Sean Eric FAgan

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• Commented on Apple buys LaLA, is a cloud-based version of iTunes on the way?
  And now everyone is saying it is confirmed, so i take back my question and congratulate you on having a good sense of timing with your information. Brava! (No sarcasm intended.)...
• Commented on Apple buys LaLA, is a cloud-based version of iTunes on the way?
  "Apple buys LaLA" but "the deal is all but done"?...
• Commented on IBM computer brain simulation as complex as a cat's
  According to http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20091118/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec_ibm_brain_mapping it was not real-time: "The simulation, which runs 100 times slower than an actual cat's brain." Also, it wasn't an entire cat's brain, just the cerebral cortex....
• Commented on Woman accidentally buys wrapping paper covered with swastikas
  A long time ago, I read an anthology -- I think it was Superheroes but I'm not positive -- where one of the stories was about a guy who, while wandering through the desert, was presented with a suit that...
• Commented on Praying Mantis consumes grasshopper.
  I'll never be able to read Nor Crystal Tears again... (Just kidding. We had lots of praying mantids around when I was young. They're fascinating, pretty, and pretty human-tolerant. As an adult looking at them, however, I'm more aware of...
• Commented on Goat rentals for clearing brush
  We saw the Goats R Us team once, I think, driving home from San Francisco: a person watching a few goats merrily chew up the brush alongside the highway. It was pretty neat to see. (And there was at least...
• Commented on 27" iMac rules Apple's new gear
  Unfortunately, the Mini still doesn't have ECC. Waah!...
• Commented on Report: 30 percent of NYC iPhone calls dropped
  How does that compare to other AT&T 3G phones in the area? If it's different, is the difference due to the phone (hardware or software), or the carrier treating it differently?...
• Commented on Interview with John Marcotte, author of bill to ban divorce
  I'm with the satire angle. Or just pissed off. My suggestion was actually for a ballot proposition that would invalidate marriages where either of the spouses was not a United States citizen....
• Commented on Man bites off man's pinky during health care rally
  And, according to TPM, the guy who threw the first punch isn't being charged with anything. I find that incredible....
• Commented on Ariel: post-apocalyptic sword-and-sorcery adventure that rocked my world
  I pre-ordered it as soon as I saw it, and the sequel, on Amazon. I wonder if I'll find it as depressing as I did when I read it 25 years ago....
• Commented on Behold! Slim PS3
  The original PS3 models had PS2 compatibility. I bought the last model that had hardware compatibility; after that, it was software-only. And then they axed that, although I still have no idea why....
• Commented on Anti-health-care loon says Stephen Hawking wouldn't stand a chance under British health care system
  About a decade ago, Dr Hawking's medical costs were several million dollars (US) a year. This comes from various grants and other income he has, and some of it is essentially free for research purposes. (His wheelchair and speech systems,...
• Commented on No Snow Leopards for PowerPC
  I presume you mean 10.5, as 10.6 is SnowLeopard....
• Commented on The Kindle Boondoggle
  Note that, right now, paper is cheap -- because the process to make paper creates its own fuel sources, and the paper companies have realized that they can qualify for gov't subsidies by mixing in some diesel. (Thus going from...
• Commented on Review: A puke stain with the Bissell SpotBot Pet
  Other than the noise, the biggest problem I have with the thing is that it's so easy to tell where the spot was -- because it does a great job of cleaning a perfect circle....
• Commented on As If
  That's actually somewhat interesting, as anyone upgrading from an iPhone to an iPhone 3G was considered "qualified." If going from any model iPhone to a new iPhone is no longer qualifying... well. I think that's somewhat interesting, and not completely...
• Commented on JVC claims world's thinnest LCD display
  A contrast ratio of 4,000:1 would be awful these days. (The new Samsung TVs have over 3,000,000:1.) However, the original site, in Japanese, seems to use the same number -- anyone know what's going on?...
• Commented on E309: the 5 things you need to know about Sony's press conference
  That's only five items, you know......
• Commented on Time Warner Cable asks customers for "loyalty" ideas but doesn't actually want to improve service
  Well, in his defense, he was asking for ideas about "customer loyalty programs." Not ideas on how to improve their service. Of course, the proper response would have been to explain that, and then say "but I'll try to pass...
• Commented on Computer lock-up using the Monoprice Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter
  HDCP handshaking would be my guess -- I had to stop using HDMI on my S3 TiVo because it would lock up periodically. Anything interesting from the logs around the time of the lock-up? Can you still log in via...
• Commented on Apple approves of British nannies
  And as the CNet article shows, it's been pulled already. Who knows if it would have been pulled (or how quickly) if it hadn't been for the publicity....
• Commented on Hear me, O Monoprice
  #5: Monoprice claims their cable does in fact support audio. Since Apple is the only one (currently) using MDP, and they are not doing audio through the port, the only way to be sure would be to find a DisplayPort...
• Commented on Hear me, O Monoprice
  I got the Moniprice MDP->HDMI cable. It works great, with one caveat. A MacBook was able to do 1080p to a new Samsung LCD HDTV, and it also played HD TV shows from iTMS (which are encrypted, and I presume...
• Commented on Prom dress store changes photo of dress
  Looking at the "original" and current picture... I find myself doubting the linked-to article. The overlaid text style is different in the vagina-dress than it is in any of the other pictures at www.lightinthebox.com. (Okay, different in style from the...
• Commented on Obama turned the Queen of England into a copyright crook!
  I don't think copyright infringement enters this -- what would be more relevant would be the license for the iTMS. It allows for syncing an unlimited number of iPods with your computer (and, remember, this was negotiated with the labels)......
• Commented on Silicon brain
  The insect sniffing is due to sensory apparatus, not neurons. So this won't help with that. I seem to recall reading about a project to model a fly (fruitfly, of course) brain, a few years ago. Did anything ever come...
• Commented on Komodo dragons kill man
  Actually, there seems to be some research indicating that the lizards have actual venom. This is pretty cool, biologically-speaking. (This doesn't mean they don't have dirty mouths -- most varanids are carrion-eaters, and tend not to brush or floss, so...
• Commented on Sony and the Missed Opportunity of the PlayStation 3 Remote
  I'm with Brother Provisional. This is the 21st friggin' century, for crying out loud -- why are we still using IR? Which requires line of sight, has potential conflicts, is lossy, is unidirectional, and usually doesn't let you have multiple...
• Commented on Police seek man's stolen medicinal weed
  Budy66@10, one state congressman has in fact proposed taxing marijuana. This wouldn't be the first time that something like this has happened, although the last times -- which involved a stamp -- it's ended up being such a legal morass...