DeckardJK - Slashdot User

Comment Re:trade up netflix for apple TV (Score 1) 481

by DeckardJK on Monday September 19, 2011 @03:03PM (#37446574) Attached to: Netflix Creates Qwikster For DVD Only Business

The problem is that Netflix/Qwikster is the worst of both worlds.

Netflix was originally worth it because of their low prices compared to Blockbuster on a per rental basis as long as you turned your rentals over quick. Netflix's DVD back catalog is great but now due to their recently negotiated contracts they're getting a lot of new releases 30 days later than retail, Blockbuster, and cable video on demand. Maybe they can buy a retail new release but they can't stick it in an envelope and send it to me for a month.

The streaming quality isn't all that great right now and the selection is poor. Streaming was the thing that kept me subscribed to Netflix when I wasn't able to get new release DVDs on time. It was a good value add. Neither service is worth full price to me now. If they're able to get new releases back or greatly expand their streaming catalog I'll consider coming back.

Submission + - "The Amateur Monster Movie" (youtube.com)

Submitted by Wescotte on Friday August 20, 2010 @09:45AM

Wescotte writes: As a Slashdot reader for years I wanted to share with you guys the trailer for a film I've been working on for the past year. I know it isn't your typical Slashdot news article but it's my turn to shamelessly promote something damnit! Anyway, I feel like I'm doing you a favor because there is no article to read.

It's a zero budget comedy called "The Amateur Monster Movie" and was filmed in/around Milwaukee, Wisconsin. What do you guys think?

Brief Synopsis:
"After a group of boy scouts are mysteriously killed by a wolf-like creature on Cadaverous Island, Walter Romero, whose best friend was among the killed, sets out to find exactly what happened. In order to reach the island, Walter teams up with Johnny Mason, neighborhood stoner, to smoke up Ashley Valinski, neighborhood hottie, and get her to take them out on her father's boat. But soon after arriving on Cadaverous Island, a horde of zombies steals their boat, leaving them stranded, and the three are forced to team up with two cops, the mayor, and a team of botanists to either kill the monsters... or be killed themselves..... DUN-DUN-DUN!!!"

Comment Response Time (Score 1) 321

by DeckardJK on Tuesday June 16, 2009 @01:38PM (#28350333) Attached to: Ideal, and Actual, IT Performance Metrics?

We have a help desk ticketing system that automated issues get logged in. The on call personel will get pages. Also... other individuals in the company can make requests and log issues into the system to assign them to groups or individuals. The only metric really recorded is response time to respond to the client or automated event. The first concern is communicating early that the concern has been noticed and is/will be scheduled for work.

South Carolina Wants To Jam Cell Phone Signals 601

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday November 24, 2008 @10:22AM from the oooo-oooo-me-too dept.

Corey Brook writes "The South Carolina state prison system wants the FCC to grant them and local officers permission to block cell phone signals. News has been out about the growing problem of them perps smuggling cell phones into prisons for a while now. Inmates use cell phones as commerce, to implement fraud, smuggle drugs and weapons, and to order hits. Of course, some may use it to just talk to a loved one any time they can." Hopefully movie theaters and restaurants do it next.

Comment What ever happened to shareware? (Score 1) 1085

by DeckardJK on Sunday August 10, 2008 @01:31PM (#24546939) Attached to: Game Developer Asks To Hear From Pirates

If something looks interesting... I'd like to give it a try without forking out $50 for it.

I think any gamer has shelled out good money for a buggy, short, or downright bad game. We never got our money back. Why should I commit my hard earned money to try something I may not like?

Paying $9 for a bad movie is one thing... but paying $40+ to try a game is just too much of a risk.

KDE 4.0 Beta 1 Released 249

Posted by Zonk on Thursday August 02, 2007 @05:06PM from the and-they-are-just-giving-it-away-this-time dept.

dbhost writes "Along with this morning's cup of coffee and log reviews, I discovered that the KDE team is moving forward with a long awaited beta release of KDE 4.0 beta release of KDE 4.0. The most interesting item I found in the notes is that the file manager in KDE is being separated from Konqueror into a component called Dolphin. Also, according to the announcement, konsole has been treated to a number of improvements such as split view, and history highlighting."

Sony Looks to 'Refine' PS3 Price 182

Posted by Zonk on Friday June 15, 2007 @10:59AM from the that's-corpspeak-for-price-cut dept.

Via GameDaily a Financial Times interview with with Sir Howard Stringer, Sony's CEO, gives fans the first hope that price cuts may be coming soon. Lauding the Wii's performance in last month's NPD numbers, Stringer says that Sony is looking to 'refine' the PS3's pricepoint. "'Nintendo Wii has been a successful enterprise, and a very good business model, compared with ours . . . because it's cheaper,' Mr Stringer said in a video interview. 'That [price cuts] is what we are studying at the moment. That's what we are trying to refine.' Sir Howard said he expected 'energy [in PS3 sales] by Christmas, and then you will begin to see break-out games'. Sony is launching a virtual-world game called Home this year, and up to 30 other games."

