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How Bill Nye Insulted NASCAR Fans About the Sport Being the "Anti-NASA" (examiner.com)

MarkWhittington writes: Bill Nye, the former science guy and current head of the Planetary Society, is very depressed about NASA and NASCAR, according to a story in Business Insider. He believes that the red-state yokels pay too much attention to NASCAR, which employs gas guzzling cars in races, and not enough to NASA, which employs cutting edge and environmentally correct technology, to explore the universe. However, it is a meme that the space agency itself once disagreed with. Indeed, NASA has suggested that the exploration of space is like NASCAR only with rocket ships instead of souped up, high powered cars

387 comments

  1. yawn by FatAlb3rt · · Score: 5, Funny

    Nye.jump(shark);

    1. Re:yawn by tripleevenfall · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I agree. He's worn out his welcome by being such a snob all the time.

    2. Re:yawn by irrational_design · · Score: 1

      Yeah, he should have stuck with what he was good at - introducing science to elementary school children. Ever since he started talking to adults he has just looked like a jerk.

    3. Re:yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Further persecution of those not bowing at the alter of PC science.Let's take _all_ the fun out of life in our quest for PC ...

    4. Re:yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would be a target audience for this man. Instead its pretty much every time he opens his mouth it is to disparage someone. I used to watch his show every time I could. Now I see him and shake my head in disgust how he routinely alienates people. It seems to stroke his ego. My respect for him gets lower every time I see him. This is a perfect example of how he acts. It may not even be 'totally true' but it is very believable that he would say something like that.

      He has pretty much gone all in with the 'we vs they' mentality of the particular brand of 'science' he practices. It is one of exclusion and name calling. Pity.

    5. Re:yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dereference the dumb f***.

    6. Re:yawn by reboot246 · · Score: 1, Interesting

      He should just go away. He pumps himself up by trying to talk down to people. I have as much science education as he does, and he grates on my nerves.

    7. Re:yawn by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 0, Troll

      Honestly this feels no different than those idiots on the TBN channel that poo poo anything that they feel distracts people from worshiping their god. Science aside, this kind of shit (telling people to stop enjoying any unrelated activities) DOES make the whole climate change issue feel indistinguishable from a religion.

    8. Re:yawn by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 2

      I agree. He's worn out his welcome by being such a snob all the time.

      I mostly agree - although auto racing, especially NASCAR and Indy, isn't all that interesting these days.

      In fact, when I was a kid, I gave up on Indy racing. I was getting really interested, and I was super impressed with the STP Turbocar. This thing was putting the piston cars to shame, but a 6 dollar gearbox bearing failure cost it the race.

      So what did USAC do? First they limited the engine intake area to 24 inches. But the plucky little turbo, despite a acceleration time lag, could still produce lots of ponies. So in the spirit of technology, the USAC then limited the intake to 16 inches, and imposed the ruling immediately, rather than the 2 year notice normally given, and killed the Turbocar.

      It was so freakin' cool, and the bastards killed it because the piston engines couldn't compete with it! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... Looking back, I think that might be the foundations of my cynicism and why I like EV's so much. Technology that earns such hatred must be on to something.

      And NASCAR demands that all the cars be about as identical as possible, giving rise to the 200 mph traffic jam effect. Yeah, that's fun.

      And in the spirit of that..... 6.94 seconds at 201 mph on an electric bike

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

      Big Daddy Don Garlits isn't afraid of technology at age 82.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

      anyhow, they aren't 100 percent related to this other than that I believe that Indy and NASCAR are anti competitive, and it's fun to see people doing it differently. Hell that's half the excitement. They're here just for fun

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    9. Re:yawn by Darinbob · · Score: 4, Insightful

      So he's a snob for pointing out massive errors performed by snobbish Hollywood writers who are too important to open up a "physics for dumbasses" book?

      Hollywood these days is full of the most ridiculous plot elements, stupid science, illogical economics, implausible motivations, and it's gone way beyond the point where you can just ignore it all because of suspension of disbelief. Even the Walking Dead is more believable than your typical AAA movie release.

    10. Re:yawn by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Nothing in the article in question is disparaging to anyone except Hollywood writers. So how you are you being alienated? So dumb people versus people of average intelligence is now a "we vs they" issue, and must we give elementary school dropouts equal time? Seems silly since these dumb people are the ones getting all the air time in the cinemas anyway.

    11. Re:yawn by Darinbob · · Score: 1, Funny

      You know, I Iook stupid now. I was reading the article about bridge collapses and ended up back on the wrong web browser tab thinking you were talking about how laughing at hollywood was insensitive. Doh! Where's that Slashdot delete button?

