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User: fpp

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Comments · 73

  1. Pretty cool, however... on Man Builds 737 Simulator In a Garage · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'd really like to see a Millennium Falcon simulator. Full sized cockpit, attacking Star Destroyers, rescuing amputees from weather vanes, the whole nine yards. That would be impressive. Most impressive.

  2. Re:TSN? Gimme a break on Inception, The Social Network, TS3 Get Oscar Noms · · Score: 1

    My opinion only of course, but The Social Network is the best film of the year, followed closely by Inception. That opinion is not based on what anyone else says, that's based on me seeing it without knowing much about it when I went in. The reason why The Social Network comes first? Excellent directing, dense, rapid-fire, intelligent script, a great score, sharp, effective editing, and effective casting and performances all around. Hell, even the cinematography is excellent, especially when you see it on Bluray. There are few films that hold my attention all the way through. Most of them slow down or get down right boring during the saggy middle act. Not The Social Network. It was riveting all the way through. It's very difficult to create a good movie about anything, and it's damn near impossible to create a good movie that's mostly someone talking or typing on the keyboard, or telling a complex story cohesively. The Social Network does it all extremely well. I liked Inception, but I had difficulty following the plot. For that reason alone, it goes to my number 2 spot.

  3. Re:Thumb drives in a fire proof safe on How Do You Store Your Personal Photos? · · Score: 1

    What manufacturer are you using? I only write to the drives once, and that's it, then they go into storage. I've been storing data for years this way (even from the very early models with a whopping 16mb of memory!) and I've never had a problem. Every once in a while I transfer data from the older drives to newer ones just to be safe, but I've had far fewer problems with them than hard drives.

  4. Re:a good home backup strategy on How Do You Store Your Personal Photos? · · Score: 1

    Hope you wrap the drive in an ESD safe bag first. Would hate for all the static that bubblewrap generates to zap your drives!

  5. Thumb drives in a fire proof safe on How Do You Store Your Personal Photos? · · Score: 1

    The price of a couple of thumb drives is insignificant compared to the price of your vacation and the memories associated with the photos. I buy a thumb drive for every vacation and store them this way, in a medium sized fire proof safe. Yes, thumb drive storage is more expensive than hard drive storage, but I trust their longevity more than I would a hard drive.

  6. Re:Can't make a call from inside on SatPhones — Why Can't They Make It Work? · · Score: 1

    Height is only one factor. There are many factors for using a sat system with an external antenna, including antenna type, placement on the airframe, cable type, length, termination quality, and so on. Cabling is especially important. What kind of system are you using? Is it Iridium based, or Globalstar, or another type?

  7. Re:Can't make a call from inside on SatPhones — Why Can't They Make It Work? · · Score: 5, Informative

    I second this. I also work in the industry and people generally don't know that not only do you have to be outside, but you have to have a clear line of sight to the sky and not be near obstructions like buildings. Also, the higher off the ground you are, or the higher the elevation, the better. Even in the best conditions, the call quality can vary as a satellite goes over the horizon and passes your call to another satellite. Also, satellite calls are very expensive, and the hand held units, although getting smaller (like the Iridium 9555 handset), are still bigger than a large cell phone.

  8. Maybe I should try smuggling... on TSA Bans Toner and Ink Cartridges On Planes · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...some explosives inside an annoying crying baby, then they'd ban them.

  9. One needs to look no further than religion on Beliefs Conform To Cultural Identities · · Score: 0, Troll

    to know that most people don't base their beliefs on facts. Like there is no evidience for Jesus outside of the Bible.

  10. Re:Robert Cringley wrote it so its gonna be bolloc on Tin Whiskers — Fact Or Fiction? · · Score: 1

    Don't forget the media and pretty much everyone else said there was going to be chaos. Cringely got LOTS of emails about the subject at the time, most of them pointing out how wrong he was, and that the world was indeed doomed. My point was that Cringely HAS said something sensible.

  11. Re:Robert Cringley wrote it so its gonna be bolloc on Tin Whiskers — Fact Or Fiction? · · Score: 1

    Except when he predicted that pretty much nothing was going to happen with the Y2K switchover, despite the fact that most "experts" thought we were going to have massive computer chaos on a global scale.

  12. Re:Toyota knew the high price of oil was coming... on The SUV Is Dethroned · · Score: 1

    No, but developing hybrid cars does not preclude them from marketing to another segment of the population that is less sensitive to gas prices. Besides, Toyota can react very quickly to changing market forces due to the fact that they keep very little inventory, build most of their vehicles to a customer's specifications (ie they don't build them until they're ordered), and have designed their factory lines to build more than one type of vehicle.

