Slashdot Mirror

Compared to the $110-115 million for a single F-35 next generation fighter jet (per unit in quantity), it seems very low.

Admittedly the research grant seems to be focused on just the jet engine, not the vehicle (jet airplane), it does still seem like a small amount to build even a single prototype. While a healthy grant as far as research grants so, it is still pretty small compared to other things. Then again, compared the average R&D spending of $0.0 (USD or Euro) in most areas of engineering and science presently, it's a good (faint) sign.

What amazes me is people still think smokers and obese people should pay more.

They should pay less as they cost the system less.

They die earlier and thus need less old age care... which just happens to be the most expensive kind of care.

Reference:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2008/02/05/unhealthy-study.html

This is from the Dutch Ministry of Health BTW.

But of course all these people who want the government involved and want 'evidence based policy...' they will just ignore the evidence in favor of their own ideology which says that prevention saves money or we need to tax smokers more...

What I really mean is, can we run a train before we drive a car in traffic? Trains have a pretty predictable path, and their only traffic problem is the pretty clear case of obstructions (moving or not) on the track.

In Calgary, we just had our local light rail "C-Train" system fire a driver because he was doing crosswords while driving:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2011/03/14/calgary-transit-ctrain-driver-crossword-puzzle.html ...that suggests to me it is easier to automate. Why do you get a 3-car LRT or subway train every fifteen minutes (when all the cars are separately electrically-powered), rather than a single car every five minutes? Cost of drivers.

Next up: buses. One "problem" with robot cars is that they would scrupulously obey every speed law and light and make conservative safety decisions (and save all those lives) but would cost time. People in a hurry cut those corners and would continue to do so. But bus drivers already drive like that NOW, so its not a "service reduction" like it would be perceived with a car. Automating them would again allow smaller buses that run much more frequently. The more-convenient mass transit systems would lure people away from cars - and thereby also save lives.

Lastly, only when those easier automations are proven successful, will you be able to build a market for driverless cars.

Machines are getting better, we aren't.

Just listen to this podcast. Very instructive. Voyager and the Third Age of Discovery

Re: Germany http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2009/04/germany-the-worlds-first-major-renewable-energy-economy http://www.buildings.com/ArticleDetails/tabid/3334/ArticleID/11755/Default.aspx http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/26/germany-nuclear-power-protest_n_841023.html http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/03/23/tech-germany-nuclear.html

My guess is the RIAA is just waiting for enough precedence before they pay Congress to get this law passed there. I'm glad I'm Canadian. When push comes to shove we're actually successful at getting rid of our government.

You could vote for your second-favourite local candidate and send a letter to your favourite candidate explaining that, while you liked him personally, you couldn't countenance the person his party has selected as leader. You had to take into consideration the limited power your representative would have had with that leader while your representative would have been a back-bencher (or even with him as a minister).

At least you have a local representative you can support. The Liberal candidate in Vancouver Centre is Hedy Fry. She's a shoo-in no matter how I vote, and I would much rather a Liberal government than one with Harper as PM, but she's said too many bone-headed things over the years for me to have any respect for her.

I was here for the G20, it went perfectly.

Did you watch the Fifth Estate G20 follow-up episode?

CBC Radio Spark, 139 has an interesting show about this. What the people in Kenya are doin is most interesting.

The amount of money they're transferring is huge.

We are really behind.

"Canada: Lots of air assets (not clear what yet)"

6 F-18s and support teams.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/04/11/bc-false-accusation-harrison.html

Goes directly to the point I was making. This was an actual accusation, to the authorities, not just trash-talking.

http://www.ipt-forensics.com/journal/volume2/j2_4_7.htm

And so was the case study in this one.

You claimed mere association with pedophilia "is death to a person's career, and in some cases their life". Yet the teacher smeared here is still alive and still employed. Furthermore, the examples you gave contain more than mere association; they contain specific, false, accusations made to the relevant authorities.

People have lost their jobs because of false accusations:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/04/11/bc-false-accusation-harrison.html

http://www.ipt-forensics.com/journal/volume2/j2_4_7.htm

There are plenty more, google is your friend in this.

I have experience not in false accusations, but in the area of trying to get fathers involved in kids sports. As the president of a youth hockey league, I needed coaches. We - myself included, had to undergo a State Police background check, as part of the process. But it is an excellent and quick way to lose volunteers, in my experience, most men are terribly afraid of an identity error, or some other mixup. One told me it just isn't worth it, and even if he declined the background check, there were people who would see that as some sort of proof of guilt. But he said that it was simply not worth the risk. And that was the only one who would talk to me about it. The others just were "too busy" after finding out about that requirement. It's a real threat, and hopefully you will never be falsely accused.

