Comment Re:Huh? (Score 1) 86
I can fix my code.
I can't fix my fingers of ingrained habits.
Comment Zenith Space Command remote (Score 2) 790
The first practical TV remote was the Zenith Space Command, which worked by whacking resonant bars, and the TV would pick up the sound. The thing vibrated in your hand, and as kids we swore we could hear them, even if technically ultrasonic.
Comment Second machine and rsync (Score 1) 983
Get another machine with equivalent capacity and rsync between the two using gigE. The first copy will take a while (a day), but subsequent updates will be quick, being only the changes.
Even with windows you can run rsync if you install Cygwin and it's sshd.
If you can put the second machine in a distant room (garden shed, detached garage) that's unlikely to go up in the fire, that's better.
Comment Re:Managers and Management (Score 1) 252
Gregory Peck's role in 12 O'Clock High is also a good example of effective management.
Leadership, on the other hand is much over-rated.
Only if one believes in the mission above all else, including personal sanity. That's a pretty doubled edged example, there, Mr. Conspiracy! (Which is why it's a great story and film.) And I think most people would rate it as leadership first, management second. It's the General above Savage who is doing the managing.
-dB
Comment Email (Score 1) 212
If it's really important, I email a copy to myself via a free email account.
Comment Re:LOGO / Turtle Graphics (Python has it) (Score 1) 525
Python has a built in LOGO library so I'll add that as another reason Python is a great language to start off with. It's easy to get started with yet powerful enough to write useful programs. I started as a wee lad with Apple's BASIC which is pretty much useless these days but if Python was around back then, I'm sure it would have been on my radar.
Comment SyFy meet MTV (Score 1) 742
SyFy is going the way of MTV. I can't remember the last time I saw actual music being played on MTV. I predict that SyFy will devolve into a channel that offers nothing but reality shows, pro wrestling, and other cheaply produced drek.
Ozzy Osbourne's Genome Reveals Some Neanderthal Lineage 151
ByOhTek writes "CNN reports that in July, rocker Ozzy Osbourne became one of few to submit his blood to have his full genome sequenced and analyzed. The results are in, and it turns out his genome reveals some Neanderthal lineage. What does Ozzie have to say about it? 'I was curious, given the swimming pools of booze I've guzzled over the years - not to mention all of the cocaine, morphine, sleeping pills, cough syrup, LSD, Rohypnol... there's really no plausible medical reason why I should still be alive. Maybe my DNA could say why,' he wrote."
Hiding Backdoors In Hardware 206
quartertime writes "Remember Reflections on Trusting Trust, the classic paper describing how to hide a nearly undetectable backdoor inside the C compiler? Here's an interesting piece about how to hide a nearly undetectable backdoor inside hardware. The post describes how to install a backdoor in the expansion ROM of a PCI card, which during the boot process patches the BIOS to patch grub to patch the kernel to give the controller remote root access. Because the backdoor is actually housed in the hardware, even if the victim reinstalls the operating system from a CD, they won't clear out the backdoor. I wonder whether China, with its dominant position in the computer hardware assembly business, has already used this technique for espionage. This perhaps explains why the NSA has its own chip fabrication plant."
IE6 Addiction Inhibits Windows 7 Migrations 470
eldavojohn writes "As anyone in the industry will tell you, a lot of money went into developing web applications specific to IE6. And corporations can't leave Windows XP for Windows 7 until IE6 runs (in some way) on Windows 7. Microsoft wants to leave that non-standard browser mess behind them, but as the article notes, 'Organizations running IE6 have told Gartner that 40% of their custom-built browser-dependent applications won't run on IE8, the version packaged with Windows 7. Thus, many companies face a tough decision: Either spend time and money to upgrade those applications so that they work in newer browsers, or stick with Windows XP.' Support for XP is going to end in April 2014. In order to deal with this, companies are looking at virtualizing IE6 only (instead of a full operating system) so that it can run on Windows 7 — even though Microsoft says this violates licensing agreements. IE6 is estimated to have roughly 16% of browser market share, and due to mistakes in the past it may never truly die."
Valve Delays Portal 2, Squashes Duke Nukem Rumors 135
SKYMTL writes "In a tongue-in-cheek commentary, Valve has announced the delay of Portal 2 and thrown water on the rumor fires regarding its E3 'surprise.' This surprise was rumored to be either Half-Life 3 or the revival of Duke Nukem, and it looks like neither will happen anytime soon."
Doctor Slams Hospital's "Please" Policy 572
Administrators at England's Worthing Hospital are insisting that doctors say the magic word when writing orders for blood tests on weekends. If a doctor refuses to write "please" on the order, the test will be refused. From the article: "However, a doctor at the hospital said on condition of anonymity that he sees the policy as a money-saving measure that could prove dangerous for patients. 'I was shocked to come in on Sunday and find none of my bloods had been done from the night before because I'd not written "please,"' the doctor said. 'I had no results to guide treatment of patients. Myself and a senior nurse had to take the bloods ourselves, which added hours to our 12-hour shifts. This system puts patients' lives at risk. Doctors are wasting time doing the job of the technicians.'"
Comment What is wrong with reusing content too? (Score 1) 252
Vogel speaks of the book/author analogy, but doesn't carry it as far as he should. Using a BadAnalogy for the sake of the audience, requiring new art content in every game would be like telling Terry Pratchett he was wrong to keep re-using the Discworld as a setting, because we're owed "new everything" in every book. Or saying that Intel/AMD/ARM are cheating by not introducing new instruction sets with every generation of processor.
I've got no problem re-using engines, artwork, characters or anything else in games, as long as the narrative and situations are interesting.
-dB
Comment Re:Design (Score 1) 284
Alas, most prop planes are turboprops these days, so they have the same problems. The size of plane that has actual piston engines would need 50 flights just to get one jetliner worth of people home.
They also require a different fuel that probably isn't available at the large airports that are prepared for large numbers of passengers milling around.
Comment Re:"I reject notion of separation of church and st (Score 1) 999
“I reject the notion by the left of a constitutional separation of church and state,” said David Bradley, a conservative from Beaumont who works in real estate. “I have $1,000 for the charity of your choice if you can find it in the Constitution.”
Oh boy.
He is probably pulling the "amendments aren't part of the constitution" gambit, by which the validity of the Equal Protection clause and the Income Tax is also "refuted." -dB
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