    12. Re:yawn by Darinbob · · Score: 0

      Sorry, let me retract. I was on the wrong tab and thought this was the structure collapse of bridges article...

    13. Re:yawn by thinkwaitfast · · Score: 1
      A guy I went to college with went on to get a masters (ME) after graduating, then onto a motor sports team last I heard. He knew a lot of that stuff (ev's too which is how I met him)....worked on an electric race car for uni and helped out with their solar car entry. He raced sprint cars too until an accident, then just tech design. Very interesting and extremely bright guy.

      I'm not that into judging people though.

    14. Re:yawn by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1

      Nye was great on Almost Live!, but turned into a huge prick as soon as he left the show.

      --
      Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
    15. Re:yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At what point does he past wearing out his welcome and just become a normal, run of the mill, asshole?

    16. Re: yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When he gives Richard Dawkins a full mouth kiss and tries to grope Stephen Hawking.

    17. Re:yawn by Stuarticus · · Score: 1

      Doesn't he know you already know everything??

      --
      If you think someone isn't free to have a different definition of "freedom" you may be a tyrant.
    18. Re: yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't think anyone on the board knew that you take the time to walk through NASCAR events to administer IQ tests and poll people on their academic background. Thank you, from all of us, for your dilligence and hard work.

    19. Re: yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm betting he was always a prick. That pair of giant pants was just itching to be unzipped.

    20. Re:yawn by dywolf · · Score: 1

      How do the announcers do it? They talk a ton about nothing much happening.

      If it were me it'd be:

      He's making a left turn! [repeat every 5 minutes]

      --
      The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
    21. Re: yawn by jd2112 · · Score: 2

      Hollywood can't make realistic protrails of actors writers and directors. What makes you think they could accurately portray science.

      --
      Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
    22. Re: yawn by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      Bill Nye himself is just a TV actor, though. So it's Hollywood all the way down.

    23. Re:yawn by cyberchondriac · · Score: 0

      Both he and Degrasse Tyson are getting a bit arrogant and smug. It doesn't befit those representative of science very well.

      --

      Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
    24. Re:yawn by OakDragon · · Score: 2

      But your comment was strangely not too out of place. :)

    25. Re:yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bill Nye the Jerky Guy.

    26. Re: yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah. Basing an opinion on facts agreed upon by a majority of scientists is just like believing in century old fables...

    27. Re: yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's seems these "facts" were forged not to long ago..

    28. Re: yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, when your premise is that there is an all-powerful being that can do whatever he wants, then all they really have to believe is that one thing. Every other unreal or unlikely event is explained by "god's will".

      So rather than someone believing a ton of unprovable or impossible things, they only have to believe one thing that cannot be proven wrong.

      It is then a lot like the "because I said so" used by parents, and just as frustrating for anyone else trying to inject facts into the situation.

      So while athiests like to pretend that religious people are somehow stupid and unable to believe any facts or science, the truth is that their primary belief is very simple and everything else just stems from that.

      Now logically you shouldn't belittle or insult people to try and convince them they are wrong, but unfortunately that seems to be the only tool in most people's toolboxes.

    29. Re:yawn by doccus · · Score: 1

      Well.. Unlike drag racing which is still on the bleeding edge, Indy and Nascar seem to be giving in to the nanny factor.. "don't let them git a scratch on them lilly white drivers!" Hey auto racing is DANGEROUS!! Take away al l the risk and you might as well be racing on a video game! Actually, that's not always quite true, since indy is just like NASCAR.. or more precisely.. like 1960s muscle cars.. eschewing high tech for shoehorning a bigger engine in a small chassis.
      The fact is the entire US sport had a chance to keep the sport exciting without limiting all the HP some years ago when this inventor invented a shock absorbing gel so powerful it could render a 160 MPH accident survivable without major injury. Yet for some reason they banned the gel and you know where it ended up being used instead? In fuc*ing SHOES as an innersole! "Impact gel" they called it. It seems to have disappeared from the market though.. :sigh:

    30. Re:yawn by Darinbob · · Score: 2

      I think that's why it took me so long to realize it was the wrong tab. Someone disparages Hollywood vs someone disparages NASCAR.

    31. Re:yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is that because he's a jerk? Or is it because adults are too caught up in their blind belief systems to recognize the facts and truth of a situation?

      I'm thinking it's the latter.

    32. Re:yawn by ebvwfbw · · Score: 1

      No, it's foolish to do dumb things like take on religion as a science guy. He did that. Where's the science to show God doesn't exist? Of course, there is none. At best science knows about 30% of what is out there, probably a lot less. So who knows if proof of God isn't in the other 70% of what we don't know. We could discover that we're really all just an experiment in some teenager's test tube, so to speak. That's our universe.

