Like the consoles?

Reminded me somewhat of the dudes who bashed a PS3 with a sledgehammer outside a game store, then did the same with the Wii... which was even MORE fun, as they did it while wearing Mario & Luigi costumes. It made that look like Smash Bros. for real!

Anyway, I doubt this one beats the Blendtec iPhone vid!!

Retarded Shareholders

This is exactly the case that shows why there is something wrong with "Capitalism". I don't see many people killing themselves because they'll earn more money by dying, but it seems like companies are legally obliged to do exactly this if it increases the share value.

I assure you that the reason these shareholders were happy about a Microsopht takeover was because they'd short sell the entire Yahoo! stock as soon as it went up. Then they'd sail off with their boatload of plundered earnings while Yahoo is ripped apart by MS.

As some have pointed out, the shares are already above the pre-Microhoo offer, so if they are so whiny they should sell stock and stop whining. See, investing in the stock market is kind of gambling; the board of directors should be able to decide what's best for THE COMPANY, not for some dudes shouting "Show me the money!". Oh well...

You pay what you get

Thing is, I prefer to have landline+DSL than having broadband+VoIP because of these reasons. VoIP might be very nice for cheap calls, but for real emergencies you don't want to have a botched 911 redirect. Even worse would be that your internet link's down, or DDoS'd, or otherwise b0rked by "traffic shaping".

Landlines tend to be available most of the time, instantly, and without any kind of latency. Too bad a toddler had to pay the price for this oversight.

And anyway, as some others have mentioned, how the hell were these dudes being billed? Ok, maybe they had one of those "charge my credit card automatically" schemes, but didn't they notice the lack of bills??? Looks like these guys themselves are responsible for neglecting stuff like this.

Holy BLOBs

How do filesystem-BLOBs work? My last experience was/is with SQL Server 2000 and I didn't even know this option was available. Maybe because most of my BLOB experience comes from PostgreSQL, basically the lo_*() functions.

@Kevin - Wouldn't that be LAPP stack? "LAMP" implies MySQL *retch*

@ACs - Hm, you could install DB2 UDB on a Linux box, with all the added benefits of a graphical installation, and the db2 Command Center. See, using the Linux platform doesn't automatically restrict you to Postgres/mySQL ;)

All that said, SQL Server is a fairly decent DBMS, even if it is a blatant Sybase fork. Though I've been able to bring it down with a triple self-join without WHERE parameters ... watch the server go down! Weeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

Oh yeah...

"This driver has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down"

Or, our favorite example on a car braking:

BRAKES.EXE has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down

>>CRASH<<

The BOFH would be happy to install Windows in the Boss' car, though....

Mine's the one with the Blue Screen...

"Spain's part of the Eastern United States, .................."

You just reminded me of that North Carolina DMV employee who didn't know where the "State of MEXICO" was located in the US. 'Twas untill one of the higher-ups pointed out that Mexico was actually a country!

My quirk with CDMA

... is the lack of SIM cards. 2 of the 4 mobile providers here use GSM, and back in 2003 I went for the biggy (Telcel) that had the most coverage back then. I bought 3 handsets along the timeline, and the only reason I actually switched my mobile number was because I moved to another city.

CDMA handsets aren't that easy, and this coupled with PAYG lines basically being non-transferrable made the whole thing undesireable. Basically, GSM's success over here was the phone number portability on multiple handsets (just swap out the SIM card) which was not possible on the older AMPS or TDMA handsets, and to keep the same number you basically had to go on-contract.

That said, there *is* a CDMA "sim card", I'd like to see DT enabling that standard on Sprint's handsets. Oh, and keep iDen, it isn't that bad, is it? Plus, iDen also uses SIM cards ;)

@Sarah Bee

Ah, I thought I was the only one that noted the "Brittany" weirdness. I thought it was Britney's evil twin they were talking about!

You'll pry vi from my cold, dead hands

Best phrase ever. :)

I have my own preferences over the debacle:

Java = Netbeans.

