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User: jridley

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  1. Re:good investment? on Google's Free Satnav Outperforms TomTom · · Score: 1

    Maps. They're amazing technology, and they're free. Almost all of my driving is through rural areas, and 2 minutes looking at a map before I leave is generally all I need.

  2. Re:what? on Google's Free Satnav Outperforms TomTom · · Score: 3, Informative

    Uh, no. 15A at 12v isn't the same as 15A at 110v.

    15A at 12v is only 180 watts of power.

    15A at 110v is 1650 watts of power.

    However, you're correct, 180 watts is certainly far more than any cell phone uses, the GP post is clearly wrong. Cell phone batteries are typically something like a max of 1 amp hour at 3.2 volts. If the phone exceeded a 10A (conservative) at 12v draw, even in a worst case scenario where they are using an analog regulator to drop it to 5V charging current and therefore only harvesting 10A at 5V, that would mean that the phone could only run for a maximum of 6 minutes on a fully charged internal battery doing 3G. Actually it wouldn't work at all, because if you tried to draw 10 amps out of a 1 amp hour LiIon battery, it'd catch fire (or more likely, just pop a polyswitch and shut down your phone).

  3. Desperation on Adobe Putting PDF Reader In a Sandbox · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Honestly, give up on Adobe Reader. There are other options. FoxIt has about the same feature set, and CAN do all the dangerous boneheaded stuff like embedded javascript and external execution, but by default it's off, and the vast majority of people never need that stuff.

    On the skinny end there's Sumatra (too skinny for me, no browser plugin). At the other end is Nitro PDF, which has a TON of features even in the free version.

    Honestly, just take Adobe reader right off your machine. Do it now.

  4. Re:Or become real reporters. on Pay-Per-View Journalism Is Burning Out Reporters Young · · Score: 1

    Absolutely true. And yet, they're still doing better reporting than a hell of a lot of news sources.

  5. Re:Why bother?! on TI vs. Calculator Hobbyists, Again · · Score: 1

    We donated our TI calc that we had to buy for our daughter in high school (specific model required) to the high school, to loan out to students. If all those students have these calcs that they're never going to use again, why not donate them?

  6. Re:Totally agree on TI vs. Calculator Hobbyists, Again · · Score: 1

    It's too bad HP doesn't make real calculators anymore. All of them have that cursed = sign on them. They have an RPN mode, but I don't like that they even have an algebraic mode.

    I'd buy an older one off eBay but they're pretty expensive these days. I used to have an HP15 but I haven't seen it for years now (cry).

  7. Re:How long since you were in school? on TI vs. Calculator Hobbyists, Again · · Score: 1

    Heh, I graduated in 1982, and I was one of the few people who had a calculator. I think I paid > $50 for a 4 function calculator earlier in high school, for my senior year I bought an HP32E which I think set me back a couple hundred bucks. I worked more than a month to be able to buy it. I don't think it had any memory at all apart from the stack and the statistics registers.

    I wasn't allowed to use a calculator at all on tests in most classes. OK, I was a smart ass and brought in a slide rule, the physics instructor let me use it, I think because he thought it was funny. It was useful as a double-check.

  8. Re:id like to see on Data Centers Prepare for a Renewable Future · · Score: 1

    Yup, and that's the box I was talking about. I'd prefer for them to put together a low power PC and just leave it in the server room to do this for a whole floor at once.

  9. Re:This assumes... on Toyota Sudden Acceleration Is Driver Error · · Score: 2, Insightful

    have any of these types of accidents happened in the rest of the world? I don't recall hearing/reading about them.
    Either you're very young or you have a short memory. There have been many cases of sudden acceleration. There have even been other major cases involving Volvo and others going back to the 1980s when computers first started having significant engine control.

    In fact actual (less reported) cases go back decades; I'd suspect to when we started having automatic transmissions where it became easy to just stomp on the gas and have the car go. The difference now is that we have computers to blame it on, and people love to blame stuff on computers instead of their own incompetence.

    When the only thing between you and the engine is a piece of cable, and it can be clearly examined after the fact and shown to be not sticking, you don't have an out, it was your fault.

    I've been pretty sure that this was driver error for a long time. If you look at the demographics of who this happens to, it does NOT match those of the Toyota driver in general; it disproportionately affects inexperienced and elderly drivers. That's not direct evidence of course but it is an indicator that driver error is likely to be the cause.

  10. Re:id like to see on Data Centers Prepare for a Renewable Future · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I agree, it's pretty damned inefficient here. They build buildings with the cheapest construction techniques available, just basically a big metal semi-insulated crackerbox, then put 10,000 tons of A/C on the roof. There are 45,000 watts of fluorescent tubes just on this floor of our office building, and they're on for hours a day that are not necessary. I'd like to be able to turn my computer off, but every few days I need to access it remotely. I could do both if they'd deploy a little 50 watt wake-on-lan box, but nobody cares. I have asked about 10 times over the last 5 years for the "green team" to push for "put the monitors in power save mode after 30 minutes" to be the default on the standard desktop, but though they always say "that's a great idea" it never happens.

  11. This should be obvious... on Dell Says 90% of Recorded Business Data Is Never Read · · Score: 1

    to anyone aware of Sturgeon's Law. 90% of everything is crud.

  12. Re:I guess I'm old fashioned on Colleges Stepping Up Anti-Cheating Technology · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Yup. As I say, cheating is just admitting to yourself that you're not good enough to win on your own.

