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[2013-06-06 09:22:56] - http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/06/us-usa-wiretaps-verizon-idUSBRE95502920130606 So... this seems like it should annoy a lot of people who are concerned about privacy (even if they're not on Verizon). -Paul
[2013-06-05 16:51:36] - Daniel: I guess put another way, I don't stay up at night worrying that my 401(k) targeted funds are going to get me a few percentage points less 10 years down the line. I stay up worrying if I had too much exposure to Japan, or are too overweight in real estate or need more exposure to gold. -Paul
[2013-06-05 16:47:53] - Daniel: Definitely agree that it makes a difference and adds up long term. I just think there are better targets is all. I would rather look for a new area of diversification than look for an index fund with lower rates. -Paul
[2013-06-05 16:46:18] - Daniel: Honestly, that's just more work than I'm willing to put forth (getting on the 401(k) committee). That sounds like a ton of paperwork to deal with, and I already hate dealing with just regular paperwork for my own 401(k). I'm even starting to hate typing 401(k) over and over again.
-Paul[2013-06-05 16:44:58] - Daniel: And in those same 10 years, gold has more than tripled despite the huge drop it had recently (at one point it had basically gone up 5x). -Paul
[2013-06-05 16:44:07] - Paul: Well you are paying more money for that drop in performance which is generally not something people are happy with. Also I think the % difference will make a fairly significant impact over the course of something like a 401k where its invested a long time. -Daniel
[2013-06-05 16:43:16] - Daniel: But compare the Hang Seng to the S&P over the past 10 years and it's a difference of 50% and 150%. -Paul
[2013-06-05 16:42:41] - Paul: Do what I did and get on the 401k committee so you can get more index funds added to your company's choices! -Daniel
[2013-06-05 16:42:26] - Daniel: So what if the S&P is up 67% over the past 10 years and an actively managed fund is "only" up 60%? I'll bet you are still decently happy. -Paul
[2013-06-05 16:37:11] - Daniel: I just don't worry as much about actively managed funds not beating the market (although I definitely do think about it and agree with what you're saying) because I don't think it makes as big a difference as other things. -Paul
[2013-06-05 16:35:44] - Daniel: Yeah, I know they're different subjects, but I guess I was giving my overall theory of investing. As far as I can tell, the company that manages my 401(k) doesn't offer any international index funds so I make do with what is available. -Paul
[2013-06-05 16:33:03] - Paul: I would not advocate that 100% of your portfolio should be in an S&P index fund. But I do believe in index funds and all of the equity portions of my 401k are in index funds. -Daniel
[2013-06-05 16:31:50] - -Daniel
[2013-06-05 16:31:48] - Paul: Some of what you are talking about is asset allocation which is a different subject than which mutual fund to choose. If you are going to be putting money into a mutal fund you are probably better off using an index fund than an actively managed fund. So for your international stuff you can use international index funds instead of actively managed index funds.
[2013-06-05 16:19:35] - Daniel: So with that in mind, my 401(k) funds are somewhat targeted, but targeted with the aim of diversifying my finances. For instance: The investing that I personally do in the stock market is largely slanted towards US stocks. Therefore, I have about half of my 401(k) in foreign market targeted funds. -Paul
[2013-06-05 16:17:03] - Daniel: And if you want to stretch things... also diversification in terms of time. I try to keep the amount of money I invest constant regardless of if the stock market is going up or crashing. -Paul
[2013-06-05 16:15:09] - Daniel: I try to diversify in as many ways as I can. That doesn't just mean diversification between financial stocks and biotech, but also domestic stocks and foreign or even stocks vs commodities vs real estate. -Paul
[2013-06-05 16:13:40] - Daniel: So do you basically dump all your money into an S&P Index fund? If I had to summarize my strategy in a single word, it would probably be: Diversification. -Paul
[2013-06-05 16:07:12] - To continue my financial binge (because thats how I roll) https://personal.vanguard.com/pdf/s296.pdf explains my positions on investing much more thoroughly than I can. Its sort of a biased source in that vanguard loves its index funds but they make a strong case. -Daniel
[2013-06-05 15:57:47] - http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickferri/2013/04/04/index-fund-returns-get-better-with-age/ has a good graph of your odds of a given fund beating their index over time. -Daniel
[2013-06-05 15:57:11] - I lied again, its 20 years not 10 years. Can't read. -Daniel
[2013-06-05 15:56:30] - Article from npr that made me think about it: http://www.npr.org/2013/06/05/188306471/resisting-the-temptation-to-win-when-investing -Daniel
[2013-06-05 15:56:01] - a: I might have lied about the 80% number when talking about actively managed funds. I thought it was 80% of actively managed funds failed to beat the index each year but apparently its more like 60% for a given year but up to 80% for a 10 year window. -Daniel
[2013-06-05 11:53:04] - http://reason.com/blog/2013/06/05/the-fukushima-nuclear-disasters-toll-how Human cost to Fukushima nuclear disaster likely to be amazingly low. "Yet such is the imbalance of dread to risk on matters nuclear that this accident was enough to turn public opinion and governments against nuclear power." -Paul
[2013-06-05 09:30:55] - aaron: are you sure? I've never heard of any case being solved by dna from skin/hair samples. - mig
[2013-06-05 09:15:55] - Daniel: http://aporter.org/msg/?action=prev&prev=110750#110805 Ready to re-evaluate yet?
