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User: blanalex

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Comments · 26

  1. Re:Extortion? Not quite. on FCC Backs a Tiered Internet · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Maybe, but why should Google pay twice? I'm sure they already pay their ISP for their bandwith and the end users are also paying for their bandwith. What's the point in making google (or anybody for that matter) pay again?

  2. Re:Wicked Idea on Tagging Devices To Aid In Car Chases · · Score: 1

    Hmmm yeah... most gasoline engines today don't have a vacuum pump, they simply use the vacuum of the engine for the power brakes. However, if you have a diesel engine or a [turbo,super]-charged engine, the car might have an electric vacuum pump. Now, braking without the brake booster (power brakes) is feasible, but it takes more effort.

    Also, remember that if the ECU is killed and that the engine is not running on its own, the transmission is most likely still in gear. The wheels will make the engine turn, creating vacuum for the brake booster and hydrolic pressure for the power steering (unless the car has an electric hydrolic pump, which is becoming more common in modern engines).

  3. Re:Fair Use Alive and Well on Canada To Introduce Copyright Law Next Week · · Score: 1

    It is legal to make a copy to a blank disc (or put it on a MP3 player that you paid the levy), but if you download a song and simply keep it on your hard disc, you did not pay the levy, thus you didn't pay the song's rights.

  4. Re:OS X on In Which OS Do You Feel More Productive? · · Score: 1

    This is interesting. Where can I get a list of the keycodes so I can modify other keys?

    For example, the Canadian CSA keymap has a comma on the numeric keypad instead of a period. I've modified /System/Library/Keyboard Layouts/Roman.bundle with ResEdit, but i'd like a less drastic way.

  5. Re:Dang, what a surprize! on Another Zero-Day IE Scripting Exploit · · Score: 1

    That's french vocabulary (I speak french). (well at least for the "du jour"; "de jure" might be latin though)

  6. Re:expose on Review of Mac OS X 10.3 · · Score: 1
    ps: there's really something to be said about incorporating the rendering power of modern graphics cards for eye candy and lightening the load of the CPU.

    meh... it uses the Quartz Extreme(tm) compositing engine. Each window is an OpenGL texture applied to a polygon. So, with expose, all you need to do is tell the video card to scale down those polygons and the GPU will take care of scaling down the textures.

    IIRC, Longhorn should integrate OpenGL GUI drawing a step further, not just for compositing the screen, but also for compositing the windows... each button, text field, etc being an OpenGL object

  7. Re:Group reply on Recommend Apple, Lose Your Job? · · Score: 1

    Macs have automated updates that require rebooting? Horrors! Well of course Macs have that. However they are usually not emergencies, or in response to the latest worm or virus, they can be scheduled at your convenience, and no need to reboot at that time unless you want to. This ain't Windows! Macs just work when you want, how you want.

    I'm a sysadmin in a high school. We got this summer a few eMacs and so i'm deploying OS X for the first time on clients.

    I've come to the conclusion that the automated updates GUI is not usable because it needs interaction with the user and also needs the user to authenticate as an admin. However, there is an CLI equivalent named softwareupdate that can be ran automatically from a cron script. Also, softwareupdate will not reboot the machine, so you can run the update whenever you want and let the user do the rebooting or schedule the reboot with shutdown.

  8. Re:Macs, Linux really are better on Recommend Apple, Lose Your Job? · · Score: 1

    You can enter the adress of the WINS server in the Directory Access application.

    Also, about the printer, it is probably supported with Ghostscript, so, yes you can print on it, although the quality will not be the same.

  9. Re:QuickTime codec on Hydrogenaudio AAC Listening Test Results · · Score: 1

    Labels must use an encoder made by Apple before submitting them to iTMS. It was mentioned in the article of a guy who went to presentation that Steve Jobs made for the indie labels.

  10. Re:From the MCATs on Seattle Monorail & California High Speed Rail Move Forward · · Score: 1

    It was the 1967 Worlds Fair, in Montreal, and it did had a monorail around the island where the fair was built.

  11. Tits on Ternary Computing · · Score: 0

    Have you ever wondered if scientist one day create a ternary computer... We would talk about CPU in terms of tits instead of bits ;)

    we could see Penthouse, Hustler and Playboy publish articles on the computer industry: "Intel launched today its new 64-tits processor, code-named 'Pamela Handerson'. The popular former playmate claimed to be honored. Competitor Motorala maintains its 'Ally McBeal' processor line, claiming that although there is less processing units, it has firmer support."

  12. It's not new! (was Re:Tivo Functions) on Linux TV · · Score: 1

    >First killer app: commercial skipper

    I'm sorry but I already got a VCR with that function. At the end of the show it's recording, the VCR rewinds at the beginning of the program and mark all the commercials.

