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Comment uh oh.. zombies (Score 1, Funny) 81

One day, scientists are going to play the wrong frequency and it is going to re-arrange all our brains.. then.. zombie apocalypse..

However, that can be circumvented if the scientists at one of those large colliders create the wrong matter that turns us all into zombies and starts a different zombie apocalypse..

I had a better story.. but it's Halloween.. go out of your house and look at the women that dress sexy. Happy Halloween!

Comment Re:A blue trip slip for an eight-cent fare (Score 4, Insightful) 488

That kind of argument can go both ways. When one single power line goes out, whole neighborhoods go without power. If the average household had a solar array with a Tesla (or other battery powered car plugged in), it could keep on running whether or not there were major interruptions in the power grid.

Your analogy of lighting a stadium with a bunch of shitty Christmas Tree bulbs makes no sense here.. especially if the stadium was covered in solar panels with a battery storage unit.

You're basically trying to argue that a centralized power grid is better than a decentralized power grid.. It certainly isn't going that direction in computing (depending on how you view the cloud).

Comment Re:IBM is dying (Score 1) 49

Both IBM and Oracle are introducing the latest and greatest in truly non-migratable legacy software. IBM and Oracle are both neck and neck in developing the largest locked-in IT budget footprint and most proprietary upgrade path. We'll see who wins this eventually - but right now, it's nice to see that the cost per user has never been higher. It's an exciting time to be in the last best thing!

Comment Re:Server Admins Everywhere are Saying... (Score 1) 49

I agree with that sentiment. As far as business laptops go, Thinkpad went from the best laptop you could possibly buy (especially their 'p' models) to a sub-average brand that gets beat by both Dell and HP. Of course, Lenovo, Dell, and HP all make shitty consumer versions in their race to the bottom. Now, Mac has the clear premium laptop crown and it does not look like anyone is close to catching up.

It sucks to see a company buy a brand and to know their full intention is to ride that brand into a lower quality venue. There is no fucking way Lenovo plans on buying the IBM server brand and increasing the quality.

Comment Re:It's amazing (Score 5, Insightful) 199

This.. Amending the Constitution means they are abiding by it and admitting it is authoritative. Without amending it, it means they are attempting to subvert it.

The fact that the federal, state, and local governments are going out of their way to create all sorts of circumstances where the Bill of Rights are ignored shows that there is a widespread attempt at completely removing the Constitutional framework. Peoples' rights are only violated when those rights are needed most.

Comment Re:Men are obsolete (Score 1) 387

My initial impression of articles like this are to make readers feel good about being effeminate out-of-shape doughboys that comply with authority and never think about the obvious inconsistencies and corruptions of society. It's just like the 'food pyramid' that says people should eat a diet rich in stuff that makes you fat (carbohydrates) while de-emphasizing the importance of proteins (expensive, scarce relatively).

Let's go ahead and blame the hormone that makes men muscular and strong and act like docility is a positive trait. If you've ever been in a room full of powerful people - men and women - there is a hell of a lot of energy flowing around and you can feel it. I bet commanding women like Hillary Clinton have more testosterone flowing than most men.

There is nothing to be proud about physical or mental weakness. Weakness is a choice - just like cooperation. It is an error in reasoning to blame testosterone as a hinderance to civilization - correlation does not imply causation.

Comment NO, all candy bar (Score 5, Insightful) 544

The big manufacturers are all too busy competing with Apple to actually notice there might be a market for something else.. For example, I want a Motorola Razr running Android. I don't care if it's slower, worse resolution, smaller screen than todays' big fat candy bar phones. I'm a guy and I don't carry a bag. The phone has got to fit in my pocket.

Comment Yay.. This is easy to imagine (Score 5, Funny) 322

In typical Microsoft "All heads in our asses" fashion, they release Windows 8 with two completely separate UI's.. One doesn't work at all for desktop.. and the other barely works for desktop. Hell.. opening a PDF in Windows 8 is still a goddamn nightmare.

Now that they're unifying Windows, we know exactly what the customer wants:
1. UI separate from kernel (vector graphic UI for desktops, 2d UI for battery-powered devices)
2. Ability to customize installation (ie.. Windows embedded version, Windows business edition, Windows uber Gamer edition, Windows "I install Weatherbug and other stupid applications" edition, Windows "Gimme the shitty Widnows 8 UI" edition)
3. Ability to control data usage (ie.. Windows "I'm being charged for the amount of data because AT&T and Verizon are shitty companies edition")

What will we get:
1. METRO 80's colors EDITION
2. Cannot multitask edition
3. Super fucking bloated edition
4. We changed shit because we wanted to change shit and good fucking luck finding it edition
5. We give you errors if you're not connected to the Internet edition
6. We update your computer when you're trying to turn it off and take it with you edition

Bleh.. this was a minimal effort bitch session.. Microsoft already knows they suck and we only buy Windows because it's pretty much forced on us

Comment Re:Cashless can't happen, here is why ... (Score 1) 753

Throw $50 at it and see if you get 'taken to the cleaners'. Of course, I would not recommend betting your house on Bitcoin. It IS a speculative investment - but I would hardly say it is a speculative bubble.

