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User: Woodmeister

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Comments · 79

  1. "...and Schrödinger's cat died in the process."
    Again? Yeesh.

  2. Re:I had a signature long time ago that stated... on What It Looks Like When You Fry Your Eye In An Eclipse (npr.org) · · Score: 1

    And it was this signature I immediately thought of when I read the headline! Good times, good times...

  3. Indeed. As soon as I saw the headline I thought: "So this is why Peterson's account was banned for several hours this week." Yeah, real good AI. Whatever...

  4. SURPRISE!

  5. ...but you'll notice my rather low user ID, so I was around when it started :/

  6. Get-togethers? With DnD geeks? And enough PCs? on Ask Slashdot: What Are the Best Games To Have In Your Collection? · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Neverwinter Nights

  7. Re: Why the iPhone of all thing? on Chicago Sun Times Swaps iPhone Training For Staff Photographers · · Score: 0

    Overall, a degree is there to prove that you're not a complete idiot who can finish something: college.

    Sorry, but I've met one too many Gender Studies graduates. College has become "grown-up daycare" for too many...

  8. Re:Great on A New Version of MS Office Every 90 Days · · Score: 1

    So for normal people, it means the price of Office went through the roof.

    No it doesn't.

    If your employer supports Microsoft's Home Use Program, Office 2013 Pro is a $10 download.

    Libre Office is free.

    If you are a college or university student, Office 365 Academic is $80 for a four year subscription. Office 365 Home Premium is $99 a year for 5 PCS/Macs/Phones. Both include Office on Demand. Sign in anywhere from a Win 7 PC or higher and you are good to go.

    Libre Office is free.

    But let's be honest about one thing.

    The core retail market for MS Office is far from "normal."

    It is populated by people who work with words and numbers every hour of every working day.

    In trades and professions which can pay very, very well.

    The "informed" know that Libre Office is free.

  9. Re:Cheap labor trained with tax dollars on Tech Leaders Encourage Teaching Schoolkids How To Code · · Score: 3, Funny

    I kinda hate to point out the hole in your logic, but while ability is not innate, stupidity certainly seems to be so.

  10. Bread... on New York Plans World's Largest Ferris Wheel · · Score: 1

    Given all the issues with the American economy, this is bread and circuses if there was ever one.

  11. Re:Incidentally... on Beer Is Cheaper In the US Than Anywhere Else In the World · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Yeah, I've noticed this too. Tho here in GF-W, Newfoundland, the 'beer' of choice is usually Coors Light or Bud Light. Why, I really don't know, but my hypothesis is that there are truly very few BEER drinkers out there anymore. What most people have become are 'soft, fizzy, alcoholic beverage' drinkers; kinda like how many girlies claim to be 'on the wine' when, in reality, they are drinking an overly sweet, fizzy, fruit flavoured spritzer by the name of "Boone's". That shit ain't wine -- it's not bad per se, and I've been know to have a bottle or two over the years, but it's NOT WINE.

    In line with this theory, those who moderate (well, usually :) their consumption tend to enjoy more full bodied beers. Anything with higher malt, hop, etc. content will start to turn on you if you over-indulge (higher calorie content, worse hangovers, dry towel-tongue). Coors can be drank to excess without any of that (hell, I once couldn't even get a buzz on with that shit no matter how I tried.)

  12. Re:Citation Of "Fact" Needed on With 'Access Codes,' Textbook Pricing More Complicated Than Ever · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Oh man, "better for student learning"... As a HS teacher for the last 10+ years, this phrase is what boils my frickin blood. Education seems to be the place where charlatans and quacks can gain a strong foothold and peddle nouveau nonsense every 10-15 years, claiming to be on the cutting edge of NewEd, but never once have I seen any real G*dD@mn evidence that any of it works. Yet we buy into such crap time and time again, with each successive step making education more expensive (first for the governments, then for individuals). As for the quality of education in the last 30-40 years? Left as an exercise for the reader.

    Some tech makes certain problems easier where they once were not (such as 3D visualization of molecular structure, spreadsheets, etc). I am no luddite. I love using tech when it makes total sense. What I _DON'T_ need is a layer of overpriced cruft that makes my job ultimately more difficult and diminishes the quality of education.

  13. Re:My humble perspective on X-Prize Founder Wants Ideas For Fixing Education · · Score: 2

    Like in math --- Why in hell they make calculus a mandatory subject for students who are interested in mathematics ?

    Students would surely benefit more from learning statistics than they would from calculus

    Look around if you don't believe me --- how many universities put more emphasis on statistics than on calculus ?

    Um, yeah.....OK. Because calculus is practically the pinnacle of mathematical analysis? Because physics/chem/etc would be impossible to explain and quantify without it? If you are interested in math, you should find calculus a piece of beauty (if not frustrating to understand on times.) If you DON'T like calculus, you don't really like math. IMHO, etc, etc....

