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User: CastrTroy

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  1. Re:How were electric cars EVER supposed to work? on Smart Power Grid Could Wreak Havoc On Itself · · Score: 1

    The sad point is that this is all too common. People live way too far from work. I live 7 km (4.3 miles) from work and I love it. I don't really know how people deal with living so far away from work. Travelling hours each day. The furthest I've ever lived from work was 25 KM (15 miles). Didn't like it at all. I suppose if traffic didn't exist it wouldn't have been so bad, but that doesn't happen for most people either. It was only marginally slower to ride my bike. (1 hour 15 minutes by bike vs. 1 hour by car). Even now with a much shorter distance the travel time on bike is very comparable to car, even though traffic is light. 15 Minute bike ride in the morning really helps to wake you up.

  2. Re:Piracy and indie games on Study Links Game Piracy To Critics' Review Scores · · Score: 2

    But then the correct solution is just not play the game at all. If you don't like the way they are licensing the game, be it for DRM, activation, information gathering, or whatever, you could just not play the game. There's enough good games, software, movies, books, and music that come with fair licenses to keep just about anybody entertained for a long time. If you choose to pirate something because you don't like the terms, then they can count that against you. However, if you decide just to not play at all, then you are truly standing up for the problems you have with the game publisher.

  3. Re:Obiigatory Big Bang Theory, re: Miles Morales on Spiderman's Politically Correct Replacement · · Score: 1

    Also from Batman movie Robin says Holy rusted metal, Batman. It's kind of funny when they poke fun at their humble beginnings.

  4. Re:Obiigatory Big Bang Theory, re: Miles Morales on Spiderman's Politically Correct Replacement · · Score: 1

    Also,later in the episode.

    Raj: Mine says, "To Raj, from Stan Lee."

    Howard: That's 'cause you pissed him off about his character names.

    Raj: Hey, I didn't even mention Dum Dum Dugan or Green Goblin, Matt Murdock, Pepper Potts, Victor Von Doom, oh, and worst of all, Millie the Model.

    Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Invincible Iron Man, Happy Hogan, Curt Connors...

    Howard: Would you just let it go?

    Raj: And worst of all, Fin Fang Foom.

  5. Obiigatory Big Bang Theory, re: Miles Morales on Spiderman's Politically Correct Replacement · · Score: 2

    Raj: I can't wait to ask Stan Lee why he insists on giving all his characters first and last names that start with the same letter.

    Howard: Oh, come on. Why would you do that?

    Raj: Bruce Banner, Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Stephen Strange, Otto Octavius, Silver Surfer, Peter Parker, oh, and worst of all, J. Jonah Jameson, Jr.

    Howard: Okay, I'm cutting. I'm not gonna talk to Stan Lee after you cheese him off.

  6. Re:Much better anyway on Apple Removes MySQL From Lion Server · · Score: 1

    MySQL has a different problem. If you use INNODB and don't use innodb_file_per_table then you have one huge file to store all your tables and indexes, and it is impossible to shrink/vacuum that file short of backing up your database to SQL dump files, deleting the database file, and then recovering from that backup file. So if somebody goes and creates a table that temporarlily uses 50 GB, then it will be impossible to shrink the file back down afterwards. The space will be marked as not in use, and the DB will eventually reuse it, but there's not at easy way to get it back for use by the rest of the OS.

  7. Re:soaks up excess grid capacity on Use Your Car To Power Your House · · Score: 1

    It's only been very recent, at least where I live, that utilities have started to charge different rates for different times of the day. Maybe it's just taking a little time for products to come to market.

  8. Re:In closely related news ... on US Patent Regime Is Absurd · · Score: 1

    I believe the justification for this is that they don't want genetically modified crops escaping to the wild in case they have some adverse effects. It's a happy coincidence for the companies that make the seeds, but there is some non-evil logic to it as well. What would happen if they made genetic modifications to the crops than ended up wiping out huge swaths of forest. People would be saying sterilization of these crops was a good idea then.

  9. Re:soaks up excess grid capacity on Use Your Car To Power Your House · · Score: 1

    But why waste your car's batteries in the process? Your car only has a limited number of charge cycles, plus your car isn't inside the house all the time. How much would it cost for a bank of batteries so that you'd never have to pay peak power rates? Basically charge the batteries up at night or on the weekend, and use the stored power during the day. My local utility charges almost double for power during the day. I don't think it would take that long to offset the price of the batteries. Does anybody sell such a system?

  10. Re:Been done already on Use Your Car To Power Your House · · Score: 1

    I thought the same thing could be used for gasoline engines. Many people who live in the country have a generator. However, many of them are ill maintainted and may not be operational when you need them. It would make much more sense to just have the car to be able to work as a generator. The added components would be pretty minimal. And the person would be much more likely to keep the thing maintained as they would be using the car on a regular basis.

  11. Re:Answer to "...found a crashed flying saucer?" on Mysterious Object Found In Seabed · · Score: 2

    The difference is that we can send down a submarine to verify what we see.. With a slice of toast that looks like the Virgin Mary, you can't prove that it wasn't put there by divine intervention, It's just a matter of faith. So while this may or may not be a crashed flying saucer, I could be verified. Couldn't you just lower a waterproof camera on a string, with a light on it to at least verify the claims? Seems like it would be a pretty cheap thing to do even if it turns out to be nothing.

