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Comments · 92

  1. Tom Petty on Apple in Talks to Improve Sound Quality of Music Downloads · · Score: 1

    The Tom Petty back catalog is being made available in 24-bit FLAC as well as several other formats.

  2. Re:Only bad tech is the linked page. on 'Death By GPS' Increasing In America's Wilderness · · Score: 1

    I tried reading the article, the screwed up page with all it's toolbars, ads and such kept refreshing after a few seconds and jumping to the top of the page. I was interested enough to go to the printer-friendly link an be able to finish the article.

    "Readability" is your friend.

    No, really. It's one of my favorite and useful toolbar application. It uses a JavaScript program to reformat the page you're viewing, trimming out all the trash.

    https://www.readability.com/bookmarklets/

  3. Re:Please take responsibility for your life. on 'Death By GPS' Increasing In America's Wilderness · · Score: 1

    That's to get ETA and other computed information. Plus, higher-end units have real-time traffic and road hazard information displayed.

    Don't assume that because you don't understand why someone does something that they are stupid.

  4. Offline maps. on 'Death By GPS' Increasing In America's Wilderness · · Score: 1

    Some can do that. The Motion-X GPS app for the iPhone, for example, will allow you to store maps in your phone, so you can still navigate in areas without cellular data service.

    But if you RTFA, the problem isn't online vs offline access to maps. It's that the maps are inaccurate.

  5. Re:Solve the fucking problem: on National Opt-Out Day Against Virtual Strip Searches · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You think the terrorists wouldn't be happy just to blow the plane up? They're willing to suicide bomb a market place and kill maybe a dozen people. Making a plane with over a hundred people go ka-boom would be a fine terrorist outcome, even if it were over the middle of Kansas.

  6. not invasive enough on National Opt-Out Day Against Virtual Strip Searches · · Score: 1

    At the risk of giving anyone ideas, how would these pat downs and skin level x-rays stop a bomber who has swallowed his bomb? He's presumably a suicide anyway, so why wouldn't he/she? And when the TSA thinks about this, do we get full CAT scans and invasive body cavity searches next?

  7. Put that in your iPad on IBM Unveils Fastest Microprocessor Ever · · Score: 2, Funny
    From TFA:

    IBM also previously claimed the title of fastest microprocessor with the POWER6 chip, which ran at speeds of up to 4.6 to 4.7 GHz, and its own z10, a 2008 chip which ran at speeds of up to 4.4 GHz.

    I seem to recall that one of the official reasons Apple gave for the switch from Power to Intel was that IBM couldn't/wouldn't deliver a fast enough processor.

  8. microprocessor? on IBM Unveils Fastest Microprocessor Ever · · Score: 1

    The z196 contains 1.4 billion transistors on a chip measuring 512 square millimeters fabricated on 45-nm PD SOI technology.

    At what point would we stop calling it a microprocessor?

  9. Government services on State Senator Admits Cable Industry Helped Write Pro-Industry Legislation · · Score: 1
    "It's not fair for any government unit to compete with private enterprise..."

    So cities shouldn't provide water and sewer then?

  10. Who decides... on AU Government Censors Document On Planned Web Snooping · · Score: 1

    What means "unnecessary debate"?

  11. Re:Quality of work... on BP Caught Photoshopping Disaster Response Photos · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Costs too much.

  12. since SCO lost (again) on Newly Discovered Bacteria Could Aid Oil Cleanup · · Score: 1

    ...a new strain of bacteria that may be able to aid cleanup efforts in the Gulf of Mexico.

    Lemme guess. They've got a patent pending on it.

  13. Re:Don't worry BP ... on How Bad Is the Gulf Coast Oil Spill? · · Score: 1

    You're dreaming. If you don't think Exxon, Shell, etc. won't raise their prices to match and reap a windfall profit, you haven't been watching the existing collusion between oil producers already.

    The free marketplace doesn't work unless there are so many participants that the loss of any one of them would be unnoticed. If, for example, one corn farmer went under the price of corn on the open market would not change. If Ford went under, you would most certainly see a change in the price of cars.

  14. Re:two thirds? on At Issue In a Massachusetts Town, the Value of Two-Thirds · · Score: 1
    Rats! Hit "submit" instead of "preview".

