Slashdot Mirror


User: Digital+Pizza

Digital+Pizza's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
346
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 346

  1. Re: Uhmmmm on What's the Oldest Technology You've Used In a Production Environment? · · Score: 1

    Wow, I'm jealous; I always wanted one of those: you're lucky!

  2. Love the idea on 3D Printing Might Save the Rhinoceros · · Score: 2

    ... but considering the type of people they're going up against, I hope they don't end up wearing concrete boots.

  3. Re:Good for her! on Astronaut Snaps Epic Star Trek Selfie In Space · · Score: 1

    No, the Borg Queen was introduced in Star Trek: First Contact; that damage was already done.

  4. Good for her! on Astronaut Snaps Epic Star Trek Selfie In Space · · Score: 1

    Really cool picture!

    Voyager kinda sucked at first, but actually got pretty good once they ran into the Borg. For some reason Star Trek writers have a history of hating women in command roles.

  5. Can't access IDE drives and floppies? Really? on Ask Slashdot: With Whom Do You Entrust Your Long Term Data? · · Score: 1

    How is it that you can't access floppy disks and IDE drives now?

    Here:
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/...

    And here:
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/...

    Those are from a simple google search, and among the first links returned; you could probably find cheaper deals than those.

  6. Re:+1 for this Post on Ask Slashdot: Life Beyond the WRT54G Series? · · Score: 1

    I hear ya. I've got a 3rg gen Airport Extreme; I bought it after a botched firmware upgrade attempt on my old Linksys router (the firmware updater said "You Update Fail" -nice Chingrish message) that bricked it.

    The 5.6 software's good, and I use "AirPort Utility 5.6.1 Launcher" which allows it to run on Mavericks, which it otherwise wouldn't due to Apple's attempt to force users to the crappy, ball-sucking 6.x version.

    What really pissed me off about Apple though was that they crippled the router's firmware; I used to run the DHCP and BIND services on my Mac Mini with all my computers and devices set up in my own local DNS and the DHCP service pointed to the Mini for DNS. Worked great, until a firmware update disabled DCHP routing from ethernet to wireless! Lots of complaints about that in the forums, which Apple ignored. Now I'm forced to use the ISP's DNS, or configure static addresses on the clients, which is annoying because they're mobile.

    I hope that over time this dumbing-down, "appliance" approach to their products fades now that Steve Jobs is gone, because I think the attitude started with him.

  7. Dr. Eldon Tyrell on Researchers Create Walking, Muscle-Powered Biobots · · Score: 1

    ... has big plans for this technology...

  8. Re:You changed it, Change it back. Screw book sale on Professors: US "In Denial" Over Poor Maths Standards · · Score: 1

    What were the names and authors of those math books? Would love to check them out.

  9. Re:Scale matters on CES: Tiny Fuel Cell is Supposed to Charge a Cell Phone for Two Weeks (Video) · · Score: 4, Interesting

    A few years ago I read of research being done by General Motors (I think) about using a gasoline-powered fuel cell, a process that although still using gasoline, would be far more efficient and clean compared to burning it, and of course there would be no problem refueling.

    I wonder whatever happened to that project?

  10. Re:Windows 7??? on OpenGL Becoming a Requirement For the Linux Desktop · · Score: 1

    Who said anything about that? The GUI should degrade gracefully if the graphics card is not capable, and not _require_ a 3D card just ro run. The argument that maintaining backward compatibility prevents new features is just laziness.

  11. Windows 7??? on OpenGL Becoming a Requirement For the Linux Desktop · · Score: 1

    It's really weird to say this, but Windows 7 seems to be friendlier to older hardware now; I've certainly run into less trouble putting Windows 7 on older machines; that includes an old PIII Dell C610 I used to have, albeit without Aero support but with general 3D. I wonder how a modern Linux distro would have treated it?

    The kids use an ancient Dell P4 with Nvidia 5200 AGP card and 2GB RAM which runs Win7 just fine, perfectly well for the kids schoolwork (incl MS Office) and simpler games (including Flash web games). That machine used to run Linux quite well long ago, but I suspect it'd have problems with a modern distro without a bit of tweaking.

