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Printer

What Do You Do When Printers Cost Less Than Ink? 970

Posted by timothy from the buy-more-printers dept.
An anonymous reader writes "A family member recently asked me to pick up more ink for her Epson Photo RX 595. Unfortunately, replacing the black and color ink cartridges costs $81.92 + tax at the local store! That's so bad that I got a replacement printer that's just as good, and spare ink, for less. But now I have a useless piece of e-waste that I can't even give away. What can you do with a printer like that? I hate to just throw it away."

Comment Not how the eye works? (Score 1) 152

by GnomeChompsky (#30228894) Attached to: Where Are Your Contact Lens Displays?

I guess it would work ok if the display were constantly changing, but static images on the retina fade pretty quickly. You might not notice it, but your eye is constantly moving (this is called saccadic movement) so that you keep being able to see things. Otherwise, you're not going to be able to see the stuff on these displays, because it will fade from vision like the blood vessels between your retina and your cornea.

Comment As a Canadian living in the USA.... (Score 1) 505

by GnomeChompsky (#29068239) Attached to: How To Stop Businesses Storing SSNs Indefinitely?

I am SHOCKED at how often companies will ask for your SSN to do a credit check. Want a cell phone? SSN. Want Cox Cable Internet? SSN. Want any number of services for which a company is not becoming your creditor? SSN.

When I first found out that Cox wanted my SSN to allow me to sign up as a customer, I emailed to ask them how they would be storing my SSN, and for how long, and what security measures they had in place to prevent the theft of my SSN. They couldn't answer these questions. They just kept telling me that providing my SSN would allow them to determine whether I needed to pay a deposit before I started service. Well, if you're not competent enough to answer those questions for me, I'm not forking over my SSN........

I don't understand how this came to be the accepted norm in this country. It seems like a horrendous violation of privacy. It's just BEGGING to be abused.
Sci-Fi

Battlestar Galactica Feature Film Confirmed 342

Posted by timothy from the more-grace-park-please dept.
Dave Knott writes "Entertainment Weekly reports that Universal Pictures has confirmed rumours of a Battlestar Galactica feature film. Directed by Bryan Singer, and co-produced by original series creator Glen Larson, the new movie will not be related to the recently concluded SyFy Network series. Rather, it will be a 'complete re-imagining of the sci-fi lore that was invented by Larson back in the '70s.'"
Space

Sunspots Return 276

Posted by kdawson from the try-this-proven-acne-cure dept.
We're emerging from the longest, deepest sunspot drought since 1913 (we discussed its depths here) with the appearance of a robust group of sunspots over the weekend. Recently we discussed a possible explanation for the prolonged minimum. The Fox News article quotes observer Michael Buxton of Ocean Beach, Calif.: "This is the best sunspot I've seen in two years." jamie found a NASA site where you can generate a movie of the recent sunspot's movement — try selecting the first image type and bumping the resolution to 1024. The magnetic field lines are clearly visible.
Programming

The "Doctor Who" Model of Open Source 116

Posted by kdawson from the chemistry-in-a-phone-booth dept.
Glyn Moody writes "Open source projects are generally fine when there's a long-term leader like Linus; but what happens when nobody is able or willing to run things for extended periods? Peter Murray-Rust explains how the open chemistry group known as the Blue Obelisk has evolved what he calls the 'Doctor Who Model of Open Source': 'You'll recall that every few years something fatal happens to the Doctor and you think he is going to die and there will never be another series. Then he regenerates. The new Doctor has a different personality, a different philosophy (though always on the side of good). It is never clear how long any Doctor will remain unregenerated or who will come after him. And this is a common theme in the Blue Obelisk.' Could other open source projects learn from this experience as long-term leaders start to move on?"
Microsoft

Ballmer Threatens To Pull Out of the US 1142

Posted by Soulskill from the tax-schmax dept.
theodp writes "Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is threatening to move Microsoft employees offshore if Congress enacts President Obama's plans to curb tax avoidance by US corporations. 'It makes US jobs more expensive,' complained billionaire Ballmer. 'We're better off taking lots of people and moving them out of the US as opposed to keeping them inside the US.' According to 2006 reports, Microsoft transferred $16 billion in assets to secretive Dublin subsidiaries to shave billions off its US tax bill. 'Corporate tax is part of the overall advantage of doing business in Ireland,' acknowledged Ballmer in 2005. 'It would be disingenuous to say otherwise.'"

Comment why.... (Score 1) 429

by GnomeChompsky (#27769207) Attached to: Microsoft To Disable Autorun
can't you just have it embedded into the prompt that you can type something like "what" to find out what programs you can run? It's no more intuitive to have to click a series of buttons, really.

Like a prompt that goes something like

User user in Directory directory. Type 'what' for full program list:>

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