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User: timeOday

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Comments · 11,117

  1. Re:3 Reasons on Congress Cuts NASA's Budget On Apollo Anniversary · · Score: 1
    4. Shuttle explosion

    It is often said that failure in govt. tends to be rewarded with increased funding. Not this time. Since the (second) explosion NASA's productivity has been cut, we're riding into space on Russian boosters and that's not funny.

  2. Re:People don't care on Doom 3 System Requirements Revealed · · Score: 1
    Getting a new set of golf clubs costs more than a computer upgrade... do golfers also need a life?
    Only golfers who play alone, in the dark, on a daily basis.
  3. Re:thats it? on Doom 3 System Requirements Revealed · · Score: 3, Informative
    Geforce 4 isn't real special anymore. We're talking about an $80 add-on card. In fact some decent motherboards come with Geforce 4 onboard graphics, although that's the "MX" variant which may not count.

    It might not be a bad idea to shell out a few extra bucks even for "typical desktop PCs" because of the liklihood of accelerated GUIs (ala Mac).

  4. The story of my company on Mozilla Foundation Seeking Switch Success Stories · · Score: 3, Funny
    Before Mozilla, my employees spent hours per day managing their fantasy football teams, playing Flash whack-a-mole, day-trading, and of course online gambling. Of course all these types of sites are rife with popups, spam, and spyware.

    With Mozilla, productivity has nearly doubled! Employees report that due to reduced administrative downtime and popup windows, their fantasy teams are dominating, they're whacking twice as many moles, and gambling away entire paychecks before lunchtime every payday.

    Thanks Mozilla!

  5. Re:$200 minimum bid? on Pick Up A Piece of Enron · · Score: 1
    I have 25 shares of Enron I'll sell for $50.
    Would that entitle me to a cut of the cash they're raising with this auction? Any money should go to shareholders, right?
  6. Re:Sun does more than that on SGI to Scale Linux Across 1024 CPUs · · Score: 1
    LSun hardware has additional, wonderful resiliency features like - allowing cpu's to "fail-over" to other cpus in case of failure. The same holds true for memory, network interfaces, etc. Solaris is aware of these hardware features and can "map out" the bad memory and cpus on the fly (or allow swap-in replacements).
    Well that's exactly the great thing about linux being chosen for this kind of system - it's a sign of linux gaining these features too!

    If we thought they were just going to install RedHat on this monster, why would we even care, except for bragging rights? No, the great thing about big Linux adoptions is they lead to infusions of new technology.

  7. Re:Solaris on SGI to Scale Linux Across 1024 CPUs · · Score: 2, Insightful
    A better retort would be "There's a world market for maybe 5 computers" by the IBM dude.
    I've heard that one. I think the guy was right! It was 1943 after all. Somehow we interpret this as, "There will only ever be a market for 5 computers, even if they change so completely that nothing is left of current technology and only the name stays the same."
  8. Re:Recall Iridium on Ariane Launches A New Way To Get Online · · Score: 2, Informative

    Unlike this project, iridium wasn't a satellite. It was a constellation of satellites - 66 satellites + 14 spares!. Just think of the difference in costs. Service isn't $60USD, it's $60CAN. You could hardly say "hello" to your Mother for that much at Iridium's initial asking price. As for rural folk not "really needing" Internet, well none of us does, but we pay through the nose anyways. I live in a city of 500,000 people where DSL is not available in my neighborhood, and cable costs almost the same as this satellite service.

  9. Re:Why Fight? on Language Tempest At Orkut · · Score: 5, Funny
    If the people at the table next to you are speaking Korean, it doesn't affect you.
    Though when people nearby are speaking a language you don't understand, and looking in your direction, and laughing and pointing, well it's hard to not imagine things.
  10. Re:Advertising revenue will skyrocket... on NBC Aims For Stability Through Redundancy In Athens · · Score: 1
    ...nothing can replace the ego of an American who can say he/she "saw it as it happened".
    Americans moreso than anybody else?
  11. Re:Big cenceptional problem on Globalwin Jefi Watercooling Kit Reviewed · · Score: 1

    Could you fill it with a light oil instead? Should beat back the lower life forms and evaporation to boot.

  12. Re:Unfortunately for Sun on Sun Microsystems, a CEO's Last Stand? · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Even Microsoft is getting worried and it has 30 billion or so.
    Why should Microsoft be worried? Unlike Sun, Microsoft is still raking in profits, so their huge pile of cash is still growing rapidly every year.

    Linux is deflating Microsoft's server prospects, but not the desktop. The desktop UI improvements in Linux have been offset by the stability and performance improvements in Windows.

    As a longtime Linux user (including on my desktop at work) I hate to say it but linux has plateaued. It's about as good it can be without any vendor support. We agnoize over details like whether to use multiple windows for a file manager, because the major problems are insoluble - most of the programs people use don't work on Linux, and an lot of the hardware doesn't either.

  13. Re:Join a union on Why Offshore When Canada's Next Door? · · Score: 2, Insightful
    What's the other Slashdot mantra...oh yes "adjust or die." Isn't that what we keep telling businesses like MS and the RIAA? Oh, but this affects YOU so we have to make laws banning companies from utilizing an international work force.... Like I said, join a union.
    You do appreciate the difference between the death of a person and the "death" of a business?

    A government IS a union, set up by the people living somewhere to help themselves live well, not just to enforce some pure ideology, even if it's capitalism. Businesses don't play favorites or have loyalties, they go for the best return on investment, whether hiring employees or buying a copy machine. But if my government feels the same way, why should I be willing to go fight and die for my country? I'm loyal to the government that's loyal to me.

