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I have mine on a tactical mug.

http://www.amazon.com/Battle-M...

Here's a 2A car charger You have a TON of in-car charging options these days! You're welcome :D

I'm old enough to remember (and read) the book - Weather War . Forget the lawsuits, look at the next level of targeting for political advantage.

FYI, TFS mentioned that they've found Clevo, which is the manufacturer for Sager. And that's about as good as they're going to do without going over four grand. I'm running an NP2740, which is an ideal laptop for me that doesn't have an RTG instead of a battery. As a "desktop replacement" the battery life does suck - full-tilt Linux DE sucks it dry in a little over two hours, but I'm not waiting for a slow laptop, so it's a trade-off worth my time. I'd love 10 hours on it, but that's not the world I have available to live in.

FWIW, sensors says mine has run at max 84C since I've had it on (the most I recall is 90% sustained of all cores). If I need to really push the CPU's to full capacity (i.e. ffmpeg), I usually access the data via ssh on a desktop i7 and run the job there. Good network storage makes that easy on a LAN. For field work, I'm happy to plug in and have a mobile i7 under the keyboard.

I was thinking about a huge fan myself

I use a small $10 desktop fan from Walmart. When I am running something compute intensive on my laptop, I turn on the fan, point it at the laptop, and no more heat problems. I also use this laptop stand (cost: $8) which allows the air to circulate all around the laptop. One more trick: If you use your laptop closed, with an external monitor, then flip it over, so the bottom (which gets the hottest) is up. That way you maximize the convection.

I have this kind of laptop (an old Clevo D900F with a desktop Core I7 950). And those are the normal temperatures of the current gen (even old gen) under load. The new Clevo series (P650/670 SE/SG) are said to run cooler, maybe in the 60-70 range. But this comes at the cost of having both CPU and GPU soldered to the MB. Do not expect ANYTHING lower, even over the next year in the laptop market.

Consider elevating your laptop, or even using a cooler. It might help reducing from a couple of degrees to about 5.

The novel was incredible for the time (that and "Friday" it was called, the one with the intersex assassin?). ....

"Friday" was not about an intersex assassin. Friday was a courier in an intelligence agency of some sort, and all female.

Amazon link.

Off-topic, but if you like Heinlein's Friday, you'll love Varley's Steel Beach.

+1. Islam is petrified of people who think, because thinking people will see it for the racist, facist, evil, misogynistic, hateful, backward pile of war-mongering nastiness that it truly is.

Anyone who doubts the depths of depravity encouraged by Islam should read Cruel and Usual Punishment, written by a former Muslim who suffered at the hands of Islam.

The parent post refers to terrorists, and I agree with their statements regardless of the terrorists' cause.

Also, in my experience, fundamentalist religion regardless of the particular religion opposes independent thought and good reasoning skills among the followers.

+1. Islam is petrified of people who think, because thinking people will see it for the racist, facist, evil, misogynistic, hateful, backward pile of war-mongering nastiness that it truly is.

Anyone who doubts the depths of depravity encouraged by Islam should read Cruel and Usual Punishment, written by a former Muslim who suffered at the hands of Islam.

Most expensive music player? Not even close....

Astell-Kern-AK240-Mastering-Quality

Apparently this is what iRiver has morphed into. I had an iRiver H340 back in the day, but they've apparently abandoned the mass market in a big way.

If any of you are having a hard time believing the $1200 price tag of the new Sony NWZ-ZX2, then I recommend you check out the Astell and Kern AK240 priced at $2499.

Is this a lower REZ unit ?

Listed for $589 new , $600 Used

Sony Walkman NW-ZX1 128GB MP3 Player Hi-Res

I'd hope that you do in fact get higher quality DAC hardware, connectors, etc., so the actual sound quality is better. But the price is also "inflated" by the product being a niche, audiophile product.

No, it's inflated because it's Sony.

This player has a high quality DAC, etc., gets great reviews from audiophiles, and yet only costs $350. Sure, you need to spend an extra $100 for a 128GB MicroSD card, but that's still $750 less than Sony wants.

