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User: strayant

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  1. Estimate is the wrong word. Use "budget". on The Programmers Who Want To Get Rid of Software Estimates · · Score: 1

    This is a matter of communication. These numbers should serve less as a prediction and more as an allotment. Instead of "what is the estimate for this task?" the question "what is the budget for this task?" is far more accurate and manages everyone properly.

  2. Alternatives? on DigiNotar Goes Bankrupt After Hack · · Score: 1

    So, if certs cannot be trusted, and this brings to the surface the whole concept of "trust", what are we to do? What should we use?

  3. Truecrypt on Dropbox Can't See Your Dat– Er, Never Mind · · Score: 1

    Simple solution: Use a Truecrypt volume for your private files and loose Dropbox for anything non-private. If you want something better than that, roll your own solution on your own servers. If you don't know how something works, don't trust it outright.

  4. Two major points on Kuwait Bans DSLR Cameras Use For Non-Journalists · · Score: 1

    First, let's assume that you have a film SLR... I've seen a few arguments stating the ease of deleting photos on a DSLR... okay... want to delete an image quickly on a normal SLR? Open it and expose the film to light. Second, if you're going to try to split hairs in a legal case in Kuwait, be prepared to lose.

  5. Re:Just walk! on China's Nine-Day Traffic Jam Tops 62 Miles · · Score: 1

    How about just leave the car at home... pending some prior knowledge that you shouldn't be driving in this mess at this point. As in, watch the news and plan.

  6. Just walk! on China's Nine-Day Traffic Jam Tops 62 Miles · · Score: 1

    So this jam is about 100km (62 miles) long. At an average human walking pace of 80m/min, that's about 21 hours. I'd rather walk... even with a load on my back.

  7. Re:Reason #0 on 7 Scientific Reasons a Zombie Outbreak Would Fail · · Score: 1

    yet!

  8. Re:Apple and the others... on Startups a Safer Bet Than Behemoths · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I don't see how an iPod is "game changing" and Google Maps is an "incremental innovation." They BOTH are "incremental innovations". Music players, nay, MP3 players most certainly existed before Apple came into the game.

    Is it me, or is the Apple/Google comparison a touch off topic? Sure, they are both popular, but get to the point about the STARTUPS! Hell, I'd even request a comparison to a large company that isn't those two giants.

  9. iOS 4.0.2 direct download links on Apple Outs Anti-Jailbreak Update · · Score: 1
  10. Re:Flaw? on Two Unpatched Flaws Show Up In Apple iOS · · Score: 1

    well, the jailbreakme.com site doesn't exactly let you know that *it* is showing you a PDF... so one could argue that it wouldn't take much to do the same in a destructive way. I'm thinking even of things like hacked sites with a little browser agent detection could seem innocent to most users... Anyone want a cheap botnet? So (1) when will this be patched, and (2) how many people will not patch.

  11. Re:Flaw? on Two Unpatched Flaws Show Up In Apple iOS · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'd say both, and wonder, is their code open to scrutiny? I'd love to see someone verify and certify that there's nothing malicious with their code. One can argue, however, that any other site could use this in a harmful manner. This is a *real* concern. So while the jailbreak is nice, what isn't so nice?

  12. Security audits? on Pizza Lovers Suffer Data Breach From Hell · · Score: 2, Funny

    Shouldn't they be audited routinely if they conduct business online?

  13. Re:How about... on School District Drops 'D' Grades · · Score: 1

    so, slide the scale and call 1-6 a 0... crap is crap... perhaps someone likes that crap, so pull an average, producing a nice 0.001 rating. something useful.

  14. Re:How about... on School District Drops 'D' Grades · · Score: 1, Interesting

    This is why I like the practicality of the 1-5 scale, which has true meaning to its values: (1) Hate, (2) Dislike, (3) Neutral, (4) Like, (5) Love... Mathematically, this works best as base zero, 0-4 (fancy that, similar to the 4.0 grading scale). This scale exists in grading and has a very practical use, too. Scoring of work is even easier than an opinion (in most cases). The school board's job is simply to say at what number a failure occurs (i.e. less than 2.0). To me, letter grades are for morons and kindergarten children.

  15. International concerns? on Sen. Bond Disses Internet 'Kill Switch' Bill · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So, what about the impact on all the other countries?

  16. Re:Units of measurement on A Professional Perspective On Apple's Retina Display · · Score: 1

    More importantly, much to our dismay, /. also filters

  17. Re:Reception Issue - Hacked on iPhone 4 News Roundup · · Score: 2, Informative
  18. Re:Reception Issue - Hacked on iPhone 4 News Roundup · · Score: 1

    In all seriousness, it isn't a life-threatening allergy. It's a very uncomfortable skin allergy. Want to be *almost* grossed out? http://www.google.com/images?q=nickel+allergy I partly blame GE and hormone-treated food for many of the crappy allergies that have risen over the years (nickel not among those).

  19. Reception Issue - Hacked on iPhone 4 News Roundup · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I would be curious about the conductivity of certain coatings. I personally hate covers for phones, as they add bulk. As a person with nickel allergies, I have to coat belt buckles and the like with acrylic. I wonder if the same would help this antenna. If so, then they could do something similar in the manufacturing process. They do similar coatings for fishing rods that weather well.

  20. Smells like shame! on Steak-Scented Billboard Entices Drivers · · Score: 4, Funny

    So, would a billboard for a strip club smell like shame?

  21. Matrox? on One Video Card, 12 Monitors · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Hasn't Matrox been producing multi-output cards for years? How is this any different? http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/products/

  22. Re:XPSP2? on Microsoft Kills Support For XP SP2 · · Score: 1

    You FOOLS! You forgot the build number... now no one will have any idea what you're talking about!

  23. Re:So what? on Microsoft Kills Support For XP SP2 · · Score: 1

    Yessir.... that's in the part of their script that starts off: "Is it plugged in? Well plug it in first..."

  24. Manufacturers to blame? Lack of full regulation? on German User Fined For Having an Open Wi-Fi · · Score: 5, Interesting

    So, if this is how things are to be, I think that this guy should pass the buck to the manufacturer for not complying with local law. Such devices should be regulated in such a way that they cannot be sold to customers without ALREADY being secure out-of-the-box. Otherwise, I think that this should have no merit.

  25. Re:Sony is a terrorist organization on US Air Force To Suffer From PS3 Update · · Score: 1, Interesting

    As an engineer, I tend to find solid definitions to be quite agreeable. As a scientist, I know that everything could be all wrong and we should do more research... Actually, while words are often misused/misspoken (especially with Bush), it is also important to understand that language is not static. Language is as organic as our culture (for better or worse). New words are coined all the time. Some words are made and forgotten. Other words are only used in certain industries. Marketing terms are made up on an almost daily basis, and the ones that stick seem to find themselves in our everyday language. So, as for "normalcy", this predated W's word juggle: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=normalcy http://www.cjr.org/resources/lc/normalcy.php http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creeping_normalcy I too find many words very annoying... like, "a whole nother". What is this word "nother"? Logic takes over and says quite clearly what a person means. While I don't like it, it's akin to riding over linguistic pot-holes. I'm not going to fix every little thing. Given time it won't need fixing, because it will be "proper". ...and this ends another rant of "things that bother the hell out of me".