  13. Re:I say let them cheat on Colleges Stepping Up Anti-Cheating Technology · · Score: 1

    Good universities teach how to learn, far more than high school does.
    Bad universities teach how to pass tests, same as bad high schools (though since the creation of "no child left behind", all schools are becoming bad schools, or at least, none are excelling anymore. Better to call it "no child allowed to excel, because the school can't afford it").

  14. Re:Hmmm ... on Colleges Stepping Up Anti-Cheating Technology · · Score: 1

    Everyone in any kind of technical field is going to have to constantly renew their skills. Anyone who has a good working knowledge of current skills will be able to keep their skills up.

    God save me from people who got their degree from a purely theoretical background. We had a person on our team once that was hired in strictly on their resume - the first and only PhD we ever had on this team, and the only person ever hired in cold instead of being promoted from inside the company.

    Our team is 100% self-motivated - we assume you know what you're doing, and will ask for help as needed. You're given a set of assignments and set loose for months on end.

    That person went on to utterly cock up an entire product, quitting the job about a month before ship, leaving it in a half-assed state. He'd decided that the data structures weren't ideal and the design wasn't pretty (not object oriented, etc) so he was going to completely rewrite it. None of it worked when he left. After paying him tens of thousands of dollars over the course of several months, we just pretty much threw away everything he did. We pretty much shipped last year's product all over again.

  15. Duh on 'Forest Bathing' Considered Healthful · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I grew up on a farm, and the only people who had air conditioning were living in town. I didn't even know what allergies were; none of my friends or anyone in their family had them, until I started making friends with people who lived in town and had air conditioning and super clean houses. THEY had allergies.

  16. Re:Just burn a CD on Photo Kiosks Infecting Customers' USB Devices · · Score: 1

    Still need to install my OS from somewhere. I've had bad luck installing from USB thumb drives (as in, I can never get it to work). My last attempt was installing OpenSuSE and it failed to boot.

  17. Re:Meh on Seagate Releases 3TB External Drive for $250 · · Score: 1

    My RAID5 array is comprised of 1.5T drives, 7 of them. There's no easy way to fold 2T drives into that. 3Ts I could do if I switched to RAID6 and partitioned the 3T into two 1.5T partitions.

  18. Study done cold? on Reading E-Books Takes Longer Than Reading Paper Books · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It looks like they just handed an ereader to people who weren't necessarily familiar with them.

    My reading speed when I first got my reader was about the same as paper, probably a little slower. As I got used to it, I read faster and faster. After 2 years, my reading speed and comprehension on an ereader is much higher than it ever was with paper.

    Also take into account the fact that it's much easier to hold a reader than a paper book, and I don't ever have to hunt for a bookmark.

  19. Meh on Seagate Releases 3TB External Drive for $250 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Call me when price is comparable per GB to 1.5T drives. They're about $90, so when the 3T is $180, it starts to become interesting. I'd have to go to RAID 6 to fold 3Ts into my array of 1.5Ts though.

  20. Re:People who cheat should blame themselves, not F on Facebook, Friend of Divorce Lawyers · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Ummm, yeah, that's what marriage IS.

    Weird definition of marriage. I don't think marriage is only and strictly a pledge of monogamy. Marriage, strictly speaking, is a binding contract. Beyond that, it's up to the couple to define what it is. Marriage vows vary, even if held in a religious institution the official (minister) are fairly flexible about what the couple wants in the vows. I know a number of couples with open marriages; are they not married? Some have been married for decades and have kids and great relationships.

  21. Re:Poorly designed vehicle detectors on Traffic-Flow Algorithm Can Reduce Fuel Consumption · · Score: 1

    Please read the numerous replies to this argument above. Gas taxes pay for a miniscule amount of roads. Mostly roads are paid for by other taxes, which cyclists pay just as much of as car drivers, and cyclists are causing wear on the roads on the order of less than a hundredth of a percent as much as a passenger car, and require about 1/20th as much space on the roads, so in actuality, yes, cyclists are paying for a larger proportionate share of roads than car drivers do, by far.

  22. Damn... on Chatroulette Working On Genital Recognition Algorithm · · Score: 1

    There's a development project I definitely don't want to be in on. Testing that code would leave scars.

  23. Re:Poorly designed vehicle detectors on Traffic-Flow Algorithm Can Reduce Fuel Consumption · · Score: 1

    Gas taxes are almost exclusively used to pay for interstate roads, which bikes aren't allowed onto. Normal state and local roads are paid for out of non-gas-tax funds, which I pay as much as any car driver. Since a bike causes much less damage and demands much less space than a car, bicycle riders are actually paying more than their fair share of taxes to support the roads.

  24. Re:Wake on Lan? on Microsoft's Sleep Proxy Lowers PC Energy Use · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It probably is, but for instance I can't use WOL because it requires a packet that can't propagate through a router. I've thought in the past about setting up a machine on my subnet that I could poke via HTTP or whatever and make it send the wake packet to my PC, and anyone else could use it too. But since I'm probably the only person on my floor of the building that gives a crap about power consumption, it'd be silly to set up a 2nd machine running 24/7 so that I could turn mine off a few hours a day.

  25. I'll move when... on Time To Dump XP? · · Score: 1

    there's a single reason to. So far I haven't found anything that 7 can do that XP can't. I tried 7 for a month and eventually the GUI differences just drove me nuts. It worked well enough but there were things that it did that I couldn't stand and I couldn't change them.

    Finally I sat down to figure out what 7 gave me that XP didn't - and I couldn't think of a single thing.