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User: Drunken+Coward

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Comments · 179

  1. Re:The question I'll ask if I'm around... on IRC Forum w/ CmdrTaco & Hemos Tonight at 8pm Eastern · · Score: 1
  2. Even more impressive on Endless Liquid Refreshment · · Score: 5, Funny

    Would be if you'd managed to rig a kegorator to dispense Guinness. If you feel like drinking a calorie-laden fizzy beverage, it might as well be one that tastes good.

    Besides which, there is evidence that diet soda drinks are mildly carcinogenic and may slow down the metabolism enough to negate the fact that they are less caloric.

  3. Responsibility on Ethical Dilemmas Related to Technology · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How about the moral responsibility of scientists for the repercussions of their creations? Several things come to mind, the first being the developement of the atomic bomb and the subsequent massive loss of innocent life. And when does biotech evolve from improving genetic flaws to customizing a person as a whole?

    But the coming rise of nanotechnology should also not be overlooked. Sure, the grey goo problem is largely hype, but what if something like that really does happen? Should the scientists working in nanotech be held responsible for an epidemic on a massive global scale?

    These are all issues I would like to see addressed in a class on ethical dilemmas in technology.

  4. Questioning global warming on Still More on Global Warming · · Score: 1, Insightful

    This only furthers the evidence that global warming has not been caused by human action.

    Since WWII, growing populations and increasing industrial activity have put billions of tons of CO2 in the atmosphere, yet the climate cooled significantly between 1940 and 1975. Since then, surface thermometers show a continued small warming trend up to the present, while satellites, as well as balloon-borne radiosondes, do not. It is possible that loacal warming in urban areas has contaminated surface data, skewing the results.

    It was with good reason that the US did not sign the Kyoto treaty.

  5. Article Summary on The Clueless Newbie's Linux Odyssey · · Score: 4, Insightful

    After finding herself stuck behind the times using Windows 95 in 2002, the author took it upon herself to convert to Linux. After trying Mandrake, Lycoris, SuSE, RedHat, and Knoppix, she found them all seriously lacking and has since switched back to using Windows 95,

    If a computer literate technical writer can't even get Linux working properly, how can we expect it to be widely adopted by the masses? Linux is not ready for the desktop.

  6. What will O'Reilly say? on Photographer Fired For Digitally Altering Photo · · Score: 3, Funny

    Great, this is just what we need: another reason for Bill O'Reilly to get his panties in a twist over the LA Times.

    He already seems to think they are actively aiding the Iraqis by spreading propaganda, and this surely won't help sway his opinion.

  7. frowny mac on Susan Kare: Mother of Icons You Love (or Hate) · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'll never forget the first time I saw the "sad Mac" icon during bootup. It made me chuckle and would have been even more amusing had it not been for the fact that my system would no longer boot.

    I stopped using macs soon after that.

  8. Re:Working better now? on Snag the Red Hat 9 ISOs, via Cash or BitTorrent · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    It was the opposite for me, it started out fast then gradually slowed to a crawl.

    Up to about 10 K/s down now, still at 35 K/s up.

  9. BitTorrent not working well on Snag the Red Hat 9 ISOs, via Cash or BitTorrent · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Estimated time left: 75 hours 25 minutes 35 seconds

    Current download rate: 3 kB/s
    Current upload rate: 35 kB/s

    Seems to be some sort of bottleneck :(

    Is it available at any FTP mirrors yet?

  10. It's been done on A Full-Size Remote-Control Car · · Score: 4, Funny

    Nothing we haven't seen before. Apparently the British are about five years ahead of us in the cool gadget department.

    The site appears to have been screwed up. Anyone else getting a strange redirect?

  11. Uhhh What? on Live From Rubi-Con 5! · · Score: 2, Funny
    From the site
    And in the flash of picoseconds and the dark spaces of silicon gates and the invisible matrix of fiendish complexity which sits unfurling before the trembling fingers of those with the patience, undying curiosity and (let's just say it) genius to sling a pebble where others would hurl a mountain, one wonders why there stands disharmony between any who see this invisible world; between any who divine and any who would uncoil the wizard mazes which bind our terrible secrets and our teeming oceans of endless information.

    We bridge the duality. We unite the twins of our digital age, and show each what they are, what they were, and what they may be.

    Black. White. We stand outside the duality. We are gray.

    And the women! You can't forget the women!
  12. Why not just get a laptop on Tom's Hardware Reviews VIA Mini-ITX Board · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If they're not very upgradeable, why not that much more expensive and they include a screen, keyboard, and pointer.

