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User: WhiteDragon

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Comments · 831

  1. Re:My voting plans? on Ralph Nader Moderates One Last 3rd-Party Debate for 2012 · · Score: 1

    I think a lot of people don't realize how unlikely this process is to ever change, or how unlikely it is that there will be a 3rd party president.

    Lincoln was the last one. Don't see too many Whig candidates these days...

  2. Re:Tomorrow night? on Ralph Nader Moderates One Last 3rd-Party Debate for 2012 · · Score: 1

    Following constitutional law can be such a pain. But whatever individuals can do, groups should be able to do as well. Else their rights are being violated. That's the core of the Citizens United ruling.

    I've read some fiction where corporations have exactly the same rights as citizens (i.e. right to vote, etc.) and if you joined a corporation or nation, you had to revoke your citizenship in any previous entity.

  3. vampire on Ask Slashdot: Is Samba4 a Viable Alternative To Active Directory? · · Score: 1

    Samba vampire basically automates this. It replaces an existing domain controller, by reading all the users/ groups/shares/member servers/etc. and then *becomes* it.

  4. Only thing you can do is create hydrogen as a fuel using vast solar arrays.. Unfortunately the fuel tanks would need to be 4x bigger, cooled, and instead of leaking, will explode. This may qualify as the dumbest question on slashdot I've seen.

    Slush hydrogen solves some of these problems, the energy density is higher, the tanks can be smaller, but you still need cooling and added complexity.

  5. Re:Uh-oh... on Fukushima Fish Still Radioactive · · Score: 1

    History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of men...

    Now I have to go home and play Guitar Hero :-)

  6. Re:Security through obscurity flawed saying on New Trusted HW Standard For Windows 8 To Support Chinese Crypto · · Score: 1

    And lastly good luck breaking into my safe if I don't tell you where it is or what the combo is.

    No problem. Just have a 3-year-old open it.

  7. Re:Another Double Standard on Shut Up and Play Nice: How the Western World Is Limiting Free Speech · · Score: 1

    Clearly it was a minor typo, and he meant:

    Depth to America!
    Depth to America!
    Depth to America!

    close, but it's actually
    Debt to America!
    Debt to America!
    Debt to America!

  8. Re:Why so anonymous? on Shut Up and Play Nice: How the Western World Is Limiting Free Speech · · Score: 1

    Before you get too caught up in your jingoism, do remember that the Obama administration had the guy who made the "Innocence of Muslims" movie thrown in jail through some trumped-up parole violation. (Apparently posting a video with a screen name is "using an alias" now.)

    Even in the grand old United States, you only have "freedom" of speech until they figure out some other way to send you to jail.

    Apparently, posting a video to YouTube under a screen name is a violation of his parole agreement to
    a) not use the Internet
    b) not use fictitious names.

  9. I misread the headline on Amazon Considering Buying Texas Instrument's Chip Business · · Score: 1

    I thought oh, Amazon is buying Texas. That should help with the sales tax issue :-)

  10. Re:subsidize phone calls on Indian Minister Says Telecom Companies Should Only Charge For Data · · Score: 1

    replying to undo accidental redundant moderation.

  11. Re:Woops on Promoting Arithmetic and Algebra By Example · · Score: 1

    Wasn't one of those examples related to recipes? Have you ever tried to surf the web while cooking?

    If you thought your keyboard was dirty now...

    yes, all the time. I have a netbook that is my kitchen computer. I look up recipes, etc. It's not dirty, because I don't have it in the same part of the kitchen that I'm measuring ingredients in.

  12. Re:All Edison's fault on Light Bulb Ban Produces Hoarding In EU, FUD In U.S. · · Score: 1

    100% sounds efficient, but if you're set on electric heating then it's pretty lousy compared to an electric heat-pump. For example, I have an aircon at home that runs at about 400-500% efficiency for heating - not unusual these days. Admittedly, though, it's not so easy to fit as a light bulb, and not so bright either!

    I've got a heat pump and it's much more affordable in the winter than electric heating. My wife's previous apartment was the bottom floor of a converted old house with electric radiant panels in the ceiling. It was a terrible design, because if you were right under them, you'd feel a bit of warmth, but they didn't heat the house at all (well, probably the upstairs neighbors). Her 2-room apartment had a $350 / month electric bill in the winter, and she kept her thermostat at 50F. Now, we live in a 6-room house with a heat pump, and our electric bill is about $160 in the winter, with the thermostat at 68F.

  13. article fails to answer one key question on Teardown Finds iPhone 5 Costs Apple About the Same As Did 4S · · Score: 1, Funny

    Will it blend?

  14. Re:Better Place on Tesla Reveals Charging Station Sites In 3 US States · · Score: 1

    Yeah, I think http://www.betterplace.com/ has the better idea. Swapping out a battery in just a few minutes is far superior to waiting 30 minutes for a charge.

