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User: LunaticTippy

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  1. Re:Some more specs on Seagate Plans 37.5TB HDD Within Matter of Years · · Score: 1

    Deci- is sad. So rarely used. All the other metric prefixes get used all the time but not Deci-. I guess Deka- and Hecto- aren't very popular either. They should start a cult.

  2. Re:Coming Soon: The LTO-48! on Seagate Plans 37.5TB HDD Within Matter of Years · · Score: 1

    The hardware compression on my tape drives is pretty basic. I've rarely seen a compression ratio over 3 on an individual file. Software compression can compress a lot further. A text file might have a compression ratio of 70 or more. If your backup software compressed files where the software payoff is a lot bigger than the hardware one you'd end up using less space.

  3. Re:Backup Solution? on Seagate Plans 37.5TB HDD Within Matter of Years · · Score: 1

    Another advantage of tapes is cheap multiple backups. When the drive is the pricey part, you can afford to have 2 or 3 sets of tapes and cycle through them so you always have multiple backup sets.

  4. Re:Backup Solution? on Seagate Plans 37.5TB HDD Within Matter of Years · · Score: 1

    While 2 partitions on 1 failing drive might save your hiney on rare occasions, I think it's safe to say only a retard would think of this as a backup.

    A backup would be a 2nd physical drive. Anyway, this one time I recovered all the essential files off a dying drive with disk commander or whatever. That doesn't mean backups aren't important.

  5. Re:I hate to say this... on Researchers Find Potential Cure for Cancer · · Score: 1

    Don't you think it's weird that most of those vaccines you're talking about were invented 50 years ago? Has our medical technology stagnated since the 50s?

    You've got to admit that there are certain conflicts of interest and that the pace of permanent cures has stagnated.

  6. Re:Patent ? Idea ? on Researchers Find Potential Cure for Cancer · · Score: 1

    Is this really true? It seems crazy that nobody would make a treatment that was profitable before the patent ran out. The original manufacturer could continue making it for no additional cost, or a generic manufacturer could start making it without the bother of running trials or doing the initial R&D. It seems like an easy way to make money, even if you don't have a blockbuster and are vulnerable to price undercut. The main costs are advertising, clinical trials, and failed R&D. You'd have none of these costs.

  7. Re:Sounds Like the Funniest Joke in the World on DNA So Dangerous It Doesn't Exist · · Score: 1

    I don't think you understand. I'm happy about the HPV vaccine. I wish every disease had a vaccine. But our pharmaceutical industry doesn't make vaccines in general. It's all about pills you have to take every day for the rest of your life, often for vanity reasons.

    The thing I'm angry about is that there isn't an HIV vaccine, a vaccine against heart disease, and a whole slew of cancer vaccines. I suspect given how much money is being made on daily treatments for these diseases that only a truly visionary long-term thinking company will even attempt to make a "cure." Our current pharmaceutical behemoths can't afford to cure these diseases, or so they think.

  8. Re:Sounds Like the Funniest Joke in the World on DNA So Dangerous It Doesn't Exist · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I know how things work in Pharma currently. It's disgusting. I also think that if a business could be lazy enough and long-sighted enough they could do things differently and prosper. It's this retarded focus on current-quarter profits at the expense of everything else that is making things stupid.

    Take the HPV vaccine. It'll make trillions. Doesn't matter if poor people can't afford it. It'll be given out gratis because emergency rooms would rather pay $100 for a vaccine than $10k for an uninsured person with cervical cancer.

    If there was a wide-range flu vaccine, employers would eagerly pay $100/dose and if it reduced sick days by even 1/year they'd save lots of money. Anyone with insurance would get it courtesy of their greedy insurance company. Anyone without insurance would get it gratis if their last-resort care providers can see the bottom-line benefit.

    I know how things are. I think they can be better, for less money, and more profit if everyone would just look a bit further. Too bad they won't.

  9. Re:Sounds Like the Funniest Joke in the World on DNA So Dangerous It Doesn't Exist · · Score: 1

    I'm lazy and like efficiency. I'd rather pay $100/year on vaccine than $20/year on cough syrup.

