Comment The Silmarillion (Score 1) 298
I have owned at least three copies of this book over the years and have never got more than a third of the way through, which however is further than most people achieve when trying to read Don Quixote.
Comment Hooked on Theatre (Score 1) 464
Movie houses hook people into going to theatres The one-price-fits-all strategy tries to keep us from rejecting movies because either the price may be too high from a cost-benefit concern or the price may be too low from a quality concern. Going to a theatre becomes the event and the movie is simply a bonus.
Theatres in my neighbourhood have taken this one step further by offering premium seating, where seats are larger and further apart, as well as being assigned. The premium charged is $2, which, based on a recent interview on the Lang & O'Leary Exchange seems to be working well for them.
This contrasts with concert venues, which charge premiums for the more popular musical acts. Concert venues are less concerned with repeat business as profits are calculated after each show. Movie houses need repeat business in order to pay their enormous fixed costs, with profits calculated each quarter.
Comment Build Your Own Flight Simulator in C++ (Score 1) 329
I suggest the book: Build Your Own Flight Simulator in C++
I read a version of it over ten years ago, and it helped me keep a perspective on projects.
All the code is spoon fed to you.
Check it out at
http://www.amazon.com/Build-Your-Own-Flight-Sim/dp/1571690220
Comment Re:More statement than art. (Score 1) 243
You might want to download the $20K font pack?
Depending on your jurisdiction, using any of the fonts commercially could open you up to a costly lawsuit.
The supplied links are now "hot" (i.e. everybody knows about them); you should not want your IP address connected to them.
Comment Tuesday, August 30, 2011 @ 11:38am ADT (Score 1) 454
I witnessed a leaf fall from a tree and alight upon the ground at the aforementioned time.
The event occurred in front of my parent's home in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Comment Eee PC hardware is Linux friendly (Score 1) 142
I'm on my second Eee PC now. The first was a 701 (7" screen). The second is a 1001P (10" screen).
The hardware has been well supported in the various kernels because the Eee PC's were popular and ASUS was onside.
The hardest part of sourcing a new Linux-flavoured laptop used to be ensuring that all the hardware worked out of the box.
It was often best to install a Linux-flavour on an older laptop to help ensure all the hardware worked.
However, older laptops had used-battery issues and, of course, older hardware.
I welcome these new Linux-friendly laptops.
Hopefully other corporations will join the bandwagon.
Comment Re:Unconventional? (Score 1) 318
With a 12C at work and a 48G at home, the only calculators I use (and I use them daily) use RPN.
Most of the people I work with don't even try to borrow my calculator(s) because they're afraid of a supposedly steep learning curve.
Please note: the learning curve is rather flat for anyone who even half-understands how calculators work.
Comment When computer breaks - like it did today (Score 1) 266
I regularly back up work documents but never my email (prior to today).
I keep all of my email in Evolution on a little netbook running Ubuntu.
Of course I dropped and damaged the netbook today and subsequently scrambled to back up my mail.
I was successful, but it could have turned out badly.
From now on I'll store my email on the local server and simply access it with my laptop-du-jour.
Comment bad energy trade off (Score 1) 12
It used to be that the energy used to make a solar panel exceeded all the energy it would ever generate.
Maybe the technology is better now, but I am biased by my memories.
However, solar powered devices are great for people far from the mains (on the ocean or in the desert or at one of the poles).
Submission + - If you think you can ignore IPv6, think again. (securityweek.com)
wiredmikey writes: It’s official. The IANA(Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) this week allocated the last IP address blocks from the global IPv4 central address pool.
While the last IPv4 addresses have been allocated, it’s expected to take several months for regional registries to consume all their remaining regional IPv4 address pool.
The IPv6 Forum, a group with the mission to educate and promote the new protocol, says that enabling IPv6 in all ICT environment is not the end game, but is now a critical requirement for continuity in all Internet business and services going forward.
