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User: weakethics

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  1. Re:my take on it: on IAU Demotes Pluto to 'Dwarf Planet' Status · · Score: 1

    I learned the mnemonic from Robert Heinlein (Rocket Ship Gallileo? Rolling Stones? I forget:
    Mother Very Thoughtfully Made A Jelly Sandwich Under No Protest. Includes the Asteroid belt, and Earth as Terra. He also included distance in AUs as dollar amounts. I never memorized those, I just used Bode's Law to guesstimate.
    Let's face it, Pluto's a largish rock. It's got a weird orbit. It's not like the other planets. Though I'm not sure at what point these guys come after Mercury.

  2. Re:What's .NET? on .Net Programmers Fall in CNN's Top 5 In-Demand · · Score: 1

    Agreed. I don't think anyone who reads the headline ".Net Programmers Fall ..." thinks anything but "Awww, too bad for .Net programmers." What the hell kind of headline is that, that gives the reader a 180 degree perception of the truth? It's called propaganda.

  3. Disappointin /.er reaction to story on NSA Caught With The Cookies · · Score: 1

    Yes. It's only a cookie. That's not the point! The NSA is prohibited from doing it, but are doing it anyway. Reading my provincial hometown paper's Letters to the Editor about the illegal wiretapping issue, I expect to see nutbar responses minimizing the impact of that illegal activity. "I'm not a terrorist, so I don't care what laws are violated in pursuit of 'actual' terrorists." That's the slippery slope toward fascism, and the NSA cookie issue is just one more step. Every time the government violates its own rules and laws, it does so at the expense of your personal freedoms. This constant erosion is a death by a thousand cuts. It impacts things that slashdotters care about such as software patents and letting big business steal away our fair use rights under copyright law. Each one of these infractions allows government to become more powerful and we, the people, grow weaker. Each infraction needs to be illuminated (thank you slashdot) and punished if we are to remain free. Even those that seem minor or only effect others.

  4. Re:Somewhat misleading on Windows Fails 8% of the Time · · Score: 1

    Thanks, Tyler.

  5. Re:Reliability....Priceless on VAX Users See the Writing on the Wall · · Score: 1

    It probably wasn't. That story has been kicking around forever. Probably a myth. See http://www.networkcomputing.com/1119/1119f1product s_2.html for a reference to it months before the Register story. And it was already an old story then.

  6. Re:WHAT IS A GMAIL INVITE? on Hotmail Blocks Gmail Emails (and Invites) · · Score: -1, Redundant

    Well... if you have an extra invite, I'll dig thru my yahoo bulk mail for it :)
    Thanks,
    weakethics (as above) at yahoo

  7. Re:The Blue Screen of Death on SlashNET Forum with Marcel Gagne · · Score: 1

    We see Blue Screens on Win2K daily, related to the Netware client. You can blame Novell, but a poorly written app shouldn't be able to hose your system.

  8. Re:7.2.2 INCIDENT PREVENTION on NIST Releases Guide to Cyber Attacks · · Score: 1

    Yes, "evilstein". How dare they think you might be doing anything nefarious.

  9. Re:One day . . . on Windows Security GM Talks NGSCB (Palladium) · · Score: 1

    ... and IPV6.

  10. Re:It's all good! on The Science of the Matrix · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    I was 10 when Star Wars came out. It was the most awesome movie, and probably the most fun event of my life up to that point.
    But, frankly, it doesn't hold up too well. The first movie, maybe. They have been increasingly crappy ever since. The Matrix, arguably, is not as good as that first movie; it kicks ass on all the rest.
    The arguments around here that the story in the Matrix is not ground-breaking or original enough are laughable. Like Star Wars is anything but a mish-mash of popular culture memes and ancient myths.
    I like the first Star Wars movie a lot. I like the Matrix a lot. But give me a break, they're just movies. Some people will like them, so people won't. It's OK if someone has a different opinion than you.
    Breathe.

  11. Re:Sklyarov or Skylarov? on Sklyarov Case Opens Today · · Score: 2

    I believe I spelled it consistently when I posted it. Incorrectly, but consistently. Looks like Timothy fixed it in the Head but missed it in the Body. Which sounds like some strange sexual disfunction...

  12. Re:Welcome to the real world on Fewer Employees + Same Work = Higher Productivity · · Score: 1

    GMontag451 is somebody pretending to be you? Or pretending to be the same "person" that you are pretending to be?

