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User: Comboman

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  1. Apples and Oranges on COBOL Celebrates 50 Years · · Score: 1

    COBOL is solid. WinDoze is flakey.

    I agree, but so what? COBOL is a programming language; Windows is an operating system. I could replace your statement with "C++ is solid. VAX/VMS is flakey." and it would make as much sense to your argument.

    I suggest YOU go to work for any major business and work on their accounting software.

    How major? GM, Walmart, Citibank? Sure they have mainframes running COBOL apps, but most businesses are not that "major", and the "minor" ones outnumber them significantly. Also, not all business apps (which was the original claim) are accounting apps. I'm sure in some dusty closet somewhere you can find word processor or email app written in COBOL, but that's not what business use today.

  2. Re:IP industry would rather you didn't know PD exi on Amazon Delaying Public Domain Submissions On Kindle · · Score: 1

    In the United States, 1998 was the last time anything entered the public domain. If there are no more extensions, items will start entering the public domain again in 2019.

  3. It's happened before on The Coming Problems For Rolling Out 3D TV · · Score: 1

    When cinema went from black-and-white to color, lots of special effects had to be done in completely different ways (blue/green screens, etc). Cinematography, set design, costuming, even make-up (which had once focused on contrast rather than color), now had be done differently. 2D to 3D will be a similar transition with similar obstacles.

  4. Re:Cough, cough on Robotic Mold · · Score: 1

    Those puns are great. You must be a real fun-guy.

  5. Asperger's == Nerd on British Hacker Loses Review of Asperger's Defense · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Asperger's sufferers often exhibit obsessive behavior and social naivety ... Sophos's survey of 550 IT professionals found that 71% believe McKinnon should not be extradited.

    Obsessive behavior and social naivety describes every IT professional I know (myself included). I'm amazed that only 71% don't think he should be extradited (the other 29% must be in denial).

  6. Re:Lasers? Star Wars? on Finally, a True Green Laser · · Score: 1

    Props don't have names?

  7. Godwin on Formerly Classified Global Warming Spy Photos Released · · Score: 1

    The word is Skeptic, not Denialist. Denialist is clearly an emotionally loaded word designed to evoke thoughts of Holocaust deniers. Anyone who uses it has Godwined themselves.

  8. Re:As a male... on Are Women Getting More Beautiful? · · Score: 1

    One thing I would like the reseachers to investigate is whether men are getting taller (rather than more attractive).

    Humans in general are getting taller, but at a rate much faster (i.e. one generation) than would be possible if the cause were selection (natural or otherwise). Improved nutrition and health care is generally assumed to be the cause.

  9. Re:not absurd on P.I.I. In the Sky · · Score: 1

    Even then, the license plate only identifies the car and owner, not the operator. It is entirely possible that a vehicle may be used by someone other than the registered owner.

    Which often doesn't matter. If you loan your car to someone and they get caught by a red light or speed camera, you will get the ticket in the mail and arguing that you weren't the one driving will not get you off (except maybe if you reported the car as stolen).

  10. Re:Nice try but I'll wait on Asus Launches Eee PC T91, a Touch-Screen Tablet Netbook · · Score: 1

    I don't understand why they make tablets with keyboards on them. ... Why they don't make the whole computer with the touchscreen on top and just a clear flip cover on it instead of the keyboard and trackpad is beyond me.

    Most people will want a separate keyboard at least some of time. What's so bad about having a keyboard built into the 'flip cover' of your touchscreen? What I want is dual touchscreens (a la Nintendo DS) so one can be a reconfigurable keyboard/input device.

  11. Re:I guess I should prepare for extinction then on Standalone GPS Receivers Going the Way of the Dodo · · Score: 1

    Right, because a slump in the sales of a high-priced gadget clearly has to be from competition with an even higher-priced gadget and not because the economy has tanked.

  12. Re:EULA not binding on Security Firms Fined Over Never-Ending Subscriptions · · Score: 1

    There is some (in my opinion bad) case law that supports EULAs being enforceable, but there is also case law supporting the opposite (Klocek v. Gateway, Step-Saver v. Wyse, et al). Note that I did not say click-through or shrink-wrap EULAs are always unenforceable, I said they do not have the same legal weight as a signed contract (hence the court's ruling in TFA).