-Paul[2013-06-04 15:41:31] - mig: but if you have a blood stain, and you're trying to figure out if it belongs to person X... then yes, i'm pretty certain that collecting a small sample of skin/hair from person X is enough to show a match. - aaron
[2013-06-04 15:39:29] - mig: yes, skin cells have DNA. i think the reason why they're not used in testing, is because who cares if your hair or skin cells were at a crime scene, or why someone else's skin cells are on your jacket? that could just mean you were at the crim scen 3 days ago, or that you brushed up against the victim in an elevator... - aaron
[2013-06-04 15:33:56] - I've certainly seen (on TV, but it's plausible) situations where the police set up interrogations where DNA is collected from the suspect, but generally there's a warrant involved. Warrants normally need probable cause. The problem with the Maryland v. King case is the broad scope of application, which eliminates that process. -- Xpovos
[2013-06-04 15:21:15] - aaron: Can you get accurate dna results from just skin cells? It seems most testing relates to blood or bodily fluids. - mig
[2013-06-04 15:06:39] - xpovos: i'd understand if you couldn't "cheek swab" someone but -- if they're incarcarated, and you take some of their skin cells off their mattress, is that illegal? i just don't see much of a practical difference between collecting dead skin cells off their socks for a DNA sample, versus measuring their shoes to see if they match some footprints - aaron
[2013-06-04 15:04:59] - xpovos: yeah, I have stronger opinions on the encryption/decryption case, as it seems really insane that you'd be legally required to decrypt data. the DNA thing is a little more fuzzy to me, since people leave DNA everywhere, all the time... it just seems strange that you couldn't make use of data like that that's openly available - aaron
[2013-06-04 14:23:41] - It's still pretty bad, though. -- Xpovos
[2013-06-04 14:23:31] - Paul: The specifics of the case are pretty terrifying and the overall implications of the ruling are absurd. The Wired article on the decryption actually isn't as bad, because the judge held his 5th amendment rights until the police cracked one of the encrypted devices and demonstrated PC. -- Xpovos
[2013-06-04 14:18:26] - Vinnie: I think I do too, although I don't know if I know enough about the case to say for certain. 4th amendment issues are always a tough one for me. -Paul
[2013-06-04 14:08:59] - paul: yeah very weird to see that outcome. I was a little conflicted on it myself, so I guess it's understandable to me, but I still fall on the dissenting side - vinnie
[2013-06-04 13:16:06] - http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/10145834 starcraft 2 now allows for spawning. one person with the full retail game and expansion can allow for up to 14 people to try out most of the multiplayer components (spawns can only play as terran though). - mig
[2013-06-04 13:13:19] - Xpovos: Eh, it's a Law and Order kind of thing, so I'm not surprised by Alito and Roberts. Just odd to see one of the most conservative justices writing the dissent along with four of the liberal ones. -Paul
[2013-06-04 13:10:16] - Paul: Yeah, I'm sure Scalia hated being in that position. But it's also very clear he can barely comprehend why Alito, Thomas and Roberts voted the other way. Kennedy and Breyer get a pass for now. -- Xpovos
[2013-06-04 12:58:38] - Xpovos: How crazy was that 5-4 split, btw? Scalia writes the dissent... joined by Ginsburg, Kagan and Sotomayor!? Wtf? -Paul
[2013-06-04 12:41:14] - And, some humor. https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/580401_10201204665226597_224342182_n.jpg -- Xpovos
[2013-06-04 12:36:49] - I tell you, not a stellar day for civil libertarian jurisprudence. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-03/court-s-dna-ruling-brings-u-s-a-step-closer-to-gattaca-.html and http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/06/decryption-deadline-looms/ . -- Xpovos
[2013-06-04 11:39:33] - a: is this something you would like? http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/redshiftsports/switch-aero-system-one-bike-two-rides ~g
[2013-06-04 11:03:39] - Spent some time looking at actuarial tables and SSI projections this morning. I'm feeling nerdy. -- Xpovos
[2013-06-04 10:28:13] - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22751415 why finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes - aaron
[2013-06-04 10:11:10] - I mean, who's going to figure out on their own in Leisure Suit Larry that you need to buy some whiskey (which you won't drink) and then give it to the drunk outside the bathroom to get a key item for later in the game. - mig
[2013-06-04 10:09:23] - it kind of reminds me of the old sierra games. All their manuals had essentially a basic walktrhough for the first little bits of the game and to get you kind of used to how the game works, and you'd be pretty lost (especially if you were playing the older games that used a text parser) if you hadn't played the game before. - mig
[2013-06-04 10:06:49] - xpovos: it was just too hard for me, i played it when i was about 7-8 years old. E.T is a really complicated game, even when it's fixed. - aaron
[2013-06-04 09:48:00] - Xpovos: I never had to read manuals to understand how to play games and suddenly I put this game in and had no idea what was going on or how to win. -Paul
[2013-06-04 09:47:28] - Xpovos: "You really needed to read the manual to understand the game and how to play it. As younger children were the primary audience, it's no surprise that it wasn't well received." That was exactly my problem with it (at the time). -Paul
[2013-06-03 13:27:41] - I found this an entertaining read: http://www.neocomputer.org/projects/et/ -- Xpovos
[2013-05-31 15:46:40] - well lets assume only .001% of them move
. . . that's 30 jobs. yawn. ~a[2013-05-31 14:21:29] - Xpovos: We're not just talking about 1 person. Even if we narrow it down to the top 1% and assume only 1% of those people move... that's 3,000 people in America who could be bringing 5-10 jobs with them. -Paul
[2013-05-31 14:19:23] - Xpovos: Understood. I'm not saying LeBron moving to Houston is going to bring 100,000 jobs. I'm thinking maybe a half dozen or so extra bounces at clubs and wait staff at restaurants and whatnot. -Paul
[2013-05-31 13:13:33] - Paul: Putting money in the economy isn't the same as bringing jobs with you. A business man moving his HQ to a new state is LITERALLY bringing jobs with him. A sports player would only do that if he employs a driver or a bodyguard or something like that. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-31 12:53:22] - Xpovos: Even sports players. What are they going to do with all that money? Probably spend it. Where? Probably more locally than anywhere else. I'll admit it's a little murkier since they often live in different states than they work and probably travel more... -Paul
[2013-05-31 12:40:32] - Paul: Probably not sports players, though. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-31 12:40:04] - a: Maybe they don't directly greatly affect the numbers, but I'm sure a handful of rich guys moving from one state to another could move some jobs along with them. -Paul
[2013-05-31 12:36:12] - a: The comments are just all about how Bush sucks in various ways so they aren't really interesting and don't add anything. The article was interesting for me though. -Daniel
[2013-05-31 12:30:42] - daniel: now all i'm doing is reading the comments. now what's this article about anyways? gwb is a mountain biker?! ~a
[2013-05-31 12:29:38] - Specifically one of the points I liked was the guy from West Point who said that vets should automatically be victims or hero's. I always have that same thought whenever all servicemen are casually labeled "heroes". It somehow seems to cheapen the word to me. -Daniel
[2013-05-31 12:28:31] - i'm guessing the people at the top end of the income scale don't greatly affect the % based numbers aaron was quoting. ~a
[2013-05-31 12:28:18] - Interesting article, imo, about Bush and veterans (just don't read the comments) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/30/george-w-bush-bike_n_3359824.html -Daniel
[2013-05-31 12:24:23] - Xpovos: True, but total tax burdens definitely vary across the states too. Also, people at the top end of the income scale count too.