      Stick with what he knows. Stay out of controversy unless he has definitive proof. For example, here's global warming, here's CO2, here's the experiment that shows it will warm earth. Good luck finding that experiment by the way. There is no proof CO2 is causing warming. There is very persuasive proof that it's a symptom, however. Rise in CO2 always has followed actual warming by years showing it's not the cause.

    33. Re:yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And NASCAR demands that all the cars be about as identical as possible, giving rise to the 200 mph traffic jam effect. Yeah, that's fun.

      What are you whining about? Looks fun to me.

    34. Re:yawn by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      And NASCAR demands that all the cars be about as identical as possible, giving rise to the 200 mph traffic jam effect. Yeah, that's fun.

      What are you whining about? Looks fun to me.

      Fun, like taste in music, is in the eyes of the beerholder.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    35. Re: yawn by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      NASCAR is racing, so it's cool.

      But you have to admit it's the WWF of racing.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    36. Re: yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Facts do not require that they be "agreed upon." Go alter your datum again.

    37. Re:yawn by RespekMyAthorati · · Score: 1

      There is no proof CO2 is causing warming.

      Damn straight! Same for that gravity stuff.

    38. Re:yawn by ebvwfbw · · Score: 1

      Damn straight! Same for that gravity stuff.

      Science doesn't fail us with gravity. There's a hypothesis, experimentation and repeatable results. No doubt, it's real. You can even reproduce the many experiments in your own home, or mothers basement as it may be.

      Show me one single scientific experiment using the scientific method that's repeatable ( you know, actual science) where CO2 is shown to warm something. Fish tank, something larger. Good luck with that. Soon I'm tempted to offer $1000 to anyone that can show this. The money is safe. Science shows us it doesn't do that. Water vapor, methane gas - no problem. CO2 - big problem. Even as the supposed proof - the hockey stick graph and so on have been thoroughly shown to be wrong.

      We also have NASA that can't seem to decide if Antartica is gaining or losing ice.

      Bottom line is we are warming up. This has been the case for over 1000 years as I can show you Venice Italy records from the 1300s that show they had a water rising problem back then. That's all pre-industrial. That is for the stupid out there - NOT man. But don't believe me, look it up for yourself. The data is out there. Figure out when people are lying to you. Intentional, unintentional or they simply didn't know.

  2. In other words... by XxtraLarGe · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "People who don't like what I like are stupid." NASCAR is probably the most science/engineering oriented sport out there. Every variable is a factor from length, slope, temperature & curvature of track, weather conditions, in addition to the thousands of variables that go into the car itself. Pit stops including how much fuel & # of tires to change are all very accurately calculated to gain an advantage on their competitors. If anything NASCAR could be used to encourage scientific & engineering education.

    --
    Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
    1. Re:In other words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's why so many scientists are attracted to NASCAR. People just go for the science. Some stay for the noise and the collisions and deaths.

    2. Re:In other words... by markdavis · · Score: 5, Insightful

      >"NASCAR is probably the most science/engineering oriented sport out there."

      No, you are thinking of real racing, like Formula One :)

    3. Re:In other words... by CaptainLard · · Score: 2

      Other fun facts...

      -All the cars might look the same but the top and bottom teams differentiate themselves via coatings. All sorts of surface physics come into play and the fastest cars have the most advanced textures.

      -They use pushrod V-8's but piston speeds are equivalent to those in F1 cars...back when they revved to 16k RPM. An engine needs very advanced designs and lubricants to sustain that for 3-4 hours.

      That said, I'd say its probably one of not the most engineering oriented. And I'm not really a fan of the ovular race format.

    4. Re:In other words... by sycodon · · Score: 4, Funny

      Oh boy, here we go...

      --
      When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
    5. Re:In other words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      No, in real racing you constantly change the rules to disallow superior technology, so that no real technical progress can be made. Like Formula One :)

    6. Re:In other words... by rwa2 · · Score: 1

      >"NASCAR is probably the most science/engineering oriented sport out there."

      No, you are thinking of real racing, like Formula One :)

      Exactly. Speaking of which, one of those other news for nerds sites has good coverage thereof:
      http://arstechnica.com/cars/20...

    7. Re:In other words... by PRMan · · Score: 2

      Yeah, but they waste 0.00001% of the fossil fuels on earth every year with their ridiculous engines. They're EVIL!

      --
      Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
    8. Re:In other words... by Austerity+Empowers · · Score: 3, Funny

      You forgot to mention the precise angles of left turns the vehicles can make.

    9. Re:In other words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      W.T.F. Seriously? I think you give NASCAR way too much credit.
      Strict regulations on design makes them so identical that it's just like baseball--every little number now is raised in significance necessarily.
      They drive bullet proof tanks around in a circle for 2 hours straight. Then they *do it again* the next weekend. Boring. Of course drunk red necks find it entertaining--it doesn't tax the mind at all, and they can count laps along with beers.

