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User: coastal984

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  1. Not impressed... poor stitching on Making the World's Largest Panoramic Photo · · Score: 1

    Hate to undermine what they did here... but this is a pretty shoddy stitching job. Granted, with the number of images they used, it's impressive work, but the result is full of errors (and that's not a pixel nitpick - there are numerous glaringly obvious stitching issues). Interesting, but hardly noteworthy.

  2. Re:Small Form Factor PC With Quad Port NICs? on Ask Slashdot: Best Way To Solve a Unique Networking Issue? · · Score: 1

    "Run cables to each pump, and start your engines (that's about as close as I can come to making a gas station pun)." Could have gone with "lift the handle". Decent solution though. A little 35w i3 packed full of memory might be able to get this done, and could be run off of a dc power inverter if need be. Get a little 15" USB powered LCD and one of those logitech keyboards that has the trackpad on it, and boom you're in pretty decent shape.

  3. Overblown Story About Nothing on Journalists Route Around White House Press Office · · Score: 4, Informative

    After reading TFA, this is much to do about nothing. One piece of "news" requested by the White House to be removed included paring down an article of the President's visit on the "Tonight Show" based on an agreement with the show not to release too much about the content of the show before broadcast - a common show biz rule. Another was a line about the First Lady working out in a hotel gym, while another was a piece about the President honoring a retiring long-time White House journalist with a cake and a humorous quip. The only thing of possible substance here is the 4th mentioned report where a reporter had sour grapes about being left out of a photo op, and wrote a piece comparing his treatment to a freedom of the press speech the President had given days earlier.

    In fact, they quoted other reporters saying they've never had a problem, and have never been corrected besides "spelling and factual errors".

    What a sham post. Editors should be ashamed of themselves for trying to start a boiling political argument over nothing. Smells thickly of corporate motives, which is blatantly unacceptable.

  4. HPSupport transferred me to a car dealership in NY on HP Recalls 6 Million Power Cables Over Fire Hazard · · Score: 4, Funny

    I really wish I was making this up - I called asking about bulk replacement for my organization, and the email address they gave me was not working. So tier 1 said they would "transfer me to the team in charge of the recall." Well, I was connected with Scott, the service manager of a Chevrolet Dealership in upstate New York. Besides a good laugh, he obviously wasn't able to help me very much. *sigh*

  5. Don't do it. on Ask Slashdot: How Do I Change Tech Careers At 30? · · Score: 1

    I'm the exact opposite of you. I'd love to get out of my IT shop and get into working with kids. I'm 29. Trade? Haha

  6. Re:Antitrust lawsuit? on Comcast To Buy Time Warner Cable In $44.2 Billion All-Stock Deal · · Score: 4, Insightful
    No, it won't eliminate consumer choice because most often Cable companies have a government-authorized monopoly on a geographic area.

    What this will do is create a powerhouse negotiator with the content companies as they would represent about 1/3 of all cable households. Who really hates this deal is those content companies, and the satellite companies. If allowed, Comcast will have the power to negotiate substantially lower TV subscription costs than Direct/Dish, and take money out of the content producer/broadcasters coffers.

    The other side is internet... but I'm not sure that this is going to affect their DSL/FIOS competitors that much. Maybe I'm wrong on this, but I think this is likely a secondary concern that lags behind the concerns of the networks/sat providers.

  7. I don't always comment, but when I do... on Is Intel Selling Bay Trail Chips Below Cost? · · Score: 5, Informative

    I say, Fuck Beta! Holy hell this is terrible.

  8. Re:Self Taught on Most IT Workers Don't Have STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering, Math) Degrees · · Score: 1

    This. I did a solid 5 years of traditional college... Majored in Architecture, Communications, and finally Business before saying "screw it" and sitting for my A+ exam after a couple of nights in a study guide book. Did a 6 month term on a corporate help desk before moving on to a municipal IT shop, where I've been for nearly 5 years, and have gained a TON of knowledge and experience. I'm simply a better learner by doing and figuring than I am by sitting in a classroom.

  9. Re:9 years later, still won't trade my Pioneer Pla on Is It Time to Replace Your First HDTV? (Video) · · Score: 1

    *That's obviously supposed to be "the LCD's on the market can't match it's picture.

    Sigh.

  10. Re:TV? You mean, single-use device? on Is It Time to Replace Your First HDTV? (Video) · · Score: 2

    TV's arn't going anywhere. If I were a single apartment dweller who never entertained, I'd be inclined to agree that I might never need a big TV and would watch everything on my laptop and/or tablet. But I'm not. The family watches TV together. Groups come over to watch games. Not to mention, hooked up to my 7.1 Onkyo system, I have my own little theater that just isn't replicated by my laptop in my lap. TV's have a long, long future ahead of them.

  11. 9 years later, still won't trade my Pioneer Plasma on Is It Time to Replace Your First HDTV? (Video) · · Score: 4, Interesting

    9 years ago, we shelled out 4-figures for a 43" Pioneer Plasma. Today, I swing through a Best Buy and HH Gregg once every month or so, and glance at the TV's, and simply put, the LCD's on the market that can match it's picture. (I couldn't care less about 3D). It's the perfect size for our den (sure, it could take a 48", or even a 52", but the 43" doesn't leave me wanting for any more picture).

    Got what we paid for: Awesomeness and longevity.

    I'm going to go knock on some wood now.

  12. Re:cylindrical on Apple Updates MacBooks and Mac Pro Desktop With Haswell, "Unified Thermal Core" · · Score: 3, Funny

    Did we just get NeXTcubed?

