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User: brennanw

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  1. Re:Before everyone freaks on Things Get Worse at Fukushima · · Score: 0

    A cynic is an idealist who learns the hard way.

  2. This sounds familiar... on Amazon Releases Cloud-Based Music Service · · Score: 1

    ... isn't this similar to the service the old MP3.com offered that ultimately got them sued into oblivion?

  3. Easy. on Why Doesn't Every Website Use HTTPS? · · Score: 1

    Site certificates cost too much damn money and are too damn restrictive. I can't buy a certificate that will cover every conceivable iteration of my domain name unless buy an "unlimited subdomain" cert which is usually 2-3x more expensive than a single domain cert. And GOD HAVE MERCY ON YOUR SOUL if you actually have more than one domain name pointing to the same server...

    Obviously you could just turn on https and redirect all traffic to it with a self-signed certificate, but when you do that every browser that visits your site starts screaming OH MY GOD I DON'T KNOW WHO SIGNED THIS EVIL HAXXX0R5 MIGHT BE STEALING YOUR IDENTITY AND SIPHONING YOUR BANK ACCOUNT AS WE SPEAK. This tends to degrade your average visitors confidence in the authenticity of your site.

    I'm speaking from experience, since I had to go through this crap last October when Firesheep came out.

    The good news is that 99.9% of all blogspam doesn't know how to handle https. Yet.

  4. I think it's more likely... on Miguel de Icaza On Usability and Openness · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ... that certain components (for example, audio) take a long time to figure out how to make work, and end users tend to get impatient about such things. That doesn't mean no progress is being made, or even that good progress isn't being made.

    I've used Linux since about 2000-2001, and I'm not really an expert. From my perspective, Linux of today is leaps and bounds over what it was then in terms of user friendliness, configurability, etc. And in terms of multimedia, well... it's somewhat usable but not there yet. But it gets closer constantly. That doesn't mean it isn't frustrating, and I still cuss out pulseaudio (and eventually uninstall it) every time I try to get it to do things that seem intuitively obvious to me... but each time I've used it I notice improvements, and I'm pretty confident that one day it will just work... at which point there will be something ELSE that everyone complains about.

    Because Linux developers don't have direct access to proprietary information, progress on proprietary-heavy aspects of an operating system (like audio, and video, etc.) is unfortunately slower than other areas. Nothing can get around that other than companies open sourcing their drivers and putting patents in the public domain (which is a longer way of saying "nothing can get around that.") But the progress is still both remarkable and laudable. Though I still reserve the right to cuss out the parts of Linux that don't work when I want them to. It's nothing personal, guys, it's just a pain in the ass.

  5. Methinks you are reading out of context. on Italian Scientists Demonstrate Cold Fusion? · · Score: 1

    SuricouRaven isn't saying that perpetual motion can be done, you're parsing the sentance wrong. Read it this way:

    "Cold fusion isn't a theoretical impossibility (like perpetual motion). It can, in principle, be done."

    In other words, OP is making a distinction between cold fusion and perpetual motion. Perpetual motion is an impossibility, cold fusion is at least in THEORY not impossible.

    The sentence could have been parsed better so I can see how you misread it.

  6. Do the # of patents matter? on Are Google's Patents Too Weak To Protect Android? · · Score: 1

    Does each individual patent cancel each other out? I'd always assumed if you owned a patent on a technology that was rather fundamental to the functioning of an entire industry it trumped 30 patents in a specific branch of that industry. I'm not saying those are the patents Google owns, I just didn't think that it was necessarily a #'s game.

  7. I've used my evo on Smartphones For Text SSH Use Re-Revisited · · Score: 1

    To ssh into my site, modify files, and reboot it remotely. I wouldn't say it was "well-suited" for it, though. More like "it's there if you have absolutely nothing else."

  8. "Consumer products in a business environment." on BYTE Is Coming Back · · Score: 1

    So... sort of an Infoworld-lite, then? Ugh.

  9. What is the basis for the suit? on Apple Sues Steve Jobs Figurine Maker Over Likeness · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Has Apple trademarked Jobs' image? Or is there some kind of international law that covers selling the likeness of someone without their permission?

    I'm not being snarky, I genuinely don't know.

  10. History tell us... on Critics Call For Probe Into Google Government Ties · · Score: 1

    ...that if the current administration's relationship with Google is like the relationship the previous administration had with Haliburton, then it's OK.

    Ooops, did I type that instead of just thinking it?

  11. If they bought SUSE... on VMware Looks To Acquire Novell's SUSE Unit · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ... does that mean we'd eventually see versions of vCenter Server and vCenter Client that run on something other than Windows? That would be nice.

