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User: Arimatheus

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Comments · 19

  1. Erector Sets for future engineers! on Thought-Provoking Gifts For Young Kids? · · Score: 1

    A lot of people don't realize that Erector sets are still in production, that was one of my favorite toys I got for Christmas when I was around age 10, though I wouldn't recommend them for ages much younger than that. I always loved it because they forced you to do a little more pre-planning and design before getting creative because you couldn't just pull the blocks apart when you wanted to make structural changes, you had to unfasten all of the hardware.

  2. Nano-tech shielding. on What We Can Do About Massive Solar Flares · · Score: 1

    Nobody ever read the book Sunstorm by Stephen Baxter? The idea was to build a massive reflector the diameter of the Earth to block out the massive flare headed for us. It worked pretty well in the book, considering the oceans didn't boil away.

  3. Re:Stickers... on How Do I Make My Netbook More Manly? · · Score: 1

    Put a bluetooth in your ear and loudly talk about how you're going to "Fire his ass as soon as you get back in the office". You can also add something about how you "don't pay him (whatever exorbitant amount) to make screw-ups like that on multi-million dollar projects". Make them think you're so important that you couldn't be expected to expend the calories necessary to tote around a larger one.

  4. Re:Fuck that... on Social Consequences and Effects of RFID Implants? · · Score: 1

    I don't need a fuckin' implant. Give me a credit-card sized ID, like my old apartment complex had Keep it in a lead wallet... Then nobody could scan it from a distance.

  5. Re:Exactly - why implant an RFID device? on Social Consequences and Effects of RFID Implants? · · Score: 2, Funny

    And then it could send a lethal shock to the thief!

  6. Hey! on NASA's 20-G Centrifuge Machine · · Score: 1

    Didn't they steal this idea from Dragonball Z?

  7. I thought... on Google Violates Miro's Copyright? · · Score: 1

    I thought they put that up for 4/20...

  8. Robotics? Biotech? Fuel sources? on No More Next Big Thing? · · Score: 1

    Perhaps I'm misunderstanding what is meant by death of "tech" innovation - but I find it very difficult to believe that there will not be major innovation in fields such as energy and medicine within the next fifty years. Maybe computing won't change very perceptibly but there will definitely be innovation in these fields. That, or I wasted four years getting my chemical engineering degree in the hopes that it would be "hot" in the same fashion my father's CE degree was 20 years ago.

  9. Re:You do not run your code on my computer on Symantec Hopes To Deliver Anti-Virus Online · · Score: 1

    Right, and then when you need to dispute the charges made to your debit card because someone got access to your account they're out the money - you do realize that the financial institutions are the ones that cover those costs, don't you?

  10. Of course... on Balancing Use Between the Keyboard and Mouse? · · Score: 1

    I can remember when I used to work doing data entry in Oracle forms - I couldn't stand using the mouse, I had to take advantage of every hotkey I could find, even built a lot of macros using Perfect Keyboard Pro to cut down on keystrokes even more. Most people were generally impressed with my ability to do almost everything without using a mouse, I even use alt to open menus. Mice really are quite awkward when you think about them, I wish more programs included hotkeys for every task and not just a minute few common ones.

  11. That's what you get... on Sony, Amazon Detail Rootkit CD Buybacks · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...for buying Bette Midler CDs.

  12. Re:That Spells "Problem" on The Death of Used Game Sales? · · Score: 1

    Exactly what I was going to say. I had my PS2 and XBOX stolen in the same fashion when someone broke into the house, but all my games were in a book that they didn't notice/take, I would have probably not replaced the systems if I had to re-purchase the games to go with.

  13. No Comment = on Sonic Torpedo Defense · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Well, they die....you stupid liberals..."

  14. A company... on PSP Firmware Broken - Emulation for All · · Score: 1

    called Freescale writes the drivers for Sony/Xbox. Some of us already have ps3 dev kits... At any rate, I don't honestly see the point in emulating a psp Aside from the possible use of the games on a powerful pocket PC, and even then the games wouldn't run very well on an Xscale. I could maybe see one of those really small sony laptops being useful for the purpose, the 1700 series or whatever it is. The point of having a PSP is to have a PSP, so when you're in the bar and your friend walks in, you get a message that says something along the lines of, "let's play bitch" and all of a sudden you're playing NBA street with your friend who just walked in. I dunno, piracy is kinda cool, and breaking something that wasn't meant to be broken is cool, but I mean c'mon, you can already get a used PS for like 200 bucks, what's the point? I'd just never imagine replacing all of my DVDs with those tiny little discs. (which I believe are based on Hitachi hard drive platters, but I'm not certain on that)

  15. How much ya wanna bet.... on Biological Activity on Mars · · Score: 1

    ....Japan launched a "monolithic evolutionary firework" oh say....about ~340 years ago?