      For racing:
      - drag racing has fewer variables, but the engineering is far more important than just the driver compared to NASCAR.
      - F1 has far more variables, and *risk*.
      - rally has even *more* variables and *risk*.
      - top fuel dragsters, while they have perhaps the fewest variables of the car racing sports, *has the most amazing technology* of them all wrt how they work. There is no other faster piloted vehicle in existence than a top fuel dragster--it has by far the highest *risk*.

      As for science/engineering oriented sports? I fail to see how racing cars tops the list--near the top, sure. Yes, there is science and engineering in the vehicles, but in the end that is not what wins it--it's the driver's abilities and crew/team strategies. A collegiate autonomous soccer competition with AI and robotics tops that easily--here the science/engineering *is* the competitive portion.

    10. Re:In other words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > top and bottom teams differentiate themselves via coatings. All sorts of surface physics come into play and the fastest cars have the most advanced textures.

      No they don't. Who told you that?

    11. Re:In other words... by subanark · · Score: 1

      Biggest sport that encourages scientific and engineering? The US military.

      Huge amounts of money are spent in the military, a good chunk of which is repurposed into civilian technology. And a huge amount of time is spent in practicing for conflicts that you could consider it a sport.

    12. Re:In other words... by rwa2 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Or just abandon the thread here and go read the Arstechnica bit on this from last year:
      http://arstechnica.com/cars/20...

      Excerpts from the NASCAR section at the very end:

      This section, like the [indycar section] that precedes it, is going to be short. That's because NASCAR, while immensely popular in the US, is about the least technology-driven form of motorsport around.

      It might be easier to talk about the technology that NASCAR doesn't allow; the series is stubbornly resistant to the onward march of technology, only switching to unleaded gas in 2007 (12 years after leaded gas was banned in the US) and finally moving to electronic fuel injection in 2012, decades after carburetors vanished from our showrooms. There are no driver aids like traction control or semi-automatic paddle-shift gearboxes, and even car-to-pit telemetry is highly restricted.

      And yet, you shouldn't get the impression that there aren't a lot of clever people doing a lot of clever things with those machines. To start, they've been designed to protect their drivers from the kinds of crashes that happen when dozens of cars race in packs two-, three-, or even four-wide at up to 200 mph. (That is no small feat.) It's also a highly aerodynamics-dependent racing series, which means plenty of computational fluid dynamics and wind tunnel research.

    13. Re:In other words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unless he is talking about engine and transmission friction. But there are only a handful of engine and transmission builders in NASCAR anyway. The top teams supply engines and chassis to the lower teams. Of course they wouldn't give their best stuff to them.

      Top teams differentiate themselves by pushing the boundaries of the rules. Sometimes too far. Sometimes they get caught, sometimes they don't. But NASCAR generally doesn't take wins away from teams even if the car is found to be out of compliance.

    14. Re:In other words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The fans care about the drivers, not about the science behind the cars, so whatever claims you have about the engineering are mostly moot. Keep in mind NASCAR bans technology outside of a certain threshold of what fits nicely into their sport.

      If you scientifically make a huge gain to use in NASCAR, there is a good chance you won't be allowed to use it. It's a sport, the goal is to make money, not to truly push the envelope of science.

      Beyond that yeah, it's a sport with big engines and science, but all sports have multiple sets of complex science going on. I think perhaps you're just a bit caught up in the flash and roar of big engines. It's pretty easy to see science is used in every sport obsessively and that's all because it makes good money because the audience likes it, otherwise it's arena football and it fails.

      In NASCAR the vast majority of the attention is on the drivers and that's sad because the mechanics and engineers making it happen are a lot more important. I don't think most fans even get that far into the sport, but that's not the fault of the sport.

      I think we all need to step back and realize that 10% of people are just a lot smarter than the other 90% and it's always been like that and the idea that we can turn that 90% into the 10% and then be 90% more productive/smarter is and always was false. All the education in the world can only influence that so much and it can't make the 90% have the same potential as the 10%.

    15. Re:In other words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Except that is a very wrong interpretation. NASCAR designs its rules to make cars conform such that the race is a test of skill. The cleverness and science comes in with tiny finesse tweaks to everything and anything the crews can get away with. You can think of NASCAR technology as being detail oriented in a strict environment where formula racing is revolution oriented in a loose environment.

    16. Re:In other words... by publiclurker · · Score: 1

      All that science and they still can't figure out how to make a right hand turn.

    17. Re:In other words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is it a race if nobody passes each other or just a parade?