    I have a Thinkpad T42 that Ubuntu will no longer even install on (without a hacked installer anyway), though I did get Fedora to work on it. Its Radeon mobility 9600 used to be great, but now it's sluggish. Win7 runs noticeably faster on it, at least graphics-wise.

    A big reason for using Linux USED to be keeping older hardware alive, or using older hardware to play around with it; that's why it sucks that you often have to jump through a few hoops to get it to run. Not that I have anything against window managers such as XFCE, but it's no longer as convenient to simply give someone a disc to try Ubuntu out on their older computer.

  12. Raised by wolves or something? on Icons That Don't Make Sense Anymore · · Score: 1

    Seriously, who the f**k doesn't know about wrenches, binoculars, cameras, microphones, magnifying glasses, handset phones, bookmarks, clipboards, and TVs?
    Anybody who lives in the real world, and especially has ever been in an office (include manilla folders here) has seen all of these things still very much in common use.

    Every office I've ever been in has handset desk phones, even if they are VOIP, and manilla folders are quite common there, and in the home for those who need to keep paperwork around (any grownup living in this world).

    Binoculars - Really?????? Who thinks those aren't used anymore? What do you think is replacing them?
    Cameras - Seriously?? Photography is more popular now than ever, with REAL SLRs. Just look around. Envelopes - can't avoid those even if you try; even if you do all your banking and bill-paying online (and some services still aren't there yet) everyone gets greeting cards and junk mail.

    Talk to anyone who ever has to fix anything ever about how wrenches are obsolete. Please do so at a construction site or mechanic shop. Watch hilarity ensue.

    You could make a point about floppies, carbons, MAYBE blueprints (though I still see those used in Facility departments), but the other items? Whose the clueless hipster douchebag who wrote this drivel?

    (I know a guy like that who says watches are obsolete - he just looks at his cell phone. Rather than take my phone out, I simply glance at my wrist, taking a tiny fraction of the time/effort he takes. Yeah, he's smart.)

  13. Re:Sucks to be you! on How Do I Get Back a Passion For Programming? · · Score: 1

    Oh, I'm sure we're doing it way wrong:
    1. No Scrum Master
    2. You have to do your own task estimates by yourself, and then they're pretty much set in stone.
    3. Tasks randomly assigned regardless of developer familiarity with task, so estimates are often a wild guess
    4. 1-week sprint
    5. Code ends up being rushed
    6. If you can't meet the sprint deadline (see #2) your pay gets docked; leads to #5.

    Waterfall's not looking too bad...

  14. Re:Sucks to be you! on How Do I Get Back a Passion For Programming? · · Score: 1

    At least here in San Diego all they want someone whose experience is an EXACT match for the position, doesn't matter if you can learn it in a week. You need to have multiple years experience working on that exact technology (though not too many years because that means you're old.)

    $30K (junior) - $60K (senior) is typical around here, $75K at the high end. Really sucks given how expensive it is to live in San Diego. I'm doing a bit better money wise in my current position, but I HATE HATE HATE Scrum. I'll probably have to move out of town to find better opportunities, sucks with a family and mortgage.

  15. Wasted opportunity for Sony on Sony Announces End For MiniDisc Walkman · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When Minidisc was announced I thought it would be a perfect removable storage solution; at the time people were using Syquest drives for "large" (44 and 88 MB) removable storage, and they were pricy; there was a market waiting for something cheaper yet still reasonably fast. I think a Minidisc could hold 250MB or something like that - good storage at the time, relatively cheap, and would probably have been pretty reliable.

    However, Sony's anti-piracy worries made Minidisc inaccessible digitally - there were no Minidisc readers/writers and you could only use it for recording/playback of ANALOG audio!

    Soon Iomega came out with the very popular 100MB ZIP drives and Sony's window of opportunity closed - and we got to enjoy crappy Iomega quality and the infamous "Click-of Death".

