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User: Ransak

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Comments · 156

  1. They Live... on Followup: Ultraviolet Vision After Cataract Surgery · · Score: 1

    You could potentially help Rowdy Roddy Piper stop the alien invasion!

  2. Re:Greed on DC Comics Announces "Before Watchmen" · · Score: 1

    The movie made money. Not a truckload, but it did make a profit in theaters. Factor in DVD sales and they did alright.

  3. Um, the Mythbusters busted #2... on IBM's Five Predictions For the Next Five Years · · Score: 2

    2) Biometrics is not authentication, it's identification. Any system pretending otherwise is ripe for abuse.

  4. Re:methodically and late into the night on Ask Slashdot: Getting a Grip On an Inherited IT Mess? · · Score: 4, Insightful
    What if you got really sick?

    I call this the 'Hit By A Bus' scenario. If you're hit by a bus in the next five minutes can the business carry on without you? If the answer is no for any reason then the business has major problems.

  5. IPv6 once again... on Ask Internet Visionary and Pioneer Vint Cerf · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Greetings. Once upon a time I was fortunate enough to ask you about IPv6, way back in 2002. The phrase '6 by 6' (for IPv6 by 2006) was the goal, but it seems we've missed that target. Do you ever foresee mandatory widespread adoption of IPv6 happening? Should IPv6 have been designed to be interoperable with IPv4?

  6. This already exists. on Foodtubes Proposes Underground, Physical Internet · · Score: 1

    This already exists to some extent, just working in the other direction.

    When you drop a 'physical package' off in the toilet, it's routed to a specific location which in many places is miles away from where it originated. I could see something like this working (and perhaps even utilizing part of the same infrastructure) in many cities in the US.

  7. Context on US Gov't Makes a Mess of Classifying Sensitive Data · · Score: 1

    The DoD has issues with classifying data, yes, but they have to deal with some odd situations. A good example is a well known (publicly) Air Force project that I can't remember the acronym of but someone Googling could find it in a few minutes I'd imagine. This project used a 30 node Teradata system (NCR) with a combined total of 18TB (36TB if you count the mirror). None of the data was even classified as 'sensitive' on it's own, but after several years of gathering data it was decided by an audit that in aggregate the data was Top Secret. This meant physically moving the servers and logically moving the data along with network/load balancers/IDS and combing through Jiggabytes of data and labeling each... and no, only the data owners could do that so just running some SQL queries against it and going away for the weekend wasn't sufficient.

    Don't get me wrong, I've seen plenty of WTF issues with data classification and many other OT issues, but the DoD is a big, constantly moving animal and not all of the appendages talk to one another. I've come to accept something Douglas Adams tried to teach me back in 1987 with Bureaucracy: this is how the government works and changing it would only result in more paperwork.

  8. I'm from near there. on Microsoft Suspends Gamer For Being From Fort Gay · · Score: 1

    I grew up near there and for awhile there was an area named 'Big Ugly' about an hour away. Not sure why they renamed it.

    Fort Gay isn't all that far from Lovely and Beauty, KY either. People magazine did an article on the area back in the 90s and mentioned Fort Gay as well.

  9. Delusions of Grandeur on The Many Iterations of William Shatner · · Score: 4, Funny

    Certainly I don't know what Tim Allen was doing. He seemed to be the head of a group of actors and for the life of me I was trying to understand who he was imitating. - William Shatner, on Galaxy Quest

    At the 2009 Vegas ST convention Shatner was on stage and fans were asking questions. A fan of the original series went up to the mic and told him how good of an actor he was; he then proceeded to take the next 20 minutes agreeing with her. At some point I said in a low voice 'It's like throwing gasoline on a flame,' (a quote from Galaxy Quest describing the parody character of Kirk at a convention) and the entire section burst out laughing so much he had to stop talking to find out what was going on.

  10. Re:640x480 should be good enough for anyone! on Consumer Webcams With High-Quality Sensors? · · Score: 1

    Really? Weird. The only one I use that has any color issues is staring through a glass window. What kind of enclosure are you using?

  11. So full of win. on TSA Worker Jailed In Body Scan Rage Incident · · Score: 5, Interesting

    As a frequent flyer, I love this story. If anything was going to lend credence to the inappropriateness of these scanners in a lawsuit, this is. A TSA supervisor making fun of genitals now a matter of public record? So... much... legal... win...

  12. 640x480 should be good enough for anyone! on Consumer Webcams With High-Quality Sensors? · · Score: 2, Informative

    ... to paraphrase a certain someone in the IT industry.

