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User: Nit+Picker

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Comments · 106

  1. Re:Question on Tatooine-like Planet Discovered · · Score: 1

    There has been some speculation that women's cycles evolved to have a 28 day period and sync with the moonlight so as to provide a less than totally dark time for sex, allowing the couple to be alert for predators.

    I have no idea how seriously this is taken by those who study such things--it seems a bit of a reach to me.

  2. Firewire on O'Reilly Builds a MythTV Box · · Score: 1

    See link in previous comment to yours, page 50. It actually says IEEE 1394.

  3. Does Your DSL Provider Have a Name? on PC World's ISP Service Rankings, as of June 2005 · · Score: 1

    Sharing that name with us would reward the ISP with more business and perhaps help us select a good provider. (Also, how much does "telecommute/soho class" cost?)

  4. ItsJust That the Point of Sharing is Different on PC World's ISP Service Rankings, as of June 2005 · · Score: 1

    Cable internet access is shared on the cable running along the street. DSL is separate until it gets back to the DSLAM, either at the Central Office or at a box between you and the Central Office. If the DSLAM has too many heavy users, performance can degrade. The ISP can control this by providing adequate bandwidth from the DSLAM to the internet backbone, just as the cable can limit the number of subscribers on a given section of cable.

  5. Wrong on Water Problems on U.S. Offers Glimpse at Manhattan Project Facility · · Score: 1

    "Clark's Park" (actually Clark Center Park) has a swimming area and you can fish and swim all you wish. The restricted water is on the East Fork of Popular Creek, which originates in the plant and flows through town. The major concern is actually mercury, not radiation.

  6. Re:sudden resignation - the reason on Quark CEO Abruptly Resigns · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I have mixed feelings about this. Everyone has a right to privacy in health matters, but when someone suddenly resigns or is hospitalized and there is no explanation, many (myself included) assume a very negative happening. When I first read the story, I wondered if he was involved in some sort of fraud that the company didn't want to prosecute. Similarly, when a co-worker was suddenly hit with a brain aneurysm (from which he recovered) and there was a great mystery about why he was absent, several of us assumed he had gone in for treatment for alcoholism.

    I can understand him wanting not to advertise the nature of his disease, but a smarter action would be to announce a resignation for "health reasons." Even that would cause some of us to suspect mental illness, but most of us would accept it without further explanation, assuming heart dissease or some other common, less private illness.

  7. Coumadin on London Nuke Plant Loses 30 Kilos of Plutonium · · Score: 1

    Actually, coumadin doesn't contain arsenic. The sodium salt, a commonly used formulation, is
    C19H15NaO4.

    Your basic point, however, that the main danger of Pu is inhalation, is correct.

  8. Liquifaction of Hydrogen on Hydrogen Buses In Iceland · · Score: 1

    Actually, above the critical temperature of about 33K, hydrogen cannot be liquified at any pressure.

  9. Wavelet Patents on Breakthrough In JPEG Compression · · Score: 1

    So when do some of these patents start expiring?

  10. Mod Parent Up on Regional Bells Blocking Broadband Competition · · Score: 1

    I wish someone would disclose how much the ISP's pay for DSL service which they resell to the public. All I ever hear is this crap about "below cost." "Cost" is a very flexible term, and without some indication of the accounting policies for shared expenses, it is meaningless.

  11. 1 Gig? on Steve Ballmer's $100 PC, Sans Windows · · Score: 1

    Is that with one gig or capable of holding one gig?

  12. Can someone run with this? on Microsoft Patents 'IsNot', Enlists WTO · · Score: 1

    IANAPL, but I seem to recall that after a patent approved by the Patent Office but before it is finally granted, there is a comment period (maybe 60 days) where it is published, and any member of the public can present evidence against it without paying fees or such.

    The two examples would seem to be prior art for claim 1.

    Claim 2 should be an obvious refinement of prior art, and I suspect the other claims would be as well.

  13. What does Sender ID add to SPF? on Sender-ID Back From The Dead · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Could someone please point me to a brief explanation of what Sender ID gives you that SPF doesn't. I thought they both just allowed you to verify that the "From" header line is consistent with the IP that the mail originates from.

  14. Better Yet,--Where do you get cheap cases? on Sneak Preview of VIA's next-gen mini-ITX mobo · · Score: 1

    Whenever I have looked for a case specifically designed for a Mini-ITX, they have been much higher than mini-tower ATX cases.

  15. Re:Slightly OT: Where is CDMA explained?. on China Developing own Standards · · Score: 1

    Thanks. That is exactly what I was looking for. I need to use Wikipedia more often.

  16. Slightly OT: Where is CDMA explained?. on China Developing own Standards · · Score: 1

    Is there a web site that tells how CDMA works? When I have searched for a technical explanation I have mostly gotten discussions on who is using it, acronyms for the various flavors, etc. but nothing that gives me any idea of what radio signals are transmitted and how they are received.

  17. Assuming SCO Loses... on IBM Files For Declaratory Judgement In SCO Case · · Score: 1

    Companies like this will serve a a basis for assessing damages against it for a false claim.

  18. Is Inductrak Much Happening on This? on Chinese MagLev Train Opens Next Week · · Score: 1

    A Google search shows that the patents were awarded in October last year, but I couldn't find much recent activity. Most of the work seems to date to 2000.

  19. Better Link on How Much Broadband Usage is Too Much? · · Score: 1
  20. AUP May be Vague on How Much Broadband Usage is Too Much? · · Score: 1

    Broadband reports has been reporting that Comcast has cut off people for violating unspecified download caps while to refusing to state a clear bandwidth limit.

  21. In My System the CPU Fan Put Out Most of the Noise on AMD Aircooling Round-Up of 2003 · · Score: 2, Informative

    I replaced my PS, blindly assuming that it was the source of the extremely loud fan noise on a 1.4Ghz Athlon system. There was almost no change, so I tried the machine with the case off, and determined that the CPU fan was loud. I replaced it with a Thermaltake, and immediately noticed a huge drop in noise.

  22. Isn't Cerf the One Who Predicted the Net Crashing on Vint Cerf on the Future of the Net · · Score: 2, Interesting

    For several years running? But not in this article.

  23. This Applies to Music, but not to News on Satellite Radio Subscriptions Rising · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If your interests in music fit in a small miche, you may be better served by CD's. That doesn't work for news, hovever.

  24. So Give a Good Reference for Understanding X on What Might UserLinux Look Like? · · Score: 1

    Even better, give several of varying depth.

  25. Huh? on Mars Attacked, 65 Years Ago Today · · Score: 1

    I thought Earth was attacked by Mars.