bid corporations control the parties, BOTH of them. If Teddy were around toda, I can't say that he would have split MS up, but he wouldn't have taken kindly to the string-arm tactics that have foced a lot of the small fish out of the market.

    I can say, however, that if Teddy were here today, he'd sure would have loved that Dear Hunter game.

  25. The next big thing...Network Computers on Slashback: Compromise, Bugs, Slag · · Score: 1

    These things will be great! Its a computer that links directly to the net! No hard drive needed. I can't wait for DEC to release their prototype. It's gonna have a video-out connector too! I'm going to by some DEC stock before word of this gets out!