Posts by Ugotta B. Kiddingme
193 posts • joined Wednesday 23rd December 2009 18:36 GMT
Re: It's no joke
We always mixed 3 parts boric acid powder with 1 part confectioner's sugar to treat for roaches. I'd try that. If they don't go for it, try tweaking the mixture a bit. Make sure to keep pets/kids WELL away from it.
Posted in Excess all areas
most excellent
"...incomprehensible phonetic English that would make Bengali call-centre staff sound like David Niven."
well done, good sir. I should have known better than to be drinking hot coffee whilst reading your missive. My sinus cavities and monitor are rather the worse for it.
with a crisp salute...
... Chuck Norris expresses approval and admiration for this Certified BadAss ©®™
Re: hmm
"Its is looked down upon as a garage sale need the money pawn shop kind of thing or a hassle best avoided at least (except among kids who honestly need the money). "
Speak for yourself. For me, the inability to play used games is just as big a dealbreaker as would be the requirement of an always-on internet connection.
I regularly peruse the second hand bin at GameStop looking for bargains. In so doing, I've picked up quite a few games I otherwise would not have purchased (at full price). For example, Left4Dead and its sequel. I played both on PC when they came out. Years later, I found them in the bin of used Xbox360 games for $5 each so I picked them up for when I get bored with whatever I've been primarily playing. Now, that being said, I won't hesitate to pay "new" price for certain "must have" games like Borderlands. The used game bin transforms a "well... maybe" game into "at THAT price? Why not?"
graphics
"...lasts just under 100 seconds; any more and it would rapidly become turgidly boring..."
Boring? Rather depends upon that to which you've become accustomed. In the early days of videogaming (early/mid 70's), I spent MANY coins playing games with scarcely better graphics - Boot Hill, Astro Race, Sub Hunt, and many others. In fact, I intend to fire up the old MAME cabinet this evening and wax nostalgic in honor of this clever creation.
I raise my glass to boffins in general and IBM boffins in particular for this bit of cleverness. Why do something like this? Why the hell not?
Posted in Boffins explain LED inefficiencies
isn't it obvious?
just reverse the polarity of the neutron flow. Simples!
so very nice...
... of the universe to provide us with spectacularly beautiful art.
Re: No
While comments regarding updates on the fly are amusing to one degree or other, I am reasonably certain that - at least in the US - this will be a "dealer installable option" only. Just like with "brand specific" versions, dealers will not willingly give up a potentially lucrative revenue stream.
"The WhizBangZoom Motor Company is committed to your safety and security. Therefore, automotive software upgrades for your new SuperRoadmaster 2100 are available ONLY from your authorized WhizBangZoom dealer." For a "nominal fee" of course...
Re: insurance app
"I hope the positive wins out"
Either you are too optimistic or I have finally crossed over into "cranky pessimist bastard" land. I agree that the possibilities are scary and am pretty confident that is the path which will be taken.
Furthermore, I can't see rival manufacturers agreeing to a common system without some SERIOUS financial incentives up front. More likely is brand versioning, each with subtle differences in capability similar to hardware/hardwired systems of today. THIS feature is available in my Toyota, but if I want THAT feature, I have to buy a Nissan, etc.
Re: Demonstrators.
"semiconductor lasers... are not particularly efficient and have to be properly cooled so the cooling pack for a MW class laser is truly huge; hence that big lump on the stern of the ship. "
If only there was some sort of heat sink such as a large supply of water available...
Sorry. Had to be done. You are correct in that semiconductor lasers would be highly preferable, assuming resolution of all potential kinks, if for no other reason than simplicity and robustness of design.
Re: You'll know things have gone too far...
a 12-bore at the ready will sort that quickly enough.
PULL!
pun failure but otherwise great article
"Only the man who created The Twilight Zone's dark view of inner space could have worked Pierre Boulle's bizarre allegory into a sci-fi classic with a true twist in its (prehensile) tale."
er... one of the DEFINING characteristics of apes is the LACK of a tail - prehensile or otherwise. Pun fail.
Also agree with those lamenting the lack of Silent Running on this list. If ever there was a film commenting/warning on the human condition, that's surely it. Wholeheartedly agree with MOST of the films included on this list, but really would have liked to see Silent Running in the mix.
let's be completely honest
Dove's campaign may be a bit of a stretch, but calling it "a crock of hypocritical bullshit" is just as big a stretch. These are "real" women. As someone else pointed out, they aren't necessarily "typical" women, but that's not what Dove is claiming now, is it?
"The women in the Dove adverts are wearing make-up." And your point is what, exactly? Women wear make-up. Many "real" women wear make-up. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that (at least in my experience) the overwhelming majority of "real, every day, meet 'em on the street or at the supermarket" women wear make-up. So how does that make Dove's models disingenuous?