Also, as most Bitcoin advocates, I would not recommend storing any sizable amount of Bitcoins in anything other than encrypted wallets you control directly.

Comment Re:Why? (Score 1) 753

Why would you ever want a cashless society? Cash is one option you have. Taking it out removes an option and therefore freedom.

So you can audit and authorize where it goes. I can't audit a guy stealing cash from my wallet.

Since you can't audit a guy stealing cash from your wallet, we will eliminate all cash! Brilliant! Then, after that, we will audit the Pentagon!

Comment Re:Cashless can't happen, here is why ... (Score 1) 753

That 'small percent' of online vendors is growing about the same percentage rate as Google and Facebook when they first started. Your incredulous attitude will only prevent you from getting into Bitcoin and realizing the benefits before it becomes ubiquitous.

Bitcoin started as an experiment.. Now you can buy anything on Overstock, Tiger Direct, Newegg, Cheapair.com, and Expedia with Bitcoin. You can also pay your Dish Network bill with Bitcoin. There is an organic infrastructure growing around Bitcoin - US government regulations, payment innovations, website integrations - and that infrastructure is increasing momentum.

Of course it's not ubiquitous yet.. But god damn, your questions are meant to criticize Bitcoin - but they are awfully dimwitted. First, maybe 10 years ago it was seen as limiting market exposure if users needed to own a smartphone. But, there isn't a company left that worries about being out of the huge capital markets of 'users without smartphones' except maybe Walmart.

And, 'how will you buy gas and food with that?' .. Good question there. Wow.. You found one huge flaw in Bitcoin. It's impossible to buy gas or food with Bitcoin.

Comment Re:Redbox Instant (Score 4, Interesting) 364

I am so sick of seeing this damn argument.. The bottom line is Verizon is slowing down and dropping packets that go to specific areas. It does not matter how they do it or what they are saying to justify it. It is intentional and they are lying when they're saying it's not. The fix, for a network provider, is simple and low cost - and it should be part of maintaining the network.

Verizon wants more money to fix their own network problems that they created intentionally because it allows them to extort money from their competition. Also, Verizon is lobbying to further legalize what they are doing since it is a fairly grey area right now. So.. they are both lobbying for the right to slow down competitor traffic and they are claiming that the existing slow-downs in competitor traffic are a 'technical issue' that is not their fault when they are in full control of the means to fix the technical issue.

Comment Re:Redbox Instant (Score 5, Informative) 364

I have Fios and I called about Netflix and Youtube issues. The customer service rep actually told me I should use Redbox Instant instead. I ended up saving the chat log because I was so incensed. I paid for the packets of data I request on the Internet. Verizon is trying to charge twice for those very same packets. The only reason I have Verizon is because it's one of two horrible choices I have for Internet access.

Further, I went ahead and flashed an old wireless access point to DD-WRT and set up an account with hidemyass.com (VPN provider) to see if that helped Netflix and Youtube. Sure enough, it did. Netflix was in HD every time after that and Youtube almost never had a hiccup or buffering issue in the middle of the video - as long as the traffic through the device was going to the VPN.

Netflix, please keep talking trash. Verizon, please go to hell.

Comment Industrial Programmer should win this.. (Score 1) 310

I do industrial automation programming for a living. Usually I am just troubleshooting if I am in a weird area - but sometimes I have to write a whole new routine in an area that you'd never expect a guy with a laptop.

For example, I worked on an energy savings project on the Queen Victoria. I was in the engine room next to the noisy diesel generators while we were at sail for a lot of the time. I just put in my custom ear buds (blocks most of the sound) and over-the-ear muffs and I was in my own little world listening to music while banging away at my laptop and sweating bullets since the warmer I made it in the room, the more energy we saved. The crewmen had no clue I was the reason it was now 5 degC warmer in there than normal and it's usually already warm.

Also, while on the Ventura, we had ridiculously rough weather off the coast of Portugal for a whole day - the day I realized the specs I received and what was installed were very different. So, I spent the day in my crew cabin, somewhat sea sick, rewriting my program.

Right now, I sit in a power plant's MCC room waiting for a server to update. An office is nice - but it gets boring. I like what I do.

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