<![CDATA[Comments from Ben Zvan]]> <![CDATA[Comments from Ben Zvan]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on iShoe Prototype Assists Wobbly Elderly Folk and Astronauts Alike]]> My understanding is that most people who "fall and break their hip" really break their hip, which causes them to fall. It's brittle bones rather than lack of balance that would be needed. That would also help explain the number who die within one year with another explanation being that the statistics were global and include 3rd world hip fractures.

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on Darik's Boot and Nuke Securely Wipes Your System in an Emergency]]> And, for those of us on a Mac, don't forget the "Secure empty trash" option available from the Finder menu (Not DOD, but not bad). And the DOD+ quality formatting option available on the install disk and in Disk Utility.

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on Locksmiths Hate Geeks]]> @ekirsch: My understanding is that push-button locks are one of the lowest security devices out there. They're mostly just a deterrent rather than an access denial system.

A few years ago, there was an "incident" at a University of Wisconsin campus where a bunch of students got hold of some professors' keys and treated them as encryption clues to find and cut the master key for the entire campus. I can't seem to find an online reference though, sorry.

Go Geeks!

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on Panasonic Shows Off Surface-Like Digital Wall]]> I'd have watched the whole video, but the Midori ad was too in-your-face and annoying for me to bother continuing through. I'm going to go have a Midori sour now.

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on Fisker Karma Hybrid Sports Car Gets Production Plans]]> Does it come with free scissors and a Multi-plier?

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on The Frozen Waterfalls of Mars]]> 4000 meter waterfowl? Get my shotgun!

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on Um, About That Asteroid That Wasn't Going to Hit Us...]]> Is it just me or was whoever named this thing a Stårgate fan?

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on What's Keeping Me? Identifies Apps Locking Your Files]]> Why isn't this standard? The alert should say the "file is in use by [app name]".

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on Flee Throwable Camera Captures Your Girlish Tosses For Posterity]]> This is why there's a market for throwable cameras.

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on This is What it Looks Like When the Video Camera in Your Hand Gets Struck by Lightning]]> Looked like gun powder to me.

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on This Year's Terminator Will Be Jealous, Unstable]]> There was an explosion? I must have been spending too much time watching Summer Glau instead of paying attention to the "story line".

And what did he mean by "she's learned how to wear miniskirts"? I don't think there was a single episode in the first "season" where she didn't wear a miniskirt. Where was the learning part?

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on Panasonic Makes Electric Bike With Regenerative Braking]]> I'll stick with my late 60's Schwinn SuperSport, thanks. This reminds me too much of the people in WALL•E.

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on Does Your Employer Provide a Wellness Program, Do You Use It?]]> You're definitely missing an answer. They have one, I don't use it because I'd rather bike 20 miles before work than work out in a gym.

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on OS X Leopard 10.5.4 Update Is Here]]> @se.blackheart: I have an internal iSight on a MBP. Photo Booth and iChat both give me a black screen.

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on Caption Contest: The Poor Leopard PC]]> "Siegfried and Roy finally upgrade to XP."

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on This is What Living in a Sci-fi Movie Feels Like]]> "Assembled from white corrugated plastic" ... And duct tape!

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on Chronotopic Anamorphosis: a Fancy Name for a Trippy Video Effect]]> Reminds me of this weird interaction between photography and the real world.

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on Nikon D700 Shots Revealed as Fake]]> That's a real picture of the D700, the D300 is the fake.

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on Shagnasty "Model 666" is Fake Plastic Steampunked Nerf Pistol]]> So somebody bothered to make a "fake plastic nerf gun"? Why not just use a real plastic nerf gun, then it would actually ...work... and stuff.

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on When Life Throws You Lemons, Make Lemon Lights]]> "just an artist's work"? And this article is "just a blogger's work".

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on Image Fulgurator Does Real-World Hacking Of Other People's Photos]]> Since people seem to be confused, he's using an optical slave trigger to automatically fire his flash within milliseconds of the victim's flash. His looks either old or homemade, but you can buy them for $20 at any reputable camera store.

