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User: NevermindPhreak

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Comments · 326

  1. Re:At what price? on Why Is Less Than 99.9% Uptime Acceptable? · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I don't know about non-tech areas, but the US has a much thinner population density than many other developed countries. This is why it is easier to get, say, a fiber optic connection and good cell coverage in New York City, than, say, Idaho. People are sprawling away from urban centers more and more now, so that just makes the problem harder.

    My company offers up to gigabit fiber optic in the city. As you get more into the country areas, you're outside our service coverage, and no ISP will offer that without a HUGE premium. Same goes for cell phone coverage around here, the further you get from the cities, the worse it becomes. You even get less radio stations as you drive further and further out in the country. It's a population density problem, always has been.

  2. Re:because they've been conditioned on Why Is Less Than 99.9% Uptime Acceptable? · · Score: 5, Informative

    I believe you are correct. The market isn't "conditioned" into thinking that anything less than five 9s is acceptable. They just don't want to pay the cost associated with it. The price/reliability ratio right now is the one that will satisfy the most customers. 99.999% reliability is harder to sell than 99.9% reliability at half the cost.

    I work for a cable company, by the way. I design a lot of the building-out of our system, so i know the actual costs associated with creating that kind of reliability. Whenever someone needs that kind of reliability, I actually recommend getting a second ISP as a low-speed backup solution. It is the only smart way to go to get complete reliability, as pretty much any company advertising 99.999% reliability in this area is outright lying to the customer. (I know this from experience. I have switched customers over to our ISP from a week-long (or longer) outage of every ISP here, and there are quite a few.) Besides, a good router will split bandwidth between the ISPs so you're not paying for something you're not using. (called "bonding")

    I still get amazed when people yell at me for being offline for a few hours after maybe 3, 4, 5 years of uptime. They say that they are losing thousands of dollars per day they are offline. Yet, they don't want to pay for a $40 roll-over backup. THESE are the vast majority of customers who complain so much about 99.999% uptime.

    On another note, I think anyone claiming 99.999% on POTS is anecdotal. Growing up, I had my power cut out at least twice a year, and the phone system was hardly 99.999%. Trees fall on lines, and people cut buried lines for all sorts of accidental reasons. Just like you insure anything worth enough value, just like you back up data in multiple locations, you need a fallback plan if your ISP goes out if it means that much to you.

  3. Re:Given that Nintendo has already blocked Freeloa on Wii Homebrew Takes Several Leaps Forward · · Score: 1

    Definitely an awesome feature, which I've used dozens of times since it came out. Great for streaming from the network.

    But, it still has some way to go. FF and RW can stutter off the network, understandably. Worse, the 360 cuts off the edges of anime, regardless of which zoom function you use. I don't know if you've ever watched anime, but the edges are where they put the subtitles, goddamnit. :( I still have to burn my anime and play it on my XviD-capable DVD player.

    I hear X-Box Media Center is great, though.

  4. Re:DON'T BLAME OTHERS for your own acts on Politicians and the Cyber-Bully Pulpit · · Score: 1

    I don't see how. I never knew anyone personally who committed suicide, but I know and have known several victims of suicide -- the survivors who lost a loved one from suicide. The dead have no problems, those they leave behind are scarred from the experience, some horribly scarred. If you commit suicide do you have any idea what it does to your parents? Your children? Your spouse? If you commit suicide you're not thinking of anyone's feelings but your own. Your problems are over, your survivors are the ones who suffer from your deed. It's not that you're being selfish, it's that you become blinded to everything else in the world. It is akin to an addict becoming uncaring about anything other than their drug, except this was caused by something outside their control. (mental trauma or chemical imbalance)

    I've known a couple suicidal people that, when brought back to a more sane state of mind, were extremely caring about those around them. As you said, suicide is typically brought on by a type of mental illness, and those with it will typically not be able to see the pain they will cause. It's up to those around them, when they see the warning signs (if they are ever shown), to guide that person to the help they need.

    No, they should seek treatment for their mental illness. Nobody's life is cozy and perfect, and if you can't deal with yours you should seek help for your illness rather than selfishly ending your pain while inflicting pain on others. The main problem with things like clinical depression and bipolar, though, is that you shun help -- maybe because you feel they're only trying to help because they feel obligated, or maybe you feel that seeking help is a sign of being pathetic. You start to see everyone else as being "against" you. It really is a catch-22.

