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User: infidel13

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Comments · 71

  1. Re:Superiority of the Free Market. on Internet Connectivity Outside of the United States · · Score: 1

    According to Verizon's site, speeds max out at 30 mb/s, and that's at a $179.99 per month.

  2. Re:Don't destroy the evidence, let them do it for on P2P Defendant Destroys Evidence, Case Defaults · · Score: 1

    Except that the plaintiff would sue for their legal fees (including having the lawyers hire data-recovery folks) and you'd eat that bill, too.

  3. Re:RTFA, WTF? on Under the Hood of Quantum Computing · · Score: 1
    Superconductors are the only type of material that we know of where big lithographically defined devices (like really big. Like centimeter on a side big.) can be built that behave just like they were atomic-sized. The reason for this behavior is highly technical - is has to do with the types of particles in the material. In a superconductor all of the "particles" that carry charge around can exist in the exact same state, so when you look at a whole lot of these particles (many trillions) it can be just like looking at only one (which is "very quantum mechanical").
    From this paragraph, it almost looks like the processor uses Bose-Einstein condensates - hence the reference at the end to "like looking at only one," since BECs (which, I might add, have to be cooled to cryogenic temperatures) essentially behave like giant atoms. Here's a link: Bose Einstein Condensates.
  4. Proof of Immunity? on First Phase of AIDS Vaccine Trials Successful · · Score: 3, Interesting

    According to the article, "The recipients appeared immune to the HIV-1 virus 15 days after the injection." Maybe someone can help with this, but how do you test immunity with fatal illnesses? Obviously you can't simply expose the subjects to the pathogen causing the disesase (not ethically, anyway). Does anyone in a medical field happen to know how this works?

  5. Re:"Waiter! There's a virus on my steak!" on Viruses the New Condiment · · Score: 1

    A bacteriophage would be hard-pressed to mutate into something that could cause disease in humans.

  6. RIAA Education on Teens Don't Think CD Copying is a Crime · · Score: 2, Informative

    This just in: in a remarkable show of cooperation between the **IA and the public education system, elementary schoolers are now taught how to recognize copyright infringement at home and in public and report it to the **IA for legal action. Says one local child, "I'm so glad my teacher told us about those evil pirates. And now my parents listen when I ask them for something...." taking a page from George Orwell.

  7. ABC Scenario? on TiVo to Measure Ad-Skipping · · Score: 1

    Anyone remember the ABC Discussions? Since ad-skipping is one of the main selling-points of TiVo equipment, I doubt they would go so far as to do that, but the lurking spectre of more authoritarian media enforcement never really goes away. Then again, maybe they want to sell the data to advertisers to generate some extra cash.

  8. Historical Parallel on Another Ornithopter Takes Off · · Score: 1

    Did anyone else notice that the flight lasted about the same time as that of the Wright Brothers' aircraft at Kitty Hawk?

  9. Re:Killer Mania! on SUSE Linux Enterprise 10, a Closer Look · · Score: 1

    Let's all just face it - no competing OS is going to kill the ones from Microsoft, because their business model is to attempt to give people as little choice as possible in deciding what OS goes on their new computer. Coupling that with the fact that their monopoly status ensures that developers looks to Windows first and other last (or, more often, not at all), and you have a self-perpetuating monopoly with no end in sight.

    People often post that it is only because of consumer stupidity that Microsoft products continue to succeed. I beg to differ - many people honestly don't care that much about their computers. They just want them to work, and when they have to deal with aftermarket OSes and Open Source software rather than going to the nearest big-box store and buying something off the shelf, they get a bit put off. There is never going to come a time when the barely capable and/or apathetic computer users cast off their consumer shackles and come in hordes to LINUX. It's time to wake up and smell the coffee.

  10. Re:Flag Burning on How Washington Will Shape the Internet · · Score: 1

    This is all just a bunch of shameless demagoguery - apparently political tactics haven't changed since the days of Adolf Hitler. I think propaganda recognition should be added to school curriculum, so people can learn to recognize the crap that gets flung at them and quit falling for it every single election year. Of course that will never happen, because curriculum is decided by (drum roll please) THE GOVERNMENT!