Student Attempting To Improve School Security Suspended 282

Posted by Zonk on Friday April 27, 2007 @05:13PM from the no-good-deed-goes-unpunished dept.

TA_TA_BOX writes "The University of Portland has handed a one-year suspension to an engineering major after he designed a program to bypass the Cisco Clean Access (CCA). According to the University of Portland's Vice President of Information Systems, the purpose of the CCA is to evaluate whether the computers are compliant with current security policies (i.e., anti-virus software, Windows Updates and Patches, etc.). Essentially the student wrote a program that could fool the CCA to think that the computers operating system and anti-virus were fully patched and up to date. 'In the design of his computer program, Maass looked at the functions CCA provides and identified vulnerabilities where it could be bypassed. He wrote a program that emulated the same functions as CCA and eliminated some security issues. He says that the method he chose is "one of six that I came up with." Maass says his intent was not malicious. Rather, the sophomore says he was examining vulnerabilities so that they could be fixed. "I was planning on going to Cisco with the vulnerability this summer," Maass says. '"

Japan to Launch Maglev Trains by 2025 103

Posted by Zonk on Friday April 27, 2007 @04:32PM from the next-step-is-fuchikomas dept.

SpeedyTrain writes with a link to a story on the Mainichi Daily News site about the future of mass transit in Japan. Despite problems with Maglev technology in test-bed scenarios around the world, Japan has committed to building a line between Tokyo and Nagoya by 2025. The experimental system will allow trains to run at up to 310 miles an hour. "The new magnetically levitated, or "maglev," trains would slash the 100-minute travel time down the country's busiest transportation corridor and are envisioned as a successor for Japan's iconic bullet trains, or shinkansen, first introduced to the world in 1964 ... [a] spokeswoman declined to give an estimate for the cost of linking the capital with the Nagoya area about 269 kilometers (168 miles) to the west. But Kyodo News agency said the whole project would cost about 9 trillion yen (US$76.3 billion) and be divided between the company and the central and local governments."

Submission + - Stitches Made of Biopolymer Absorbed by Body

Submitted by

Anonymous Coward

on Friday March 23, 2007 @12:51PM

Anonymous Coward writes: "A biopolymer suture cleared last month by the FDA is made of materials that the human body produces naturally, so they can be safely absorbed once the wound is healed."

Submission + - Genetic Studies Endow Mice with New Color Vision

Submitted by

Anonymous Coward

on Friday March 23, 2007 @12:36PM

Anonymous Coward writes: "Colored lights were used to show that the brains of genetically altered mice could efficiently process sensory information from new photoreceptors in their eyes. Here, a mouse deciding that the third colored panel looks different from the other two receives a drop of soy milk as a reward. For this set of three lights, only the soy milk dispenser over the third panel releases a drop of soy milk."

Comment Re:Jeans? (Score 1) 682

by SgtClueLs on Friday March 23, 2007 @11:53AM (#18459563) Attached to: What is your normal work attire?

I wear Jeans and a polo 90% of the time. I'm supposed to wear slacks when I can, but after ruining several pairs of slacks from working on PCs and devices on the plant floor quickly changes your tune. Your jeans hold up allot better from all the crap lurking on a plant floor then slacks.

The Sharpest Object Ever Made 304

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday July 12, 2006 @10:48AM from the not-as-sharp-as-my-wit dept.

ultracool writes "Forget the phrase 'sharp as a tack.' Now, thanks to new University of Alberta research, the popular expression might become, 'sharp as a single atom tip formed by chemically assisted spatially controlled field evaporation.' Maybe it doesn't roll off the tongue as easily, but considering the researchers have created the sharpest object ever made, it would be accurate."

Genetic Reason for Your Gadget Habit 239

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday July 12, 2006 @10:05AM from the well-lookie-there dept.

You can't help it if you need to get the latest gadgets. Well... perhaps it's not quite such a serious medical affliction, but scientists have found a genetic basis for some folks' burning desire to have the latest and greatest. There's even a name for it - neophilia. Apparently, some of us have elevated levels of a cellular enzyme, monoamine oxidase A, and are more in need of stimulation from new things.

Sony's Obsession with Proprietary Formats 491

Posted by Hemos on Monday June 05, 2006 @11:10AM from the repeating-the-mistakes-of-yore dept.

geoffrobinson writes "Jonathan Last, writing for a lay audience in the Philadelphia Inquirer, comments on Sony's push for the Blu-ray format: 'Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. One of life's more satisfying ironies, however, is that the same fate often befalls those who fixate on history... ...Obsessed with owning proprietary formats, Sony keeps picking fights. It keeps losing. And yet it keeps coming back for more, convinced that all it needs to do is push a bigger stack of chips to the center of the table.'"

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