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Yeah ever since mice designers started getting creative and designing non-symmetric mice it is hell to find a decent mouse. I got myself a Logitech G3. It mostly works from a usability perspective but the bloody thing is so round it causes wrist pain if you use it too much. Why can't mice be mostly flat with just a slight curve like they used to? Bah.

Yes, it does.

The "mainstream" AGW tale is that the Medieval Warm Period and the Maunder Minimum were both less extreme than scientists thought in the past, and that we are experiencing "extreme" weather that is not in the historical (by that I mean ice cores, etc.) record at all.

Umm... You are drifting into ignoratio elenchi territory.
We were talking about 9,200 and 2,500 years ago, as a point in time when the arctic ice melted to the level it melts today.
Not the last 1000 years, i.e. MWP and the LIA.

The "mainstream" AGW tale is that the Medieval Warm Period and the Maunder Minimum were both less extreme than scientists thought in the past, and that we are experiencing "extreme" weather that is not in the historical (by that I mean ice cores, etc.) record at all.

I'm not arguing that it is the truth. I'm simply saying that is the story that has been coming out of places like CRU and NASA.

I am really not sure what you are arguing here.
I'm having a feeling that you are making internal logical and informational shortcuts which you are not sharing here.
Which is a problem since my telepathy helmet was stolen some time ago, and you know how hard are those to come by these days.

How is less hot MWP and less cool LIA in contradiction with arctic ice melting 9,200 to 2,500 years ago?
Or that the level it is melting at today doesn't match any level of melting since way back then?

How is a hotter MWP and cooler LIA than what you say is "mainstream" today in contradiction with either or both of the above?

How would either more or less extreme MWP and LIA support the data about melting arctic ice 9,200 to 2,500 years ago, and the fact that we are seeing such (and expecting to see worse) melting today?

"And we can't just say "Oh, it's all due to Sun's activity. It shined more back then, and it's starting to shine more now.""

I'm not arguing any of those things at this time. Don't read more into my words than I put into them. I'm simply saying that whether this is true or not, or whether the mainstream propaganda is true or not, they are contradictory. And they are.

Just clarifying my point about factors at play in the melting back then, compared to factors at play causing the melting today.

Although, I am again not sure WHAT are you actually arguing then.
It's not AGW, it's not "natural", sooo... it's not really happening?
It is AGW but not that much?
Aliens?

whether this is true or not, or whether the mainstream propaganda is true or not, they are contradictory

Again, not exactly sure what issues you are contradicting against each other, but contradiction itself is secondary to the veracity of A and B.
Claiming "they are contradictory" is completely meaningless, it's "true or not" that counts.

"Ball is red" (A) and "Ball is blue" (B) ARE contradictory statements but of no consequence unless the ball is actually either blue or red.
One or the other MUST be true for the contradiction to be of any significance.
Also, should one or the other be true, contradiction is significant only in pointing out that the claim A does not equal claim B.

Should BOTH A and B be true to the same degree, only THEN is the contradiction of some logical significance, as it would be somewhat of a paradox.

Heh, I just realized... BB never actually sued companies over releasing similar phones like this did they?

Maybe if they cared more about their intellectual property they'd be in better shape today. No need to worry about the competition if you can wipe them out in the courts

Blackberry sued SAMSUNG over their ridiculous "Blackjack" Blackberry rip-off.

You should take them to Europe so they can see churches full of human bones. They might like that even more.

Wow, I just looked up what the Droid Charge looked like. It's really quite different from the iPhone. I think my lil' LG looks more like an iPhone than that one does.

Oh well, I guess they won't be done with this until everyone either has an iPhone or something that looks like an old Black Berry. Heh, I just realized... BB never actually sued companies over releasing similar phones like this did they?

Maybe if they cared more about their intellectual property they'd be in better shape today. No need to worry about the competition if you can wipe them out in the courts

"If only he had gotten as much attention as the media now tend to spend on famous trash, the world would be a much better place."

Tesla was actually quite famous in his day. His fame might have fallen by the time he died, but Time magazine did feature him in its cover. See:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Nikola_Tesla_on_Time_Magazine_1931.jpg

Surely, at a time where TV broadcasting was in its infancy at best, appearing on the cover of Time is as good a claim a fame as appearing on Fox News or American Idol.

