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User: toddestan

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  1. Re:its nothing new really. on Fake Engine Noise Is the Auto Industry's Dirty Little Secret · · Score: 1

    Usually what they do is put a blank plate where the tach would be. Looks cheap, but that was probably intentional with the hope that you'd upgrade to a model that included it. It was actually pretty common back in the 80's and 90's for the stripper manual version of the car to not have a tach, but the higher end automatic model would include it, which was completely backwards from what you'd expect.

  2. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... on Fake Engine Noise Is the Auto Industry's Dirty Little Secret · · Score: 1

    That, and the auto's final overdrive gear is often has a lower ratio than the manual's final gear. This allows the car to run at a lower RPM on the freeway which is why you'll see the manual version get better mileage in the city but the auto wins on the freeway. I'm not sure why they do this, unless they think that people don't like downshifting to pass. To make this somewhat on-topic, this also has the side effect that the auto version is also quieter on the freeway.

  3. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... on Fake Engine Noise Is the Auto Industry's Dirty Little Secret · · Score: 1

    Maybe the clicking is drowned out by all the fake engine noise trying to cover up the four-banger motor screaming at 4000 RPM?

  4. Re: Just give the option to turn it off... on Fake Engine Noise Is the Auto Industry's Dirty Little Secret · · Score: 1

    Even more so on modern cars, where the current fashion is to bury the instruments deep into pods for some reason.

  5. Re:Crusty Hardware on User Plea Means EISA Support Not Removed From Linux · · Score: 1

    Actually, you would probably need SP2 and likely SP3. Support for pre-SP2 is pretty spotty nowadays, and a lot of stuff expects SP3. Also, I would stay well away from Flash or Java since that's the most likely way you'll get pwn3d even if you decided to use IE anyway.

  6. Re:Crusty Hardware on User Plea Means EISA Support Not Removed From Linux · · Score: 1

    Well, at least you don't have to deal with licensing issues. Microsoft won't sell you a license for older versions of Windows (such as XP) so you're stuck dealing with old hardware so you can use the license that's attached to it.

  7. Re:It's about time. on Simon Pegg On Board To Co-Write Next Star Trek Film · · Score: 1

    Uhh... The Original Motion Picture? The Undiscovered Country? Not all of them were the Wrath of Khan (in more ways than one).

  8. Re:Only for the first year on Microsoft Reveals Windows 10 Will Be a Free Upgrade · · Score: 1

    If I had to guess, it had something to do with Diablo II.

  9. Re:Spoofing! on Insurance Company Dongles Don't Offer Much Assurance Against Hacking · · Score: 1

    How? I don't know of a way to get the VIN through the ODB2 port, though such a capability wouldn't surprise me terribly with the newest cars. They could try to infer whether the data is consistent with the model of car that's being insured through some of the metrics such as fuel usage. Though the biggest problem would be the GPS showing the car being parked at a place you don't live at, and being driven to a workplace you don't work at.

  10. Re:Wrong direction on FCC May Permit Robocalls To Cell Phones -- If They Are Calling a Wrong Number · · Score: 1

    That's absolutely correct. They banned sound trucks (a truck with loudspeakers that used to drive around and play political messages) a long time ago because they were obnoxious*. I don't see why the same reasoning couldn't be used to ban robocalling, except that the politicians won't do it.

    *Technically they are still legal in most jurisdictions if you get a permit, but good luck with that.

  11. Re:How quaint. on Why We Have To Kiss Off Big Carbon Now · · Score: 1

    Fuel prices go up: "We have no choice but to raise prices due to the price of fuel."
    Fuel prices go down: "Shipping costs are 1% the cost of the finished good. You can't expect prices to go down."

    Yeah, not buying it.

  12. Re:Easy fix on Ad Company Using Verizon Tracking Header To Recreate Deleted Cookies · · Score: 1

    The idea is that people not using Verizon could do this, and pollute their databases with garbage data. It likely wouldn't affect their ability to track actual Verizon users, but it could make it more difficult to do so by burying them in garbage. Only problem is that I can think of a couple of easy technical solutions to easily filter out most of the "noise".

  13. Re:Love how he had all these great ideas on Obama Unveils Plan To Bring About Faster Internet In the US · · Score: 1

    Don't forget that also includes counting two independents as Democrats. If you don't, then the Democrats never had a supermajority.

  14. Re:SimCity 2000 available for free on Is 'SimCity' Homelessness a Bug Or a Feature? · · Score: 1

    I'm kind of the same way, SimCity 3000 just added too much micromanaging. It's fine when you have a small town, but who wants to deal with stuff like individual water pumps wearing out in a large city when you have dozens of the things all built at different times. That's why real cities hire city managers to deal with that kind of stuff. I played the heck out of the first game (on the SNES) and SC2000, but just couldn't get into SC3000. I also played SC4 and it had a lot of problems similar to SC3000 but the mods helped keep it interesting for a bit longer. The mods also actually made my city look like a real city. I also tried the newest game, and it seems more like the Sims on a city (or small town) level than a Simcity game.