-Paul[2013-05-31 12:21:53] - Paul: That matters a lot more at the top end of the income scale than the bottom. Particularly since most state income taxes are also graduated. Also, if the state lacks an income tax, they make up for that some other way, e.g. a sales tax. So the total tax burden is more important. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-31 11:43:15] - a: Really? You don't think the lack of a state income tax might make some states more appealing than others? It's something that's even mentioned on sports talk shows as to why teams in Texas are sometimes more appealing than those in California and New York. -Paul
[2013-05-31 11:32:19] - jobs on the other hand. ~a
[2013-05-31 11:32:07] - i doubt state income taxes really changes which states are magnet or sticky. ~a
[2013-05-31 10:07:13] - aaron: The theory being that the lack of a state income tax and the general greater availability of jobs was luring people in. -Paul
[2013-05-31 10:06:19] - aaron: I was briefly surprised, but then I thought back to some news articles that I've read about how people are actually leaving places like California and New York and Illinois in favor of places like Texas. -Paul
[2013-05-31 10:01:10] - well to live in NYC anyway, but that's really the big draw to moving to the state. - mig
[2013-05-31 09:59:26] - aaron: new york shouldn't be surprising. Sure it's appealing, but you need to be making a lot of money to live there comfortably. - mig
[2013-05-31 09:38:55] - Never creep into a woman’s home through an unlocked door or window, or spring out at her from between parked cars. ~a
[2013-05-31 09:36:34] - i was surprised by the same thing. california for sure. new york less so. maybe both of them are outweighed by their non-city populations? ~a
[2013-05-31 08:36:26] - a: i was surprised new york and california were "low magnet" , i always imagined people growing up and moving out to areas like DC/New York/California area after college. - aaron
[2013-05-30 20:29:52] - ooooh, fun. iowa is in the same group as west virginia. anecdotally i know tons of people who have moved out of iowa (my parents, countless relatives, my gff), but nobody that has moved to iowa
~a[2013-05-30 17:39:12] - http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2009/03/11/magnet-or-sticky/ virginia is "highly sticky" (has a high percentage of people born here, who still live here) and "highly magnetic" (has a high percentage of people who move here); west virginia is "not sticky" and "not magnetic" - aaron
[2013-05-30 14:11:53] - We're switching CMS for our website. I've been tasked to review our office's pages to ensure they're all set for the switch... only they're missing. They were there yersterday. So my webmaster just quoted this to me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DT7bX-B1Mg -- Xpovos
[2013-05-29 14:24:37] - aaron: i've seen some videos of it. it's really weird. - mig
[2013-05-29 14:21:28] - http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/03/25/divekick-the-fighting-community-phenomenon-comes-to-psn/ there is a fighting game coming out this summer called divekick, and the characters are dive and kick, and the buttons are dive and kick. it does not use a joystick - aaron
[2013-05-24 22:50:54] - OMG. it works suddenly. i have no idea. i swear the way it is set up now is exactly one of the things i had tried already. although, i did find an error from a line that was supposed to be commented out, so apache wasn't even starting at all. how long was that there? gah. thanks mig!!! <3 -amy
[2013-05-24 16:15:27] - anyway, thanks for your help. -amy
[2013-05-24 15:57:27] - mig: well... i did all that and the result is the same. chrome could not connect to page. .( -amy
[2013-05-24 15:52:04] - amy: yes, those settings would be correct. - mig
[2013-05-24 15:51:12] - amy: the etc/hosts file is essentially an override for normal DNS. Your browser will look there first for entries before it goes to your ISP for DNS resolution. - mig
[2013-05-24 15:46:07] - so in hosts it says "127.0.0.1 thing". in httd.conf it says "<VirtualHost *:8080> ServerName thing". in my browser i type "thing:8080"? -amy
[2013-05-24 15:45:26] - this may seem like a dumb question, but how would my browser know that i'm trying to go to that location on my localhost, rather than doing a search on that term? i am assuming i need to add the port to it, but in hosts document, i leave the port out? and in the virtual host tag i have "*:8080", but in the servername, i leave the port out too? -amy
[2013-05-24 15:40:18] - I think just one word thing would suffice. I guess it'd be the same as refrencing a server name on an internal network. - mig
[2013-05-24 15:36:22] - hmm. what is the standard syntax for creating subdomains on one's localhost? -amy
[2013-05-24 15:28:36] - amy: have you tried just a different name mapped to 127.0.0.1? like localhost2 or something like that? it's possible the browser might not process something like thing.localhost properly because it's not really a standard address name. - mig
[2013-05-24 15:25:52] - yeah, i did that .( 127.0.0.1 thing.localhost -amy
[2013-05-24 15:18:52] - you'll have to add an entry for the subdomain. - mig
[2013-05-24 15:18:33] - on windows it's c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts - mig
[2013-05-24 15:18:05] - - mig
[2013-05-24 15:18:03] - oh ok. i think you'll need to modify your etc/hosts file to make that work
[2013-05-24 15:15:06] - i am confused because i think it has something to do with the dns, but i think that is something separate from apache, but i don't know how to configure it. -amy
[2013-05-24 15:14:32] - main domain is localhost:8080. subdomain is thing.localhost:8080 or thing.localhost. neither worked. -amy
[2013-05-24 14:54:36] - how are these subdomains structured? like www.thing.com vs. www.thing2.com? www.thing1.com vs. subdomain.thing1.com? - mig
[2013-05-24 14:47:37] - main domain works. subdomains "not found," or google is trying to find them on the internet, rather than on my localhost. -amy
[2013-05-24 14:28:01] - amy: is only your main domain working? are the subdomains throwing you to a host not found page or are they just redirecting to the main domain? - mig