    18. Re:In other words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      tbh...

      probably the most advanced car in sport i've watched for a loooonnngggg time are the LMP racers.

      audi and porsche are the pinnacle of this atm. the cars are truly space ship like.

      the drivers ain't half bad...

      the crashes are staggering...... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIcFTIlj70c

      crashes? what the hell else does anyone watch nascar for?

      matthew.kuiash

      my zx81 had 64 characters... that should be enough for anybody.

    19. Re:In other words... by ooshna · · Score: 1

      No. Come on do you really believe that a a significant fraction of NASCAR fans are interested in the actual science of it? Even if they are interested in the pit crew its not for the science of it.

    20. Re:In other words... by bobbied · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but they waste 0.00001% of the fossil fuels on earth every year with their ridiculous engines. They're EVIL!

      Oh, and don't forget that 15% of what they burn is alcohol now...

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    21. Re:In other words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Totally. There are no other sports that I know of who employ teams of engineers and physicists. Nye is barking up the wrong tree.

    22. Re:In other words... by bobbied · · Score: 1

      They turn right at Watkins Glenn....It's a road course you know, plus they run it backwards (clockwise looking down) so most of the turns are right handers... Of course the rest of the year, turning right would be a bad thing...

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    23. Re:In other words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "People who don't like what I like are stupid." NASCAR is probably the most science/engineering oriented sport out there.

      I thought Formula One, but...

    24. Re: In other words... by slasher999 · · Score: 3

      While true, the main reason for the slow march of technology in NASCAR is to maintain affordability of the sport. The France family doesn't want to be a bunch of pretentious snobs in a sport dominated by spoiled rich kids which, at least in popular perception, is what Formula 1 is.

    25. Re:In other words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Wasting that much alcohol?! They ARE evil!

    26. Re:In other words... by Dan+East · · Score: 2

      NASCAR is intended to be a racing skills competition, not an engineering skills competition. The performance capabilities of the cars are capped in numerous ways so that ostensibly drivers with the best skills accumulate the most points over the season. This is pretty much true of athletic sports too. Take baseball for example. Is it possible to engineer a bat that can hit a ball further than the bats used in MLB? Absolutely. However, not only would that give individual competitors an unfair technological advantage, but it would also damage the historical aspect of the sport and any attempts to try and compare the performance of modern athletes to those that played 100 years ago.

      Finally, NASCAR is raced in oval tracks that are more spectator friendly than F1. For example, the Martinsville track was built in 1948. The cars must be capped in a number of ways to limit the risk to spectators who are much closer to the track (and in some tracks, the spectators surround every inch of the entire track).

      --
      Better known as 318230.
    27. Re:In other words... by thrich81 · · Score: 1

      I need to pile on here since as a hot rodder and muscle car aficionado this is a pet peeve. NASCAR used to be on the cutting edge of automotive technology as it applied to the modifications possible on factory built consumer cars, back in the 60's, and many of those mods found their way onto the street as factory products. The Chrysler 426 Hemi engine came directly out of NASCAR racing and so did (somewhat indirectly) the big-block Chevrolet V8 of the times (the 396, 427 and 454 CID big blocks). NASCAR cars were based on street cars and the mods allowed from the streetable versions were limited. Somewhere in the 70's NASCAR lost its way and NASCAR cars became tube-framed specially built race cars with only a passing familiarity to the street cars. At this time NASCAR also became inmeshed in rules which severely limited technical development on their cars -- a restriction to carburetors only is the prime example. The factory stock street cars then rapidly advanced beyond NASCAR with fuel injection, computer engine controls, traction control, etc. NASCAR became a backwater in automotive technology; they have a longs ways to go to catch back up, if they has any desire to.

    28. Re:In other words... by Solandri · · Score: 4, Informative

      NASCAR isn't technology-driven in the sense that sponsors don't spend countless millions customizing their cars to attempt to win races. The premise behind NASCAR is that all the racers get identical cars (there are slight tolerances allowed for variability, but the intent is to make the cars as identical as possible). The performance differences then arise entirely from the skill of each team in assessing race conditions and tuning the cars for those conditions, and the skill of the driver. In other words, NASCAR is an optimization problem, like the America's Cup. F1 and Indy car racing are about building a better engine - analogous to scientific research leading to new breakthroughs. NASCAR is about figuring out how to best tune an existing engine - analogous to engineering existing technology to solve real-world problems. Both contribute to technological progress.

    29. Re:In other words... by LinuxIsGarbage · · Score: 1

      I was surprised when I saw my first NASCAR up close in Charlotte, North Carolina at the shop down there. The Camber on the wheels is unreal (and set up for left turns).

      I never watch NASCAR so it was a shock to me. I was also surprised how much smaller the cars were than I thought.