  16. Re:Consistency and good comments on Code Reading: The Open Source Perspective · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Pseudocode.

    The other day I was looking at some code a peer of mine wrote and noticed a few places where there were comments with no code associated with them, he (like me and I'm sure a few others) builds the frame of his project and then fills in the code. I think it really helps to think the project through before hand, build your comments and then write.

    And oddly, you'll notice that a lot of the coders who do this know a large multitude of languages and probably developed this habit over the course of doing personal projects, it helps you quantifiably say how far along you are in the project, remember what direction you were taking with the project (because of course we NEVER let there go a ~3 week gap in personal projects :-P ) and allows you to look at the fundabmentals of a project without forcing yourself into a language before you can address where your language of choice might fail.

    At least that's the way I see it.

  17. Re:agreed on Best Degree to Pair w/ a B.Sc. in Computer Science? · · Score: 1

    Headhunters? Rofl, you haven't looked for work in a while, have you? IMO: Headhunters are a rightfully dying breed.

  18. Re:Three Letters: on Best Degree to Pair w/ a B.Sc. in Computer Science? · · Score: 1

    >"The opportunities for a CPA are limitless. A CPA with CS in an audit position are tremendous. Its worth looking into." Especially nowadays that companies are scrambling to become Sarb-Ox compliant. I know at my company the guy who recently moved into the "department auditor" position has been promoted twice within ~2 quarters, and we're probably going to hire another person soon to help him. Especially if you have the tech-savviness, you will be MUCH more valuable to a company if you can pick up on what process-failures an external auditor would fail you on come FY-E. The other fact to keep in mind that SarbOx is SCARING companies, I know around here there's never a "budget crisis" when monies are requested for anything related to regulatory compliance. I also agree that the market will be flooded with MBAs soon and they just don't have the weight that they once did. Yes, it is a generally held belief nowadays that MBA-holders are nothing more than pompous windbags who enjoy playing politics. Something I'm looking at doing right now is going back and getting an economics degree. I know it isn't necessarily a "good match" with a CS degree, and I don't know how old you are, but eventually in your career you should be able to amass a considerable amount of savings and if you can manage it properly then you won't need a boss! Other than that I'd look into a bartender's license. It is a recession-proof industry and nobody's ever going to outsource you. ;-)

  19. Symantec in Springfield on Building a Better Office · · Score: 1

    I work at Symantec Corp. in Springfield Oregon. We just recently built this site about a year ago and I think it is very nice. First off, the building has a long hallway down the center that has treest every 12 feet or so, not real big ones, just like the little ones you see in the mall and whatnot. The building itself is actually two buildings exactly alike just kinda smashed together with the aforementioned hallway in the middle. Above this hallway lies a large open space separating the two "halves" of the building above. Interrupting this space are bridges across the gap and at the top is a building-length skylight. VERY good feng sui. Obviously it being symantec, the colors are black and yellow. The floor is carpeted with tiles so if anything gets spilled or a section is damaged, you can remove individual tiles. The tiles have a patter of what look like rows running through them with the rows alternating in direction checkerboard-style. There are also a lot of windows, which is nice because even though you're stuck in a cube, you still see daylight and it feels like you're not enclosed. HOWEVER, after only a year, my acute allergic nose is hinting to me that we are in the process of acquiring sick-building syndrome, so make sure the windows can open, at least on a second story, to help alleviate any problems like that you may find. Also, we have a lot of "whacky" furniture all over the place. Nobody ever really uses it, but it definitely livens up the place and makes it at least appear more "comfortable". So I'd say, go with a lot of art nuveau, a simple floor plan and let a lot of light into the building. Additional architecture (such as our pathways across the middle hallway) really make the place feel "cooler" and more interesting. Another thing you might want to think about is the naming of conference rooms and such. On our first floor, they're all named after rivers and on the bottom floor they're all named after mountains. Nobody else has noticed this I think, but after careful observation of the floorplan I have decided our genius architect named the rooms on one side of the central corridor the names of the rivers in the order that the roman empire conquered them, and the other side's rooms based on the rivers with the largest volume of water in the world. On the top one side is mountain RANGES, ordered from longest to shortest and the other side is MOUNTAINS ordered from tallest to shortest. Things like that are very interesting, in my opinion, because they give you something to think about and make you say "huh...interesting" Anyway, just my thoughts.