  12. Re:Mode for multiple USB gamepads on How To Ruin Your Game's PC Port · · Score: 1

    Because most people don't hook computers up to their TVs. Not only that, as far as PCs go, it's a much better experience to just play over a network, with each person having their own screen. I never understood why so many people liked goldeneye. Playing a FPS with an analog stick with 1/4 of a screen was terrible compare to playing Quake with a mouse and keyboard on a full screen.

  13. Re:220 Volt on How To Ruin Your Game's PC Port · · Score: 1

    Ah yes.... The great midi/game port. Seriously. I think that people forget how bad we had it back them. USB is a dream as far as joysticks/gamepads go. To get an idea of how bad it was, anything with more than 2 buttons had to use the 2 buttons from the second controller (which you could use with a y-splitter), Same goes for anything more than 2 axes. So you had a total of 4 buttons and 4 axes, or the equivalent of 2 standard NES controllers without start and select. Anything beyond that required custom support to be written into the game. I really don't know how something that supported a whole keyboard worth of keys could only support a total of 4 buttons.

  14. Re:Extra work required on How To Ruin Your Game's PC Port · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What really irks me, is when they make the controls completely re-mappable in the PC version, but neglect to have the feature in the console version. They just assume that everyone will want to use the exact same controller mappings, or at best, pick from a selection of 3 or 4 different configurations. Tony Hawk 2 had this problem. I played it on the PC and it was so much better than the Xbox, because all the selectable configurations in the Xbox made it so that you had to move your thumb off the jump button to do a grind. Whereas on the PC version let you remap them so you could press both buttons without moving your thumb.

  15. Re:Better Value on Galaxy Tab 10.1 Vs. iPad 2 Review · · Score: 1

    Your analogy sucks. Most new cars have bumpers that will crack even with minor hits. And since they aren't made of metal, you can't just pound them out anymore, you have to replace the entire bumper.

  16. Re:pirates can get security updates on Windows XP PCs Breed Rootkit Infections · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Well to be fair, if you install windows XP from a recovery image or from an original CD you have from the original version, your computer could probably be pwned before you even have the time to download the service packs.

  17. Re:Laptops on MIT Unveils Sun-Free Photovoltaics · · Score: 1

    I've wondered about this. Laptops create quite a bit of heat. Wouldn't it be possible to capture some of that heat and charge the battery with it. Obviously you couldn't do this continuously, as per the laws of thermodynamics, but wouldn't it be possible to get some benefit from this? Also, you could probably save on running fans as well if you converted the waste heat back into electricity.

  18. Re:what about how MUCH you drive? on The End of the Gas Guzzler · · Score: 1

    Personally I don't own a car, I bike or bus everywhere, but this is exactly what we have to eventually move towards. People need to drive less. Maybe that means taking public transportation. Maybe that means riding a bike. Maybe that means moving closer to work. But it's the only sustainable way. It doesn't matter how fuel efficient your car is when you drive it 100 km per day.

  19. Re:Will Consumers Pay? on The End of the Gas Guzzler · · Score: 1

    That's ok. rural America is only 16 percent of the population and falling fast.

  20. Re:How many... on The End of the Gas Guzzler · · Score: 1

    How do they guarantee that the vehicles sell enough for all vehicles sold to reach the average.. They can have a whole lot of cars available that run at 70 MPG, but if nobody buys them, then what happens? Do they have to keep a tally of what has sold? Does a customer who walks in wanting to buy a truck get turned down because too many people have been buying trucks and not their average is shot?

  21. Re:So goes a once-talented filmmaker on Lucas Loses Star Wars Stormtrooper Copyright Case · · Score: 1

    This has a lot to do with it. Empire Strikes Back was on TV a while ago, so I decided to watch it. It's a terrible movie. This move has lost so much since I watched it 10 years ago. With Episodes I, II, and III, everybody who loved the first ones was now 30 years old, yet it was still made for young people to watch. This is why there was so much hate for tme.

  22. Re:A bit ironic ... on New Soyuz Launch Facility Near the Equator · · Score: 1

    The difference is that the USA is now just entering their political and economic collapse, which is why you see them shutting down their space program. Wait 20 years until the US is out of the mess they are in, and maybe they will revive their space program.

  23. Re:SVN on DIY Dropbox Alternatives · · Score: 1

    Exactly. Although I use my SVN only for code projects, it would work equally well for documents and other files. Dreamhost also gives you (as part of the $10 package) 50 GB of "backup" storage in which you can store whatever you want. So if you have a big archive of family photos you want to upload, you can go right ahead and do that.

  24. Re:ha on Netflix Killing DVDs Like Apple Killed Floppies? · · Score: 1

    I believe that Windows didn't start installing USB Storage drivers until Windows XP SP2. When WinXP SP2 was widely enough adopted, you could basically assume your USB Mass storage device would work anywhere. If you were really worried you could carry a floppy around with you with the drivers in case you encountered a computer that didn't work with USB storage.

  25. Re:Linux support on Blockbuster Trying To Woo Disgruntled Netflix Customers · · Score: 1

    Presenting... Da Da Da Daaaaa... The cheap Netflix streaming box with little embedded Linux on ARM installs. Ok I don't think it runs Linux and I don't know if it's ARM, but it's a pretty small box, and only draws 2 Watts while streaming an HD movie, so I guarantee it's not x86. And the cheapest one is about $60. I don't think you can expect much cheaper than that. Sure you can't run a bittorrent client on it at the same time, but for $60 most people can afford a dedicated device. This is all assuming they don't already have a Wii/XBox360/PS3/BlueRay/WinPC already under their TV and don't require a dedicated device for running Netflix.