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Comments · 282

  1. Re:All about the intention on eBay To Disallow Checks and Money Orders In US · · Score: 1

    Could you explain how eBay is trying to kill off the other payment processors, then? If you claim eBay is a monopoly, I can't begin to imagine what you think of Microsoft.

  2. Re:Hmmm on Trading the Markets With FOSS Software? · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You do know a 3-month T-bill was, at one point earlier this week, yielding less than par value? People were buying US government bonds guaranteed to lose money because of the fear that everything else would lose more value.

  3. Re:Specs on 3M Launches First Pocket Projector · · Score: 1

    I'm surprised anyone still manufactures LCoS, considering that the market has pretty much imploded the past few years. The major company using LCoS was a low to mid-price HDTV manufacturer that stopped selling them before the company went belly-up (Syntax-Brillian). An LCoS manufacturer, Spatialight, also went belly-up toward the end of 2007. And I know off the top of my head that Phillips hopped off the LCoS bandwagon, and Sony pretty much discontinued all of their SXRD TVs (a proprietary version of LCoS).

  4. Re:Retail vs. Private banking on Too Easy For Bank Accounts To Spring a Leak · · Score: 2

    Please, explain how "private" banking statements differ. My business banking account statements are laid out differently from my personal accounts (the former show credits, checks paid, and then debits; the latter is a chronological listing of all activity, line-by-line) but there's nothing extremely complex about it. Even my brokerage account statement is laid out in a categorical format (purchases, sales, current holdings, margin activity, etc.). What other way is there to lay out a bank statement other than by date or by item type?

  5. Re:tier? on Programming Jobs Abroad For a US Citizen? · · Score: 1

    "Smart and gets things done" would be Joel Spolsky. He also wrote a book with the same title.

  6. Re:Fist Prose on Netflix Woes Mean a Gap In Shipments · · Score: 1

    For about eight weeks the local Blockbuster has been shipping DVDs back to their processing center via Express Mail.

    Based on the weight, we figured they were sending at least 100 DVDs per box. It actually turned out to be cheaper at $17-22 per box, minus a corporate account (EMCA) discount and shipped with free $100 insurance, than to send out the DVDs as-is, which we know is nowhere near .17-.22 per piece (which would be about break-even with EMS).

    I don't know if it's company-wide but it certainly saves Blockbuster the trouble of "direct discussion with the post office" as any business who hits minimum shipping levels can use EMCA with just a few bits of paperwork. Obviously this is where Blockbuster can realise more cost-savings than Netflix.

  7. Re:Inconvenient Identification on IBM Granted "Paper-or-Plastic?" Patent · · Score: 1

    I have no tolerance for carrying around these affinity cards, and do not shop at any store that relies heavily on such cards.

    Have fun shopping for groceries where I live. Giant, Shoppers, Safeway, Bloom, Harris Teeter, and Wegmans all rely heavily on customer cards, and there are no other alternatives unless you count the tiny once-a-week farmers' market.

  8. Re:debit or credit on IBM Granted "Paper-or-Plastic?" Patent · · Score: 1

    Also at a place like the grocery store, a debit card processed as debit also allows you to get cash back. (The merchant has to offer the option of running a transaction as debit; some, like the little store I work at, run all transactions as credit.) If you run the debit card as credit or simply run a credit card the system won't give you this option.

  9. Re:Liberate the Spectrum. on HD Radio Recording In the US? · · Score: 1

    HBO runs ads similar to PBS: they "advertise" their own shows and programming. Since HBO is not supported by corporations, foundations, and endowments, they don't run those half-commercials recognizing sponsors. I don't know if they advertise their shows before on-demand programming, as I've only had the on-air HBO feeds.

  10. Re:They should charge $450 on Best Buy Is Selling Ubuntu · · Score: 1

    By that logic there shouldn't be droves of people switching to Macs. Even if you change "software" to "TCO" it still fails, since an average desktop PC with Windows costs much less than the "average" Mac, an iMac. The bigger problem is support -- hardly any off-the-shelf PCs come with *nix, BSD, et al. preinstalled and you don't get the type of hand-holding support necessary for new or inexperienced users. Plus you'd be rolling the dice trying to get carry-in support at a retail store on a Linux box.

