Slashdot Mirror


User: MentalMooMan

MentalMooMan's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
91
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 91

  1. Re:three words, one hyphen: on Why Can't Industry Design an Affordable Hearing Aid? · · Score: 1

    Using basis points removes the ambiguity when talking about fractions of percentages.

    Consider: "The interest rate, previously 5%, has been raised by 1%". Does this mean the new interest rate is 6% (5 + 1), or 5.05% (5 * 1.01)?

    If you say "The interest rate, previously 5%, has been raised by 100 basis points" then the only possible interpretation is that the new interest rate is 6%.

  2. Re:SKY TV set top box on Anyone Besides Zune Owners With New Year's Crashes? · · Score: 5, Informative

    My mythtv box (running mythbuntu) crashed within about a second of midnight as I was trying to watch the fireworks, and stopped responding to ping, ssh, everything.
    My excuse for staying in and watching the celebrations on TV is that... my dog ate... my shoes.

    Yes, that'll do...

  3. Re:orientation on Banned Words List Carries Its First Emoticon · · Score: 1

    D:

  4. Re:Send the shuttle to retrieve it on Dropped Shuttle Toolbag Filmed From Earth · · Score: 1

    The impulse given to the station would be equal and opposite to the one given to it when the tool bag was accelerated away.

  5. Re:Gmail backup on Online Website Backup Options? · · Score: 1

    GmailFS might be an option, too.
    Wikipedia concludes that it "should not be considered reliable for backup purposes", though.

  6. Re:None of your business on Gentoo 2008.0 Released · · Score: 1

    "Hear (him), hear (him)!"

  7. Re:Yeah it's kind of sad on Virgin America Uses Linux to Entertain Inflight · · Score: 2, Informative

    Actually, I had a trans-atlantic flight with NWA in February, and the seat-back systems in their Airbus A330 were running linux, and were on-demand. They had to reboot the system once or twice, and I got kicked out of my film once (into what seemed to be like a looping analogue video channel - maybe they were running both systems at once?), but other than that, the system worked rather well.

  8. Re:So where will you stop? on Manhunt 2 Banned In Britain · · Score: 1

    You don't have to ban something to not support it. Free market and all that jazz...

  9. Re:We need more cameras on British Civil Liberties Film Released · · Score: 1

    I'm not disagreeing with your point, but I think you read the site that you link to incorrectly. The actual number of prison-dwellers is 141 per 100000, not per 1000 - a considerable difference, I think you'll agree.

  10. Re:what i want on Palm Unveils Foleo, Linux-Based "Mobile Companion" · · Score: 1

    Me too! I want the exact same thing, and I'd probably pay between £200-300 GBP (~$400-600 USD) for it.
    It would be nice for it to have a touch-sensitive swivel-screen, so that it could become a tablet, but that might add too much to the price or make it less durable.
    Also, I don't think you really need very much storage space in a device like that, because films actually compress down pretty well into maybe 400MB for a screen that size, and I manage fine with a 2GB card in my Nokia 770. 2GB with an SD slot would probably be enough for my needs.

  11. Re:Kismet? on Linux Based Nokia N800 Internet Tablet Reviewed · · Score: 2, Informative

    I have the predecessor to this (the Nokia 770), and it's a top-rate wifi scanner. You get all of the power and leetness of kismet without the need to lug a laptop around, which means that it's perfect for war-walking. It even has aircrack-ng ported to it, although I haven't tried it yet.

  12. Re:Crap! on Blackberry Network is Down · · Score: 0

    It's times like this that I'm glad that I do control my own "blackberry network", and don't rely on little black boxes to do all of my work for me.
    Today is a good day to be a geek with a PDA that doesn't hide the innards from its owner.

  13. Re:I prefer Gnome on Is KDE 4.0 the Holy Grail of Desktops? · · Score: 1

    KDE really needs a "lite" checkbox somewhere, to turn off all the bling blang for those of who choose not to "keeps it real"

    kpersonalizer?

