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User: solarium_rider

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  1. Re:an added bonus on Self-Adapting Traffic Lights · · Score: 1

    It similarly cuts down on unnecessary lane changes (which only slows traffic flow) because jockeying for position is not important.

    Uhh...have you seen the way people drive in New York? Sure there are no lane changes...but that's only because there are *NO* lanes. Sure they have those marks on the road that suggests lanes, but no one uses them. Cabbies are constantly switching lanes to get up to the front of the pack. Sure it might not get them up farther, but I have the impression that every cab drive is in a race against each other to get to the next light first. There has to be some kind of underground betting going on here...

  2. Re:Someone's got to say it on Gentoo Linux Releases 2004.3 · · Score: 5, Informative
    actually, no need to do both commands anymore. With the latest version of portage, you can just run
    # emerge -uDa world
    The -a is short for --ask. That will ask you if you really want to emerge the listed packages.
  3. Re:night map on Global Air Pollution, From Above · · Score: 1

    Hmm, also looks similiar to a sim city air pollution map. That's easy to fix, just plant lots of trees and parks. Other tips you can do to reduce pollution:
    -Apply all of the environment ordinances
    -Encourage High Tech Industry
    -Reduce Traffic Congestion
    -Use water Treatment Plants
    -Use Clean Energy
    -Export your trash

  4. Re:Why I dislike Halo (and all modern console game on Halo 2 Goes Gold · · Score: 1

    It's gaming for the masses.

    Which is way I'll stick to my PC-only based games. Games which are designed for the console in mind first then ported to a PC, always seem somewhat lacking (yes, you can point out many situations where this isn't true, but I'm speaking in general.) There is a general trend to make everything on consoles more like arcade games which usually means less complexity and less control. I guess my point is easier to describe with an example.

    The Need for Speed series used to be great. The physics were improving with each succesful version . The engine was constantly improving and it was getting very detailed. Then the one after NFS: Porsche Unleased (NFS: HP2 i think.) the game went to total crap as they designed it for the PS2. The simple details that make the game enjoyable such as headlights, dashboard, customable license plates, sun/night/dusk/dawn driving all dissappeared. The physics were dulled down to make it easier to drive and the game overall was just horrible in comparison to their previous titles. So i'll be sticking my PC games that aren't designed for the masses, but for those who appreciate a good game.

  5. Re:First Rule on How To Build And Maintain A Good FAQ · · Score: 3, Funny

    That's why I like this FAQ. It's simple, to the point, leaves no room for ambiguity and answers a really frequently asked question.

  6. Re:european price markup - why? on iPod Generation 4 Released · · Score: 1

    Even underwear???

  7. Re:Go Firefox Go on PC Magazine Reviews Firefox, Opera · · Score: 3, Funny

    Ahh, see that's where you went wrong. Now your actually gonna have to buy your own beer.

  8. Re:Play UT on CSHP servers (and UTPURE) on Good Online FPS Games/Servers For Beginners? · · Score: 1

    CSHP died a while ago, most the people that are still using CSHP today are using custom versions, that require them to be hacked specifically to cheat on them. Therefore public hacks won't work on them.

    However, for the last year or two, it's been UTPure that everyone uses for cheat protection.

    Unfortunately, UTPure is hacked quite easily, and there isn't anything to do right now to protect it. The only way to add protection to UTPure is to add MD5sum package checking (such as UT2003 has.) It's currently being worked on by UTPG. They are a group of volunteers, working with epic to further fix the bugs and problems with UT. Epics last release was V436, they have since released V440 and V451 (which takes care of the DDOS exploits along with some other minor fixes.) They are all network compatible with each other. The big jump will be when they add MD5sums, since this will break network compatibility, but as mentioned earlier, will allow UTPure to stop cheaters, and even CSHP will become useful again. There's also other methods of detecting cheaters such as ASH (checks keybinds), and other various package and mod menu loggers to stop cheaters.

    Overall, you just need to find a server with active admin's and there will be not that many cheatrers.

    -{DvNA}solarium_rider

  9. Re:What is a computer anyway? on Top 10 Personal Computers, Revised · · Score: 1

    Just like the tire and the rim make up the wheel, the software (os) and the hardware make up the computer.

    Without one or the other, it just doesn't function too well.

  10. Re:Star success? on Decoding the Algorithm for Pop Music · · Score: 1, Interesting

    It's kinda easy to predict Norah Jones will be a big hit, AFTER the fact that she is already a big hit. That's like predicting what will happen on your birthday, the day after.

    Polyphonic HMI had nothing to do with her success, she was actually taken under the wing and helped to the top by my favorite 8-string guitarrist, Charlie Hunter (formerly of Blue Note.)

