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User: lenroc

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Comments · 35

  1. Re:Check your EULA... you probably can't sue on Sony Sued For PlayStation Network Data Breach · · Score: 3, Informative

    Our wonderful, conservative-activist Supreme Court just ruled today that any company may stick a line in their EULA stating that by using their product, you forfeit the right to sue, and must instead use a private arbiter of the corporation's choice.

    Not true, actually. They ruled that customers that have signed a contract with a clause to that effect are bound to it. AFAIK, there is no settled case law saying that a shrinkwrap EULA is equivalent to a valid, signed contract.

  2. Re:No cable. Just Roku and my laptop on Ask Slashdot: Are You Streaming-Only For Home Entertainment? · · Score: 2

    Technically you DO need a TV license if you watching content in the UK - even if it's on a computer

    Not true.

    From another page on the linked site:

    You don't need a licence if you don't use any of these devices to watch or record television programmes as they're being shown on TV - for example, if you use your TV only to watch DVDs or play video games, or you only watch programmes on your computer after they have been shown on TV.

    And another, specifically metioning streaming.

    If you don’t watch or record television programmes, or you only stream TV programmes online after they’ve been broadcast – through on-demand services like YouTube, BBC iPlayer and 4oD – you don’t need to be covered by a TV Licence.

  3. Re:Oh please on FTP Is 40 Years Old · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Lots of people grousing about how awful FTP is. I bet not one of you will ever write a piece of software that is still hugely popular and under active development 40 years later.

    Except, FTP isn't a piece of software. It's a Protocol. As far as I can tell from a cursory search, no particular FTP daemon is still in wide use that was written 40 years ago.

  4. Re:DRM is evil on Enlisting Game Hackers Instead of Fighting Them · · Score: 1

    That being said, Just Cause 2 is a lot of fun. Unfortunately, the Square Enix taint is already there, and you get half a game out of the box with the rest being released as an endless stream of DLC.

    OK now I hate DLC as much as anybody, but I don't really see Just Cause 2 as an example of a "half game" without the DLC. Did you actually look at the list you linked? There are a few weird vehicles, a couple moderately updated guns (remember this is a single-player game), and.... not much else. It's not like you need to pay to unlock half the map.

    I'm enjoying Just Cause 2, and I have not purchased and do not plan to purchase any DLC.

  5. Re:Has author never used computers? on Interactive, Emotion-Detecting Robot Developed · · Score: 1

    From TFA:

    Voice recognition software is now quite a capable means of entering information into a computer system.

    guffaw.

    You guffaw, but I entered this comment with voice recognition.

    Dear aunt, let’s set so double the killer delete select all

    er.... oops?

  6. Re:Don't Worry! on Beware the Garden of Steven · · Score: 1

    ALL Apple development tools are free downloads. Not just a cut-down version; the complete development suite with everything in it; same as every other developer uses. You can develop and distribute/sell Mac apps with Apple's tools without giving Apple a cent, and that isn't changing.

    Wait, what?

    I thought Xcode only worked on macs.

    Did Apple start giving away free computers?

  7. If they are worried... on IBM Warns of China Closing the Supercomputer Gap · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If they're worried about China advancing in computer technology, maybe they shouldn't build research labs there!

  8. Re:I just took a look at their site on £32k a Day For Birmingham Council Website · · Score: 2, Funny

    I just took a look at their site, which I thought must be amazing for that kind of money, and I found this: <meta name="ICBM" content="52.48002, -1.902805"> What exactly Birmingham City Council up to!? Perhaps the money is going someplace a bit more nefarious.

    According to Google, that's Birmingham Town Hall!

    Perhaps that's part of Capita's plan to ensure payment in full...

  9. Re:2+ TB Hard Drives on HDTV Has Ruined the LCD Market · · Score: 1

    What I want to know is... why are hard drives stuck at 2TB? Did we reach some theoretical limit? Does the laws of physics start to fail at higher data densities? Don't get me wrong, I love my 2TB hard drive, but I want more!

    This could be because the MBR partitioning method doesn't work for drives larger than 2TiB, and Hard Drive manufacturers are afraid of confusing consumers with the GUID Partition Table?

  10. Re:I trust Woz on Toyota Accelerator Data Skewed Toward Elderly · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Yes but the Woz case is possible bug in the cruise control software, not the accelerator.

    Right, because Cruise Control Software is in no way related to acceleration, right?

  11. Re:MuscleNerd? on iPad Jailbroken · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Come on, Dr. Sheldon Cooper, we all know it's you behind the lame nickname !

    (Great punchline to episode 18 though !)

    I'm not sure if it's the same MuscleNerd or not, but the one I've seen on the 'tubes before predated The Big Bang Theory by several years. See, e.g., this thread on TiVo hacking.

  12. Everyone... on Nintendo Developing DS Apps For School Systems · · Score: 1

    I'm not sure I see how this would help Nintendo. Doesn't every school-age kid already have a DS? It sure seems that way among all the kids I've seen lately...

    Maybe if the school versions were remotely monitored? The teacher could use a DSi XL to view 93% more students!

  13. "Long Forgotten"? on 19th-Century Photographer Captured 5,000 Snowflakes · · Score: 1

    I don't really think Snowflake Bentley has been "long forgotten", as the summary implies. Our homeschooled children just finished a unit study on him a few weeks ago (which doesn't prove anything of course except that he's still well known enough for there to be unit studies made available on him...).

