dave_d - Slashdot User

Comment Not for me (Score 1) 404

by dave_d on Sunday January 17, 2010 @03:25PM (#30800304) Attached to: James Cameron On How <em>Avatar</em> Technology Could Keep Actors Young

Why would I want to watch ageless actors? Really? I haven't seen Avatar, but from the previews, I'm not that impressed by Cameron's "photorealistic" cgi. It seems to be a big deal over nothing to me, but I'd rather watch a movie with a good plot and character substance rather than some fancy cgi effects....maybe that's just me.

Comment Re:Useless (Score 1) 91

by dave_d on Friday January 08, 2010 @10:53PM (#30703856) Attached to: Palm Opens Dev Program, Offers $1M For Top App

Wahooo, 3rd place in a marathon!!! That's still a medal. So what if they're an hour behind 2nd, they're in front of 4th.

Comment Re:Invite-only? (Score 1) 329

by dave_d on Friday January 08, 2010 @09:57PM (#30703472) Attached to: Google Faces Deluge of Nexus One Complaints

Um, nope. It's not invite only. Can buy it directly from google (http://google.com/phone)

Comment Re:Your point? (Score 1) 155

by dave_d on Sunday September 27, 2009 @11:05PM (#29561895) Attached to: The Informant Is Back At Work

Well some of your questions could easily be answered - have you read the book/seen the movie/listened to the This American Life show? The TAL goes in pretty good detail about how he ended up in prison - haven't read the book/seen the movie, but based on what I've heard of both, the events are detailed there too..

The Origins of Video Game Names 121

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday June 20, 2009 @11:26AM from the a-plumber-by-any-other-name dept.

Blogger Drew Mackie has posted a lengthy analysis of the etymology of dozens of names from popular video game characters. It examines the real-life and mythological roots of names from Final Fantasy, Zelda, Mario Bros., Street Fighter, and many other prominent franchises, complete with citations where appropriate. Quoting: "It's speculated that Street Fighter's Russian wrestler Zangief takes his name from a real-life Russian wrestler, Victor Zangiev. More interesting to me is that the working name for this character was Vodka Gobalsky. This is notable for two reasons — for one, that this name is amazing [and] deserves to enter into the public consciousness and, for another, that it bears a striking resemblance to the name of a Russian boxer in Nintendo's Punch-Out!! series, Vodka Drunkenski. I'm sure this says something about Japanese perception of Russian people. The latter Vodka, by the way, goes by the name Soda Popinski in US translations of the game, presumably because Nintendo of America didn't allow references to booze."

Circuit City Closes Its Doors For Good 587

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday January 16, 2009 @05:19PM from the gonna-have-a-heart-attack-and-die-from-not-surprise dept.

bsharma is amongst the hordes of people wanting us to share the news that long beleaguered retailer Circuit City has finally decided to close for good, asking for court approval to close the remaining 567 US stores. "Whalin said management mistakes over the past few years combined with the recession brought down Circuit City. 'This company made massive mistakes,' he said, citing a decision to get rid of sales people and other mismanagement. What's more, given the credit market freeze, Whalin added that no manufacturer wants to sell to any retailer who doesn't have money to pay for the merchandise. At the same time, Whalin said there's still a very slim chance that one or more firms that have expressed an interest in buying Circuit City could still buy it out of bankruptcy over the next few days."

Actor Matt Smith Will Be 11th Doctor Who 330

Posted by kdawson on Saturday January 03, 2009 @07:14PM from the inheritor-of-the-scarf dept.

Jerry Smith was among a large number of readers letting us know that the 11th Doctor Who has been named. It's Matt Smith, 26, who will be the youngest actor to play the time-traveling Doctor. The head of drama at BBC Wales said this about Smith's audition: "It was abundantly clear that he had that 'Doctor-ness' about him. You are either the Doctor or you are not."

Comment Re:Yeah, England. (Score 1) 386

by dave_d on Saturday December 27, 2008 @11:05PM (#26246353) Attached to: Study Abroad For Computer Science Majors?

Uhh, that was just a "duh" statement thrown in ..nothing serious about it....err, if you want to be serious about it, then they're taught in English as opposed to American.

Comment Yeah, England. (Score 2, Informative) 386

by dave_d on Saturday December 27, 2008 @08:15PM (#26245359) Attached to: Study Abroad For Computer Science Majors?

Uhh, it's been 12 years or so, but I studied abroad in Lancaster University in England. They had computer science courses - they're taught in English, and were interesting and had a bit of variety from what I had in the states. I'm sure there's lots of colleges/universities abroad that have c.s courses, but Lancaster had a study abroad relationship with my college so, heh, it was good. Was it worthwhile? Well, yeah, the experience was invaluable, but not so much for the c.s courses, though they were good, but for the experience living abroad in a different culture.

Slashdot's Disagree Mail 135

Posted by samzenpus on Friday December 05, 2008 @03:25PM from the they-keep-coming dept.

This installment of Disagree Mail highlights a man's concern about illegal cloning in the Hollywood community, a guy who is sick of US imperialism and his low karma, and an example of the kind of people you don't want as roommates in college. Read below to find out just how crazy, angry and irresponsible it gets.

Comment yes,intersting.. (Score 1) 174

by dave_d on Wednesday August 18, 1999 @10:39AM (#1739592) Attached to: Alan Turing's Enigma Treatise online

Ok, I haven't made it through the chapters yet, but it does seem pretty intersting..glad they're making this available.

I seem to remember seeing a TLC show about Enigma, and how we were able to retrieve a working machine from a captured german submarine before they blew it up. From what I remember, the show alluded that the device seriously helped the cracking of Enigma. Anyone know anymore about this? Did Turing crack it with the help of this captured device?

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