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User: Fireflymantis

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  1. Re:What are the main differences between KDE & on KDE 4 to Be Released on January 11th · · Score: 1

    For instance just a basic thing like "Open with" in explorer. In GNOME you can not open files with applications isn't officially GNOME sanctioned to open those files, and there is no way to change that, even though the have an editor for changing fileformat bindings, it doesn't allow you to add new programs. This is downright incorrect. Right now on my desktop I have a mp3 file. I right clicked on it and there is a "Open with" sub menu. In there I have a nice list of apps that can open mp3s. At the bottom is an item "Open with Other Application". If I click that, I get the big list of apps available on my system, or alternately I can type in a custom command at the bottom of the dialog.

    After opening with custom command, it will thereafter show up in the "Open with" sub menu. If I want to make that program the new default, I can go into the properties dialog of the file and go to the Open With tab. Can select there what app you want to use with mp3s.
  2. Re:Black-Market Virtual Goods... on Dutch Teen Arrested for Virtual Property Theft · · Score: 1

    Although I agree on your points, I was rather inquiring as to what this person's motives were when committing the act. Maybe it was just yet another pissing contest for something like 4chan. :(

  3. Black-Market Virtual Goods... on Dutch Teen Arrested for Virtual Property Theft · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I wonder how much a stolen virtual chair is worth on the virtual black-market?

    But really... I got to wonder what is exactly is the point of this 'theft' from the point of view of the guy who did it. Is there really money in trying to somehow re-sell any of this, or was it just for laughs?

  4. Re:A pre-packaged ISO, please... on Linux Kernel v2.6.23 Released · · Score: 2, Funny

    It only costs your time. Rather than getting work done, you can spend hours compiling your software and acting arrogant. I'm sold! I simply MUST get this onto my office workstation!
  5. Re:Not the question of guilt, but of quantity on Juror From RIAA Trial Speaks · · Score: 1

    Also, the small fact that SHE WIPED THE HARD DRIVE ***BEFORE*** she got in trouble. Done so by Best buy, and when inquired about her music purchasing habits at that store, it turned out she was an avid music cd buyer. Even better, most of the songs she had 'pirated' were in fact songs from cds that she had bought. (shown via best buy purchase history)

  6. Re:So did the jury ... on Juror From RIAA Trial Speaks · · Score: 1

    The parent is in a need of a mod up rather desperately.

  7. Re:Evolution of Linux on The Next Leap for Linux · · Score: 1

    Well, just as there are horror stories regarding people switching to linux, there are horror stories regarding people moving to Vista. I have used it fairly extensivly and there was just a whole lot to not like. It took well over 3 hours to get a HP C5150 printer working on it, and even after that, I cannot access any of the card reader slots or use the scanner on it. This is doubly annoying as Vista does not support the digital camera I hooked up to it and was screwed over trying to get some pictures off of it. Fortunatly I had my laptop with Ubuntu that when I plugged in the camera everything 'just worked'.

    I'm not trying to flame, I am simply saying that just like Linux, Vista, 'usually' works fine but as soon as you hit an edge case or some unsupported hardware you can plainly see some very broken bits of it. As for the killer apps you speak of, I can't really think of anything besides some very nice games that I miss. Photoshop would be handy at times, but only for converting files from PSD to something Gimp can handle more elegantly. (Yeah... I am broken... I actually 'like' Gimps interface. Knowing this feel free to discard all of the above :)

  8. Re:Evolution of Linux on The Next Leap for Linux · · Score: 1

    Other OSs, with larger R&D budgets allocated to them, with comprehensive guidance from a single entity, will push the face of OSs forward Kind of like Microsoft with Vista? Quite frankly I see (K)Ubuntu Gutsy getting pretty close to even in terms of the 'catchup' and while MS spends teh next 7 years working on their next Windows, Linux will just keep on steaming ahead, collecting more and more talent running the engines as it goes.
  9. Re:Fear success on The Next Leap for Linux · · Score: 1

    Fortunately I think that as long as there is access to a decent CLI there will be a long-term and sustained hobby market. Linux at its core is all about its pure hackability. That will not be going away any time soon and will likely last a lot longer than, say, the shareware market during the DOS days. As Linux becomes more mainstream with 'default' apps like Firefox, Pidgin, OpenOffice, etc, the people that want some 'fun' out of the OS will still be able to turn to Opera, aMSN, Emacs, etc.

