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User: CagedBear

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  1. How is this an introduction to anything? on Open Source Hardware Gets Public Introduction · · Score: 1

    "Here are detailed circuit diagrams of our products -- modify them as you wish."

    Wasn't this commonplace for electronics until about 30 years ago? How about automobiles today? You can purchase wiring diagrams for your car, either direct from the manufacture or from a third party. Is your Volvo open source?

    It's neat that they include schematics, but I suggest the term open source be reserved for source code.

  2. Re:Beware health insurance implications on $999 For a Complete DNA Scan, Worth it? · · Score: 1

    Who said you are obligated to share it with your health insurance company?

  3. Mirroring on Best Home Network NAS · · Score: 1

    Why add the additional point of failure? Or was I supposed to buy 2 identical RAID cards for when one failed and it turned out the array it built isn't compatible with anything except the exact same device with the exact same firmware revision?
    This is true for RAID 0 or RAID 5. RAID 1 "mirroring" just writes the same data twice. You can break a mirrored array anytime and have two copies of the data. This is the way to go for home use.
  4. Re:And why is this a problem? on US Can't Meet The "Grand Challenges" of Physics · · Score: 1

    It does not really matter who is doing it as long as it gets done.
    That's fine until you start talking weapons. I know our (U.S.) gov't has it's faults, but I'd much rather the flying tanks and robotic soldiers be parked at Fort Drum rather than on a boat, locked and loaded, heading this way.
  5. No way... on Astronaut to Run the Boston Marathon From Space · · Score: 1

    ... could I run a marathon on that treadmill. No cup holder for my beer!

  6. Re:Inefficient use of human body on Using Gym Rats' Body Power to Generate Electricity · · Score: 2, Informative

    I bet you can save a lot more energy and pollution from exercising by getting wood
    I grew up in a house that had no heat except for wood. We cut up tree tops left behind by loggers and dropped any trees that didn't look healthy or were in a cluster.

    It was good excercise, but also incredibly dangerous and we created pollution in the process. Chainsaws, tractor, log splitter, etc. I can't imagine cutting wood without these machines. At least not for the big farm house we lived in. I guess that's why the little house on the prarie was so damn small.
  7. Re:according to what research? on Visual Basic on GNU/Linux · · Score: 1

    It may be used in a lot of .com shops, but for the rest of us who work for a living, C is pretty much the norm.
    Just out of curiousity, what industry do you work in?
    In most shops that support business activity, C is rare but you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a VB6 or .NET app.
  8. Re:Well.. on Global Warming Only a Theory, Says School Board · · Score: 1
    I can't be certain, but somehow I doubt the bible says anything specific about vasectomies. Condoms probably don't get much play either though.
    So true. It actually says "don't have sex but if you must, get married first". I never could figure how that got turned into "Birth control is evil. Having lots of kids then depending on your neighbors to support them is ok".
  9. Re:Do they mean a cluster on Year of the Mainframe? Not Quite, Say Linux Grids · · Score: 1

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_cluster
    Grid computing or grid clusters are a technology closely related to cluster computing. The key differences between grids and traditional clusters are that grids connect collections of computers which do not fully trust each other, and hence operate more like a computing utility than like a single computer. In addition, grids typically support more heterogeneous collections than are commonly supported in clusters.

    I would also add that failover clusters are very common in businesses of all sizes to improve uptime of an application. Grids and high performance clusters are used for speciality purposes and not nearly as common.

  10. Re:God, I hope so... on What Will Happen in IT in 2007? · · Score: 1
    That's like saying Getting a medical degree is too difficult for the majority of stupid people, let's lower the requirements and "make it easy"(tm) so that they can all graduate with honors.
    I have to disagree with this analagy. An operating system is a tool, nothing more. People who work in the IT field, need to know the tools inside and out. The rest of the world, just need to operate it. Your doctor doesn't need to know metalurgy to use a scalpel any more than he should have to understand Linux to use an online physician's desk reference.
  11. Re:Neither on Plasma or LCD? · · Score: 1

    Actually you can improve picture quality quite a bit from 1983 by just upgrading to a flat screen CRT. Just as with the computer monitors. Plenty of used ones for cheap now that everyone is buying flat panels.

  12. Re:What bubble? on Has the Desktop Linux Bubble Burst? · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It does solve one problem. Lowering costs. Linux coupled with slightly outdated hardware provides the means to give someone access to a free (as in beer) computer. It's especially true now that flat panels have taken over and used CRT monitors are everywhere.

