User: berbo

Re:Switch statements are syntactic sugar

On: Perl 5.10, 20 Year Anniversary

XKCD on lisp

Re:More Like....

On: iPhone Freed From AT&T, Twice

depends. Maybe the OP really did mean 'less', as in

the government wants people who are not quite so bright as this NJ kid

No kill I

On: Perfect Silicon Sphere to Redefine the Kilogram

Please don't hurt the Horta!

In other news...

On: Japanese Government to Move to OSS

. 'Oracle, NEC, IBM, HP, Hitachi and Dell are among 10 IT equipment and software vendors that are forming a consortium to develop and sell Linux-based servers... ' Meanwhile,

'Microsoft, IBM, and Dell are among 10 IT equipment and software vendors that are forming a consortium to develop and sell Linux-based databases'

Re:Did they perhaps build it in MUMPS?

On: Big HMO Jolted By Email, System Failures

from the link:

CASE SENSITIVITY: Commands and intrinsic functions are case-insensitive. Variable names and labels are case-sensitive.

OMFG. And it gets worse.

they didn't just use MUMPS, they used it cleverly. Partially as a result of MUMPS' limitation and partially because they had all gone insane.

Re:GE food

On: Biofuels Coming With a High Environmental Price?

That's not an issue with genetically modified foods as such, it's an issue with an hyperimmune response to certain foods, and the foods whose genetic materials are used.

Formerly the person with the hyperimmune response could simply avoid brazil nuts. Now they have to avoid brazil nuts, and soybeans, and possibly other foods as well. So that it is an issue with GMOs.

Re:Yeah, this is chump change...

On: Billion Dollar Handout To Upgrade TVs

Only $900 M? thats just a few pallets

Vista

On: Linux Starts to Find Home on Desktops

Best argument for Linux yet

Re:It wasn't religion, it was Islam;

On: Two Ways Not To Handle Free Speech

Dear Mr. Scudsucker,

Mind if I quote you on that?

Thanks,

Tony Snow.

Registry

On: The Need For A Tagging Standard

One approach to this is a metadata registry: http://metadataregistry.org/

That way one group can label their tags ( e.g. Microsoft:embrace_and_extend ) and others can submit their own tags (e.g. slashdot:itsatrap).

This is labor intensive and is not a universal solution, but its a partial solution

Re:Hurry, guys....

On: The Need For A Tagging Standard

And then somebody else tag it 'No' as well.

Re:Someone lands on it, plants a flag and yells...

On: Birth of an Island

FTFA:

"The closer we came to the island the clearer the smoke stood out from the surrounding clouds, and every so often a massive black pillar shot upwards toward the sky," Fransson said.

"You could see particles raining down."

In South Pacific, island lands on you!

New meme

On: Republican Aide Tries to Hire Hackers

Can we also call this game pigeons and squirrels?

In Soviet Russia, pigeons and squirrels photograph you....

imagine a Beowulf cluster of pigeons and squirrels.

Re:It may be....

On: White House Clamps Down On USGS Publishing

Although I have not personally read this book (but I will now), apparently, the rejection and burial of the "Shafer Commission" report has been very well researched and documented in this book, Smoke and Mirrors: The War on Drugs and the Politics of Failure, by Dan Baum.

Its definitely worth a read.

Re:Batshit Insane

On: Bruce Sterling's Final Prediction

Let me clarify:

I'm not saying the Lexus should be hauling garbage.

I'm saying the Lexus should be hauled away as garbage.

Leapfrog

On: UN Report Downgrades Human Impact on Climate

Agreed.

In addition, there is the leapfrog effect: by jump from very old technology to very new technology, it becomes even more cost-effective.

New rules!

On: Newt Gingrich Says Free Speech May Be Forfeit

Here's a new rule for you:

Disgraced, adulterous doucebag politicians have to STFU.

Ballard:

On: Drugs Eradicate the Need For Sleep

J.G.Ballard wrote a short story on this idea: 'Manhole 69'.

(in his story, the lack of sleep is surgery rather than drug induced, but the idea is the same)

He does an amazing job of describing the negative mind-altering side effects.

pitcher of beer

On: Report Blasts "Peak Oil" Theory

Imagine that your friends are passing around a pitcher of beer around the table.

The first person fills up his glass, and passes it along. You start your graph.

The next person fills up her glass, and passes it along. Again, you update your graph.

Two more glasses filled! So you plot a straight line on your graph, and predict: when the pitcher gets to me, I too will have a full glass of beer.

Valid prediction?

You decide.

Re:Moo

On: Global Warming Debunker Debunked

I approve!

Good metadata - I know it when I see it.

Re: I think its the other way around

On: Tarantula Venom and Chili Peppers Share Receptor

How can a tarantula, for example, "know" of the existence of such receptors in its predators?

It doesn't. See e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inheritance_of_acquir ed_traits

This particular species is still crawling the earth because it happened to produce a useful venom. The other species, umm, didn't do so well.

Thats natural selection for you.

Re: MS "offers" (read: Subsidizes) support

On: Why is OSS Commercial Software So Expensive?

Mod up!

MS subsidizes all kinds of stuff (support, service) in order to maintain their monopoly.

Re:Why car drivers suck

On: Rob Levin, lilo of FreeNode, Passes

Well at least in Wisconsin, cyclists do have the same rights (AND responsibilities) as motorists.

Thats not arrogance - thats the law.

Netcraft

On: Why the iPod is Losing its Cool

I'll believe when it when Netcraft confirms it.

Re:Priority Management

On: Biofuel Production to Cause Water Shortages?

How such lame comment got modded 'insightful' I can't figure out.

The 'Environmentalists' are pointing to the challenges of sustaining the planet's eco-system. Maybe the Earth can't support 6 x 10^9 people.