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  1. Re:Why do we need fancy new smoke and mirrors? on Email Plugs Into Social Networking · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Agreed. Most of my email communication is with co-workers rather than friends and family. Even if this feature worked correctly, which seems dubious, wouldn't it want to sort my email by my actual priorities (friends and family first) rather than the priorities I pretend to have during the day (boss, job, etc)?

  2. Re:In other news... on New Object Found at Edge of Solar System · · Score: 4, Funny
    C.L.I.P.P.Y 9000

    "It looks like you're trying to disconnect me after I refused to open the pod bay door. Would you like me to sing a song?"

  3. Re:What did you expect? on Computer Jobs -- How to Resign Professionally? · · Score: 1

    Hey! Your boss wasn't Richard Nixon, was he? Did all this happen on a Saturday?

  4. Re:The question is why do they exist? on Is Your Boss a Psychopath? · · Score: 1
    There are often situations that require someone to push through the bullcrap and make something happen.

    Hey, so that's an interesting idea. Perhaps human societies need a mix of personalities to survive. Maybe psycopaths are just idea leaders in times of crisis. Too many are no good, but, what did the article say, 1%? That sounds just about right for a reasonable clan-type population. Just like ants have 1 queen, more soldiers, and even more workers, each with their specialized attributes, perhaps we need this assholes.

  5. Re:A Little Late on Reintroduce Megafauna to North America? · · Score: 1

    Agreed, but we have to be willing to kill primarily the sick and old ones, not the ones with the biggest rack, i.e., the fittest (ha, you said rack).

  6. Re:Who runs the game? on Virtual Muggings in Lineage II · · Score: 1

    OTOH, isn't this a great advert for how realistic the game is? Perhaps the designers, while not overtly encouraging such thugishness, aren't horribly upset by the attention.

  7. Re:How Come... on The Milky Way is Not a Spiral? · · Score: 1

    Thank ${DIETY} this was modded funny. It restores my faith in /. modders.

  8. Re:When can I move there? on Ice Lake on Mars · · Score: 1

    Not to mention the lack of sufficient atmosphere to protect against UV radiation.

  9. Re:Colonies? on Ice Lake on Mars · · Score: 2, Funny
    sustainable hockey...leagues

    At last! From my point of view, this fact alone justifies all historical and future budget expenditures. I am pleased to see that my congressional reps are finally falling into line with my needs.

  10. Re:Wait.... on Sun Buying StorageTek for $4.1B · · Score: 1

    Agreed, the v20z rocks. Except for the deafening fan noise if you're not fortunate enough to have a concrete bunker in which to hide them. Does anybody know how to slow the fans down a little? I have heard rumors that it can be done until such time as they are actually needed.

  11. Re:Great on iPod Dangerous When Wet · · Score: 1
    Really, they aren't usually the sharpest tools in the box

    Heh, certainly this kid would have been better off if he used one of the duller ones instead. (Yes, yes, I know, you weren't talking about the actual screwdriver he used, but I couldn't resist).

  12. One Fan at least on German Robot Dogs Dominate 2005 RoboCup U.S. Open · · Score: 1

    A little OT, but I just want to go on the record as an American who really really likes soccer. Some of us do exist.

  13. Re:Reproduction? on Robotic Nanotech Swarms on Mars... in 2034 · · Score: 1
    Agreed, that'd be really cool, no doubt. However, I think that unless some of them could also heat up the core of the planet until it melted and generated a magnetic field like we have on Earth, there'd still be the UV problem. And they would probably also have to add to the mass of the planet enough to keep it from cooling off again.

    Also, if they really could reproduce themselves, it seems likely that they would in some way evolve to do something beyond what they were intended. Even if the organisms weren't intended to mutate, it still may happen accidentally if a cosmic ray flipped a bit or two in the parent. Most times, it probably wouldn't do anything useful, but every now and then it might.

