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User: phorm

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  1. Best Atari Games on Unreleased Atari 2600 Game Found At Flea Market · · Score: 1

    You forgot "Mouse Trap" and perhaps some of the "Donkey Kong" (DK, DK Jr, etc) games. It's still fun to whip out the old system (or an emulator, but that's not quite as neat) and relax with some of the old classics.

  2. Re:Torture? Murder? on PETA Offers X-Prize for Artificial Meat · · Score: 1

    Unfortunately, I have no real argument against this, as it's quite true that many of the mass-produced food-animals live fairly miserable lives. To add to that, after all the injections of hormones and other such crap, they're not exactly all that healthy for people either.

    One suggestion I might have is to eat local livestock,etc raised in better conditions. In many case it's better food anyhow, for example free-range chicken eggs tend to be richer and larger as well.

  3. Torture? Murder? on PETA Offers X-Prize for Artificial Meat · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Torturing animals doesn't serve a purpose. Killing them for the purpose of nourishment and consumption does.

    Yes, perhaps it's in some ways distasteful, but - being omnivores - it's also part of our natural biological process. I'm sure this will cue the rant about vegetable and pill-based alternatives, but it's still not the way we're built to function.

    You can't compare murdering somebody to the consumption of a food animal. It's not the same thing. And before you get into the "would killing be OK if we eat each other," that's also a no, as - except in cases of starvation - most mammals don't eat their own species either, and in many cases they don't kill each other except under a certain set of rules (territory, etc).

  4. Re:OUT OF DATE on Japan's Cyborg Research Enters the Skull · · Score: 1

    Having somebody say "I'm going to stick this experimental equipment in your head, which will let us know which chunk of your brain should be the right one to cut out" sounds like about the scariest thing anyone could go through.

    While I guess in some cases you might not have much choice (epilepsy is rather life-destroying as-is, depending on the degree), I have to congratulate you - and anyone willing to undergo such trials - on your courage!

  5. Re:Testing materials, etc on Weak Rivets May Have Sped Sinking of Titanic · · Score: 1

    True enough. So I guess the question was, was the Titanic "safe" by the standards of that time-period? Would the parts have been considered sub-standard then?

    I wonder what the standards/testing were back then. I'd imagine that one positive result of the titanic sinking would have been a stronger focus on such things leading to the present.

  6. Windows, windows, always windows on Hardy Heron Making Linux Ready for the Masses? · · Score: 2, Insightful

    One of the things that somewhat ticks me off is that when a possible deficiency of desktop linux comes up, the whole rant of "can windows do that" pops up.

    Is the only goal of desktop linux to be as good as windows (in various arenas), or to replace windows? Why can't it just improve upon itself because, well, there are things that can be improved.

    Yes, there are a lot of things a fresh windows install can't do. These days you are still more likely to get a machine having a preconfigured windows install than a linux one. Therefore, linux must have a certain ease-of-use level for those that want to try it out on a pre-existing machine, without needing to hire a local 'nix expert.

    Windows is a good point of competition for linux, creating usability benchmarks and goals, but there is no reason for us to stop short once we reach them, because the end goals should be to keep improving wherever possible.

    My grandparents use linux (because I set them up with that). Before that it was win2k. They're not power users, and had usability issues on both. Anything that can be done to reduce/eliminate these issues is a good thing, even if we're already at par with windows on that particular aspect.

  7. I'd certainly like to get what I pay for on Bell Canada's Misinformation About Throttling · · Score: 1

    Yes, all I have to say to the grandparent is *screw you*.

    I run a small webserver through my account with Teksavvy, which leases lines from Bell. In the last while I've noticed that my encrypted traffic (IMAPS in particular) when connecting to home has been shit during the day, but fine during the night. From various things I've read online it appears that the times for this coincide nicely with the periods when Bell likes to mess with traffic.

    It's not just torrents that Bell is messing up, there is collateral damage. To add to this, the last time my main desktop had filesystem issue and I needed to download a LiveCD for fixing... the torrent download rate of 5kbps really wasn't a pleasant thing.

  8. Maybe the "evil big corp" concept is getting old? on Iron Man's New Villain — an Open Source Terrorist · · Score: 1

    To be fair, plots involving "big corps" doing something bad (tm) that harms or puts the world (or a significant portion thereof) at risk is not new. For example, take Weyland Yutani, the UAC, Umbrella Corp and many others.

    I don't really like having open source equated with terrorism, but perhaps an open-source villain isn't a terrible idea.

  9. Testing materials, etc on Weak Rivets May Have Sped Sinking of Titanic · · Score: 1

    Well, cars do goes through safety testing, etc. If a vehicle manufacturer was found to have used high-grade products on the safety tests, and shit-grade products on the consumer product, a lawsuit wouldn't be all that unlikely.

  10. "suicide" search on Internet Sites Biased Towards Supporting Suicide · · Score: 1

    If I search for the term "suicide", then the first results I get are some articles about suicide (or suicide bombers), a wikipedia article, and various docs about not committing suicide. Seems to me that those aren't really supportive of actually committing the act.

  11. They've more than doubled the military presence on Oil Deposit Could Increase US Reserves 10x · · Score: 1

    Recently, three guards (two pensioners with pointed walking sticks, and a boy with a slingshot), have been added.

    Reports are in that the troops are under-supplied though, with only limited ammunition available for the slingshot.


    (yes I'm Canadian, so I can laugh at these sort of things).

  12. Testing? on Apple Error Leaves iPhone Developers In the Lurch · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How else are you supposed to test something thoroughly than to use it as your primary device?
    I can understand perfectly why devs would use the iPhone as their primary. It's hard to catch the bugs unless you're regularly testing your software in a real-life environment... or do you really want the bugs (usability or functionality) to show up when the customers start using the tool in a real-life way.

