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User: Chaos+Incarnate

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  1. Re:Interactive music on Ask "The Fat Man" George Sanger About Music and Computer Games · · Score: 1

    You need to go back and play the original X-wing and TIE Fighter. (Not the Windows 95 ports, the DOS versions.)

    Also, possibly Wing Commander 1 & 2 (scored by The Fat Man). But I'm embarrassed to say that I haven't played them yet, despite owning the GOG rereleases.

  2. From the publisher's perspective, the ebook's costs are hardly "negligible", as the retailer gets to skim 30% off the top. Less than a print book (the retailer gets 40-50%), but a decent-sized chunk of change all the same.

  3. Re:*Shrug* on Adobe's New Ebook DRM Will Leave Existing Users Out In the Cold Come July · · Score: 4, Informative

    Calibre can't do it out of the box; you need to go find certain addons for it.

  4. Re:Don't forget the weather... on Detroit Wants Its Own High-Tech Visa · · Score: 1

    It's only four months, not six.

  5. Re:I have zero problems with BU's patents on Apple, Amazon, Microsoft & More Settle Lawsuits With Boston University · · Score: 1

    They're not supposed to wait until it becomes ubiquitous - if it does, then it seems to me like it fails the obviousness test for the patent if they were able to independently derive it. Licensing should be arranged before, or as soon as possible after, the products come to market.

  6. Re:*sigh* on Microsoft Extends Updates For Windows XP Security Products Until July 2015 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Windows XP Mode is just an XP VM. It will still have the same vulnerabilities as an unpatched Windows XP.

  7. Re:Track your every move on Google Buys Home Automation Company Nest · · Score: 1

    Not just your 15-year-old daughter, per se, but it does support the require a PIN change to make temperature adjustments (or to make temperature adjustments outside a certain range).

  8. Re:Took them long enough... on Federal Judge Rules Chicago's Ban On Licensed Gun Dealers Unconstitutional · · Score: 1

    The answer to that isn't "then guns aren't necessary", the answer to that is "then tanks should be civilian legal".

  9. Re:Call it flame bait if you must on Under the Hood of SteamOS · · Score: 1

    "Often none"? How many games work without being signed into Steam? (Hint: that's DRM.)

    Among the services that prevent resale and force you to be online to play*, Steam is the least bad of them. Far preferable is something like the Xbox 360, where you don't need to be online or have an account to play, and can let your friends play too.

    *Yes, I know Steam nominally has an offline mode. It's been sufficiently unreliable for me that Steam requires online as far as I'm concerned.

  10. Re:P state driver audio issues? on Under the Hood of SteamOS · · Score: 1

    I did (several versions of Fedora, around 6-10), and that's pretty much the same reason I abandoned it eventually.

  11. Re:Deluded ... on Fearing Government Surveillance, US Journalists Are Self-Censoring · · Score: 0

    Not having insurance does not mean you're using the ER as your insurance. The fix is to repeal that law, not to force others to pay for the freeloaders.

  12. Re:In other news on A Review of the "Mental Illness" Definition Might Prevent Crime · · Score: 1

    The child will have the standard ECHR human rights.

    The mother didn't. I wouldn't count on the child having them.

  13. Re: bitch and moan on HealthCare.gov: What Went Wrong? · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    Funny, I would call the law's requirement that existing grandfathered insurance plans stop allowing new subscribers "Obama shutting them down".

  14. Re:Rose-tinted view indeed on British NHS May Soon No Longer Offer Free Care · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Single-payer is what they wanted. ACA is what they could get past the Republicans.

  15. Rose-tinted view indeed on British NHS May Soon No Longer Offer Free Care · · Score: 1, Insightful

    And this is the system Democrats want the United States to emulate?

  16. Re:architecture on What Developers Can Learn From Healthcare.gov · · Score: 1

    It's going to be high for October and November annually, as people come back each fall to reprice their options and compare to their employers' offerings for the next year. Far more than a single week, and definitely worth investing in.

  17. Re:What can they learn? on What Developers Can Learn From Healthcare.gov · · Score: 1

    I can't imagine any period longer than 2 years working, unless we increase Congressional terms to match. Otherwise Party X who has control now will blow through the budget like there's no tomorrow, and leave Party Y holding the bag (and quite possibly unable to spend any money) during whatever the last two years of the cycle are.

  18. Re:Our experience with XP to Win8 on Majority of Enterprise Customers Finally 'Migrating Away From Windows XP' · · Score: 1

    To be fair, only the Enterprise edition supports "sideloaded" Metro apps. I can see why he/she would be unfamiliar with the feature.

  19. Re:How close to 100% is the Windows 7 percentage? on Majority of Enterprise Customers Finally 'Migrating Away From Windows XP' · · Score: 1

    I just hope you don't get *un*upgraded like I was at work for almost a year...

  20. Re:"letting you play previously purchased games." on Microsoft Closes Xbox.com PC Marketplace · · Score: 1

    I'll believe in those patches when I see them, and not a minute before. Promises made by an active company mean nothing once they're in bankruptcy.

  21. Re:What about a federal VAT on internet sales? on Amazon Forbids Crossing State Lines With Rented Textbooks · · Score: 1

    Only taxes the end consumer? I thought that with a VAT, it got retaxed at every step of the chain. The manufacturer sells to the wholesaler? Add 20% VAT. The wholesaler sells to the retailer? Add 20% VAT. The retailer sells to the customer? Add 20% VAT. So the customer ends up paying 72.8% tax on that item.

    Is that incorrect? If so, could you please explain how?

  22. Re:Something Worth Banning on Amazon Forbids Crossing State Lines With Rented Textbooks · · Score: 1

    A price raise would be justified to cover the cost of the work to determine, collect, and submit the tax.

  23. Re:Covering butt on Amazon Forbids Crossing State Lines With Rented Textbooks · · Score: 2

    But it's taxed more granularly that just "food" in many regions. Takeout or eat in? Prepared or not? Cake or biscuit? These questions and more can all affect the tax rate charged on an item.

  24. Re:Frequency vs. Distance on Door-To-Door Mail Delivery To End Under New Plan · · Score: 1

    Funny, I thought it was the other way around - the US government was shielding USPS from competition with UPS and FedEx by banning them from carrying first-class mail.

  25. Re:Frequency vs. Distance on Door-To-Door Mail Delivery To End Under New Plan · · Score: 1

    Who needs recycling? Just write "RETURN TO SENDER" and drop it in the outgoing box.