45watts and this case make it 100% proper and clean:

http://www.amazon.com/Streacom...

not a hack. proper install with more than enough heatsinking.

check it out!

Lindt, Baker's, Ghirardelli's...

So, not Mars Brands. Also, I love how the Mars Our Brands page is almost completely useless compared to the Wikipedia page of the same theme.

FYI, you should be buying Green & Blacks 85% if you want a small slice of heaven.

Beck is anti-civilization? Citation needed. He urges people to read The 5000 Year Leap, a book that celebrates the progress made by civilization.

Misses the victim: with your idea, they're screwed. With a reusable drone, it comes back for another ring.
Hits them with the drone: They're light-weight enough that it shouldn't happen, plus the control software for a NON-LANDING drone shouldn't let it hit the sea.
Crashes due to payload: This is why you use an inflatable device as opposed to a foam ring. Such a device can be tiny. A relative heavyweight device can be only 1.5 pounds. I'm sure it can be made lighter for a device that's not intended to be worn all day in the off chance you'll end up in the water.
Another beachgoer's drone: First, you'd have this problem anyways. Second, if used for lifesaving the drone going out should have priority. Third, the lifeguard should be the one with the drone.

Inflatables: The chance of failure is really miniscule, and you gain the benefits of a smaller size and less air resistance(probably more important).

This.

At least for me, craigslist and thrift stores are able to provide replacement goods at a price which is comparable to repair, giving some basic options for your standard $50 device:
1 - Replace with newer model: $50, ~5 minutes of time (Amazon), comes with an extra feature/two (lower power, new setting, whatever).
2 - Replace from craigslist or thrift store: $25, ~30 minutes of time (10 minutes finding it, 10 minutes out-of-the-way driving, 10 minute pickup/chat)
3 - Diagnose and repair: $15, ~2 hours of time

Case in point: LITERALLY the first 'blender' on craiglist in my area:
http://orlando.craigslist.org/... ($35, could probably get it for $25).
http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton... (same blender, $54+shipping)
http://www.ereplacementparts.c... (parts start at $10+shipping).

I spent part of the weekend splicing some wires for a speaker system and record player. I have a EE degree, a CS PhD, do my own car/lawnmower maintenance, and usually have all of the tools needed. I'm pretty decent with repair, understanding things, and learning quickly. However, for many things it just isn't worth it.

Note: if more people start going the craigslist/thrift route, the repair option is going to come back onto the table.
Note: for large items (hard to physically move, expensive, etc.), the craigslist option isn't feasible, and the difference in pricing (like with a washer/dryer/fridge) starts to make 'repair' more attractive.

Looks like it would be about $700-$750, if it was a cheap end Singer. This is based off the price of a Singer 128 and UK inflation (conversion to USD courtesy of Google.)

Looking at sewing machine prices on Amazon.com: A somewhat comparable machine today starts at $107 (more features, of course). A "commercial grade" machine is $250. A heavy duty commercial machine is $400. Or, if you want to spend $700, you can get something ultra-heavy-duty like this.

Looks like it would be about $700-$750, if it was a cheap end Singer. This is based off the price of a Singer 128 and UK inflation (conversion to USD courtesy of Google.)

Looking at sewing machine prices on Amazon.com: A somewhat comparable machine today starts at $107 (more features, of course). A "commercial grade" machine is $250. A heavy duty commercial machine is $400. Or, if you want to spend $700, you can get something ultra-heavy-duty like this.

Looks like it would be about $700-$750, if it was a cheap end Singer. This is based off the price of a Singer 128 and UK inflation (conversion to USD courtesy of Google.)

Looking at sewing machine prices on Amazon.com: A somewhat comparable machine today starts at $107 (more features, of course). A "commercial grade" machine is $250. A heavy duty commercial machine is $400. Or, if you want to spend $700, you can get something ultra-heavy-duty like this.

Looks like it would be about $700-$750, if it was a cheap end Singer. This is based off the price of a Singer 128 and UK inflation (conversion to USD courtesy of Google.)