Experts believe that the move to IPv6 should be a board-level risk management concern, equivalent to the Y2K problem or Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. During the late 1990s, technology companies worldwide scoured their source code for places where critical algorithms assumed a two-digit date. This seemingly trivial software development issue was of global concern, so many companies made Y2K compliance a strategic initiative. The transition to IPv6 is of similar importance.
If you think you can ignore IPv6, think again.
While the last IPv4 addresses have been allocated, it’s expected to take several months for regional registries to consume all their remaining regional IPv4 address pool.
The IPv6 Forum, a group with the mission to educate and promote the new protocol, says that enabling IPv6 in all ICT environment is not the end game, but is now a critical requirement for continuity in all Internet business and services going forward.
Experts believe that the move to IPv6 should be a board-level risk management concern, equivalent to the Y2K problem or Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. During the late 1990s, technology companies worldwide scoured their source code for places where critical algorithms assumed a two-digit date. This seemingly trivial software development issue was of global concern, so many companies made Y2K compliance a strategic initiative. The transition to IPv6 is of similar importance.
If you think you can ignore IPv6, think again.
Comment The rise of Squid? (Score 3, Interesting) 82
We have a similar law in Canada, whereby law enforcement can review a person's web browsing (and email?) for up to two years.
I see a business model for selling anonymous web browsing via proxy servers.
Commercial proxy servers already exist to get around Hulu barriers and the like.
If such servers market themselves as "anonymous," they should find more paying customers.
Canadian Government Muzzling Scientists 352
IllogicalStudent writes with this excerpt from The Vancouver Sun:
"The Harper government has tightened the muzzle on federal scientists, going so far as to control when and what they can say about floods at the end of the last ice age. Natural Resources Canada scientists were told this spring they need 'pre-approval' from Minister Christian Paradis' office to speak with journalists. Their 'media lines' also need ministerial approval, say documents obtained by Postmedia News through access-to-information legislation. The documents say the 'new' rules went into force in March and reveal how they apply not only to contentious issues, including the oilsands, but benign subjects such as floods that occurred 13,000 years ago. They also give a glimpse of how Canadians are being cut off from scientists whose work is financed by taxpayers, critics say, and is often of significant public interest — be it about fish stocks, genetically modified crops or mercury pollution in the Athabasca River."
US Air Force To Suffer From PS3 Update 349
tlhIngan writes "The US Air Force, having purchased PS3s for supercomputing research, is now the latest victim of Sony's removal of the Install Other OS feature. It turns out that while their PS3s don't need the firmware update, it will be impossible to replace PS3s that fail. PS3s with the Other OS feature are no longer produced since the Slim was introduced, so replacements will have to come from the existing stock of used PS3s. However, as most gamers have probably updated their PS3s, that used stock is no longer suitable for the USAF's research. In addition, smaller educational clusters using PS3s will share the same fate — unable to replace machines that die in their clusters."
In related news, Sony has been hit with two more lawsuits over this issue.
Website Sells Pubic Lice
319
A British website called crabrevenge.com will help you prove that there is literally nothing you can't find online by selling you pubic lice. A disclaimer on the site says the creators "do not endorse giving people lice," and the lice are for "novelty purposes only." The company also boasts about a facility "where we do all of our parasite husbandry and carefully considered selective breeding." Three different packages are available: "Green package - One colony that can lay as many as 30 eggs for about $20. Blue package - Three colonies to share with your friends or freeze a batch or two for about $35. Red package - A vial of 'shampoo-resistant F-strain crabs' which can take up to two weeks to kill for about $52."
Comment Re:Transparent OLED isn't new (Score 1) 148
Ian McKellen (Number 2) had a laptop with a see-through screen in AMC's version of The Prisoner.
I only remember it from one scene; I am unsure in which of the six episodes (no pun intended) it appeared.
It looked cool, and I've wanted one ever since.
Apparently, I can now get one.
However, I am sure that it won't be a slick as Number 2's.