C/C++/PHP = Emacs (if I have an X session available)

C/C++/PHP = vi/vim (in every other case)

I find some Emacs features interesting, but vi's one-key commands are easier to learn than the weird ctrl-M-M-Ctrl-something weird key combinations to get stuff done. So graphical mode usually is Emacs, but in CLI mode vi wins hands down.

Oh, and for anything else that isn't code, VI all the way!

Flying vehicles

I for one think that the Transition is a good idea, but not much as a short-commuter, but more like something for long trips. Given the gridlock on all roads entering/leaving Mexico City, flying cuts off about 1 hour or more, plus the added advantage of actually reaching your destination faster! And highway traffic is usually lighter than city traffic, so it isn't as bad as it may seem.

Actually, for a true flying car to succeed I think that some kind of anti-grav drive would be needed, as this would basically render flying cars as easy to drive as current 2D cars. Though crashing on sykyways would be dangerous, especially when flying high!

Maybe we should first go for those maglev pods from Minority Report, coupled with fast rail transportation :)

@Greg Fleming

"A Gigabyte IS 1024 Megabytes. End of story. There is no way for a digital machine to octally address (or store) this fantasy figure of 1000,000,000."

Oh thanks for putting the exact reason for using base-1024. I actually think that the base-1000 "standard" came to be because newer CompSci generations aren't literate enough on how memory is addressed inside a computer.

0x0400 bytes = 1 kilobyte.

0x03e8 bytes = 1000 bytes

Just try to map that into fixed-bitlength integers and you'll find your answer quite fast. Plus, all the argument of storage needing to be base-1000 is garbage, as in practice, secondary storage is basically an extension of RAM, as data is loaded from/stored to HDD from RAM, so the same principles apply. Case in point: 512-byte blocks/sectors, 1024 (1kb) blocks, 4096 blocks... No sane filesystem ever uses base-1000 blocks.

Proper Gigabytes

I was going to post: "First one to mention the universally hated KIRBYBYTES and its evil offspring as a 'standard' shall die a fiery death" ... except someone already did.

Computers can't understand base-10 natively, using kilo-base-1024 has an actual reason for its existence. The IEC and the metric nazis think otherwise, so they began this stupid "-bibyte" thing which seems to only benefit dodgy HDD vendors. No one in its right mind uses base-1000 bytes, RAM manufacturers would never ever be able to get away with such a thing as a "512 million bytes RAM" as it would bring any PC crashing down.

Fortunately the -bibyte trash has not infected standard computer courses; I just hope some more sensible people go into the IEC and drop the stupid convention.

@Delete the files? Is that enough?

You know, that's why there are tools that do "data shredding", which overwrite deleted filespace over and over until the data is no longer readable. I'd do that, then fill up the freespace with infinite copies of goatse, then delete them. Oooh yes...

------

Just because nobody has done this yet:

Captain: What happen??

Operator: Somebody set us up the scan

Captain: What you say??

Operator: We get signal

Operator: Main screen turn on

ICE: How are you gentlemen!

ICE: All your data are belong to US

ICE: You are on your way to Guantanamo

ICE: You have no chance to backup make your time

......

Fill your laptop with virus, for great justice

They dumped Notes for Exchange???

That just explains how retarded the Dubya administration is. I wouldn't let MicroSoft stuff even near official government stuff. I thought the White House e-mail was actually SECURE...

@darsyx

"if video games affected children we would all be running around in the dark,eating little white pills listening to repetitve electronic music"

Wait. Aren't you talking about a rave? Some of that Tiesto "music" sounds repetitive enough!

iBone? Pah

I'm not interested in this thingy, even the 3G version, as it won't run Java and development on its platform is gimped.

The UMTS/3G Blackberry, on the other hand...

Oh the Blackberries!!!

Kinda late, this was all over the news (still is) since Thursday ... but it did give me a new warning: Keep Blackberry away from federal government hands!!! They're all theiving bastards, starting with the president-"elect" himself.

