Slashdot Mirror


User: zippthorne

zippthorne's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
9,687
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 9,687

  1. Re:Amzon isnt dodging anything on Amazon Folds In California Sales Tax Deal · · Score: 1

    No, sales tax only applies to items bought within your state. What you are talking about is USE tax, which many, but I think not all, states with sales tax have and have set at "the difference between the tax rate in the state you bought it in, and our state sales tax"

    This seems pretty shady on the interstate commerce clause issue, but apparently courts and/or the feds have allowed it, so we're stuck with it for now.

    If you buy something in another state, and consume it entirely within that other state, you are not required to remit use tax on the item simply because you live in a greedy confiscatory stupid state.

  2. Re:It's Safari not the OS on Apple Criticized For Not Blocking Stolen Certs · · Score: 0

    No, it's an OS problem.

    On OSX Safari, of course, and I think FF, Opera, and Chrome, do not use their own root certificate list like on windows. They use the OS level keychain service for their encryption needs, whether it be form data or certificates.

    This has the advantage that changing the certificate trust value will affect all browsers on your system (that use the built-in encryption services), and other things that require certs (like VPN) and the disadvantage that, if it's not working correctly, will be broken everywhere.

  3. Re:Fax outdated? on Why the Fax Machine Refuses To Die · · Score: 1

    Some kind of Service for Providing Names to Some kind of Domain and linking them to IPv6 Numbers?

  4. Re:Can't be the first time on AMD Accidentally Leaks 1.7 Million DiRT 3 Keys · · Score: 1

    ATI Radeon 9something XT?

    I got my free copy. IIRC there was a time limit on the giveaway that started when HL2 was released. I remember not paying close enough attention and almost missing the window. Is that what happened to you?

  5. Re:Why build a brand new ghost town on Tech Company To Build Science Ghost Town In New Mexico · · Score: 1

    Eh.. sounds like they'd be better off going sans Sarif...

  6. Re:Another in Virginia on Lucasfilm Unveils "Sandcrawler" Singapore Office · · Score: 1

    Looks silly, but I bet the offices have killer views from those windows.

  7. Re:And these weld points on Lucasfilm Unveils "Sandcrawler" Singapore Office · · Score: 1

    Well, in the first movie at least, they didn't actually want to hit anyone, because they were going to use the falcon to lead them to the rebel base. Vader probably hatched the plan the moment he sensed Obi Wan, so in a sense, the jedi religion did give him the clairvoyance to find the rebel base...

    They seemed to be pretty accurate mowing down rebels on Hoth in the second film, though.

  8. Re:what test scores? on Laptops In the Classroom Don't Increase Grades · · Score: 1

    As a person who makes way less than the teachers in my area..

    How high-paying do you want it to be, anyway?

  9. Re:As Seen on TV on Google's Real Name Policy, Why You Are the Product · · Score: 1

    Television ads also provide the viewer with valuable feedback. For instance, if you find yourself enjoying a show with a lot of "free scooter" and adult diaper ads, you know that you probably should not be the one to start discussing it around a water cooler of 20-somethings....

  10. Re:Google is squishy soft on business identity on Google's Real Name Policy, Why You Are the Product · · Score: 1

    and about $100 million a year by allowing competing trademarks as search keywords (that last is being litigated.)

    Wait.. what's wrong with this one?

  11. Re:government never has copyright on NSA Makes Contribution To Apache Hadoop Project · · Score: 1

    I'm not sure i'd want to go anywhere near the work of an NSA "contractor..."

  12. Re:Please trust the NSA. Pretty please. on NSA Makes Contribution To Apache Hadoop Project · · Score: 1

    Huh. I always assumed the etymology was related... As in, a "shag carpet" being thicker and softer than most floor surfaces, it must've seemed like a clever place to practice the various marital arts for quite a few couples....

  13. Let's do some math on Tapping Subway Trains For Energy · · Score: 1

    You've neglected the fact that work = force applied over a distance, the force is applied over a greater distance for the arriving train at the beginning of the arrival than the departing train at the beginning of the departure over the same time interval, so for energy to balance, the force on the departing train must initially be greater.

    It's easiest to compare by using the instantaneous power balance: the power taken from the arriving train must be applied to the departing train (or stored, but we're assuming no storage for this example)

    T = m*v^2
    P = dT/dt = 2mvdv/dt = 2mva
    P_a = P_d
    2m_a*v_a*a_a = 2m_d*v_d*a_d

    Assuming m_a approx.= m_d, (e.g. both trains are the same mass)

    a_d = (v_a)/(v_d)*a_a

  14. Re:Toyota called... on Tapping Subway Trains For Energy · · Score: 1

    I think it might be less complex than you imagine. Instead of trying to manage the entire system like a big dance that has to be carefully coordinated, you just build in some slack and treat each station like a newton's cradle: just hold the departing train until the arriving train.. arrives.

    You do have to build in enough slack to make sure that the doors are all shut, and of course there needs to be a plan to deal with the possibility that a train cannot clear the station in time for the arriving train, and you won't be able to do a constant acceleration on either side. 1G deceleration of the arriving train at the beginning of its decel corresponds to a lot more than 1G of acceleration for the departing train....

  15. Re:Better idea on Tapping Subway Trains For Energy · · Score: 1

    That only works if you've got perfectly inelastic trains.....

  16. Re:Isn't this an old idea? on Tapping Subway Trains For Energy · · Score: 1

    Ahh yes, the ol, brachistochrone railroad technique.

  17. Re:"to invest in U.S. spectrum" on The iPhone's Role In Crippling T-Mobile · · Score: 1

    True that. Similarly, they would've laughed at the idea that there would be intersections everywhere that you could only enter if a lamp of one color was lit and not a lamp of another color....

  18. Re:Why I left T-Mobile on The iPhone's Role In Crippling T-Mobile · · Score: 1

    I had verizon for two months. According to the screen, it had coverage everywhere. Except when I wanted to make calls....

    The cancellation penalty was well worth it.

  19. Re:Either way, its the end of T-Mobile on The iPhone's Role In Crippling T-Mobile · · Score: 1

    Sprint's standard is so shitty that only all of the other networks have switched to a version of it...

  20. Re:I'm an outlier on Weak Typing — the Lost Art of the Keyboard · · Score: 1

    I've often wondered why the #1 most popular password is "password" and not, you know, "stewardesses" or "miminypiminy"

  21. Re:Piracy schmiracy on Canada Encouraged US To Place It On Piracy List · · Score: 1

    Steam does lower prices significantly, frequently, and early-on, though. Further, the trade is not one-sided; you get some utility in exchange for the freedom you lose - the ability to re-download your entire game library for as long as steam continues to exist. And this includes downloading versions for OSs other than the one you originally bought it for, if those versions exist.

  22. Re:Well, I am not shocked... on Canada Encouraged US To Place It On Piracy List · · Score: 1

    Hmm, that's a good point. We should sooner sell ourselves into slavery than consider the opinions of people whose words can be interpreted, regardless of intent, as even slightly racist, exclusionary, or cliquish.

  23. Re:It's not a problem on EPIC Uncovers: Mobile Scanners Not 'Certified People Scanners' · · Score: 1

    woosh

  24. Re:It's about time on Environmental Enforcement Agents Targeting Guitars · · Score: 1

    When you clean up a superfund site, where does all the stuff go?

  25. Re:doesn't anyone pay for electricity? on Linux Support Fades For 3Dfx Voodoo, Rage 128, VIA · · Score: 1

    SSH and a web server? You can do betterthan 20 W....