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Comment Re:Design (Score 1) 284

by sjames (#31919068) Attached to: Volcano Futures

Alas, most prop planes are turboprops these days, so they have the same problems. The size of plane that has actual piston engines would need 50 flights just to get one jetliner worth of people home.

They also require a different fuel that probably isn't available at the large airports that are prepared for large numbers of passengers milling around.

Comment Re:"I reject notion of separation of church and st (Score 1) 999

by dbrower (#31460038) Attached to: Texas Approves Conservative Curriculum

“I reject the notion by the left of a constitutional separation of church and state,” said David Bradley, a conservative from Beaumont who works in real estate. “I have $1,000 for the charity of your choice if you can find it in the Constitution.”

Oh boy.

He is probably pulling the "amendments aren't part of the constitution" gambit, by which the validity of the Equal Protection clause and the Income Tax is also "refuted." -dB

Comment Anyone think (Score 1) 147

by dbrower (#31447314) Attached to: Pennsylvania CISO Fired Over Talk At RSA Conference
The incident may have been a pretense to jettison someone whose departure was desirable for other reasons. That the budget is being cut might be reason enough to try to offload the (probably) most expensive guy on the payroll. Maybe he was a squeaky wheel and wanted more security than was determined to be affordable, and just wouldn't shut up about it. Invent your own possible ulterior motives...

-dB
Businesses

eBay Urges Rethink On EU Plan's "Brick and Mortar" Vendor Requirement 139

Posted by timothy from the them-as-has-gits dept.
mernil writes with this snippet from Reuters: "According to a draft regulation drawn up by the European Commission and seen by Reuters, suppliers may be allowed to require that distributors have a 'brick-and-mortar' shop before they can sell online. The proposed rules would replace existing guidelines exempting companies from strict EU competition rules under certain circumstances. Those rules expire at the end of May."
Games

Revisiting the "Holy Trinity" of MMORPG Classes 362

Posted by Soulskill from the or-druid-as-the-case-may-be dept.
A feature at Gamasutra examines one of the foundations of many MMORPGs — the idea that class roles within such a game fall into three basic categories: tank, healer, and damage dealer. The article evaluates the pros and cons of such an arrangement and takes a look at some alternatives. "Eliminating specialized roles means that we do away with boxing a class into a single role. Without Tanks, each class would have features that would help them participate in and survive many different encounters like heavy armor, strong avoidance, or some class or magical abilities that allow them to disengage from direct combat. Without specialized DPS, all classes should be able to do damage in order to defeat enemies. Some classes might specialize in damage type, like area of effect (AoE) damage; others might be able to exploit enemy weaknesses, and some might just be good at swinging a sharpened bit of metal in the right direction at a rapid rate. This design isn't just about having each class able to fill any trinity role. MMO combat would feel more dynamic in this system. Every player would have to react to combat events and defend against attacks."
Censorship

Australian AvP Ban Reversed 71

Posted by Soulskill from the people-have-spoken dept.
Earlier this month, we discussed news that Sega's new Aliens vs. Predator video game had been refused classification in Australia, effectively banning it. After a scathing response from the developer saying they wouldn't censor the game, and later news that the classification scheme may be updated to include an R18+ rating, it now seems that the Classification Board has seen fit to give the game a green light after all. Sega's Darren Macbeth told Kotaku, "We are particularly proud that the game will be released in its original entirety, with no content altered or removed whatsoever. This is a big win for Australian gamers. We applaud the Classification Review Board on making a decision that clearly considers the context of the game, and is in line with the modern expectations of reasonable Australians."

Comment What about Java (Score 3, Interesting) 162

by yorkrj (#29163033) Attached to: DOJ Gives Oracle Approval To Buy Sun

The only thing I'm concerned about regarding this deal is how this will change Java. The way I see it, one of two things will happen: One, current Oracle staff will manage the Java platform development and bad things will happen (all sorts of bad things could happen). Two, Oracle will deem Java an unprofitable product and will spin off a free software foundation, the likes of Mozilla or Apache.

Comment I can't believe its ever cost effective (Score 1) 837

by dbrower (#27734199) Attached to: Handmade vs. Commercially Produced Ethernet Cables
to make your own cables, since factory cables can be obtained pretty cheaply. I used to try making my own, and it's not worth it even at home anymore. You just need to shop and not by cables from Monster.

I will pull my own through walls and punch down jack panels, but crimping RJ45s is a loser.

-dB
Microsoft

Microsoft In Mobile Search Deal With Verizon 104

Posted by kdawson from the sea-spider dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Verizon Wireless will forge a deal with Microsoft to include the software giant's Live Search on its mobile phones, giving Microsoft a victory over rival Google and ending a months-long dance toward the partnership. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will announce the deal in his keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas." InfoWorld notes that Microsoft is rumored to be changing the name of its Live Search service to Kumo, which is Japanese for "cloud."
Earth

Green Is In At CES, But Is It Real? 165

Posted by timothy from the hi-fi-jumpropes dept.
OTL writes "You've heard the talk of 'Green' throughout the whole of 2008, but the way a product affects the environment will be a huge consideration in consumer buying habits, at least when it comes to gadgets. But, the CEA report also said that consumers are very skeptical about the green claims made by high-tech firms for their products. More than 38 percent of those interviewed by the CEA said they were confused by green product claims and 58 percent wanted to know the specific attributes that prompted hi-tech firms to label their products green."

Comment Re:Screen (Score 1) 2362

by dbrower (#25698533) Attached to: (Useful) Stupid Unix Tricks?
I usually just setup a persistant vnc server on the host in question, and attach to it. I suppose it depends on the capacity of the target system, and the available bandwidth to it. Neither of these is usually an issue for me. I can imagine those with embedded targets and slow modems being concerned, but I still remain amazed that anyone uses this feature of the knife very often. Next thing I'll hear about is someone using "cu" or "tip".

-dB
The Internet

Nationwide Domain Name/Yard Sign Conspiracy 324

Posted by timothy from the tragically-yes-I'm-single dept.
robertjmoore writes "Everywhere I go lately, I see these lawn signs that say "Single?" and then give a URL with my town's name in it. Being a huge business intelligence geek with too much time on my hands, I decided to track down who was behind them and wound up uncovering ten thousand domain names, a massively coordinated and well-funded guerilla marketing machine, and the $45 Million revenue business hiding behind it all. Hot off the presses, these are my findings."

Comment Re:Screen (Score 1) 2362

by dbrower (#25655585) Attached to: (Useful) Stupid Unix Tricks?
I stopped using screen when I turned in my vt220 for something that had multiple windows and the ability to start more than one xterm.

Why would anyone want to use screen?

puzzled,

-dB

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