Canadians have bigger issues with the LSE

CBC reports Solar storm delivers auroral show.

It seems from the article that a journalist actually thought that there was a big red button somewhere labeled "INTERNET KILL SWITCH - DO NOT TOUCH"

Yeah? And? Obama seems to think that he actually needs a kill switch to protect his country.

Canada didn't need a kill switch.

Once the attack was detected in early January, Canadian government cybersecurity officials immediately shut down all internet access at the Finance Department and the Treasury Board, in an attempt to stop stolen information from being sent back to the hackers over the net. In an earlier attack, Defence Research and Development had to shutdown access to one of its servers for two months.

Obama looks about as smart as said journalist right now, and he's running the country. And the media are wetting their pants with their new "cyber terrorism" buzzword. This is all evidence that we need some serious education on the subject in this country. At every level. Seriously, wtf?

This likely means that the Toronto Stock exchange will soon be using Linux as well, if they aren't already.

Space *Nuttery* is the collection of absurd, delusional and childish sci-fi fueled fantasies along the lines of space colonies, space mining and "manifest destiny" among the stars.

Sorry, having pilots circle around the globe in the upper atmosphere is not exploring, it's not science.

Voyager Launches the Third Age of Discovery

Of course, you won't listen to this, having already made up your mind.

Yup, pretty much. We were paying $5,000 a head in Pakistan for "enemy combatants." You can bet we got a lot of them that way!

Here, scroll down to the Voyager link and LISTEN.

Spare 16 minutes out of your life.

I would much, MUCH rather go for the second option. I am paying for a certain service. I know the terms of that service. I'm getting exactly what I'm paying for.

I've been sold a 10mbps connection, I expect to be able to use 10mbps any time, including ALL the time. A bandwidth cap + throttling is just a lame excuse to oversubscribe high speed connections without having the infrastructure to support it. This, in an age where bandwidth costs are becoming cheaper and cheaper. ALL of these changes (UBB, bandwidth cap, torrent throttling) are a step backward which leaves Canada with third world internet.

"You just need to watch how much you download" is not an excuse. Especially when Bell has made profits upwards of $500 million. They have MORE than enough money to provide fast unlimited Internet.

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2006/11/21/lottery-probe.html

Toronto statistician Mohan Srivastava also discovered a way the tickets could be decoded to predict a winner on the game "Tic Tac Toe" nearly three years ago. Srivastava would look at the numbers on the ticket, and if a sequence of numbers was lined up in tic-tac-toe fashion and were not repeated anywhere else on the ticket, it was likely a winner. "If someone explained the trick to you, I think, I actually know, a child could do it," Srivastava said. He contacted the OLG about the trend, and while the corporation recalled unsold tickets of the game, it never went public with the information.

Even older than that. He's Canadian, and CBC reported on it in 2006:
http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2006/11/21/lottery-probe.html

In Calgary they actually did. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2010/08/17/calgary-hawc-laser-pointer-beam-arrest.html

You don't go near airports to watch the stars.

Yes you do:

http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/arts/photos/2009/08/17/beatles-cp-250-7152353.jpg

What you say is true (fellow Teksavvy customer here) but those rates are gone, gone, gone when usage-based billing (UBB) is allowed by the CRTC.

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/05/06/crtc-usage-based-billing-internet.html

you are coreect
http://www.cbc.ca/spark/2010/10/full-interview-austin-seraphin-on-the-iphone-for-blind-users/

As this story on CBC point out bifocals increase the risk of falling.
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/05/26/bifocals-falls-elderly.html

So yes switching your gaze is easy with tradition bifocals, but they reduce your field of vision for certain things like walking.

Then there's this one:

Doubt cast on cannabis, schizophrenia link

Check out CBC's 24-part audio series: How to Think About Science.

Especially related to this book is the first episode, in which Steven Shapin and Simon Schaffer discuss their 1985 book, Leviathan and The Air Pump. It's an examination of exactly how science is done.

CBC Marketplace did a nice story on those consumer DNA tests in Canada - http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/whos_your_grand_daddy/

Turns out, they leave a lot to be desired...

What the hell are you talking about? No corporations are getting together or controlling the market here. The Canadian government via the CRTC approved these usage-based billing rates. You're bashing capitalism in typical goofy Slashdot fashion without even acknowledging that it's the government that told them to go forward with it.

