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Comment: I'll take a stab at this game... (Score 2) 205

by CrazyDuke (#39936205) Attached to: The Patent Mafia and What You Can Do To Break It Up

How about: the amount one party spends in legal fees must be matched at some ratio and paid to the other party, regardless of guilt, to be itemized and balanced by the end of every month.

For a 1:1 example:
Joe Blow, owner of Joe's Cups of Joe of Skid Row, OK gets sued by Joe Mamma, Inc., where Joe Mamma dumps $200K every month into lawyer fees, legal research, expert witnesses, court filings, etc... and Joe only spends $5K to retain Jimmy Shyster of Shyster, Benedict, and Arnold. Joe Blow would end up having to match 5K to Joe Mamma, Inc and Joe Mamma, Inc. would have to reimburse Joe Blow for $200K.

That fraking lawsuit had better be worth it to Joe Mamma, Inc.

Stopping the inevitable Hollywood accounting would be a major issue, of course. Would anyone like to pull that idea apart any further?

Comment: Re:15-30 minutes (Score 2) 373

by CrazyDuke (#39898369) Attached to: Auto Makers Announce Electric Car Charging Standard

Spend about $36.00 in 5 minutes to drive for another 350 miles or about $3.00 in 20 to drive about another 64 miles (assuming comparable subcompacts, highway miles). Keep in mind, you will spend that 5 minutes fueling at a gas station, where you can charge at home and possibly at work, play, and shopping. So, if your idle time is really valuable, or you just go on long trips frequently, you may want to keep a gas car around.

I putter along at about 25 miles per day, with the odd 200 mile trip every few months where I don't mind stopping a couple of times to stretch, take a leak, grab some grub, etc... So, about every quarter, I would drive about 2350 miles. I would spend about 40 minutes during that time fueling my gas car (33 mpg combined, 9 gallons per stop), and 1 hour 20 minutes (4 80% recharges) screwing around at charging stations (20 minutes for 19.2kWh, 80% of a 24kWh pack, 64 miles per). I will have spent about $285 in Gas or about $12 at the charging stations, plus about $94 in household electricity (assuming no "free" charging).

That is about $269 per hour of waiting. Although, this does not include offsets such as the huge upfront cost of the pack (usually a $12k to $14k premium), nor the large difference in maintenance costs. It also does not include the few seconds to plug in the car at home, now that I think about it.

Comment: Re:Of course. (Score 2) 1174

by CrazyDuke (#39805865) Attached to: TSA Defends Pat Down of 4-Year-Old Girl

It is not that people lack this instinct. It is just that the instinct to submit to pack leaders tends to override this and other such gut responses. For instance, the Milgram Experiment covers the aversion to torture and murder being (easily) overridden. Hense, the urge to deride the TSA as rent-a-cops and other such allusions to their inferiority in the pack when justifying not complying.

Comment: Re:I did a LOL (Score 1) 423

by CrazyDuke (#39752311) Attached to: If You Resell Your Used Games, the Terrorists Win

Seriously, the entire point is so that they can keep prices high, if not higher: They don't like the competition from the used market driving the prices lower. They act like they're doing us all a favor when they want something. When they get it, it's "What? We're not running a charity here! Blah...blah...blah...free market..." Does anyone really think it was a coincidence that prices went up the moment the one-time-download-per-copy DLC that really should have been included already crap hit the scene?

It's like the neighborhood junkie that tells you if you just bail his ass out one more time, he'll clean up. Of course what he really does is take anything you give him and convert it into what he's jonesing for. And, you're just a sucker that got schooled.

Comment: Re:Laser Beams (Score 1) 892

by CrazyDuke (#39104061) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: What Would Real Space Combat Look Like?

"Since all combat seems to be heading this way anyway, one might as well just say: Drones. Due to the light speed delay, they'd have to be much more automated, but again, we're headed that way anyway. Carrying around a person and a life support system is a *huge* mass and complexity penalty." ...not to mention the effects of long duration high-g maneuvering. It would be rather difficult to survive the abnormally high accelerations, especially considering the zig-zaging needed to avoid incoming near or at c weapons fire. You can build a drone that can handle it, however.

The disadvantage, though, is you need a C & C relatively nearby that can handle what the automated programming cannot and to issue general orders, probably a carrier if an outpost and refueling dock is unavailable.

Comment: Re:What's the problem? (Score 1) 355

Challenge accepted...

#1 I was not aware that only the technically adept were allowed to be whistle-blowers The people that are likely not to know how to get a document out digitally are the ones that will print the thing out..

#2 Lets say you print out your tax forms on a printer registered to you in the Bahamas, but the form only lists your assets as being in Florida. Now you have an audit for using a branch office printer to print off your taxes. And, oh, hey look, the TSA does not have a record of you leaving and re-entering the country around that date! Suspicious...

#3 The raging bitch queen and his/her shyster lawyer discovers that the printer that some of your statements and offers are printed on happens to be at a house occupied by a member of the opposite sex not related to you. Oh, shit!

It is against the law for a monster to enter the corporate limits of Urbana, Illinois.

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