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Comment Re:They do not need to confirm it (Score 1) 197

No it is not. Yes, there are two major parties, but since everyone I know complains about both and wishes there was an alternative, perhaps it is time they began voting for the alternatives. I am so sick of the whining and complaining from those too lazy to vote or write their representatives or fucking vote for a different party. If you think you are throwing away your vote by doing so, why bother at all. It everyone that wishes for another choice actually took one of the available alternatives we may end up better off. So stfu and vote for somebody new or run for office yourself, but don't pretend there are only 2 choices.

Comment Re:Hahaha have some crow (Score 1) 237

I have had bad experiences with Comcast in the past, but recently my local telco's DSL service began dropping my connections to web pages. Only when attempting to load any web page would I have an issue, and it was across multiple computers. The Qwest helpdesk people would not believe me that my Netflix streaming, games, and torrents were all fine. Finally I called Comcast as the only other provider in my area and the sales lady let me speak with one of the Internet Support guys for about 10 minutes. They are not blocking ports or screwing with my torrent traffic and stated the only 2 restrictions on my account are they will block port 25 if they see more than 999 messages per day on it (which I can call and have them re-enable as it is a SPAM blocking measure) and I cannot go over 250 GB data transfer per month. So far I am averaging 20 - 25 GB per week according to my router running Tomato. Maybe they are being smaller assholes since they had the deal with Xfinity, I don't know. Also, I pay for a 12 Mbps connection and consistently receive over 30 Mbps down and 5 up, where as I was paying for a 12M/896k DSL connection before and getting 7M down if I was lucky, 750k up. Ping time decreased about 15 ms on the game servers I play on as well. I have to say, I have only had them about 3 weeks this time, but am quite happy so far.
KDE

Does the End of KOffice Mean the End of KDE? 233

jfruhlinger writes "Venerable Linux office suite KOffice has been reborn as "Calligra," a name meant to evoke calligraphy but perhaps a bit too close to the neme of a deranged Roman emperor. Perhaps more importantly, Calligra seems to be cooperating with the future MeeGo mobile Linux distro. Could this be the beginning of the end of the KDE desktop, at least under its current branding?"
Portables

Is Your Laptop Cooking Your Testicles? 293

Velcroman1 writes "Whoever invented the 'laptop' probably didn't worry too much about male reproductive health. Turns out, unsurprisingly, that sitting with a computer on your lap will crank up the temperature of your nether regions, which could affect sperm quality. And there is little you can do about it, according to the authors of a study out today in the journal Fertility and Sterility, short of putting your laptop on a desk. The researchers hooked thermometers to the scrotums of 29 young men (!) who were balancing a laptop on their knees. They found that even with a lap pad under the computer, the men's scrotums overheated quickly. 'Millions and millions of men are using laptops now, especially those in the reproductive age range,' said Dr. Yefim Sheynkin, a urologist at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, who led the new study."
Image

Snoop Dogg Joins the War On Cybercrime 164

wiredmikey writes "Think you can bust out some silly fresh rhymes on the subjects of hacking, identity theft and computer viruses? In a somewhat untraditional partnership, Snoop Dogg and Symantec's Norton want you to show off your their lyrical skills on the subject of cybercrime and enter the 'Hack is Wack' cybercrime rap contest. If you have the skills and bust out the phattest rap, you'll receive round trip airfare for two to Los Angeles along with two days and two nights' hotel stay to meet with Snoop's management, learn more about his business. You'll also get two tickets to a Snoop Dogg concert and a new laptop pimped out with Norton Internet Security 2011."

Comment Re:Not ready as a gaming platform (Score 1) 520

I use Linux, and am happy to purchase and use closed source software. I wish there was more. I often prefer the open source version or replacement for specific applications, but when unavailable I am happy to buy them. There is simply not enough offered. For me I tried Linux because it was free and I had a box running Windows ME...well, you can see why I wanted away from that. I tried it. I loved it. I haven't run Windows at home since. I find it desirable that people want to run different Operating Systems. They can run whatever makes them happy and they are comfortable with. I deal with lack of support from ISV's by finding solutions that work for me. I wish there were better solutions at times, either open source or closed, for certain situations. I would certainly be willing to purchase more.

Comment Re:Call me a extremist if you want (Score 1) 706

Those of us with criminal records were just stupid enough to get caught and charged for doing it.

I find this to be true. I would be completely fucked had an ADA not kept screwing up my charges until the case was open long enough the judge told them to finish it that day. I would have had a felony that would have put me in Huntsville State Prison in Texas (min 6 month stay). Because of the miraculous incompetence of the ADA I ended up with a misdemeanor and time served from my arrest as my sentence. If you care the case entire issue came about after some friends of mine went on a graffiti spree if Houston. I purchased spray paint and had given it to one of them who turned out was under 18. It is illegal in Texas to sell or provide certain aerosol products to minors, part of the state health code dealing with drug abuse. So I should have been charged with Criminal Mischief, a felony, but was charged with distribution of an aerosol paint to a minor for purpose of inhalation. I explain it on every application that asks about arrests or crimes, some specifically mention only reporting felonies on the application, and have not had a problem. If it had been the Criminal Mischief charge however I would likely be where the other two are at this time. One is working rigs in the gulf last I heard, and the other was able to land a job in Portland at some rock club.

Biotech

Part-Human, Part-Machine Transistor Devised 77

asukasoryu writes "Man and machine can now be linked more intimately than ever, according to a new article in the journal ACS Nano Letters. Scientists have embedded a nano-sized transistor inside a cell-like membrane and powered it using the cell's own fuel. To create the implanted circuit, the UC scientists combined a carbon nanotube transistor, lipid bilayer coating, ion pump, and ATP. The ion pump changes the electrical charge inside the cell, which then changes the electrical charge going through the transistor, which the scientists could measure and monitor."
AMD

AMD Readies "Lottery-Core" CPUs 80

Barence writes "AMD has announced a radical shake-up of its CPU strategy, in an exclusive interview with PC Pro. The company has revealed that the next generation (codenamed Tyche) will be offered as a single 'lottery-core' SKU, with the number of functional cores in each part left for the customer to discover. 'We know gaming is very important to our customers,' explained regional marketing manager Ffwl Ebrill, 'and we're innovating to bring that win-or-lose experience out of the virtual world and into the marketplace.' Anyone discovering more than ten functional cores could consider themselves 'a lottery winner,' while unfortunates discovering their new CPU had no working cores at all would be encouraged to 'roll again.'"
GUI

5 Reasons Tablets Suck, and You Won't Buy One 553

Crazzaper writes "When the iPad was announced, a lot of people who didn't care about tablets came out to bash Apple's new device. These same people said 'I would have bought it if it had a full OS,' but in reality full OS tablets existed before the iPad rumors even started. This article gives an interesting perspective on why this happened, and argues that there's five big reasons why more powerful tablets exists but no one cares."

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