Besides, Internet access isn't some right or necessity. You're paying for an IP on someone's private network. They can charge what they want for that network service, and their sysadmins can regulate the traffic however they wish.

How the hell did your comment get +5 Insightful when the original article has nothing at all to do with corporations controlling the market, and, in fact, it is the CRTC that approved the usage-based billing? Are you some kind of kooky socialist or something? The computer you used to type your comment is a product of capitalism.

I hear this bullshit all the time from Americans trying to justify widespread gun ownership and it's real crap. Guns don't make killing easier 'in some ways' - guns make killing easier period. It's the first killing weapon where you don't have to be within physical contact of your victim to kill them, and it's accurate

Not so much.

Speaking of windows, look out yours. What do you see? The same houses, roads, cars, planes, clothes, food and oil-powered agriculture that was there since WWII.

There is simply no way, ever, that space is going to pay off. It's OVER. FINISHED.

Space Nutters have had DECADES to show us something, anything. End result? Sweet. Fuck. All.

But hey, don't listen to me. Listen to Dr Stephen Pyne.

CBC Quirks and Quarks

Listen to the "January 8 — Homage to Voyager." episode when it's out. I remember something like "the ISS is not exploring space, it's not even science." when I heard it on the radio today.

But hey, there's more!

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/oped-04y.html

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1134/is_9_115/ai_n27050480/?tag=content;col1

Or my favorite:

http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/episode/2009/09/19/tiny-trex-curing-colour-blind-monkeys-walking-on-our-own-two-feet-space-based-solar-power/

Where the scientist is barely holding back from laughing out loud at the outlandish "space-based solar power" projects. Hey, wasn't there one just last year? Where is it now? Oh yeah, oblivion.

We've hit limits in energy sources and propulsion technologies. Rockets take our technology to the outer limits of what's possible with materials. Unless you find new elements in the table of elements, what we have is *it*.

That 747 you saw when you looked out the window? Maiden flight was 1969. Hasn't changed in over four decades. Why? The technology and basic physical reality hasn't changed. It can't. But you think we'll be doing space? Ridiculous.

The fact we have fast computers today on a square inch of silicon doesn't help you move mass around. It's that basic. The fact you don't get that is both sad and terrifying.

Speaking of windows, look out yours. What do you see? The same houses, roads, cars, planes, clothes, food and oil-powered agriculture that was there since WWII.

There is simply no way, ever, that space is going to pay off. It's OVER. FINISHED.

Space Nutters have had DECADES to show us something, anything. End result? Sweet. Fuck. All.

But hey, don't listen to me. Listen to Dr Stephen Pyne.

CBC Quirks and Quarks

Listen to the "January 8 — Homage to Voyager." episode when it's out. I remember something like "the ISS is not exploring space, it's not even science." when I heard it on the radio today.

But hey, there's more!

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/oped-04y.html

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1134/is_9_115/ai_n27050480/?tag=content;col1

Or my favorite:

http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/episode/2009/09/19/tiny-trex-curing-colour-blind-monkeys-walking-on-our-own-two-feet-space-based-solar-power/

Where the scientist is barely holding back from laughing out loud at the outlandish "space-based solar power" projects. Hey, wasn't there one just last year? Where is it now? Oh yeah, oblivion.

We've hit limits in energy sources and propulsion technologies. Rockets take our technology to the outer limits of what's possible with materials. Unless you find new elements in the table of elements, what we have is *it*.

That 747 you saw when you looked out the window? Maiden flight was 1969. Hasn't changed in over four decades. Why? The technology and basic physical reality hasn't changed. It can't. But you think we'll be doing space? Ridiculous.

The fact we have fast computers today on a square inch of silicon doesn't help you move mass around. It's that basic. The fact you don't get that is both sad and terrifying.

FWIW CBC did a nice documentary on this that covers the process of measuring the shifts, the airport phenominon, what might happen in when greater shifts occur, etc.

http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/natureofthings/2010/northgoessouth/

Not sure it will be playable globally, but it's worth a shot:

http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/natureofthings/video.html?ID=1678474875

FWIW CBC did a nice documentary on this that covers the process of measuring the shifts, the airport phenominon, what might happen in when greater shifts occur, etc.

http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/natureofthings/2010/northgoessouth/

Not sure it will be playable globally, but it's worth a shot:

http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/natureofthings/video.html?ID=1678474875

I wish I could find the exact quote, but there was a visiting Russian author in the 1980's, who, when asked why he was laughing, said, essentially, that Russians were better informed than Americans, because Russians knew the news was lying to them, so they got their news from multiple sources to make sure they had the full story.