  15. Re:Last fully supported version of Windows on Microsoft Ends Mainstream Support For Windows 7 · · Score: 1

    I've noticed the same thing. Something doesn't work right in the Windows 10 technical preview, and I look into it a bit more and discover it didn't work in Windows 8 either. Part of the reason why the transition to Windows 7 was relatively smooth is because all the kinks were worked out with Vista. But while these firms went to the trouble of working on Vista support despite the slow uptake (perhaps they were interested in 64 bit?), they seem to be completely ignoring Windows 8.

  16. Re:7? Are you kidding? on Microsoft Ends Mainstream Support For Windows 7 · · Score: 1

    Or check some random dumpsters. Multi-core and 64 bit stuff is showing up now. The end of XP is kind of a boon, as a lot of the early Core 2 stuff only had an XP sticker on the case, and while they could be upgraded, a lot of places decided it wasn't worth it and out they went.

  17. Re:It was the best Windows on Microsoft Ends Mainstream Support For Windows 7 · · Score: 1

    Vista's main problem was its Superfetch algorithm was way too aggressive, to the point where all the disk grinding slowed the computer down rather than speed things up. I had Vista x64 on a 16GB machine, and it would sit there and grind for a good while after booting up until it had filled every byte of it with some prefetched data, and wouldn't even take a break if I was trying to use the machine for something (Windows 7 is much better in this regard). I also had Vista on another machine with 1.25GB, and in many ways it ran better because there wasn't much ram leftover for Superfetch to work with so once it booted itself up it was pretty much done and ready to go.

  18. Re:But on Microsoft Ends Mainstream Support For Windows 7 · · Score: 1

    A lot of them date back to Windows 3, possibly earlier. It was kind of amusing how some of that arcane knowledge came in handy again navigating around Windows 8, though to someone without 20 years of Windows experience I could see how it would simply be frustrating.

  19. Re:But on Microsoft Ends Mainstream Support For Windows 7 · · Score: 1

    In the Taskbar properties, I noticed that I can turn the start screen back on, and when I tried it (and had to log out and log back in) I had the Windows 8 start screen with it's full Metro glory in Windows 10. This is on a desktop PC, so I'm not sure what's available on a tablet, but you can certainly make your Windows 10 box act just like Windows 8 if you choose to.

  20. Re:Nostalgic for Windows 7? on Microsoft Ends Mainstream Support For Windows 7 · · Score: 1

    Actually, in many ways Server 2008 is closer related to Vista than it is to Windows 7. The more you know...

  21. Re:Nostalgic for Windows 7? on Microsoft Ends Mainstream Support For Windows 7 · · Score: 1

    Actually, Microsoft does have a 10-year support cycle. Windows 7 will still receive updates until 2020. What just ended was mainstream support, which means that Windows 7 will not get any new features or enhancements, just security updates and bug fixes from here on out. Also, don't expect future versions of Microsoft products to support 7 either, this includes things like DirectX and IE which will probably make IE11 the next IE8 though Microsoft will continue to patch the last versions that run on Windows 7 until at least 2020.

  22. Re:Nostalgic for Windows 7? on Microsoft Ends Mainstream Support For Windows 7 · · Score: 1

    3. The easy to hit shutdown button in the start menu that will shut the computer down with NO CONFIRMATION if you manage to accidentally push it.
    4. The removal of the go up a directory button in Windows Explorer.
    5. The idiotic full screen dialog that comes up when a program is preventing WIndows 7 from shutting down that prevents you from dealing with the issue, instead forcing you to cancel the shutdown to get back to your desktop where you can save your document or whatever so you can try again.

  23. Re:Nostalgic for Windows 7? on Microsoft Ends Mainstream Support For Windows 7 · · Score: 1

    I doubt it. The virtual XP installation in XP mode doesn't get any more updates just like its cousins running on bare metal. XP mode was really supposed to be just a temporary stop-gap, and while I'm certain a lot of places that decided to use it are not ready to ditch it yet, I don't think Microsoft is going to accommodate them.

  24. Re:How very nice for them. on Silicon Valley's Quest To Extend Life 'Well Beyond 120' · · Score: 1

    It's kind of like the prisoner's dilemma though. While they may collectively want everyone to have a decent income, they all feel that should come out of someone else's pocket and not theirs. At least they all seem to agree that there needs to be enough food to go around.

  25. Re:A fool and his money are soon parted on Intuit Charges More For Previously Offered TurboTax Features, Users Livid · · Score: 1

    If you're comfortable filling out the forms yourself, just use the free fillable forms:
    http://www.irs.gov/uac/Free-File:-Do-Your-Federal-Taxes-for-Free

    They say it's for over $60k but in reality anyone can use them. Free e-file, or you can print them, or you can save as PDF. Doesn't require using any toner or cost you a stamp if you e-file.

    I only wish I could have something similar at the state level. If they want to require that I have to go to a third party and pay up if I want to e-file, they can deal with my dead tree return, which certainly costs them more money anyway.