Slashdot Mirror


User: Paisley+Phrog

Paisley+Phrog's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
84
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 84

  1. Re:Set list? on Beatles Rock Band Game Coming In September · · Score: 1

    I get the image of a controller with Guitar Hero (Flute Hero!) style buttons, with an integrated microphone so you could do the Ian Anderson style vocal grumblings he did through his flute.

  2. Re:200-in-one kits on Best Electronics Kits For Adults? · · Score: 1

    The 200-in-One kits I had was pretty impressive, I agree, and very well organized. All the components were labeled by their actual names and values, with schematic diagram equivalents next to them. The spring terminals for connections also worked pretty well. About the only thing that really made it "kid" was the guide in the book (which I still have, it's a good electronics primer) which took the form of a talking 200-in-one kit.

  3. Re:Pinball games give you free games unlike video on The Last Pinball Machine Factory · · Score: 1
    The knocker! Nothing better than getting a match after a hard game. I played a lot of Twilight Zone , and I'd forgotten about how pleasing that was.

    I think that's one of the essential elements of pinball, the organic nature of it. Lots of clunks and cracks, and you feel like you're in control. The absolute best was a table where the tilt was off, and you could shift the field around and show it who's boss.

  4. Re:Preview of the Game on NASA Wants its MMO Created for Free · · Score: 1
    You didn't loot and sac the corpse! Of course, it was a congressman...highly likely that the gods wouldn't think it was a worthy sacrifice.

    Beautiful write...thanks for the best MUD flashback I've had in a long time. Ah, the wasted years.

  5. Re:So 90's on Extreme Christmas Lights In Orlando · · Score: 1

    Definitely. I was thinking of this display when watching the OP video...and thinking that this was was done so much better. Thanks for posting it.

  6. Re:Wow on Going to Yosemite? Get Your Passport Ready! · · Score: 1

    You would think that the change in party majrity would have changed the direction with regards to warrantless wiretapping, too...among other things.

  7. Re:Make it $200 on Apple Plans Cheaper Nano-Based iPhone · · Score: 1

    If look at history (meaining the iPod), its popularity took off when they introduced the Mini, which was priced at...$200.

  8. Re:Didn't even try Office 07! on Warning On Office 2007 "Try-Before-You-Buy" · · Score: 1

    His problems with 2000/2003 aren't even a story. My workplace has 2000 installed, and we installed the 2003 demo to open some files before we had the full version. I still have both versions installed, even though the 2003 demo has gone down to reduced function mode...it still woks well for occasionally opening and printing a 2003 file.

  9. Re:You're not alone. on The Roadmap to Leopard? · · Score: 1

    That's actually why I keep my dock on the side. I have a 20" iMac, so I have more width than height. I'll typically have a window stretch all the way up and down, but rarely side to side...so I found myself accidentally triggering the dock at the bottom. So, left side it is for me.

  10. Re:What it bought on C.I.A. to Let "Skeletons" Out of its Closet · · Score: 1

    The Soviet Union did an excellent job of defeating themselves through mismanagement of food resources and relying upon a volatile oil industry for their country's income and expansion.

  11. Re:This will never work. on New Details on Xerox Inkless Printer · · Score: 2

    You're thinking in terms of very, very low-end consumer grade printers. This is the sort of thing that will appeal to business-class users, where copiers/printers are charged per per sheet (click), on top of a lease/usage contract. (Toner is usually provided free of charge in such contracts, anyway..it's built into the click charge.)

  12. Re:Solar on Solar Power Eliminates Utility Bills in U.S. Home · · Score: 1
    A few thoughts:

    1) The initial costs was a half million dollars, but the goal is to provide this for around a hundred thousand dollars.

    2) I'm not sure where you're living, but I spend a lot more than $100 a month on energy between gas, electric, and gasoline. This system provides all his energy needs.

    3) Even if this system costs more than being on the grid, it is self-sufficient and has no environmental impact...with is worth spending a bit more money on, IMHO.

  13. Re:1% of the market on iPhone Faces Uncertain Market · · Score: 1

    That's an interesting coincidence you say that, because Apple owns ~86% of the high-end MP3 player market.

  14. Re:Put your publishing where your mouth is... on Peter Gabriel Wants You to Re-Shock the Monkey · · Score: 1

    Speaking of his best work and African musicians, Youssou N'Dour provides vocals on In Your Eyes...so you prove half of your point, at least :) (Yes, it's one of my favorite PG songs).

  15. Re:Great Idea on Real-Time Computer-Based Translation in Iraq · · Score: 1
    Why is that exactly, though? Some of them must have been there for years by now, how is it they have been completely unable to learn the language?