  11. Motives? on SEC Launches Take-Two Investigation · · Score: 1

    Perhaps someone is trying to turn their stock into worthless paste. I'm sure there are plenty of people in government who would love to be morality police.

  12. Re:I tip my hat to those brave men (or women) on Astronauts Pull Off Risky Spacewalk · · Score: 1

    I would think that it would be less painful to die of suffocation or asphyxia than depressurization - that's just plain ghastly.

  13. Re:who supports land mines ? on Networked Landmines Work Together · · Score: 1

    Oh yes, because India and China, which are both set to overtake the US economy rather soon, are "third world countries and banana republics".

  14. Metallurgy on FBI Foils Attack by Monitoring Chat Rooms · · Score: 1

    Cast iron steel?

  15. Re:INDEPNDANT DRM on RIAA Claims P2P Has Been Contained · · Score: 1

    Oh yeah - let's all give them ideas why don't we. Someone there is probably a /.er.

  16. Re:Not sure how this works on Capacitors to Replace Batteries? · · Score: 1
    This could make electric motors for cars more fesible, as well as replace batteries in electric appliances like laptops.

    Just think of what it would do for iPod battery life!
  17. NSA is integrating on NSA To Datamine Social Networking Sites · · Score: 1

    It seems that the goal of the NSA at the moment is to integrate their databases. Big Brother is watching. But so are the terrorists. Wouldn't you rather have the guiding eye of Big Brother than the malevolent one of the fears of the current decade? Funny how statism has become the outcome of democracy. All it took were some vague warnings and the occasional shout of "9/11!". The sad thing about the use of 'data-mining' is that even if it weren't 'misused' (though I'm not sure what would qualify as misuse anyway, since this is all basically warrantless) now, it will still be passed on to future administrations. And in the next Presidential election, I guarantee that the candidates will not give more than a passing glance to getting rid of (or even disclosing) this monstrosity and the public will be misled for another four years. All it takes to create a totalitarian nightmare is a President who can convince Americans to give up a few more freedoms in the name of security. "He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither." I wonder if anyone remembers who said that.

  18. Re:Stupid. on Rumormongering - Apple Could Buy Nintendo? · · Score: 2, Informative

    Right. While some of the more PC-based consoles were too expensive to compete at the price it took to make them, pure gaming devices tend to skimp on things necessary for normal computers but not gaming per se. For example, the Cell processor of the PS3 is a >3 GHz task division processor (PPE) and eight SPEs - similar devices - all on some sort of ring architecture. This is optimized for single-precision calculations, which are the majority of calculations used in games for the console and results in something like 16 teraflops according to some estimates. However, according to Sony, (sorry, no link here) the performance of the Cell drops by orders of magnitude when it does double-precision, to somewhat below the level of a typical PC processor. Gaming consoles are for games and they don't do other things well.

  19. Re:Stupid. on Rumormongering - Apple Could Buy Nintendo? · · Score: 1
    buying and playing old games on the new console.

    Typical... charge you for something you most likely already own.
  20. Re:Ooops! on Microsoft Talks Daily With Your Computer · · Score: 2, Interesting

    That's why it pays to read the EULA. What advantage can pseudo-spyware possibly have for the consumer? Even if it appears from the legal crap that it isn't harmful, how does it benefit you? It does nothing in the event that your copy is legal and gets really annoying if it makes a mistake. At best it has no effect and has the potential for negative effects, so there is no reason to install it at all. All that this program amounts to is a way for Microsoft to keep tabs on its consumers, with no benefits for said consumers. It is merely another footnote in the struggle between customers and the businesses that supposedly cater to their interests.

  21. Re:Old geek saying on 'Destroyed' Hard Drive Found At Flea Market · · Score: 1

    I agree with your point about the random data. It isn't terribly difficult to recover "deleted" data from old drives, and there are all sorts of identity-theft issues at play when you scrap an old computer. The bottom line is that people need to become more educated about identity theft.