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User: bmetz

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  1. IBM didn't sell ViaVoice! on Is Speech Recognition Finally 'Good Enough'? · · Score: 1

    IBM's deal with Nuance was that they have the exclusive distribution rights for IBM's ViaVoice product. IBM still owns all the intellectual property and actively is developing its Speech Recognition technology, both as research projects like MASTOR as well as in product form as part of WebSphere Voice Server, which is an MRCP compliant Speech Recognizer that can be plugged into basically any standards-compliant thing that wants to utilize speech.

  2. What do the standards bodies do with this? on ASUS Guarantees Draft-N Upgradability · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I never understood how people can be involved in the standards process while simultaneously allowed to undermine it. This seems like a strongarm tactic to me.

  3. Hooray for robots! on The First Robotic Musician · · Score: 3, Funny

    We'll know robots are truly evolved when they build their own museum :)

  4. Would you buy one? on Two Tiny Gas Turbines · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I honestly wonder who these are for. I wouldn't use a cell phone or a laptop with a gas turbine in them. The noise, the vibration, the fumes, the refill process; even in the most ideal circumstances I am too spoiled by 'good enough' battery technology.

    I'd like to see more work on battery technology and more pervasive conductive surfaces so every place I set my laptop and cell phone down helps charge it.

  5. One exception to #1: Patents on Ten Geek Business Myths · · Score: 1

    I think that there are more than a few cases where all it took was a good idea for someone to make a ton of money.

    Just don't count on it paying for retirement..

  6. Can a US company circumvent US laws? on Patent Case With FOSS Implications · · Score: 1

    It seems unintuitive that a US company can go around US laws knowing. Aren't there laws to prevent moving illegal acts offshore?

  7. Makes you wonder.. on Soft Tissue Discovered In T-Rex Bone · · Score: 1

    How many bones sitting around in museums are preserved enough to contain soft tissue? Presumably this isn't incredible of a discovery. Do bones get routinely x-rayed when they're being cleaned up?

  8. Summary of article from satisfied XP user on Ten Reasons to Buy Windows Vista · · Score: 1

    1) Easier to live in non-administrator mode, I'm still gonna login as admin so who cares
    2) IE7..I can get a beta of it already who cares
    3) Eye candy..neat for like 10 minutes but who cares
    4) Desktop search. If I wanted that I'd already have it from google, who cares
    5) Better updater, the XP tray app is just fine who cares
    6) Windows Media 10, I'm sure it'll be downloadable for XP who cares
    7) Parental controls, I don't have kids who cares
    8) Better system restore, sounds good but I backup my important docs with Nero so who cares
    9) Collaboration tools, sounds neat but I doubt its worth it
    10) Install time speedup, not switching from XP takes me *0* minutes, so who cares

  9. Same failed OS, Zany new name! on BeOS Ready for a Comeback as Zeta OS · · Score: 1

    IMHO the hardware was always more interesting. I really wish their hacker-oriented hardware caught on, but I'm sure content to see the OS die.

  10. "problems" inaccurate on Mozilla Foundation in More Development Trouble · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Sounds like a debate, which is what organizations do. They debate strategic moves. Saying they are having "problems" implies something else entirely.

  11. Re:Dude stop this. on Mobil SpeedPass, Various Car RFID Car Keys Cracked · · Score: 1

    If you think he doesn't read his own site, what makes you think he reads the comics?

  12. The EPL doesn't stop IBM's donation from "leaking" on Sun's Patent and Licensing Practices Examined · · Score: 3, Informative

    The EPL doesn't stop IBM's donation of the original Eclipse source from "leaking" into competitor's products. In fact, the EPL has enabled many vendors to build products which directly compete against IBM's offerings. It is also important to note that in the case of Eclipse there is an independent non-profit organization which develops the code -- hence the E in EPL.

  13. unusable on MacWorld Expo Traffic Analysis · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If by "only knocked into sluggishness" you mean "dropping 80% of the HTTP requests sent to it, making the site unusable for commerce", then sure, apple's store held up just fine.

