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User: Snorpus

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Comments · 191

  1. Re:Social change causes corporate insanity on Microsoft Suspends Gamer For Being From Fort Gay · · Score: 3, Informative

    That's right - "gay" has been used for "lame" for decades now. The problem is that it is *also* used to indicate homosexuality.

    And even before it meant "lame", gay meant happy or enjoyable.

  2. Re:This is College on Professors Banning Laptops In the Lecture Hall · · Score: 1

    Indeed, the professors work for the students, not vice versa. It always perplexed me why some college profs took attendance. They are there to teach not to babysit. If some schmo wants to blow his 30 grand a year tuition playing bejeweled, what does the professor care? I mean does the professor have some high score and he's hoping to eliminate the competition for the next international bejeweled tournament? Well actually, if that's the case, I guess it's ok.

    Because in many cases, the schmo is getting 50-80% of the cost of their schooling paid for by the taxpayers. Plus those that play games, use Facebook, etc. are the first to complain when they don't get the grade they feel "entitled" to..

  3. Re:Expelled on How Easy Is It To Cheat In CS? · · Score: 1

    Just make the punishment for cheating sufficiently harsh.

    My college allows a range of punishments, any of which can be applied to the first offense:

    • -re-do the assignment
    • -failure of the assignment, no make-up allowed.
    • -failure of the course.

    Repeated offenses result in expulsion.

  4. Re:Invoice for labor on Toyota Demands Removal of Fan Wallpapers · · Score: 1

    But if Toyota doesn't specify which wallpapers are allegedly in violation, can't Harry just ignore the takedown request, since the request doesn't comply with the DMCA?

  5. Re:how is it... on Calculating the Date of Easter · · Score: 1

    Gelatin chicks? Chocolate bunnies? Don't kids get real chicks (dyed yellow, purple, etc.) and bunnies at Easter any more?

  6. Re:metadata on Canon Files For DSLR Iris Registration Patent · · Score: 1
    My understanding is that the iris image is taken ahead of time, and applied after, the actual photography moment.

  7. Re:earthed? on New Dell Laptops Give Users a Literal Shock · · Score: 1
    It's actually pretty standard terminology. Or at least was, back when design involved actual individual discrete components. There are even different schematic symbols for earth ground and chassis ground.

  8. Re:Incorrect.... on Y2K38 Watch Starts Saturday · · Score: 1
    And the source code is on that 8" floppy disk in the back of Joe's filing cabinet.

    I wonder if Joe took it with him when he retired?

  9. Re:Poetic justice? on Lax TSA Website Exposed Travelers' Information · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Yeah.... Poetic justice would be if the contractor who did such a poor job found his own personal details posted all over the 'net, because of holes in his own system.

  10. Re:I love my Spy Remote on Long Term Effects of Gizmodo CES Prank · · Score: 4, Funny

    but I wouldn't turn off a football game at a sports bar. That would be rude.

    Not to mention dangerous to one's health.

  11. Wither Heathkit? on Heathkit Reincarnates the Hero Robot · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Last I heard of Heath(kit), they'd been purchased by Zenith. I think the name is still used on motion-sensor fixtures, sold as "Heath-Zenith", in places like Lowe's, Home Depot, etc.
    I suspect the only connection to the Heathkit we love is the name... somebody probably bought the rights to use the name.

    Now, if the instructions (yellow cover mandatory) include a 200-step procedure for aligning the RF and IF stages, using the S-meter as a VTVM and the BFO as a signal source, then we know we're getting somewhere.

    Provided, of course, that the robot only comes in a two-tone green color scheme.

  12. Why on Analog Cellular Shutdown To Hit Built-In Devices · · Score: 1
    Why do people insist on capitalizing "ham", as if it were an acronym? It's just a nickname, if you will, for amateur radio operator. You don't see GEEK, or NERD, or QUILTER.

