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User: serial_crusher

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  1. From the Michael Moore editing department on Besieged Movie Industry Suffers Record Takings · · Score: 0
    Yes, a single good month certainly does prove that there never was a bad month.

    In other news, U.S. Marine is freed from captors in Iraq, with his head intact. Proof positive that Iraqi terrorists don't cause beheadings.

  2. Now I'll have to watch on Moore Approves Fahrenheit 9/11 Downloads · · Score: 0

    I told a friend that I was curious to watch it for reference in future arguments, but certainly didn't want to support such propoganda. I was hoping I could ge away with not actually watching it. Guess now I'll have to put my money where my mouth is, huh?

  3. Something I thought of earlier... on Dept. of Homeland Security Says to Stop Using IE · · Score: 0
    OK, I never really agreed with the "don't use IE because it's the one that gets targeted" philosopy, but I respect others' opinions on the matter...

    But when the Dept. of Homeland Security jumps on that bandwagon, oh man, that really boils my teakettle. Without looking at the figures, I'll go ahead and assume that America is the most targeted country for terrorist attacks. Surely Homeland Security wouldn't encourage us all to leave America... would they?

  4. Re:Keyboard update suggestions on Is Caps Lock Dead? · · Score: 0

    My Microsoft keyboard has the sleep button. I hate it. I always hit it by accident, so I disabled it.

  5. Re:VT's CS program on Math And The Computer Science Major · · Score: 0
    I'm a junior at VT now and haven't had much work experience yet, but I can see the math being useful for a lot of people.

    One thing to consider is that mathematicians use computers all the time. They need you, the computer scientist, to write their software for them.

    I've heard that it helps in the senior level CS classes too. I'll be taking a lot of those next year, such as Computer Graphics (which relies heavily on graph theory), and Cryptography (well, it's actually a math course), and Artificial Intelligence (which should have a lot of stat, right?)

  6. the old netzero on Coming Soon to a Wireless Hotspot Near You: Ads · · Score: 0

    Anybody remember when netzero dialup worked like this? It was slow and anoying, but the best I could afford.

  7. Hmm... on File Sharing Increases CD Sales · · Score: 0

    Kazaa usage drops 40%

    RIAA sues pants off people. People stop file sharing, start buying. File sharing does increase CD sales.

  8. Re:Why a Tablet PC is not a terrible idea... on What Kind of Tablet PC to Buy? · · Score: 0
    Easier said than done. Idiot professors put those notes up in PDF format. I constantly find myself cursing at them because I can't edit the file. Every now and then you get a guy who posts powerpoint or .doc. I even have one now who posts them in plain text.

    In those cases, laptop is a great tool. With a PDF though, the laptop goes on the shelf in favor of pencil and printout (usually on lined paper because I'm too cheap to buy real paper). Ah, the woes of college.

  9. Re:From a college student on What Kind of Tablet PC to Buy? · · Score: 0
    I disagree with you on the notes. In non-math classes, I love my laptop. I have the reverse of your problem. I don't remember anything I write, and I can't read my own handwriting, so typing helps out a lot. With math, there are a lot of symbols and stuff, so it's just easier to write by hand there.

    I say no tablet though. I looked into one last summer and bought a laptop instead. Tablet simply isn't worth the money yet. And if you do get one, make sure it has a keyboard.

    As for the solitare, I agree with the 50/50 figure, but before I had the laptop it was bejeweled on my PDA, and before that, tetris on my ti-83. I need to play games to keep from falling asleep. At least this way I'm playing games on the same device as I take notes, so the figure is up from its former 70/30 figure.

    In my World Regions (easy) class last semester though, I just played warcraft 3 online. It was great.

  10. Coke on Microsoft Violates Human Rights in China · · Score: 0

    I bet they were also drinking Coke while commiting those human rights abuses. Let's go after Coke too.

  11. Linux is better because....um....Linux is better! on Viruses and Market Dominance - Myth or Fact? · · Score: 0
    This guys a moron.

    He claims that Linux is more secure because it makes it harder to open email attatchments. I remember when my grandma first started using computers to email the family. She specifically told me that she wanted the most difficult email program possible.

    All of the "Windows vulnerabilities" dealt with common windows software. If I used any other mail client on my windows machine, I'd be more secure. But why do most windows users use Outlook Express? Because it comes pre-installed on the system and is easy to use. Yes, if MS installed many email clients by default, there would be a smaller user base for attackers to exploit.
    But we're once again forgetting that John Q. Moron likes things to be easy to use. "Which email program should I use? Why isnt there just a button that says email?" Or, even worse, John Q Moron will check his mail with one program once, then use another the next time. "Where's my old mail?"

    John Q. Moron also likes to say, "What do you mean, I have to be root to do this? Why is my computer telling me what i can and can't do?!" So then he goes and logs on to root permanantly (I know that's why I'm always an administrator on my Windows machine). For the same reason, he also doesn't want his email program warning him about HTML. I can just see my mom calling me up now. "Oh no, I have a virus on my computer." "How do you know this?" "My email program told me there was some virus called 'HTML' in my mail, and all of these wierd characters are on my screen! I think that means its corrupting my files!" Once I had finished laughing at her, she would be humiliated enough to set her mail program to always open HTML mails.

    As for the "it can only affect my home directory" thing... The big viruses recently have all damaged systems by causing massive amounts of network traffic. Unless Linux says "Hey, stop using so much bandwidth when you're not root," A common user can still propogate one of these. Sure, the traditional "delete your files" style virus will only screw over the moron user, but they'll still be able to propogate email worms just as easily.

