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User: swordfishBob

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Comments · 219

  1. Predictions on Europe Launches Flood-Predicting Satellite and Test Probe · · Score: 1

    Predict floods and droughts, eh? Maybe it'll predict our climate a bit better than IPCC can..

  2. Re:Wa wa what? on Behind the 4GB Memory Limit In 32-Bit Windows · · Score: 1

    In other words, there are drivers commonly in use that are incompatible with Enterprise / DataCenter 32-bit editions of Windows Server 2000 and 2003 using PAE.

  3. Re:The story is tagged "rideabike" on The Great Ethanol Scam · · Score: 1

    On journeys of 100km, cycling isn't feasible as it's too slow.
    The journeys that are more feasible tend to be:
    - short, where overheads of starting a car engine from cold significantly sway the economics
    - short but slow, where traffic congestion is an issue - also hitting on a motorcar's economy

    Ride a bike! CO2 is taken care of naturally, and apart from eu-de-sweaty-human, there aren't other toxic emissions to worry about.
    Or ride a bike with an outboard motor; just don't put ethanol in its plastic tank.

  4. misleading on The Great Ethanol Scam · · Score: 2, Informative

    Some good points, but most of the cited evidence of damage relates to either:
    - concentrations of ethanol greater than they were supposed to be
    - putting ethanol-blended fuel into something that wasn't designed for it

    That's not a good argument against all use of ethanol blends, but does go against mandating all octane-ish fuel be blended.

  5. Re:NoScript makes the web useless. on Why Your Pop-Up Blocker Doesn't Work Anymore · · Score: 1

    I haven't tested this, but I'd say 2LD is a bit short-sighted. What about somedomain.com.au, and every other country that is assumed not to own the internet?

  6. Re:LOL on New Law Will Require Camera Phones To "Click" · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yes, and webcams.
    They should all go "whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" and "ttttttttttttttttttttttttttt", and occasionally "flapflapflapflapflapflap".

  7. yawn on Microsoft Brings Back DRM · · Score: 1

    Maybe you'll be sick of those songs by then, and just get new ones for your new phone..

    Maybe people will come to think that replacing your phone every 18 months is ridiculous..

    Maybe I don't care as I still buy music on CDs, ie unencrypted on physical media.. for the small qty of music I could be bothered obtaining.

  8. Der. So does Vista. on Ubuntu Download Speeds Beat Windows XP's · · Score: 2, Interesting

    XP's TCP/IP stack is much the same as NT has been using for quite a while. It takes ages to ramp up the TCP window size. It makes for terrible results on "speed tests" unless the test is quite a long download.
    Vista is much more aggressive in increasing the receive window.

    Run a throughput monitor of some sort while performing the test - preferably one that graphs throughput against time.

  9. Re:You think CO2 is bad .... on The Environmental Impact of Google Searches · · Score: 1

    Quick, cover the oceans!

  10. Just the beginning. on Oregon Governor Proposes Vehicle Mileage Tax · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Add a few more players to the game, and you get:
    - A national system of tollways, with microcharging so it's useable on roads of any size
    - A billing system for parking stations, event parking, or even roadside parking at all in city zones
    - Ability to charge more for certain roads during peak periods (like a congestion tax)
    - A speed tax?

  11. Doesn't just affect radicals and porn. on Australia Says No to Internet Censorship · · Score: 1

    I missed news reports, but going off the story here and comments I'm disappointed in the focus.
    I don't want the pollies to think this is only an issue for civil-liberarian fringe groups, greens, and porn consumers.
    No, I wasn't there; I live 600km from the nearest held rally.

  12. Re:MAP vs Price Fixing on Battle Over Minimum Pricing Heating Up · · Score: 1

    I've been a consumer of ameteur music & sound equipment for a while, in Australia. I've been appalled at the way such things are priced here. US web prices are less than half the local "discount" and online prices, let alone in-store small-retailer prices. Even paying international air freight on individual items, it's a huge difference.

    I spoke with a retailer about it, and it comes down to there being only one distributor who fixes the minimum prices locally, with the threat of shutting off access to ALL brands if a retailer attempts parallel imports or breaches the specified price. I can empathise with a low-turnover retailer, but not with a sole importer holding a captive market.

    Australian law explicitly allows parallel or grey imports, but cannot force a distributor to deal with a retailer. Further, international web sellers are often prevented from selling internationally by their own supplier contracts.

    I'm most appreciative of Behringer's policy on international pricing, which stops me being ripped off by a monopoly importer.

  13. Re:so how does it affect our weather on Solar Cycle 24 May Have Finally Begun · · Score: 5, Informative

    It means significant bursts of solar radiation, but reductions in other extraterrestrial radiation as it gets "blown" away by the solar surges.

  14. Re:Natural device? on Removing CO2 From the Air Efficiently · · Score: 1

    Well, you could keep the CO2 on-tap for putting out bushfires, so trees don't turn into CO2, and can keep doing their job of absorbing CO2.

    Has anyone else realised that burying paper made from trees is a means of geo-sequestration of carbon? Stop recycling!

