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User: RKThoadan

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  1. Re:Ouya's killer app....where is it? on Ouya Dropping 'Free-to-Play' Requirement · · Score: 1

    I'm only using it for DVD rips stored on my home NAS, so I've got no idea what it can do beyond that. I'm not much of an A/V guy and don't even know what x264 is. It's got USB ports, so if it's a keyboard with a USB receiver it will probably work.

    For what it's worth I find the controller to be perfectly fine. Trying to use the touchscreen is a pain, but I haven't come across any times that was necessary since they got an official OUYA version of XBMC out there. It would have been nice if there was a quick guide to putting the batteries in. It took me a while to figure out the funky magnetic attached faceplates, but having a battery in each of the handgrips gives it a nice balance.

  2. Re:Ouya's killer app....where is it? on Ouya Dropping 'Free-to-Play' Requirement · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Towerfall is probably it's best known game. It made Ars Technica's top 10 of 2013 and has a sequel in the works for OUYA, PS4 and PC. I haven't played it myself though. I use mine almost exclusively for XBMC (and am perfectly happy with it)

    I definitely think this is a move in the right direction. I could see the retro-game market really explode on OUYA. I'd spend a few bucks each for some ports of SNES/Genesis era games easily.

  3. Re:Don't get it on XKCD Author's Unpublished Book Has Already Become a Best-Seller · · Score: 1

    I'm not a big fan of xkcd, but I love the what-if series immensely. It's pretty much the highlight of Tuesdays for me... when I'm not out invading and destroying villages anyway.

  4. Re:Slashdot Polls on One In Ten Americans Thinks HTML Is a Type of Sexually Transmitted Infection · · Score: 1

    14% of Slashdot users believe everything means CowboyNeal.

  5. Re:Sinking ship on Bitcoin Exchange Flexcoin Wiped Out By Theft · · Score: 2

    I don't think it's possible to make something "illegal tender", at least in the US. If I want to trade you one thing for another thing, it's hard to see the government saying we can't do that. "legal tender" is something that must be accepted for all debts, public and private. Trying to say that something cannot be used even in barter, is pretty tricky.

  6. It's a good media player on Ouya CEO Talks Console's Tough First Year, and Ambitious "Ouya Everywhere" Plan · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I got mine mostly for a xbmc media player and occasional gaming. It took a little while for them to work the kinks out with the xbmc folks, but it's pretty stable now. We play games very rarely.

    I think their policy that all games must have a free trial of some kind may be hurting them, and encouraging in-app purchase games, which I can't stand. I think it would be a great market for retro-classics, but I really don't want to think about someone making Pac-Man with a trial version.

  7. Re:Stupid question on How An Astronaut Nearly Drowned During a Space Walk · · Score: 1

    Click through some of the articles above and you'll discover that for the one emergency EVA they've done since this incident they installed snorkels, although they actually go down towards the midriff. They also installed an absorbent pad in the back of the helmet. Notably this was all MacGyvered up from equipment they had on-board.

    Linky: http://www.space.com/24027-nas...

  8. Re:Before you lecture others on Report: Space Elevators Are Feasible · · Score: 1

    A minor correction to that. We don't have adequate materials for a space elevator from Earth. There are several existing materials which are strong enough for a Lunar Space Elevator (including kevlar). If we want to settle the moon and get experience building space elevators it's an excellent option. Here's wikipedia's page on it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L...

    I'm not finding any calculations for what it would take on Mars, but since it's only about 1/3rd Earths gravity it should be more feasible there as well.

  9. Re:This is Elementary School. on Ask Slashdot: How To Reimagine a Library? · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Agreed. I'm reading through these and thinking that very little is applicable to my 2nd grader, who loves libraries (school and public) for the incredibly quaint reason of just checking out books. On the other hand, her school has a dedicated computer lab. She gets computer lab 1 day a week and library one day a week. She greatly prefers library day.

    As far as I am concerned a library should foster a love of reading and imagination. "innovation and technology" are alright, but they aren't the most important things in the world.

    Keep in mind that in general, half of elementary school is about learning to read. The transition from "learning to read" to "reading to learn" is generally around 3rd grade. There is definitely a case to be made for a more technology centered area in middle & high school, but I don't really think that is the case for elementary.

  10. Re:A piece of paper in a drawer on Ask Slashdot: How To Protect Your Passwords From Amnesia? · · Score: 1

    The problem with that specific implementation is that URLs are not necessarily stable. Between mergers/buyouts and website upgrades/redesigns you really can't rely on them. It's a perfectly sound idea though, and I'm guessing you can use something other than a URL if necessary and just have to type or copy+paste it over.

    It says they have a plug-in form Chrome and IE (plus iPhone, Android and basically almost any remotely common platform).

  11. Re:They will, without a doubt, die... on Thieves Who Stole Cobalt-60 Will Soon Be Dead · · Score: 1

    Beware of Donkey Man! I have no idea what power he possesses, but he's still way cooler than Puma Man!