[2013-05-24 14:09:10] - Yes, my own computer. I'm trying to set up a local dev environment where I can use absolute paths (to link js and css) and they'd be the same as when they go live. -amy
[2013-05-24 10:41:43] - and this is all hosted on one machine, right? - mig
[2013-05-24 10:38:22] - amy: is this off a host of a computer you directly control or are you using a hosting service? - mig
[2013-05-24 03:01:38] - anyone have experience with apache and messing around with httpd.conf? i'm trying to set up subdomains on my localhost, but it's not working, and so far the information i've been able to gather about this topic via google doesn't quite give me a full understanding of how this works and what might be going on. any help greatly appreciated. -amy
[2013-05-23 23:31:00] - a: Huh, I may be switching to Firefox, at least at home. Too bad that doesn't help me at work. Firefox is for the webdev team only. Chrome is only available because it installs so stealthily. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-23 16:52:37] - xpovos: firefox has two config variables "plugins.click_to_play" and "media.autoplay.enabled". the former lets you require a click before flash starts up. the latter lets you disable media autoplay. ~a
[2013-05-23 14:04:06] - xpovos: personally, i use noscript, but it breaks a lot of web pages so it's not perfect. but, it's the safest way to make sure web pages don't run any HTML5/javascript/whatever - aaron
[2013-05-23 14:00:22] - Answered my own question. It's 6.09(h). Man. Crazy rules. And someone named Cabrera has been involved with several of them. http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070803&content_id=2128163&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy -- Xpovos
[2013-05-23 13:56:53] - xpovos: it has to hit the ground. Bouncing off a player doesn't count as the "ground". - mig
[2013-05-23 13:45:09] - Why isn't this a ground-rule double? http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/yahoo-sports-minute/miguel-cabrera-home-run-assist-082015216.html?vp=1 'cause it didn't hit the ground? -- Xpovos
[2013-05-23 12:10:38] - Today the 0.01% that I knew was a threat with HTML5, which I love in concept, became real. Once it starts it will only grow. So how do I force my browser to ignore autoplay=true tags? -- Xpovos
[2013-05-23 12:09:55] - Ok guys, I'm behind the times and need some help. I don't use adblock, but I do use Flashblock. So flash ads are rendered useless. I use flashblock because I don't trust flash and would prefer to authorize each instance it runs, but also because 99.9% of autoplay video and audio was using it--so it killed annoying autoplay. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-23 10:32:17] - mig: Sure, that's basically a maximum money supply number. The actual circulation is substantially reduced by HC (less than 10% reduction), repairs (10-15% reduction?) and AH transaction fees (15%?) for a total money supply that's probably closer to 12.5M. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-23 10:28:05] - hmmm, you know I forgot that there was a UI update recently. Maybe it's original size by default? - mig
[2013-05-23 10:09:10] - mig: I can "view all sizes", and if I do that, one of the options is not a link... I assume that's the size that it's currently stored as? -Paul
[2013-05-23 09:56:09] - paul: if you drill down to a photo you'll get options for various sizes, including the original resolution. - mig
[2013-05-23 09:55:13] - Does anybody here use Flickr and if so, can you tell me how I can tell what resolution one of my photos is stored as? I uploaded some photos awhile ago and want to check now if it's in the original resolution or not. -Paul
[2013-05-23 09:27:44] - oh, also you need to take into account all the money that dissappears from the gold AH transactions. - mig
[2013-05-23 09:07:54] - a: hardcore mode, where if your character dies once you lose him/her and all their stuff on their person forever. hardcore characters cannot use the RMAH, so they can't make any real $ off anything they have directly. - mig
[2013-05-22 22:09:37] - hc? ~a
[2013-05-22 19:54:55] - I suppose there's a market for trading SC and HC gold from what I recall, but that's much harder to come up with a valuation for. - mig
[2013-05-22 19:54:04] - xpovos: possibly, but isn't at least some portion of that HC gold, which is valued at $0. - migg
[2013-05-22 17:42:29] - Blizzard released some Diablo 3 stats. One that was interesting to me: 648T pieces of gold generated by the system in one year. Mostly from mob and chest drops. With the recent RMAH price changes, that's a real world equivalent of just shy of $19M. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-22 12:38:21] - xpovos: it was vinnie's score! i beat it but i got pretty lucky. anything over 10,000 is pretty remarkable, you usually get one or two random dirt roads, and it's also hard to tell the difference between different parts of russia. and parts of south africa/australia often look similar to north america, so you can end up 2,000+ miles off... - aaron
[2013-05-22 12:08:24] - aaron: Challenge failed. I only scored 10211. The challenge score (you or Vinnie, I'm guessing) was 11865. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-22 11:33:40] - paul: At the very least, I would hope it would make people wary whenver the administration uses the word "balance" with regard to anything civil liberties related. - mig
[2013-05-22 11:16:44] - mig: Sure, but like you said, libertarians have had beef with Obama's civil liberties record for a long time now, so this just seems like more of the same. Hopefully, at some point, liberals will get on board as well. -Paul
[2013-05-22 11:14:13] - actually, I guess it's the 4th term, technically. - mig
[2013-05-22 11:12:27] - now that joke is looking less and less funny. - mig
[2013-05-22 11:12:20] - http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-in-ap-rosen-investigations-government-makes-criminals-of-reporters/2013/05/21/377af392-c24e-11e2-914f-a7aba6 anyone else creeped out by the assault on media outlets by the administration? I know it's been a bit of a running joke amongst libertarians that we're in the 3rd term of Bush, but
