Comment Re:Amazing Creature! (Score 1) 67
We like to think if as birth-barfing. The really nasty part is when it gets near the end... Ever drag your own anus down the length of your tongue? It's not pleasant.
Yours truly,
Self-Birthing Snake
How To Create More Jobs 368
TechDirt is spotlighting a call by Michael S. Malone, a columnist for ABCNews.com, for letting Silicon Valley create jobs once more. Malone argues that Sarbanes-Oxley and other attempts at accounting reform have done little to prevent fraud, but in fact have managed to kill off an entrepreneurship-venture capital-IPO cycle, centered in Silicon Valley, that has taken 30 years to nourish. Here's TechDirt: "...it's time to roll back SarbOx and other accounting rules that have acted more for theatrical purposes rather than any legitimate reason. Basically, all they've done is create new reporting requirements that do little to nothing to either prevent fraud or clarify a company's actual financial position (its intended purpose). I'm all for radical transparency in financial info, but that's not what has been done. Instead, we've made it burdensome to actually grow a company — and that doesn't help create jobs. It helps kill them."
Comment Or... just buy the extended warranty (Score 1) 79
I got mine from Best Buy, and paid the extra $30 for the extended warranty. Every time the pedal breaks, I bring it in, and they bust open a new box of Rock Band to give me the pedal inside. The remainder of the box goes back to Harmonix.
It was happening a few times at first, then when I was having my cousins come over for Rock Band every night, the pedal was breaking on a nightly basis. Best record so far is a broken pedal 5 nights in a row. 11 broken pedals so far.
I hope is enough people have done what I've done, this is going to cost Harmonix dearly. My Best Buy warranty lasts until September. I can keep doing this until then.
S.
Comment Re:I love mathematica (Score 5, Funny) 234
Uhh...
> High-Impact Adaptive Visualization
It's got graphics now.
> Automated Computational Aesthetics
You don't have to graph things out by hand.
> Fully Automated Graph Layout
You don't have to graph things out by hand.
> Real-Time 3D Graphics
If you change your equation, the graph changes too.
> Automated Table Layout
Shows you the points they graphed.
> Dynamic Interactivity
It's got a GUI.
> Integrated Geometric Computing
Runs on a computer following Moore's law, hence "geometric" advancement.
> Combinatorial Optimization
Solve the Travelling Salesman problem by something other than brute force.
> Equational Theorem Proving
Okay, that could be cool... if the previous versions didn't have it already.
> New Generation Numerical Integration
It can use numbers now?
> Computable Data
> Financial Data
> Astronomical Data
> Country Data
> Particle Data
> Graph Data
> Mathematical Data
Since this is a list of "New Features", previous versions of Mathematica could not be used for these purposes. All you could do was show a fellow math geek how that humanities major had a really nice set of 80085.
> Unification of Graphics, Text & Controls
In previous versions, you were lucky if what you wrote or clicked resembled anything like the output! Now, when when you type in "y=x", you actually get a straight diagonal line, instead of one of the spirally partial differential functions we like to put on the cover of the manual!
> Language for Data Integration
There's now its own scripting language. Whoa, Mathematica never had *that* before!
> Dynamic Graphical Input
Use symbols you never thought possible! Like that squiggly "integrate" symbol, or that lambda derive-like thingy. Even use that upside-down "U" for set theory!
> Instant Multimedia Programming
Uses both Video and Audio! Include a Youtube video in your equations of Stephen himself telling you how wrong your equation is!
> Real-Time Code Annotation
Add "comments" whenever and wherever you want! No other language has the ability to "comment" on your code!
> Instant High-Level Debugging
Be able to step through your code and set break points! Stephen is the first person to think of it! No other programming IDE has ever done anything so revolutionary!
> Integrated Graphics Editing & Drawing
Did your equations predict that the Mars Lander was going to crash and burn? Use the Graph Editor to change the equation output, and show your fellow engineers a perfect atmospheric re-entry! Then re-sell those high-risk equations to an over-leveraged engineer who does care! You'll be long gone by the time they realize what you've done! This feature brought to you by the Lenders Association of US Banks.
> HID Support
You may now use a mouse and keyboard in this version, instead of simply shouting at the screen, hoping it'll do something!
> Streamlined Presentation Framework
Use an overhead projector instead of a video monitor to show your results!
> New Documentation Framework Dynamic Interactivity
We'd like to call it "Google"...
Solomon Chang
Comment Re:La Source (Score 1) 574
I didn't say they stopped selling... they just changed their focus, and by focus, I mean what the sales staff are knowledgeable about.
Have you tried to ask sales staff about low level hardware lately? They tend to look it up in a catalog before they tell you whether you have it, without even knowing what it is.
Radio Shack isn't exactly attracting Electrical Engineering graduates these days.
S.
Comment Re:Discounted Merchandise (Score 1) 574
People who say bad things about a company's products are quickly discredited.
"Are you trying to say that the Monster Cable is a piece of $#@^? I'm sorry, you're not one of the RIAA-approved article writers in one of the mainstream audiophile rags that gets massive funding from us. What? You are? Oh, I'll be talking with your editor over our next golf game... if I were you, I'd look for a new job about now."
Pretty soon, every main-rag reviewer is giving an overpriced product 5 stars. Those who tell the truth are deemed unknowledgeable and irrelevant.