  13. Re:Toyota knew the high price of oil was coming... on The SUV Is Dethroned · · Score: 1

    Not completely untrue. The facts on record show that the Prius project, called the G21 project, had come about because the company had not changed it basic product development system for decades, and was scared that it was resting on its laurels. It knew that the next 20 years would bring about huge challenges in the auto-industry, one of them being a large rise in the price of oil. They knew they had to stay ahead of the curve to deal with what was coming.

    And the project WAS considered a huge risk, costing upwards of a billion dollars. The hybrid technology was anything but the least expensive and least risky route...it was an unproven technology, and there were all sorts of engineering challenges to overcome, mostly having to do with the batteries and the hardware/software to control the system. Many industry analysts thought that Toyota would take years and years to pay off the R&D expenses involved.

    Toyota has a history of long-term thinking, and is in fact one of the fundamentals of the Toyota Production System (TPS), or Lean Production: "Base your management decisions on a long-term philosophy, even at the expense of short-term financial goals".

  14. Toyota knew the high price of oil was coming... on The SUV Is Dethroned · · Score: 5, Informative

    ...which is why they spent so much money in the 1990's developing the hybrid, when all the other car manufacturers thought they were nuts. There's a lot to be said for long-term thinking, which is partially why they are mopping the floor with the detroit automakers in so many areas.

  15. Uh-huh on Star Wars Holiday Special Released on DVD · · Score: 1

    This coming from the guy who said if he had a hammer and enough time he'd track down every bootlegged copy of the show and smash it...

  16. Canadian sources? on Where Do You Shop for Server Components? · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I see mostly American sources for parts. Anyone know of good Canadian suppliers?

  17. Re:One nice thing about working in Canada... on Corporate Work in the US vs. Canada? · · Score: 1

    True. Don't forget Celine Dion. At least she's in the US now.

  18. One nice thing about working in Canada... on Corporate Work in the US vs. Canada? · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I never worry about my office building/city/town getting targeted by terrorists. That's not to say it won't ever happen, but when was the last time you heard anyone say, "Let's get those damn Canadians"?

  19. My favourite comment from the text on Another Fan-Made TRON Costume · · Score: 0, Troll

    "I'm somewhat overweight, as you see..."

    Naw, I never noticed. I just thought you were pregnant.

  20. Re:Pirate date? on Star Wars Episode 3 Release Date Announced · · Score: 1

    Not a phantom edit, per se, but the IMAX version of "Clones" is far better than the original release. It takes out a bunch of lame love scenes, plus some other trims here and there, and the whole movie plays much better.

    Plus, when Anakin goes out looking for his mother, and is talking to a Jawa, you can actually see all the activity going on inside the sandcrawler in the distance. Now THAT was cool.

  21. Re:You can say that again. on Star Wars Episode 3 Release Date Announced · · Score: 1

    You almost got it. Marcia and George divorced in '83, when Amy (the oldest of his daughters) was just a toddler (Lucas had to sell Pixar to Steve Jobs to get divorce money, which is too bad. He could have controlled that company, too). His second daughter, Katie, was born in the late 80's, I believe, and was also adopted.

    I've heard from numerous sources that Marcia was the one person who George would actually listen to, and helped to greatly improve some aspects of the original trilogy, as well as "Raiders".

    This is the one thing that George needs right now; a woman to advise him on the romantic aspects of the new films.

  22. Re:Nothing New Here on WTO Wants USA to Gamble Online · · Score: 1

    Wow. For a second there, I thought you were talking about the attitude of the US against Vietnam in the late 60's. We all know how well that turned out.

  23. Re:One word counter counter argument on Andreesssen: Why Open Source Will Boom - in 103 Words · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    OK troll, I'll byte.

    If you think Gibson made "The Passion" simply for monetary gain, you're the idiot.

    And if you think there's only one way to interpret religion, you're even more of an idiot.

    And if you think Gibson is the only filmmaker who distorts history for monetary gain, you're a bonafide moron.

  24. Re:Whats his email? on Junkie Loves His Spam · · Score: 2, Funny

    Having a child at 20 years of age is not good judgement. The fact that you don't recognize this proves the poster's point.

  25. Re:The Trailer on Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow! · · Score: 5, Informative

    Nope. Stargate.

    Using music from older movies is a common practice for trailers. Sometimes, the real music hasn't been recorded yet. Often, however, existing music is used because it gives audiences a vague sense of familiarity with the film, even when they haven't seen it yet.