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User: Moochman

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Comments · 186

  1. Re:I skimmed the PDF, and it means on If You're Fat, Broke, and Smoking, Blame Language · · Score: 1

    In English you can just as easily say "I'm going to the theatre", with the same level of ambiguity. It's amazing how easily TFA is debunked.

  2. Re:jetzt on If You're Fat, Broke, and Smoking, Blame Language · · Score: 1

    "I'm participating in lectures about linguistics" and "I participate in lectures about linguistics", without an adverb, both interchangeably mean the same thing in English

    Technically maybe, but in real use, just about every native English speaker will understand the first to mean that I'm doing it right now and the second to mean that I do it habitually.

  3. Re:jetzt on If You're Fat, Broke, and Smoking, Blame Language · · Score: 1

    TFA isn't even true. I can say "I'm going to Aunt Sally's tomorrow." That's a perfectly correct idiomatic English sentence.

  4. Re:If it's not as closed as iOS/(locked down)Andro on RIM Unveils New OS Based On QNX · · Score: 1

    Yep, GP is a moron. Confirmed. Adobe tools are dead simple.

  5. Re:Java is cool on Oracle's Ambitious Plan For Client-Side Java · · Score: 1

    You sir, are full of misinformation. When you set Swing to use native LaF, it actually uses the system's own drawing of the widgets. That's true on Windows, Mac and Linux/GTK+. Has been for years. Only in certain areas (e.g. the file dialog boxes) can you tell that it's not native, because of the layout and functionality, not the LaF.

  6. Re:Interesting that it's Flash on Google Rolling Out Live Streaming For YouTube · · Score: 1

    There is no viable alternative to Flash right now for streaming live video, especially with the same market penetration.

    Yes there is, it's called RTSP/RTP and it's well-supported by VLC and QuickTime (and by extension their browser plug-ins). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rtsp

  7. Re:I remember on Google Seeking "Search Without Search" · · Score: 1

    Agreed. Google's algorithm was the best when it came out, but I get the feeling more and more these days that we can do so much better! Fact is, Wikipedia is a more useful source of information than Google for around 1/3 of my searches these days. That's saying something.

  8. Re:42 on Google Seeking "Search Without Search" · · Score: 1

    That's not it. Instant is annoying because it's implemented poorly from a UI perspective. It jarringly changes the whole layout of the site in a split-second. That's just patently bad UX right there; it's no wonder so many people get annoyed at it. AAMOF most people I ask hate Instant. But they don't know that it can be turned off, so they simply accept it. The only reason only "power" users don't use it while everyone else does is because they are the only ones willing to hunt and peck in order find the "OFF" button.

  9. Re:What is limewire? on RIAA Now Blames Journalists For Its Piracy Trouble · · Score: 1

    I don't see how this is a real issue. If you filter for Audio files, that's all you'll get. No danger of viruses there.

  10. Re:What is limewire? on RIAA Now Blames Journalists For Its Piracy Trouble · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Actually LimeWire is great for downloading obscure individual mp3s. This is possible because of the fact that not only the file-sharing itself, but also the search, is peer-to-peer. IMHO this means it is still a better "Napster replacement" than Bittorrent, in the sense that it allows you to explore music rather than simply download it en masse.

  11. Re:Isn't that three-letter acronym taken? on CDE — Making Linux Portability Easy · · Score: 1

    I actually downloaded Solaris just to try the CDE experience and see what I was missing. It was very purple with a Windows 3.1 flair and a kind of cool dock. Go for it!

  12. Re:Run for the hills! on Gosu Programming Language Released To Public · · Score: 1

    except for the fact that writing "(num1==5 && num2==6)" is arguably easier to read than "(num1 == 5 && num2 == 6)", because white space is only used between expressions and not within them.

  13. Re:Run for the hills! on Gosu Programming Language Released To Public · · Score: 1

    whoosh

  14. Re:Another Language on Gosu Programming Language Released To Public · · Score: 1

    You *can* write such code, but how long will it take you to build up equivalent APIs in a low-level language that these higher-level languages give you out of the box, taking into account the time needed to eliminate bugs? Here's a hint: it took those multiple companies' worth of advanced programmers over a decade to get to that level.

    It's almost as if you exhibit a polar extreme case of Not Invented Here syndrome. Just because you *can* do something does not make it a good or practical solution to real-world problems.

  15. Re:Ordering and Convergence on The Tuesday Birthday Problem · · Score: 1

    don't forget the chance of identical twins...

  16. Re:Ordering and Convergence on The Tuesday Birthday Problem · · Score: 1

    What if I said "I have two children, one of whom is a boy that likes the number 1835736583. What's the probability that my other child is a boy?"

