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User: LMariachi

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Comments · 1,199

  1. Re:Why did he plead guilty? on Man Jailed for Selling Modchips · · Score: 1

    Where are you? Because I wouldn't want to inadverdently go there...

  2. Re:hardware not license on Man Jailed for Selling Modchips · · Score: 1

    As long as you're not on a public road, you can go as fast as the landowner will let you. You don't even need plates or a license.

  3. ObFeiss on Man Jailed for Selling Modchips · · Score: 1
    There was this "beep beep beep" and my rights were just... gone.

    They were really good rights, too.

  4. Re:Alright, what have we learned here? on Endless Liquid Refreshment · · Score: 2, Insightful
    How is this "hacking?" He installed a common, purpose-built device in the manner and for the purpose it was intended. The only thing "noteworthy" about it is that it's in his home instead of a cafeteria.

    It's about as much of a hack as setting up an iMac in the bathroom.

  5. Re:pre vs post - makes all the difference on Endless Liquid Refreshment · · Score: 1

    No, "pre-mix" in this case means "pre-mixed," as in "mixed before shipping."

  6. Re:You know it's a really slow day when... on How to Make a Starship Enterprise out of a 3.5" Floppy · · Score: 1
    You six digit kids and your petty squabbles...

  7. Re:640K is enough on XP Service Pack Slows Programs · · Score: 1

    Hm. Bill Gates denying that he said it doesn't necessarily make it an urban legend.

  8. Interesting Mad Max trivia tidbit: on Farscape Finale Tonight · · Score: 3, Funny
    The Night Rider's girlfriend in the beginning of the first Mad Max movie is Lulu Pinkus, the longtime wife of Yahoo Serious. So...

    Virginia Hey was in Road Warrior with Mel Gibson.
    Mel Gibson was in Mad Max with Lulu Pinkus.
    Lulu Pinkus was in Young Einstein with Yahoo Serious.
    Yahoo Serious was in Reckless Kelly with Martin Ferrero.
    Martin Ferrero was in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles with Kevin Bacon.

    I don't remember what my original point was.

  9. Re:Such is modern TV on Farscape Finale Tonight · · Score: 1
    The ratings system may be archaic, but you can bet your ballooning bottom that it's been updated, and that it works.

    Yeah, you'd think so, wouldn't you? Unfortunately, even though everyone in the industry knows that the ratings system is badly broken, it's broken in favor of local network affiliates, which are more powerful than you'd guess. (There's a James Surowiecki piece about this in the Feb. 17/24 New Yorker, but it doesn't seem to be archived online.)

    In short, there's no way that a non-random sample of 5000 families can give fine-grained statistical accuracy for a population approaching 300 million, and more importantly, Nielsen people-meter ratings don't account for local or even regional ratings, which are of tremendous interest to advertisers. So they rely on paper viewing diaries mailed out four times a year to 2.5 million people. This is known as "sweeps," during which many stations program juicy one-offs that aren't representative of their year-round offerings. Only 1/3d of the diaries get filled out and returned, and even that sample is obviously tainted, due to cooperator bias and reliance on possibly faulty memories. David Poltrack, CBS' head of research, is quoted in the New Yorker article as saying "The affiliates' ratings are likely higher under the current system than they would be under a different system, so they have no incentive to change." In local areas where people meters have been tested, network affiliates' ratings have invariably fallen.

    So no, the ratings system does not work and has not been updated and does not make good business sense.

    (This isn't all just from a magazine article, btw. I've worked in network television and have witnessed aspects of this firsthand.)

  10. Re:Free(?) advertising on Voice Communication & Gaming Etiquette · · Score: 1

    I forget which one had the voice feature, but the first Marathon shipped in 1994.

  11. Re:I feel it's all for nothing on Farscape Fans Reinventing Television · · Score: 1

    Didn't WWE (nee WWF) buy and absorb WCW several years ago?

  12. Re:We can laugh... on MPAA, Microsoft Testify Piracy Funds Terrorism · · Score: 1
    Due process is an element of the constitution. It applies _only_ to american citizens.

    Wrong. The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments say that "no person" shall be deprived of due process. Not "no citizen." The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that while non-citizens are of course not accorded all the rights and privileges of citizens, they are entitled to due process under the Fifth Amendment.

  13. OT: war costs on The Space Shuttle Program: What Next? · · Score: 1

    Not to quibble over numbers, but $100M is like just the sunscreen budget. Government estimates for the war range from $20-200 billion.

