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User: albn

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  1. Re:Ever wonder why ice melts? on How Ice Melts · · Score: 1

    Yes, I was wondering what this discovery will actually pave the way for. I am sure somebody will figure something out. Personally, I am still waiting for the solution for Superstring theory.

  2. Re:For your viewing pleasure on Nintendo Revolution Details Emerge · · Score: 1

    heh, it looked sort of like a football helmet.

  3. Re:a little bit of light reading on IBM Ordered to Show More Code to SCO · · Score: 1

    Holy moly. That's an entire forest wasted, hehe. What did they use to transport it, a tractor trailer?

  4. Re:a little bit of light reading on IBM Ordered to Show More Code to SCO · · Score: 1

    That's why there are CD's and DVDs. They will also spend untold months poring over the code to see what was infringed and what was not...

  5. Re:Don't blame this on Microsoft on Scalable Enterprise Buzzword Solutions · · Score: 1

    I did not RTFA, but even if it is Microsoft, Apple, Open Source or whatever company/individual selling you a product will tout it with tried and tired industry buzzwords that make you want to puke.

    It seems to me if somebody needs to feel important or needs to say a product is better than another no matter what it does is riddled with these pheases that simply drown the real meaning of the product being sold.

    Using Google with the buzzwords I got:

    http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=scalabl e+ solutions

    There you will see a plethora of people saying the same things. It makes me wish these words were either outlawed or have a "bullshit free" version of the items(s) people are trying to sell you. I bet more people will be prone to actually buy it.

  6. Re:this is a horrible idea on EA Considering Sims TV Show · · Score: 1

    I want to ask, will they have the "Sim Speak" (or whatever it is they call it)

    "Na paaalaa oolooo leekeelaaaa!"

    If so, will it have subtitles? Seriously, the game was bad. A cartoon/TV show will be even worse.

  7. Re:Wow, I believe... on Titan Photos and Sounds · · Score: 1

    I can see it happening even sooner perhaps within the next dacade or sooner. This "prediction" may never some to pass, but with all to discover there despite the critics.

  8. Re:Wow, I believe... on Titan Photos and Sounds · · Score: 1

    It would have been cool to send some kind of rover to Titan, and perhaps with the data recieved can ask the government to fund something like Mars rover. Also, it would have been impossible before now to send a rover-like device without knowing how to navigate the landscape first or how the surface is in the first place. I can definately see more serious research and money going into this.

  9. Re:Kids are too smart for this on Physicists Work on Physics' Uncool Image · · Score: 1

    If I ever have kids, I'll show them algebra and calculus when they're 8, for sure! They'll probably need to look at it for 5 minutes, and it will stick with them for life.

    I heard of very few 8 year old kids that can grasp algebra and/or calculus. I guess if you can teach your 3rd grader how to grasp the idea of polynomials, logarithms, limits, convergence, divergence, derviatives and integrals (not to mention at least Cartesian coordinates), then more power to you; and would like to learn your techniques because we could use more smart people ;)

    Now at 33, I find I have 0 patience with learning, I'm too busy working and playing in my lab. I can only learn what I feel like learning, as opposed to just drinking in whatever is presented to me.

    That is your own choice not to pick up new subjects. Just because you are older does not mean you cannot learn new things, instead, from what you said yourself would rather learn what you want to learn and play in your lab. The thing is, if you lost the desire to learn new things, then that is your choice and not the fault of your parents or teachers, especially now, imho.

    Albert Einstein published his three papers to Annalen der Physik when he was 30 when people told him he would never amount to anything. See, if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything. I am not trying to comapre you to anybody else or to say you are a moron, I am just saying you cannot let circumstances get in the way of what you want to do if it is in yourself or others.

    Yes, I may get flames for this, but I do not care.

  10. Re:Kids are too smart for this on Physicists Work on Physics' Uncool Image · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I have to agree. Special Relativity, General Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, Electromagnetic theory, Relativistic Thermodynamics etc. requires some serious study and discipline to master and to gain the "coolness" of what it means and what it can accomplish.

    On an elementary level, making the axioms of Special Relativity into a rap song and silly dance moves will not make somebody understand it better but make the student yawn or be uninterested even more.

    Perhaps some published results that are "visible" would be more interesting such as "What happens when you fall in a black hole" , The so-called twin/clock paradox, and other things that made Relativity famous?

    Lastly, no need to end it there... why not show some other cool things in ultra-advanced physics? Atom smashing, neutrinos, detecting gravity waves? There is still a lot more to learn and discover, because in the end, we are all students.

  11. Re:This could be dangerous! on Windows XP Starter Edition Review · · Score: 1

    haha, you beat me to it.

    Microsoft released something simlar called Bob and it flopped. Will it happen with WindowsXP Starter Edition? I bet so... why buy something that is so limited so it can teach you to run a mouse when one can take a class or by an inexpensive book to learn the other editions like Home or Pro? I just do not see how it can be sucessful... I guess if it is only in the targeted markets, others will not really care when there are other choices out there.

    Also, is it silly to market to places where people are more interested in food, finding loved ones and getting things in order than worrying about buying a computer?

    In Thailand and India, however, the participating users gave tremendous feedback, because it was all so new to them.

    Microsoft has four goals for the initial XP Starter Edition pilot program. First, the company wants to make sure that first time PC users in new markets have the right product at the right price, on the right hardware, and with the right features. Second, the product must help Microsoft's government partners--the tech ministries in these countries--help middle and lower class citizens gain access to technology for the first time.

    Oh well, we will see what happens there.

  12. Re:just wondering on Three Largest Stars Identified · · Score: 1

    Oops sorry for the bad links. Anyway, the links are right on the page.

