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Comment Re:Woo hoo!! (Score 1) 182

I don't know if this just works for me because I'm a giant mutant, but if I make a deep sort of dog-growly noise way down in my sternum then it makes my skull vibrate in a way that lets me visually perceive flicker all the way up to around typical LED refresh rates even on normal stuff like digital clocks.

This is also quite noticeable even if you're not a mutant, just by munching on potato chips while looking at something that flickers, or by using an electric toothbrush.

Comment Re:You know what this means (Score 1) 182

And the cradle itself is stupidly sculpted to match the remote, causing a different problem. Instead of a mechanically positive connection, the curved cradle supports the remote at precisely its center of gravity, allowing it to teeter, and every time it teeters it slips on and off the tiny charging contacts.

It's time for more electrical tape, this time within the cradle, at the end opposite the contacts. This way the remote will be tipped toward the contacts instead of rocking back and forth. It may take more than one layer of tape to do this, and the aluminum tape you used on the garage door may be better still.

Comment Re:All I want (Score 3, Insightful) 64

All I want is a 35"+ 4k display with a 60hz refresh rate for under $300. Is that so much to ask?

Yes, it is, at least with current manufacturing capabilities. Small high-density screens are exactly that -- small. If you have one defect every 30 cm (linear) on average, this may affect one screen out of five -- and even then, there's still some non-critical use where that screen will be just fine. (The front panel of a radio, for example.)

If you're trying to produce large panels with that same defect rate, your rate of defect-free panels is going to be astonishingly low, and there won't be much of a market for the defective ones. Even if Yamakasi is willing to buy and package them, it hurts the image of 4k in general that they hit the streets at all.

This high failure rate means the panels are going to be expensive, because you're not just paying for the one you get. You're also paying for the ones that didn't make the cut.

Comment Re:I simply never use valets (Score 1) 269

My thoughts exactly! Park it yourself if you don't trust the valet.

This is not always an option. Some locations have to double-stack their cars in order to accommodate the number that actually show up for dinner, and although they may let you park on your own, they require that you leave the key so that they can move your car if/when the car that is trapped by yours needs to leave. In the two cases I'm thinking of, parking on the street is illegal (it's a major thoroughfare), and in both cases if you decline to leave the key, they will not let you enter the restaurant.

If you want specifics, one is a Brazilian churrascaria somewhere in the South Bay (sorry, it's been a while), and the other is the Zankou Chicken location just east of Sepulveda Boulevard. Street parking is legal in the second case, but nearly impossible to get. Also, while they have taken my key every time, they have never actually moved my car.

Comment Re:Does it matter? (Score 1) 139

I'm saying I've seen such sites, and NOT ONE of them has been sufficiently compelling that I said "gee I'll go sign up for Facebook so I can comment here". I have a Disqus account. I'm willing to make single-serving accounts. If one of those two doesn't cover the situation, then tough shit, I don't need to participate in your site.

Comment Re:Does it matter? (Score 1) 139

No one seems to be foaming at the mouth about the ubiquitous "sign on with Facebook" feature many sites have which FORCE you to have a Facebook account in order to use their service.

That would be because people can live without the ability to comment on those sites. It's harder (not impossible, but harder) to live without the ability to comment on Google-owned sites.

Comment Quality. And golf. (Score 1) 478

I was golfing at a municipal course (because it's cheap), and the two of us got paired up with another random pair to fill out a foursome. This pair happened to be father and son, out celebrating the elder's 80th birthday. He wasn't doing great, but he wasn't doing that badly either, and there were no golf carts. We had to walk the entire course.

At one point, he asked me if it bothered me to be paired up with an old man like him, and I said "Hell no, I hope I can play a round of golf when I'm 80." From that point on, it was pretty obvious he no longer felt compelled to hurry up for anyone else's benefit, and was content to proceed at a pace that worked for him.

Comment Re:Not a problem... (Score 1) 326

Desalination is just kicking the can down one more generation. The problem is that the habitats that are pleasant to live in are not the ones with the actual resources, so people cluster in areas that are not meant to harbor tens of millions of people, let alone hundreds of millions or billions.

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