Looking at sewing machine prices on Amazon.com: A somewhat comparable machine today starts at $107 (more features, of course). A "commercial grade" machine is $250. A heavy duty commercial machine is $400. Or, if you want to spend $700, you can get something ultra-heavy-duty like this.

H. Beam Piper wrote about this in 1952, in his book Null ABC. The author detailed how literacy in schools continued to decline, as more and more educational gadgets became available, until society was divided between "literates" and "illiterates." The illiterates controlled the vast majority of business, but literacy was still required to practice law, and serve in the judicial branch of government.

Check out a physical version of the book here, an audio link here, a free eBook version here and a free audio book (that is probably the same as the paid one I linked to you above) here.

I really enjoyed the audio version I listened to. It was extremely entertaining, and a scathing social commentary on the future of public education as H. Beam Piper (correctly) envisioned it.

H. Beam Piper wrote about this in 1952, in his book Null ABC. The author detailed how literacy in schools continued to decline, as more and more educational gadgets became available, until society was divided between "literates" and "illiterates." The illiterates controlled the vast majority of business, but literacy was still required to practice law, and serve in the judicial branch of government.

Check out a physical version of the book here, an audio link here, a free eBook version here and a free audio book (that is probably the same as the paid one I linked to you above) here.

I really enjoyed the audio version I listened to. It was extremely entertaining, and a scathing social commentary on the future of public education as H. Beam Piper (correctly) envisioned it.

AWS IAM developer here again.

"IAM UI and the process for modifying permissions/authorization is positively fucking shit. Garbage. Crap. A cankerous sore on the taint of the internet. It's not very good."

What could we add/change/subtract to make it not that?

"But it is basically hacking at the configuration until you get it right because it is the only real way to figure it out."

We added the policy simulator to try to help address this:

IAM Policy Simulator

Did this not help you? If not, why not? What could we do better?

I'd like an app that'd help me diagnose bad noises my car makes

There are many. Most make use of an obd2 -> bluetooth dongle.

Not the noise, but there is Torque Pro and several others that will diagnose your car with a OBD 2 dongle that will show whatever the car is able to show.
So that should already help.

David Brin's Existence is another very interesting take on the subject.

http://www.amazon.com/Existenc...

I personally see no reason why a single language, and particularly English, SHOULDN'T replace other languages eventually.

Because it is inadequate for use in other cultures.

THIS. Individual languages develop around culture and then take an active role in shaping it, though most people within that culture don't realize it until they step outside of their language and culture. It can lead to concepts that are truly untranslatable, in the sense that there is no single word or short phrase that could convey the concept precisely in another language.

Most people who argue that we wouldn't lose much if we all spoke the same language also seem to believe in the "dictionary model" of meaning, where atomic words with exact meanings are combined together to make language. But that's NOT how meaning actually works; it's just an illusion created by dictionary organization. (If it were true, we would have also solved the automatic computer translation problem decades ago.)

In reality, language and meaning is a complex network of associations, where word choice often conveys subtleties of meaning because of the various connotations and connected concepts in a language. Everyone makes a big deal about mostly mythical ideas like languages that could have dozens of words for snow or something... But it's not only the specialist technical terms where the distinctive character of a language resides. (And those can often be borrowed directly into other languages.)

Instead, languages often make subtle connections in even the basic core vocabulary. For some perspective on this, take a look at a comparative dictionary of Indo-European languages sometime. You would quickly see that while many basic ideas in a language may derive from the same roots, a specific concept may have a number of different strands of development in different languages. For example, three languages may all have different primary words derived from different roots for concept X, each with their own distinctive set of connotations. While it may seem like there's a simple A=B=C equivalence between words, the meaning that is conveyed in translation could be significantly changed or lacking in nuance.

In many cases, this may be a small thing -- but the reality is that language does shape thought and even perception of the world. If it's easier to make a particular connection between concepts in one language because of this network of meaning relationships, it can actually change the way people are able to discover new things or consider new possible ideas. Of course, it's not impossible to do this in another language... It's just less intuitive and thus perhaps less easy for people in another language to see the connection.

