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User: Mysticalfruit

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  1. Re:weapons in space on Weapons in Space · · Score: 1

    The only conspiracy BS I know of states that there is a replacement for the SR-71 that everybody knows as the "Aurora".

    Well, firstly, I'm sure it's not called the "Aurora". Though the name has been given to the whole program by Aerospace watchers like myself.

    As for the operational timeframe, it's been argued that it's been active since about 1990.

    As for the airframe type, I can imagine it's probably along the lines of the SR-71 with some curvey stealth thrown in for good measure. The material used is supposed to be of a factor better than the stuff that the SR-71 was made out of. (though I have a hardtime believeing that)

    The proposed guess for the propulsion system used is some type of pulsed ram jet or pulsed detontation wave engine powered by liquid methane. (in the liquid state, it would be used to cool the body of aircraft from the extreme heat generated)

    As an aside, people have backed up this idea for the propulsion system by indicating that there has been some evidence that some USAF facilites have been outfitted with liquid methane storage facilites.

    That's all BS I know! ;-)

  2. Re:weapons in space on Weapons in Space · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The US isn't going to put nuclear weapons into space because it doesn't fulfill any strategic goal.

    Considering that the US has optical equipment in space that can read a license plate from orbit, it's not a far stretch to strap on a high powered laser and cut the car in half that the license plate is attached to...

    Also, considering the huge advances the US has made in stealth technology, wrapping the whole thing up in a stealthy package that a foreign governments radar based space tracking equipment couldn't see seems very logical.

    Here's something to think about as well. When the US retired the SR-71 from active service, did you really think they didn't have a replacement coming into active service? Space based sensing is nice but it has some inherent limitations.

    I would take an uneducated guess that the US has a top secret spy plane that has eclipsed all of the short comings of the SR-71.

    Also, why would the US need to put nuclear weapons into space when it has a state of the art fleet of nuclear missle submarines that are roaming all over the world with lots of ICBM's that can be launched from anywhere anytime and hit anything.

  3. Re:Thought on region free on Sony Hints on PS3, PSP, and PS2 Plans · · Score: 2, Informative

    I'm pretty sure that Nintendo always makes a profit on their boxes and I think that at the current moment, with the latest rev of the PS2, Sony is making a profit on the PS2 hardware.

  4. April fools... on 500 EURO reward for finding car by finding laptop · · Score: 1

    Even though this is an April fools... I wonder what proportion of the Mercedez Benz drivers don't have Lo-Jack or some other type of remote recovery device?

  5. Re:I want my flying car on How Will We Get Around Near-Future Earth? · · Score: 1

    Go down to your local flight center and go through the rigor or getting your private pilots license.

    That'll weed out the undedicated pretty quickly...

  6. Re:little kids? on Mod Chips Up, Game Industry Revenues Down? · · Score: 1

    I think Sony totally missed the mark when it came to the HDD for the PS2. If I had my way about it, when you bought the HDD it would come with a piece of software that would allow you to backup your games to the HDD.

    To prevent rampant mirroring of the disk they could use a couple of different strategies.

    1. Cipher the disk image keyed off the unit's UID. Yeah, this would impose a performance penalty but it could be buried in the Disk I/O stack.
    2. Along with Ciphering after N number of plays, you'd be prompted to insert the original disk. Then have the software first look to make sure this is really a PS2 disk (read the out of bounds areas, etc) and then have it compare the disk structure and md5 sums of files on the disk against ones on the harddrive.

    Using those techniques above, it would solve the following problems.
    a) Mirroring of the disk
    b) Renting a disk, storing the game and then returning it.
    c) Renting a disk, storing the game, then copying the game (to use for verification) and returning it.

    Also, you could randomize how it does the checks for verification to defeat disk switching tricks, etc.

    I don't have a mod chip in my PS2 so I'm just very careful with the discs I own. However, all the people I know who do have mod chips only use them to play copied games.

  7. Re:Northeners on Major UK Comms Backbone Bunker Burned Out · · Score: 1

    Ah, now I see how America is different than the UK.

    We get nervious when a neighborhood doesn't have guns...

    Billy Bob: "Them there on the corner, they're an old lot, only got ONE shotgun!"
    Mavis: "Oh gee don't you know, that's just terrible, why it's going to be Billy's 7th birthday and he'll be getting his first gun"
    Billy Bob: "Uzi or TEC-9"
    Mavis: "We'll Basil is preferencial to the TEC-9, but we were thinking of getting him an AR-14"

    DANGER: Lame humor quota exceeded...

  8. Excellent! on Spread The Love (And Pay Us) · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's good to know that there are plenty of suckers left in the world, I was getting worried that my combo hair brush, vegetable peeler and ice skate sharpener wasn't going to sell!

  9. Re:Well, it had better be significantly cheaper .. on Elon Musk's SpaceX Offers Low-Cost Rockets · · Score: 1

    As prices for launching stuff into space start to come down the question now becomes reliability vs. cost.

    Yeah it costs ALOT to have a Delta 4 put a satellite into orbit. However, they've been highly successful at doing so, so is the extra cost worth it?