I tend to read news aggregator sites, rather than specific newspapers and reporting agencies. I also tend to go straight to the source, rather than reading the reprinted (and analyzed) version. You may find you have better luck visiting Reuters directly, rather than reading the version of a Reuters story that gets printed in NYT... most of my *news* reading comes from Reuters ( http://www.reuters.com/ ) and Agence France Presse ( http://www.afp.com/ ) directly, rather than other sites.

Also, you could try the CBC. They're pretty good at remaining neutral in their reporting. :) http://www.cbc.ca/news/

This was the case in Pakistan until a few years ago.

And here's the case of Saudi court punishes rape victim with 200 lashes

Where's the ignorance again?

DHS has recommended dropping the colour-coded terror alert system.

$750/person probably wouldn't cover it. Estimates here in Canada put annual healthcare spending at $5,452/person.

OTOH, our healthcare is managed provincially for the most part, so you could probably make gains with making it federal and reducing the duplication of administration and the larger risk pool.

I don't think it would have been different in any other Canadian city. Say Calgary, for example. They sent their cops to the G20 in Toronto to help out:

The officers, who are from the Calgary police public safety unit, said the Toronto event was a chance for them to practise their crowd-control training.

"We just never have had to use those tactics to that degree in Calgary. It was a fantastic opportunity for us to test them out and show that yeah they really do work," said Pecksen.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2010/06/28/g20-calgary-g8-police-security-protest.html

I think it would have played out pretty much the same in any Canadian city. The times they are a-changin'.

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/12/07/hyperlink-supreme-court-defamation-libel.html

There's a decent one by the CBC. This story doesn't seem to have been picked up much, though.

Perfect - thank you.

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/12/07/hyperlink-supreme-court-defamation-libel.html There's a decent one by the CBC. This story doesn't seem to have been picked up much, though.

Using bears to patrol your illicit operation is no joke

The house still has value, if the contents would be removed.

The loss of value concern is only valid if the cost of safe removal exceeds the cost of rebuilding / replacing the structure.

Often the safest way to dispose of explosives, is to burn it. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2006/08/24/old-dynamite.html

"...perhaps even assassinating him or someone close to him as people including the Canadian prime minister have called for in public..."

http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2010/12/01/flanagan-wikileaks-assange.html

Please check your facts, Doc.

Ever notice that anytime some cool sounding new development is announced the people behind it say 'we see this having applications in/within/in about five years?

Obviously that's how things work and I find it strange that slashdot users, from all people, complain about that fact. To get the idea of how this stuff happens, first we have a hand full of very clever people discovering new stuff and demonstrating in their labs how to take advantage of that. Then, after that point, it is still necessary to develop products that use them, along with the necessary technology and infrastructure ways to mass-produce the newly discovered technology. To put things in perspective, it takes about 2 years to develop a car from scratch to the time it starts being sold to the public, and that is the time it takes to develop a engineering project following tried and true formulas and while applying only incremental technological changes.

Call me when you actually have something to show us.

Fair enough. Only geeks find this sort of stuff fascinating.

Like the Canadian advisor to the PM who recently called for the murder of Julian Assange?

You mean, like the FORMER advisor to the Prime Minister? If you're going to state "facts", get them straight: http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2010/12/01/flanagan-wikileaks-assange.html. Here we have a guy, who has an opinion. BFD. He doesn't reflect the Canadian government's opinion in any way; he's a guy who said something on TV.

It's a poor joke in poor taste. He's already retracted all that, and even critics of the current Canadian government on the opposite side of the house have said that Flanagan was probably joking. He was stupid for putting it that way, of course, but he wasn't serious.

The thing is, some other people have suggested targeting him "like the Taliban" and are apparently serious.

Oh, so he was joking? No one is laughing. Calling for someone's death over the release of information in a society that supposedly values freedom shouldn't be taken quite so lightly, even if he did try to take back his words.

Summary is false. Flanagan does NOT currently openly advocate assassination of Assange. Flanagan recanted.

C'mon guys... I know it's too much to ask to have you guys fact-check the actual submissions... but you should seriously consider fact-checking your editorializations that succede them. Not only would it help ensure a better project, but would also help prevent getting your asses sued.

I'm sorry, do you actually mean that Flanagan actually didn't said that and that claiming that he did is somehow a sign that a specific fact wasn't checked? It looks like that you are trying to bury that blurb even deeper than Flanagan, with his radical back-pedalling.