    I couldn't agree more. Here in the US thare are so many barriers to mental health treatment. They're thought somehow weak because of their illness; I don't see anyone thinking a cancer patient or heart attack victim is weak, despite the fact that they smoke and eat giant Burger King trans-fat burgers. But the mentally ill are looked down on.

    Many insurance policies won't cover mental illness. And that's if you even have any kind of health care at all; the mentally ill, especially in later stages, seldom have steady jobs even if they work at all.

    Many if not most mentally ill adults wind up addicted to drugs or alcohol; what they call "self-medication". If they go to get help, the snake-oil salesmen at the rehab centers insist on treating the addiction (a mental health problem in itself) without any thought whatever to the underlying illness that is the root cause of the substance abuse.

    A friend of mine was ironically talking of suicide just last night, probably as you were typing your reply. I told her pretty much what I said here, that it was the most selfish act she could imagine and made her think of her eight year old son and what it would do to him. I was actually able to talk her into alcohol rehab, but like I said, getting help for her bipolar disorder is going to be a lot harder.

    Actually, I guess suicide is the second most selfish thing a person can do. The most selfish thing is bitching about your tax money going to fund mental health care (or health care in general). Excellent points. Also, definitely good work, talking your friend into seeking help. You've essentially possibly saved a life, and saved many other lives from a great deal of pain. :D
  5. Re:Your boss has responded on Linux At the Point of Sale · · Score: 1

    Inventory management is a MAJOR part of retail. It makes it easier to know what you are out of, to manage loss control, and to visualize trends, among other things. If the current owner is having problems with it, he/she may welcome new solutions.

    Of course, if the owner is currently happy with what they have, well... if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

  6. Re:DON'T BLAME OTHERS for your own acts on Politicians and the Cyber-Bully Pulpit · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Suicide is the most selfish act a human can commit, and it is an act that isn't going to happen unless the person who commits it is seriously mentally ill. The fiend here isn't the prankster, but the suicide. The harm is done to those the dead person leaves behind. Suicide is an act caused by the victim not being able to withstand their life anymore. To call a suicide the most selfish act is in itself extremely uncaring and selfish. Should this person be made to suffer every day so that your life stays cozy and perfect? I don't support suicide, and i do feel bad for the people it affects afterwords, but when you are so overcome that you go against your most basic human instinct to survive, you really can't be expected to make rational decisions.

    Suicide is the final sign of a deep emotional sickness, possibly caused by trauma or caused by chemical imbalances (or both). The biggest problem with this type of sickness is that it tends to be a catch-22, in that you tend to shun any attempts at help. It really comes down to almost randomness, whether the right chain of events will come along to bring you out of it, or to put you over the edge. Suicides tend not to think "this will show them", but rather, "there is no other escape from this."

    The girl who killed herself was most likely suicidal to begin with, especially considering other posters said she was on medication. The "prankster" is a cunt because adults shouldn't toy with kid's emotions. However, these dumb politicians should be trying to pass laws to help other children her age get diagnosed if they have a emotional condition, and get access to the actual help they need, not just some pills. Instead, they pass stupid cyber-bullying laws.
  7. Re:This is an advertised feature I believe on Comcast Cheating On Bandwidth Testing? · · Score: 1

    they never said in the article how much they were paying for. 1.5 Mbit down by 256 Kbit up is a common commercial speed bracket. not so common for residential customers, but there are many different factors that come into play in that pricing. i believe the original poster was saying that he thought Comcast was doing this specifically to look good on bandwidth tests.

    if you're not getting more than your apportioned amount, then your SpeedBoost isn't working correctly. make sure you have a modem capable of it, make sure Comcast has the right settings in your account ("oh, we forgot to add your SpeedBoost service"), and have a Comcast tech make sure you don't have any packet loss on your line.

