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User: bigtrike

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  1. Re:Not new... but also inevitable. on Sealed-Box Macs: Should Computers Be Disposable? · · Score: 1

    Special tools were required to open the original Mac and removing the mainboard required extreme care to avoid breaking the back of the display. There were CPU accelerators available which clipped on top of the CPU. The SE/30 did have an expansion slot, so perhaps you didn't need a foot long torx wrench and case cracker to swap the SIMMs out.

  2. Which javascript? on Google Employees Find 60 Security Holes In Adobe Reader · · Score: 3

    The javascript you can add to the PDF through a GUI or the javascript that you can embed into hex strings when writing a PDF file? The files are a hacky mix of text and binary. Some data types define their length, others have insane rules for end markers and escaping. Hex strings were originally pretty easy, but then they decided that they'd add javascript support into the parsing so you can constants that vary conditionally on the PDF version number. On top of that, you practically have to build a run time to render the PDF because of the complexity of its nested viewport stacks and viewport modifications that can be executed at any time in the PDF.

    If that wasn't enough, they made it way more complicated when they hacked in support for JetForms (now known as LiveCycle), which is an XML language with poorly thought out data types and full of rendering hints that would be really useful if the documentation said more than "ignore these if you're not Adobe". If you want to save a PDF created with LiveCycle that a reader other than Acrobat can read, it's saved in both forms, resulting in a file that's 3x the size of a PDF.

  3. As long as your hardware is common and old on Linux Is a Lemon On the Retina MacBook Pro · · Score: 1

    I've never had a newest model Dell server (very common) work with a distribution considered to be stable. Even the slightly older ones require very new kernels and binary drivers to support their broadcom nics, raid controllers, etc.

  4. Re:Faith of Nigeria on The Strange Nature of the Nigerian App Market · · Score: 1

    If they mix with other fabrics, they'll definitely end up in hell.

    "Deuteronomy 22:11 Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woolen and linen together."

  5. Re:419 Scam? on The Strange Nature of the Nigerian App Market · · Score: 2

    Wouldn't that only apply to sects that believe in sola scriptura? I've only been educated in one of the religions mentioned, and the basic education had to do a lot more with tradition, ritual, and culture more than purely biblical studies.

  6. Conservation of angst on After 60 Years, a Room-Temperature Maser · · Score: 1, Insightful

    This may drain all of the angst out of the entire school, altering youth forever.

  7. Re:For those of us who develop on Flash... on Adobe Officially Kills New Flash Installations On Android · · Score: 1

    Agreed. Flash's biggest enemy is Adobe. Until sandboxing, if you wanted any sort of stability in your web browser you had to run flashblock or just uninstall it entirely. Aside the from the instability, it also tended to take over an entire core (thankfully it couldn't scale to a second core), so your computer would slow a little, your fans would spin up, and you'd witness your battery drain very quickly. If the runtime wasn't such a piece of garbage, I think it would have seen much more usage.

  8. Tear down that straw man on US Freezes Nuclear Power Plant Permits Because of Waste Issues · · Score: 2

    And while we're making uninformed blanket statements, I'll say that "nuke lovers" have never witnessed what happens when sodium mixes with water and have no idea how corrosive steam can be. Add a bunch of plutonium into the mix (radioactivity causes metals to become brittle over time) and you've got a disaster waiting to happen. You don't want to be anywhere near one of these if the sodium/water heat exchanger in a PRISM type reactor develops a leak. And since you've probably never worked as an engineer in the nuclear field, you probably have no idea that we're still learning about the behaviors of materials under these conditions.

  9. Not limited to Chicago politicians on US Freezes Nuclear Power Plant Permits Because of Waste Issues · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Disenfranchising is nothing new and definitely not limited to the Chicago machine (which Obama was only minimally a part of). Bush ran a particularly dirty campaign in 2000. For example, Rove's people called a bunch of voters suggesting that McCain had an illegitimate vietnamese child to win the primary (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push_poll#Political_push_polls:_United_States ) Then a bunch of paid GOP staffers were responsible for starting a riot that stopped the recount in 2000: http://archive.democrats.com/images/miamirioters.jpg
    This has been going on long before Obama: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_suppression#Examples_of_voter_suppression_in_the_United_States

  10. A lot less than would have historically on For Much of the World, Demand For Water Outstrips Supply · · Score: 1

    A small percentage compared to those that would migrate if nobody was stopping them.