  13. Add to that on Universe May Be Running Out of Time · · Score: 1
    Hilary could be president in about 13 months.

    Will time run out before then?

  14. Re:Fake? on No Right to Privacy When Your Computer Is Repaired · · Score: 3, Informative
    He wasn't charged again... the prosecutors appealed the ruling of the trial court that threw out the evidence on the hard drive. So the case gets remanded back to the trial court, to continue the case.

  15. Santa Cruz, not (new)SCO on Did SCO Get Linux-mob Justice? · · Score: 2, Informative
    The Novell deal was with Santa Cruz (aka oldSCO). But Santa Cruz didn't have enough money to buy the entire Unix business, so the copyrights were excluded in order to lower the purchase price. It wasn't accidental or an oversight that the copyrights were excluded; Santa Cruz couldn't afford them.


    Caldera later bought the Unix business line (still sans copyrights) from Santa Cruz, and renamed itself SCO.

  16. Re:enough with the fuel cell on New Catalyst May Be a Boost For Fuel Cells · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Are you sure that, per kWH, a modern IC automotive engine is cleaner than a modern coal-fired plant?

  17. Re:On the Contrary ... on $200 Linux PCs On Sale At Wal-Mart · · Score: 1

    Awww, and 1970 seems like only yesterday... s/1970/2000 s/1971/2001

  18. Re:On the Contrary ... on $200 Linux PCs On Sale At Wal-Mart · · Score: 4, Funny

    If memory serves, it wasn't all that long ago (1970? 1971?) that 1.5GHz, 512MB, 80GB would have been the specs on a pretty high-end machine.

  19. Re:09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 on Censoring a Number · · Score: 1
    And Google says: "about 1,650,000 for 09 F9 11 02. (0.16 seconds)"

    And, might I say, climbing.

  20. Re:No, I buy nice ones. on Mercury Contamination Vs. Energy-Efficient Lightbulbs · · Score: 1
    Overall, there's probably more risk of getting a cut from the broken glass than ill from the mercury.

  21. P & T on Why Are T1 Lines Still Expensive? · · Score: 1
    I believe that stands for "Post and Telegraph". In many countries, the mail, telegraph, and telephone systems are all part of the same government agency.

  22. Re:Oh Please on IRS To Go After eBay Sellers · · Score: 2, Interesting
    It's not the arithmetic that I disagree with, it's the assumptions of population and income distributions.

    ... but the real world will have people making A LOT more that 500k, and A LOT more people at the lower two income brackets.

    In the United States, at least, the income distribution is roughly normal, with admittedly a long (but very low probability) tail in the higher incomes. The blog's example has 150 people making $30K or less, and 11 making $30,001 or more.

  23. Re:I support the IRS on this issue on IRS To Go After eBay Sellers · · Score: 1
    Agreed. Your point is well taken.

    I was illustrating the "simplest" (and I think, typical eBay) purchase-resale case. I think the required holding period is six months to be treated as a capital gain, but I could be wrong. I'm not sure if this applies to "anything" (knick-knacks, etc.) or just to items worth more than a minimum amount (cars, paintings, buildings, etc.).

  24. Re:Oh Please on IRS To Go After eBay Sellers · · Score: 1
    I'd hardly call a hypothetical example, made up by someone I never heard of, "proof" of anything.

  25. Re:I support the IRS on this issue on IRS To Go After eBay Sellers · · Score: 5, Informative
    If you buy an item, and then resell it at a higher price, you are no different than the shop around the corner (or WalMart)... the difference between your selling price and your purchase price, less expenses, is income, and subject to income tax. If you're selling used household items (that baby carriage that's been collecting dust for years in the basement), and you sell it for less than you paid for it, there is no income tax (in fact, you *might* be able to deduct the loss, if you have other gains to offset it). Of course, the IRS wants proof that you sold it at a loss.

    The fact that you paid income tax already on your wages from your regular job is irrelevant.