  15. Re:Perhaps more precisely on Royal Society "Creationist" Resigns · · Score: 1

    Gravity is such an observably and repeatable phenomenon that it's accepted globally as fact. There are various theories on how/why it occurs.

    Biological diversity is so observable and extensive that it's accepted globally as fact. Darwin's theory of evolution is a proposed description of how/why it occurs. The theory is supported by many observable artifacts. Evolution not something that has been demonstrated repeatably in a controlled environment, so we shouldn't call it "fact". We can, however, call it scientifically the most plausible and broadly accepted explanation for biological diversity.

  16. Re:Not exactly true on IPv6 and the Business-Case Skeptics · · Score: 0

    Also: mobiles.
    The frequent keepalives required to keep NAT functional for UDP-based applications (e.g. Skype, VPNs) mean a 3G device won't get put into idle state when it should; consuming battery and wasting cell resources. With IPv6, no NAT required, keepalives not required every 30s, idle connections could be managed properly.

  17. Disclaimer? on Every Satellite Tracked In Realtime Via Google Earth · · Score: 2, Informative

    "Disclaimer: I not only work for Analytical Graphics, but I'm the one that wrote this tool as a demo."
    That's not a disclaimer, that's a disclosure.
    A disclaimer would be saying "I am not responsible" or "my employer may not agree with me".

  18. Re:I can tell you why in Australia... and... on Why the Olympics Didn't Melt the Internet · · Score: 1

    Prime relays 7 to regional areas. They have a few digital tv channels, all showing the same content. If ever there was a use for multiple channels or even multiple "views", this'd be it.
    Have one channel show highlights as per analog tv, but allow other channels to stick with e.g. soccer, hockey, beach volleyball, whatever's on track/field.. Some people find only the team sports interesting, and the various races kind-of like watching progress bars. Keep the additional views going while putting the AFL on the main channel to satisfy that commitment.
    So many opportunities left dangling.

  19. Re:Fix Abandonware on Game Developer's Response To Pirates · · Score: 1

    IIRC, copyright was invented to ensure authors had opportunity to recover the costs of mechanical production. ie, if I write a book, I can commit to the costs of having the book printed without fear of being undercut. The period for which copyright applied was based on the reasonable time to recover printing costs through sales. The reason for copyright was so I'd bother getting the book printed.

  20. Re: Internet trolls on NYT Explores the World of Internet Trolls · · Score: 0, Troll

    Who would do such a stupid thing?

  21. Re:My policy on Are There Any Smart E-mail Retention Policies? · · Score: 1

    My policy is read the damned email then delete it. If it has something important in it, I put it in my calendar or contacts or I do what the email is requiring to be done. Is that really hard? People who hoard email aren't half as important as they think they are.

    I may not be half as important as you are, but I'd surmise that either:
    - you never correspond on anything that matters beyond a couple of weeks, or
    - you use your calendar as a filing system, and hoard calendar entries like some people hoard email.
    Well, some people use a handwritten "day book" as their record of "everything", which is better than nothing.

    My inbox contains items that are waiting to be resolved, and a few waiting to be filed or deleted (doesn't take long).

    My email folders provide topical grouping, and are indexed by sender, recipient, subject, size & attachments, as well as date. I have several times been glad of it. Most calendars are only indexed by date.

  22. Re:Ho ho ho! *snort* on The Very Worst Uses of Windows · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I agree, and what a whinger!
    No, I wouldn't use Windows for major process control, but yes for HMI. In don't know anyone serious in process control who would use windows for the actual control of plant, though for limited IO such products do exist Heck, we're firmly in the "safety interlocks must also be hard-wired" camp.

    However, the article's description of SCADA as a protocol demonstrates a negligible understanding of that whole industry. It's like calling "word processing" a protocol.

    In terms of some of the trivial applications, sure it's overkill on the hardware and OS side, but hey, I can develop a VB app to display a green arrow in about 1 minute. The licence costs for XP Embedded are almost nothing, and there's hundreds of hardware options available off the shelf in all form factors, including small fanless boards with solid state drives. The time it'd take me to find or assemble some other platform to make it happen would far outweigh any saving in equipment & OS cost. Sure, someone else could do the same with Linux in 1 minute with known equipment. Good on 'em! No skin off my nose.
    If deployment is 10,000 units then yes each dollar on equipment counts, but by then the installation costs will far exceed the hardware so that'd become the main consideration in choice of platform.

  23. this is how common it is.. on German Survey Company Loses 41,000 Survey Records · · Score: 2, Funny

    It is established that an amazing (unknown)% of survey data is lost or released to unauthorized recipients. We'd tell you the percentage, but we lost the laptop with all records at the airport.

  24. Re:$65k fine? on Minnesota Pays Video Game Industry $65K In Fees · · Score: 1

    Why did they bother with a $65k fine? I would have been more impressed if they had made it a $65,535 fine or something.

    But that's only $64k (a dollar less than it, actually), which is clearly less than $65k.

    (ducks)

  25. Re:what could possibly... on Cell Phones Tracking Nightlife Activity · · Score: 1

    Easy way to add aftershocks to a flash-mob!