    If I were a drug company CEO, I'd rather make 1 vaccine and charge a lot than make a lot of different placebos and sell them for $3/box. But I'm not a drug company CEO, because I'm lazy.

    If only we could make the drug companies lazy. You don't have to advertise a vaccine. You don't have to pull weird shenanigans with the patent. It'd be so much less work!

  10. Re:Obligatory quote on Bush Claims Mail Can Be Opened Without Warrant · · Score: 1

    What was that whole watergate thing about?

  11. I don't get your math on Cameras Help Cops Catch a Killer · · Score: 1

    Assuming 16 hour workdays, each surveyor could watch 5.3 people for 3 hours/day. That means that you'd need 19% of your population to be watching the other 81%.

  12. Re:Here is the reason... on Cameras Help Cops Catch a Killer · · Score: 1

    I was walking by some police activity a couple months ago and made the mistake of receiving a call. After I pulled out my phone they grabbed me roughly and confiscated it. The officer expertly accessed the photos and once satisfied I hadn't been taking any pictures of them handed it back. Until this point I had assumed it was a routine arrest of some stumblebum, and although I now thought it was something borderline illegal the cops were up to I made sure to never look back.

    It is routine procedure now for police to censor any citizen surveillance. It is possible on some phones to store the images remotely but this isn't feasable for the typical citizen.

  13. Re:Ask a scientist on When Celebrities Speak on Science · · Score: 3, Funny

    Just leave it in a jug marked 'Drink Me.'

  14. Re:Ask a scientist on When Celebrities Speak on Science · · Score: 1

    I think a few less anonymous "good" scientists and a few more Carl Sagans would be good for science.

  15. Re:Ask a scientist on When Celebrities Speak on Science · · Score: 1

    Wow. You got an account for a one-line post? You get minus points for linking to a blog, but you get bonus points because I kind of like it. Final score, 2/10

  16. Re:Save the freaking information. on The Insatiable Power Hunger of Home Electronics · · Score: 1

    "Digital Cable" is all the rage. It would be trivial to provide digital cable and power over the same line. If you must use analog, you use DC power. Very easy!

    The sole reason we have the nest of cables is to simplify interaction between different manufacturers, providers, and legacy equipment. There hasn't been any technical problem with this since the 70s or earlier.

  17. Re:Its good to see the few key things called out.. on The Insatiable Power Hunger of Home Electronics · · Score: 1

    That might be a good candidate for LEDs.

  18. Re:Save the freaking information. on The Insatiable Power Hunger of Home Electronics · · Score: 1

    I can do 30 watts over 10gigabit ethernet. You don't need 10gbit to stream video. You can also do internet over power lines. It's perfectly possible, with current technology, to combine very high power and datarates.

  19. Re:More efficient and More Prolific on The Insatiable Power Hunger of Home Electronics · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You're right that one 3 watt drain is insignificant. However, in my house I have probably 20 of these drains, between 3 and 20 watts. I also have at least 20 wall-wart transformers that suck juice whether they're hooked up to anything or not. I'd say that my (admittedly not normal) total standby power is 300 watts, 24 hours a day. That's a lot. It'll affect my bill substantially, and for no good reason. If the average house uses 100 watts, once you multiply that by hundreds of millions of houses you're talking about real power.

    It's like a leaky faucet. Sure it's only 1/10 gallon a minute, but it adds up and doesn't benefit anyone. Why not minimize it? I know manufacturers could lower standby power use if consumers demand it.

  20. Re:Paypal itself is virtual on PayPal Launches Virtual Debit Card · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I agree that paypal should be subject to laws. It is somewhat unsettling to think that there is little recourse should things go against my best interests. I have made hundreds of paypal transactions without problem, though. I continue to use it. The handful of boundary cases (not receiving an item, falsely accused of not sending an item) were all resolved in my favor, but I made sure to do everything properly. If you miss a deadline you are screwed. If you don't have proof of delivery you are screwed. From what I hear, sometimes for no discernable reason at all, you are screwed. It just hasn't happened to me yet.

