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User: adam.skinner

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  1. Re:Revolt? on Study Finds US Is an Oligarchy, Not a Democracy · · Score: 1

    Unfortunately, it's the federal government that has all the arms.

    This is a beast with too much power to curtail.

  2. Call them 'soldiers'.

  3. For a mere 8000, I could find out for you. on Some Windows XP Users Can't Afford To Upgrade · · Score: 1

    Compatibility mode?

    WINE?

    A VM?

    Seems to me like there are a lot of different options available.

  4. We're not song writers, we're builders on Learn Basic Programming So You Aren't At the Mercy of Programmers · · Score: 1

    If you heard someone say, "I have this idea for a house. But I'm not 'handy', so I need to find someone who will architect and then construct it for me." — you'd probably advise them to just take some time to sit down with a piece of paper and some wood and learn enough to turn their ideas into reality.

  5. Far away on What "Earth-Shaking" Discovery Has Curiosity Made on Mars? · · Score: 1

    I believe they have found a being named "Valentine Michael Smith".

  6. Knowledge itself does not lock the quantum state? on Quantum Measurements Leave Schrödinger's Cat Alive · · Score: 1

    Looks like knowledge of the quantum state does not lock it in place, then.

  7. SL4A on Ask Slashdot: Scripting-Friendly Smartphones? · · Score: 0
  8. Standups are helpful on Ask Slashdot: Are Daily Stand-Up Meetings More Productive? · · Score: 1

    While I won't go so far as to say I "like" daily stand ups, in my position, they are beneficial. They let me get exposed to what other team members are doing, and this not only allows me to give my input or assistance, but provides the team a consistent context should end-users contact us directly.

  9. How I roll on Ask Slashdot: Are You Streaming-Only For Home Entertainment? · · Score: 1

    I've been doing this for longer than most, I suppose. I cut cable back before Hulu went public (though I was in the beta for it, performance was somewhat lacking at the time).

    I rent a room in a house with a bunch of guys. People come, people leave; now there are 3 of us, and none of us are using the cable tv subscription. We all stream via Hulu, Netflix, etc.

    My setup is as follows: a desktop below a wall mounted 40" HDTV in my bedroom, wireless keyboard, mouse, and remote. I've had both Netflix and Hulu Plus subscriptions in the past, but I've been pretty good about cancelling them when I find I don't use them for a while. Hulu provides a lot of good content, and plus gives some of that content in HD, and some additional content, but retains it's ad-supported model. This isn't as bad as it sounds, however, as studies have shown that people actually enjoy TV programs more when they're given ad breaks. Oftentimes, when an ad comes on Hulu, I'll escape out of fullscreen and switch tabs on my browser to my email or rss reader to briefly check up.

    I also enjoy watching anime, and there's plenty of that streaming online, as well as fansubs.

    Of course, though I would like to watch A Game of Thrones (for example), I won't. I'm not going to pay cable+hbo fees for months just so I can have it trickled to me when they feel like showing it. When the DVD/BDs come out, or when it comes out streaming, I'll rent or purchase them. The whole reason I got a Netflix subscription in the first place was to watch Battlestar Galactica. I kept it long after, since their queue functionality paired with malleable and expanding streaming options provide a good value over time.

    I'd more readily adopt a hybrid micropayment solution from Hulu, however: let me give you some money up front, and then give me access to HD streams, restricted content, and the ability to bypass ads - combined in any mix I see fit, for a certain amount per episode or minute of ads skipped. When my payment runs out, let me know so I can fund it again.

  10. Not on How the PC Is Making Consoles Look Out of Date · · Score: 1

    PC gaming has NEVER had the presence console games have. It's ALWAYS been leaps and bounds ahead of consoles, with the sole exception being the latest generation of consoles in the past few years (where quality has been excellent and controllers have been innovative).

    What makes you think now that PC's are suddenly going to steal the console's thunder? Ain't gonna happen.

  11. Nokia's point of view on Nokia Has a Billion Reasons To Love WP7 · · Score: 1

    That's pretty insane. It took $1,000,000,000 to convince Nokia to use WP7 instead of Android. This will be offset by a certain amount for each handset that Nokia sells.

    Since Nokia is in the business of being profitable, it said: "Hey, we're projecting to sell X number of handsets. That'll net us $y for each handset, or $z in total." So X*y=z. Under the MS agreement, if Microsoft's cut is 'm', the equation is: X*(y-m)=z+1,000,000,000.

    There comes at time where X*m > 1,000,000,000, and that's when Nokia starts to lose money on the deal. So Nokia is making a bet that they're not going to be selling more than a certain number of handsets.

    Also in their projections are two other variables: the number of [A]ndroid phones they're going to be selling, and the number of [M]icrosoft phones they're going to be selling. A*y-1,000,000,000 M*(y-m). They've got their brand, quality hardware, and Microsoft fanbase going for them now. They're also sidestepped the competition going on in Android-land. At the end of the day, they're still going to need to price competitively with similarly spec'd Android and iOS devices.

    Is it a smart bet? In the short term, probably yes. In the long term, their support infrastructure an internal expertise is going to have a vested interest in staying with Microsoft. App developers will view WP7 as marginalized (and it will be), so there isn't going to be as robust an app market in WP7 as there is for iOS or Android.

