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Comment Re:Find better prospects? (Score 1) 287

You have no idea how excited I was to see this headline on the front page. It seems like only articles about Apple and Android are able to start a good flame war. I miss the days when Slashdot was filled with heated discussions about Java vs C, or Postgres vs MS SQL. The most capable, and underrated database out there IMHO is firebird. Excellent for small to medium sized projects where full ACID compliance was necessary. Fast performance on modest hardware, small memory footprint (for a feature complete database server), can be embedded in an app, business friendly open source licence.

Comment Re:Why is that "interesting"? (Score 5, Interesting) 280

While shopping for a new phone during the summer nearly every store tried to talk me out of HTC

I had researched extensively and found the HTC One V had the best camera on the market for a phone under $200 (with no contract), and was small in size (contrary to the current trend I prefer small phones) and had Android 4 out of the box.

I walked out of one store because the pushed samsung so hard, and out of another store since they no longer carried HTC. Only at the third store did I find the phone.

Incidentally this phone's camera is amazing if you're a photographer and like to tinker. It gives you true autofocus. Exposure control to plus or minus two stops, and a mode that brackets exposure (-1, 0, +1) and puts the three images together to give high contrast scenes beautifully smooth detail.

Comment Re:A patent troll public shaming. Interesting (Score 1) 278

Where's the rounded rectangle phone YOU invented, huh bub? To say that it was easy suggests that it could have been done 10 years prior. Was it? Nope. Clearly Apple put a lot of time and money (two things they need to protect) into that product.

LG Prada had rounded corners before the iPhone was released

Comment Re:Underpowered, maybe not, but deathtrap nonethel (Score 1) 585

By being closer to the average height of traffic, you're not just making yourself safer. You're also making everyone around you safer because you can react more quickly to problems up ahead. In larger vehicles, you are also more easily seen by other vehicles because of your larger overall footprint, which, again, makes everyone safer.

That would be true if the drivers of pickups were taking advantage of their improved visibility and paying attention but many drivers in pickups seem to be in their own little world with the radio on, and coffee in hand. They feel safe, and in fact they are safe, but they make everybody else less safe by their inattention.

I ride a motorcycle during the summer. . . . Drivers who pay attention make other drivers safer.

Comment Re:Who cares? (Score 1) 380

Considering most OS's out there support IPv6 (Vista, 7, Linux, Mac OS X) and most have it defaulted ON out of the box, why not add the capability? I don't know how many of the Linksys routers still run a version of linux out of the box, but it wouldn't be hard to add in, and allow the home network to run on IPv6 (or drop back to IPv4 if need be). Not that it's a huge deal, but it's not so much future proofing as it is something already in your home, on your network, just under/not utilized.

Exactly. Maybe they are building planned obsolescence into their products. Soon people will need to turn in replace their old routers and replace them with new IPv6 routers but the strategy could backfire since D-Link and others already support IPv6 on their inexpensive wireless N home routers

Comment Re:UI by programmer. (Score 1) 394

UI designed by programmer.

Yes: I'm looking at you, FOSS.

Or my favourite...UI's designed by graphic designers. I used to work with a fantastic designer. He had a real talent for creating visually appealing designs for our web apps that were simple and could be elegantly built with CSS but he insisted on putting menus and buttons in non-standard locations. The result was users had to relearn every interface and hunt for buttons. If we simply had OK, and Close buttons at the bottom right of dialogs, and the menus near the top right our programs would have been easier for new users.

Comment Re:May it be the first of many (Score 1) 238

Why are you hoping they're successful? What's wrong with a copyright holder going after the people infringing on its copyright? In fact, Slashdotters suggested that copyright holders to do this very thing 10 years ago during the Napster lawsuit.

I have no problem with copyright holders seeking damages for infringing. The problem occurs when RIAA and others seek damages far in excess of what is reasonable. In this case they are asking $150,000 per download. These groups have unlimited legal funding that almost guarantee the downloader will go bankrupt simply by being accused. Even if they are innocent the legal fees to defend yourself could send a person into bankruptcy. This seems way out of proportion of the crime. A person who went to Best Buy and stole 50 blue ray disks might get a week of community service but get caught downloading 50 movies and you could owe $7.5 million dollars. The laws are broken.

Transportation

Heroic Engineer Crashes Own Vehicle To Save a Life 486

scottbomb sends in this feel-good story of an engineer-hero, calling it "one of the coolest stories I've read in a long time." "A manager of Boeing's F22 fighter-jet program, Innes dodged the truck, then looked back to see that the driver was slumped over the wheel. He knew a busy intersection was just ahead, and he had to act fast. Without consulting the passengers in his minivan — 'there was no time to take a vote' — Innes kicked into engineer mode. 'Basic physics: If I could get in front of him and let him hit me, the delta difference in speed would just be a few miles an hour, and we could slow down together,' Innes explained."

Comment Re:It's absolutely ridiculous (Score 1) 266

What makes you think that flight 447 fell apart in the sky? Reports I read suggest that the crash investigators believe the plane was in tact and flying in a normal attitude when it hit the water: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1282367/Air-France-crash-The-truth-disaster-killed-228-people.html

Even the wiki article suggests the reason for the crash is still unknown but the following facts are known:

On 2 July 2009, the BEA released an intermediate report, which described all known facts, and a summary of the visual examination of the rudder and the other parts of the aircraft that had been recovered at that time.[7] According to the BEA, this examination showed that:

  • the aircraft was likely to have struck the surface of the sea in a normal flight attitude, with a high rate of descent;[Note 3][7][106]
  • there were no signs of fire or explosion;
  • the aircraft did not break up in flight. The report also stresses that the BEA had not had access to the post-mortem reports at the time of its production, some of which suggest differently.[7][107]

The current working theory is that a thunderstorm in the area reached as high as 50,000 feet and could have disrupted the plane. Normally a pilot would fly around such a system but a smaller storm in front might have obscured the thunder storm from the flight's radar system and the crew didn't see it.

Comment Re:US citizens pay more taxes than corporations (Score 1) 426

I don't know how it is in the states but here in Canada setting up a corporation can help you regulate the timing of your income but not avoid paying taxes on it altogether. If you set up a not-really-a-company limited company, and it makes a profit you will still want to transfer those profits into your personal account at some point...and when that happens the individual will be taxed on the income. (I'm not an accountant, but do have a limited company)

Comment Re:begs the question (Score 3, Insightful) 473

Which begs the question...what is an "improper" use? Does it cease to be "improper" once it has become ubiquitous?

It probably depends on the audience. I appreciate good grammar when I hear or read it, and expect it from journalists and formal writers. There are definitely people who will judge you as an uneducated hick for using too much slang but sometimes in casual conversation using proper grammar just makes a person sound like a pompous ass.

Comment Re:How? (Score 1) 317

The fact is, if you care, just run narrower and harder tires.. Thus giving lower friction and more economy, duh!

Ah, so that's why my mountain bike uses so little gas. Makes sense!

That's a pretty good analogy. Mountain bike tires are optimized for traction. Take a look at the bikes used for tour de france which are optimized for speed and reduced rolling resistance.

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