    Don't assume that I'm all for protectionist tarrifs etc. based on what I said. In the long run I think that only generally market-based economies are viable. But I believe that the debate over US policy should revolve around what's best for Americans, NOT some ideological belief that capitalism is natural law which we must never be broken, and certainly not by a simplistic Econ 101 explanation of why current events are to be expected given current policy.

  14. Re:Individual chip variation on Dual Channel Memory Shootout · · Score: 0
    That would make brand comparison way too expensive - you would need like a hundred chips bought over the course of a few month, from different stores.
    I agree, it would be difficult and expensive to perform a useful test. That doesn't justify a useless test.
    chips are tested to perform to stated specs. If yourth doesn't, you can probably exchange it as defective.
    Yup. I bought a stick of Mushkin that didn't cut the mustard. I exchanged it for another stick (same brand, same model) that did. Testing a single stick doesn't prove anything either way.

    So again, what is the point of this test?

  15. Individual chip variation on Dual Channel Memory Shootout · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Anybody who's looked into overclocking a CPU knows that two chips are NOT necessarily the same just because they have the same model number. In fact no two are quite the same, even if they came from the very same wafer.

    So now that they tested all these brands and models, how consistent are the results? If I go to newegg and get the one that worked best for them, will the one I get work equally well? On a different board? With a different chipset?

  16. Re:Could this be Google's first technology threat? on Blinkx and You Won't Miss It · · Score: 1
    No.
    What it could be is the first acquisition of a newly cash-gorged public google.com.
  17. Re:Show me the money... on NASA Urged to Reconsider Shuttle Mission to HST · · Score: 1
    Safety concerns was the offical reason why they didn't want to service the Hubble, but this report most clearly is saying that's bunk.

    But what about the finacial concerns?

    Safety and money are largely interchangeable. Money equals time and manpower. The more you throw at a problem, the more carefully and slowly you can move, the more redundancy you can have, etc etc.

    The question is, "can we do it safely and effectively given the resources we are willing to devote."

  18. Re:Linux? on NZX Moves To Oracle On Linux · · Score: 1

    Why don't you show us in the article OR the summary, that the 1000x improvement is attributable to linux.

  19. Re:How can you compare if binaries not avail on AMD64 Windows vs. Fedora vs. SuSE benchmarks · · Score: 2, Insightful
    While I'm no fan of windows, much like others here, I do see the need to have a *fair* test
    Comparing the software available for each platform is perfectly fair.

    I can see it now:

    "Boss, I think we should use a linux database because it's cheaper and faster."

    MCSE: "No! It's not fair! Windows would be faster if only there were a 64 bit version available!"

    Boo hoo. Compiling for different platforms is an obvious advantage of open source, there's no reason to rule it out.

  20. Re:History is against him. on Gates: Open Source Kills Jobs · · Score: 1

    As much as I hope linux is the future, I'm always left to wonder when Gates mentions the linux "threat": is he really worried, or is he faking concern to fight Microsoft's monopoly image?

  21. Re:How to garuntee a slashdotting on Mitnick Speaks About Hacking · · Score: 1
    I just downloaded the file at 390 KB/s (over 3 megabits/second) on my cable modem.

    (I hate paying Comcast so much every month but I have to hand it to them, lately my connection just screams!)

  22. Re:Does it make much sense, though? on Time to Try a Linux Desktop? · · Score: 1
    If you consider MS Office, you pop in the cd, put in a serial number, click next a few times, and it's installed.
    Besides the extreme annoyance of typing in a 52 digit code (or whatever it is), that's assuming you aready have MS Office in your hot little hands ready to go.

    Making a trip to the store or waiting several days for mail order just don't make sense anymore. After getting used to integrated online distribution, the old (shrinkwrap) way is clunky and unnatural.

    At work I tend to use OSS because even though the money is there to buy what I might want, it takes extra time and hassle to go about procuring it. Anyways I'd rather invest in learning programs that will always be available to me, wherever or whenever.

    Are you sure text config files are so bad? Samba does have a graphical config (I think), but the format of the config file is very logical and extremely well commented. Instead of hidden behind a GUI, I'd rather have all that configuration information where I can easily find it all in one place, or make a copy before I try a new filesharing configuration, back up the configuration, etc.

  23. Re:The recent trend in "louder is better" on Tubes vs Transistors: An Audible Difference? · · Score: 4, Informative
    "Louder is Better" doesn't refer to listening volume, it refers to recording amplitude. In other words, do you get loud music by using the dynamic range of the medium and turning your stereo up to 9, or do you get it by overreaching the medium's dynamic range, resulting inclipped, distorted music so you only have to turn it up to 5 on your stereo?

    Recording too loud is bad, but labels feel it gives them a comparitive advantage because it's the only way they can effect the final listening volume, and subjectively louder music sounds better.

  24. Next on Slashdot: Core Memory vs. Transistors on Tubes vs Transistors: An Audible Difference? · · Score: 3, Insightful
    The issue brought up in the article is no longer a concern. There are transistor amplifiers with soft clipping, and clipping shouldn't happen in normal situations anyway.
    Why is slashdot even pushing an article from the early 70s? It's silly.
  25. Re:You're obviously not a foreign student on Too Few American Scientists? Maybe Not · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Are you sure about your assertion of US taxpayers subsidizing foreign students? I think a lot of schools like foreign students because they often pay full fare.