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User: cyberchondriac

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  1. Re:it tingles on Taking the Ice Bucket Challenge With Liquid Nitrogen · · Score: 1

    OTOH, videos like this one make it look safe. What with the rash of idiots doing the cinnamon challenge, the fire challenge, etc, you KNOW a bunch of people are going to try this, and get seriously hurt, but probably not killed. Then the lawyers get involved and everyone loses. The only good thing is, LN isn't as easy to get a hold off.

  2. Re: It ain't no Team Fortress Classic on Changing the Rules of a 15-Year-Old Game: Quake Live Update Causes Controversy · · Score: 1

    Oh man, I remember those days. I was in a couple of clans. I remember the first time I fired up Quake in GL mode with my new 3DFX card, I almost spooged;, it's amazing how good even just 640x480 looked back then, when the default was what- 320-x200 I think? It was fun picking people in or out of the water and seeing their bewilderment.. for a while. But overall, good times., good times. I've never found anything else as fun as the original Quake, despite it's lack of a railgun.

  3. Re:Put it this way on Invasion of Ukraine Continues As Russia Begins Nuclear Weapons Sabre Rattling · · Score: 1

    He might not jump to nukes so quickly, but I think he feels confident - with good reason- that he can annex the Ukraine without any serious reprisal; not from Obama or Congress, so not any other country then. Worst case, Ukraine might be the Sudetenlan of the 21st century. Hopefully not.
    I still think the middle east is the catalyst for the next major war though.

  4. Re:Trapezoidal shape? on Dell's New Alienware Case Goes to Extremes To Prevent Overheating · · Score: 1

    What irked me is the totally useless video. Instead of exhibiting the case, using the benefit of multiple angles provided by a video cam, etc.. we just get a bunch of bullshit seizure inducing game screens and other pointless alien metaphor type stuff. The video could have been used to give us a much better grasp of the design than the picture or two on the webpage. They have definitely chosen flashy sensationalism over substance, and for that I cannot trust anything they claim.

  5. Re:Those stupid Canadians! on Canada Tops List of Most Science-Literate Countries · · Score: 2

    They think maple syrup grows on trees!

    No they don't. It grows IN trees not on them; that's why you need to install a tap.

    This is a whoosh, but even more of a whoosh to whomever modded it informative.

  6. Re:Send in the drones! on Russian Military Forces Have Now Invaded Ukraine · · Score: 1

    That'd work for me: mmm, taco flavored vodka.. or was that vodka flavored tequila ?

  7. Re:I like... on U.S. Senator: All Cops Should Wear Cameras · · Score: 1

    I agree. In general, I don't have any issue with anyone recording anything in public. Cops or citizens, doesn't matter. Private, yes, public, no.
    If people are doing whatever they're doing in public, there should be no expectation of "privacy" as such. The only difference with a camera is that you'll get the actual truth of what happened, instead of someone's flawed recollection. I'll trust a camera over someone's memory, judgement, bias or perception anyday.

    Privacy advocates will probably heap on me at this point, so I will clarify: I don't think that gives someone the right to hawk over someone recording everything they do, that's just harassment. Then there will be arguments over what constitutes harassment, and that's fair. But if someone happens to have a camera out in a public park or street, and someone else walks by and does something stupid, that's on them. They did it, they own it, and they did it in public.
    Even if there is still room for interpretation with a camera (due to say, limited angle, or lack of context) it's still better than relying on someone's recollection, especially if the camera is on all the time. Most video issues are due to lack of context, because the camera is only running during a part of the entire event. Human perception is a very fickle, unreliable thing, ask any decent magician, or watch that show, "Mind games". After watching that, I wouldn't take anyone's testimonial without a shaker of salt.

  8. Re:I like... on U.S. Senator: All Cops Should Wear Cameras · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You're wrong, AC, ("of course"). Apparently you don't actually know many republicans. Of the several I know, many are LEOs and would fully support this for exactly for the reasons stated in the article. If they lump their purchase under "anti-terrorism", then funding is no problem, as that still seems to be a bottomless wallet, for both wings.

  9. Re:Nice Scope on Slashdot Asks: Cheap But Reasonable Telescopes for Kids? · · Score: 1

    Agreed. I bought an XT8 8" dobsonian from Orion about 15 years ago, best bang for the buck ever. Very inexpensive, good optics (reflector/newtonian based), simple to use. Refractor telescopes, OTOH, if they're any good, are quite expensive. The only downside to a dob is the size and weight, though you can certainly buy a smaller one. Orion (telescope.com) even has a dob made expressly for kids. Also, the basic model such as I bought didn't have a motorized/computerized or even equatorial mount, though they are available for dobs nowadays.
    That could be a cause for debate: better to have a scope that can show them the wonders of the night sky automatically, or make them learn to find them on their own? I guess that depends. For an adult who intends to get a bit serious, I think they should certainly learn to locate the objects themselves; for a kid though, it's tougher call..for some, it might be better to grab and keep their interest first by letting them navigate the sky more easily (automatically, really); for other kids, they probably would love the challenge of locating objects themselves. That was a lot of the fun for me. Of course, if you get into astrophotography, then a motorized equatorial mount is pretty much mandatory.

    Lastly, don't overlook or underestimate a decent pair of binoculars and a tripod, for a novice. You can see a lot more than you'd think with just a good set of binocs, and it's easier on the eyes... or eye, as the case may be.

  10. Re:Not just because of liquid water on Western US Drought Has Made Earth's Crust Rise · · Score: 2

    Mexico has actually surpassed the US in obesity.. and they're on the same continent. We win! Oh, wait..

  11. I'm looking now on Finding an ISIS Training Camp Using Google Earth · · Score: 5, Funny

    All I see is a big smoking crater..