Yes, the models in the advert are on the high end of the "real women" spectrum - "ordinary" people who are a bit more attractive than average, but not "supermodel" material (or whatever your personal top-tier standard happens to be). Again, how is this disingenuous? Would you rather see Honey Boo Boo's mother in the ad? If I want to see people like that, I'll go to WalMart. I don't need an advertisement to remind me that less-than-attractive people exist. I need only look in the mirror. And that's not Dove's point anyway. Their bit is entitled "the Campaign for Real Beauty." The inferred meaning is something akin to "realistic beauty achievable by regular folk, not some hyper-dolled-up professional stunner." I see nothing wrong with that.
Re: Electric shocks when hit by a plasma bolt
Valve has finally found a way to implement the SlapPacket©®™
Posted in Twenty classic arcade games
Re: Early Vector Graphics Cabinet
yes, LOVED that game. The enemy ships vaguely resembled Klingon Battle Cruisers. One of the few arcade games with an analog joystick.
Posted in Twenty classic arcade games
DEFINITELY redo article with expanded list!
I wholeheartedly agree with all 20 entries in the article. And I was very pleased to see some of the seemingly less-obvious choices like R-Type.
Many great games that gobbled probably thousands of dollars from me over the years would benefit from an expanded list . Legendary games one and all: Qix, Bosconian, Galaxian, Galaga, Missile Command, Tempest, Gorf, Tapper, Wizard of War, Xenophobe, Zaxxon, Afterburner, Centipede/Millipede, Metal Slug, 194x (various versions of the WWII vertical scroller), Rastan, Ghosts-n-Goblins, Gyruss, Satan's Hollow, Phoenix, Asteroids, Battlezone, Red Baron, Tron, Discs of Tron, and more. I still regularly play all of these except Discs of Tron, thanks to a MAME project cabinet I built a number of years ago.
obligatory HGTTG quote
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy skips lightly over this tangle of academic abstraction, pausing only to note that the term 'Future Perfect' has been abandoned since it was discovered not to be.”
D. Adams - The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Really? three pages of comments and I'm the first?!?
"There is a theory which states that if anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened."
~Douglas Adams~
Re: very promising
"...ability to COMPLETELY segregate personal and corporate apps/data/stuff on the same device and switch back and forth between the two "personas" with a couple swipes on the screen. "
I neglected to mention that, unlike Android or Apple, this does NOT involve having to logout/login between each. Login to each ONCE, then switch back and forth. THAT's pretty cool.
very promising
I got to play with one of these at a pre-launch dog-and-pony show RIM put on for my company. The most important feature (to me at least) is the ability to COMPLETELY segregate personal and corporate apps/data/stuff on the same device and switch back and forth between the two "personas" with a couple swipes on the screen. This completely eliminates the need to carry two phones, mine and the company's. The security and segregation of the personas satisfies the IT Security guys worried about IP theft, etc. After a departing employee walked out with some proprietary information, the CEO ordered IT Security to deny access to webmail, deny write access to optical drives, and install software to scrutinize outbound emails and USB activity. The BB10 appears to allow one to access personal mail and company mail without being able to "cross pollenate." I'm looking forward to a much closer inspection of this device and the accompanying changes to BES, now renamed Blackberry Enterprise SERVICE. (And there are VERY cool announcements coming about that within a few days, I think)
Headline: October 2027
Earth Spaceport - a joint NASA/ESA crew returned from Mars today to a hero's welcome - but not so much for their own exploits as for what they brought back. NASA probe Opportunity, "the little rover that could" which operated for approximately 40x its intended lifespan before finally succumbing to the harsh Martian environment, was found during surface preparation for an expansion of Mars Colony I. The team of scientists and engineers were so overjoyed that they voluntarily left some of their personal cargo behind on Mars so that they would have the space and weight capacity to bring back the intrepid robot explorer of yesteryear. At a news conference shortly after the discovery, US President <name> announced a new wing of the Smithsonian Institute's Air and Space Museum to be built specifically Opportunity and similar robotic probes throughout history.
You may recall that Opportunity's twin, Spirit, was discovered eleven months ago by the previous Martian expeditionary team. NASA is currently designing a monument to mark the spot where Spirit became stuck and eventually "died." Spirit itself now sits in a place of honor in the center of the Martian colony.
five planets?
Ceti (Alpha) 5?
KHAAAAAAAAAAAAN !!
what about a nuclear powered PHOTONIC engine?
chemical/reaction mass thrust to GET moving, photonic thrust to KEEP moving and accelerating. It's not Warp Speed, but it's certainly better than coasting about for who knows how long.
I am not a boffin, but use the icon to salute those who are.
well done and welcome home. Happy [winter solstice-ish celebration of choice]
that is all.