This is actually a quite simple and quite clever hack. It's also a logical extension of methods currently in use by artists.

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on Fullscreen Mode Gets Serious in Firefox 3]]> As far as I know, it does not work on Macs. I honestly wasn't disappointed by that either.

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on AeroCam Turbine First to be Blowin' in the Wind for Under $1 Per Watt]]> Bird combine or not, if they had a 5kW version for $5k installed I'd buy it today. (All I've got in my 'hood is sparrows.)

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on Question of the Day: What Percentage of Your Music is Illegal?]]> I said 0%, but I do rip my own CDs since that's covered by fair use. I have many tracks that I've ripped from friends that are also covered by fair use.

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on Firefox 3 Release Full Coverage]]> @AustinS: And here is the Mac version. (Same link, just changed "win" to "osx".

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on OneLoupe Magnifies Your Screen]]> @johnsmith1234: Good point, those back pats are a great way to boost add revenue. I'd rather see those than a credit card login screen.

Hey, why won't this edit box go away? My cursor is still here|

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on OneLoupe Magnifies Your Screen]]> Don't forget that Mac users already have this feature; just ctrl-scroll anywhere on the screen. Works with any Apple mousing products that support scrolling, like the MightyMouse and MacBook track pads. Otherwise, it's just a quick trip to the Universal Access preference pane to enable zooming with cmd-opt-= and cmd-opt--.

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on Does Your Employer Provide the Portable Gadgets You Need?]]> I have a laptop, but I'm paying for my own cellphone and plan, including data and text. I could get a pager, but that's sooo 1980s.

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on Wall Cars Will Race Automagically for Eternity]]> Yeah, DARPA spent how much getting someone to build an SUV that could do this?

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on Baby Smash! Kid-Proofs Your Computer]]> @AskTheAdmin: I guess there's a reason I don't have kids. I just like my MacBook Pro.

I completely encourage anything that gets little minds working and learning as long as it's not encouraging destructive behavior.

@ComputerZen: If I were programming it, I'd add rewards for hitting numbers or letters that pop up on the screen. It would be like an easter-egg but on purpose. Maybe add something for when they type a word, accidentally or not. You could even throw in the occasional math question. Maybe out of scope for the target market, maybe not.

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on Keep-a-Cable Manages Your Desktop Cord Clutter]]> For tying up cables, I use cable ties.

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on Integrate YubNub into Firefox's Address Bar for Faster Searches]]> "flint"? I'm not going to remember that...

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on Baby Smash! Kid-Proofs Your Computer]]> That's it, encourage babies to bang on keyboards. How about we figure out how to make pretty colors appear when they bang on the fine china?

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on Would You Unlock the 3G iPhone Even If It Has Good SDK Apps?]]> @xaflatoonx: Hear! hear!

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on AT&T Predicts Future Technologies in 1993, Doesn't Deliver Them]]> Well, yeah but... Jenna Elfman...

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on TBS, I Can Pause My Own TV, Thanks]]> I don't watch TBS anymore because of the bottom half (not third) commercials with loud sound effects. I'm happy to be missing out on this and I wish they'd get the idea that so many people are ticked off about it.

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on Security Cam Footage of Cubicle Rage to the Extreme is Every Cube Dweller's Fantasy]]> @The Cooler: Not that expensive. Get a bunch of cheap desks and some cardboard for cubical walls, old CRTs are free these days... Even the "security cam" video could be done with a cell phone.

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on Coffeetime Coffeemaker Satisfies Anal Retentive Coffee Chemists]]> @jiffy: There's nothing 'exclusive' about Rachael Ray.

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on Most Returned Gadgets Actually Work Fine, Only About 1% Are Broken]]> @flyboy: Right with you.

If only 1% of returned gadgets are broken, then why are 50% of refurbs broken? Do they break after they're returned?

]]> <![CDATA[Ben Zvan commented on Security Cam Footage of Cubicle Rage to the Extreme is Every Cube Dweller's Fantasy]]> I call BS. The where did he get the maul and why did the guy who took it away from him run off afterward?

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