    The beauty of Free software, is that even though all sorts of chaos comes out of GPLv2 vs GPLv3 vs MIT vs BSD, those documents entrench the freedom from being entrenched down by commercial intrests. Yes the big players are going to be weighing down on our sholders, but at least we will always have the source to play with and do with as we will.

  10. Re:Evolution of Linux on The Next Leap for Linux · · Score: 1

    My mistake, I just checked the Mandrake's history and it would have been 5.2 in '98. I was in Gr.8 at the time which was 97/98.

  11. Evolution of Linux on The Next Leap for Linux · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I first got linux running back in '97 with Mandrake 5 point something, and back then I used it more with a 'shove it to MS' attitude. Things were clunky, slow, and broke easily in the GUI side back then. Definitely needed xkill as a shortcut, accessible at all times. X was a nightmare to configure and good luck getting sound working. OSS was 'the next big thing' for dealing with sound cards. *shudder*

    10 years later, there are some things that are still a bit rough around the corners, but at least now I am using it full time because I find it genuinely more usable and I can get a lot more work done using it than I ever could on windows. It is more stable, and short of accidentally hitting the switch on the power-strip with my feet, never have to deal with system crashes or BSODs.

    Right now, we are starting to see some 'really' neat things taking off like next-get UI's (compiz/beryl) and zeroconf that when refined over the next many years will undoubtedly make Linux systems the leader of the OSs. Additionally, due to the compound effect when more users switch over, more companies will release more goodies onto 'nix.

    Over the next decade I really think that there will be massive proliferation of Linux desktops and that maybe finally the IT industry can start the long journey to finally rid itself of nasty kludges presented by Redmond year after year. Of course though, we will have to watch out for self contrived idiocies such as political breakdown within the wizard circles (kernel, KDE, Gnome, Mozilla, etc) and also try and sanely resolve niggling issues like the current GPLv2 vs GPLv3 dilemma.

    So far since my indoctrination to the Linux world I have seen such vast improvements it boggles my mind, and I expect nothing less for the next 10.

  12. Re:For those of you in the 42, -71 area on Slashdot Turns 10 But You Get The Presents · · Score: 1

    And that would be the sound of the joke going over your head. Either that or a velociraptor recently labotimized you.

  13. Re:It's the UI that makes it on Blender Compared To the Major 3D Applications · · Score: 1

    I am seeing hordes of comments taking a stance against Blender's UI, but even though I am not anything close to a professional, I have never had a gripe about Blender's UI. To "apply a texture to a model" I can think of no way it could take 2 hours to figure it out.

    Select the model to texture.
    Click on the panel tab: "Texture Buttons"
    Set Texture Type dropdown to 'Image'
    Click "Load Image"

    So, at most 4 clicks. And heck, who would have thought that you may need to switch to 'texture mode' to set textures? A lot of the gripes I am hearing are the 3d modelling equivilant of something along the lines of "I hate the fact that I have to select text before I can bold an section of selected text. Took me 2 hours to figure out."

    My two cents.

  14. Re:A great story on A Retrospective on Planescape Torment · · Score: 1

    Although I havn't ever played PS:T, One game (series) that stands out masivly for me in terms of amazing story and charector development is The Longest Journey, and its sequel, Dreamfall. Those were two games that entirely wrapped me up in their plot, setting, and depth.

    I would love to paste in the opening dialogue for TLJ, but the best I could find was the opening monologue for Dreamfall:

    "They say that every story has a beginning and an end. That might be true in most cases. Sometimes, however, the two are one and the same. My name is Zoë Castillo. I don't usually look this pale, but that's what you get for being in a coma. That's my father, Gabriel. I'm all he's got in this world. My mother died fifteen years ago, and I don't have any siblings. I think he'll be very lonely when I'm gone. I wish I could've talked to him one last time, let him know that everything will be okay. But that would be a lie. The only thing I could have said...is goodbye. Since I'm lying in that bed, but I'm talking to you from out here, I guess this is what they call an out of body experience. I'm not sure anyone can hear me, but I've had some experience with voices from the grave recently, so I'm giving it a shot. Bad things are happening, and everyone who knows the truth is either dead or has vanished off the face of the Earth. If I can get through to someone, anyone, maybe something can be done. So if you can hear me, please listen. This is very, very important. It might just be the most important thing ever. You'll have to forgive me for using the oldest clichè in the book: It all began when..."