  14. Re:Not an acronym on Define - /etc? · · Score: 1

    /sbin and /usr/sbin are for binaries used by the super-user (root, rather than normal users) - they aren't statically linked.
    AFAIK, /mnt isn't only for temporary mounts either - it can be used for permanent mounts too (large data storage drives, for example, or NFS shares).

  15. Re:I agree 100% with this developer's actions. on Software Deletes Files to Defend Against Piracy · · Score: 1

    Me too!
    As long as you get warned, I don't see how this is morally wrong at all, and I think everyone saying that he should be sued is completely overreacting.

  16. Re:I'll be the flamebait on UK Wants To Ban Computer-Generated Child Porn · · Score: 1

    You touch on a good point there:
    Sure, on the internet, you can argue either way for anything you like, and it won't affect your life. However, try to argue an unpopular point in RL, especially something as controversial as child porn, then the uneducated masses will shun you.

    In reality, this law will meet very little opposition, and anyone who does disagree with it, and tries to voice their opinions will be labeled a "paedophile sympathiser".

    A slippery slope indeed...

  17. Re:Not just true for humans on Richest 2% Own Half the World's Wealth · · Score: 1

    'Cause THAT'll give people incentive to do well at their jobs and earn a lot of money!

  18. Re:Hardware and software... on Leopard Vs. Vista · · Score: 1

    By not allowing OS X to run on anything except their own hardware.

  19. Re:yes for wikipedia on Google's Test Search Engine · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I use http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search =%s&go=Go in opera under search keyword "w". It uses the wikipedia search, which will automatically go straight to the article if it finds a good enough match, or if not, then it'll display a list of articles sorted by relevance. Why rely on google to do it?

  20. Re:Well, what now? on Flash 9 Beta for Linux Available · · Score: 1

    F12, Uncheck "Enable plug-ins".

  21. Re:So let me get this straight on Ever-Happy Mouse Sheds Light on Depression · · Score: 1

    Actually, it is.

  22. Re:Why is child pornography as bad as terrorism? on Backlash Against British Encryption Law · · Score: 1

    I got rapped the other day. The Sugarhill Gang came up to me on the street and started laying down some rippin' beatz. It was really traumatising.

  23. Re:Wrong approach on Proxy Sites Offer Secret Passage to Myspace · · Score: 1

    there is a simple fact that the frontal cortex of a 14 year-old is not yet developed enough to question whether the guy who tells her her profile picture is "f-ing hot" has any other motives.

    Yes, it is. Guess how old I am.

    You should think before making broad assumptions like that. If you tie everyone together, then the worst swimmer will pull the rest under the water.

  24. Re:And on and on and on... on UK ISP PlusNet Accidentally Deletes 700GB of Email · · Score: 1

    Demon seem good. Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with them in any way. They aren't even my ISP, but I'm looking into changing to them.
    Static IP, Usenet service, and decent, unmetered down/upstream makes them seem like they know what they're doing. Hell, you can even get network status reports by doing "finger report@gate.demon.co.uk".

  25. Re:Common sense on Shuttle to Launch Despite Objections · · Score: 1
    your not the one who has to sit inside a shuttle that could go horrifically wrong
    Yeah... I'm pretty sure that nobody has to fly if they don't want to.
    Besides, if I was offered a chance to fly on the shuttle, even if there was a 50% chance of getting killed, I'd sign up right away, and I'm sure that many, many other people would too.

    There is absolute zero benefit to anyone if the shuttle goes wrong
    Well, I'd say that they could learn from what went wrong, and maybe make it safer for the next group of people to go up, even if they don't fix the problem entirely, it gives the next people a better chance.

    Without people taking risks, we would not have anything like the technology that we have today. America would never have been discovered and colonised, and like would be a lot more boring. Some of the engineers objected, but others agreed that it was safe to fly.
    After taking both viewpoints into consideration, the shuttle's program administrator said that "We do not believe we are risking the crew.".

    Please, stop hindering human advancement.

    And buy a dictionary.