    30. Re:In other words... by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1

      Considering the article is talking about a comparison to NASA, I have to ask -- What level of technology do we see on rockets and space capsules?

      --
      If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
    31. Re:In other words... by rwa2 · · Score: 1

      Yep, I appreciate all of that. One of my favorite challenges from GT4 was actually the NASCAR-like thing, where you're put at the back of a pack of 6 identical cars, and you essentially have to draft the cars ahead of you in order to gain any speed advantage that you can use to gradually overtake them one-by-one. And of course, the one time I got past the first car too early, and then he proceeded to draft and overtake me again right before we crossed the finish line. :-P

      But that's exactly what Nye is arguing for... NASCAR can preserve all of that and still add some relevant competitive advantage to the element of driver hypermiling skill simply by tweaking the rules a bit, as practically every other racing category has already done.

    32. Re:In other words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Stock car racing grew out of the moonshine business - producing untaxed alcohol and delivering it to customers. Moonshining involves microbiology and chemistry. In other words, it's science all the way down, bitches!

    33. Re:In other words... by nintendoeats · · Score: 1

      I have no interest in motorsport persay, but as far as science and technology I'm inclined towards F1 over NASCAR. They have to warm up the coolant and oil on a timer a few hours before they come in for the day because the engines are assembled at operating temperature and are completely siezed when cold. I don't want to detract from the huge amount of skill involved in NASCAR, both as a driver and engineer, but F1 is very much the geekier of the two. If I was going to attend one I'd go to NASCAR. If I was going to watch one on TV it would be F1. But I prefer to drive my own gas-guzzling turbocharged...Golf... Never mind that bit. Motosport is very odd a a spectator sport to me. Rally is kind of cool looking at least. I've gone off topic.

    34. Re:In other words... by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      "People who don't like what I like are stupid." NASCAR is probably the most science/engineering oriented sport out there.

      To the point it is a huge bore - the cars are so similar and haven't a thing to do with Stock cars.

      And they really jumped the shark when ex indy driver (another group that can go to hell) Danica Patrick came over, and they hyped her like she was the first woman driver to ever race. She wasn't, which was and is an insult to other female racers, and for a while at least, they were reporting stories about her crashes and temper tantrums, and sometimes forgot to mention who won the race in the stories.

      But the real pile that Bill stepped in was criticizing NASCAR. There's lots of insider bitching going on, but if you are an outsider - you don't do that. The faithful do not put up with that.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    35. Re: In other words... by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 3, Insightful

      While true, the main reason for the slow march of technology in NASCAR is to maintain affordability of the sport. The France family doesn't want to be a bunch of pretentious snobs in a sport dominated by spoiled rich kids which, at least in popular perception, is what Formula 1 is.

      If your assessment was correct, NASCAR would still be racing cars based on production cars, not what they are using now.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    36. Re:In other words... by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      NASCAR is about figuring out how to best tune an existing engine - analogous to engineering existing technology to solve real-world problems. Both contribute to technological progress.

      Don't forget drinking beer and getting baked.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    37. Re:In other words... by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      Finally, NASCAR is raced in oval tracks that are more spectator friendly than F1. For example, the Martinsville track was built in 1948. The cars must be capped in a number of ways to limit the risk to spectators who are much closer to the track (and in some tracks, the spectators surround every inch of the entire track).

      Wouldn't it just be easier to use actual production cars then? That would slow them down. Just seems odd to spend the time and money building vehicles that are deliberately handicapped.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    38. Re:In other words... by Quasimodem · · Score: 2

      "NASA has suggested that the exploration of space is like NASCAR only with rocket ships ..." ... which always turn left.

    39. Re:In other words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, you're thinking of Formula One. You know, the motorsport where cars make left turns, too.

    40. Re:In other words... by nnull · · Score: 2

      No, but their money sure does contribute greatly to the science of it. From mechanical wear and tear to far safer cars that we drive today.

    41. Re: In other words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      pfft, did you just call driving in nascar affordable?!

    42. Re:In other words... by whh3 · · Score: 2

      I honestly don't care about why *others* are interested in the sport, but, YES, I love NASCAR because of the science. Seriously. The same reason I like F1. I watch and watch and watch just to pick up on the tech, the engineering, aerodynamics. Especially in F1, but across all motorsports, use of supercomputing for CFD is taking the place of the traditional wind tunnel. NASCAR used CFD heavily in developing the Car of Tomorrow (a few years ago) to determine how and where to "box" the angles to reduce speed and to increase safety. As a graduate student in computer science, that type of thing is fascinating.

      I don't deny that I also love the idea of speed, the sound of the engines and the deft touch on the wheel. But, Formula E, Formula 1, Indy and, yes, even NASCAR, are incredibly scientific and THAT is why I watch them.