    From jambase: "En route to a recording session for his most recent Blue Note release, Songs from the Analog Playground, eight-string guitar wizard Charlie Hunter and his bandmates first heard the First Sessions EP when their manager was played the album way to the studio. At first note, orders ensued to find the girl at once. Contact was made and Norah was hunted down at the Midtown restaurant where she was working as a waitress. Arriving at the studio and meeting the musicians, Norah was given the lyrics to a song written by Brian Ferry entitled "More Than This." Never before seeing these words let alone knowing the song, Norah was asked to just give it a shot. After getting a feel for the song, she began to sing the band playing behind her. At song's end, Norah timidly asked, "if that was okay?" For a minute everyone in the room remained speechless, mesmerized by Norah's radiant essence. Unanimously, it was decided that yes, it was in fact okay."

  11. In Soviet Russia... on Measure The Speed Of Light With Your Microwave · · Score: -1, Troll

    ...the speed of light measures YOU!

  12. Re:What a shame that I'm running Linux on New Anti-Swap CDs Hit Shelves · · Score: 1
    I didn't write this script, but it does the job, you will need mplayer and lame:
    #!/bin/bash
    mplayer "$1" -ao pcm -vc null -vo null
    lame --r3mix audiodump.wav "`basename "$1" .wma`.mp3"
    rm audiodump.wav
    Save that code to something say...wma2mp3, then its as easy as:
    for foo in *.wma; do wma2mp3 $foo; done
    to convert all your wma's to mp3's. Then you can perform one final step (if you wish to look respectable):
    rm -f *.wma
  13. Re:Wi-Fi jargon on Wi-Fi World Record · · Score: 1

    It's been a while since I took digital communications, but I believe you can get more than 2 bits per wavelength by using QAM, which plays with the phases to fit more in.

  14. Re:Disney animators has finished? on Disney Completes Dali Animation · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Compare with 'Disney has finished', wherein Disney is a collective noun, which, in American English, is treated as a singular.

    Correct grammar also requires the comma to be placed before the closing quote and not after.

  15. Re:Microsoft mice rock on Logitech Ships 500 Millionth Mouse · · Score: 1

    Mine says:
    See Software User's Guide for Patent Information
    Microsoft Corporation - Made in Mexico(D)


    Unfortunately I threw out my Software user's guide 2-3 years ago.
    -sol

  16. Ebooks + Paperbooks = 90 Degrees on Barnes and Noble Drops Ebooks · · Score: 1

    I find that having a paper copy and an ebook is great when learning a new programming languages. Traditionally, I like to read the book and refer to code directly out of the paper book. But ebooks are essential when you are trying to read code out of the book that takes up multiple pages, without having to flip back and forth all the time. Ebooks are also useful if you want to do a quick search for something it's quicker and more accurate (if the word/phrase you are looking up isn't in the inex) than looking it up in the index to use CTRL-F. The paper book and the ebook compliment each other quite well.

    I think it's great when author's like Bruce Eckel who release paper versions and ebooks versions of their books and even updates to their ebooks.

  17. Re:Smart Cars? Yes, it's being researched. on Using GPS To Prevent Train Crashes In India · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Yes of course it has to be made more accurate, and that's just what this professor at UCR's, Department of Electrical Engineering is working on. To quote what he says about it:

    Global Positioning Systems: Accurate vehicle control requires reliable, accurate, high rate vehicle state information. We have developed and demonstrated a differential GPS/INS system to provide full six degree of freedom vehicle state information. Using GPS carrier phase and/or magnetometer measurements, we currently attain 2.5 cm. std. horizontal position accuracy. The INS provides the estimates at a higher rate (>150Hz) than the GPS itself is capable of providing. In addition, the INS maintains the vehicle state during brief periods of loss of GPS signal.

    He also has some mpeg demo's available and also some reports (if you are really interested) on his home page (linked above).

  18. Re:Games and Dorks on Games and the 'Geek Stereotype' · · Score: 2, Funny

    Then it all comes down to the eternal question: Which came first, the games or the dorks?

  19. Re:Ho, you think so? on Walking Animatronic Dinosaur At Disney Park · · Score: 1

    Sure, but has he Walt killed and tortured as many?

    Have you ever BEEN to Disneyland, "The Happiest place on earth." I THINK NOT

    Or else you would know know what it's like to be surrounded by crying children, waiting in lines, dealing with families, paying $10 dollars for 50 center burger, and you can't even buy alcohol (well for most). So maybe not killed, but rape and tortured to the point where you wish you were killed!

  20. Rankings aren't "new"... on Top University Rankings for 2004 Released · · Score: 2, Informative

    As far as the Computer Engineering and Electrical Engineering rankings go, they've been available for a while. Note the comment on the bottom of the pages: *This ranking was computed in January of the year cited, based on data from a survey sent out in the fall of the previous year.