  13. Depends on the situation on Software Tariffs and US IT Outsourcing? · · Score: 5, Insightful

    But it seems it would be largely futile to impose such tariffs, as usually international software developement is done by satellite offices of US-based companies, thus making them immune.

    Otherwise, it could be similar to the issue of the "Made in America" labels that can be put on any product partially constucted within the United States. So if a widget is manufactured in Mexico, but put together in the US it can still bare the label, exempting it from some tariffs. So for coding and other computer style products, this can be worked around by doing the majority of the work outside the country with the cheaper labor, then wrapping it all up within the borders.

  14. Further proof on Sun Drops Linux Distro · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This is only further proof that Sun plans on dropping out of the entry level server market and sticking with their old method of selling enterprise level systems with a more robust and proven operating system, Solaris. Too much competition exists on the Linux side of things to make enough money, with Dell, IBM, HP, and others fighting it out.

    Watch for Sun phasing out the blade-style systems next.

  15. Thanks but no thanks on Moneydance - Cross-Platform Personal Finance · · Score: 3, Interesting
    I'm not going to trust my personal finances to a company that refuses to release their code under the GPL. Who knows what kind of data this software is gathering, not to mention the fact that I've never even heard of this company. If I don't use Microsoft Money because of these issues, why would I use something presented by an even less reputed source?

    And forget auditing it myself, with an EULA that says:
    You may not reverse engineer, decompile, translate, adapt, or disassemble the Software, nor shall you attempt to create the source code from the object code for the Software.


    I'll wait until something free (as in beer and speech) before I think it's secure enough for my data, thanks.
  16. Still inferior on The Next XFree86 Wars: XFT2 vs STSF · · Score: 3, Informative

    The font rendering system in Windows is still vastly superior to any free implementation. Fragmentation will only further this problem.

    Competition is a good thing, but in this case collaboration is even better. The more situations we have like this, the longer it will take for Linux to be ready for the desktop.

  17. Meteor strikes not that uncommon on Meteor Over Midwest · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Meteor strikes like these are not as uncommon as one may think, it's just that the information is rarely released in such a public fashion. Who wants to release news that may create mass hysteria?

    The issue is that the scientific community has chosen to withhold any information regarding the potential threat of meteors for this very reason. With more public acknowledgement of the problem, we could develop something like the Patriot missile defense system for extraterrestrial bodies so things like this would not happen. The trillions of dollars spent on SDI and later the Patriot system would have been better spent on such protection.

  18. Unproven = untrustworthy on Synthetic Vision · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Of course, when it fails, as all new technologies occasionally do, we'll end up with something like the American 12 soldiers that ended up taking a wrong turn and falling into the hands of Saddam as POW's.

    Even the FAA sees this, as they do not allow it to be the primary navigation system on planes in the US.

  19. The Low Road? on Dell Takes the Low Road Regarding Ink Cartridges · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Saying that Dell taking the low road by preventing the sale of third party ink cartriges would be akin to saying the same of Microsoft and the X-Box. Dell sells printers at close to cost, making up for it because of package deals and the extra sales of their proprietary cartridges. Don't knock them for trying to make their money back.

  20. Is it just me on Flash Applications That Can Be Used Online and Off · · Score: 1

    Or does anyone else think Flash should die a quick and painful death? I have never seen Flash used in an application that wouldn't be more effective using javascript or simple HTML.

  21. Why? on Cheating Online Gamers · · Score: 1

    The first example given in the article, a man who cheats playing Sims Online, seems pointless. Why would you want to cheat playing a game that can't be won?

    The are probably the same people that drive in the carpool lane with no other passengers :[

  22. English Al-Jazeera on 4l-j4z333ra 0wn3d · · Score: 2, Interesting

    More pointedly, the DOS'ing of the Al-Jazeera web site coincides with the debut of its English counterpart.

    The truth will remain elusive.

  23. My Proposal on Senator Calls For Copy-Protection Tags · · Score: 4, Funny

    The warning should say something like "Due to overzealous digital media companies, the enclosed product is broken and may not function in all hardware. Attempting to fix the defect is in violation of the DMCA and may be prosecuted to the fullest extent of applicable law."

  24. Stress levels rising on Deathmatch for Dollars? · · Score: 4, Funny

    With the amount of stress some people seem to work up in a simple game not for money, I can't imagine how badly they'll freak out when a few dollars are on the line.

    More OMG!1!!!!111 Yuo h4x0r!1!!!!1111 followed by ping floods no doubt.

  25. Re:As much as we all like freeloading on Mandrake Linux 9.1 (Bamboo) Is Available! · · Score: 1

    I am intrigued. Where are these rights of which you speak enumerated?