    What would be the new feature here, is that we could watch the show without the commercial even before the show is over

  13. Re:Detect a damaged board... on Silicon LED · · Score: 1

    I guess what QwkHyenA had in mind, but i guess we could detect light 'leaking' from the circuitry, thus running the board in the dark we'd be able to see where the light is leaking...

  14. Nothing to see here on Geomagnetic Storm To Begin Tonight · · Score: 1

    It's now 2:46 (EST) and i'm in southern canada (4525'N 7245'W) and have yet to see a thing. The sky is getting cloudy so i don't think i'll see anything anw...

    If i can't see it here, i can suppose that the majority of the /. readership won't see a thing...

  15. Re:Yeah, but how does it feel? on Keyless Keyboard · · Score: 1
    Sometimes I'd like a real tactile keyboard, the ones that click, but I don't know where to find those anymore. I actually have one in my basement, but many years ago I spilled a plastic bonding agent on the keys, and while the board still functions, the keys are all grimy.


    try checking PCKeyboard.Com, they bought the keyboard division of Lexmark, so the old bucking-spring technology used in the IBM model M keyboard.
  16. Re:coming to IT from other careers on IT Stress In The Workplace · · Score: 1

    >people. I also am now a wicked cook. My point is I did all that for about $10 an hour (Canadian) as my peak wage.

    what? 10$/hr as peak wage?

    i'm begining as a school computer technician, i begun about 1 month ago and i'm paid 16$/hr... it's my second real job, i'm 20...

  17. Re:other sounds.. on Symphony For Dot Matrix Printers · · Score: 1

    actually, one humorist did that some time ago, but with a typing machine, a telephone ringing and other office accessories.

    with all that he was playing Ravel's Bolero

  18. My personnal fav on Entertaining Bits From The Ancient Kernel Tree · · Score: 2

    But maybe not from Linus:

    linux/drivers/scsi/aha1542.c:657
    panic("Foooooooood fight!");

    when the drivers detects a bad segment list

  19. Oh please grow up! on Microsoft vs. Slashdot Update · · Score: 1

    Stop trying to copy that damn specification to create the same effect that with DeCSS! We will never solve this problem that way.

    Stop hiding behind your keyboard, running away and spreading the info away without confronting those damned stupid copyright laws once and for all!

    If we (the /. and the OSS community as a whole) don't confront those law, we always will have to run away! On the other hand, if we stand up, get legal and get that problem solved, we will have peace of mind and no more lawyers running for us (at least for that subject).

  20. 2 words on Microsoft Plans Media Player for Linux? · · Score: 0

    yeah, right

  21. Reminds me a Pink Floyd song on Citizen Case, DVD-CCA, Napster, and MP3 · · Score: 1

    Welcome my son, welcome to the machine
    Where have you been?
    It's alright we know where you've been
    You've been in the pipeline, filling in time,
    provided with toys and 'Scouting for Boys'
    You bought a guitar to punish your ma,
    And you didn't like school,
    and you know you're nobody's fool
    So welcome to the machine

    Welcome my son, welcome to the machine
    What did you dream?
    It's alright we told you what to dream
    You dreamed of a big star, he played a mean guitar
    He always ate in the Steak Bar
    He loved to drive his Jaguar
    So welcome to the machine

    "Welcome To The Machine" - Pink Floyd (Roger Waters)

  22. Reminds me a Pink Floyd song on Citizen Case, DVD-CCA, Napster, and MP3 · · Score: 1

    Welcome my son, welcome to the machine Where have you been? It's alright we know where you've been You've been in the pipeline, filling in time, provided with toys and 'Scouting for Boys' You bought a guitar to punish your ma, And you didn't like school, and you know you're nobody's fool So welcome to the machine Welcome my son, welcome to the machine What did you dream? It's alright we told you what to dream You dreamed of a big star, he played a mean guitar He always ate in the Steak Bar He loved to drive his Jaguar So welcome to the machine "Welcome To The Machine" - Pink Floyd (Roger Waters)

  23. PGP? on Mozilla to get PKI source code · · Score: 1

    Hey, if they add PKI, why not adding support for PGP?

  24. Re:Consumers are not really at risk here on Encryption Key Retrieval Method Invented · · Score: 1
    Like emmett wrote when posting the news:

    "but why do people continually feel that my credit card number is the most valuable piece of information I own?"


    sure, if your credit card number is stolen it's not really that serious, but what about your social security number?

    then, oops you're not yourself anymore. you are a bit of you AND what the thief decided to do with you id. not a good thing.
  25. Re:X configuration is okay on Configuring Monitors in X · · Score: 1

    To configure your keyboard, I suggest you to try xkeycaps by Jamie Zawinsky.