    Of course, I'm inclined to believe Android is the winner, long term. Just look at their market share over the past 2 years: Android has gone steadily up, at the expense of EVERYONE but Apple, who has managed to stay steady at 20-odd percent. With dual-core Tegra devices and similarly spec'd hardware, these devices are truly coming into their own in 2011 as pocket computers. Probably within 2 or 3 years, you'll be able to use a mobile phone as a pseudo-thin-client, docked via HDMI (or wireless HDMI) to a computer monitor or big-screen TV, and controlled via a bluetooth keyboard/mouse or similar device. If Wireless HDMI is viable at that time (without killing the battery) then you'll be able to use the device itself as a remote control when exported to a TV. This will outmode the PC, for the vast majority of users who simply browse the web, email, watch video, and chat.

    In that kind of environment, are you going to bet your money on iOS, Android, or WP7? Innovation, device features, and price are going to be leaning towards Android. iOS devices are purposefully gimped (HDMI-out, anyone?). WP7 isn't going to have the kind of robust app market

  12. On what grounds? on Facebook Kills Dataset of Crawled Public Profiles · · Score: 1

    Legal action? On what grounds, and for what damages? What did this guy have to fear? Jail time? Court imposed fines? He doesn't need a lawyer to defend him in this.

  13. Here's what I don't understand on New Litigation Targets 20,000 BitTorrent-Using Downloaders · · Score: 1

    Unless I'm the seed and there is only one peer, I do not give the entire file to anyone in the swarm. I only give a piece that they request; in and of itself, the piece I have given them is a meaningless, useless set of 1s and 0s. I give an IP address 1/10000th of a file, and somehow I've shared the file with them?

    Bittorrent is inherently different from other P2P networks. I don't give a file in it's entirety, or even majority, to anyone. It's like a scavenger hunt, or a distributed jigsaw puzzle. If I give someone a trigger and they use it to build a gun, did I give them a gun?

    The bittorrent protocol itself should be sufficient means to protect anyone against litigation.

  14. Re:Be warned, the community is noxious on Heroes of Newerth Open Beta About To Start · · Score: 1

    I had the same experience. I stopped playing because the players were douchebags.

    I think the game lends itself to that kind of behaviour though: their score is based on how well the team does, and if you die a lot the team suffers and therefore they suffer. It is very unfriendly for noobs, even on "noob games".

    The game seemed cool enough, but the people were the worst I've ever experienced. It was simply pervasive.

  15. Mint on Which Linux For Non-Techie Windows Users? · · Score: 1

    Linux Mint is the way to go. It's like Ubuntu, but with all the stuff non-free stuff everyone ends up installing already bundled in.

  16. From the MC... on Comparing the OLPC, Classmate and Eee · · Score: 1

    What about the young ladies illustrated primer?

  17. Re:Two important points that prove Slashdot != dig on Executive Order Overturns US Fifth Amendment · · Score: 1

    Ron Paul is the locus of a second American revolution.

  18. Re:Considering on NVIDIA's Andy Ritger On Linux Drivers · · Score: 1

    The part I'm not satisfied with is hearing people complain that a company offers a linux driver that actually works well! Not only that, the fact that they actively contribute to the open source driver for their hardware simply isn't good enough - it needs to be perfect.

    I suggest you learn to be satisfied with less.

  19. In other news on $100 Laptop Repriced at $175 · · Score: 1

    My $40 cable internet connection repriced to $70.

  20. Re:This must change on IT and A National Security Letter Gag Order · · Score: 1

    That's why I advocate dismantling the federal military. Redistribute the troops to the states. In a time of national crisis, the states can work together at a common goal. But the military *CANNOT* have loyalty to the federal government. It must be first and foremost under the auspices of the states.

  21. You can't buy processors in a vacuum on Why AMD Is Still In The Race · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I recently had to make some hardware recommendations for some friends. While I realise that Intel has better bang for the buck processor-wise, it's not true when you start to consider the motherboard. Intel motherboards are wicked expensive, and less stable than their AMD counterpart.

    The last Intel processor I had was a Celeron 700, years ago. I've been an AMD man for a while now. I was considering advocating, if you will, the new Intel chips until I got motherboard sticker shock.

    In then end, I'd go with an AM2 motherboard and whatever processor you can afford. You're still going to need DDR2 ram, but AM2 looks to have some staying power and it accomidates the whole gambit of processor options.

  22. Re:Is the Operating System Dead? on The Relevance of Windows · · Score: 1

    It's not the video drivers that are the problem, at least with nVidia. The problem is that linux hasn't reached that "critical mass" required for companies to spend the time creating Linux ports for their games. Cedega is nice for some things, and wine works well for others, and there are some native linux clients, but in the end native linux clients win out.

  23. Red faces on this one on PS3 Predicted to Lead Market Through 2011 · · Score: 1

    These guys clearly have their heads up their asses. PS3 is too expensive to compete with the Wii.

    I predict the Wii is going to herald a new age in console gaming.

    Disclaimer: I haven't owned a console since the Intellivision. I'm strictly a PC gamer, and I'm considering purchasing a Wii.

  24. Roguelikes and Darwinia on Why Are There No Highbrow Video Games? · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Darwinia is an example of a highbrow game. So are r@guelikes.

  25. Re:Mambo will get it on $5000 Award for Open Source CMS · · Score: 1