  12. Re:Annnd... brain goes splat. on Hawking Picks Physics Over God For Big Bang · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm in the strange position of having reached the realization that essentially, unless I'm willing to devote about 20 years of my life studying the matter on my own I'm going to have to decide to accept it by faith and not by reason. Oh irony, you are so delicious.

  13. Re:Annnd... brain goes splat. on Hawking Picks Physics Over God For Big Bang · · Score: 3, Funny

    The movie will star Samuel L. Jackson as gravity who will quote a passage from the Old Testament before he makes my brain go splat.

  14. Annnd... brain goes splat. on Hawking Picks Physics Over God For Big Bang · · Score: 3, Funny

    This is why I never did well in the higher math classes in college.

    So... I thought gravity required there be something with mass in order to create gravity. Doesn't that mean in order for there to be a law of gravity you need stuff with mass attracting each other? Which requires something, not nothing, so --

    Damn. There it goes again, brain matter all over the wall. Excuse me while I get a spatula.

  15. Re:The Principles of the Internet according to AT& on AT&T Says Net Rules Must Allow 'Paid Prioritization' · · Score: 1

    What in my post ever compared AT&T to Google and called Google the good guy? It was specific to AT&T's comments on net neutrality and made no comparisons whatsoever.

  16. The Principles of the Internet according to AT& on AT&T Says Net Rules Must Allow 'Paid Prioritization' · · Score: 5, Insightful

    1. We do things on the internet that you pay us for.

    2. You do things on the internet that you pay us for.

    3. When you do things on the internet that other people pay you for, you pay us for the privilege of doing them.

    4. If we find out you are doing things on the internet that we are also doing, you will pay us for the privilege of doing them slower than us.

  17. They're bringing back the dongle! on Tensions Rise Between Gamers and Game Companies Over DRM · · Score: 1

    God Almighty, I thought that damn thing was gone forever.

  18. Hey, it's Open Source Poll Data on Daily Kos Pollster Made Up Numbers · · Score: 1

    The people who were investigating these anomalies were able to do so because The Daily Kos made sure that the crosstabs of all the poll data were made available when each poll was published.

    So I *do* give them credit, because they made sure that the information behind the information being presented was available for people review in order to determine its accuracy. It sort of sounds like... I don't know... providing the source code along with the application and letting the users submit bug reports and patches.

  19. Re:Glad things turned out well on The Star Wars Kid Is Back · · Score: 1

    Sure it's a bad thing. But that's a separate matter: someone who understands the "bad thing" enough to help people who DON'T understand it is still doing something of value...

  20. Re:I try every new KDE4 release, but... on Sneak Preview For Coming KDE SC 4.5 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I like KDE 4.4 (which is what I'm using now) -- I like it a lot -- but I'm right there with you about the bad taste in my mouth. The way they handled 4.0 was stupid and they deserved all the crap they got for it and more.

    4.4 is a completely different beast and I mostly love the featureset. However, based on my experience with 4.0 I'm a little afraid of 5.0.

  21. Re:There's a mod for that. on Does HP + Palm = Facepalm? · · Score: 1

    Well I should clarify -- Palm doesn't directly support the apps as in provide technical support for or fixes as a result of the homebrew community, but it *does* acknowledge them and has stated that homebrew apps are permitted on the platform. Hopefully HP keeps that going.

  22. There's a mod for that. on Does HP + Palm = Facepalm? · · Score: 1

    There are a lot of homebrew applications that modify the UI and various aspects of apps. I have an addon that does exactly what you say, though only for text messages.

    While Palm doesn't directly support those apps it doesn't try to brick your phone when it finds them either.

  23. Seems to make sense to me. on Does HP + Palm = Facepalm? · · Score: 4, Insightful

    WebOS is a fantastic OS from a user perspective -- the card metaphor for multitasking is very intuitive and the whole design of the interface is easy and elegant and *fun*. It would be a perfect fit for that tablet thing HP is working on.

    I have a Pre and despite a few issues with battery life and a wish for a larger screen I think it's a great phone. Most information about the phone is provided by members of the computer press who are too lazy and entranced by their iphones to bother giving the matter any serious thought.

  24. More than weird... on Microsoft Signs Android Patent Deal With HTC · · Score: 1

    It hurt my brain.

    I mean, *really* hurt my brain.

  25. Re:Clear Hoax on Commodore 64 Primed For a Comeback In June · · Score: 1

    In its day the C64 had absolutely the most sophisticated (and integrated) sound capability of any personal computer on the market. While IBM PCs were wrestling with sound cards with IRQs in order to get very basic sound capability, the C64 integrated sound components were sophisticated enough to synthesize speech. Very obviously synthesized speech, mind you, but it was an incredible feat for its time.