  8. Re:That is how cable works. on Comcast Cheating On Bandwidth Testing? · · Score: 2, Informative

    most cable modems use just one frequency in an entire cable system -- commonly 555 mHz. though they can range on multiple frequencies, most cable systems aren't set up this way. besides that, once your cable modem locks to a frequency, it stays there.

    you have the right idea, though. everyone (on your node) shares that frequency. each cable modem a bandwidth limit. (it stores this limit in a file it downloads from the cable company. people change this file to get around the limit. if you've ever heard of "unlocking your modem", well, that's why it's possible.) they carve out their little slice of bandwidth when they need to use it, similar to what clients used to do in the old Bus Network setup. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_network ) this is also why it is technically possible to see all your neighbors traffic on a cable modem, though the traffic should be encrypted.

    cable providers assume not everyone will use their bandwidth at once, which is why they can oversell the available bandwidth. some cable providers (coughcomcastcough) do so at too high of a degree, and you get slowdowns during peak times.

    anyways, there is very little latency in getting your "slice of the frequency pie", so to speak. more likely, the GP's DNS servers suck. most ISPs would throttle connections in the exact opposite manor, trying to make normal web-browsing seem lightning quick but huge downloads given less priority.

    by the way, i work for a fairly decent ISP, and have a pretty good understanding of our cable setup. ;) this information will be somewhat false for anyone running DOCSIS 3.0, for what it's worth. DOCSIS 3.0 bonds together multiple channels, but it isn't very common.

  9. Re:Not a chance on Videogames Doomed for a 'Comics-like Ghetto'? · · Score: 1

    ICO. i don't believe nobody has said this yet.

  10. Re:I never want to hear "zero emissions" again on Hydrogen-Powered cars with Zero-Carbon-Emission? · · Score: 1

    it's debatable. i've seen a lot of arguments about being able to re-use the fuel.

    besides, hydrogen can be made from any electrical source, including solar, wind, and geothermal power. it's just that conventional ways are the cheapest.

  11. Re:You need to clarify your question on Ethics In IT · · Score: 1

    In the end, the market does decide. A company that becomes known for repeatedly making bad products will eventually find that they will lose customers. Ah, but this is debatable. A company can hire a good enough Public Relations firm (or have a PR department themselves) that can essentially make the problem go unknown. I don't think the market can always be trusted decide correctly, epically if there are factors working against it. ;)
  12. Re:Better login into wikipedia host asap on Muslim Groups Attempt to Censor Wikipedia · · Score: 1

    according to Wikipedia, there are 1.61 billion Muslims. you've shown the actions of approximately .00000007% of them, and take that to denounce an entire religion?

    most of these actions occur in countries that are very violent. i have a feeling that the regional culture and socio-economics are more to blame than anything; if these people believed their god was a big purple teddy bear named Mr. Hugs, they would still be violent. though many of these violent actions were probably claimed in the name of Islam, they would have been claimed in the name of Christianity had that been the dominate religion of the region. relating the violence of a region to an entire religion is akin to relating it to race, color, or gender, simply because it is the dominate trait of the people living there.

  13. Re:9% cpopy speed-up noticable? on PC World Tests Final Version of Vista SP1 · · Score: 1

    I think you've installed the wrong security software. I use Kerio Personal Firewall and NOD32 AntiVirus. Their total footprint is 33M memory, 0% (rounded) CPU usage.

    I'll give you the fact that it would be nice not to need security software at all, though. I just disagree that all of it is as poorly dsigned as Webroot SpySweeper or Norton.

  14. Re:And you came to /. with this problem? on Open Source Code In a Closed Source Company · · Score: 1

    A lawyer can put terms in legally-binding writing, so that his company can't come back years down the road and say "you stole our code, you owe us money."

    I think you're confusing the tone of the response. "You need a lawyer", in this case, just means that you need to cover your ass, in a legally-binding way. There is no conflict involved. (Though, that is the typical reason people get a lawyer.)

  15. Re:Who will I ping ? on How Microsoft-Yahoo Will Affect Open Source · · Score: 1

    google actually drops more ping requests than yahoo, on average. we always "ping yahoo.com -t" to verify to clients that they're getting no packet loss. google always tends to drop something over long enough periods of time. ymmv.

  16. Re:Tough project on Best Practices For Process Documentation? · · Score: 1

    I think that's only true if your company isn't growing. I've been promoted twice in the last four years. You have to strive to improve, but you also have to make sure you're in the right environment to use those improvements to your advantage.