    In fact, a book about him, appropriately titled Snowflake Bentley won the Caldecott medal as recently as 1999!

  14. Re:But unfortunately... on Looking Back At Dungeons & Dragons · · Score: 1

    I put on my robe and wizard hat.

  15. Re:Pro-Tip on Palm Pre Is Out, Time For Discussion · · Score: 1

    Pro-Tip: For mass market appeal, don't call your fans Pre-verts.

    That's right, they prefer to be called Pre-vects!

    Hmm... Too obscure?

  16. Re:SOFTWARE PROGRAM!!!11111```oneone on RealPlayer Zero-Day Flaw Under Attack · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "Alphanumeric keyboard" and "computer mouse"?

    Looks like someone confused verbosity with redundancy

  17. Re:Tracing Of Users? on Drug Testing Entire Cities at Once · · Score: 3, Interesting

    IANAL either, but I seem to remember things a bit differently. Garbage tossed in a *public* dumpster is fair game. Trash in your trash can is still yours, up until the sanitation guys actually toss it in the truck.

    To the contrary, I've always heard that it is public property once you place the garbage out for collection. This is backed up by a Google search, which turned up among others:

    Garbage is Public Property on Curb

    Admittedly, though, you can probably "prove" anything with the right Google search.

  18. Re:What a suprise! on The Software Awards Scam · · Score: 1

    WTF is a "PAD"?

    Googling didn't help

    It didn't? That's funny, when I googled "PAD" the 4th result seemed appropriate, what with the link title Association of Shareware Professionals: Portable Application ..." and all...

    Quoting from the link:

    PAD is the Portable Application Description, and it helps authors provide product descriptions and specifications to online sources in a standard way, using a standard data format that will allow webmasters and program librarians to automate program listings. PAD saves time for both authors and webmasters. For more, see the PAD FAQ.
  19. Re:Compelling... IF you can get CableCARDs on Tivo HD Released Into the Wild · · Score: 1

    I have Cox cable TV/internet/phone and the cable TV SUCKS. I have an HD tuner and the first shitty thing is the guide it has sucks and the searching capabilities are worthless

    And that's why you buy a TiVo!
  20. Re:9 million users or accounts? on World of Warcraft Hits 9 Million Users · · Score: 1

    How many individuals? 9 million accounts, 6 million people?

    They count paid subscriptions, paid trial subscriptions (30 days free with game count, but not 10-day free passes), and also (and this is huge) any player that has played in a "game house" within the past 30 days.
    Apparently this is what really makes the number jump, counting those in Asian countries that haven't really "bought" the game.
  21. Editors? on Google Debuts Street View and Mapplets · · Score: 5, Informative
    TFS disagrees with TFA about what a "mapplet" is. From TFA #1:

    A Mapplet is a special flavor of a Google Gadget, the XML/JavaScript-based widgets you can add to iGoogle - only that this time, you'll be adding it to Google Maps. From a press release by Google: Mapplets enables third party developers to create mini applications that can be displayed on Google Maps, much like Google Gadgets are displayed on iGoogle.
  22. Re:Type it into google on Verizon Can't Do Math · · Score: 1

    I see, thought you were asking what the point of the calculation was, as if you didn't understand what it was indicating.

  23. Re:People are uneducated on Verizon Can't Do Math · · Score: 1
    Boy, you have it EASY! Try explaining why the punch clock puts down 0.75 instead of "45 min." on their card, THEN it gets interesting.

    Even that's easy compared to where I work. Our system has an option between a "100 minute clock" or a "60 minute clock".

    So "1.5" can mean 1h30m, or it can mean 1h50m.

    Let's just say I have fodder for a few days worth of entries to The Daily WTF from the "creative" ways some of our programmers have handled that.

  24. Re:Type it into google on Verizon Can't Do Math · · Score: 1

    To be more specific, type this into google: .002 cents per KB times 35893 KB

    I don't get it. What's the point?

    WTFM (watch the fine movie...)

    The point is that the customer was quoted "0.002 cents/KB", used 35893KB, and was charged $71.79. So the effective rate was "$0.002/KB", or "0.2 cents/KB", or 100x more than he was quoted.

  25. Re:But did he know? on Verizon Can't Do Math · · Score: 2, Insightful
    It isn't as much math as a play on the way we pronounce money. .002 cents isn't the same as $0.002. But 20 cents is expressed as $0.20 and it would be correct int saying if you had $0.20 in change being returned to you, the cashier gave you 20 cents change. So, I don't know what it is called but it is one of those things that gets interchanged around enough that it was finally done wrong. I think were the problem might be is were you get partial number or numbers that aren't equal to a hole cent.

    Whoever modded this up might work at Verizon.

    What you said is all valid, but you said it as though it illustrates the problem. It doesn't.

    Yes, $0.20 is the same as 20 cents. That's not disputed. The problem is that Verizon quoted (repeatedly) "0.002 cents", but charged "$0.002". "0.002 cents" can be rewritten as "$0.00002".

    I would love to find out how this ends.

    I am also considering sending a note to Verizon to find out whether they now know the difference. (Online contact form, mailing address varies by state, find yours here.)

    Side note: Why doesn't the cent sign (" ") appear on /.? (I pasted one in between the quote marks on this line. But even using the escape code I found here doesn't work...