    In all seriousnessity, check out the Zonet ZVC7630W if 640x480 meets your needs. It runs an embedded Linux kernel with Busybox, supports LAN/WiFi/USB sticks for recording, MJPEG streaming, and has some nifty motion trigger features.

    I use a few of these for security cameras and they're pretty easy to weather proof with some caulk and tupperware. My one big complaint however (which might be a showstopper for many on ./) is the built in web features such as 2-way talk require Internet Exploder. It utilizes an ActiveX applet that I haven't been able to get around.

  13. Re:There are exceptions... on The Problems With Video Game Voice Acting · · Score: 1

    I agree 100%. However I've run into more than a few people that consider acting a childish waste of time (I live in the Mideast US - not exactly the most enlightened bunch out here).

  14. There are exceptions... on The Problems With Video Game Voice Acting · · Score: 2, Insightful
    ... Mass Effect or Dragon Age: Origins (the latter more so than the former). They tend to use real actors, not just students or developers that want a shot at it.

    Of course this works under the premise that acting is a profession, which some disagree with.

  15. Re:Whaaaaaaaat? on Why Paying For Code Doesn't Mean You Own It · · Score: 1
    Although, he could entirely be screwed, if he started work on the product, and then propose a contract later that the customers don't wish to agree to.

    That's a good point, especially with contracts prone to feature creep (if the contract allows for such).

  16. Re:Whaaaaaaaat? on Why Paying For Code Doesn't Mean You Own It · · Score: 1
    How is this the responsibility of the contractor? If a buyer lacks the proper knowledge or understanding of the legal aspects *they* should consult a laywer prior to purchase.

    Hear that 'whoooosh' just now? That was the point you missed.

    I never said the customer was blameless, just that the author's ethics are questionable at best and his plumbing analogy was badly flawed. Being deceptive by withholding information when negotiating a contract is legal (in most jurisdictions I'm familiar with anyway) but it's not ethically sound and is a great way to ensure you won't be doing business with that customer (or anyone they know) again.

  17. Whaaaaaaaat? on Why Paying For Code Doesn't Mean You Own It · · Score: 5, Insightful
    FTA:

    "if I pay a plumber to fix my tap, I don’t ask him to leave his toolbox so I can fix it myself next time"

    "You might ask why I didn’t make a contract with this client in the first place. It’s because I’ve found, over the years, that insisting on a contract before development starts will result either in a delayed start or even a project being shelved."

    So, this developer doesn't disclose this to customers who aren't aware that they are screwed when the developer walks away? His tortured analogy of the plumber and his tools is only correct if the plumber is installing pipes, valves, etc. that are 100% proprietary to the plumber and can't be purchased anywhere else. The word slimy leaps to mind for his business ethics (and plumbing in general).

  18. Re:And? on How To Play HD Video On a Netbook · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Sad but true. Documentation isn't as fun to write as code.

  19. Anyone remember the VR hype back in 1994? on Japan Will Start 3D TV Programming This Summer · · Score: 1
    The recent hype around 3D TV reminds me a lot of the VR hype back in the mid 90s. The technology just wasn't there yet and it killed the market before it began, as a result home VR never became the panacea that was promised.

    Well, that and no one wanted to wear bulky headsets for hours.

  20. We've heard this from our mothers for years... on Darwinian Evolution Considered As a Phase · · Score: 1

    "You are what you eat."

    Cue the toilet humor in 3... 2... 1...

  21. Re:Blog from a New Jersey "Internet Technologist" on Offline Book "Lending" Costs US Publishers Nearly $1 Trillion · · Score: 1

    So only insightful articles on technology, et. al. can come out of Silicon Valley?

  22. More about data retention and usage policies... on EFF Wants To Know If the Feds Are Cyberstalking · · Score: 4, Informative

    The summary is misleading. The suit is more about what the Feds are doing with that data and the policies surrounding it, not that the Feds are using social networking sites for investigations.

  23. Mythbuntu + Boxee on Best PC DVR Software, For Any Platform? · · Score: 1
    I've been using Mythbuntu since the 8.x release and it's been pretty reliable for everything you mentioned. Yes, the integrated DVD player sucks by default, but it's trivial to set up Xine for this. I don't use the default MythTV player for anything other than cable recorded content and my family loves it.

    Integrate Boxee into MythTV and stream Netflix to it and you have a solution that does just about anything (short of Cable Cards) that anyone could want.

  24. Re:My first hand experience on Modern Warfare 2 on Verizon Changes FiOS AUP, -1, Offtopic · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    Play him off, Keyboard Cat.

    dum dum dum dum da dum dumm...

  25. That's just inviting... on Is Crowdsourcing the Next Big Thing In Game Design? · · Score: 2, Funny

    ... more flying penis attacks. Won't someone think of the children?