    Or would you rather put the money you were going to spend launching the satellite into increasing the satellite capacities but now your launching on a less proven quasi reliable launch system (aka Ariane)

    So, if these guys can prove to the market place that their launch system is both cheap and reliable, Boeing, Lockeed, Energia will need a major change in strategy.

  10. Re:A la carte on Congress To Force Cable a la Carte Plans · · Score: 1

    This is why I went to DirecTV in the first place...

    In my area basic non digital cable is 41 bucks a month.

    The 2nd tier package of DirecTV is 39.00 bucks a month...

    It wasn't a hard choice.

  11. Deep Question... on Why You Should Choose MS Office Over OO.org · · Score: 1

    Why isn't this released from microsoft in one of their superior formats like Word or Powerpoint.

    You'd think considering how superior they believe their products to be, they'd atlast use them.

    Ah well, back to writing raw LaTex ;-)

  12. Re:Congrats. on RFID Coming 'Whether You Like It Or Not' · · Score: 1

    Oh, you mean "Sheeple" ;-)

  13. Re:Uh, CompUSA? on Getting A Laptop With The Low U.S. Dollar · · Score: 1

    I guess having only wandered through a Fry's and not actually having to go through a financial transaction with them, I didn't get to see the dark side. All I saw was isles that had things like servos and actuators and actually electronics and thought to myself "Wow, I wish I had a store like this near my house"

    That sucks. It would figure that they'd figure out a way to ruin the experience.

  14. Re:loyalty cards on RFID Coming 'Whether You Like It Or Not' · · Score: 1

    Here's my solution to it. Every cashier has a "store" card at their register they can use in case you "forgot" your card.

    I consistently tell the cashier that I've forgotten my card and they'll pull out the store card and shazam, I've get my savings.

    As a side note, I explained this to someone and they exclaimed "Don't you feel guilty lying to the supermarket!" (now while the obsuridity of that statement is enjoyable on its own merits) I calmly explained to the person that the supermarket turns around without your permission and sells your buying habits to the highest bidder, the lowest bidder and everybody in between. Needless to say, they couldn't believe that a supermarket could be so underhanded. I highly believe this person was probably on their way to the post office to send a nice man in nigeria some money so they could help move 30 MILLION AMERICAN DOLLARS that's in some holding companies vault to a hovering island made of goats...

  15. You know what they say... on The Unhappy World of IT Professionals · · Score: 1

    Money can't by happiness, but it'll buy lots of expensive hookers and drugs!

    And if you had a million dollars you could do two chicks at the same time (while clutching a red swing line)

  16. Re:Uh, CompUSA? on Getting A Laptop With The Low U.S. Dollar · · Score: 1


    Yeah, Fry's is an amazing store. Tragically, Massachusetts lacks a fry's :-( Though you'd think with MIT / WPI and all the other great technical schools in Massachusetts they'd figure this would be a great place. *shakes fist at the sky* Damn you big box retail!

    As for the UK vs. US keyboard, it could always be worse... Pick any keyboard from Europe. Though my German and Swiss co-workers highly disagree on this point...

  17. Re:Cambridge University, UK on RMS to Move Into Bill Gates Building Today · · Score: 1

    For windows it is! Three years on a windows box! Damn, you must have had it disconnected from the network and in hibernation mode...

  18. Re:Very cool, but.. on Toyota's Trumpet Playing Robot Showcased · · Score: 1

    Actually, the only thing who can touch the speed of the SR-71 is the Aurora.

  19. Re:The end is nigh! on Swarm of Cicadas Takes Aim at U.S. · · Score: 1

    So, if it's only a plague of cicades, is the end only sorta here ;-)

  20. Re:As opposed to the security of PSTN? on Is Security Holding VoIP Back? · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I would think that this would be a perfect situation for public/private key encryption.

    When you connected to someones VOIP device, it would merely pass you their public key.

  21. Re:Suburbia on Contour Crafting - Extrude-a-House · · Score: 4, Funny

    Or it could go the other way. On your block everybodies house would be completely different.

    And that guy next door to you who has a house designed to look like a giant vagina is now reducing the resale value of your house...

  22. Re:Flattered or angry? on Stop! Website Thief! · · Score: 2, Funny

    I've had that happen a number of times. Usually they strip out my name and repost what I have verbatim. Sometimes they take credit themselves. I discovered this by accident once and have noticed this ever since. I've even had slashdot comments ripped off. Whats so hard about original thought or writings anyways? If immitation is the sincerest form of flattery, whats plagarism?

  23. Re:I already have a hard enough time... on Overclocking Your Sega Genesis/MegaDrive · · Score: 1

    Well... I'm not sure about a gamecube, but the PS2 definitely has a "system time". Since you can go into the options menu and set.

    If I pop in Racket & Clank, and go to my saved games, it'll give me the Date and Time of the last save...

  24. Re:Intel Feeling the Pressure? on Intel Releases Linux Driver For Centrino WLAN · · Score: 3, Informative

    The correct format for a CDROM where the first track is bootable (and presented by the BIOS) as a 1.44MB floppy is called "El Torito"

    Boy oh boy, were those IBMer's wacky...

  25. Re:Took them long enough. on Pixar Switches to Mac OS X and G5s · · Score: 1

    Maybe his experience at pixar will finally show him the merits of a mouse with more than 1 button!!!