Comment Re:La Source (Score 5, Informative) 574
Radio Shack has unrecognizably revamped themselves throughout their lifetime. The original name came from back when they were selling equipment catering to ham radio enthusiasts. Then, at some point, they were only selling record players and stereos in the 40's, and suddenly the staff dumbed down - my grandfather had difficulty requesting things like 3200-ohm resistors anymore, or having them made behind the counter by staff.
In the 1960's they declared bankruptcy (just like CC this morning), but a certain Charles Tandy bought them out. Tandy was a leather mogul, and the chain was temporarily renamed... wait for it... Tandy Radio Shack & Leather! Radio Shack was the place for all your leather needs! BTW, I have a genuine Radio Shack bullwhip in my attic. Too bad I never got around to asking for a ball gag and blindfold.
Then they went back to concentrating on low level electronic components. Then they switched the emphasis on to trying to sell home computers. Then they switched to almost strictly consumer electronics.
So I don't think of Radio Shack as a cockroach, whose form hasn't changed for millions of years... It's more like the Phantom, when each one dies, it passes the name and costume to someone in the next generation, who most likely has different tactics and fighting styles.
Analyst Says Blu-ray DRM Safe For 10 Years 493
Mike writes to let us know that a poster on the AVS forum says that the latest issue of HMM magazine (no link given) contains a quote from Richard Doherty, a media analyst with Envisioneering Group, extolling the strength of the DRM in Blu-ray discs, called BD+. Doherty reportedly said, "BD+, unlike AACS, which suffered a partial hack last year, won't likely be breached for 10 years." He added that if it were broken, "the damage would affect one film and one player." As one comment on AVS noted, I'll wait for the Doom9 guys to weigh in.
Google Bans Ads For Essay-Writing Services 264
llamapalooza writes "Google announced that it will ban essay writing firms from advertising on their site. (The prevalence of cheating on campuses has been discussed here before.) While universities have welcomed the move, the affected firms are claiming it will 'punish legitimate businesses.' Google has specifically banned 'academic paper-writing services and the sale of pre-written essays, theses, and dissertations,' which now join other items on the banned list such as tobacco, drugs, weapons, and prostitution."
Robot Identifies Human Flesh As Bacon 312
Jearil writes "Wired's 'Table of Malcontents' blog links to an article about a wine-tasting robot that thinks humans taste like bacon. The Japanese robot is intended to act as a personal sommelier, suggesting wines, cheeses, and hors d'oeuvres based on its owners personal tastes. It also apparently thinks humans would be tasty as part of a sandwich." From the article: "Let the robot holocaust commence: robots think we taste like bacon ... Upon being given a sample, he will speak up in a childlike voice and identify what he has just been fed. The idea is that wineries can tell if a wine is authentic without even opening the bottle, amongst other more obscure uses ... like 'tell me what this strange grayish lump at the back of my freezer is/was.' But when some smart aleck reporter placed his hand in the robot's omnivorous clanking jaw, he was identified as bacon. A cameraman then tried and was identified as prosciutto." This is most distressing.
Microsoft To Announce Linux Partnership 534
Carl Bialik from WSJ writes "Microsoft is entering into an unusual partnership with Novell that gives a boost to Linux, people familiar with the companies tell WSJ.com. From the article: 'Under the pact, which isn't final, Microsoft will offer sales support of Suse Linux, a version of the operating system sold by Novell. The two companies have also agreed to develop technologies to make it easier for users to run both Suse Linux and Microsoft's Windows on their computers. The two companies are expected to announce details of their plan today at a press conference in San Francisco. In addition, Microsoft won't assert rights over patents over software technology that may be incorporated into Suse Linux, the people said. Businesses that use Linux have long worried that Microsoft would one day file patent infringement suits against sellers of the rival software.'"
Journal Journal: Reasons to leave the country
Most people don't know the meaning of the word, Niggardly.
A Washington DC mayoral staff member, David Howard, who had used the term "niggardly" in routine conversation in a staff meeting, was asked to resign. I'm sure most college educated people remember this little fiasco back in 1999. Even more recently, a grade school teacher has been terminated for the same reason.
The word, which means miserly or thrifty, traces its etymology back to the Scandinavian (Norse?) word, hnøgger
Journal Journal: Wordplay
Adjectives That Sound Like Adverbs:
Dastardly
Niggardly
Defenestrate: to throw out of a window.
Therefore could Fenestrate be defined as putting it back in?
Could the same rule be applied to "Defecate"?
I was buked badly enough the first time around - you did not have to rebuke me.
I have stroyed that model through many weeks of hard work. I cannot let it be destroyed after all that.
Journal Journal: Job Rants, part trois
I sheepishly have to retract my first post along this topic. I recently answered a posting on Dice that PriceGrabber.com put up, and after a couple of interviews, I was suddenly in. In the immortal words of Weird Al Yankovic (Genius in France), "How did this happen? I don't have a clue." Was it my interaction with the LAMP community? Was it the conferences I was attending? Was it those pieces of paper called certifications I was pursuing? Chances are, I'll never know. PriceGrabber is no
Journal Journal: Job Rants, part deux
I finally settled down with something close to home. Not too terribly close, mind you, but close enough. Only problem is, they're also terribly cheap. Have you ever worked for someone so cheap they ask you to bring your own computers on the first day? And I'm not talking about the way it is with previous contracting jobs where I use my laptop everywhere I go. This is full-blown "We need you to use a distinctly separate monitor and keyboard so we can see what you're doing at all times."