  17. Re:that's not on his ipod on Mitt Romney Answers Tech Questions · · Score: 1

    Have someone watch your dog while you're gone? Rent a van? Find a better dog-care service? Just figure out a different vacation plan? There are plenty of options available.

    A dog is not an item of luggage. Would you strap one of your kids to the top of your car for 12 hours because of a lack of space?

  18. Re:Nuclear Power and Global Warming on Suppresed Video of Japanese Reactor Sodium Leak · · Score: 5, Informative

    So interesting, that i took the liberty of finding the source.

    http://www.physics.isu.edu/radinf/np-risk.htm

  19. Re:Turn off UPNP on Most Home Routers Vulnerable to Flash UPnP Attack · · Score: 1

    Agreed. I keep uPNP turned ON on all the routers i configure. I rely on security on the computer instead of on the router, since attacks can come from within the network just as easily as they can come from outside. Kerio Personal Firewall and NOD32 have yet to steer me wrong in the last several years.

    uPNP is a godsend because it lets me avoid constantly messing with settings for p2p programs for me and my roommates. Port triggering was a good idea until two people wanted to use the same ports. Port forwarding was a joke because i'd have to configure every new MAC address to get a static IP from the router, configure certain ports for each new computer, and then fuck with every piece of software to change it's default port if it required inbound connections. uPNP just works, and the most i ever have to tell my roommates is "go into the program's settings and check the uPNP box."

  20. Re:52 buttons on The Curse of Knowledge Bogs Down Innovation · · Score: 2, Insightful

    In reality, those 52 buttons are there because some engineer thought someone might need a few of them, and someone else might need a few different ones, and so on.

    But I like your explanation better. :)

  21. Re:What do the rest believe in? on Only 2 in 500 College Students Believe in IP · · Score: 1

    Most people who support higher taxes also support taxes increasing in proportion to your yearly net income or profit. In other words, if you barely make anything, you pay 0%, whereas if you make billions per year, you are taxed, say, 50% of the profit.

    The situation you described is exactly why a Flat Tax is such a bad idea. (Though I'm sure there is some sort of benefit to it, I don't personally see it.)

  22. Re:Well, Screw Democrats then on Clinton Would Crack Down On Game Content · · Score: 1

    I definitely agree, but... lesser of two evils, and all. Once the Democrats edge out the GOP, *then* I'll start considering voting third party. Until then, I don't want to lose my vote.

  23. Re:Well, Screw Democrats then on Clinton Would Crack Down On Game Content · · Score: 1

    As far as I'm concerned, Ron Paul is still a GOP. Which means, if a supreme court judge were to pass away, we'd still get another GOP member in their place. Which just leads to another "Bush-in-2000" style win.

    Don't get me wrong: I think Ron Paul is the best of the Republicans currently running. I just can't vote for that party anytime in the near future, since in our two-party election system, you don't just vote for one person -- you vote for their entire party.

    I'd personally love to see this be the end of the GOP party. Then have another party spring up with more progressive ideas than the current Dems, while maintaining core conservative values. (i.e. family values, not big business values.) A guy can dream, though, eh?

  24. Re:Well, Screw Democrats then on Clinton Would Crack Down On Game Content · · Score: 1

    practically everyone voted for the war on Iraq. (i know Obama was against it, but he wasn't given the option to vote against it, so it's easy for him to say that.) but, i don't hold many candidates voting history against them, espically on votes that would probably pass anyways.

    http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=107&session=1&vote=00313

    I'm more concerned about what bills they actually tried to start.

    BTW, personally, I don't like Clinton too much -- I'd rather have Edwards by far. But, if she wins the Democratic primaries, you'd better believe I'll still be voting for her.

  25. Re:Vote for the brain slugs on Clinton Would Crack Down On Game Content · · Score: 1

    You can either spend extremely large sums of money fighting against both parties campaigns enough so that a third-party vote gets more than 10% in this country (good luck), or you can get our government to implement an instant-runoff election (good luck).

    until then, I'll vote for the lesser of two evils. and since GOP agendas have been responsible for mentally damaging my friends by turning them into killers, for the time being, it's going to be Democratic. :-\