  12. Re:There's a better way on Should ISPs Be The Little Man's Firewall? · · Score: 0
    Sounds like a good idea, but how much traffic would be generated by the constant port scans? Might make it counter productive.

    I think the best solution would be to block troublesome ports until the user volutarily takes off the block. My ISP is blocking all pings to outside machines with no option to opt out. Did I mention that I hate my ISP?

  13. speaking of.. on Where Is The Broadband? · · Score: 0

    Speaking of "where is it?" Anybody else out there use Adelphia for cable? Anybody else out there having problems? Anybody else out there being told (lied to) that its "the virus crashing their (Adelphia's) systems"? Seems kind of odd that they'd take a week and a half to fix this crap...

  14. Re:This is new? on Skulls Gain Virtual Faces · · Score: 0

    Hell, MacGyver did that once back in the 80s. It was the grandmother of a female friend of his. Looked just like her!

  15. It's probably just unplugged. on Tampa Police Give Up On Face Recognition Cameras · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    I'm all about not using things that don't work, but I don't see why the "privacy" people are in such an uproar. It's just like the usenet monitoring story posted yesterday. If you don't want to be identified, stay off the streets or wear a mask.

    But how paranoid do you have to be? Only criminals have to fear this, and there's no reason a criminals "privacy" should be protected in a public area. Outlawing these cameras would be like outlawing a citizen from calling when they recognize the guy on the street.

  16. Songs as Ads. on RIAA, This Is Earth, Please Come In! · · Score: 1
    The argument that songs are ads for the CDs is incredibly stupid. Take movie prviews for example. Sure, that 45 second trailer is an ad for the movie. But is my 2 hour DivX file an ad? No.

    By the same accord, One or two songs can be considered as ads for the CD if the artist and lebel agree to it. But when all songs are available illegally with little consequence, morality is the CDs only advertisement.

    I think Americas ISPs should be required to deny service to users at the copyright holder's request. Then just have a big machine that searches for various songs, downloads them from all possible users, compares the downloaded file to the actual song, and sends a DoS request if the file matches.

    I'm not talking about the RIAA DoSing them in the traditional "ping them to death" sense, but rather they could just send a letter to the ISP saying "This IP address is a criminal, please deny their service."

    Such a system could easily be designed with a very small probability for false positives (and in the event of a false positive, the RIAA would give you a pretty fat check as an out of court settlement).

    This will encourage people to use file sharing services responsably. Love it or leave it. You steal from us, you get no more internet access.

  17. Re:Phind at Princeton on RIAA Moves Against College-Network Fileswapping · · Score: 1

    Usually when people share their vacation photos, the only intended visitors are their friends. And I doubt my friends would go and search for "mikes pictures", when they could just IM me and ask for a URL. (Don't get me wrong. I've downloaded my share of movies/mp3s... But I'm living by a strict "I'll pay them back once i'm not a poor college student anymore" policy.)

  18. Re:RIAA pays more than pirates do. on A Music Industry Case Study · · Score: 1
    So I live in Blacksburg Virginia. Not too many big concerts come here. Sure there are a few good local shows, but when I want to hear Pantera, I want to hear Pantera, and Pantera deserves a reward for entertaining me so.

    According to the "only pay them for live concerts" business model, they'll have to go to every small town in the world to ensure that every customer pays their share. Then thanks to the expenses, I'll be paying $500 a pop for my personal Pantera concert, and Pantera will only get about 20 bucks out of it.

    Then everybody will complain about how tragic it is that they only make a fraction of their ticket sales.

    So here's an idea that works. If you like it, and they want money for it, give them the money. You're not their mommy. They can decide how their own business works. If you don't want to pay for the band, don't pay. But don't steal either. That's just not right. If a band wanted you downloading their mp3s, they'd put them on their website.

  19. Conveniently left out. on A Music Industry Case Study · · Score: 1

    How many musicians are in multiple bands? Max Cavalera is/was in Sepultura, Soulfly, and Nailbomb. Phil Anselmo was in Pantera, Superjoint Ritual, and Down. Dan Lilker has been in Anthrax, SOD, MOD, Hemlock, Nuclear assault, etc. That 40 G's per band adds up. Lets also not forget the fact that music is the work that keeps on working. Phil Anselmo is still getting royalties on Cowboys From Hell, and it's been what, like 13 years since that album came out? Now lets add in the money they get from DVDs, T-shirts, concerts, etc. I'm suddenly remined of that cartoon Ducktales, where Uncle Scrooge would swim in a pile of money.

  20. Stupid, stupid man on Judge Decides X-Men Aren't Human · · Score: 1

    I like the guy at the end that was complaining about the prospect of Superman not being considered human. He's from the planet Krypton! Humans come from Earth!

  21. Re:Nope on Cloak of Invisibility Coming Soon? · · Score: 1

    the simple solution to this would be to have both receptors and emittors on either side, and have them alternate faster than the human eye could interpret them.

    Wouldn't curved objects also cause a problem? the light would bounce off of the object where it shouldn't. This would probably result in the same ripple looknig effect we see in the movies.

  22. I think they're just bad programmers.... on Web Designers Ignoring Standards and Support IE Only · · Score: 1

    If all the sites are designed for IE, then why do i keep getting JavaScript errors like crazy? For anybody thinking of saying "I don't get them", keep in mind that by default IE just hides the error messages and continues as though nothing happened. I think this is the source of most compatibility issues, and it's not so much a case of "only supporting IE" as it is "being to stupid to realize that IE is hiding the error messages generated by your seriously bad code".