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User: ExRex

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Comments · 55

  1. MediaTomb on Ask Slashdot: Suggestions For a Simple Media Server? · · Score: 1

    If you're comfortable with manually editing a preferences file in XML, MediaTomb is an excellent choice.

  2. The hajj brings big bucks into Mecca on Censorship Doesn't Just Stifle Speech — It Can Cause Disease To Spread · · Score: 1

    The hajj is the granddaddy of pilgimages. It wasn't the first, but it was the first of its size and continues to be teh world's largest annual pilgrimage. Would fear of contracting a deadly disease keep pilgrims, and pilgrim riyals, out of the country? Maybe, maybe not, but clearly the Saudi government doesn't want to take that chance.

  3. Re:Esoteric material? on UK ISP Filter Will Censor More Than Porn · · Score: 1

    The primary definition of esoteric is things that are known only to a small circle, i.e., things that most people don't know about.
    That's what the Internet is for, learning about things you don't already know.
    Except, I suppose, for those people who only use it to look at pictures of kittens.

  4. Keep in mind... on Ask Slashdot: How To Teach IT To Senior Management? · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...that when most people ask, "How does it work," what they really mean is, "How do I work it?" i.e., they really only want to know which buttons to push to get their desired result. It's like the Automat: you put a nickel in the slot, turn the knob and pull out the sandwich. How the sandwich got there in the first place is of no interest.
    Computers are magical objects to most people, inscrutable machines which perform mystical tasks if the propler incantations are performed. And most people seem to like it that way.

  5. Bond or Powers? on California Professors Unveil Proposal To Attack Asteroids With Lasers · · Score: 1

    After hacking the controls of the DE-STAR a Supervillain demands a ransom of $1 trillion or he will turn the lasers on Earth. Only an International Man of Mystery or a Double Naught Spy can save us from the photonic clutches of, who? Dr. Evil or SPECTRE?"
    Coming to a theater near you.

  6. Never had LEGO on Has Lego Sold Out? · · Score: 3, Interesting

    My construction toy was an Erector Set, now long gone. These days Erector Sets in the US are rebranded Meccano sets.
    Anyway, the thing about the Erector Set was that it not only exercised your imagination, as does LEGO, but it also exercised your manual dexterity, which LEGO does not. When you have to use little nuts and bolts to put things together you get good at manipulating small parts, which is excellent for improving hand-eye coordination, improving delicacy of touch and learning patience.
    If you make things too easy for kids how are they to learn?

  7. It's his parents' house. on Drawings of Weapons Led To New Jersey Student's Arrest · · Score: 5, Funny

    If he rats them out maybe he can cut a deal.

  8. I just like the song. on The Science of Truthiness · · Score: 1

    Truthy, Indiana,
    Truthy, Indiana,
    Truthy, Indiana,
    That's the site I'm gonna surf.
    Truthy, Indiana,
    Truthy, Indiana,
    Truthy, Indiana,
    Tells me if it's astroturf.
    If you need to get political explication,
    Or to know whether it's data manipulation,
    Or perhaps it is an outright prevarication,
    There is just one page to fuel your outrage.
    Truthy, Indiana,
    Truthy, Indiana,
    Not O'Reillyana, Beckistan,or Hannitone,
    But Truthy, Indiana,
    Truthy, Indiana,
    Truthy, Indiana,
    The real spin-free zone.

    My apologies for Hannitone, but once I'd thought of the last line I really needed to make the rhyme work.

  9. One space between sentences on Sentence Spacing — 1 Space or 2? · · Score: 1, Informative

    At least, that is the standard in the publishing industry. Two spaces is a convention invented by typing teachers for reasons which I've never understood, and which screws up justification once the document needs to be set. One of the first things that has to be done when bringing a document into a page layout program is to search for periods followed by two spaces and replace them with periods and one space. PITA for the Quark/InDesign/Scribus operator.

  10. What about the pusher? on 3rd-Grader Busted For Jolly Rancher Possession · · Score: 2, Funny

    From the article:
    “The Texas Public School Nutrition Policy (TPSNP) explicitly states that it does not restrict what foods or beverages parents may provide for their own children's consumption.
    "Brazos Elementary Principal Jeanne Young, said the problem, in this instance, was that the candy was provided by another student – not the girl’s parents."

    I think the candy pusher deserves the sentence, not the simple user. This is just like the Rockefeller laws, punishing the victim of sugar addiction rather than the seller. Oh, I know she didn't buy the candy, but the first one is always free, y'know.

  11. The IT Dept should be able to choose its uniforms on Uniforms For the Help Desk? · · Score: 3, Funny

    Original Series, NextGen, DSN or Voyager. Seems reasonable to me.

  12. Re:Terrible article on Holy See Declares a "Unique Copyright" On the Pope · · Score: 1

    Blame the lawyers who specialize in patents, trademarks and copyrights. Ever since they invented the term "Intellectual Property" folks have become increasingly confused. This has benefited "IP" lawyers and those rights holders who try to overreach by playing on the public's confusion.