    **hides face in shame**

  13. Re:just wondering on Three Largest Stars Identified · · Score: 3, Informative

    Why wouldn't these huge starts turn into black holes? This URL may help you

    According to the web site: A star of 15 solar masses exhausts its hydrogen in about one-thousandth the lifetime of our sun. It proceeds through the red giant phase, but when it reaches the triple-alpha process of nuclear fusion , it continues to burn for a time and expands to an even larger volume. The much brighter, but still reddened star is called a red supergiant. Betelgeuse , at the shoulder of Orion, is the best-known example. Absolute luminosities may reach -10 magnitude compared to +5 for our sun.

    Some of these supergiants are unstable and form the very important Cepheid variables. In their final stages, supergiants may explode into supernovae . The collapse of these massive stars may produce a neutron star or a black hole .

  14. Re:Yet another desktop search tool on Yahoo Releases Desktop Search Tool Beta · · Score: 1

    Or any other OS I have run across. KDE has a nice search tool, you can use "find" on slackware, and if you really want something to be useful for you,perhaps a BASH file to find your stuff when you need it?

    It is not just Windows. There is more than one way to skin a cat. Yes, competition is good, and they can do it all day long if they want to. I just do not see the usefulness of such a tool. If you find it useful, great.

  15. Re:Honestly... on Yahoo Releases Desktop Search Tool Beta · · Score: 1

    I have to agree with that. If somebody is really interested in a web front end, could you just write something in your favorite language and at least know what you wrote?

    Then at least you can restrict access to only your machine. Again, why have that when you have a "search" tool already there.

  16. Yet another desktop search tool on Yahoo Releases Desktop Search Tool Beta · · Score: 3, Insightful

    MSN, Yahoo and Google have the desktop search tools. Now everybody will follow suit. That's all fair and good, but isn't that why your OS has a "search" tool? I do not see the usefulness of a tool and will open you up to more problems than you need....

  17. Re:That should be good on Biggest Identity Thief Ever Gets Put Away · · Score: 1

    Yes, my credit does suck, and cannot get any worse than it already is. The thing is, it might be a shocker for those who may have filed chapter 7 bankruptcy before the seven years are up and get a credit card bill for $20,000.

    I feel really bad for victims of identity theft, and these days of phishing, dumpster diving and the Internet for everyday users it is getting easier and easier to rip people off. It's sad and frustrating.

    I also have to agree the cost of unraveling the mess of trying to prove it was *not* you making all the purchases and it seems credit card companies are trying to make headway by asking if an old guy actually bought the monster truck (Citibank commercial), but then again, I can see people yelling for questioning what they buy and don't buy. I guess you cannot make everybody happy.

  18. That should be good on Biggest Identity Thief Ever Gets Put Away · · Score: 4, Informative

    People like this should be put away for a long time for ruining one's credit rating and making their lives a living hell. Restitution will be good too, but how much can you make in the can? not much.

    Good riddance.

  19. Re:Why is this news? on World of Warcraft Shatters Sales Records · · Score: 1

    Thank you for the information. "Final Fantasy games (40 million units, FF7 alone sold 9 million) and Starcraft (3.5 million units)." That makes sense because I have never seen such frenzy and obsessions on some of these games. In fact, I think many would remember EverQuest being called "EverCrack" because some people would spend days at a time on it... then again, I also remember spending days at a time on MUD clients doing RPG's :D

  20. Re:Why is this news? on World of Warcraft Shatters Sales Records · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I am pretty surprised at this article with the other online games that have an insane following like Final Fantasy, Everquest or StarCraft, one would think those or other games would have sold more.

    Also, the data is obscure because I do not know as compares to what: Games in general, in a certain amount ot time, etc.

    Oh well, congrats to Blizzard.

  21. Re:Will he tattoo it? on Man Auctions Forehead Advertising on eBay · · Score: 1

    I did read the article, and was talking about a temporary tattoo and not a permanent one. For that money, it might as well be.

  22. Will he tattoo it? on Man Auctions Forehead Advertising on eBay · · Score: 1

    Bumfights did it, and why not this fellow? For over $300, he might as well.

  23. Re:For want of better information on World's First BTX Mini-PC · · Score: 2, Informative

    The specs look pretty nice, but Shuttle does not list a price on the web site. So, I looked on Google and found a price on ZipZoomFly's web site. For $449, I have to say that is not a bad price at all although I would think other places will have nicer designs for a better price. As for the article, it is not available at the moment, but oh well, it does not seem it is worth looking at anyway judging from the posts here.

    Also, I have to agree about the steel case... yikes. I suppose if you add some brackets you can bolt it on your desk to make sure nobody walks away with your new BTX form factor box. :D

    Thanks for the other article... it is much better.
  24. Re:when? on Gigabit Transfer Rates Over Power Lines? · · Score: 2, Interesting

    From the article, I do not see the cost effectivness of boradband over power lines.

    Also, would bells start suing for unfair competiton?

  25. Re:Lots of info left out of the summary... on Microsoft Releases AntiSpyware Program · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I agree somewhat. Many big companies are moving to alternate operating systems which is making Microsoft nervous. While they hold a giant share of the desktop market, they seem to be losing grip with the enterprise. Maybe that explains why steve ballmer gave the patent infringement speech to scare people to stay with them instead of looking elsewhere.

    I do not see MS losing a huge market share anytime soon, but with other OS's getting more choices of software for end users as well as ease of installation and use (Mandrake, SUSE, Fedora) I can see these types of operating systems gaining some serious ground to negate the problems Windows has. I am not saying Windows is all bad because there is some nice features and a wide variety of software people just do not want to live without.