    Ahaha brilliant!!

  17. Re:Better Puzzle on The Tuesday Birthday Problem · · Score: 1

    don't you mean in 4 years from now? 6*5 != 27...

  18. Re:But... on BIOS Will Be Dead In Three Years · · Score: 1

    It's not just F12. On some systems it is Delete, Esc, or Ctl-Shift-S, and any number of other potential combinations of modifier and F-keys.

    So your approach is actually the perfect one for hacking into an unfamiliar system :).

  19. Re:How about the other way around? on Can We Legislate Past the H.264 Debate? · · Score: 1

    Instead of invalidating patents, why not just simply say all standards must not be patent encumbered?

    Mod parent up. This would be a really nice, sensible state of things that I could imagine being realistically being applied to many (but probably not all) standards bodies.

    But even more pertinent is the question, why is the W3C allowed to put H.264 in the HTML5 spec? The whole premise of the web is that its specifications are open (i.e. royalty free), and that is one of the reasons it has become so popular. Have we learned nothing from GIF? Media formats that are specified as being embedded within HTML should be treated as if they are part of the HTML specification--a specification which is supposed to be royalty-free! Allowing H.264 in there is the epitome of saying one thing while doing another--pure hipocrasy!

  20. Re:New standard? on Can We Legislate Past the H.264 Debate? · · Score: 1

    The video tag is such an important part of html5 it really needs to get decided.

    Agreed.

    Why not just start from scratch and create a new video codec for the web. Meeting all the requirments both legal and technical and finally end this.

    You've got to be kidding. Never mind that it has taken years to get Theora where it is now technically -- it is also a fact that there are only so many ways to cut down on video bitrates. This is why, even though Theora is theoretically a "new" codec, it still allegedly could be called out for violating MPEG patents.

    Yet another "new" codec, short of some magical new video compression algorithm being discovered (chances slim to none), wouldn't change anything in regards to legal issues, and would need years to mature technically to the point where it is ready for prime time.

  21. Simple on Can We Legislate Past the H.264 Debate? · · Score: 1

    There is no question that patent and copyright reform are desperately needed, and are the best solution. But since it seems like this won't happen anytime soon, the simplest solution would be for the MPEG-LA to change the licensing to something that prohibits themselves from changing their minds and extracting royalties at a later date. (Somewhat similarly to how the GPL ensures that a company can never backtrack on the open-sourceness of code.)

    Or, even better, make a legally binding promise to give up all royalties, commercial included, at a fixed date in the future. Something like the following would make the masses happy methinks:
    (however IANAL so I can't speak for accuracy, enforceability or realisticness of the language)

    "Until (--insert date here--), MPEG-LA garantees the royalty-free use of (--insert MPEG specs here--) for non-commercial purposes. Directly following this date, said specifications are to be available royalty free for both commercial and non-commercial purposes, indefinitely. Starting on said date, no royalties shall be applicable or enforceable by any party on the specifications in their current form as of this writing ((--current date--)). This statement is binding under law and cannot be retracted."

    As for the date, 2012 sounds good to me. :)

  22. Re:Designed Obsolescence on Blu-ray Proposes Incompatible BD-XL and IH-BD Formats · · Score: 1

    I don't about you, but I thoroughly enjoy using CDs and DVDs for storage, particularly of pictures, music, videos and applications. They fulfill the purpose wonderfully, as Bluray will (/might) when (/if) Bluray burners become standard equipment. The point is not to back up the entire hard drive; the point is to share information with others and/or back up enough of the hard drive, in sensible categorized chunks, at a cheaper price point and theoretically with a longer shelf life than what you get by buying a second hard drive.

  23. Re:Totally going to hook this up with an iPad on Google Gets Quake II Running In HTML5 · · Score: 1

    The iPad doesn't support Flash, but it does support HTML5 , so we can totally Quake II on the iPad... because you know we can... and have lots of money and free time.

    I am rich
    I deserv it
    I am good,
    healthy &
    successful

  24. Re:Die Flash games! on Google Gets Quake II Running In HTML5 · · Score: 1

    Well the lack of tools is certainly a gap in the market that some party could cash in on right now with a pretty big payoff long-run.

    This makes it look like GWT is becoming a candidate. Also based on some of the assertions made recently by Adobe in the vein of "we're in the creative tools business, not the technologies business" I think they may jump on board the HTML5 train soon as well.

  25. Re:I see what they did there... on Telcos Want Big Subsidies, Not Line-Sharing · · Score: 1

    Actually, in the case of Amtrak it's the exact reverse: privately owned infrastructure (the rails themselves) with a (semi-)public service running on top of it. And that's exactly why it's so f*$&ed up.