    It is a transition period in "internet banking." I predict that within 10 years there will be international regulation of this type of bank, and there will be various entities that provide this type of service. Normal banks will have to evolve or perish. So will paypal. I'd like there to be more options, but it is very difficult to reach critical mass at this point. It speaks volumes that Google will be lucky to get it's payment service off the ground.

  21. Re:Paypal itself is virtual on PayPal Launches Virtual Debit Card · · Score: 1

    My friend bought a custom musical instrument from overseas recently. The payment choices were a)2 bank wire transfer with unspecified charges at the 2nd bank and US$50 for the 1st bank. Estimated time was 5-10 days. b)paypal - instant, free (for buyer, 3% or so for seller so $30 on a $1000 purchase)

    In this instance, paypal was the sanest option.

  22. Re:Patented Breast Cancer Genes? on Nobel Laureate Attacks Medical Intellectual Property · · Score: 1
    I got a takedown notice from the MPAA for having a frickin link to decss. You can put your head in the sand if you want, but I don't see the benefit. The DMCA is the law, and it is a harsh law. Sure, you can buy rippers but if they're smart they aren't based in or visit or keep funds in the US. If ripping movies is so easy and legal, why do we have heroes like DVD Jon? Why can't I rip blu-ray or HD-DVD? Why can't I buy a standalone dvd duplicator?

    Here is a typical disclaimer:
    LEGALITY NOTE: While it is well within your Fair Use rights in most countries to re-encode a DVD that you have purchased into another format for your own personal viewing, please be aware that it is illegal in the United States to break the encryption on a DVD even for the purpose of exercising your Fair Use rights. Since nearly all commercial DVDs are encrypted, it may not be legal for you to follow this guide if you are living in the U.S.A. Those who live in countries with more civil liberties and personal freedoms than the United States need not worry about this restriction. Also, we should disclaim something about this tutorial being for educational use only and that you shouldn't pirate movies that you haven't purchased no matter which country you live in. You have been disclaimed.
    Anyway, I proudly pirate movies with ease. That doesn't make it legal. Not even for the movies I own and pirate to avoid user action blocks etc.

    I don't check luggage. I bring a small pouch with necessities whenever I travel by air. Checking luggage means I have to go to a different line, get to the airport 30 mins to 1 hour earlier, and wait sometimes for hours or days to get my stuff, which is broken and stolen. If it shows up at all. I got over bringing checked luggage before the current false-security-at-any-price mentality. I doubt things have improved.

    Oh, and your links are broken. It really spoilt your subtle sarcasm.
  23. Re:Easier way.... on Beating Procrastination with Self-Imposed Deadlines · · Score: 1

    That's easy for you to say. I'm falling behind so fast, by the time I'm dead I won't even be born yet!

  24. Re:Despite kicking and screaming... on Chaos and Your Everyday Traffic Jam · · Score: 1

    I left LA 12 years ago amidst explosions, delays, and cost overruns of the subway. I fully expected them to give up. The blue line was OK if you like long beach and the red line was a nearly useless novelty. It went a mile or so, downtown to union station? I visited just this year and was amazed to find a working, funcional subway/rail system. I was very impressed and got everywhere I wanted to go without driving. Except the airport. Oh well, at least LA is giving rail a chance. That's better than I would have expected from such a car-crazed region.

  25. Re:I know, I know!! on Chaos and Your Everyday Traffic Jam · · Score: 1

    OK. Scenario 1 is traffic moving at 1 f/s. Scenario 2 is traffic moving at 10 f/s. Car is 10 feet long. Following distance is 2 seconds, which is 2 feet and 20 feet respectively.

    Scenario 1: a car passes in 10 seconds and the 2 feet pass in 2 seconds. 12 seconds per car.

    Scenario 2: a car passes in 1 second and the 20 feet pass in 2 seconds. 3 seconds per car.

    Following distance is 2 seconds in both scenarios. Cars/second are drastically different.