Re: does anyone remember?
dingdingdingding. Winner! That's the one. Many thanks.
excerpt from wiki - 'He verbally communicates with his symbiotic computer, to which he refers as the abbreviated "'Puter". '
could be a small Dyson Sphere
now THAT would be a groovy discovery.
does anyone remember?
a comic, early/mid 70's, about a cyborg whose human and machine halves constantly argued with each other? The character was a vigilante and I seem to recall the comic had a title similar to "The Punisher" but was definitely not that. Been trying to remember the correct name for years.
other mainstays from that time period were "Weird War" and "Superboy and the Legion of Superheroes."
Re: The early universe
couldn't have got very far in ~6000 years, could it?
Re: Is it me?
what I want to know is how long before we've gone to PLAID?
Re: Quick calculations
Indeed! Let's have less poopooing on the economic viability, etc and lots more "congratulations, young ladies" for a clever school science project.
The rest of you lot: jaded much?
NO ONE expects the Spanish Inquisition!
can't believe no one's said that yet.
On topic, this issue is precisely why I bought keyboards by the case. My stockroom had a minimum of 20 desktop and 3 laptop keyboards in it at all times, to support ~250 users. "Keyboard not working? Toss it in the 'electronics recycling' bin over there and take this replacement on your way out." At month end, the local electronic recycler came by to pickup a load of 'retired' equipment. If they wanted to wash keyboards, more power to them. If not, they were disposed of responsibly.
Posted in Judge denies move to ban ad-skipping DVR
re: credits there for a reason
"...they shrink them down to such a small size they're impossible to read which is totally unfair on the people who made the program. The credits exist for a reason. It would be nice if the channel controllers might remember that occasionally."
Indeed. For a movie, I can just refer to imdb.com. For episodic television, that's a tiny bit more complicated but that extra complexity wouldn't be necessary if they would just let the credits roll in the manner they were created. What's worse is the "double whammy" of squeezing the content down AND speeding it up to a level where only a DVR with pause or slow-motion mode has any chance at all.
Eureka's inquiring minds want to know
did the satellite photos spot the supply dump that was supposed to be for the Astraeus mission?
Re: Foolishly, I was expecting that there would actually be a slideshow here
perhaps THAT is the actual horror - what you came to see has... [eery music] vanished! [/eery music]
Re: Ah but
If a planet farts and no one is there to hear it, does it stink?
Re: Maybe
or maybe an auto-LOWERING one...
Re: Miranda Frost
the only truly villanous strong female I can remember in a Bond film is Fatima Blush from Never Say Never Again - the unofficial remake of Thunderball that was supposedly much closer to the book. Since Broccolli didn't make it, that one usually doesn't get a mention.
Holy Crap!
Earth is shooting giant yellow lasers at the Milky Way!
came for clever/snarky comments as well as "science for non-scientist" explanations. Leaving fully satisfied. Beer for everyone.
at that very moment...
... the words "Hello. This is Charlie Bolden, NASA Administrator, speaking to you via the broadcast capabilities of the Curiosity Rover" drifted across the conference table. Unfortunately, in the Martian tongue, that was the most dreadful insult imaginable and there was nothing for it but to wage terrible war for centuries.
So, that's it. We're all going to die.
collisions? wimps?!?
I'd expect any wimp colliding with Xena to have the crap beaten out of it. Lucy Lawless probably doesn't take guff from anyone, let alone wimps...
Posted in Lego ponders Portal pack
This was a triumph
I'm making a note here, huge success.
It's hard to overstate my satisfaction.
plucky little fella
Cheers, Opportunity. Well done. Still.
somehow, "exceeds expectations" is woefully inadequate...
with apologies to Matt Groening
"Spider Toad. Spider Toad. Does whatever a Spider Toad does..."
Posted in Star Trek app warps into TiVo space
[majel barrett roddenberry] working [/majel barrett roddenberry]
Re: Tense is everything...
Douglas? Is that you from the Great Beyond? And do they have PGGBs there?
Re: 'mobbie' may have one more syllable than the 'mobe' alternative
requesting a "handy" in the US will likely incur a discussion with the vice squad.
could be good, could be bad
my company uses SAP and we use Ariba On-Demand. Making the two fit together has sometimes been difficult. It will be interesting to see exactly how much leash Ariba gets and how long they remain an "independent business unit".
Our biggest problem is that Ariba handles indirect spend (widgets) very well, but direct spend (raw materials) is simply awful in Ariba and nigh impossible without frightfully expensive add-ons. Ariba bought out Quadrem, which was supposed to resolve that problem but the full integration was going to take up to three years. Now, with the SAP buyout, that water could become even murkier OR much clearer. Given SAP's penetration into manufacturing firms like my employer, they may "suggest" Ariba move faster on the Quadrem integration. That's my HOPE, anyway.
Posted in Vote now for the worst movie NEVER made
Novafix FTW
monitors, keyboard, shirt, desk, cleaning supplies, replacement coffee mug. Where, good sir and/or madam should I send the bill. That was the funniest thing I've read in weeks.
1. Reaches for chequebook
2. notices "Vixen not included" caption
3. pouts and returns chequebook to drawer
