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User: WhatDoIKnow

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Comments · 95

  1. Cause and effect? on Scientists Discover Link Between Trees and Electricity · · Score: 1

    Perhaps the trees are attracted to the high ion levels rather than the other way around.

  2. Re:No sensible, honest person would work for HP? on HP Explains Why Printer Ink Is So Expensive · · Score: 1

    Even HP hasn't solved the "evaporating in the printer" problem, nor have Epson or Canon. Leave an inkjet sit for 6 months or so and the cartridges will be useless.

  3. Re:x.org Has Crashed My Ubuntu Since v9.4 on Ubuntu LTS Experiences X.org Memory Leak · · Score: 1

    If you search the ubuntu forums you'll find plenty of threads complaining about intel graphics problems going back to 8.04. There are at least 2 PPA repositories with different xorg and kernel versions available that work to varying degrees to fix the problem, but nothing I'm aware of that works 100%. Previous posts notwithstanding, checking /var/log/syslog will often show intel video driver (i915) errors at the time of the crash. (Often more of a graphics system hang than a full system crash, console is usually still available but X hangs and cannot be restarted without a reboot) I'm not knowledgeable about all the hardware, but shouldn't it be possible to reset the graphics system somehow without a full reboot? I've experienced X hanging on my own laptop with intel 852/855, usually occurs during video playback.

  4. Re:Wrong Solution! on Japan To Standardize Electric Vehicle Chargers · · Score: 1

    Why not swap the whole car?

  5. Re:$400 Laptop on Why Are Digital Hearing Aids So Expensive? · · Score: 1

    That's funny, but there is a practical solution using the previously mentioned bluetooth transceivers. Carry your laptop with a microphone, run general purpose equalizer software set up to compensate for your particular hearing frequency deficiencies, and send the output to an over-the-ear bluetooth headset. Of course battery life may be a problem but it should last long enough for a job interview.

  6. It may remain a mystery. on Toyota's Engineering Process and the General Public · · Score: 1

    100 incidents out of millions of cars, each driven for years and thousands of miles... There is a good chance Toyota may NEVER discover the actual cause.

  7. Missing the point? on Sony Patents Game Demos With Feature Erosion · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I think the larger issue is not whether this is a good idea for a game demo, but why is an idea at this level of abstraction even patentable?

  8. Re:What might make more sense.... on UK Bill Would Outlaw Open Wi-Fi · · Score: 1

    So if a pickpocket steals a wallet from a patron inside a restaurant, the restaurant owner is liable?

  9. Re:Exponential Growth on Nano-Scale Robot Arm Moves Atoms With 100% Accuracy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You mean like in Cowboy Bebop the Movie?

  10. Another dealer profit center. on Augmented Reality To Help Mechanics Fix Vehicles · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I can't comment on military applications, but I do have 30 years experience in mobile equipment and vehicle maintenance and fleet management. Despite the OBD 2, the major vehicle producers are increasingly requiring proprietary information and specialized tools for what could be simple routine repairs and maintenance. The described system could be a boon to technicians but my cynical view is that it will just be turned into another income source for vehicle manufacturers and dealer service departments. On many cars now you can't even change a coolant hose without a substantial investment in a "hose fitting disconnect kit", let alone accessing any non-generic DTCs from OBD2 or CAN. And of course Ford, Honda, GM, Toyota etc. are all different.

  11. Re:survival of the hungry on Scientists Postulate Extinct Hominid With 150 IQ · · Score: 1

    No wonder women never post to /.

  12. Re:Strange question on BBC's Plan To Kick Open Source Out of UK TV · · Score: 2, Interesting

    That would apply to DRM on recorded media like a CD or DVD or one-way communication like old fashioned conventional broadcast TV. I don't know about the UK, but US cable providers, for instance, could certainly implement a DRM system that used for example public/private keys or some other type of separately delivered encryption key. Simply reverse-engineering such a system would not by itself allow playback of the encrypted stream.

  13. Re:Less that 20 second reboot. on Ksplice Offers Rebootless Updates For Ubuntu Systems · · Score: 1

    If you're using jaunty it's pretty likely rebooting will be required about once a day anyway, so I agree, it is pointless.

  14. Re:Why a secret ballot? on Sequoia Disclosing Voting System Source To DC · · Score: 3, Insightful

    No one is getting executed or persecuted based on their vote.

    You think maybe that's because the vote is secret?

  15. Re:The slashdot effect strikes again on A Look Back At the World's First Netbook · · Score: 4, Informative
  16. Please let's not exclude my personal favorite, on The Best Robots of 2008 · · Score: 2, Funny

    the Adrienne Barbeaubot

  17. Re:Your Goal: One Second or Less on Ubuntu 9.04 Daily Build Boots In 21.4 Seconds · · Score: 1

    If the server doesn't respond in 10 seconds, it's not going to respond

    Unless maybe you are connected to the internet over cell phone based broadband .

  18. Re:Don't see how it's worth the main page. on Ubuntu 9.04 Daily Build Boots In 21.4 Seconds · · Score: 1

    I also don't see what the big deal is for a 20-some second boot to LOGIN MANAGER! I have an old 1.4Ghz Pentium M notebook with an equally old hard drive and and it boots ubuntu 8.04 to gdm login in about 25 seconds. (I must admit that this was with a little tweaking, in a fresh install as I recall it was in the low thirty second range)

  19. Four times what? on Netbook Return Rates Much Higher For Linux Than Windows · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Four times higher? That could mean 4 in a thousand are returned instead of 1 in a thousand. Doesn't really mean much without knowing the absolute percentages.

  20. Once open devices are allowed on OMG Did U C What U R Paying 4 Texting? · · Score: 1

    on Verizon and other networks, we can implement a method to encode text messages in a voice call, using only our free minutes!

  21. Re:UK definately dropped the sauser on this one... on Combined Hovercraft and Helicopter · · Score: 1
  22. Re:solution for everyone else on SETI Finally Finds Something · · Score: 1

    And while you're at it, have it email you any of the thief's credit card numbers it can determine.

    :wq

  23. Re:I have a translation process constantly running on Translation of Macrovision Response to Jobs on DRM · · Score: 1

    Well, like the old saying goes, "If you're not part of the solution you're not dissolved in the solvent."

    :wq

  24. Space Potatos? on Space Potato Hits the Streets · · Score: 1

    No doubt they are on their way to a secret rendezvous with mooninites in Boston.

    :wq

  25. Obviously, on DNA to Test Theory of Roman Village in China · · Score: 1

    descendants of these war-mongering westerners were responsible for development and testing of the Chinese anti-satellite weapon.

    :wq