With a $3000/month income, I'd wonder why would he want to nick 6 Blackberries, when he could've bought them himself with that kind of money!!! I don't know what cracks me up more, the fact that this dude thought he could get away with it (well, maybe here in Mexico he might have done it), that he probably didn't know they were useless after the "Self-Destruct by Remote" wipes out everything, or that some conspiracy theorists think he might have been taking them for espionage/extracting valuable info from them. That would work ... for a smart guy. This guy isn't.

Search his name, he's even being called "World's dumbest criminal" here in Mexico!!!!

This sounds familiar...

Looks like the NSLU2, but actually marketed as what the NSLU2's being used: low-power servers. I've yet to be able to use my NSLU2 at its full potential, as somehow I'm unable to get gcc to work natively, and the 'toolchain' binaries are gone from the original download sites. Oh dear ...

I'd think about these as they are MIPS (another non-Intel option!) of SGI fame, and they have TWO ethernet ports, which make them a good option for a low-cost firewall/router. Believe me, I'm in dire need of one right now, if only to stop the script kiddies on their tracks!

Of course, I could just buy the mini-ITX and build it myself, but *that* option goes around the $1000 mark, way too high for my discretionary budget. Ow.

Re: There is no way back to PPC Macs

"-- that would be a complete marketing nightmare, and Apple is highly unlikely to do that on the consumer and workstation fronts."

Oh really? Like Jobs doing presentations on how the G4 0wns the Pentium processor because its a better arch, and then saying some time after that "Intel is the way!" Yeah, right.

They might actually solve the bootcamp trouble by patching in a "daughter board" with the x86 basics. This was already possible 15 years ago with OrangePC. These days, that option might be actually cost-effective now.

Bobby Tables

Surely these sites could be owned when Bobby Tables registers, as his full name is:

Robert'); DROP TABLE Students; --

I'd give the xkcd link, but I'm too lazy to do it now.

Nano-clock uses?

Hm... that might be of good use when kidnapped, as you now can keep track of time, or get a nice "in eye" nano display showing date and time, a la Neuromancer.

Mine's the one made out of nanobots.

Re: Acre-feet and such

"Hectare-metres would work, but it might, like some other metric units, be awkwardly sized."

Um... awkardly sized? Actually its much more better to understand/convert meters/liters/etc as its merely a matter of moving the decimal point, unlike those weird 1:12 ratios and similars. "Hectare-meters" would work over here, as arable land is measured in hectares. Though I think the actual measure used would be cubic metres (or 1000 liters).

Also it helps that 1 Kilogram of water = 1 liter of water, which enables me to measure water volume with my trustworthy cooking scale ;)

It figures

BSDers are known for being aggresive against other groups, like Linux users. Just check out Theo de Raadt:

http://www.crn.com/software/164901198

Of course, it seems that Macy forgot that physical aggression usually lands you in jail. Oops.

Oh no, please not the Kirbybyte nazis again!

I outright refuse to use the travesty of "Kirbybytes" to refer "1024-byte kilobytes" in any kind of use!

As some have noted, the kilo- mega- giga- prefix family has been 1024-based because of technical reasons, and the only idiots that decided to do this otherwise were the HD manufacturers.

Then some zealot purists decided to "end the ambiguity" and declare the Men In Black ... um... I mean the binary prefixes, making all the damn thing worse for actual computer users, and enabling HDD manufacturers to get away with their shoddy practices.

Hey, even real mathematicians/engineers joke about the absurdity:

http://www.xkcd.com/394

and one poster in the forums summed it up all in one line:

"I hate "kibibyte," "gibibyte," etc. It is pedantry of the worst kind."

Pedantry indeed.

Life imitating art

I distinctly remember the BOFH wiring his own version of Doom into a thin PC network, where shooting users dead would trigger an SNMP Reboot on said users' PC. ;)

That said, it looks like someone in that project must have been reading Neuromancer : )

Now I'll understand less...

So that means my odds of getting an English native speaker have dropped even more. :(

PPC

Interesting, only one person has dissed the PowerPC option so far. Even more curious is the fact that most comments on this acquisition suggest or are in favor of Mac switching back to PPC!

