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User: thomp

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  1. Ahhhh ... Tempest on Atari Turns 40 Today · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Tempest is by far my favorite video game of all time. No video game since has come close to holding my attention like Tempest. The simplicity of the game, the rhythm of the game, the invisible levels, the chip glitch that enabled you to do weird things to the game depending on the last two digits of your score. I still dream about the game, and I haven't played it in 20 years.

  2. BetterFacebook on Facebook Timeline Shows Who Has Unfriended You · · Score: 3, Informative

    Get BetterFacebook for your browser. You can see all kinds of activity that FB doesn't show you.

    Also, you can already make lists of people in Facebook, so you can separate your close friends from your not-so-close friends.

  3. The whole premise is wrong on Is There a New Geek Anti-Intellectualism? · · Score: 1

    Not knowing that the Battle of Hastings was in 1066 is not anti-intellectual. Knowing trivial facts about that event does not necessarily mean you understand the significance of that event.

  4. Next up on How Major Film Studios Manipulate YouTube Users · · Score: 2

    How breakfast cereal companies manipulate breakfast cereal eaters with hip characters in commercials during kids' TV shows.

  5. Re:It has a GPS too on Samsung Set To Introduce Android-Based iPod Touch Competitor · · Score: 1

    Could you be more specific? I've had my Samsung Galaxy S for a few months and it has worked flawlessly. Camera, video, GPS, wifi, apps - everything works as it should.

  6. Re:Thank God for standardized testing on The Creativity Crisis · · Score: 5, Insightful

    > Where it is promptly beaten out of you.

    BS. My three kids (15, 12, 9) are encouraged to express their creativity in ways that I was never allowed when I was their age. In fact, I get a little frustrated that their teachers focus so much on creativity and 'thinking outside the box' that they forget about things like spelling and grammar.

  7. Re:Bullshit Bullshit Bullshit on Apple's Trend Away From Tinkering · · Score: 2, Funny

    > I can say with absolutely certainty that I would not be as capable of a problem solver as I am today if I hadn't been fortunate enough to be introduced to BASIC at the age of 6.

    So you lived your childhood twice - once with BASIC and once without?

  8. He's right on Are Sat-Nav Systems Becoming Information Overload? · · Score: 1

    I don't want to see a rendered image on the navigation system; I just want a 2-D map. It might make for pretty graphics (and marketability), but it's more than I need to navigate.

    But I'm an old geography fart just like the author of the article.

  9. Information and knowledge management on MapReduce — a Major Step Backwards? · · Score: 1

    Data management is becoming so much more than just the data stored in a DBMS. As a data management geek, it's sad that the authors, experts in my field, fail to put MapReduce in its proper context and recognize its value. My bread and butter is DBMS, and even I could see the potential of MapReduce and the failure of the authors' arguments.

    tap

  10. Re:Dumbing Down on New Longhorn Screenshots Leaked · · Score: 1

    +Insightful? Ugh.

    Maybe some of you geeks should spend some time in the real world before you comment on it. It's got nothing to do with stupidity or laziness; it's about ease of use. A computer is nothing more than a home appliance. End users expect their computers to work like a home appliance: take it out of the box, plug it in, and simply work.

  11. Re:Yeah... on Profile of a Hard-Core Gamer · · Score: 1

    Not to mention that Madison has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. Plenty of tech jobs at all levels here. This guy's an ass.

  12. Cool ... on Get Your New Handheld...in Butter. · · Score: 1

    I'll be up at the State Fair this weekend. I hope the butter PDA is still there so I can try to pass it a virus. You think it's got a port for me to 'plug in'?

    BTW, the butter sculpting is one of the grand old traditions at the Minnesota State Fair, the biggest state fair in the USA. The State Fair queen gets her likeness carved out of butter every year, and I know they sent David Letterman a bust of himself a few years ago.

  13. K says ... on Tiny, Secure Music/Data CDs Due in the Fall · · Score: 1

    "Looks like I'll have to buy the White Album again."

  14. Cloning patents not so clear cut ... on Dolly Cloning Method Patented · · Score: 1

    Just some quick background ...

    I work at Infigen in Wisconsin, USA. We were the first lab to clone a cow using nuclear transfer. We have several issued and pending patents on the nuclear transfer process. We also have the largest herd of cloned cattle in the world

    The patent situation for cloning is as messy as with computer technology. The claims being allowed are extremely broad, and we all use the same technique for the most part. There are minor variations in growth media, activation protocols, etc.; and we all seem to be awarded patents based on those variations.

    The approach to writing patents for cloning is the same as in other areas of biotech - make your claims as broad as possible and let the lawyers sort it out. I expect things to get nasty here in the near future ...