[2013-05-22 10:33:04] - mig: Ok, that's what I suspected since the newer controllers make it seem like less of a single piece and people seemed to like it. I rarely used the D-Pad, and when I did, it was usually not for moving around but for things like switching weapons or something similar. -Paul
[2013-05-22 10:32:39] - And the fact it was kind of "sunken in" the actual controller itself was a problem as well. If you'll see the Gravis Gamepad that I remember using when I was playing old pcs games and never having many issues with, you'll note the d-pad is at higher elevation to the controller surface. - mig
[2013-05-22 10:28:12] - actually you summarized the d-pad's structure better than i did. Yes, it had a lot to do with the fact it was essentially all one piece. - mig
[2013-05-22 10:26:34] - movements. - mig
[2013-05-22 10:26:32] - paul: i think it has to do with the fact that the d-pad was enclosed in a circle (with the edges supposed to be the diagonal directions), and it was a little sunken into the controller, which I think makes pressing any of the buttons on it feeling weird and stiff. I can't imagine I'd want to use the d-pad for platformers either, or anything that requires precise
[2013-05-22 10:16:47] - mig: I totally buy that, but I didn't use the D-pad much and I also didn't play many fighting games. Was there some mechanical reason it sucked? People are talking about how it looks like the fixed it with the new controller but I'm wondering how they can tell. -Paul
[2013-05-22 10:14:50] - The D-pad of the 360 was total ass for fighting games. It was hard to do QC or HC motions on it properly. - mig
[2013-05-22 10:03:32] - mig: Well, it's a switch for Playstation people, but that's how it was for the Xbox 360. Can somebody explain to me why the D-Pad on the Xbox360 supposedly sucked? Was it because it was all one piece and made it hard to distinctly press a single direction? -Paul
[2013-05-22 10:01:31] - I'm also not sure what to make of the controller. It's nice that the D-pad looks like it may not suck, but the change of layout by switching places with the left analog is just plain weird. - mig
[2013-05-22 09:58:46] - mig: Yeah, especially if they're going the proprietary route with hard drives again. I think I read it's only going to be a 500 gb hard drive. I feel like that can fill up VERY fast, especially with blu-ray discs. -Paul
[2013-05-22 09:53:23] - however, i'd be concerned about disk space if all games are too be installed on disc in full. - mig
[2013-05-22 09:52:16] - Though reading this morning, apparently there was a tweet by a microsoft exec saying that if you activated an install on another system, it would revoke the license from the original system, so maybe it was said to soon on the ars article that used games are dead. - mig
[2013-05-22 09:51:28] - paul: I'm not as militant on used games either. The mandatory game installs will help with load times and the like, and honestly they did need some sort of activation mechanism or you could just take 1 disc and give the game to all your friends and you'd be able to play it. - mig
[2013-05-22 09:11:38] - Or if you wanted to bring a game like Madden over to somebody else's house for a party or something. -Paul
[2013-05-22 09:11:24] - mig: I know I'm probably in the minority here, but I'm mostly ok with that. Ever since it was brought to my attention how crappy of a deal it is for the developers, I've soured a bit on used games and normally buy them new. The big bummer for me is not being able to borrow a game from a friend to see if you like it... -Paul
[2013-05-21 18:54:09] - http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/05/xbox-one-not-always-on-not-backwards-compatible/ while the always online thing turns out not to be true, it does indeed look like the new xbox is set up to kill used games sales. - mig
[2013-05-21 15:35:38] - Aaron: I've heard of it (maybe through xkcd), but have never played it. Pretty neat, although if my first two attempts using your tinyurl are any indication, I suck at it pretty bad. -Paul
[2013-05-21 15:30:48] - saw this on FB, apparently Sony's stock spiked up a little bit as the xbox reveal was going on. - mig
[2013-05-21 15:13:52] - http://tinyurl.com/pprlffw here's a fun one that vinnie did, it's nice when they give you architecture/buildings and not just random dirt roads. we both did really well on this one - aaron
[2013-05-21 15:11:57] - http://www.geoguessr.com/ have you guys played with geoguessr at all? we've competed on a few of these for fun, although we have a few other self-imposed rules... no googling, no moving around (zooming/panning is OK) - aaron
[2013-05-21 15:10:25] - paul: no, i was just going with miguel's supposed shorthand, and your comment on counting... but yeah i'd be surprised/impressed if it was actually backwards compatible. - aaron
[2013-05-21 15:05:54] - Aaron: I actually thought the Xbox One wasn't backwards compatible with older Xbox games. Have you heard something different? -Paul
[2013-05-21 14:53:10] - paul: that said i'd be impressed if XBox One actually replaces the XBox 360 and the XBox uhh... one. But if it does, then hooray for microsoft - aaron
[2013-05-21 14:52:12] - paul: the PS4 will [b]literally[/b] be my fourth playstation console, and i can not get throw any of them away without also throwing away several games. "XBox one" sounds like a sweet deal to me. - aaron
[2013-05-21 14:40:04] - Some of the features (if they can pull it off) sounded pretty cool to me, though, so I guess I'm kinda wondering what people were looking for. -Paul
[2013-05-21 14:39:28] - Sounds like people are largely underwhelmed by the Xbox One reveal, although it's hard to tell how many are trolls or fanbois and how many are rational opinions. -Paul
[2013-05-21 14:17:55] - mig: Heh, yeah. I guess I can sympathize a little since there's really no established single measurement for estimating computing power (like MHz for PCs a decade ago), but I really don't know how impressed I am supposed to be about the number of transistors. -Paul
[2013-05-21 14:11:26] - 5 BILLION TRANSISTORS! Not sure why I should care about that, though. - mig
[2013-05-21 13:46:22] - mig: Yeah, just seems bizarre. They skipped "2" in favor of 360 because 2 < PS3. Now they're combating PS4 with One? -Paul
[2013-05-21 13:26:07] - paul: it seems like the one is supposadly shorthand for "all-in-one". - mig