  13. Re:Reasons to throttle on Comcast Blocks Web Browsing · · Score: 1

    Of course, but as I was stuck there for two months while waiting on possession of my new place, I didn't have much choice. Unfortunately, kicking him in the nads wasn't valid option, no matter how satisfying it would be.

    Throttling the torrents would have been a more peaceful option, were it available.

  14. Perhaps no so useful on Sweat Ducts May Act As Antenna For Lie Detection · · Score: 1

    Oftimes politicians, or chronic liars in general, are so enamoured with their mistruths or owned skewed point-of-view, that to them it becomes more truth than the reality.

  15. Depends on the question, too on Sweat Ducts May Act As Antenna For Lie Detection · · Score: 1

    If the question requires a yes/no answer, then it can be dicey too. There's that new reality TV show that basically puts people through a lie-detector, and they try to beat it (or let out their most embarrassing secrets) to win cash. Well enough, but a lot of questions don't have a yes/no answer, or you're not definite either way on the answer.

    How about this one that popped up "could you see yourself having children with your girlfriend." If I say no, does it mean I don't want children with my current GF (and thus see less future in the current relationship), or I don't want children at all (but I'm happy with my GF), or maybe it's just a big decision, and I'm still uncertain enough that it shows a stressful/untruthful response no matter what I say. Heck, even if I tell the truth but I'm afraid that the external response to my answer won't be good, the stress might be enough to make me seem a liar.

  16. Reasons to throttle on Comcast Blocks Web Browsing · · Score: 1

    While I was waiting on possession of my new place, I rented a place that had a bunch of people sharing the internet connection. One of the guys there used to Blitzkreig our connection with torrents, so that my ping times (to google, etc) went frmo 70ms to 800ms

    Unfortunately, the landlord knew shite about internet, and the roomie was an arrogant prick who stated the internet wasn't slow until I moved in with my weird Linux crap (nvm that half the time other people were experiencing slowdowns, my computers were *off*).

    If I could have throttled his torrenting ass, I would have, at least then I could have browsed normal sites without a massive lag or timeout issues.

  17. Contests, etc? on Are Optional Ads Worth The Trouble? · · Score: 1

    Well, since it's optional, them perhaps a way to encourage opt-ins would be to have contests available to those that do so.

    End-result, the company makes more money on the ads, and players have the potential to get something back as well. A lot of non-virtual companies use contests/draws to encourage sign-ups already, so it's not really a new concept (but perhaps I should patent it just-in-case before some troll does first).

  18. So modify the ad on Are Optional Ads Worth The Trouble? · · Score: 1

    Rather than selling it as cans of Coca-Cola, or vitamin water, advertise it as an elixir of some sort. Maybe change the name a bit, but keep it similar enough (or with enough image-branding) that it fits in the game, but still relates to the product.

  19. Works on TV on Are Optional Ads Worth The Trouble? · · Score: 1

    One thing I noticed is that - while there are undoubtedly still a lot of lame ads out there - more companies these days seem to try clicking on the humour button to make their ads more palatable (others are still in a time-warp trying cutesy animals or mascots... yes I'm look at you Bell and Telus).

    There have actually been a number of times where people have made a point of showing me one of the humourous ads, either by pointing it out when it's on TV, or even sending them by email, on Youtube, etc. I've actually managed to build up quite a collection.

    I could definitely see a market for these in games. See, for example, the placement of ads or ad-parodies in the second Shrek movie. One of my favorite scenes actually involves when the giant gingerbread monster (Mondo?) is attacking a Starbucks, and everyone escapes across the street to... another Starbucks.

    Ads can suck, but if they're done right they can actually enhance the entertainment value of many products.

  20. Operating within the law on Lawyer Banned for Threatening File-Sharers · · Score: 1

    Yes, but they are still required to follow certain rules, and operate within the law. Stepping outside of certain boundaries can result in being disbarred, or charged, or both.

  21. Rights to shakespear on Lecture Notes Considered Infringement · · Score: 1

    Out of curiosity, does anyone actually have the rights to Shakespeare's work (in its original form). Somehow I doubt he's collecting any royalties on them at this point.

  22. Grandfather clause? on Bell Wants to Dump Third-Party ISP's Entirely · · Score: 1

    If you're already in an "unlimited" plan with Rogers, aren't they required to uphold the existing definition? Did you have a contract with them or just month-to-month? If the former, then they should be able to add such new limitations.

  23. Re:There *are* no other ISP providers. on Net Neutrality Debate Intensifies In Canada · · Score: 1

    Hmm. I'm guessing you haven't been bitten by the capping issue then, because those that are have reported that torrents and various other things suddenly slow to around 5-15kbps (which is, indeed, reminiscent of downloading on my old 56k modem)

    The other issue is, of course, that a lot of people are paying for more than a 750kbps connection, but can't get it due to issues beyond their own ISP's control at the moment (crappy Bell infrastructure).

  24. Lame suggestion on Net Neutrality Debate Intensifies In Canada · · Score: 1

    So what you're suggesting is that TS tries to form a deal with Rogers (which is known to have as many or more issues than Bell), then switches their infrastructure from ADSL to Cable (which likely involves switching customers over as well). Not to mention the issues with areas that may have ADSL service but not cable?

    Yeah... great idea.

  25. Innocence on UK ISP Says No To Music Industry Pressure · · Score: 5, Funny

    But note that this ISP is one of the ones said to have worked with Phorm on plans to track customers' surfing

    I know nothing of this, honestly!