  14. Re:Break out the /. memes and the low IDs on So Long, CmdrTaco, and Thanks For All The Posts · · Score: 1

    Mmm... statues, naked and petrified!

  15. Re:And not so obvious. on Apple Wants To Block Some HTC Products From US Under Tariff Act of 1930 · · Score: 1

    Ah yes... choice. That damn demon again.

  16. Re:Well... on Do You Really Need a Discrete Sound Card? · · Score: 2, Informative
    _Real-time_analog_circuitry_ has "NO LATENCY"[1].

    [1]The closest thing you have to latency in these circuits is slew-rate, which is measured in volts per _nano_seconds. There are also the phase shift/distortions that the GP mentions, but the truth is these are practically impossible for humans to perceive in any real sense. 'specially for audio frequencies and circuits that aren't garbage.

  17. Re:Yes on Do You Really Need a Discrete Sound Card? · · Score: 1

    Word.

  18. Re:Anbody want to on Oregon Senator Stops Internet Censorship Bill · · Score: 1
    "to give money or presents to someone so that they will help you by doing something dishonest or illegal"

    Oh. Such as either voting for what the people of the state believe or truly need, instead of bending over backwards for the major campaign contributors, screwing the people of the state over?

  19. Re:Wow, you just named a lot of allergens! on Big Brother In the School Cafeteria? · · Score: 1
    Oh shit, he did! And in today's environment any allergen is a no-no it seems.

    So I guess we have to reduce our options to corn meal, soy paste, and glucose-fructose.

    North Americans are in trouble.........

  20. Re:Every input is bad... on Photo Kiosks Infecting Customers' USB Devices · · Score: 1
    ... re-usability, maintainability, and other such trivialities ...

    Which are all pretty much moot points if you don't have an inclination to understand the underlying tech. How does one maintain that which they don't understand?

  21. Re:Uh, no on Fatal System Error · · Score: 1
    I can't believe I'm responding to such an obvious childish troll, but the hell with it, I'll bite this time :) With a car analogy no less!

    I don't build my own cars. I don't have the tech, time, and general wherewithal to do so, especially to modern North American standards.

    What I _DO_ do however, is learn how to use the features of the car and know how to drive it defensively, as opposed to thinking I should be able to snooze at the wheel.

    That's the point the GP was making, making the whooshing sound as it passed you by.

  22. Re:Use your phone lines on Simple, Cost-Effective, Multiroom Audio? · · Score: 1
    No, no, and no.
    Unless you _want_ to eventually toast your amp (or in rare cases, your entire house) you do not want to use long lengths of 20/22 ga. unsheilded pairs (that have been daisy-chained God knows how many times) for audio power. Nevermind the likely impedance mis-match. You _also_ do not want unbalanced line level signals going over unsheilded wire, lest you love hearing 60 Hz hum, AM/CB/HAM radio, and AC switching 'pops' over your music. And the pot idea may work well for line level, but definitely not on power signals.

    Telephone cables work well for telephones/RS-422/etc... For any other uses they are generally garbage.
    Just say no to 'recycled' phone lines.

  23. Re:Deliver the audio via FM-radio on Simple, Cost-Effective, Multiroom Audio? · · Score: 1
    I doubt any of these will auto-level like you suggest, but often the computer will do that anyways (see ReplayGain and the like). So set up your audio library to normalize to the same audio level.

    As for finding a clear frequency, yeah, I never thought of that one ;P Rural areas should have no problems; high density metro areas might be... and your idea of odd spacing is a good one, but many 'digital' radio these days are designed to frequency step at 200kHz. Remember, YMMV :)

  24. Deliver the audio via FM-radio on Simple, Cost-Effective, Multiroom Audio? · · Score: 5, Interesting
    A serious solution that is neither expensive nor foolishly complex? Try connecting an FM-band microtransmitter to your server's audio output and using a remote control system via an HTTP-based system.

    Any internet connected machine will control the audio programming, and any old FM-radio will do the trick of receiving the signal. Simple. Effective. _AND_ Wife-Friendly(TM) (at least, according to my wife ;)

    Because of FM-modulation, this technique is not hi-fi. But a decent transmitter does an admirable job in retaining audio quality.

  25. Re: say exactly what my bosses wanted to hear on Cable Exec Suggests Changing Consumer Behavior, Not Business Model · · Score: 1
    Which is _exactly_ the problem in Western business nowadays. That's the point. We're putting all of our eggs in the wrong baskets. We overvalue the wrong skills and traits. Folks who operate on par with whores and mobsters should not be the pillars of an economy.

    Really. That's the whole fucking point! We value all the wrong things...