  12. Jeffrey Zientz is in charge of fixing the site on Project Rescue Expert Todd Williams Talks About Healthcare.gov (Video) · · Score: 4, Informative

    You'd think that mentioning who is in charge of fixing it should be mentioned. That's just a quick google away and his name is Jeffrey Zientz. There's not a lot of information out there, but what is there seems reasonably positive. Here's npr's article: http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2013/10/23/240283860/white-house-turns-to-rock-star-manager-for-obamacare-fix

    Here's Washington Posts: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2013/10/24/who-is-jeffrey-zients-and-why-is-he-qualified-to-fix-healthcare-gov/

  13. Re:Beware hidden effects on Boston Cops Outraged Over Plans to Watch Their Movements Using GPS · · Score: 1

    There are lots of benefits to cops driving their cruisers home. Most simply is that the city/state or whatever doesn't have to pay for a massive parking lot in what is often prime real-estate areas. It also helps them be able to respond immediately to a crisis when necessary. It may help somewhat to make neighborhoods feel safer if they know an officer lives nearby. This is one privilege cops have that I think makes a lot of sense.

  14. Re:Sounds like a problem... on How Big Data Is Destroying the US Healthcare System · · Score: 1

    There are no more individual assessments under the ACA either. You sign up for the exchange and with very basic information (age and whether you smoke I believe) you get the prices. No inquiry as to existing problems, past problems or family history. Everyone is buying into one big group plan. There's a similar process being worked on for small businesses to join them into one large risk pool so they get the same prices as the big employers. I actually consider it one of the best parts of the ACA. It has been delayed due to technical difficulties, but it will come around sooner or later.

  15. Re:laser all the way on Ask Slashdot: Best SOHO Printer Choices? · · Score: 1

    I bought my latest color ink-jet 2 years ago and color lasers were getting very close to reasonable then. I just checked Amazon and there are HP, Ricoh, Brother, Dell and other decent brands for less than $200. That seems like an extremely reasonable price.

    They are somewhat bigger though, so you're right about the space issue.

  16. Re:1000 new medals please on Would-Be Tesla Owners Jump Through Hoops To Skirt Wacky Texas Rules · · Score: 1

    I think you have a great idea for a T-Shirt or Bumper Sticker there.

  17. Re:Better games came along right after? on Myst Was Supposed To Change the Face of Gaming. What Is Its Legacy? · · Score: 1

    If you're not opposed to mult-player space combat I strongly recommend freeallegiance - www.freeallegiance.org. It's an impressive blend of space combat with RTS, and is completely free.

  18. Re:Nature is amazing on "Ballooning" Spiders Use Electrostatic Forces To Generate Lift · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "not as efficient?" These seem a whole lot more efficient than wings to me. A single one-time expenditure of energy and they go for miles. There are downsides to this method of course, most obviously that they don't have any control of where they go. But if you accept that limitation this seems to be a nearly optimal method of flight.

  19. Re:Private space tech can work if we get behind it on Neil deGrasse Tyson Says Private Business Will Not Open the Space Frontier · · Score: 1

    While it's not entirely clear, the discussion in the link appears to be entirely about a Mars Colony, which I do tend to think is going to be non-profitable for a long time. He may be more open to asteroid mining.

  20. Re:Profitable or worthless on Neil deGrasse Tyson Says Private Business Will Not Open the Space Frontier · · Score: 1

    So I should play soccer with my daughter occasionally because there's no profit in it??? I do things for profit (my paycheck) so I can do the things that are truly worth doing.

  21. Re:SpaceX is impressive, but... on Neil deGrasse Tyson Says Private Business Will Not Open the Space Frontier · · Score: 1

    #2 is why I think Tyson is both right and wrong. I don't think it's even close to being commercially profitable, and probably won't be for at least a century, but on occasion we do things for other reasons. Going to the moon wasn't profitable, but a huge group of people (The US) decided to do it anyway. This is just a different group of people deciding to do something similar that will also not be profitable. One group being "public" and the other "private" isn't actually that big a difference.

  22. Re:Still A Toy on NHTSA Gives the Model S Best Safety Rating of Any Car In History · · Score: 1

    There is a definite short-term advantage though. If you don't anticipate living in an area for at least 5 years buying a house is not generally the best idea. Buying a house ties you down. There are both positives and negatives to that.

  23. Re:Boo Whoo! on Class-action Suit Filed Against Microsoft Over Surface Write Off · · Score: 1

    I certainly don't think EVERY ASPECT of it was a failure. Much of the physical design was very nice. the kickstand seemed well designed and that keyboard/cover thing wasn't perfect but was clever and from what I read did the job quite well. The hardware in general was good, if not great. It's the software part of things that sucked, which doesn't bode well for the biggest software company in the world.

  24. Time to drain the oceans! on City-Sized Ice Shelf Breaks Free Of Antarctica · · Score: 3

    Thankfully the fine folks over at xkcd pointed the way to the solution yesterday: http://what-if.xkcd.com/53/

    All we need is a portal to... anywhere not in Earths gravitational influence I guess, and we'll be set!

  25. Re:The individual mandate still in place on Obamacare Employer Mandate Delayed Until After Congressional Elections · · Score: 1

    I just discovered something that may or may not apply to you. Apparently if the cost of private insurance would be more than 8% of your taxable income you can be exempt from the individual mandate. I didn't know this.

    Link: http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/the-best-life/2012/07/13/how-the-health-insurance-mandate-penalty-will-work

    If your insurance company is just raising premiums then they're lying through their teeth and I recommend reporting that to your states insurance regulator. If they're also increasing coverage to meet bronze plan standards they're still being a bit deceptive, but that's more understandable as giving a full explanation would probably be incomprehensible to most people, but I'd expect they'd include more information about your new coverage (or maybe not since they certainly don't want you actually using it).