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  1. Re:My dire prediction on Ridiculous Software Patents: a Developer's Nemesis · · Score: 1

    Hopefully, if this is going to happen it will be a bit like Half Life 2 (except, perhaps, for the aliens).

    I'm thinking more Blade Runner meets The Matrix. Except that they'll likely not trade software on Mini Discs. (Or maybe they will, who knows; I still watch movies on Laser Discs (and occasionally Videodiscs.))

  2. Shocking! on Ridiculous Software Patents: a Developer's Nemesis · · Score: 1

    Some people are abusing software patents, and the PTO isn't doing anything to stop it? This is the first time I've heard about this and I'm shocked!

    How many people know about this? This is an outrage!

    Won't somebody PLEASE think of the children!

  3. Re:Temperatures plummet in Hades on Microsoft, Google Sue Troll Who Sued 397 Companies · · Score: 1

    Ooh! ... I almost fainted ... but then I didn't.

  4. Re:It's theoretically possible this'll never happe on Tractor Beams Are Getting Closer (Sort of) · · Score: 1

    The former include interstellar travel, nano-assemblers, immortality and brain uploading. The latter perpetual motion, time travel, antigravity and anything faster than light. Anything in the first category you can hope will, one day, be achiveable... even though it may take centuries of advancement.

    Let's hope either immortality or at least brain uploading is one of the first ones then.

  5. Notable because... on Old Man Murray Entry Deleted From Wikipedia · · Score: 1

    "This is notable [...] because it was notable."

    AHHHHHHHHHHH! *pulls hair out*

  6. Re:Huh? on Book Review: Arduino: a Quick-Start Guide · · Score: 1

    And X for System Administrators.

  7. Re:Say what? on Unwise — Search History of Murder Methods · · Score: 1

    "reverse the polarity of a swimming pool"
    "likening the result to the 4th of July"

    You know, it's like crossing the streams.

    People think the pool fence law is because it's an attractive nuisance, but really every pool has the potential to instantaneously stop all life as you know it and explode every molecule in your body at the speed of light.

  8. tags: business idle bank dress fashion story on Swiss Bank Has 43-Page Dress Code · · Score: 1

    I'm a nerd, and this does not matter to me. Nor is it news. Nor is it that outlandish. I've seen phone bills longer than that, and with far less whitespace and fancy, full-paged graphics introducing each one-page section.

    I don't care that this is idle. I just don't care.

    Seriously, what the hell

  9. WAIT, WHAT?! on Google Wants To Take Away Your Capslock Key · · Score: 1

    HOW DOES TAKING AWAY THE CAPS LOCK PREVENT LEAVING COMMENTS IN ALL CAPS?

    (WRITTEN WITHOUT USING THE CAPS LOCK KEY> (damn))

    However, I can see how using an auto-caps mechanism would improve the quality of comments. Perhaps an auto-grammar and auto-don't-be-an-ass mechanism too while they're at it.

    (Again, written without using the caps lock key.)

    Since we're not all in steno-pools using typewriters to create paper-based forms anymore, perhaps it is time to retire the Caps Lock.

  10. Re:Important fact missing from summary. on Denver Bomb Squad Takes Out Toy Robot · · Score: 1

    At my parents house, after years of erosion, a small plastic toy figure started to show itself embedded in the concrete step of the front door. I used to poke at it as a kid, trying to expose more of it. It obviously got scooped up in the gravel that was used to make the step. Or was it...

    My god, I could have been sitting on a bomb all these years!

    *hysterically calls 911*

  11. Re:Video of how it works on Google Sues US Gov't For Only Considering Microsoft · · Score: 1

    Thanks a lot. I just spent the past HOUR watching videos of experimental engine designs on YouTube, instead of doing actual work. All thanks to your one link.

    Now I'm gonna have to stay an hour late today.

    I should really stop reading /. while on coffee break.

  12. Re:How long does it last? on Electric Car Goes 375 Miles On One 6-Minute Charge · · Score: 1

    The highest rated circuit breakers in my house cut off at 30A.

    Did you check the really big one at the top of your circuit panel? I'm sure it's a lot more. You house does actually have 240V service, that what powers electric heaters, ranges, and dryers. The 240V runs over two wires, each running at 120V opposite phases. So when you take a voltage across the two lines, the difference is 240V. Wall sockets and light fixtures use one of the two wires, and the neutral, which causes it to have a voltage of 120V.

    Just called my power company, and they said that a 200A service is common these days in newer homes. But you're right, and it's still not 3750A. Assuming (from an earlier post) that the battery can store 56.25kWh of energy, and a typical house can have a maximum draw of 240V * 200A = 48kW, it would take 1 hour 10 minutes to charge your car. Assuming that you have everything else in your house turned off :) They also have a 400A service in my area, so you could reserve 200A for your home, and 200A for a charging system. It's doable.

  13. Re:How long does it last? on Electric Car Goes 375 Miles On One 6-Minute Charge · · Score: 1

    Actually, the ~600km range car was from Japan. The car in question now has a range of 375km. So 15kWh/100km would mean a battery capacity of 56.25kWh, or 202.5MJ as you put it. My current energy rate is 11.796 cents per kWh, so that's ~$6.64 to 'fill the tank'. Not bad.