    OTOH, I once heard a business professor say that competing on price alone is not a sound business strategy. If the Linux install base grows enough, MS is going to counter by giving away Windows in certain situations.

  13. Re:Why all those big engines on Americans Drove Less in 2005 · · Score: 1

    How do you Europeans redecorate your homes anyway? I live in an old farm house and have a full-size pickup for hauling away the junk (old shingles, siding, etc) and bringing home the new stuff. For several years I tried to do this with a small pickup (Nissan) and it just didn't work. I had to make three times as many trips.

    Side note: When I go to work I drive a car and leave the truck home. So I don't really see how owning the truck is contributing to the problem.

  14. It's always "move to the city" on Americans Drove Less in 2005 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    People move away from the city to raise a family. Most people can't afford to raise children in or just outside the city while ensuring they grow up in a safe environment. Until you can make American cities child friendly (good luck), it's not going to work.

  15. Bush re-election on Iraq Study Group Reaches Concensus · · Score: 1
    We are there, right now, regardless of why, and whether or not you did support/would have supported the invasion. Let's get past that and talk about what to do now to try and make the best of this.
    This is the exact point that got Bush re-elected. So every 4 years we should just get past it, work together and vote republican?
  16. Re:Canadians not-sued on Universal Wants a Slice of Apple's iPod Pie · · Score: 1

    Good beer, good ice fishing, sensible copyright laws...

    Remind me why I still live south of the border?

  17. Re:Obligatory on Ancient Astronomical Computer Decoded · · Score: 1

    only if you re-compile under 53 bit

  18. Re:Little Environmentalists on Politics and 'An Inconvenient Truth' · · Score: 1
    Instead of college-prep chemistry, most of the textbook was filled with text and pictures (rather than equations and homework problems) about protecting the environment.
    That's not chemistry, it's environmental science. I remember high school offering both. One for the college bound track and one for a general diploma. Are you sure it wasn't added as a new class and your teacher just wasn't happy about having a class full of trouble makers?

    Or perhaps they dropped chemistry due to budget cuts. Wouldn't surprise me.
  19. Re:But.... on Reading Your Postal Mail Online · · Score: 1

    It's all in the article. They scan the front of the mail without opening it. Then you decide if you want them to open it or just forward it on.

    Obviously this will create unnecessary delay for the average homebody. They are targeting people who are on the road a lot and usually have to wait until they get home or rely on a neighbor to check their mail.

  20. Re:Checks? on Reading Your Postal Mail Online · · Score: 1

    Mail forwarding is one of the features of the service. After reviewing the check online, you can have it sent to your house, your office, your hotel, the Dali Lama, whatever you want.

  21. Re:How is this different on Archiving Digital Data an Unsolved Problem · · Score: 1

    We are also assuming they will have an ample supply of electricity. Without it, magnetic and digital media is completely worthless. Even if they have power after a long period of darkness due to environmental catastrophe, war, etc, where will they get the plans to build machines to read the media?

    I think this needs to be a two step process. 1. Try to decide what is the most important information and make hard copies on a media designed to resist decay, water and fire. 2. Store the rest of it on a single type of media and include hard copy plans of how to build machines to read and decode it.

  22. Re:Why doesn't anybody do the easy thing? on Global Warming Debunked? · · Score: 1

    Here in the northeast we have the moisture for it. Shame a large percentage of the farms have been turned into developments and shopping malls. It's tough to plant in a Wal-Mart parking lot. Biomass could have saved the family farm had there been a market 30 years ago.

  23. Re:Wonderful on Viral Fossil Brought Back To Life · · Score: 1
    created at the surface and falls down, and through the center, eating a little bit of matter on the way down, then back up the other side, then down again, and up, and down, and up
    "wakka wakka wakka wakka wakka wakka"
  24. Re:Moo on Viral Videos That Really Are Viral · · Score: 1

    Breaking news: 11 o'clock news video about viruses infected with virus. Video at 12.

  25. Re:Google Groups? on RentACoder Losing Street Cred? · · Score: 1
    Discussion on Google Groups? It looks like it was on USENET to me. alt.computer.consultants to be specific. Has it come to this?
    Yes, yes it has. What's funny is when someone shows off their internet knowledge by declaring "Google groups used to be Deja News".

    Mention USENET in that conversation and let the blank stares begin.