  11. The energy is stored in the phase change on Existing Solar Tech Could Power Entire US, Says NREL · · Score: 1

    Salt has a heat of fusion of 30 kJ/mol, allowing molten salt to store quite a bit of energy.

  12. Re:Cut military spending. on US Navy Admiral Questions Expensive Stealth Platforms · · Score: 1

    So you're saying we're going to be overrun by barbarians from the north?

  13. When can I get a Nexus 6? on Google Delays Nexus Q Launch, Pre-Orders Get It Free · · Score: 1

    Who cares about the Nexus Q, I want a Nexus 6.

  14. Papieren, Bitte on Is Phoenix the Next Silicon Valley? · · Score: 0

    If you haven't done anything wrong, you have nothing to fear from the police state of Arizona.

  15. Sensible to who? on Would You Trust an 80-Year-Old Nuclear Reactor? · · Score: 1

    Current technologies for reprocessing fuel are very dangerous and extremely expensive. It only works in France due to the huge government subsidies, and last I heard they're considering suspending operations. Even if you ignore the fact that some of the plutonium will get lost, it still doesn't make sense economically.

  16. Re:Standard connectors? LOL you wish! on Reports Say Apple Is Shrinking Its Docking Connector With iPhone 5 · · Score: 1

    No, it has analog too. That makes it relatively cheap for device makers to add an iphone dock.

  17. What time are you driving at? on Will Speed Limits Inhibit Autonomous Car Adoption? · · Score: 1

    The only time I see people doing that speed on any of the highways in the city is very late at night. Otherwise, traffic moves mostly at 40-50mph.

  18. Re:X-rays on Full-Body Airport Scanners Downsizing For Doctors/Dentists · · Score: 1

    We've known that lead is poisonous for about 2,000 years.

  19. Re:Great. Where are my cheap solar panels? on US Energy Transportation Network Gets Multibillion-Dollar Revamp · · Score: 1

    I could have sworn that us companies got more than $0 in drilling rights in Iraq, but you are suggesting otherwise. Would you prefer that the solar power companies and everyone else get the same tax reduction as well?

  20. Re:Great. Where are my cheap solar panels? on US Energy Transportation Network Gets Multibillion-Dollar Revamp · · Score: 2

    Oil field privatization in IRAQ due to war spending, CIA coups to overthrow leaders that interfere with US owned oil interests. Oh, also the tax breaks for exploration: http://www.us.kpmg.com/microsite/taxnewsflash/2012/Jun/061812%20GG%20and%20IDC%20Part%20II.pdf

  21. Re:When will we realize... on Arizona H-1B Workers Advised to Carry Papers At All Times · · Score: 1

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/23/AR2010042305508.html

    My conclusion based on this limited data point is that illegal immigrants were shooting your non-illegal immigrant rapists. It's just as valid as your 9 murders to 4 murders conclusion.

  22. Re:When will we realize... on Arizona H-1B Workers Advised to Carry Papers At All Times · · Score: 2

    "The number of reported rapes increased the most last year, doubling from 28 cases reported in 2008 to 57"

    So apparently illegal immigrants stop rape?

  23. Re:When will we realize... on Arizona H-1B Workers Advised to Carry Papers At All Times · · Score: 1

    Joe Arpaio's grandparents broke the law and entered the country illegally, but that kind of helps your point since he doesn't really respect law either.

  24. Re:Why would they wear space suits? on Creating Budget Space Suits For the Private Space Industry · · Score: 1
  25. He's right on Bloomberg, WSJ: Student Aid Increases Tuition · · Score: 1

    The military is in effect subsidizing doctors. They give people an education and expect them to pay it back with future service.
    Would Ron Paul have been a doctor without this subsidy?