      Will

      --
      remove nospam. to email!
    43. Re:In other words... by thinkwaitfast · · Score: 1

      I don't know if your are joking or not, but know a number of scientist (of the rocket persuasion) who were very into the tech, specifically in engine efficiency, and some who even got patents working with some of the greats of the field.

    44. Re:In other words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      NASCAR is focused on the entertainment of motorsport.

      It treats its fans a hell of a lot better than F1. Formula One treats fans like scum and charges them a fortune for the privilege.

      NASCAR *is* hillbilly racing, but let's not be unfair. The engineers aren't stupid or ignorant and it involves plenty of smarts to win a NASCAR race, let along a championship.

      And I'm speaking as a Brit who's an F1 fan.

    45. Re:In other words... by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      uh. maybe you could make a point that it is economics related. or statistics. which kind of are sciences, but not really what NASA was about in the piece.

      have you looked at nascar since '70s?

      it is literally one of the most stagnated motorsports out there. even the historic series races have more innovation going on.

      at one point yes, it was meaningful and led to direct enhancements to technology. now it is stagnated and on purpose rule driven. the technological advancements are only in how they can bend the rules to gain a seasonal advantage.

      carburator, iron block and pushrods? like, come on. aerodynamics? meh forget about that.

      THERE IS NOTHING TECHNICAL TO RESEARCH EXCEPT RULE BENDING in NASCAR. and sadly F1 is going the same route and indy has been down in that hole for a looong time now too. they're all about the drivers because that is cheap and sells tickets just as well.

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    46. Re:In other words... by Shinobi · · Score: 4, Interesting

      "An engine needs very advanced designs and lubricants to sustain that for 3-4 hours."

      Awwww, how cute... Now go watch the 24 hour races like for example Le Mans 24 hours. No engine repairs or engine swaps allowed during the race, yet the top class averages over 300km/h over the 24h race, including pit stops, yellow flags/code 60's, safety cars(on a 13km+ track no less!), on a track that has much greater wear and tear on engine, gearbox, brakes etc, since it's not an oval.

    47. Re:In other words... by GNious · · Score: 1

      Do you know how many engineering hours have gone into teaching drivers to make left-turns?!?

    48. Re:In other words... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      F1's problem is that for decades the cars have been faster than a human being can safely handle, and every year one manufacturer tends to be extremely dominant and it comes down to a battle between their two drivers. Driver skill is much less important than which car they are driving.

      It's hard to see how this can really be fixed. Go back to 1980 spec cars perhaps, but then the rich teams would pull out because the garage teams would be competitive and they wouldn't be developing tech that can be used in road vehicles.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    49. Re:In other words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      skill of what? making a left turn?
      it's not even really a race, at least not in the common sense of the word, ie between the cars next to them.
      really it's a race against a clock, and the only real reason they do it together and not singly is for the drama and carnage of crashes.

      its stupid.

    50. Re:In other words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Applies not only to motor sport... recumbent bicycles were disqualified way back around 1934 and despite 80 years of superior performance, have been kept out of major cycling series.

    51. Re:In other words... by Drethon · · Score: 1

      Not sure how keeping the engine at redline for the whole race like at Daytona compares to changing RPMs like Le Mans. Regardless I do think the endurance races have the greater engineering, even if NASCAR has its own unique engineering requirements.

    52. Re:In other words... by Drethon · · Score: 1

      Have you been to a race? The quantity of alcohol consumed by the cars pales next to the fans.

    53. Re:In other words... by bluelip · · Score: 1

      The Coward doesn't care about facts. The fans know more about engineering than you do. Because NASCAR doesn't adopt or allow every new technology doesn't mean they're not aware of it. It's not sad that drivers are made more important. Learn the history of the sport. The drivers are the reason to watch.

      Sorry to hear you're part of the bottom 1%, but someone has to be.

      --

      Yep, I never spell check.
      More incorrect spellings can be found he
    54. Re:In other words... by CaptainLard · · Score: 1

      Le Mans? Weak. Turbo pumps on rocket boosters probably operate in the highest stress environment of any engine ever designed! Extremely cold fuel pumped to extremely hot engines at 10+ G's at microsecond precision baby!

      The point is, just because the WEC and Le Mans (my favorite race fwiw) is harder doesn't mean NASCAR engines don't also deal with a ton of stress requiring advanced development. Also, there is nothing in the sporting regulations (http://www.24h-lemans.com/wpphpFichiers/1/1/ressources/Pdf/2015/24-heures-du-mans/regulations/2015-fia-wec-sporting-regulations.pdf) about not fixing engines. I've seen plenty of radiator replacements, maybe a turbo or two, and a full rear end swap (transaxle & suspension...in 4 minutes!!!). All it has are time penalties for using more than one engine for qualifying and race.