  11. Re:free on OMG Did U C What U R Paying 4 Texting? · · Score: 1

    Sprint also has the crappiest customer service in the business. I'm afraid to call and ask about anything for fear that they'll fsck up my billing. They managed to do it twice before, and wouldn't surprise me if they said "We'll add free messaging" and then charge me for the unlimited plan.

  12. Re:Not a thief on Confessions of a Wi-Fi Thief · · Score: 1

    Use a router which you can flash with something like DD-WRT, and then run a module which "subnets" guests connecting via Wi-fi onto a different part of the network. Then you could limit that network to, say, ports 80 and 443, and set DNS to something like OpenDNS which can prevent access to some sites (unless you want to maintain it yourself).

  13. Re:Yes, I received the same notice. on Netflix To Eliminate Profiles Feature · · Score: 1

    most people will probably realize that signing up for multiple accounts is only a little more expensive and do that instead

    2 DVDs at a time unlimited: $13.99

    1 DVD at a time unlimited * 2 plans = $8.99 * 2 = $17.98

    3 DVDs at a time unlimited: $16.99

    It looks like a marginal cost...until you realize it's $1 less for three DVDs.

  14. Re:Kinda hard to do on Google To Develop ISP Throttling Detector · · Score: 2, Interesting

    What makes Comcast incredibly underhanded is that they advertise the wonders of their fiber optic network...and falsely imply FTTH service with lines like "I actually feel the fiber optic light from Comcast."

  15. Re:Finally, Some Linux News!! on Wall Street Becoming a Linux Stronghold · · Score: 1

    The Journal only came under News Corp's helm in the past year. It's only been since the acquisition that things have really changed to suit Murdoch's taste, according to published reports and accounts from Journal employees. Not to mention Mossberg, the leading technology voice at the Journal, is definitely an Apple fanboy.

  16. Re:Their traffic - shape it if you want on Legal Trouble For Multiple ISPs · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I read Greenberger's testimony, and here's the important part of what he said:

    ICE, [unlike NYMEX,] operates with no regulatory oversight, no obligation to ensure its products are traded in a fair and orderly manner, and no obligation to prevent excessive speculation. [...] As a result, NYMEX's instructions to Amaranth did nothing to reduce Amaranth's size, but simply caused Amaranth's trading to move from a regulated market to an unregulated one.

    So in a market where there are no CFTC rules or government oversight, there is speculation. Surprise surprise. But ICE is not where oil is physically settled. ICE WTI (West Texas Intermediate) is cash settled against the prevailing market price for US light sweet crude (what's traded on NYMEX). If the speculators are fleeing to ICE because they can't get their way on NYMEX, then my point still holds: the price of NYMEX light sweet crude (LSC) should decline right before front-month expiration because the speculators have to sell to avoid taking delivery (which they don't have to worry about on ICE), and the price between NYMEX and unregulated, OTC crude prices should decouple. NYMEX crude should be priced on pure supply-demand on the expiration day, so either real buyers are supporting the price or the speculators are somehow dodging delivery.

  17. Re:Their traffic - shape it if you want on Legal Trouble For Multiple ISPs · · Score: 3, Informative

    Do you know why oil is 136 a barrel? It is because speculative corporations like Goldman Sachs are driving the market trying to get $200 a barrel.

    OT but I have to respond because the theory of speculation just doesn't work out. When people talk about oil in the U.S. they refer to light sweet crude, which is traded on NYMEX, a regulated futures market. (Another popular market, Intercontinental Exchange, is not regulated but only trades North Brent crude.) It's a delivery contract, meaning that when the contract expires (and all contracts have an expiration date), you must take physical delivery of 1,000 barrels per contract owned.