    To generalize, it's because Arabic is a difficult language for Western speakers to learn. It's very different from most language, in that the aspiring speaker must learn a new alphabet, sounds, reading direction, and grammar, which does not follow most any pattern the student might have had expeience with; you're starting from scratch.

    My wife took an introductory Arabic class last year, and it's usually expected that it takes two to four times longer to become passable in Arabic as it is in most other languages - and that's with taking college courses in the language. It's definitely not a language that is easy to learn by curling up with a Berlitz book at the end of the day.

  16. Re:Funniest thing I ever heard on Can Linux Pick Up Users Abandoning Win98? · · Score: 1
    Let's take a real world scenario. A 100mhz Pentium I with 32MB of ram. Right off the bat I can tell you what distro's it isn't going to run. Basically any popular general purpose distribution like Ubuntu, OpenSuse, Mandriva, or Fedora. They are going to have to run something like Damn Small Linux.

    It isn't quite as dire as the scenario you describe. I first started poking around on Linux with an old HP Pavillion 7270 that I pulled out of a dumpster. (P166, 48 megs of RAM). The sticker on the front says "Designed for Windows 95", so your P100/32 meg example might be a little sparse. Anyway, I loaded and ran Red Hat 8 with the full GUI with no problems. Was it blazingly fast? No, but it was quite usable.

    That being said, I can't imagine people who are using Win98 being prime Linux users...mainly because the first people I can think of offhand who still use 98 are my 70 year old parents. I just recently kept their old box chugging along for a little longer, but when it dies, I'm going to guide them towards a Mac Mini.

  17. Re:Apple made that mistake once on Apple Unveils 24" iMac · · Score: 1
    Nope. Putting the words in a different order doesn't make it backward, 2=1+1 isn't wrong because 1+1=2.

    Property commutative a have didn't language English the, checked I time last.

  18. Re:Milwaukee County Zoo on Mold-a-Rama Machines Still Alive and Kicking · · Score: 1

    Yup, last time I was there they had two of those, but hidden inside near the cafeteria/gift shop, by the main gate. Good times.

  19. Milwaukee County Zoo on Mold-a-Rama Machines Still Alive and Kicking · · Score: 4, Interesting
    The Milwaukee County Zoo still has many, many Mold-A-Rama machines still in operation, and enough different molds that I'm still able to find the occasional new one. (I have 20 or so in my collection from around the country). My daughter now shares my fascination with them, and loves the whole thing. I just hope that the places that make the parts that keep these things running don't go away any time soon.

    Mold-A-Rama is more than a cheap souvenir, it's a minute-long event. The noise, holding them upside down, the almost-too-hot plastic, the smell...they're a flash to childhood that only costs $1.

  20. Re:Gee, here's an interesting idea.... on U.S. Government Wants Google Search Records · · Score: 1

    Exactly. Far easier than policing the entire Internet would be for parents to just monitor their own children's Internet usage...just like they should be monitoring their TV, music, movie and game usage. Also doesn't hurt to instill a good sense of right and wrong, so if they stumble onto something, they'll know what to do.

  21. Re:I love the power glove... on Nintendo Revolution Controller Revealed · · Score: 2, Funny

    Great, *you* get to come clean the Mountain Dew off my monitor. :)

  22. Re:Yup on Fuddruckers Called Out on Hotlinking · · Score: 1

    Never assume malice when stupidity could work just as well ;)

  23. The Home Movie and Home Video Game Connection on Piracy Not To Blame In Decline of Moviegoers · · Score: 1

    Movie Theaters are finally running into what video arcades had to deal with a few years ago; the home gaming experience was achieving parity with what could be experienced in an arcade. And I can imagine movie theaters will start taking a page from arcades. Much in the same way that you can go into an arcade now and see any game imaginable (so long as it's a racing or light gun game), movie theaters will probably pare back on many different movies and focus on more "sure things". Which means that it'll be even harder to find something different. :( It's a little too much to hope for that they'll cut costs and find ways to make the movie theater something you truly *can't* get at home.

  24. Re:This didn't exist already? Dig the pricing. on Watch Like Device for At-Risk Patients · · Score: 1

    No, this is how home monitoring systems work.

    I work at a print shop that does a lot of work for a current home monitoring system. Systems like these aren't sold at Walgreens; they're sold by prescription, with a doctor recommending its use in conjuction with some kind of care service (typically a Visiting Nurse Association sort of thing). Your insurance has huge bearings on what kind of treatments are applicable, and how much will be covered. There's nothing "odious" about it.

  25. Re:Two words on A Different Way To Recycle Old PCs · · Score: 1

    Reminds me of the computer lab at my high school, which was 24 Apple //es. Each system has a monitor, printer, and dual disk drives...with all the power strips daisy chained into one outlet (12 in the top and 12 in the bottom). You could flip one power strip and hear 12 Apple drives kick to life.

    Scary.