[2013-05-21 13:11:21] - Apparently the new Xbox system is called.... Xbox One? I guess it's not as bad as Xbox360, but the casual observer would wonder if anybody at Microsoft knows how to count 1, 2, 3... -Paul
[2013-05-21 12:20:07] - I guess what is really perplexing is the venom directed at RG3 himself. I mean I can see why people would be critical of the fans for buying the gifts, but they're demanding RG3 do some pretty outrageous things (refuse the gifts, donate them to charity, etc) to "make amends". - mig
[2013-05-21 12:15:13] - mig: I'm not trying to say it necessarily makes sense. Just trying to explain what people might be offended by. -Paul
[2013-05-21 12:11:57] - paul: well yeah, but what's he supposed to do, just not have a registry? I mean, even if he posted it with a fake name chances are good it would have been found out. - mig
[2013-05-21 12:08:15] - mig: My guess is because he's a pretty wealthy guy and therefore he doesn't need random strangers buying him wedding gifts. -Paul
[2013-05-21 11:01:38] - so I was listening on the radio today about how some people outside of dc are apparently super outraged about RG3's fans sending him wedding gifts. I'm not sure I totally get it. Maybe it's kind of silly but I'm not sure why someone sending him a $10 soup ladle is something to get worked up about. - mig
[2013-05-21 10:35:21] - paul: i'm still interested, i'm not 100% invested one way or the other between the XBox and PS4. pretty much the only thing tilting me towards PS4 is the monthly fee associated with XBox Live - aaron
[2013-05-21 10:18:14] - Also, NextBox720 Infinity info being released today around noon. Anybody else excited? Or is it mostly PS4 peeps left on the message board? -Paul
[2013-05-21 10:17:41] - Wow, Flickr. 1TB of space for free? Your move, Google. -Paul
[2013-05-18 18:19:28] - mig: Man! Those Astros... http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/astros-dropped-fly-ball-gives-pittsburgh-walkoff-victory-084508758.html
[2013-05-17 17:07:53] - =/
[2013-05-17 14:15:30] - hey, are you sure you've heard the news that David Bechkham has retired from football ... - mig
[2013-05-17 09:08:28] - Xpovos: Yeah, I guess we'll see. Honestly, I think most people are probably going to stay home rather than vote for a third party. -Paul
[2013-05-17 09:01:18] - Paul: Well, while there's certainly a lot of Republican hate on McAullife and Democrate hate on Cuccinelli, they each seem to get a distinct and powerful brand of hate from their own party! Cuccinelli in particular rubs a lot of Republicans the wrong way, while McAuliffe is just an uncomfortable politician for Commonwealth politics. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-17 08:53:30] - Xpovos: Still, he seems like one of the better qualified libertarian candidates in recent memory. It's a little harder to argue that a Harvard graduate is an idiot who doesn't know what he's talking about.
-Paul[2013-05-17 08:52:38] - Xpovos: I mostly agree, although I can see some sort of perverse scenario where everybody considers the "other" option to be so horrible that they simply MUST vote for the lesser of two evils. -Paul
[2013-05-16 18:07:58] - Paul: If he can't pull at least 5% in a McAullife vs. Cuccinelli race, I have lost all faith in the Libertarian party ever winning on a national or statewide level. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-16 18:05:34] - mig: 90% is the PC ratio. I'd agree consoles seem like they should be lower, but I wouldn't be surprised if the statistic wasn't that far off. But I wasn't able to (quickly) find any data to support any argument. Though I did fine several rants where people were demonstrating how 'impossible' 90% piracy rates are... -- Xpovos
[2013-05-16 14:19:22] - http://www.uncoveredpolitics.com/2013/04/22/libertarians-nominate-rob-sarvis-for-governor-of-virginia/ I was doing some research into who to vote for in the upcoming gubernatorial election and stumbled upon the Libertarian Candidate. He went to TJ! -Paul
[2013-05-16 11:35:45] - 90%, on consoles? I might believe that # on the PS1 and XBox due to their disc formats and the ease of modding both consoles, but not for next gen. - mig
[2013-05-16 11:32:16] - Also: vuvuzelas! -- Xpovos
[2013-05-16 11:32:07] - mig: 90% piracy rates are frequently reported. I didn't believe it until it juts became non-debatable coming from so many legitimate sources. I still think DRM is stupid, but that level of piracy would warrant almost any kind of effort to protect. So I became more torn. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-16 10:07:57] - vinnie: i'd heard about #1 and #2 before, earthbound's DRM system is the most notorious that i've ever heard of... - aaron
[2013-05-16 10:02:03] - I'm honestly surprised they'd bother trying to detect illicit copies on console games, though apparently they get pirated a lot more than i realized. - mig
[2013-05-16 09:51:28] - Vinnie: I had posted about #1 before here, but I hadn't heard of most of the others. #2 was particularly devious. I almost feel sorry for the pirates. -Paul
[2013-05-16 09:26:36] - http://gameological.com/2013/05/inventory-9-games-with-creative-drm-copy-protection title says it all, hadn't heard about any of these before - vinnie
[2013-05-15 17:44:56] - http://reason.com/blog/2013/05/14/a-small-business-owner-explains-the-hard It's a long article, but I think it does a good job of explaining some of the reasons I think health care is so screwed up in this country and why Obamacare isn't going to make it better. -Paul
[2013-05-15 17:09:19] - this is just an article, this isn't discovery. ~a
[2013-05-15 16:43:54] - a: a: I just re-read the article, and the only specific taunt I see is, "Linda, guess what you're not going to do today - write tickets" which hardly seems like it rises to the level of harassment. -Paul
[2013-05-15 16:31:54] - a: I more resent them for having the power over me. -paul
[2013-05-15 16:31:26] - a: And who says they have a shit job? I don't know if I've ever had an encounter with a parking enforcement officer (or whatever they are called), but nearly every time I've had interactions with somebody who has the power to give me a ticket, I don't feel like they have some sucky job and need to be pitied... -Paul