  13. Re:Purpose of a novel on Narrative and Weblogs: the Blognovel · · Score: 1

    It seems to me that the whole reason for a novel, or fiction generally, is to communicate an emotional state to the reader
    You hear this kind of thing batted about a lot between those who think a lot about writing.
    The whole reason for a novel, or fiction generally is to entertain. That's why people shell out the dough -- to escape in one way or another. For some people careful vicarious introspection is entertaining. For others, Penthouse Forum is the height of entertainment. The reason to write a work of fiction is money.

  14. Re:This story is a dup on LotR Two Towers Trailer Online · · Score: 1

    Dude. This is slashdot.
    You never, ever, ever admit that you were wrong about anything.

  15. New Slashdot category: Consoles on Console Pricing Economics · · Score: 1

    Any chance we could restrict console game stories to their own Topic? So I could filter them out? I like games, PC games. I do not now, nor am I ever likely to own a gaming console.
    I'm probably not the first guy to ask.

  16. Re:why would anyone use this browser? on Browser Becomes Billboard · · Score: 1

    Comet Cursor is extremely annoying. I wish to God I never had to see it on a user's PC again. But it's not spyware.
    http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/story/0,10 738,2677247,00.html

  17. Re:William Gibson? on Talk ... Without Speaking · · Score: 2, Informative

    There is a Gibson story, co-written, I think with John Shirley where astronauts have surgically implanted "bone phones" that picks up their speech.
    I believe it is Mona Lisa Overdrive in which the Japanese girl has the virtual assistant that she communicates with subvocally.

  18. The MacWorld floor on MacWorld Expo Report, Part II · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Many noted that they were expecting a speed bump
    The show floor itself was bouncy fun

    He must have had the same experience that I did. It was like they carpeted over a previous show without breaking it down first. I nearly faceplanted about nine times just walking around. I swear one of the lumps under the carpet was human-sized. Anyone seen Woz recently? I'm beginning to worry.
  19. Re:An even BETTER idea on Microsoft Would Settle For The Children · · Score: 1

    Right... Teachers aren't in it for the love of the job... they just love working 60+ hour weeks for 30 years! Geeks do this sort of thing for a few years while they are young because it is fun, they set their own schedule, they don't really have anyone to be accountible to, and they have $$ in their eyes... they see the high profiles of the Linus' and the Maddogs of the world. There are exceptions, sure, but let's not pretend the OSS is all about altruism.
    Altruism is punching the clock at 7:30 M-F, working till 5-6 every day, not at home in your underwear, but at some delapidated, probably gang-infested school, grading papers while on vacations, putting up with a system that treats teachers like the enemy, putting up with an endless number of ever-changing tests, indifferent or violent parents, all for an insultingly low paycheck and the promise of obscurity.
    Yeah, let's make sure that programmers get more money. Heaven knows moderately skilled C++ hacks are scratching to make a living.

  20. Re:Haiku on Erector Set Turns 100 · · Score: 1

    For those of you who don't speak French:
    I pays duh limp Tomato-Ketchup
    less elephants sent rice at Ilsa font la loi!
    --Bury Nowhere

  21. Re:Best Show Ever. on Farscape Signs for 2 More Years · · Score: 1

    I don't get it. There is nothing special about this show. It is lame in all of the same ways as other TV scifi stuff; vapid action instead of smarts. Why people around here rave about such a completely ordinary program gets to me.
    I had high hopes about based on the raves here, but... yawn. How about some originality? Is it too much to ask that the lead character have a scintilla of charisma? Violence != fun.

  22. Re:Big buisness wins again on 3G Spectrum - Off Limits After Attacks · · Score: 1

    Na ya?

  23. Re:What do you run on the darn thing ? on Wanted: Turn-Key 10-Node Beowulf Cluster · · Score: 1

    What a question!!
    Hell, I don't need beer, but what's life without some fun?

  24. Re:Couldn't a decent firewall do the same thing? on Tarpits for Microsoft Worms · · Score: 1

    Not too much trouble, I guess. But those of us on dynamic IPs (including many of those IIS boxes that are causing the problems) have issues with that. I could end up blocking myself (I never know which IP PacBell is going to give me, nor which IP will be given to the worm's victims).
    9800 instances of Nimda-compromised servers in httpd access.log since Tuesday.

  25. Re:No right to criticize their government? on Preserve Your Rights Online - Act Now · · Score: 1

    What a load of shit. Compromise, and choosing between the lesser of two evils is what democracy is about. If you don't like the system DO SOMETHING about it. Find a candidate you like and WORK to get them elected. If you can't find a candidate you like, then RUN YOURSELF.
    Not voting because neither candidate represents your exact view or because you don't want to "implicitly" buy into the system is just a cop-out for slackers. Get off your ass and WORK to make society better. Oh, I'm sorry, you're too busy ranting about this OS over that OS to get involved in serious issues.