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User: DMUTPeregrine

DMUTPeregrine's activity in the archive.

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Comments · 2,158

  1. Re:I always wondered on How To Keep Rats From Eating My Cables? · · Score: 1

    It's also MUCH easier to pull new cable through conduit than it otherwise would be. Especially if you leave a string in the conduit, and then tie a new string when you pull a new cable. No more messing with fish tape when you need to add more cabling.

  2. Re:not surprising on Is It Windows 7, Or KDE 4? · · Score: 1

    Rabbit shit is little pellets. Anyone who's had rabbits in their yard will know this. Deer shit is much more like human shit. Confusing them is like confusing a hot-wheels toy with a real car.

  3. Re:Change you can believe in on RIAA and BSA's Lawyers Taking Top Justice Posts · · Score: 1

    I am a very, very visually oriented person. I have trouble with math in my head because I cannot keep an image of more than a few steps in my head at once. When I divide two numbers I imagine writing out the long division. Same for every other operation. I use a (TI-89) calculator to do more complex problems and to store intermediate values that I cannot remember in the middle of a problem. Different people think differently, and basic arithmetic is difficult for me. Yet with all that I can easily visualize a hypersphere and other multi-dimensional constructs.

    Some people may be better off with different teaching methods. That said, I think the method you mentioned (rote steps with no theory) is horrible, since it doesn't actually teach anything. For most of my math classes I created generalized programs for my calculator to solve entire classes of problems. Each chapter had a new program, and with it I would both understand the theory better (have to, to write it correctly) and have a tool I could use to solve any problems of that class. By using my programming skill I was able to overcome the difficulty of holding such complex problems in my head.
    Sadly, the teacher decided to mark me down for not showing my work, and when I showed source code she didn't understand it and still marked me down. Apparently writing a program to find the first derivative of any equation offered isn't nearly as important as doing it their way, for that problem, and not learning the theory.

  4. Re:Bill Gates' influence? on MySQL Co-Founder Monty Widenius Quits Sun · · Score: 1

    No, no, clearly west side story.
    Maria, Maria, I just made a project, "Maria."

  5. Re:Mouse Clicking on Ubuntu Wipes Windows 7 In Benchmarks · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Required mouse clicking is an element of how much user interaction is required to install. Lower is better, one wants installation to be as easy as possible by default.
    Possible mouse clicking would be an element of configurable options, and for this higher may be better. One wants to be able to install properly on systems where the defaults won't work.
    It also ignores the amount of text, positioning of text, and other UI design principles, so it's an incomplete metric. More analysis would be needed to make the data useful, but it's not inherently useless.

  6. Re:Tin foil hat on CNN Uses P2P Video & Adds Terrible EULA · · Score: 2, Insightful

    No, it isn't. THEY didn't agree to the EULA, they're not bound by it. Just you.

  7. Re:OK, then... on CNN Uses P2P Video & Adds Terrible EULA · · Score: 1

    If the software comes on CD you may have a problem (can't modify the CD) but you could make a backup (fair use), destroy the original, modify the backup, and install that.

  8. Re:good luck with that on CNN Uses P2P Video & Adds Terrible EULA · · Score: 1

    It depends. The WoW bot mentioned above was violating the terms of service. That's different from an EULA, you agree to those conditions to get access to their servers, not to install or run the program on your own computer. Of course, it's useless without the servers.

    EULAs are different, as you supposedly have to agree to them to install the software. Otherwise copying the software to your hard drive would be copyright infringement.
    That said, IIRC (IANAL) installing to a hard drive constitutes "normal use" and is NOT copyright infringement. Also, one can conceivably make a backup copy, destroy the original, and modify the backup to remove the EULA. Then install from the backup, never agreeing to the EULA.

  9. Re:Great article on Why Your Pop-Up Blocker Doesn't Work Anymore · · Score: 1

    By creating the inferred license you are violating my fictional patent on the use of fictional inferred, personal NDAs.

  10. Re:and just for old time's sake... on IBM Building 20 Petaflop Computer For the US Gov't · · Score: 2, Informative

    IIRC it switched to goat.cx for a while. So both are correct. Also, be glad you haven't seen the stereogram of it. Some things should not be in 3d.

  11. Re:Never on Jack Thompson Attacks DoD, ESA, GTA With Utah Bill · · Score: 1

    Thompson played too much starfox.
    Never give up! Never surrender!
    Do a barrel roll. (Press Z or R twice.)

  12. Re:WarCloning? on WarCloning, the New WarDriving? · · Score: 1

    CloneDriving is an activity that takes place on a golf course. It's very similar to seal clubbing, but mostly seems to involve sheep.

  13. Re:10% coverage to start - I find that impressive on Google Earth To Show Ocean Floor · · Score: 1

    Exactly. That's what we have. Satellite radar has mapped large scale detail, the 10% figure is for more detailed data ("at any useful scale for science").

  14. Re:Two words. on Google Earth To Show Ocean Floor · · Score: 1

    Some people haven't seen it.
    Lucky bastards.

  15. Re:"Gerald" on Security Hole In Windows 7 UAC · · Score: 1

    You're the kind of troll that fits in with my world.
    I'd mod you anything, everything if you want thing.

  16. Re:Oh dear oh dear on If Windows 7 Fails, Citrix (Not Linux) Wins · · Score: 1

    ClamAV runs on Linux. Mostly used on mailservers to scan incoming e-mails, but can work like a normal AV.

  17. Re:have you actually watched Red Dwarf? on Red Dwarf To Return, Find Earth · · Score: 1

    Especially if they go to Fiji.

  18. Re:Are they good for anything? on Miscalculation Invalidates LHC Safety Assurances · · Score: 1

    A stable black hole in earth orbit that fails containment will still be in earth orbit. It will have the same mass as the spaceship+black hole system before, just all be black hole.

  19. Re:So how does it handle ... on Toward Autonomous Unmanned Aircraft Technology · · Score: 1

    Collision avoidance is handled by listening for another plane frame, then backing off for a random time before attempting to proceed.
    Oh, wait, sorry, that's Ethernet.

  20. Re:The first two things I look for in a jump drive on USB Flash Drive Comparison Part 2 — FAT32 Vs. NTFS · · Score: 1

    There's a third important thing: If it has a keyring attachment point and a cap, is that point on the cap? This can cause you to lose the drive instead of just the useless cap.

  21. Re:Actual screencast URL on SUSE Studio — Linux Customization For the Masses · · Score: 1

    No, Mslashers. They violently attack the use of the letter "M." Oh god, one's right behind me. My spleen!

  22. Re:And this is exciting exactly why? on AMD Phenom II Overclocked To 6.5GHz · · Score: 1

    Because overclocking enthusiasts and cooling specialists have the same skillset as chip designers. Yup. Exactly the same. That said, cryogenic gases aren't that hard to get. I know the Airgas (a wielding supply store) near me sells liquid nitrogen. I don't think they sell liquid helium, but the nitrogen's not that expensive IIRC. Another fun cooling technique is cascaded direct-die vapor phase-change cooling.

  23. Re:No it isn't. on Obama To Launch Website For Tracking Tax Expenditures · · Score: 1

    Not a takeover, just (apparently) spawns popup windows, gay porn, and a loud repeating sound clip of "I'm watching gay porn." Noscript solves problems like that.

  24. Re:Keep spreading lies on Downadup Worm — When Will the Next Shoe Drop? · · Score: 1, Informative

    Exactly. Noscript is the best counter to crap like this.

  25. Re:Makes the space station wheel more likely. on New Connections For Stretchable, Twistable Electronics · · Score: 1

    Why just spin the wheel? Spin the whole station.