[2013-05-15 16:29:04] - this is the city government suing, not the workers, who says the city isnt encouraging the workers to embellish the claims a little bit? - mig
[2013-05-15 16:28:40] - a: And if the best sob story they can tell is that it leaves them red-faced, with an increased heart rate and dreams (not even nightmares!) about the activity... I find it hard to call what is happening to them "being shit on" without more evidence. -Paul
[2013-05-15 16:27:37] - a: Right, but you weren't there either. For all we know, this "harassment" is just a bunch of people showing them up by beating them to expired meters and tossing a few comments their way. -Paul
[2013-05-15 16:22:23] - meh. i'm not going to be able to convince you, because you weren't there. it just seems weird, because i feel for a worker that's being shit on. especially when the worker has no motivation to lie: if the lawsuit is successful, they won't see any more money. they have a shit job, and that sucks. ~a
[2013-05-15 16:19:14] - a: I mean, you could use a lot of those same descriptions for Wayne's World scene where Wayne and Garth were making fun of the cops (Smelling a pork product). Worse in a group. Attempts to one-up. -Paul
[2013-05-15 16:18:08] - lack of imagination? ~a
[2013-05-15 16:17:00] - I feel like if you are the worker, why do you care if they are putting money in the meters? Unless I'm required to write a certain number of tickets why not let them / encourage them to beat me to the meter? Then they don't harass me? -Daniel
[2013-05-15 16:16:27] - Unless it's rising to the level of physical intimidation or threat of such I have a hard time believing that such trauma is actually occurring. - mig
[2013-05-15 16:14:50] - a: yeah. I mean all this medical stuff over, some random stranger beind unkind to you? really? - mig
[2013-05-15 16:13:20] - a: You're quoting some of the lines that I thought were so strange that it felt like an onion article. "I have begun to suffer physical effects due to the stress, including coming home from work with a red face"... -Paul
[2013-05-15 16:12:39] - a: I'm saying I think it's pretty easy to envision a scenario where what they are saying is true (people have told them to stop stealing people's money and to get another job) while also thinking it might be too tame to rise to the level of needing to sue somebody. -Paul
[2013-05-15 16:09:29] - ... "these individuals repeatedly taunt and harass me, asking why I am stealing peoples' money and telling me to get another job". assuming the people aren't lying about this, it sounds pretty lame. ~a
[2013-05-15 16:09:05] - probably? so i assume you don't believe these? "The taunting and harassment tends to get worse when there is a group, as they try to one-up each other at my expense" ... "I have begun to suffer physical effects due to the stress, including coming home from work with a red face, feeling heart palpitations, and having dreams related to this activity" ... ~a
[2013-05-15 15:33:24] - a: I could see it being some sort of middle ground where the Robin Hoods would occasionally make some kind of snarky remark about getting a new job or whatever but that it probably doesn't quite live up to "harassment" as most people understand it. -Paul
[2013-05-15 15:32:17] - a: If the workers are being harassed? Yeah, I would hope the city would have some proof in some video or something other than a he-said, she-said. -Paul
[2013-05-15 15:01:53] - if they city isn't lying and the workers aren't lying, i feel really bad for them. ~a
[2013-05-15 15:01:10] - paul: ummm. it sounds like one of these two groups is a bunch of liars. the city says they're harassing, but they say they aren't. if they're harassing, do we have video of it? ~a
[2013-05-15 13:17:24] - daniel: against the AP. I'm not sure if any real "crime" was committed. The DOJ was definitely looking for the identity of a leaker, but it seems dubious that there were any "national security concerns" that would warrant secret snooping. - mig
[2013-05-15 13:08:59] - mig: Political retaliation against the AP? Or against the person who leaked the info to the AP? Is the argument that the DOJ response is out of proportion to the crime (the crime being leaking info) or is the argument that people leaking info to the AP isn't a crime? -Daniel
[2013-05-15 13:00:45] - http://www.unionleader.com/article/20130514/NEWS06/130519663 Keene sues six parking meter 'Robin Hoods' who put money in expired meters. Parts of this almost read like an Onion article to me. -Paul
[2013-05-15 12:52:53] - The AP (and others) view the secret subpeona as political retaliation, and from what I've read I'm inclined to agree. - mig
[2013-05-15 12:47:11] - It also seems like a heavy handed response to what is believed to be the source of the whole records seizing (there was some spat over an AP story involving some leaked information that forced USgov to admit stuff it didn't want to about some foiled terror plot). - mig
[2013-05-15 12:43:56] - well, that's what's being alledged anyways. - mig
[2013-05-15 12:43:31] - daniel: I would assume so. From what I've read, the DOJ used the "secret" route of collecting the information not because of national security concerns, but because they knew the AP would fight he subpeona. - mig
[2013-05-15 12:40:10] - mig: But a court was still involved right? Is that the part people are mad about? That the AP didn't know their phone records were being looked into? -Daniel
[2013-05-15 12:39:00] - daniel: from what I understand, the subpeona and everything was done in secret, so the AP didn't know about the snooping of it's phone records until after the fact. - mig
[2013-05-15 12:21:38] - I'm not sure I understand the deal with Holder and the AP stuff. Was he doing something illegal? The article I read used the word "subpoenas". Does that imply warrant or just a court order? Can people ignore subpoenas? What is the bad thing holder did? Wanted to look at reporters info? -Daniel
[2013-05-15 10:49:09] - Though the NC schedule for the next several years will be quite interesting. 2 games against Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Notre Dame each over the next 4 years. - mig