    Still assuming the 15kWh/100km, it would cost me $1.76/100km.

    My first vehicle was a 1990 Ford Aerostar minivan (god I loved that thing). It had a 79L tank, and would get a maximum 600km of all highway driving, if I went easy on it. So roughly 13L/100Km *cough*. Noticed gas was sitting at $1.068/Litre this morning, so that would be $14.06/100km to drive it today.

  14. Breaking News! on School Children Are Now Too Fat to Fit In Class Chairs · · Score: 2, Funny

    Previous story: Aussie Kids Foil Finger Scanner With Gummi Bears
    This story: [Australian] School Children Are Now Too Fat to Fit In Class Chairs
    Coming up: Australian Kids Fingers Too Fat to Fit In Class Scanners

    Probably from all those Gummi Bears.

  15. Wait, wut? on Most Americans Support an Internet Kill Switch · · Score: 1

    [T]he attempted Times Square car bombing may have heightened the American public's awareness of and concern over global and domestic cybersecurity threats.

    Sooo... without the Internet it isn't possible to stick a bomb in a car and drive it through Times Square?

  16. Re:Weird thing about the article on Quantum Computing Explained! (Well, Sorta) · · Score: 2, Funny

    Not exactly. Before you actually read the article, it simultaneously does and does not explain quantum computing.

  17. Soooo...... on US Presidential Nuclear Codes 'Lost For Months' · · Score: 1

    They were behind the couch the whole time?

  18. Recommendations For Home Virtualization? on Recommendations For Home Virtualization? · · Score: 1

    I tried living in a virtualized home once, but I found the insulation to be quite insubstantial. Made for some particularly chilly winters.

    Now chili winters on the other hand, those are nice.

  19. Why is this even a question? on Should ISPs Cut Off Bot-infected Users? · · Score: 1

    Seriously? Yes, they should.

    I've worked at an ISP for 10 years, and we cut people off the second we find out that they're infected with a bot and trying to infect others. When they call and ask why their Internet connection isn't working, we tell them strait up what the issue is and that the'll have to clean off their computer (have it done 'professionally' if they can't do it themselves) and then report back to us to get their connection reinstated.

    It's a hard lesson to learn, but I think it's necessary.

    To use the obligatory car metaphor; if your car starts to leak gasoline while driving down the road, you can't just keep driving it like that since it's 'not your fault' that you gas line ruptured. Even if you do all the preventative maintenance that is recommended, stuff can still happen and it's up to you to get it fixed, even if that means taking it to a professional to fix it.

  20. Re:Huh? on Laptop Heat May Cause 'Toasted Skin Syndrome' · · Score: 1

    Serves you right for leaving the basement!

  21. Re:Not exactly. on UK's Two Biggest ISPs Rip Up Net Neutrality · · Score: 1

    If it didn't have any impact, then what would be the point?

    Let's say we have competitive services A and B. Their traffic travels over a connection with 10 units of bandwidth (the actual units are unimportant). For the sake of argument let's say that the services in equal demand, and both use 4 units of bandwidth so the connection is not saturated. If company A pays the telco money, what exactly do they get for their money? They're not going to get more bandwidth, because they could have used more before and their demand has not gone up.

    Now let's say that service A and service B would each use, if available, 6 units of bandwidth. With only 10 available, the connection is now saturated. Treated equally, that means they each get 5 units. But then company A pays out money, their traffic gets prioritized, and now runs at 6 units of bandwidth. That only leaves 4 for company B.

    If no bottleneck exists, then there's no point in companies paying for priority. If a bottleneck does exist, then someone's gotta lose when someone else gets priority.

  22. Re:The Question on Countering a DMCA Takedown In the Magnet Wars · · Score: 1

    News about an unfair DMCA takedown (don't worry, there are thousands of those) or free advertising for Zen Magnets? You decide.
    --
    Yet Another Tech Blog
    (but so much more, including game and movie reviews)
    http://yanteb.peasantoid.org/

    Comment about a story about an unfair DMCA takedown (don't worry, there are thousands of those) or free advertising for Yet Another Tech Blog? You decide.

  23. Re:Cavers on A Portable Laser Backpack For 3D Mapping · · Score: 1

    Exactly what I was thinking too. I work in a building that has a highly irregular layout. No two floors are the same. It was hard enough to model in Sketchup, and I don't even want to think about doing the interior the same way.

    But for about 10 years now I've though that it would be perfect for a Quake II map. Now I think it would be good for a Left 4 Dead map, but yeah, I've got to get me one of those backpacks.

  24. So... on Two-Photon Walk a Giant Leap For Quantum Computing · · Score: 1

    Two photons walk into a bar...

    Wait, didn't Brian Greene already tell this joke?

  25. Re:What is your name? What is your quest? on Race Pits Pigeons Against Poor UK Rural Broadband · · Score: 1

    *facepalm*