  14. Re:Now IS the time on The Space Shuttle Program: What Next? · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Exactly. They could have said the same thing in the early 60s with minor substitutions: "Now this clearly is not the best time to be making such choices, with continuing threats from subversives, a possible war in Vietnam on the horizon and problems looming with the Soviet Union."

    Seems more and more that the Cold War dynamic was a better engine of progress than we gave it credit for at the time.

  15. Re:This is uber cool! on Film Gimp Project Renamed to CinePaint · · Score: 1

    It would be even cooler if someone used it for a movie that didn't suck.

  16. Re:You need a licence to do geology now? on Web Site Selling "Earthquake Forecasts" · · Score: 1
    What about software that models building damage, earthquake impact on buildings, bridge strength, etc? I get the feeling there's no one regulating the development of these applications, even though the lives of hundreds could be at risk.

    That software is used by engineers who need to be licensed to be in the business of building things. They have oversight over the use of the software much as they have oversight over the construction workers who are doing the riveting and welding. The state doesn't need or want to micromanage every little aspect; it simply wants to know that individuals in certain key positions know what they're doing. Apparently geologist is one of those positions, while software engineer and cement mixing guy are not.

    Besides -- and I don't really know much about this -- wouldn't engineering or other "mission-critical" software generally be developed to ISO standards, thus obviating the need for additional special government certifications?

  17. Re:You need a licence to do geology now? on Web Site Selling "Earthquake Forecasts" · · Score: 1
    Nobody's life is at stake with a compromised ATM PIN. If a building falls down due to faulty geological information (no pun intended) it endangers not only the business that bought the information and its customers, but the general public as well. The state has an interest (some would say duty) to take reasonable measures to protect the lives of the general public.

    Or they could just take a hands-off approach, let the chips fall where they may, and let everything be settled by lawsuits after the fact. Wonder what everyone making comments about how "the greedy lawyers have already won" would feel about that.

  18. Re:You need a licence to do geology now? on Web Site Selling "Earthquake Forecasts" · · Score: 4, Informative
    The license is required to be a registered geologist. Obviously anyone is allowed to study rocks and even sell the products of their research, just as anyone can get a doctorate from a diploma mill and go around putting "Dr." on their business cards.

    But do you really want just anyone doing geological assays for construction projects? Is that an area in which you want to say "Fuck it, caveat emptor?"

    In that light, it doesn't seem at all ridiculous to license geologists. Not that selling earthquake predictions should necessarily be illegal (aside from existing laws against fraud), but maybe the state is just trying to raise awareness of the difference between a licensed geologist and Joe Shmoe with a rock collection. (Similar to nurses' unions pointing out that a "nurse practitioner" is not held to the same standards as a registered nurse.)

  19. Re:20 gig is fine for me on 1.8TB Of Disk Space In A (Semi-)Normal PC · · Score: 4, Funny
    They get paid to have sex with other good looking people. What's so horrible about it?

    Yeah, I can't imagine any possible down side to working in porn.

  20. Re:Bad Aim: An old literary tool. on Battlestar Galactica to Return · · Score: 2, Informative

    It's also on Project Gutenberg. link

  21. Luminex on Perfumed, Glowing Cloth · · Score: 4, Interesting

    $280/yd (and a 50 yard minimum order) seems a little steep for fabric with strands of optical fiber woven in -- you still have to hook up the light sources yourself, probably after you've cut your pattern. Seems most people capable of making anything more complicated than a tablecloth out of this stuff could probably weave their own.

  22. Re:Difficulties .. and Wireless on FCC Abandons Linesharing, Kills DSL Competition · · Score: 1

    Except it's not "their cables," they're our cables. We the people paid for them in the form of substantial government subsidies back in Ma Bell days, when it was a legal monopoly.

  23. Re:Not the purpose of the 17" on 12" Powerbook: Slick and Sexy, But Not Without Issues · · Score: 1

    There's a difference between having the money to buy something and being able to afford it. If a Powerbook purchase affects your finances to the degree that it determines your travel plans, I'd say you can't afford it.

  24. Re:JetDirect on Rendezvous, Microsoft And Apple · · Score: 1
    I believe there's a HP LaserJet Utility that you can use to rename printers and do other config stuff to them.

    Yep, here it is.

  25. Re:Not the purpose of the 17" on 12" Powerbook: Slick and Sexy, But Not Without Issues · · Score: 3, Insightful
    (just try to open and use a 17" in airline coach seating).

    If you can afford a 17" Powerbook, you probably don't need to be flying coach.