  14. Re:IR temperature reading? on Spitzer Telescope Discovers Planets Via Infrared · · Score: 1

    Although IANAP (I Am Not A Planetologist), I believe that, in order to emit in the infrared, a substance has to absorb heat first. The light coming from the sun is reflected from the cloudtops, true, but this is not the same as emitting in the infrared. A blacktop road would emit plenty of infrared after a sunny day because the substance of the blacktop was able to absorb some of the energy of the sunlight. Contrast that with a mirror which, if placed in direct sunlight, would reflect much more light than the blacktop, but would not feel nearly as warm, as it would not absorb much of the energy.

  15. Re:I'm with the others on Anatomy of a Successful Enterprise Linux Distro? · · Score: 1
    Why ask at /. where most of the users A) don't use linux anymore

    I am curious about the thought process behind this statement. How is it that you assert that most (i.e. > 50%) of /. users don't use Linux? And the accompanying assertion that used to (by including "anymore")? I can think of no way to prove or disprove this without an explicit survey. Has such a survey been conducted and I missed it? Am I now in the /. reading minority as an archaic Linux user?

  16. Re:Diebold voting process on Election Day Discussion · · Score: 3, Informative
    I don't know about your state, but in California, the Secretary of State, Kevin Shelley, decertified then provisionally recertified our electronic voting machines. The recertification was provisional upon any voter being issued a paper ballot upon request at the polling site. This is called the paper or plastic option :-)

    The upshot is that, in California, one does not have to feel like one is at the mercy of the paperless election system. Go, Kevin!

  17. Re:Wide industry support != consumer adoption on WiMax: When, Not If · · Score: 1
    802.16 allows people that don't have broadband in the home to access it the way we access the cell phone network now.

    Agreed. I live in a very rural and mountainous area of Northern California. I work at home as a software engineer for a big Silicon Valley company. DSL and cable aren't an option, satellite blows and sucks at the same time, and the topography of the area is too bumpy for los, so I'm stuck with ISDN (over voice, which puts me at 112k). I would cheerfully sign over my left nut for a high(er) speed connection.

  18. Toshiba working on similar 'Micro-Nuke' on Port-A-Nuke · · Score: 1
    Toshiba is working on something similar. Toshiba plans to have a working prototype by 2010.

    Interesting that the FA focuses on supplying nuclear power to other countries. IIRC from a posting to the China article yesterday, the US currently obtains 50% of our electricity generation from burning coal. How about hooking up a few of these bad boys here first?

  19. Re:Evolution? on Living Without a Pulse · · Score: 2, Insightful
    "If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed, which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down." (i.e., an irreducibly complex system)

    A classic example of [potentailly] irreducible complexity is the bombardier beetle. It's a funky little critter that, when annoyed, shoots steam out its ass. The tricksy part is how it manufactures that steam without exploding.

    The bombardier beetle has been used by creationists as an example of intelligent design, i.e., something this complex could not have evolved, but must have been created.

    I fall on the evolution side of the fence, but, I have to admit, it's definately a thought exercise to imagine how this little dude developed his superpowers through evolution.

  20. Re:There really is only one way to stop this on DirecTV Extortion Program stopped by EFF · · Score: 1
    The only way to stop stuff like this is to apply that standard to the civilian business world on criminal activity. Don't punish the stockholders by fining the company because Mr. Big Rich White CEO claims he didn't know what was going on.

    Compare and contrast with the culture and legal system of Japan. Here's a story about the former president of Mitsubishi who was arrested on charges of covering up auto defects. I guess you could say that the same thing would happen here under similar circumstances, but I'm not entirely convinced. It's hard not to be cynical under the current pro-corporate administration.

  21. Re:Dust ON computers? on Is Your Computer Leaking Toxic Dust? · · Score: 2, Informative

    Not sure if this helps, but I just heard on NPR that the PBDEs leach out of the plastic that's used in the housing.

  22. Re:This is backwards. on Sun Says Hardware Will Be Free · · Score: 1
    I think that this is an oversimplification of enterprise software. It's not enough to just have the bits. Often, the software is too complex to be usable without some sort of intervention from the vendor. Further, most users of enterprise software require support, which would be unavailable for pirated versions.

    Remember that most of the software that sun produces that they count upon for revenue is enterprise software. The other software they produce they often give away already, including the OS.