  13. EULA not binding on Security Firms Fined Over Never-Ending Subscriptions · · Score: 2, Insightful

    In a court of law, clicking OK on a EULA does not carry the same weight as signing a contract.

  14. Re:Still not available on Hulu May Begin Charging For Video Content · · Score: 1

    Shopping channels are not paying for subscribers, they are contributing to the profit margins of the providers. The idea that advertising in content reduces the consumer's price is a fallacy.

    So free newspapers and broadcast television must not exist then, right? Carrying advertising does reduce the cost of providing content. Whether the provider decides to pocket that extra cash or pass the saving to the consumer is a decision they make themselves (some choose one, some the other).

  15. Re:Crappy article on A Brief History of Downloadable Console Games · · Score: 1

    I can imagine tuning into that radio show partway through and thinking the station was having technical difficulties (or had been taken over by aliens).

  16. Re:Still not available on Hulu May Begin Charging For Video Content · · Score: 4, Funny

    You really think you are paying for the shopping channels?

    In capitalist America, shopping channels are paying for you.

  17. IP Address on Buying a Domain From a Cybersquatter · · Score: 4, Insightful

    We could probably go back to publishing dotted IP addresses and the common imbecile would not notice nor care, as long as google can find it.

    That's the real tricky part though. If you change your web host (and thus change IP address) all the work you've done to improve your Google ranking (not to mention links from other websites, bookmarks, etc) is gone and you'd have to start over again. Having a URL is still a necessity (though having a memorable URL is not as important as it once was).

  18. #4 on Investing In Lawsuits Beats the Street · · Score: 1

    4. If you find there is no law for something new, like, say, the internet, say so. Don't torture existing unrelated laws to fit the new situation.

    Conversely, don't create new laws for situations already covered by old laws just for the sake of looking progressive (e.g. If fraud is already illegal, there shouldn't need to be separate laws stating fraud is illegal through the mail, over the phone or over the internet).

  19. counter idea... on Newspaper Execs Hold Secret Meeting To Discuss Paywalls · · Score: 1

    One idea, based on what I have seen work abroad, is to mandate, for a limited time, a fee of $1 on all Internet connections. You could then use that monthly credit to subscribe to whatever content you chose.

    OK, then I'll start my own online "newspaper" (with a paywall if necessary) and send my monthly credit to myself. The content of my "newspaper" will simply inform my readers how they can setup their own "newspaper" and do the same. The more you try to forcibly take my money, the harder I will fight to make sure you get absolutely nothing from me (even if it ends up costing me more money).

  20. Video Daily Double on How IBM Plans To Win Jeopardy! · · Score: 4, Interesting

    hoping it starts smoking and sparking like a cheesy Trek android meltdown.

    Alex: "Here to present the Video Daily Double is Harry Mudd, who always lies."

    Harry: "I am lying."

  21. Re:I'd like to see em try it on FCC Reserves the Right To Search Your Home, Any Time · · Score: 2, Informative

    the FCC has not done anything to fight interference for years. Hell most Pirate FM stations don't get taken down until they become big and obvious. They dont raid homes over Wifi violations.

    They probably wont do anything unless they receive a complaint, but they certainly do investigate interference. Check out this article from GPS World. Several malfunctioning amplified TV antennas were jamming GPS signals in a California harbor. The FCC investigated and rectified the problem. No mention of whether they entered anyone's property against their will (the interference was accidental so I'm sure the individuals cooperated), but I can understand why they have this power.

  22. Time IS money on NY Bill Proposes Fat Tax On Games, DVDs, Junk Food · · Score: 1
    I think putting together a halfway healthy meal is much more a question of time than money.

    I agree, but time IS money. When I was growing up, my mom made healthy home-cooked meals because my dad could support a family on a single salary (with no college education). Today in most families, both parents are working full-time to generate the same standard of living and there is little time to make healthy food.

  23. Re:Won't work. on Cory Doctorow Says DIY Licensing Will Solve Piracy · · Score: 1

    DRM for the most part keeps the Honest honest.

    No, DRM annoys the Honest and is at most a minor inconvenience for the Dishonest.

  24. Re:Leap Forward? on IBM Computer Program To Take On 'Jeopardy!' · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'm sorry, that response is not in the form of a question.

  25. Re:So We Got... on The Woman Who Established Fair Use · · Score: 2, Interesting

    At least we go something. The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 gave copyright holders an extra 20 years, and we got nothing.