    Two weeks earlier:

    (TV-anchors blabber while Zoë, bored, lounges on her bed in her underwear)
    Diane: --causing the unfortunate cow to implode. Ryan?
    Ryan:Mooo! That's a spicy meatball! To err is human, to forgive is bovine! I'm running out of cow jokes here, people! Thanks, Diane! The Static has been blamed for chain collision this morning on the crosstown express, killing one person and injuring five. Witnessess say that a delivery truck lost Wire contact and manual systems failed to take over, causing it to hit another vehicle.
    Diane: This accident coincides with a new report from CTU, claiming 'definitive evidence' that the Static is caused by heavy sunspot activity. The report has already come under fire from several--
    (The screen goes blurry, as if Static)
    Faith: ...Zoë...
    (The screen flashes, revealing a wintry, desolate landscape with a single, nightmarish, floating black house and a pale girl with black hair, in a white dress, socks and black shoes, holding a ragdoll)
    Find her. Save her.
    (Just before the screen returns to normal) ...find her...save her...
    Zoë: What was that? Must be some kind of viral ad...

  15. Re:Currency "fluctuation" on OLPC Cost Rises To $188 Per Laptop · · Score: 1

    My fellow Americans, allow me to take this opportunity to encourage you to get in your last few "Canadian monopoly money" jokes while you still can. You may not get another chance. Speaking as a Canadian: "HAHAHA"... I mean... Time for some patriotism... BUY THEIR CURRENCY!
  16. Re:The reason MN doesn't have the code on Breathalyzer Source Code Revealed · · Score: 1

    Absolutely not, when using mouthwash an hour earlier can cause you to blow far over 0.00. There is no current foolproof way to be able to measure BAC (BLOOD Alcohol Content) using breath as a sample, and even then, a few conditions can cause you to have small levels of acetone on your breath (eg. diabetes) which can cause serious detection errors. (one of my friends who was cold stone sober hit 0.10 on a breathelizer. She had diabetes, and was damn happy she forced a blood test (which also mis-hit) but was able to get them to retest specifically for acetone which matched 1:1 against the 0.10 reading.

  17. Re:great! on New Failsafe Graphics Mode For Ubuntu · · Score: 3, Informative

    Probably where when looking at the CD in windows, the CD gets burned with only one file...

    D:\ubuntu-desktop.iso

  18. Re:Recourse on Viacom Says User Infringed His Own Copyright · · Score: 1

    I'm pretty sure it isn't just me, but I have notice a large increase in downright rude, nasty, and otherwise scathing remarks against other posters as of the last few months on /. It really is unfortunate that in the rare case that I decide to add my own opinion to a conversation, I am alsmot as concerned about dotting my i's and crossing my t's out of the nagging fear that some grammer nazi or other similar trollish creature will add on a reply to my comment about how I am FUCKING POINTING OUT THE OBVIOUS, or some other nastiness.

    So, I ask in a quiet tone: "Please cut the pointless nonsense of biting at other people just because you have nothing more intellegent to add to the conversation. Thank you"

  19. Re:Old news on AT&T Arbitration Clause Ruled Unconscionable · · Score: 1

    Well from the first result that popped up from your search words, I see a very sad little story of a old woman who spilled coffee on herself.

    One of the comments attached to the article says everything I would say:

    "
    First of all, I question whether Stella's burns were anywhere near as bad as those in your "example" pic.

    Secondly, even IF McDonalds was found to be at fault (which I disagree with), one woman and one greedy attorney were not entitled to millions of dollars. We DO need tort reform. If big corporations are found to be guilty of something, and large settlements are decided on, the money should go to society as a whole, or to a charity, or to some other large number of rightful recipients (such as in a class action). And attorney fees should be limited. Only then will we deter greedy (especially the slimy personal injury variety) from chasing cases like this.
    "

  20. Re:Obligatory on 10 Years After Big Blue Beat Garry Kasparov · · Score: 1

    And when a computer can beat a human player on a 9x9 board consistently, (they still can't even do this), The humans shall triumph on the 13x13. When this in turn gets conquered, then the new battlefield of the 'best vs the best' will be upon 19x19. (normal size).