  12. Re: Jurisdiction 101 on UK Police Warn Sharing James Foley Killing Video Is a Crime · · Score: 2

    Extremist islamism hate the very idea that we can take a picture of mohammed and wipes our steaming fresh feaces off our sweaty ass cracks with the image.

    You would have even the moderates up in arms if you did that publicly. Remember the Danish cartoonist a few years back, normally quiet muslims in Asia went apeshit, and the death threats came rolling in.
    I don't know that I can agree with you on this particular item regarding censorship: I would think the extremists would love everyone to see that video, to strike fear in their hearts. They're terrorists. They want those images out there. If they can't get their message out, they aren't exactly winning.
    Don't misunderstand me: they do win when other normal civil liberties are curtailed, but just this specific video, I don't think so much. Sometimes the worst thing you can do to a bully is ignore him.

  13. Re:The real crime here on 33 Months In Prison For Recording a Movie In a Theater · · Score: 1

    I'll just mention that the headline for this summary is grossly misleading. He didn't get jail time for recording the movie with his camcorder in a theatre per se, that sounds like they caught him in the act of recording; no, he got jail time because all the things he did in the weeks and months following that, as mentioned above; sharing on p2p, outright selling hard copies; and then continuing to do so even after approached by the police with a warning. That's a special kind of arrogance.. or ignorance; they sound alike and go hand in hand.
    I will say that the penalty seems incommensurately stiff to me; but this jackass put himself in that position.

  14. Re:Windows can be just as Fisher-Price on Linus Torvalds: 'I Still Want the Desktop' · · Score: 1

    Luna? The taskbar was kinda goofy, but not the windows themsevles and icons throughout the rest of the interface.I think most people just had an issue with that taskbar..

  15. Re:It's not a kernel problem on Linus Torvalds: 'I Still Want the Desktop' · · Score: 1

    I don't know.. I still think KDE and Gnome still look a bit "Fisher Price" compared to a commercial GUI like Windows or Mac, but they've improved.
    But far more important are the applications, as you mentioned. For the average user, an office suite is usually all they need; but as an admin, I find a great many of my app tools to be Windows-centric in one way or another. Even many of the java/browser based apps or tools I use that are supposed to be platform independent seem to work much better on Windows than linux, like EMC's Unisphere.
    Dell pushes everything Windows. Whenever I call tech support for this or that (not just Dell), they just assume I'm running Windows, even on servers (when I'm actually running SuSE), it's kinda annoying. Then there's Active Directory, and all it's GPOs, which interacts directly with the desktops as well as servers, so it's a homogenous inclusive system that many admins would be loath to break up. I don't see Windows desktop marketshare going down for a long time.

  16. Re:precedent on $125,000 Settlement Given To Man Arrested for Photographing NYPD · · Score: 1

    Not arguing with the general point here, but regards gitmo specifically, that's extremely unlikely to happen. There are roughly 300 million US citizens, and currently about 155 detainees in Gitmo http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/03/18/4003331/first-view-of-the-worlds-most.html, most of whom are foreigners.

    That would represent a very, very tiny percentage to the point where it's almost negligible, statistically. Things ain't quite that bad.
    Yet.

  17. Re:Slaver sunflowers on Solar Plant Sets Birds On Fire As They Fly Overhead · · Score: 1

    That'd be kinda terrifying, actually. Especially if they grew in the wild, I don't have a General Products hull.

  18. Re:god dammit. on Solar Plant Sets Birds On Fire As They Fly Overhead · · Score: 1

    Tell that to the Magpies and Ravens. They're actually pretty darn smart.

  19. Re:Bottom line... on German Intelligence Spying On Allies, Recorded Kerry, Clinton, and Kofi Annan · · Score: 1

    That's exactly the point. The problem with anarchists is that there is no such as anarchy. Humans naturally create social circles and tribes. Removing "governments" or "nation-states" would only result in tribalism. Hatfields vs McCoys, etc.

    Absolutely this, spot on. Where are my mod points?

  20. Re:Bottom line... on German Intelligence Spying On Allies, Recorded Kerry, Clinton, and Kofi Annan · · Score: 1

    It's been well known by everybody for decades that every state in the world spies on all the other statse, and that to a certain extent, every state spies on every one of its citizens too.

    The real problem comes when a certain state is outed, and flat out lies about its domestic and international spying activities to the representants of its own people.

    But you'd really expect a state to admit to their spying? It's just as well known that covert operations are covered by deniability and secret classifications. At least where Int'l spying is concerned, anyway.

  21. Re:Pretty obvious on Feds: Red Light Camera Firm Paid For Chicago Official's Car, Condo · · Score: 1

    Justice is constipated.

  22. Re:Forget the Purple Hearts on Ebola Quarantine Center In Liberia Looted · · Score: 1

    Like I said; "Some" of it, and "most". I never claimed all or 100% of Arabic science was derived from Greece. This suggests there are other parts, technically up to 49%, theoretically speaking, that did not.
    But you are correct, "Arabic" numbers are in fact Indian.

  23. Re: Motive? on Ebola Quarantine Center In Liberia Looted · · Score: 1

    Exactly what I was wondering. Even worse if it's a terrorist group behind it with ties to Boka Haram or something along those lines. On the bright side (?) they don't likely have the tech to weaponize anything, and will wind up killing a lot of themselves instead.. or so one can hope. On the dark side, it's likely to make the epidemic much worse no matter what they do.

  24. Re:Meh on Ebola Quarantine Center In Liberia Looted · · Score: 1

    I'm off to trademark iBola right now!

  25. Re:Forget the Purple Hearts on Ebola Quarantine Center In Liberia Looted · · Score: 1

    Some of it. And most of that had it roots in Greece, since they had access to those writings after Rome fell; except maybe Astronomy, which the Babylonians had down pretty pat from further back.