* Posts by Floormeister

17 publicly visible posts • joined 9 Sep 2009

Profs call for harsh taxes on sweet carbonated beverages

Floormeister

The article is incredibly stupid and the replies are taking "commentard" to a whole new Suez Canal dredged bottom level.

First, there is no "government" involved in this proposal. There are only scientists looking at the impact of what would happen IF (you see that little word there) you instituted a proposed policy. I know Mr. Page has only a passing interest (what with all his axes to grind) in facts but the rest of you should (and used to) be smarter. If you disagree and can do so intelligently the folks at Health Affairs would love to have your informed input.

Second, even if something is taxed you can still enjoy it. No one is taking away anything (that's right no one is even "taking away" your money they are just trying to make you pay for some part of the costs you are creating for society). I understand that this may not be desired or needed but that is why the article was written in the first place. Maybe should tax whining like a two-year old as a form of adult discourse (my life would be better so maybe I can extrapolate from that).

Third, your imagination and knowledge about soft drinks are woefully narrow. Even if there was a tax base HFCS and a multitude of other sugars, there would be hundreds of options available to you untaxed (but it is easier to whine like a little baby isn't it while creating bogus dichotomies about "tapwater"?). One famous brand even made tons of money on flavored water (no sugar) until some International Industrial Sugar Supplier bought them. Surely they can just go back to what make them 0.00001% less margin than the sugar crap their ADD focus group told them was "preferred".

Fast food firm fields Sith sandwich

Floormeister

Time Burger

Don't touch it . . . it's evil!

Fedora 16: A GNOME lover's paradise

Floormeister
Meh

--->(remember: "jumped the shark" := reached the zenith and beginning the decent)

No. When the Fonz "jumped the shark" the show "Happy Days" was already in decline and this just made it obvious to all that it was now of poor quality. When used properly that idiom "jumped the shark" refers to something already in decline that makes a desperate move to prove how obvious and entrenched that decline is. It is most definitely not used to mean the point of zenith

Fox turns LightSquared political

Floormeister

Great News

I am glad that the US media has finally gotten on to the issue of conflicts of interest around private companies gaming rules for profit and garnering big contracts. Oh wait, they are only looking at one company because of their prevailing political ideology.

I mean the country gave (and are still spending) billions of dollars to Republican Friends on "Homeland Security" and "Defense" and "state relations" with little evidence of benefit (and always at ridiculous cost) with major Republican donors (And Democrat as well but there was far more going on and ignored on the Republican side). Even today with "budget problems" the most "anti-government" Republican are supporting "their" ridiculous pork.

The tragic problem in the US over the last 30 years is that Democrats support inefficient government spending for their friends while Republicans destroy efficient government spending for their friends.

HP TouchSmart 610 touchscreen all-in-one PC

Floormeister

Swivel?

Is there something like the i360 for this (turntable for the unit). I am in the market for an all in one computer but need a proper swivel as it will be on a table that would need to be viewed in different directions at different times (and change rapidly enough that I do not want the family picking the whole computer up and moving it).

HP exec: WebOS tablet will trounce iPad

Floormeister

WebOS

Actually, the statement about being "no 1" was made based on optimism about getting a bunch of major web apps set for the Touchpad. There will be some gaps but WebOS already has a lot and seems to be creating more partnerships all the time. I do not think that WebOS will ever be that huge on the tablet but apps will only be a minor reason. Being late is much more of an issue.

I think WebOS is an excellent OS but they are way too late.

Office workers: 'The best way to upgrade a PC is to smash it'

Floormeister

Backward or Forward

The first job I ever had 16 years ago had a lot faults but it had a really great upgrade policy for hardware. You got upgrades if you needed it for your job (basically the IT people knew what people did and gave them hardware and upgrades to fit their needs).

Since then I have worked at places basically thought one size fits all even when it did not. This is done by unplanned and uncaring IT systems who basically think all users and business needs are the same. The most surprising was when I worked at a data center that should have been small enough to realize that some people need very different tools and upgrade schedule (and admins that do email and light word processing ended up with powerful machines that could do great multimedia slideshows of their favorite loved ones).

Amazon jumps the gun on free clouds

Floormeister
Stop

Missed key part of "service"

I am very surprised that in all the noise about this service nobody mentioned the fact you can only download one file at a time. So, of course, this is not a backup service and it is unlikely to be of much interest to pirates (although I suppose you could make that one file a large zip).

This is a huge issue for purchasers of Amazon electronic files that right to the cloud. Let's say over the course of a few months you buy 100 songs. Now, you want to use another cloud service. You will have to download all those 100 songs (or more if you are so inclined). So, this is actually a pretty inconvenient service for Amazon MP3 buyers. Your current download app will get the files on your hard drive and you could then use the Cloud upload app which is a lot of work for a "convenient" and symbiotic service.

For me, I could make use of this as a server for my files (upload is pretty slow but if you are patient) if I was needing access out and about (and had a supported device) but I do not.

World Cup Stats Prof: I was right all along

Floormeister

The required TiTLE

Of course! But it really was not that hard (my group stage predictions were pretty bad but that stupid octopus and professor did not bother with all that).

Floormeister

Required

I actually predicted 15 of the 16 group stage games correctly (only missed Netherlands-Brazil). I am much smarter than an octopus or a statistical model.

Chris Morris jihad film good to go

Floormeister

OMG!!!

This is going to be the funniest thing ever.

Peppa Pig told to belt up

Floormeister
Pint

Forget Me Not?

Isn't Fifi ForgetMeNot seen driving AND waving without a seat belt in the opening sequence of every show? Fifi ForgetMeNot forgot?

U2 frontman bitchslapped by TalkTalk

Floormeister
WTF?

The band TalkTalk?

It's my life and I guess I am living in another world because I am confused. Such a shame; life is what you make it and all you want to do is talk talk.

German strato-sperm airship prototype flies

Floormeister
Welcome

Fertile idea

Getting my coat.

E-Wolf unveils extreme sports e-car

Floormeister
Thumb Down

Uggh!

Can I say that this car looks really ugly? I know people do not care much about my aesthetic sense but every time some innovative design comes out, the sports car loving cock-rockers always complain about the looks (and I always thing glass houses, stones, etc.).

Expensive, ugly, and really stupid "noise added" tech--the electric part is great though!

Wisconsin Tourism Federation wisely rebrands

Floormeister

Bong Recreation Area

One of the wonderful parks promoted by . . . WTF:

http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/parks/specific/bong/

Ohio armed robber asked victim for a date

Floormeister
IT Angle

Move from OH to SC

If this crime was committed in South Carolina, Gov. Mark Sanford surely would have pardoned him for "following his heart" as long as Stephfon says "it began very innocently as I suspect these things do".