Blame his failure to equal the status of Edison, not to mention Einstein, on his decision to withdraw from society in his later years.

Eh, Edison did some quality damage iirc; electrocuting livestock to deter people from investing in AC with claims of danger, etc.

J.P. Morgan pulling the plug on funding is what really killed it for him though. Or the marines blowing up one of his hugely expensive towers assuming it was used for German spies. If Tesla had had unlimited funds and avoided getting screwed by Marconi on those wireless patents, we would probably live in a very different Bioshock-esque world.

GPS signal coming from a suspect's prepaid phone

The Global Positioning System satellites (GPS) sends out the GPS signals, GPS devices only receive the signals, they do not emit them. Phones of course communicate via microwave EMFs with the cell towers and it is this which could be tracked.

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Gps

Likely, the summary is dumbed down from "the GPS location data (determined by receiving signals from satellites) that is transmitted to the carriers' cell towers." But I, too am tired of that portrayal of GPS; thank you TV shows.

"If only he had gotten as much attention as the media now tend to spend on famous trash, the world would be a much better place."

Tesla was actually quite famous in his day. His fame might have fallen by the time he died, but Time magazine did feature him in its cover. See:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Nikola_Tesla_on_Time_Magazine_1931.jpg

Surely, at a time where TV broadcasting was in its infancy at best, appearing on the cover of Time is as good a claim a fame as appearing on Fox News or American Idol.

Blame his failure to equal the status of Edison, not to mention Einstein, on his decision to withdraw from society in his later years.

GPS signal coming from a suspect's prepaid phone

The Global Positioning System satellites (GPS) sends out the GPS signals, GPS devices only receive the signals, they do not emit them. Phones of course communicate via microwave EMFs with the cell towers and it is this which could be tracked.

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Gps

Less space than a nomad.
Lame.

On the plus side, technological advancement had replaced the iron lung with much smaller, sexier CPAP machines.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I don't particularly care for eclipse. I mean it's ok, it does it's job and I have no particular gripe with (although I find that when I go to install some domain specific SDK with eclipse integration it's a nightmare to find the right versions of the right plugins it expects..) I'm just not a fan of IDEs in general really. When I do C# work however I find VS2010's object browser, intellisense documentation, and winforms designer pays off (mainly because I'm not as familiar with it as other langs/APIs). VS2012 on the other hand.. ugh. I'd rather use acme on rio and plan9. Looks about the same as that anyway! http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Acme.png

No, even their gays are boring and uncreative:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/84/Logcabinlogo.jpg

Compare with the Polaroid logo.

This tiled-rectangle thing is getting completely out of hand. Even on phones it looks stupid.

How many ice ages we've had during last couple of millenias? I remember one ended about 10,000 years ago and during it large parts of Northern hemisphere were under a few km's of ice.

Humans, including those afraid of climate change, would not enjoy an ice age. The holocene is not the 'post-glacial', we're 10,000 years into an interglacial - about as long as the warm half of the previous interglacial lasted.

I'm completely convinced that human activity is influencing the climate, but I'm entirely unconvinced that a few degrees warmer climate equals disaster, famine and mass extinction. Global climate has been stuck in a rut for the past 2.5 million years, swinging wildly between ice ages and interglacials, and it can't seem to escape from the cycle. Maybe our burning of fossil fuel can give the final push, and rid the world of the permanent ice caps on the poles that have been keeping our climate hostage over the past 2.5 million years.

Sure, low lying lands will flood, but vast amounts of land in North America and Northern Asia that are too cold today will become available for cultivation to compensate.

That's 30 to 150 Sverdrups. A Sverdrup is 1.000.000 m^3/s, aka 1.000.000.000 kg/s, and thus at 0.003ppm U by mass, contains 3 kilograms per second, meaning to recover 70.000 tonnes a year (70.000.000kg) takes ~23.000.000 seconds, aka 270 days, aka a 3/4ths recovery rate is sufficient.