  14. Pretty release notes for spoiled developers please on GTK 2.6.0 Released · · Score: 1

    C'mon guys, it's 2004: time to start publishing release notes in HTML.

  15. Re:Score goes down when you request a report. on U.S. Govt. Stipulates Free Annual Credit Reports · · Score: 1

    This is a bug of the old scoring system that was fixed now that people go on the internets and shop around for quotes for things like car insurance that each involve a credit check.

  16. Re:Sheesh! on Electronic Arts Facing Possible Class Action Lawsuit · · Score: 0

    No.

  17. Simple works-for-me HD DVR shopping list on Cable HDTV Not Ready For Primetime? · · Score: 1

    A reasonable HD DVR Shopping list:

    DirecTV HD-Tivo ($900)
    Panasonic 42" 7UY Plasma ($2200)
    Onkyo HTS-760 6.1 Receiver/Speakers ($350)

    I have this setup and I am very happy with the result. The key, IMHO, is to find a display that does a good job of cleaning up regular 'ol 4:3 NTSC signals so you the 80% of your channels that are not HD still look good enough, if not stunningly great like HD content does. Every nice display can do HD content justice, but not every nice display can do SD content justice.

  18. There are serious benefits. on Groklaw Rants On Software Patents · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Bottom line: the software patent 'cold war' provides no benefits to anyone

    IBM nets billions in profit from patents annually. How is that not a benefit?

  19. Hmph on Windows XP SP2 Goes Gold · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Put SP2 on two machines
    on one of my laptops, it worked fine. Done.

    On my desktop, I can no longer see the contents of my second NTFS drive. Uninstalling SP2 leaves me still unable to see it.

    Ugh, and it seemed like a decent upgrade besides that.

  20. Re:I dont like the LV monorail on Las Vegas Monorail Finally Ready To Open · · Score: 1

    It seems much more plausible that the Monte Carlo Mellagio tram closed because of all the construction going on between the two hotels, do you happen to know otherwise?

  21. hmph on Linksys Shows Off New Products To SOCALWUG · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Personally, I think the design style that linksys has gone with has built a little mini-brand and I can't see why they're messing with that. By changing that I think Cisco goes a long way to telling customers 'the name might be Linksys, but you're not really buying Linksys products anymore'. They might think it's a good thing, but others might not. The products seem to D-Link-y now.

  22. Re:Pricing-Performance-Features-Coolness: IRRELEVA on IBM To Announce Web-Based Desktop Apps · · Score: 1

    Who in their right mind wants to pay every month for ANY commoditized application?

    To the slashdot community's general disbelief, most large companies.

  23. You can do this, too on Navy Unveils Polyglot Chat For Iraq · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Sametime (IBM's instant messaging product for the enterprise) has had this for some time:

    http://jkent.dfw.ibm.com/ebia/doc/LTSS.html

  24. That's the life of a contractor on Microsoft Fires Mac Fan For Blog Photo · · Score: 1

    I see a lot of posts talking about the EMPLOYEE being fired. No employee got fired. A contractor got fired. There's a HUGE difference.

    Even the most experienced contractor is lower on the food chain at a large company than the new employee refilling the toilet paper. I've heard executives talk without flinching about how a company saved a lot of money by firing all the contractors. It's a given that they aren't "one of us" and they shouldn't be fooled into thinking they enjoy the same level of respect and consideration a regular employee would.

    At my own company, I often hear of a three strikes system -- three minor violations warrants some kind of nastygram to your executive. I've also heard of people getting fired for relatively small offenses in quick succession. I would imagine that these rules are strictly for employees, and contractors are held to a significantly higher standard. Bear in mind also that because the contractor may not have been vetted to the same degree that an employee might have been, the security organization may have made policy to ensure that they remove the offender rather than risk dealing with an unknown quanitity who now has demonstrated the ability to compromise security.

  25. Re:Wine? on FWB Admits RealPC for Mac OS X was Vaporware · · Score: 5, Informative

    WINE = Wine Is Not an Emulator.

    It is an API translation layer, not an x86 emulator. Thank you, drive through.