Really, it was a sad day when Apple announced 'the switch'. It was basically the reason I finally decided *not* to switch back to Mac. Now they're nothing more than overpriced PCs with a snazzy cover. Jobs, you betrayed us! :(

I hope this is a turn in the right direction, Apple might be just the company to pull the PC market out of the x86 architecture! Now if only SGI returned to MIPS, and Sun resumed selling SPARCStations...

Re: Am I being dense?

True. Its kind of stupid using easily-guessed "keys" to encrypt sensitive stuff. Even if it is what I understand, names of different persons, there are finite number of combinations to be tried. On top of that, full names in English-speaking countries usually are name + 1 surname, which ends up having lots of collisions (just how many 'John Smith' can you find?) and reducing even more the probabilities. Which anyone would get by doing a simple SELECT * FROM employee.

@Dan Goodin: Thats what CA's were made for. You get *one* single Root CA, and do all the checks to verify the public key comes from the actual user. Place the signed public key on an LDAP, and the distribution problem goes away, isn't this what PKI is all about? ;)

Disclosure: My previous job involved Information Security, PKI, and other fun stuff.

The UK

I remember a girl on a BBS that has the nadle "England". Someone asked "Who's England" and I answered, as a joke: "It's one of the constitutent countries of the United Kingdom".

The follow-up from one of the SysOps cracked me up in laughter:

"Aren't those the same thing?"

Note: In the Spanish-speaking world, "Inglaterra" is commonly used (England) and "Reino Unido" (United Kingdom) isn't used except in official uses. Something similar happens to the Nederlands, as we call them "Holanda" (Holland), as the actual name (Paises Bajos) just doesn't stick. Oops!

Sad face because I can't see the Google banner, not even from the .co.uk site :(

@ Phillip

Comcast (and other ISP's) don't care if there is "bad P2P" or "good P2P"; they only know that it shafts over their contention ratio and their poor local loop infrastructure. So they'll go for the "P2P! BAAAAD!*" flag and use it to nerf the bandwidth-hogging traffic. However, I do notice that default configs for P2P eat away *all* the upload traffic, screwing over any other internet use. This was sadly true for me, when I used another ISP and a P2Per came to my house with his laptop. Oops! 10 seconds after jacking in, all my connections went dead.

I still wonder what happened to all that "dark fiber" that went "unused" as the telco's had laid too much infrastructure and nobody was using it. Seems like they gotta turn it on now...

Re: Who cares ?

"terminals that are not interactive (like 3270)"

Um... in fact 3270 is incredibly *more* interactive than VT-based terminals. Using ISPF apps under 3270 has basically the same interaction/validation procedures you find in common web apps, with the added pleasure of not having to use JavaScript!

I understand why MVS->S/390->z/OS might not appeal to many people; hell I don't know how to use CICS, most of my mainframe experience was under the TSO/ISPF environment, and even then I didn't even do much stuff there! But the fact is that it is still ages ahead of most competing stuff, while also having compatibility entry points for newer stuff: RACF can be "coupled" with SecureWay/Tivoli LDAP, so you can do LDAP authenticating apps that actually use the RACF credentials. Or MQSeries to do CICS stuff from J2EE apps. Oh well...

That said, I would like to see IBM letting z/OS run on PSI stock, but I would also want the mainframe business to keep on churning and not turn into *another* Intel-powered area, like the Macintosh. :(

@Dinosaur pendantry

Um... it was Michael Crichton who named 'em "Velociraptors" to start with. Speilberg may have eviscerated the books, but at least the name wasn't one of them. The one in this pic looks like a punk hooligan, though ;)

One of the major kicks in the books is that in Jurassic Park, the T-Rex can't see its target if it doesn't move, and this actually plays into the plot. Meanwhile, in The Lost World (JP2 book) the T-Rex can perfectly see non-moving targets, and it is even mentioned that the theory was flawed despite this causing a continuity error in the first place!!! Of course, this gem didn't make it into the JP2 movie ... but then, the movie wasn't that faithful to begin with (dino hunters?? T-Rex in San Diego?)

The dead vulture 'coz it got caught by a Raptor.