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Comment Re:What about local files? (Score 4, Interesting) 62

This is something that I've struggled with.

FWIW, I use a combination of Foobar 2000 and X-plore File Manager (paid version, because it's that good). The reason for that is that I have some local mp3s, but I also have some on a NAS. Foobar is great for playing off the NAS (although I wish it would cache the songs off the NAS), and X-plore is great for one-offs (local or otherwise). Any suggestions on better alternatives would be awesome as I have tried about two dozen other apps that have horrible UIs, limited features, or just plain sucked.

Comment Re:I thought.. (Score 1) 548

I'm remodeling a house right now (today, not this very second.) It has 2x4s. TWO by FOURS. It has support beams placed every 4 feet. (Not 3.5', and not 8'.) It was built in 1895, so there's the other side of the redefinition bracket.

If you cared to do this properly, you would know that studs in house framing are positioned a given distance apart from centre to centre, for exactly the reason why it's pointed out many times in the thread. That way, your house can have your special 2x4s and "trade 2x4's" as well.

Comment Ah, the rubber bible (Score 5, Interesting) 143

As a chemist, that was the one resource that everyone had.

Unlike software, you never needed to know whether it was the latest version.
However, this is a prime example of bloatware. The thing was so big and fat, it ceased to be a pocketbook. I think the last one I used had a version in the 70s.

Comment In the old days... (Score 1) 204

- many years ago, grad students used to use their university webspace to take grainy GIFs of papers (especially for papers that didn't so well with OCR, like chemistry papers) and publish them that way.
- about 17 years ago, I remember there being Livejournal communities dedicated to grad students sharing the PDFs of journal articles (once they became widely available)
- then people just started sharing proxy accounts to get the articles directly

nothing new here, just because it involves Twitter doesn't instill novelty to an old idea.

Comment Why do we still trust the manufacturer? (Score 1) 168

It's about time everyone had a long hard look at the software in their systems. Are they open enough for you to make the necessary fix should a problem arise?

I am by no means a tech geek, but I have DD-WRT on my routers because I can actually change the things I need the router to do. Disabling features in the interest of making more money in a higher end model is kinda dickish, but when you realize that the same dickishness (pardon the crude grammar) is likely responsible for hardcoded logins, it's a sad state of affairs.

Oh well.

China

Scientists Boycott NASA Conference Because of Ban On Chinese Participants 283

New submitter Eunuchswear writes "Congress has passed laws forbidding NASA from allowing Chinese nationals on its premises, so NASA was forced to reject applications from Chinese scientists to attend the upcoming meeting on the Kepler space telescope next month. This ban extends even to Chinese scientists and students working in the USA, angering many American scientists. Geoff Marcy, known for his work on exoplanets, is reported to be boycotting the conference. 'In good conscience, I cannot attend a meeting that discriminates in this way. The meeting is about planets located trillions of miles away, with no national security implications.' he said in an email to the conference organisers."

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