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User: Wrathernaut

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  1. Re:I don't own a television on Futurama Returns · · Score: 4, Insightful

    As Bender (Staying on topic) would say: Wrong. How many scandals have erupted based on "biased" reporting on Fox? Now count how many happened during the elections by "Mainstream media" as you put it? Dan Rather anyone? That said, I am writing this from Iraq. I work intel at the multi-national corps level. The only station that comes close to reporting what's going on over here accurately is Fox. It's still pathetic liberal bias in the media does to the news.

  2. Re:Not Troll, I Swear on Automatix Kicks Ubuntu into Gear · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Actually, the Click OK part isn't necessary with the Ubuntu (and many other distro's) Live CD. All I need to do is put the CD in and reboot. After 3-4min (slow cd-boot) I'm at the Gnome desktop, my sound works, my (wired) network is working. I can run OpenOffice to write up a document, open up the web-browser, open my webmail account and mail it out. I can play a dozen variations of solitare. I can do this without going through a single program installation process nor a single registration form to fill out (provided you already have a webmail account). This is 90% of what "non-computer" people do with their system. The current generations of cars have plastic covers under the hood nowadays. We leave the administration/maintenance to the professionals. Linux is like that. Users click on icons in menus or the desktop to run programs. You use the keyboard to type a report or e-mail. The internet works like the internet. You put in a CD and it plays. So long as that happens, non-computer people don't know or care if it's windows or linux or OSX.

  3. Re:Yes. on Is Visual Basic a Good Beginner's Language? · · Score: 1

    Exactly my situation. I'm not a programmer, I make VB scripts/macros/programs that are required for the re-formatting of word documents that come from multiple sources. Different spellings, fonts, line spacing, control characters, all done pretty easily with visual basic. I never read a book on it. I never had a class on it. These macros are saving my section at least a couple of man-hours (and much sanity) every day. Yes, I have to create work arounds for limitations within visual basic, and it's not the fastest program either, but if this language didn't exist, I'd be categorically insane right now. I am tempted to move up to a real programming language, but even if I could create a nice "real" program it wouldn't interface with MS Word 2003 seamlessly, with a simple toolbar, without requiring Admin rights to install. VB is a great starter language the way Legos lead to carpentry.

  4. Did we forget... on Symantec Users, Start Your Keyloggers · · Score: 2, Interesting

    A couple of things of note I haven't seen addressed:

    Why not just remove the text from incoming packets, leaving the rest intact?
    If the purpose of your software is to keep malware off the computer, why the **** do you need this feature in the first place?

    Programming may be tough to learn, but common sense appears to be impossible.

  5. Re:The good and bad on Digital Books Start A New Chapter · · Score: 1

    Yes, $400 is pretty daunting, however, have you priced a set of college books lately? This would pay for itself in a couple of semesters (barring any price gouging by the school). Considering the proliferation of peer-to-peer withing college campuses, I can't see it being long before you can .torrent any of your required books.

    As for requiring the ability to write in them, buy yourself a small hard-cover notebook (~$5) or a scratch pad. It's much easier to keep organized notes on a full-sized sheet anyway.

  6. Re:Quake 1 on Games That Keep You Coming Back? · · Score: 1

    Not to mention, 600FPS on my laptop!

  7. Obligatory... on China to Build World's First "Artificial Sun" · · Score: 1

    In Soviet Russia, fusion reactors built you!

  8. Re:How can you not have spyware? on Is Obsolescence Good Computer Security? · · Score: 1

    I've seen more spyware on dial-up connections than broadband. It may be biased, since those who would endure a 56k connection are the same guys who think a pop-up that says you're infected and to download software X to fix it.

    Besides that "error at the keyboard" there is the unwillingness to wait for the software patches to download.

    My wife's grandmother only plugged in her laptop about once/month in order to use dial-up and get pictures the e-mailed to her (which she had been notified by phone that they were waiting for her). She had 6 pieces of spyware! She used AOL. She only clicked on the you've got mail button. That was ALL she did on the internet.

    The dial-up works slow enough that you just assume it's slower than normal whenever the spyware's doing it's thing. If something is eating my bandwidth on broadband, I know it, and won't blame line conditions or an incoming call.

    Don't forget economy of time either. Even if you're on for just an hour/day, bring a stopwatch and pay yourself minimum wage for the time you are watching a page or file download progress bar to load. You'll find that the time you save doing the same thing is definitely worth an extra $20-30/month.

  9. Re:I prefeer a Tadpole Bullfrog Dual Processor on Dual-core Athlon 64 X2 Laptop Reviewed · · Score: 1

    I have had the "joy" of working on one of those, the system itself was great, but the software we had on top of it was terrible. Lowest bidder *sigh*.

  10. Not so Fast on Ramp Creates Power As Cars Pass · · Score: 1

    They say in the article that you cannot even feel the bump from inside the vehicle. They may be some exaggeration there, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, and assume that you cannot use it as a jump if you're on a light moped. Based on this, the following assumes that the ramp requires less force to push down than your vehicles suspension. You have noticed that your vehicle pitches forward when you brake, right? your suspension will experience *LESS* wear (based on the aforementioned assumption) since the force will be applied to both front and rear wheels - instead of pitching forward, which would stress the front suspension more greatly. This, combined with the reduced brake pad and rotor wear, and the reduction of stresses placed on other components during braking, should actually reduce the cost of maintenance. They would definitely be a good idea on off-ramps, or if they only pop-up at red lights. If they're up when it's green as well, then yes, it is additional wear placed on your suspension system, albiet slight, if they are as smooth as they claim. While they would be terribly inefficient in terms of power generation from gasoline, it's better than the power generated by non-regenerative braking.