Supreme Court Ruling Allows Strip Searches for Any Arrest.

The percentage of the U.S. population in prison is higher than any other nation in the world.

Secret U.S. government agencies give very profitable secret contracts to what is called the Beltway Bandits. U.S. taxpayers pay, both in money and in the resulting inflation.

The Bush family makes money by getting taxpayers to pay for war: The Bush-Saudi Connection. There is an entire book about that: House of Bush, House of Saud: The Secret Relationship Between the World's Two Most Powerful Dynasties.

I've noticed that a very high number of movies made since Save the Cat! came out follow the three-part formula outlined therein. It was especially apparent having seen Pitch Black (2000) and The Chronicles of Riddick (2004), then watching the (annoyingly titled) Riddick (2013).

On top of most films following the same general plot format, the buildup of any kind of suspense is practically nonexistent. Everything has to move so damned fast that you don't even have time to come up with something to anticipate based on what has already happened before the next action-packed mostly-CGI-and-obviously-so thing smacks you in the face. A classic film like Halloween where the first 90% of the film is nothing but suspense build-up could never be made today, even if it was set in the same time period so that modern technology couldn't get in the way of the plot. Suspense is largely a thing of the past.

While I'm here on my soapbox, does anyone remember when "special effects" were actually special? (Get off my lawn!)

the language is the worst I have seen since APL

Blasphemer! Everyone knows that APL is Easy, and that APL is elegant.

if you are genuinely curious, try this book for starters. It is a bit superficial, but to understand how christianity was born you have to understand the then common sects of judaism and the political realities.

Or this one for a much more in-depth research on pharisees.

if you are genuinely curious, try this book for starters. It is a bit superficial, but to understand how christianity was born you have to understand the then common sects of judaism and the political realities.

Or this one for a much more in-depth research on pharisees.

Get a USB pocket router (the size of a pack of Wrigley's gum), which will let him turn his 3G connection into a hotspot whenever he plugs it in.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/produ...

"Attack of the 50-foot woman" might be interesting. The problem is that the copyright holder is not showing this movie anywhere - going public domain would fix that.

Here is the movie on Google Play, and here it is on Amazon streaming. By "not showing this movie anywhere", maybe you meant "not showing this movie anywhere for free"?

Just in case, I've ordered new wall paper:
  http://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Unpolished-Finish-backing_type-Thickness/dp/B00CNLZJPA/

Is there some technical reason why stainless steel is better for this purpose than aluminum foil, which is a fraction of the price? Or are you just trying to brag that you found stainless steel foil on amazon?

Just in case, I've ordered new wall paper:
http://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Unpolished-Finish-backing_type-Thickness/dp/B00CNLZJPA/

Your attention is drawn to Nagel (who savages the theists as well as the atheists).
Tl;dr: "How, precisely, did we move from inorganic chemistry to thought, again?"

Are you sure you're thinking of the Surface Pro? There is no track pad or keyboard (other than the software keyboard).

Yes - mine came with the snap-on keyboard / case. They are not exactly cheap , but neither are the decent ones for the iPads.

I'm surprised you note the Surface's battery life, that's one of the weaker aspects in my opinion. My old iPad could pull a full day of active work off the charger. Not sure if I'd trust the SP2 after 4 hours off charger.

Well I'm comparing it to the 10" Nook HD+. If my day is full of meetings or I'm traveling, it barely lasts the day. The Surface lasts longer.

Also not sure on your dislike for the charger itself. I strongly prefer the 4-pin magnetic connector over micro USB or that god awful proprietary crap connector that Apple uses on the 4th gen iPads.

I just think the stick looks stupid. But the worst part is the brick. I have to have the brick no matter what. Sure, I can charge from a USB cable, but why can't I just use a USB cable without having to lug around the brick? That was the dumbest idea ever. Every other device I have or have seen just needs a light, thin cable, or I can bring a brick if I want to wall-charge. Surface? Must have brick. And, yes, it's a god awful proprietary connector, too. Just with a brick.