    I'd love to see Tesla working with those guys. The Tesla cars with the Better Place battery swap system would be great!

  15. Re:Of course there's water on Dawn Spacecraft Finds Signs of Water On Vesta · · Score: 1

    Nobody read Marooned Off Vesta? By tyhe end of the story and since it was written in 1938 I'd expect some of the water would have made it there....

    One of the first "hard" sf stories I ever read.

  16. Re:Cool but... on Elon Musk, an Industrialist For the 21st Century · · Score: 1

    PayPal is highly profitable. Even though Musk is no longer involved in the company, it helped to bankroll his future endeavors. SpaceX has the potential to be highly profitable, although its fortunes (at least initially) will be tied closely to the whims and political meanderings of NASA's budget.

    According to TFA, SpaceX is _already_ profitable, with a backlog of orders.

  17. Re:Your first server, in 2012 on Intel Confirms Decline of Server Giants · · Score: 1

    The problem is that you have to support all of that equipment you just threw together all piecemeal-like. Do you have spare parts available? If no, how much does it cost to have them shipped overnight? Are they still available via retail channels or do you have to dredge through eBay? How much does it cost to purchase and store spare inventory? Do you have the equipment to test for failed components without the possibility of frying other equipment?

    Those "Big Three" server companies charge more because of service and support so you don't have to worry as much about those things. RMA and forget. And yeah, I'm saying that with a straight face.

    There are times where a company is small enough to where your tech has enough idle time to deal with a white box server. Other times, your techs are better utilized doing other work.

    The Big 3 have the same problems. I've seen lots of IBM servers have failed RAID controller batteries, which IBM won't replace under warranty because they're "consumable", and won't replace for a fee because they aren't available anymore. On the other hand, installing a third-party part voids the warranty anyway.

  18. Re:animal prosthetics on Injured Bald Eagle Gets New 3-D Printed Beak · · Score: 1

    I was recently asked by a client to 3D print some replacement parts for his pet duck.

    But he balked when I gave him the bill.

    worst... pun... evar... :-)

  19. Re:Just when I thought on Injured Bald Eagle Gets New 3-D Printed Beak · · Score: 4, Informative

    That 3D printing couldnt get any more awesome, something like this comes out of nowhere an proves that, yes, it can!

    What implications does this hold for humans?aube we could get 3D printe false teeth with A faster turn-around than current moulding techniques.

    I actually have such a tooth. I went into the dentist's office. He scanned my mouth with a 3d scanner, then used software to model the missing tooth. Then, the software sent the output to a milling machine, with a ceramic-on-metal blank. Total time, less than an hour from scanning my mouth to implanted tooth. I already had an implant grafted to my jawbone, so this was just the crown, but still, I was very impressed.

  20. Re:Diophantine textbook... on Possible Proof of ABC Conjecture · · Score: 1

    I find these titbits about number theory absolutely fascinating... I followed a few courses at undergraduate level that touched on this material - without giving me a solid grounding. What I'd like to know is this: Is there a good textbook that would bring me up to speed with this material? I like Wikipedia articles - but I find them disjointed.. what I'd like from a textbook is something that leads me through the subject from undergraduate level onwards. Can anyone make any recommendations?

    I've had pretty good success with Wolfram MathWorld.

  21. Re:Being Pedantic on India's ISRO Successfully Launches 100th Mission · · Score: 1

    What happens when a screw falls out in orbit?

    these guys have to go collect it.

  22. SDFS on Ask Slashdot: How Do I De-Dupe a System With 4.2 Million Files? · · Score: 1

    SDFS is a cross-platform dedupe system that works on Linux and Windows.

    At work, my company uses EMC Avamar, so if you are interested in a commercial product, that's a standalone storage/dedupe system. However, it's pretty expensive.

  23. Re:The NYSE shouldn't reverse trades. on Knight Trading Losses Attributed To Old, Dormant Software · · Score: 1

    Nope nope nope.

    The ONLY safe thing are treasury bills. You won't make much, but you CAN'T lose money. It doesn't pay out much, but then again your investment is truly safe.

    Anything else, absolutely anything at all, runs the risk of loss.

    However, if you are making less than inflation, you *are* losing money.

  24. Re:According to my own calculation ... on BOSS: The Universe's Most Precise Measurement · · Score: 1

    I imagine there is a cloud of interstellar gas sonewhere which displays the current capacity of the universe like one of those online data storage companies.

    yes, it's online data storage in the cloud... /me ducks in shame

  25. Re:Lose "Many More" link and provide per-date URLs on Slashdot Coming Attractions · · Score: 1

    Since "Many More" I'm often frustrated by not being able to navigate the article-stream in a meaningful way.

    The feature I'm missing most (after getting rid of "Many More" ;-)) is a mode to read from old posts to the newer ones with current position saved between visits.

    hear, hear!