    Sony does come out with cool tech sometimes, but their entertainment division screws it up every time. I guess Sony made their money from Minidisc, but they could have done so much more with it.

  16. Blech! on Japanese Scientist Creates Meat Substitute From Sewage · · Score: 1

    Skimming over the article tags my tired eyes momentarily interpreted "biotech" as "blech"; how appropriate.

  17. Re:I have a much more ambitious vision on The Continued Censorship of Huckleberry Finn · · Score: 1

    "Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia". Hmmm, reminds me of a certain book I've read.

    If every last person was at heart kind and wanted the best for their fellow man, then there MIGHT be a ghost of a chance of such an idea working; however, there are (and probably always will be) those who are at nature selfish and have a lust for power. When such people are also charismatic, you have a politician, and at the extreme end of things you have a Hitler.

    If people know their history, then if we're lucky enough of them might recognize such a person's shenanigans for what they are and oppose them before things get too far out of hand; otherwise, well that's where that saying comes from: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

  18. Verizon on Hacker Builds $1,500 Cell Phone Tapping Device · · Score: 1

    It'd be funny if Verizon used this as an advertising slam against the iPhone and ATT (though of course they won't). I wonder if something like this could be done against CDMA?

  19. Joining the ranks of the great! on Avoiding GM Foods? Monsanto Says You're Overly Fussy · · Score: 1

    Union Aerospace
    Weyland-Yutani
    Cyberdyne Systems
    Umbrella Corporation
    Omni Consumer Products
    Wolfram & Hart
    Yoyodyne
    Blue Sun
    Buy-n-Large
    Veidt Industries
    Soylent Corporation
    Monstanto

  20. Re:restraint of trade on Java's Backup Plan If Oracle Fumbles · · Score: 2, Interesting

    While the Right Thing resulted from the lawsuit, it's funny how it hurt Sun and Java more than it hurt Microsoft, which was Microsoft's real goal anyway.

    The thing is, I remember around that time that Sun's CEO Scott McNealy was constantly ranting and raving about how the goal of Java was to take over the desktop and specifically "Kill Microsoft". Launching a frontal assault against Microsoft (especially at that time) was foolish, and look at what happened. If the good folks at Sun had kept their mouths shut, maybe they would have actually succeeded.

    You can applaud the result of the lawsuit, but so many comments on this article reflect a resulting public perception that is not exactly favorable to Sun and Java.

  21. Re:People laugh at stuff like this on Need a Friend? Rent One Online · · Score: 1

    Right on the Oddfellows home page (http://www.ioof.org) they mention belief in a "Supreme Being" as a tenet, which throws them out as a candidate for the grandparent poster's non-religious example person. Every club I've seen so far that wasn't dedicated to a specific hobby was religious in nature.

  22. It's amazing to me on NASA Gives Mars Rover Extra Smarts · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ... that they can do a software upgrade of this kind adding a major feature such as this, remotely, without "bricking" it, and without the ability to add more CPU or RAM. Amazing job, guys!

  23. So I guess Steve's favorite new word in "Magic" on iPad Will Beat Netbooks With "Magic" · · Score: 1

    Too bad Doug Henning isn't still around to promote it.

  24. Re:FUD on The Future of OpenSolaris · · Score: 1

    I haven't been following the discussions about this; thanks for the link.

  25. Re:It is a culture problem on The Future of OpenSolaris · · Score: 1

    If Microsoft wasn't hostile to Java then maybe Sun wouldn't have needed to do those stupid shenanigans to get Java to run halfway decently on Windows; it could even have been included with Windows (not the bastardized version Microsoft made, but the true, licensed Sun version).

    But I don't really blame Microsoft too much for this; I blame Sun for declaring Java a "Windows Killer" from the get-go. The idea was that you'd run all your apps in Java in a web browser, and this would "Kill Windows". Yeah, declaring war on Microsoft was REALLY smart. I can't really blame MS for not going along with them on that. Probably just another example of Scott McNealy running his mouth.

    (Of course it didn't help that Java was slow as hell back in the beginning; it isn't now, but the damage to its reputation is done).