Of course, the Gulf Stream is just one of the Earth's many oceanic currents.

Okay, simple test. Which is more horrifying: this or this? (Note: both are obviously extremely NSFW.) We're not talking about people getting kicked in the ribs once, but generally the whole injury, and generally repeatedly for eight hours a night, through many different crimes, for 9-11 months. Most people recoil involuntarily every time the guy in the video gets hit, and that's just one video (and a fake one, at that!) A surgeon doesn't have to deal with any of the stress or trauma of actually witnessing what happens.

After all, digital audio makes it much easier to erase a few minutes' worth of incriminating evidence, all without having to do the Rose Mary Stretch.

I would start to worry when I see an Azure Cloud over Korea.

Azure? I don't know...

I hope you at least tried a thermal lance before giving up. Cuts hearts of stone like gaseous iron through butter.

I found a map likely supporting your post, I really don't know where those people on WSJ pulled their number.

Make a cute little maskot that looks like one of those lawn gnomes. Maybe it could be a penguin or something. Totally the key to success. User comfort is waaayyy overated.

Is worked for linus.

For clarification GP means this type of AA Battery:

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/02057T736e8oT/610x.jpg

Not this type:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Energizer_reghargeble_batteryIMG_0006.JPG/220px-Energizer_reghargeble_batteryIMG_0006.JPG

Still not funny though.

For folks wondering what inspired the iOS icon design... please refer to the original Atari 400 membrane keyboard. The highlight on the top-left is supposed to mimic the bumpy membrane of those old keyboards. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Atari_400_keyboard.jpg You will also notice the radius of the rounded corners and the outline match current iOS specifications.

1. United States 1964
2. United States 1969
3. Soviet Union 1973
4. United States 1975
5. United States 1996
6. ESA 2003
7. United States 2003
8. United States 2005
9. United States 2007
10. United States 2011

And there are only two countries that have successfully landed on Mars (by landing year):

1. Soviet Union 1971
2. United States 1976
3. United States 1997
4. United States 2003
5. United States 2008
6. United States 2012

Japan launched a probe, but it failed to achieve orbit (it "missed the planet") and China had a joint venture with Russia that never left Earth's orbit. Wikipedia has a nice graphic illustrating the history of Mars exploration.

They could stick with the spirit of Mojave by using the name of nearby Llano Del Rio.
Since Windows 8 is a Brave New World for MS, it is fitting that the author of the book by that title, Aldous Huxley, once lived there. There is no feeling of that big-city Metro crowding.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/LlanoDelRio1.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llano_Del_Rio

exactly, and a poster

I read an article about 10 years ago that nano-silver particles that we human are using - to kill bacteria, -somehow entered the waterways and end up killing a lot of microbial lifeforms, and the chain reaction (according to the articles that i read, can't find the links to them anymore, sorry) was worrying

The oligodynamic effect is one of the mechanisms by which metals such as silver and copper kill some microorganisms. A benefit in the applications of doorknobs, silverware and copper plumbing; not so much in washing machines and dishwashers that exploit the effect, if what you say is true.

Human consumption of solutions containing colloidal silver (as done in homeopathy) causes an irreversible cosmetic condition, argyria, in which the patient's skin turns a sliver-blue color.

I read an article about 10 years ago that nano-silver particles that we human are using - to kill bacteria, -somehow entered the waterways and end up killing a lot of microbial lifeforms, and the chain reaction (according to the articles that i read, can't find the links to them anymore, sorry) was worrying

The oligodynamic effect is one of the mechanisms by which metals such as silver and copper kill some microorganisms. A benefit in the applications of doorknobs, silverware and copper plumbing; not so much in washing machines and dishwashers that exploit the effect, if what you say is true.

Human consumption of solutions containing colloidal silver (as done in homeopathy) causes an irreversible cosmetic condition, argyria, in which the patient's skin turns a sliver-blue color.

This makes open-source content projects such as Wikitravel (currently under consideration to be adopted by the Wikimedia Foundation) all the more important.

I think he was implying that those countries aren't "western."

On the other hand, I think they have cities that at least appear that "appear western."

