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Comment Re:More than 10 years ago? (Score 2, Informative) 505

What were you using instead of floppies? CDs? Kind of expensive and slow back then to burn 200KB of data to a 650MB disc.

I started using those Iomega 100MB discs in 1995. I thought it was an amazing piece of technology at the time. (I preferred those discs to CDR's for quite a while.)

Between the iomega discs, CDR's, an existing collection of 3.5" floppies, and network transfer/storage ... I had had my fill of floppies by the latter half of the 1990's.

I'm certain I haven't bought any new floppies within the last 10 years ... probably closer to 15.

Comment ThatQuiz.org (Score 1) 467

I'm not sure to what extent this site would help:

www.ThatQuiz.org

But I like to go back there from time to time and run through various tests just for "the fun of it." I'm not only surprised by the simple things I've forgotten over the years, but I'm also surprised at some of the things I never use but still remember.

Comment Great question... (Score 1) 188

I love this question as it is one I've thought about a few times. I'm not much of a gamer, so my "take" on this question is probably vastly different than a person who loves playing games. For the most part, I think games (especially video games) are an unproductive waste of time. Having said that, I understand that we all need some down time in order to enjoy life. While I prefer to spend my down time doing things that are every bit as unproductive as playing games, I do, nonetheless, play a game from time to time.

My favorite game of all time is Magic: The Gathering. I go through very long periods where I don't play at all (i.e. years), but I still have my card collection and I still get really addicted to it from time to time. I treat all my cards with care so that they will retain as much value as possible should I ever decide to sell my collection. (I keep all my cards in protective sleeves, and I store them away from sunlight.) The game can be very expensive over time because some rares (especially the newer mythic rares) can cost as much as a video game for 1 single card. On the other hand, you can get hours/weeks/months and even years of play out of a $9 pre-constructed deck.

For my time & money, there's no better game.

As far as electronic video games go ... I find it very difficult to get *any* value out of them at all. Video games bore me to tears. I would generally rather read a book, clean the house, surf the web, watch a movie, or do just about any other non-productive thing than play video games.

Having said that, there is one video game that comes to mind that I have gotten tremendous value out of. StarCraft. I bought the SC/Broodwar Battle Chest like 10+ years ago and I think I only paid $29 for it. But in the last 10 years, I have played that game off and on many, many times. In fact, about 2 months ago I got the urge to play it again ... so I got my discs out, installed it, patched it, and played several games for a period of about 5 days. It was great fun ... and I'm probably done with it for another year or two.

But the fact that this game from the late 90's is still working on modern hardware and modern operating systems is a true testament to the value that you can get from some games.

Open Source

Linux Kernel 2.6.32 Released 195

diegocg writes "Linus Torvalds has officially released the version 2.6.32 of the Linux kernel. New features include virtualization memory de-duplication, a rewrite of the writeback code faster and more scalable, many important Btrfs improvements and speedups, ATI R600/R700 3D and KMS support and other graphic improvements, a CFQ low latency mode, tracing improvements including a 'perf timechart' tool that tries to be a better bootchart, soft limits in the memory controller, support for the S+Core architecture, support for Intel Moorestown and its new firmware interface, run-time power management support, and many other improvements and new drivers. See the full changelog for more details."

Comment SRB separation (Score 1) 117

I live in Central Florida so I've watched at least a dozen launches in the last 10 years. In watching this video, it appears as though the solid rocket booster separation happens after the shuttle has reached "black sky" ... in watching from the ground, I always assumed SRB separation was happening when the shuttle was still in blue skies ... or at least dark blue skies. 100,000 feet or something like that. Does anyone know the altitude that SRB separation occurs?

Awesome video.

Comment Re:seriously... (Score 2, Funny) 197

"...ended up switching to the English department, where being a sad, whiny little bitch gets you bonus points."

That part made me snicker a little.

"If someone could please tell me wtf was so funny about that, I'd be much obliged. None of it seemed particularly funny to me while living it."

That part made me fall out of my chair from laughing so hard.
NASA

NASA Wants to Take the Blast Out of Sonic Booms 187

coondoggie writes to tell us that NASA and JAXA (the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) have announced a partnership to study the sonic boom. Hoping to find the key to the next generation of supersonic aircraft, the research will include a look at JAXA's "Silent Supersonic Technology Demonstration Program." "The change in air pressure associated with a sonic boom is only a few pounds per square foot -- about the same pressure change experienced riding an elevator down two or three floors. It is the rate of change, the sudden onset of the pressure change, that makes the sonic boom audible, NASA said. All aircraft generate two cones, at the nose and at the tail. They are usually of similar strength and the time interval between the two as they reach the ground is primarily dependent on the size of the aircraft and its altitude. Most people on the ground cannot distinguish between the two and they are usually heard as a single sonic boom. Sonic booms created by vehicles the size and mass of the space shuttle are very distinguishable and two distinct booms are easily heard."

MySpace #1 US Destination Last Week 381

An anonymous reader writes "Hitwise is reporting that MySpace has reached the top, surpassing Yahoo! Mail as the most visited site on the internet for US users. Seeing a 4300% increase in visits in just two short years, this internet sensation has come quite a long ways. From the article: 'To put MySpace's growth in perspective, if we look back to July 2004 myspace.com represented only .1% of all Internet visits. This time last year myspace.com represented 1.9% of all Internet visits. With the week ending July 8, 2006 market share figure of 4.5% of all the US Internet visits.'"

Nerds Switching from Apple to Ubuntu? 957

Mindpicnic writes "The recent switch of two lifelong Mac nerds to Ubuntu hasn't escaped Tim O'Reilly's radar. He cites Jason Kottke: 'If I were Apple, I'd be worried about this. Two lifelong Mac fans are switching away from Macs to PCs running Ubuntu Linux: first it was Mark Pilgrim and now Cory Doctorow. Nerds are a small demographic, but they can also be the canary in the coal mine with stuff like this.'"

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