  13. Re:Not good enough on First Looks At Windows 8.1, Complete With 'Start' Button · · Score: 1

    I wish I had mod points right now for this. It's very true - end user support staff are asked to support a massively wide range of applications and end user environments. Rebooting is almost always a go-to to make sure something the user has done during the session isn't causing the issue. It gives you a fresh instance of the computer to try and recreate and troubleshoot the issue. I suggest gstoddart get in the trenches one day and allow us all to laugh as he languishes with backlogged tickets as he tries to "figure out why something doesn't work" instead of just rebooting the damn thing.

  14. Re:Killed because it wasn't a revenue generator on Has Google Shut Down SMS Search? · · Score: 1

    Actually no, all you needed was a dumb phone with text messaging. Some of us have no desire for a smartphone... I hate touch screens... I hate the size of the smartphones themselves... all I needed was my little dumbphone and a text messaging plan to, gasp, make phone calls, and send/receive text messages. Now, I lose a lot of functionality for finding basic address/phone number information with my phone because this service is gone. I have no problem with people who want/use smartphones. However, I for one, like many others, have no desire for their size/expense.

  15. Re:Killed because it wasn't a revenue generator on Has Google Shut Down SMS Search? · · Score: 1

    Exactly. I have been using my Samsung Alias 2 for 4 years now. I LOVE this phone. I don't WANT a smartphone, with it's larger size and attached data plan I won't use. I'd actually have gladly paid maybe $1.99/month to have SMS search from google, because I use it at least once a week. It was so simple - Send a text with "business/city/state" and it sends you a text back with the address and phone number. Very efficient, simple, and I don't need a "f*ing handheld computer" to do it.

  16. This has got to be the worst April Fools ever. on New Director Chosen At Fermilab · · Score: 1

    And I'm not talking about this article. I'm talking about Slashdot as a whole.

  17. Re:potentially worth... on OpenOffice: Worth $21 Million Per Day, If It Were Microsoft Office · · Score: 2, Informative

    You are implying that MS Office & Open Office are equals. They simply are not. To use your analogy of lawyers, Open Office is like sending a firm sending junior attorney's into this poor neighborhood, and counting the "value" of their service at the senior partner's $500/hour rate, instead of the junior attorney's $100/hour rate. The value of Open Office is less than the value of MS Office, therefore, the argument grossly inflates the "value" of Open Office.

  18. Re:If I was going to spend $150... on OpenOffice: Worth $21 Million Per Day, If It Were Microsoft Office · · Score: 1

    But, if Office was valued at $150, and Open Office is valued at $150 ($139 for the home edition, +tax), regular office would win over MOST of the purchases. A doctor going into a poor neighborhood is providing the SAME service to those people as he/she would to the paying public. I dare say that Open Office does NOT provide the same functionality that regular Office does. Similar, but not identical. Using your analogy, changing it to a lawyer, this is like sending a 2nd year law grad into the poor neighborhood and counting his billing time at the senior partner's $500 an hour, instead of the junior attorney's $100 an hour.

  19. If I was going to spend $150... on OpenOffice: Worth $21 Million Per Day, If It Were Microsoft Office · · Score: 0

    I would buy the real Office... I wouldn't pay half that for Open Office. Most of the reason people DL Open Office is that it is free. I dare say they wouldn't have 1% of their download numbers if it was $150 a pop. Propaganda post. Not that I don't support the OO effort, but this is about as good an article as a Fox News report.

  20. Re:Try NewEgg on Ask Slashdot: Buying a Laptop That Doesn't Have Windows 8 · · Score: 1

    A lot of business-model PCs (namely HP) come with Windows 7 downgrade already. Try looking for laptops like the 4540s that have been factory downgraded.

  21. Re:Downgrade Rights on Ask Slashdot: Buying a Laptop That Doesn't Have Windows 8 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Not so easy. Microsoft eff'd consumers with Windows 8 by embedding the keys in the BIOS - they are not use-ably retrievable. My shop used to clone PC batches by building a clean install of 7, then cloning it to others, and activating Windows with the key on the box. Not possible anymore - they are trying to force us into getting a volume license agreement, stating that cloning is a "right granted to volume license customers". Total crap by M$.

  22. I think something is missing here... on Mark Cuban: Facebook Is Driving Away Brands — Starting With Mine · · Score: 2

    Forgive me if I'm incorrect here... But Facebook isn't trying to charge him to post on his page with 1 million fans; Facebook is trying to charge him for "promoting" [read: advertising] his post more prominently in peoples timelines and around the site. I don't have a problem with this. You let Facebook's news feed dynamic work for free just like everyone else, your you pay up to reach others. Why is he pitching such a hissy fit over advertising not being free?

  23. SimCity on Ask Slashdot: What Were You Taught About Computers In High School? · · Score: 1

    Mid-late 90's: We played lots and lots of SimCity :)

  24. Important things on Ask Slashdot: What Would You Include In a New Building? · · Score: 1

    Stripper pole, keggerator, speakeasy w/ hidden door. Jeffries tubes to access everything would be a hilarious idea too. In all seriousness, I always wish my office had a shower.

  25. Re:No smiles in Ohio on No Smiles At NJ Motor Vehicle Commission · · Score: 1

    No smiles in Virginia either. Granted, my last license pic I looked stoned out of my mind (I was 17 and it was 8am - not my brightest hour of the morning) - but now I just look like I'm mad at the world, one of those people you see as the perpetrator in one of those hilarious workplace violence training videos...