[T]here's no justification of "no good legal alternatives" anymore, as [proprietary, greed-driven corporate glory holes] are actually easier and nicer to use than pirate sites.

Bullshit — there's no seeding. I am, as far as I can determine, the sole seeder of many DRM-free, mixed-media works and data leaks. Many of these items are not available for purchase, anywhere, at any price; they're at risk of disappearing to the digital dark age or into the "vaults" of shortsighted, greed-driven copyright holders.

I serve approximately 100 gigabytes per day, and intend to continue indefinitely. I welcome and thank others who help protect our culture/data from the clutched fists of those who seek to serve only themselves, control other peoples' access to data, or both.

[T]here's no justification of "no good legal alternatives" anymore, as [proprietary, greed-driven corporate glory holes] are actually easier and nicer to use than pirate sites.

Bullshit — there's no seeding. I am, as far as I can determine, the sole seeder of many DRM-free, mixed-media works and data leaks. Many of these items are not available for purchase, anywhere, at any price; they're at risk of disappearing to the digital dark age or into the "vaults" of shortsighted, greed-driven copyright holders.

I serve approximately 100 gigabytes per day, and intend to continue indefinitely. I welcome and thank others who help protect our culture/data from the clutched fists of those who seek to serve only themselves, control other peoples' access to data, or both.

Except it is also a physical problem. The subsidence of land, as a result of groundwater extraction, is not reversible. In some places, such as the San Joaquin Valley, the ground has literally sunk nearly 30 feet. Those aquifers require geologic periods of time to form. The aquifers in that valley will never again be what they used to be.

The destruction of ground water systems is a classic tragedy of the commons.

Level 7 by Mordecai Roshwald

Nicotine is very addictive, although I've never heard of it being ranked as more addictive than Coke or Heroin:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Rational_scale_to_assess_the_harm_of_drugs_(mean_physical_harm_and_mean_dependence).svg

That being said, there's no shortage of controversy about the extent to which the substance itself is the main factor in addiction:

http://walrusmagazine.com/articles/2007.12-health-rat-trap/

Microsoft is said to be issuing purple Nike running shoes to all employees world-wide ahead of the 26 October lauching of their mothership !!

According to those involved, this man

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Steve_Ballmer_at_CES_2010_cropped.jpg

is said to be in talks with the Kool-Aid people.

That is not true. LTE does not use OFDM. It uses OFDMA, which is an enhanced form of CDMA.

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Orthogonal_frequency-division_multiple_access

OFDMA resembles code division multiple access (CDMA) spread spectrum, where users can achieve different data rates by assigning a different code spreading factor or a different number of spreading codes to each user.

"Resembles" CDMA, not "is an enhanced form of CDMA". "...where users can achieve different data rates by..." applies to CDMA, not OFDMA.

The article also says that OFDMA "is a multi-user version of the popular orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) digital modulation scheme.", noting that "Multiple access is achieved in OFDMA by assigning subsets of subcarriers to individual users as shown in the illustration below."

Wasn't IBM there first? This: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3f/Thinkpad-x61-tablet.jpg/548px-Thinkpad-x61-tablet.jpg Transformed into this: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/Lenovo-X61-Tablet-Mode.jpg/800px-Lenovo-X61-Tablet-Mode.jpg Im not sure if all models required the stylus. A friend of mine used his finger to use the touchscreen.

Wasn't IBM there first? This: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3f/Thinkpad-x61-tablet.jpg/548px-Thinkpad-x61-tablet.jpg Transformed into this: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/Lenovo-X61-Tablet-Mode.jpg/800px-Lenovo-X61-Tablet-Mode.jpg Im not sure if all models required the stylus. A friend of mine used his finger to use the touchscreen.

That is not true. LTE does not use OFDM. It uses OFDMA, which is an enhanced form of CDMA.

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Orthogonal_frequency-division_multiple_access

OFDMA resembles code division multiple access (CDMA) spread spectrum, where users can achieve different data rates by assigning a different code spreading factor or a different number of spreading codes to each user.

