Comment Doesn't seem that difficult... (Score 2) 145
Kevin Bacon did it 11 years ago. To a gorilla. And then himself.
Comment Re:Time to get power storage systems (Score 1) 331
Oh if only I had mod points.
+50 -- Effin awesome.
Comment Re:Buy a Ford! (Score 1) 572
Nor should they. All they have to do is hire the designers of European (Mercedes especially) or Japanese cars and they'd be set. Instead, they seem to have hired designers who have no taste.
(Emphasis mine)...
Japanese cars... really? Have you SEEN the front end of an Acura or Honda lately? My 2008 MDX has an ugly-ass grille, and they only got worse in the 3 years since. Huge faux-chrome plastic shields on a car that goes for over 50k, 60k with options? Toyotas are only marginally less ugly. I would say by comparison American carmakers are turning out same damn fine looking rides. The 2011 Explorer (since we're talking about Ford) is actually rather nice looking, I think. The Ford Edge is quite well-designed, and the Lincoln version (the MKX) is sleek and sexy. The GMC Acadia is also fairly attractive for an SUV / CUV. The new Mustangs are downright handsome. The Corvette is about is sexy as they come, and the Camaro actually pulled off the retro-meets-modern style. Cadillac has a few questionable design choices, but they have a tighter focus and they really hit the mark for the target market. I'm not a fan of the Dodge designs, but that's just my taste, plenty of people like their designs.
Ford is also leading with technology. The Sync system (yeah yeah, let's hear the Microsoft haters...) was/is almost universally regarded as the best in-car infotainment system on the market, and they're on their second iteration of it now in a lot of 2011 models. The MyFord / MyLincoln Touch is stellar, and I haven't seen anything in any other brand of car (and I've been shopping...) that even comes close. Acura's new models feel dated by comparison. Audi, VW, Mercedes, BMW... they all have good NAV/audio/climate systems, but none of them are in the same league, and they all cost quite a bit more.
Hate on Ford all you want... but it really can't be denied that they're not the same company they were 10, or even 5 years ago. I'm actually seriously considering buying my first Ford ever (2011 Explorer).
Comment Re:My Soundblaster 16 works great (Score 1) 520
I wasn't being sarcastic at all.
That first CD-ROM drive was simply marked "CD-ROM." It wasn't until they introduced faster drives (2x, etc.) that they started making the distinction on the slower 1x drives.
I wish I had kept that stuff... I still have my old USR Courier modem, tank that it was. My old computers would have made a great nostalgic mini-museum.
Comment Re:My Soundblaster 16 works great (Score 1) 520
You kids and your newfangled toys! Be grateful!
I remember hooking up my first 8-bit Pro AudioSpectrum card (with SCSI) and my original CD-ROM drive. That's 1X for you spoiled brats. I had a CD-ROM drive before they started marking them with speed multipliers!
My 386 was the envy of all the kids in my neighborhood... especially after I maxed it out with 6MB of RAM. They marveled at the speed that Windows 3.1 loaded, and were astonished at the cutting-edge video with AUDIO when Wing Commander III came out.
Good times, they were...
OpenBSD 4.8 Released 176
Mortimer.CA writes "The release of OpenBSD 4.8 has been announced. Highlights include ACPI suspend/resume, better hardware support, OpenBGPD/OpenOSPFD/routing daemon improvements, inclusion of OpenSSH 5.5, etc. Nothing revolutionary, just the usual steady improving of the system. A detailed ChangeLog is available, as usual. Work, of course, has already started on the next release, which should be ready in May, according to the steady six-month release cycle."
Why Mozilla Needs To Pick a New Fight 351
nk497 writes "Mozilla has succeeded in improving the browser world, and its rivals have outstripped it in terms of features. So what's the point of Firefox, then, wonders Stuart Turton. He suggests it could turn its community of developers to better use than battling it out for browser market share. 'I think Mozilla has a lot more to offer as a kind of roaming software troublemaker. The company has already proven itself brilliant at pulling a community together, offering it direction and spurring innovation in a lifeless market. Now that browsers are healthy, wouldn't it be brilliant if Mozilla started a ruck elsewhere?' And where better to start than the stagnant office suite arena: 'Imagine if Mozilla decided tomorrow to build an office suite. Imagine all those ideas. Imagine how brilliant that could be. Just imagine. Now imagine Firefox 4. Honestly, which one of those are you most excited by?'"