    So 173 is not 2/3 and...

    s/173/137/

  15. two thirds? on At Issue In a Massachusetts Town, the Value of Two-Thirds · · Score: 1
    I wish TFA would have quoted the law exactly.

    The zoning measure needed a two-thirds vote to pass

    Is that what it said? Or did it say greater than 2/3? At least 2/3?

    (206 x 2) / 3 = 137.33333

    So 173 is not 2/3 and since you can't have a fraction of a vote, I'd say it takes 138 votes to pass.

  16. OLPC on Rugged Laptop/Tablet Suggestions, 2010 Version? · · Score: 5, Informative
    The One Laptop Per Child program (I have an original XO) builds for that exact environment.

    http://laptop.org/en/laptop/hardware/index.shtml
    http://laptop.org/en/laptop/hardware/specs.shtml

    There is a lightweight version of Windows they can run if you can't make it with "Sugar". You can find them on eBay.

  17. Re: Make Only the spammers pay. on By Latest Count, 95% of Email Is Spam · · Score: 1

    When an e-mail is send, a stamp is taken out of the sender account and put into an escrow for each recipient.

    By whom?

    Most spammers are running their own servers, and the mail sending program is custom (i.e. not sendmail). They buy bandwidth from an ISP, not email services.

  18. Re:My spam count has gone down lately on By Latest Count, 95% of Email Is Spam · · Score: 1

    I also have my own domain and run my own mail server. I seem to be running around 200 per day. Spamprobe does a pretty good job for me. It misses two or three per day, but more importantly almost never gets a false positive.

  19. Re:Why not extend vim? on IDEs With VIM Text Editing Capability? · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If you wanted lean and fast, you'd run vi, not vim.

  20. chad@DCFinc.com on Ambassador Claims ACTA Secrecy Necessary · · Score: 1
    ...because without that secrecy, people would be "walking away from the table."

    And that's a bad thing, how?

  21. Re:Better site? on Solar-Powered Plane Makes Runway Debut · · Score: 2, Informative
    Kinda interesting they didn't have the dimensions of the solar plane readily available.

    You didn't look very hard, did you?

    TECHNCIAL DATASHEET
    Wingspan: 63,40 m
    Length: 21,85 m
    Height: 6,40 m
    Weight: 1 600 Kg
    Motor power: 4 x 10 HP electric engines
    Solar cells: 11 628 (10 748 on the wing, 880 on the horizontal stabilizer)
    Average flying speed: 70 km/h
    Take-off speed: 35 km/h
    Maximum altitude: 8 500 m (27 900 ft)

    http://www.solarimpulse.com/en/documents/challenge_solar.php?lang=en&group=challenge

  22. Re:night and day? on Solar-Powered Plane Makes Runway Debut · · Score: 1

    So none of you guys actually read TFA, did you?

    The whole point of this exercise is to build a plane that =can= fly through the night. It does this by storing energy accumulated during the day, both in batteries (chemical) and as altitude (kinetic). Climb during the day, descend (slowly) at night. It's designed to fly at 20 to 30 thousand feet, so clouds aren't an issue. It has four 10 HP electric motors, which will average 8 HP each during flight. It flies at around 40 MPH.

  23. Perform your own audit on Software Piracy At the Workplace? · · Score: 1

    There are several free (or one-time use) software audit tools available. Download them from below and run them. Then give the output reports to your CIO and/or CFO. Keep copies for yourself, and document that you did the audits.

    This is not a matter to shrug off. I used to work at a company that got fined $40,000 for not being able to document our licenses. I actually believe we were in compliance, but we couldn't prove it.

    http://www.bsa.org/country/Tools%20and%20Resources/Free%20Software%20Audit%20Tools.aspx
    http://www.bsa.org/country/Tools%20and%20Resources/For%20Employers.aspx

  24. Soekris Engineering on Low-Power Home Linux Server? · · Score: 1

    I'm running FreeBSD on one of these.

        https://www.soekris.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=85

    These things are bullet-proof. You'll want the HDD mounting kit ($10) to install a 2.5" laptop drive. That will be the only moving part.

  25. Re:HP 2600n on Choosing a Personal Printer For the Long Haul · · Score: 1

    Yeah, I have an HP1300 I use for regular daily monochrome use and the HP2600 just for PDFs, charts and things where color actually makes a difference. Oh, and an Epson R200 to print labels on CD/DVDs and photos.