OFDMA can be seen as an alternative to combining OFDM with time division multiple access (TDMA) or time-domain statistical multiplexing, i.e. packet mode communication. Low-data-rate users can send continuously with low transmission power instead of using a "pulsed" high-power carrier. Constant delay, and shorter delay, can be achieved.

Actually this is a myth. CDMA phones have multiple NAMs (Number Assignment Module) https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Number_Assignment_Module

Although it is less common to see it on the latest models of CDMA phones, probably because carriers choose not to include the menu option, the chipsets are all capable of handling it.

With multiple NAMs, you can simply go into a menu and select another carrier and you have already switched carriers in a matter of seconds. No need to power down, remove the battery door, remove the battery, remove the sim card, then put in the other sim card, put the battery back in, put the battery door back on, and power back up. Just a few quick button taps is all it takes with CDMA. You don't even have to reboot the phone.

The true advantage of the SIM card is that it can store your contacts when you switch phones. This was extremely convenient in the 90s and early 2000s when people were not using smart phones that could sync contacts over the network. Now there is no great need for SIM cards.

But the Americans are still the masters of disguise

Are you seriously trying to compare this and say it's on par with this?

Or that this is even in the same ballpark as this?

But maybe pictures don't spell it clearly enough. The top-of-the-line Quadrocopter from the site you linked has a flight time of ~20 minutes, a payload of 5 pounds, and a range of 500 meters. The Global Hawk and Predator measure flight time in hours and days, and can carry payloads in thousands of pounds and cover 10s of thousands of square miles. So yeah, conceptually we can call a lot of things "drones," but there are several orders of magnitude between what you or I can build regardless of money, and what the Air Force has. If the cops want to use a beefed up Quadrocopter, or some other variant, I couldn't care less. When they want to start deploying real drones over civilian populations, they can fuck right off.

Oh, and final thought, on your C4 strawman: I could strap explosives to a freaking frisbee. Doesn't put little disks o' plastic in the same category as Military Grade drones, nor does it improve the standing of your $10,000 hobby-copter. Admittedly a pretty sweet hobby-copter, as those things go ... but still, just a toy.

Are you seriously trying to compare this and say it's on par with this?

Or that this is even in the same ballpark as this?

But maybe pictures don't spell it clearly enough. The top-of-the-line Quadrocopter from the site you linked has a flight time of ~20 minutes, a payload of 5 pounds, and a range of 500 meters. The Global Hawk and Predator measure flight time in hours and days, and can carry payloads in thousands of pounds and cover 10s of thousands of square miles. So yeah, conceptually we can call a lot of things "drones," but there are several orders of magnitude between what you or I can build regardless of money, and what the Air Force has. If the cops want to use a beefed up Quadrocopter, or some other variant, I couldn't care less. When they want to start deploying real drones over civilian populations, they can fuck right off.

Oh, and final thought, on your C4 strawman: I could strap explosives to a freaking frisbee. Doesn't put little disks o' plastic in the same category as Military Grade drones, nor does it improve the standing of your $10,000 hobby-copter. Admittedly a pretty sweet hobby-copter, as those things go ... but still, just a toy.

Microsoft promotional materials showed photos of the New York subway signs to illustrate the big bold fonts and clutter-free design they were after.

Most Microsoft promo materials on Metro shows photos of King County Metro transit system signs. That's where the name was derived from.

Also note that Metro was first used to describe the new UI in Windows Phone, long before Win8.

Sean Connery....

You don't want to be in violation of S2000.YTMND, now do you? I sure know I don't.

I logged into Outlook.com to see what the deal is. Well, it's not terrible I guess, but what's the sudden fascination with hiding functions in plain site? Can there not be a button that actually resembles a button before you mouse over it? Even then, instead of an obvious button that pops up on mouseover, there a subtle change in color to denote you're on a clickable area. I feel like I have to methodically scan the mouse back and forth across the screen to discover stuff that's hiding.

Example: Bet you didn't even notice that the word 'Outlook' in the top left corner of the page is actually a menu... Why is this better than say spending a pixel and putting a border around the damn thing? It can't be because it looks better this way, because if they were trying to make things look good, they wouldn't have forced the UI team to recycle DOS Shell.

In Soviet Russia...

In Soviet Russia...