Bees Beat Machines At 'Traveling Salesman' Problem 394
eldavojohn writes "Recent research on bumble bees has proven that the tiny bee is better than computers at the traveling salesman problem. As bees visit flowers to collect nectar and pollen they discover other flowers en route in the wrong order. But they still manage to quickly learn and fly the optimally shortest path between flowers. Such a problem is NP-Hard and keeps our best machines thinking for days searching for a solution but researchers are quite interested how such a tiny insect can figure it out on the fly — especially given how important this problem is to networks and transportation. A testament to the power of even the smallest batch of neurons or simply evidence our algorithms need work?"
Ubuntu Moves Away From GNOME 514
An anonymous reader writes "It's official: Ubuntu has, with its ironically named 'Unity' interface, chosen to move away from GNOME for Ubuntu Natty Narwhal. Or at least move away from GNOME Shell. Mark Shuttleworth says that Ubuntu will still be 'GNOME,' even if it's not using GNOME Shell. Do you agree?"
Steve Jobs Tries To Sneak Shurikens On a Plane 661
An anonymous reader writes "Steve Jobs, while on a family vacation to Japan in July, picked himself up some Shuriken, otherwise known as Ninja throwing stars, as a souvenir. In his wisdom he decided to put them in his carry on luggage for the return journey. As it was a private plane he probably thought there would be no issue, but he was wrong. Even private plane passengers have to have all their baggage scanned, and the throwing stars were detected and deemed a hazard. It's alleged that Jobs argued that he could take them on the plane as no one could steal them on his private jet and use them. Security at the airport disagreed and demanded he remove the stars. Jobs, clearly angry at losing his throwing weapons, stated he would not be returning to the country." Undoubtedly this is part of the iNinja project.
Torvalds Becomes an American Citizen 654
netbuzz writes "Having brought his open-source work and family to the United States from Finland some time ago, Linus Torvalds has marked an important personal milestone by attaining US citizenship. A casual remark on the Linux kernel mailing list about registering to vote led to the community being in on the news. Torvalds has acknowledged being a bit of a procrastinator on this move, writing in a 2008 blog post: 'Yeah, yeah, we should probably have done the citizenship thing a long time ago, since we've been here long enough (and two of the kids are US citizens by virtue of being born here), but anybody who has had dealings with the INS will likely want to avoid any more of them, and maybe things have gotten better with a new name and changes, but nothing has really made me feel like I really need that paperwork headache again.' In that post he also expresses dislike for the American style of politics in which he will now be able to participate directly."
Why Broadband Prices Haven't Decreased 336
pdragon04 writes "After a new technology is introduced to the market, there is usually a predictable decrease in price as it becomes more common. Laptops experienced precipitous price drops during the past decade. Digital cameras, personal computers, and computer chips all followed similar steep declines in price. Has the price of broadband Internet followed the same model? Shane Greenstein decided to look into it. "
Wal-Mart To Launch Unlimited Wireless Family Plan 278
adeelarshad82 writes "Wal-Mart has announced that it will sell a post-paid wireless service powered by T-Mobile, which will be targeted at families. Users who sign up for Wal-Mart Family Mobile service will not have to sign a contract. The first line will cost $45 per month, and each additional line will cost $25 per month. Each line will have unlimited talk and text, so overage charges will not be an issue. For data access, each phone will come pre-loaded with a 100MB card known as a WebPak, which is shared among all lines on an account. Data does not expire, and refill cards can be purchased in Wal-Mart stores or online. The WebPak can also be used to make international calls at 5 cents per minute to any landline number in about a dozen countries."
Dept. of Homeland Security To Test Iris Scanners 221
SonicSpike writes "The Homeland Security Department plans to test futuristic iris scan technology that stores digital images of people's eyes in a database and is considered a quicker alternative to fingerprints. The department will run a two-week test in October of commercially sold iris scanners at a Border Patrol station in McAllen, Texas, where they will be used on illegal immigrants, said Arun Vemury, program manager at the department's Science and Technology branch. 'The test will help us determine how viable this is for potential (department) use in the future,' Vemury said."
Gigabit Speeds At Home In the US 249
An anonymous reader writes "The Electric Power Board of Chattanooga is preparing to offer 1 Gigabit speeds at home by the end of the year. 'The city-owned utility announced today it will boost its broadband service to 1 Gigabit throughout its service territory by the end of 2010. Such a connection will be 200 times faster than the average broadband speed in America and the fastest of any US city.' The NY Times reports that the service will cost $350 per month. 'Mr. DePriest of EPB does not expect brisk demand for the one-gigabit service anytime soon. So why offer it? "The simple answer is because we can," he said.'"
