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Comment Re: Tell that to the third world (Score 1) 269

And don't forget this is all onw huge bullshit. This is not new capacity developed for more energy use. This is to replace the russian extraction capacity that will die when the embargo on Russia goes into effect. I for one would rather see greedy oil companies pocketing the money than greedy russian warmongers doing the same.

Comment Lies, damn lies, and statistics (Score 5, Insightful) 389

It is of course possible to formulate the selection criteria so that Google will come extremely unprominently shown somewhere at the bottom. Which Microsoft did in this case, quite successfully.

I actively tried to switch the default search engine to Google, and guess what, it was hard to find even knowing what I'm looking about.

If I was Google, I'd file an antitrust petition against this NOW.

Comment Try working on just improving the code (Score 1) 601

Perfect for procrastination.

Just sit down with it, but instead of writing new code, clean it up, or add some tests around it. There are two benefits:

  1. It will start looking much better, and you'll have a better feeling about it.
  2. You'll get yourself back into context, and before you know it, you'll find you want to do some development at it.

I have a similar problem: I have a project that I would really like to work on, but can find time only occasionally. I have found that coming back to it after a long time is very hard. I have my lists, but starting something is just formidable. So, I start by reading around, doing little stuff here and there and just cleaning it up, until I feel confident enough to do something.

And in general, it's very good to have your code thoroughly tested. Read about it here: http://manent-notes.blogspot.com/2008/08/developing-under-severe-time.html

Hardware Hacking

Submission + - Build Your Own SATA Hard Drive Switch (extremetech.com)

Mikey Win writes: "ExtremeTech shows us a cool hardware hack that allows multiple operating system to boot without dealing with any tedious BIOS setup changes. How? By building your own SATA hard drive switch. The result? You can expect a longer hard drive life span, power supply load reduction, and partitions protected from becoming overwritten or corrupted."
Announcements

Submission + - Python 3.0 alpha1 released

x4nthu5 writes: "From http://www.python.org/download/releases/3.0/:

"Python 3000 (a.k.a. "Py3k", and released as Python 3.0) is a new version of the language that is incompatible with the 2.x line of releases. The language is mostly the same, but many details, especially how built-in objects like dictionaries and strings work, have changed considerably, and a lot of deprecated features have finally been removed."

Python 3k engines are up and running!"
Sci-Fi

Submission + - 360-degree Holographic Display (engadget.com)

jshriverWVU writes: "Researchers at USC have taken another step towards that holiest of sci-fi dreams: the 3D holographic display. Using a spinning mirror covered with a "holographic diffuser," a special DVI implementation, and a high-speed projector, the team's device can project a three-dimensional image that can be viewed from 360 degrees — regardless of the viewer's height and distance. That's impressive, but that spinning mirror looks pretty dangerous. Check a video of the system in action after the break."
Microsoft

Submission + - Norway votes "no with comments" to OOXML

kandresen writes: Standards Norway has rejected the OOXML, citing too many weaknesses in the current specifications, however states the vote may be changed to "unconditional yes" if the comments (PDF) are addressed.

Summary:
  • The Scope clause in Part 1 is inappropriate for an ISO standard
  • Rework into an ISO-style multi-part standard
  • Rework into a much more concise standard
  • The information model in unnecessarily complex
  • All examples should confirm to the XML specification
  • DrawingML should be a separate standard
  • OPC should be a separate standard
  • The specification should not include binary notations
  • The specification should not include unspecified features
  • Option sets should be extensible and should avoid cultural bias
  • OOXML should reference, use, and confirm to existing standards where applicable
  • Lack of consistency in notation of values and dimensions
Operating Systems

Submission + - Ubuntu says no to non-free video drive

An anonymous reader writes: Ubuntu CTO Matt Zimmerman has announced two Ubuntu Technical Board decisions that will affect the upcoming Feisty Fawn release, due out in April of this year. For the Feisty release, proprietary video drivers are out of the default install, and the PowerPC port of Ubuntu is being downgraded to an unofficial release. http://enterprise.linux.com/article.pl?sid=07/02/1 3/1943218
It's funny.  Laugh.

Submission + - Giant Squid Species Blinds Prey With Light Bursts

ar1550 writes: The BBC reports that one species of squid, the 2 meter (7ft.) long Taningia danae, is believed to use light-emitting organs on its tentacles to confuse its prey. Scientists also raised the possibility that the display of bioluminescence is used in attracting a mate. The link includes a video, if you have Windows Media or Real installed.

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