It doesn't debunk this book either:

http://www.amazon.com/Bible-En...

The English Standard Version (ESV) Bible is an essentially literal Bible translation that combines word-for-word precision and accuracy with literary excellence, beauty, and depth of meaning.

My father worked on developing the first lasers during his masters degree. I don't think he got any alien-inspired tips.

Ah, if you don't mind a bulky case, then the iPhone has the keyboard you want: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb...

Yes, I was thinking the same thing. "It's a mistake to not make immediate profit..." and...they are in it for long term profits. One of the reasons why Google was so successful is that they didn't monetize Google search until they had improved it until almost everyone was using it.

I used to think that too, but in Googled: The End of the World As We Know It, the author presents the story along the lines of "it took them a really long time to figure out how to monitize search."

There might be a common thread between the early days of Google and their current forays into cutting-edge technologies without a proven market, like driverless cars. They seem to have an "if you build it, they will come" mentality. Basically, if they see a technology coming in the future, they jump on it and figure out how to make money on it later. This may partly be rich guys indulging themselves in creating cool new toys, but if their vision is right at least part of the time and they execute well, they'll make money in the long run. Just as they did in search.

This syndrome is covered in The Innovator's Dilemma, which reportedly was one of Steve Jobs' favorite books.

They're much better. I've got a dozen or so of the 4TB Hitachis now and I'm replacing all of my non-'NAS' drives with them.

The 'NAS' range appears to be the old-fashioned quality drives in modern packaging. I have regular Deskstars in 2 & 3TB configurations and they are really, really, slow drives to back storage, even with SSD caches in front of them. I plan to buy the 'NAS'-labeled drives from now on. The non-NAS drives only seem to be acceptable for long sequential access. It's nice to have slow cheap drives available but if your 2014 drives are slower than your 2009 drives, this might be why.

Replace bay 1 with a SATA board that can hold 4 SSD drive cards. It's what I did. OS and cache in bay one and 3 bays for 3 6TB drives. works great.

http://www.amazon.com/SATA-Dua...

Dual port version. I found a 4 port version and have it stuffed with 4 128gb SSD drives. works great.

Since the industrial revolution, we've released about 375 gigatons of sequestered CO2 through burning and cement production. There are 3.67 tons of CO2 from a ton of carbon so we need to capture on the order of 100 gigatons of carbon to reverse this.

Dry wood is about 50% carbon by weight. So I need 200 gigatons of wood to sequester the necessary carbon. Amazon tells me this chair weighs about 20 pounds, or 0.01 tons. Seems high, but I just need a rough estimate.

200,000,000,000 (tons of wood) / 0.01 (ton of wood/chair) = 20,000,000,000,000 chairs.

That's like 2800 chairs per man, woman, or child on the planet. Maybe then my daughters won't cover one of mine with legos and dolls.

As you might imagine, there is a section specifically on Crux:

In your mind, draw a straight line through the axis of the Cross, through the tip and across the sky. You will find the arrow is pointing at another bright star. You cannot fail to identify this star, Achernar, because it is the only first-magnitude star in that part of the sky. Approximately halfway along the imaginary line between the cross and Achernar is the south celestial pole... Once you have established where the celestial pole is, you can determine your latitude. The celestial pole is always a number of degrees above the horizon equal to the latitude at which you are standing. Surprisingly, you don't need complex equipment to make this measurement. Polynesian navigators used a notched stick held at arms length, or sometimes nothing more than the outstretched hands and fingers.

Seriously? Lights? That makes me think of the posers who put lights on their car's wheels.

I'm a fan of mechanical keyboards and intentionally sought one with adjustable backlighting. My Lenovo ThinkPad also features adjustable keyboard backlighting.

Both these keyboards are hugely helpful to me for the simple reason that I often use my computers in low light or darkness. This allows me to limit my exposure to light when working late, and thus avoid disrupting my circadian rhythm due to the effect of light on the suprachiasmatic nucleus.

So, yes, seriously. Lights.

http://www.amazon.com/Feber-Fe...