  13. Which UN policy did the poster contravene? on UN Officials Remove Poster Mentioning Chinese Firewall · · Score: 4, Interesting

    That's not made clear in the article.
    Also, it was very odd the way everyone stood around the poster on the floor, not touching it or picking it up, as though it were a diseased, dead body which no one was willing to touch. So they called the police to come an take it away.
    Why didn't the folks promoting the book just stand it up again, I wonder?

  14. Re:Use the master password feature and stop worryi on Best Tool For Remembering Passwords? · · Score: 1

    There's also an add-on called Master Password Timeout. You set a period of time after which it will again ask for your master password when you log in somewhere. The security feature here is that if you get a password prompt without expecting it, you'll know that there's some background code on the page poking into places it shouldn't be. It is also good in a workplace if you happen to leave your browser open while away from your desk. Keeps co-workers from checking your webmail, or bidding for you on ebay. I usually set mine for 15 minutes. You can set it to a really short period if your particularly paranoid.

  15. Re:Needs a new name on 10/GUI — an Interface For Multi-Touch Input · · Score: 1

    Much closer to tenugui, those nice little towels the Japanese use for all sorts of applications. Me, I always know where my towel is.

  16. Old SF Fan saying... on Why Charles Stross Hates Star Trek · · Score: 2, Insightful

    What's the difference between fans and trekkies? Fans read.

  17. A blow struck for Toons everywhere! on Marge Simpson Poses For Playboy · · Score: 1

    It's about time someone broke through the acetate ceiling. Now, if Disney would just let them profile Jessica Rabbit.

  18. Re:Drunk meaning...? on Man Banned From Getting Drunk For Seven Years · · Score: 1

    Judging from this guy's history, I suspect he'll give himself away. Of course, if he starts to verbally abuse people and piss on shop windows when he's sober he may be able to confuse the issue. Hmm, maybe he'll have more fun pissing about when sober than he did when drunk. He might stop drinking entirely. Though, it does help to refill the reservoir.

  19. California impersonation laws on Of Catty Rants and Copyrights · · Score: 1
    Some excerpts:

    CALIFORNIA CODES
    PENAL CODE
    SECTION 528-539

    529. Every person who falsely personates another in either his private or official capacity, and in such assumed character either:
    1. (stuff about marriage)
    2. Verifies, publishes, acknowledges, or proves, in the name of another person, any written instrument, with intent that the same may be recorded, delivered, or used as true; or,
    3. Does any other act whereby, if done by the person falsely personated, he might, in any event, become liable to any suit or prosecution, or to pay any sum of money, or to incur any charge, forfeiture, or penalty, or whereby any benefit might accrue to the party personating, or to any other person;
    Is punishable by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by imprisonment in the state prison, or in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

    538a. Every person who signs any letter addressed to a newspaper with the name of a person other than himself and sends such letter to the newspaper, or causes it to be sent to such newspaper, with intent to lead the newspaper to believe that such letter was written by the person whose name is signed thereto, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

    Once the principal has been convicted in court for criminal impersonation the family will have an excellent chance of recouping something.
    Of course, they should probably move for a change of venue.

  20. Re:Bunch of Wank on On the Humble Default · · Score: 1

    Sliced! That's not the default for bread. That's an option.

  21. Re:Maybe keep the landline? on You've Dropped Your Landline — Now What? · · Score: 4, Interesting

    When the blackouts come only the landlines keep working. When the cell tower batteries run down, after 4 hours or so, there goes your phone.
    Here in NYC we get a major blackout every decade or so, even if the larger region does not, so I always keep a landline at the cheapest rate.
    Redundancy isn't just for hard drives.

  22. Industrial Espionage on MPAA Spying Case To Be Appealed · · Score: 4, Informative

    Unfortunately, while such activities fall under the Economic Espionage Act of 1996, according to our friends at Wikipedia:

    "The Act authorizes civil proceedings by the Department of Justice to enjoin violations of the Act, but does not create a private cause of action. Thus, victims or putative victims must work with the U.S. Attorney in order to obtain an injunction."

    And we all know how eager the DOJ is to chastise the MPAA.

  23. Big Surprise on Irish Domain Registry Banning Adult Domains · · Score: 1

    This is a nation in which it was illegal to sell condoms until 1978.

  24. Slashdotted... or censored? on Names of Advisors Cleared To Access ACTA Documents · · Score: 1

    Conspiracy theorists take note.
    Suddenly I'm getting 403 errors from the whole domain. Not timeouts, but 403Forbidden.

  25. Re:I am rapt on Traveling With Tom Bihn's Checkpoint Flyer · · Score: 1

    Oh, like you've never told anyone about how you put your thing into another thing.
    Then again, maybe you never have.