Astin

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• Commented on Infographic: the compleat and astounding history of storage
  This is an old copy of the graphic. If you trace back to the original gizmodo posting, then you'll see that the artist updated the graphic, fixing the colour screw-ups (but still not getting the size of a MB correct)...
• Commented on HOW TO Make Some Truly Wonderful Sweet Potatoes
  I always found the marshmallow-yam combination gag-worthy. The first time I heard about it (Paula Deen), my gag-reflex actually kicked in. I grew up hating sweet potatoes because everyone does them with sugar or other sweeteners, and usually cinnamon, nutmeg,...
• Commented on An evening of confusion with Dell customer service
  And once again Dell shows how little it cares about individual customers. I needed a laptop for a trip earlier this year. After weeks of looking at every model under the sun, I was down to 3 options for the...
• Commented on Secret copyright treaty leaks. It's bad. Very bad.
  About time. I was getting sick of this whole Internet thing anyway. Now... what was it I did at work before the Internet?...
• Commented on Canadian folk singer dies after coyote attack
  "local" to what? Local as in Canadian national park? Because she wasn't anywhere near Toronto when it happened, but in Cape Breton Highlands National Park on an east coast tour. That would be like saying a New York City based...
• Commented on Limbaugh and Beck pimp gold merchants with 35% spread
  For starters, the SPREAD is 30-35%. So rounding gold to $1000/oz, means a $300-$350 bid/ask spread. That means 15-17.5% each way. So you'd be looking at them buying at $825 and selling at $1175, not 30-35% each way. So unless...
• Commented on The Cove director on watching his film with the dolphin hunters
  Mahi Mahi is dolphin. Just sayin'. But dolphins and some whales are cute! And you see, cute things can't be slaughtered. They're also more intelligent than your average trout. Where's the movie about people eating apes? Or parrots? or dogs?...
• Commented on Comic strip explains World Wars in five minutes
  That said - Finland holding back Russia with one hand is hilarious. Very funny comics. Just not really historically accurate....
• Commented on Comic strip explains World Wars in five minutes
  Ummm... yah, "explain" is a funny word to use there. It's American propaganda, completely ignoring the rather significant contributions for the rest of the allies. Sorry Yanks, but your contribution wasn't nearly as big as you think. Especially in WWI....
• Commented on XKCD v airport security
  Coming back from Israel, my spare laptop battery caused a problem at security. It had to be sent separately in its own giant box on the next flight out. They also had an issue with my laptop mouse (Logitech VX...
• Commented on Trailer for movie adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's The Road
  I saw the movie a few weeks ago at TIFF. This trailer is a terrible representation of it. There are none of the "causes" of the devastation shown. No tornadoes or riot police or collapsing ice or any of that....
• Commented on Rumored Canon G11, angry at own mediocrity, flips out
  Well, largely because it's a still camer, not an HD device. The G11 isn't aimed at the same crowd that wants the more compact do-all P&S cameras, or the high-end DSLR users. I think the G11 is solid in it's...
• Commented on Buzz Aldrin: Engineer, Rapper, Heart-Breaking Realist
  @2 - No, you just set them up for life when they're a politician. Senators who do nothing keep the title and pension. Presidents keep the title, even if they were terrible leaders who did more harm than good. Or...
• Commented on BBQ Coffee Roaster
  The problem with popcorn roasters is that they can't handle the constant use for roasting coffee. To get a medium to dark roast in a popcorn popper requires much longer than popping corn, and the plastic top shield starts to...
• Commented on Phones confiscated at preview screenings: whose hypothetical risk is more important?
  They're handled by a private security company. I forgot I had my Casio exilim on me when I saw Watchmen preview, and I handed it over to the security staff. After I had left, I forgot about it. I returned...
• Commented on Pages Books in Toronto to close
  It's not that surprising. As great an indy store as Pages is, it's not cheap. It has become, like many bookstores - independent or not - a place to browse what you're going to buy at Amazon for far less....
• Commented on Boing Boing Video review: Sigma DP2 camera
  @2 - Sure, the LX3 is a good P&S, but it's a different beast than the Sigma. This isn't a review about what features a good P&S should have, it's about a very specific type. Sigma's put a DSLR sensor...
• Commented on Adam Savage gets $11,000 AT&T bill for a "few hours of web surfing in Canada"
  Saw that tweet, and replied with something along the lines of this: There's a reason Canadians don't surf the web on their phones. Next time, check the rates. Data rates in Canada on any of the cell networks are a...
• Commented on Howard Stringer's last chance to save Sony
  - Admit memory stick is a dead format and go with SD like everyone else. - If at first your proprietary format fails... give up and go with the winner. - When your early adopters and pre-release followers speak in...
• Commented on TV preacher proves that only the Christian god is real
  Why not just put up a blank post titled "Religion" and see if this same comment thread gets created? I'm a bit late on commenting on the YHWH=Jesus's Dad=Allah discussion, but I've always been of the opinion that they are...
• Commented on Mathematically modelling phantom traffic jams
  I remember a post from a few years back from a fluid mechanics student in Seattle who started increasing the distance between himself and the car in front of him until he could time it so that we has moving...
• Commented on TV preacher proves that only the Christian god is real
  @enochrewt Probably the same as most Christians, where Jesus is part of the Holy Trinity - The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - one God, three persons. Jesus is not entirely unlike an Avatar of God. And of course the...
• Commented on TV preacher proves that only the Christian god is real
  Who's this "son of a bitch", and why do I worship him?...
• Commented on Charity auction for toon that remixes Star Wars, Muppets and health care
  The final conclusion is no big surprise, as Anakin went to the dark side because they had a better health care plan. Seriously, isn't that what it boiled down to? "Be evil." "Why?" "Padme will die, but if you join...
• Commented on The most expensive coffee in the world is made from animal poop
  Yup, this is ancient news, and has been on Boing before. Also, the concept of civets roaming free and people finding their poop is nice but outdated. As soon as this stuff became popular, locals started capturing the civets and...
• Commented on Flies make ants into zombies?
  Actually... I, for one, welcome our zombie-creating fly overlords....
• Commented on Woman kills elephant with bow & arrow
  I wonder if this pushes the elephant from threatened on the endangered species list to endangered... I demand that elephants be henceforth called Savanna Kittens....
• Commented on Review: How much $ should you spend on a massage chair?
  I'm happy with my simple Homedics quad-roller with heat that you can put on a chair. Cost less than $7k. Although after sitting in a $3k chair the other day, I'm tempted to go all out on a full chair...
• Commented on Mannequin lamps will hang out with you in your living room
  @Technogeek - you mean like ALL the ones in the picture?...
• Commented on Microsoft's best anti-Apple ad yet
  I'm confused. I have a Macbook, and a PC desktop. How cool am I? Sure, until the Macbook, all I had was PCs, and most of them had Windows, except the ones with Debian. And how about the Debian Beowulf...