[2013-05-15 10:47:04] - http://virginiatech.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1504311&PT=4&PR=2 i was excited about this news till i saw it wasn't till 2020. It's surprising though we've only played against the big 10 twice in the entire school's history. - mig
[2013-05-15 09:53:26] - paul: damn i want to watch that kitchen nightmares episode!! that's fantastic - aaron
[2013-05-14 16:10:13] - a: Combined with what I just mentioned about people being able to see who has viewed your profile (although I don't know if they can see how often), that could look weird. -Paul
[2013-05-14 16:09:46] - a: Xpovos asked a question about how people are connected to 2nd and 3rd degree connections on LinkedIn. Audrey happened to be one of the first 2nd degree connections on my "people you might know" list, so I have been clicking on her profile some today. -Paul
[2013-05-14 16:08:11] - Xpovos: Playing around with LinkedIn settings, and apparently there is a way you can make yourself partially or fully anonymous when it comes to people seeing that you viewed their profile, FYI. -Paul
[2013-05-14 16:06:40] - also, what? ~a
[2013-05-14 16:06:27] - ??? i don't think she reads this page. ~a
[2013-05-14 15:59:17] - Audrey: We're not stalking you, you're just a convenient guinea pig. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-14 15:27:11] - Xpovos: Fair enough. I don't know for sure if we're just forgetting if previous AGs have been just as defiant, but I'll grant you the point. -Paul
[2013-05-14 15:25:55] - Xpovos: Sent you a screenshot. -Paul
[2013-05-14 15:24:42] - Paul: I'm not sure about worse, but more egregiously so. Openly defiant in his insistence that the law doesn't apply to him. The AG position isn't exactly one that is filled with humility, but he seems to take it to a new level. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-14 15:24:28] - the only thing about this incident with holder is you can't explain it away as "republican conspiracymongering", like many did with F&F. Media outlets generally will all cry foul when a media organization is directly targetted by abuse by government. - mig
[2013-05-14 15:23:48] - I'm having trouble finding a "people you might now" type of page because I refuse to let it have access to my contacts files. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-14 15:23:44] - Xpovos: Haven't read your facebook post yet, but has Holder been much worse than Ashcroft or Gonzalez or Reno? -Paul
[2013-05-14 15:21:15] - Paul: Not the page I'm on, but that might be because I'm trying to minimize my footprints at this point. I'll play around, but I may come back to ask for a screenshot. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-14 15:20:21] - I'm looking at the page of a "somebody you might know" who is a second degree contact for me and I can see the two contacts we have in common... -Paul
[2013-05-14 15:19:44] - Xpovos: Doesn't it have a little graphic on the right hand side near the middle of the page showing you how you are connected to said person? -Paul
[2013-05-14 15:18:02] - http://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthis/this-is-the-most-epic-brand-meltdown-on-facebook-ever Wow, I have a hard time believing this is even real. -Paul
[2013-05-14 15:14:28] - xpovos: I'd have to agree. I'm honestly terrified to think of what Holder would have to do to lose his job if this doesn't do it. - mig
[2013-05-14 15:12:09] - mig: Following up on my FB post, can we please get rid of Holder now? I mean what more does he have to do to show his holding the USAG position is a freaking disaster? -- Xpovos
[2013-05-14 15:10:33] - LinkedIn question: Do you know how, or if it's possible to view a path of degrees? E.g. I see someone who is a "3rd degree" contact. Is there a way I can trace who the 1st and 2nd degree contacts are in those cases? Weird note is that LinkedIn counts you as the 1st degree, rather than the zeroth. Or so it seems. Maybe both in some cases? -- Xpovos
[2013-05-14 14:41:32] - It would almost be comical if the various incidents weren't kind of serious. - mig
[2013-05-14 14:41:11] - So, given the resurrection of the Benghazi false statements, the revelation that the AP has had their phone records secretly snooped on by the DOJ, and the IRS targetting conservative groups bru-ha-ha, it seems like Obama's OSU speech calling for the rejection of cycnicism against the federal government was rather unfortunately timed. - mig
[2013-05-14 13:11:14] - paul: that competition has been going on for quite some time. Though James and Wade seem to not dabble into it as often as KD and Westbrook do. I still remember the parade of goofy glasses from last year. Yuck. - mig
[2013-05-14 12:54:15] - mig: Looks like the Heat are trying to challenge the Thunder as the worst dressed NBA team. -Paul
[2013-05-14 11:31:53] - http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/dwyane-wade-slim-fitting-ankle-bearing-suit-nba-133158981.html that look is quite ... disturbing. - mig
[2013-05-14 11:19:21] - Paul: Transparency cuts both ways, eh? Of course, right now I can see that "LinkedIn Member" has viewed my profile, so that's pretty useless. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-14 11:09:38] - mig: It also tells you who has viewed your profile, which I think is neat that I can tell who has viewed my profile, but it seems kinda weird to think of other people knowing that I viewed theirs for some reason. -Paul
[2013-05-14 11:05:11] - mig: On the flip side, I don't know how useful it is. I've had a few head-hunters contact me about job openings which could either be annoying or helpful, depending on where you are in your career... -Paul
[2013-05-14 11:04:04] - mig: I haven't really had any problems with it. It's a social network, so it obviously tries to nudge you to connect with people and invite people to join, but I haven't noticed any of these horror stories that ~a is bringing up. -Paul
[2013-05-14 11:02:26] - Then even more complicated checks would include some kind of language recognition on the e-mail address to filter certain domains and certain e-mail addresses with reply properties (like mailing lists). But why program all of that when, for LinkedIn's purpose, the simple version is sufficient? -- Xpovos
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