    I foresee the need to true (strong) AI for a computer however, to ever beat a human on 37x37.

  21. Re:Benefit or detriment? on Why We Need to Expand into Space · · Score: 1

    From my point of view, only living things can perceive a detriment and a benefit. With that assumption, what in the universe would care if we blow up a planet on the other side of our galaxy.
    You know... If we really wanted to make contact with another intelligent lifeform somewhere out there in the galaxy/universe, that isn't too bad of an idea... We should blow up a few planets, in effect, enormous fireworks to signal our existence. Plus it would be super cool to actually make use of a petaton sized nuke for the purpose of planet demolition.

    Then again, that might give the aliens reason to think that we might be some sort of violent race and would be better of not announcing their presence to us.
  22. Re:Heretics? on The Heretical Freeman Dyson · · Score: 1
    First of all, I would like to state that I fully believe that us huminoids should be living simpler, more economical, friendly lives, not because of global warming per se, but because it would greatly reduce the amount of stress in the world, allow people more time to enjoy this earth, and decrese the hustle and bustle....

    >> Are humans capable of producing more CO2 per decade than say, a single volcanic eruption?

    Yes. Humans put out well over 100 times as much CO2 as all volcanic activity combined.
    true

    >> Does the amount of organisms capable of removing CO2 from the atmosphere increase as this new atmosphere provides an environment closer to the optimum for them?

    It depends. There are limits to the number of organisms from other things like nutrients, hence projects to do things like dump extra iron in the ocean. Other carbon sequestration organisms like the Amazon rain forest are being lost as well. Some pollutants, like ground level ozone, actually reduce the amount of CO2 plants can take up. I would just like to point out here that it has been shown time and time again that old forests, a la, the Amazon end up being CO2 nuetral, or even CO2 positive...
    http://www.woodheat.org/environment/forest.htm#usi ng "old-growth conversion leads to massive losses of stored carbon, and can not be recommended as a measure to combat increasing atmospheric CO2 levels"

    >> The "facts" are not as clear cut as you would like them to be. Of course it's easy if you only listen to what you WANT to hear.

    Actually, they are fairly clear cut, and all of the arguments you have made have been discussed and covered ad nauseum. There is a lot of discussion of this and other arguments at http://www.realclimate.org/
    The facts are not as clear cut as anyone would like to think. There are multitudes of factors that affect heat retention on this planet, with water, good ol' H2O being one of the main culprits. (as far as we know, of course)

    Global worming, if it it happening, is assurdly not an easy issue that can be somehow 'solved'. It will take decades of real reaserch happening behind the facade of idiocy that is politically induced 'scientific' findings. As for me. I just try to get by with as neutral of a lifestyle as I can without disregarding modern advantages such as light rail transit, plumbing, a computer, etc...
  23. Re:Heretics? on The Heretical Freeman Dyson · · Score: 1
    I found a most excellent link via the google search 'unbiased gloabal warming'

    http://fathersforlife.org/REA/warming6.htm

    Plus they cite records from Edmonton, which happens to be where I live, so it must be true!!!

    But the Earth is warming up, you say. Well, the evidence for that is very skimpy and not supported by an overwhelming quantity and quality of facts, as well as by the poor quality of surface temperature recordings.
  24. Hackers Batting 1000, Industry Zero on The DRM Scorecard · · Score: 1

    What's nice is that in this article they are actually using the term 'hacker' properly. After all, 'cracking' DRM is about having a problem or a goal (copying music/video files) and finding an ingenious solution to solve/achieve that problem/goal. Considering some of the crazy things that people have to do to break stronger and stronger DRM, 'hacking' is a very proper term.

  25. Re:The decline of ethics????? on Consumerist Catches Geek Squad Stealing Porn · · Score: 1

    But where can I go to escape? How is Canada? is it any better there? We're pretty chillin'. we'd probably be happy to have you, but you would have to tolerate the queers; treat all peoples of a different race as though you were also of their race, and in turn not exclude them from your's; smoke a lot of weed; and avoid taking sides to any charged issue and 'just try to make everyone get along.'

    I love my country.