    So if there are so many speculators able to push the price up, they have to sell the front-month contract to avoid taking delivery of oil -- they're in the contract to make money, not get oil, after all. So they should be selling the day before contract expiration, and all of the speculators trying to sell at once should cause the price to drop, right? If oil isn't selling off sharply right before expiration, then either the people who are holding contracts for delivery are keeping the price up or the speculators are taking delivery of oil. Unless you argue that people are lying about oil delivery on a regulated exchange (NYMEX) the argument of speculation just doesn't hold water.

  18. Re:The opposite just happened to me on Is Streaming Video the Real Throttling Target? · · Score: 1

    They actually also added all of the premium movie channels for $5 less than we were paying (we'd only had HBO previously).

    We just got switched over to the Triple Play package (TV/Net/Phone) and our work order says the TV package is "Digital Silver," which according to the website comes with a free premium movie channel (HBO, Starz, or The Movie Channel). Turns out that while we have "Digital Silver" as part of the package, we have "Promotional Digital Silver" which means we don't actually get a movie channel. If you don't pay full price, they neuter your services.

    I figured Comcast would get desperate and throw freebies to customers in areas where FiOS is being rolled out and stem the flood of rats abandoning ship. Apparently not, since I live in an area where the HOA approved Verizon to dig and we're just waiting for their contractors to start laying fiber.

  19. Re:Ugggggggggg WHY WILL NO ONE USE THE WII on Great Preview Video of Mario Super Sluggers · · Score: 1

    They could always give you an option to switch between "standard" Wiimote controls (what's currently used in most games) and "advanced" Wiimote controls (the more realistic controls). There's already different control mappings for different controllers, and different mappings for the Wiimote, so it shouldn't be that difficult to map the so-called "standard" and "advanced" controls.

  20. Re:ja1217 on Google to Offer Real-Time Stock Quotes · · Score: 1

    you're guaranteed to make money in the long term

    Past performance is not indicative of future results. Index investing may have a track record but there is a reason U.S. government-backed securities price in a small amount of risk.

  21. Re:Barrons.com Free Real-time Quotes on Google to Offer Real-Time Stock Quotes · · Score: 1

    Barrons is a WSJ property, which was one of the companies involved in the agreement. No coincidence there.

  22. Re:First Free Real Time? No. on Google to Offer Real-Time Stock Quotes · · Score: 1

    That's the NYSE Arca Book, which only shows bid/ask and size for a stock, not the last execution price. The best bid/ask on NYSE Arca is not necessarily the national best bid/ask, meaning the B/A size is likely different too. Plus it doesn't operate in real-time. (Sure, it's delayed by 5-15 seconds, but it's nonetheless delayed.)

    If a security trades outside the bid or ask, or if the security is illiquid and the spread is large enough, you would never know the actual price it is trading at. The Arca Book is only useful as a Poor Richard's Level II screen, although if you need LII you should be able to afford the data fees anyway.

  23. Re:Or you could just breed your dog on Get the Family Dog Cloned · · Score: 1

    I'm not sure why more people prefer dogs.

    Because I don't remember the last time a dog ran up the curtains, got into the upper cabinets, or got him/herself stuck in a tree or on the roof. You never have to look up to find a dog.

    And how affectionate is a cat that doesn't come when called?

  24. Re:test eh? on Online Quiz As a Gateway to P2P · · Score: 1

    After seeing questions like "Do you intend to infringe copyright?" and "Do you agree to abide by the Acceptable Usage Policy?" I'm glad that an online test cannot monitor your sweat ducts through your mouse or keyboard.

  25. Re:Will they change? on Comcast, Cox Slow BitTorrent Traffic All Day · · Score: 1

    With DOCSIS 3.0 cable can run as high as 152/108. And no, that's not in kbps.

    When they implement DOCSIS 3.0 is a different question. I asked a Comcast tech if he had any idea about when they would implement it in the Northern Virginia area. He laughed in my face.

    And Comcast is running a set of [inaccurate] commercials touting their fiber optic network -- they already run some FTTN. The trick is FTTH, and the last mile is the most expensive part of the infrastructure. (The commercial implies that Comcast reaches more customers with its fiber optic network than Verizon -- the "I actually feel the fiber optic light from Comcast" line. Comcast = FTTN w/coax to the home; Verizon = FTTH.)