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Comment: Re:Sort of (Score 1) 234

by soren202 (#32516952) Attached to: Studies Prove BPA Can Cross Placenta To Fetuses

I've seen the same thing, though it's worth pointing out that it's really easy to tell at a concert who's under aged for someone around that age range.

That said, it's good to know that the GP was staring long enough to not only go on such a long and passionate rant, but to also determine whether or not they were wearing pads.

Comment: Re:Not the only conservative views he's pushed (Score 1) 617

by soren202 (#32109118) Attached to: Virginia AG Probing Michael Mann For Fraud

Actually, from what I remember from my neuroscience lectures on the subject, there's an effect on feminine and masculine behavior in the womb based on specific chemicals received in utero that can be affected by the person you're sharing the womb with.

In rats, it's been shown that exposure to estrogen in the womb causes a significant increase in homosexual mounting behavior in females later in life, due to the change in brain chemistry that results.

I'd have to look up the slides again to see why this happens, as well as any specifics, but the point is that the imbalance in hormones caused by having a sibling in the womb can affect the end sexual orientation, which may possibly explain why there's such a big difference between the second two percentages.

Comment: Re:Priceless (Score 1) 678

by soren202 (#31396454) Attached to: Ubisoft's New DRM Cracked In One Day

Nah, doesn't work.

You'd have to devise a system where the server knows where you are at any point in time, rather than a system where the user's computer simply asks for objects at intervals, meaning that, for your system to work, the servers would have to be able to sustain near mmo levels of bandwidth, which is ridiculous-expensive for something that will still be cracked in a month. The only workable methods to have it store item types/locations server side is to have the user's computer ask at certain intervals, which will require about one play through depending on the game for the hackers to get every item down, to have the computer know where items are, but not which items they are, or vice versa, in which case the hacker has half the information and only needs to figure out the second half systematically, or to piss off all customers without a reliable high bandwidth, low latency connection to the server, as well as any who have any sense of moral decency whatsoever.

Comment: Re:PC gamers think they should get games for free (Score 1) 1027

by soren202 (#31324588) Attached to: The Awful Anti-Pirate System That Will Probably Work

+1 sane.

I understand the whole sense of outrage from such a large number of people pirating copies, and I can see why that would be frustrating, but, at the end of the day, what you care about is SALES, not pirated copies.

What you should be asking is: Is the game profitable, and is there any way we can make it more profitable, not how can we reduce piracy. I'll admit that, at first, making more money and reducing piracy seem to go hand in hand, but not only are most pirates not going to pay for your stuff, for whatever reason, but pissing off legitimate customers with drm more restrictive than disk checks, serial numbers, etc. will only end up hurting your bottom line, instead of earning more money.

If you really think restrictive DRM is justified, look at how horribly Spore sold, compared to the initial hype surrounding it, compared to the amount of money spent developing the DRM scheme that caused that bucket of shit to come raining down. In the end, anyone who advocates sacrificing the bottom line over some sort of moral outrage or sense of unfairness should probably be removed from any decision making position, because when they aren't, it hurts everyone involved.

Comment: Re:Of course it's not dead (Score 1) 195

by soren202 (#30707014) Attached to: <em>Duke Nukem Forever</em> Not Dead? (Yes, This Again)

Actually, this seems more like proof that the guy behind Duke is, in fact, a sadistic douche.

You really probably have to be, after supporting such a hyped game for so long, just to disappoint fans again and again before the entire project explodes spectacularly in its leaders' collective face.

Comment: Re:1 semester of "Linux" is a required course (Score 1) 835

by soren202 (#29410159) Attached to: Does Your College Or University Support Linux?

At the U of M, Linux is only used in the computer science department. It's mentioned here and there other places, and, obviously, everything they have for public use (wi-fi, etc) is more or less required to work with linux, less they face the wrath of the computer science department, but otherwise, there's no mention of it.

Comment: Re:Use Pidgin ... (Score 1) 259

by soren202 (#29081869) Attached to: Digsby IM Client Quietly Installs Badware

Admittedly, Pidgin does crash with ridiculous frequency, but this problem is limited mostly to Linux (in my experience) and is only really a problem in a few areas (most notably, email notifications).

It only takes a half second to boot on either of my computers, and it's never crashed while I'm not using it or messaging someone, so I really don't care enough to switch to something that's not OSS.

Comment: Re:Nuisance of free software (Score 1) 259

by soren202 (#29081803) Attached to: Digsby IM Client Quietly Installs Badware

Hey, if you're the one who has such a big problem with advertisements that you won't sit through them even after buying the game, that's your problem.

Now, that doesn't change the fact that many companies cross the line into douchiness when dealing with ads, and a certain amount of customer-outrage is deserved on their part, but I find it silly that someone can be so bothered by something as stupid as an advertisement as to essentially throw $50 out the window by never playing something they've already bought again.

They're just ads, not Satan incarnate. They will neither poison your mind, nor suck out your soul. Be a man and deal with it.

Comment: Re:Yes, but why is a project necessary? (Score 1) 100

by soren202 (#28931713) Attached to: Thinktank Aims To Crowdsource Government Earmark Analysis

The current leaders in Congress have been saying for the last couple of weeks that it is unreasonable to expect Congressional Representatives to read the bills before they vote on them because they don't have the time and even if they did have the time, they couldn't understand them.

Well.... it is unreasonable to expect that.

Have you read any of the legislation being put out recently? Although the pages are short, they take about an hour to fully comprehend each.

Although it sounds horrible, keeping up with legislation being put forth is more than a full time job. Although there should be some level of responsibility for congressmen, sometimes it's understandable if they leave the reading like this up to the people putting the legislation forth, or to their aides/staff, even if it is getting information secondhand.

Comment: Re:1984 (Score 1) 646

by soren202 (#28905567) Attached to: Student Suing Amazon For Book Deletions

Of course, this only works when the parents have the right knowledge to teach their children. Schools are there to educate children where their parents can't.

I wouldn't trust half the parents out there to prepare their children for college classes, even if they did have the time. This is why we pay taxes for education, and this is why although education from parents is good to a point, it is hardly something that should be relied upon, even for hot-button issues.

If a parent ever really has a problem with what their children are being taught, there's always the option of private school, or home school.