    55. Re:In other words... by Shinobi · · Score: 2

      From the sporting regs:

      Page 64
      1.9 During the race, on pain of exclusion of the car, it is prohibited to change:
      - The engine or any of its components, i.e the cylinder head(s), the cylinder head gasket(s), the oil pan and engine block, components that are fixed to one another by means of seals,
      - The main gearbox and differential housings,
      - The chassis or the monocoque structure

    56. Re: In other words... by neoritter · · Score: 1

      ...They are...

      They may not have the body styling or even the general frame sometimes, but the engines and other innards are usually based on real cars. That's why there's a thing about, this driver uses a Chevy or that one uses a Ford, etc.

    57. Re:In other words... by Shinobi · · Score: 2

      With the current V6 hybrids, the big irony is that one of the reasons Mercedes is so dominant is that they transferred technology the other way: They leveraged their sportscar people, bringing their expertise over to the F1 engine. Ferrari made a bad call in the first iteration, but they've mostly fixed that, now they just need to work on their chassis. Renault ignored the little hybrid experience they had on the road car side and built a new team from scratch. That, and the design demands from Red Bull as their works team, led to a completely screwed design. For 2015, Honda were screwed over by McLaren demanding the same thing that crippled the first iteration of the Ferrari PU, namely a size 0 design, which together with Honda's japanese corporate culture and Ron Dennis's egomanical personality leads to certain... complications...

    58. Re:In other words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Every form of professional motorsports racing qualifies. That is what makes every form of professional motorsports "competitive".

      Bill Nye, is nothing but a self promoting, total fraud.

    59. Re:In other words... by werepants · · Score: 1

      "NASA has suggested that the exploration of space is like NASCAR only with rocket ships ..." ... which always turn left.

      Sounds a lot like an orbit.

    60. Re: In other words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wrong on all counts. You seem to be pretty ignorant. Let me try to help you with that.

      Racing together adds in elements you don't get with time trials. Strategies like drafting, who gets the inside or outside of the turn, blocking opponents, etc. you might as well be saying football players should just kick field goals and rub touchdowns singly because having multiple players on the field at one time is pointless.

    61. Re: In other words... by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      ...They are...

      They may not have the body styling or even the general frame sometimes, but the engines and other innards are usually based on real cars. That's why there's a thing about, this driver uses a Chevy or that one uses a Ford, etc.

      So what you are saying is that I can go to the Chevy dealership, and have one of those engines in an off the shelf vehicle? Come on, you can't stretch stock that far.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    62. Re: In other words... by kenh · · Score: 1

      Come on, you can't stretch stock that far.

      Yes, you can. They don't start with a 4 cylinder eco engine...

      There wastage eat scene in "Days of Thunder" where Robert Duvallwalks around a 'stock' car and lists the various modifications he was going to make to get the car ready - my favorite was to increase the size of the fuel line to hold an additional extra gallon or two of fuel to extend the range of the car...

      --
      Ken
    63. Re:In other words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Moto GP, two tires makes for the best racing.

    64. Re:In other words... by ooshna · · Score: 1

      Yes but would you consider yourself an average NASCAR fan?

    65. Re:In other words... by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      You got to admit NASCAR is the WWF of race leagues.

      Given a choice between NASCAR and a race involving right turns, which do you pick?

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    66. Re: In other words... by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      NASCAR hasn't run on stock blocks sense the 1970s. Even then, the block was the only stock part. There are NO stock parts on a stock car.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    67. Re:In other words... by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      I propose the bootlegger turn restart. Every restart the field crosses the line, take the grean and execute bootlegger turns, then start racing the other way.

      Get rid of all the 'no right turns' jokes.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    68. Re:In other words... by whh3 · · Score: 1

      That's a good question :-) Given the trophies that I got as a middle schooler, I'm anything but average :-)

      --
      remove nospam. to email!
    69. Re:In other words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sometimes they get caught, sometimes they don't. But NASCAR generally doesn't take wins away from teams even if the car is found to be out of compliance.

      You nailed that - even when they do get caught, it often doesn't matter. Jimmy Johnson has been caught cheating 11 times (since post-race tech inspections are limited to a handful of cars at random it means he's actually cheated 47,311 times). His race team is the New England Patriots of racing - they repeatedly get caught cheating, they get penalized, they wine about it, appeal it, it gets reduced, they appeal it again, it gets reversed entirely, then they go back to dominating and stupid fans say "I don't know how they win so much".

      Oddly, MLB seems to be the only sport getting this right lately - suspend someone for a whole year, that makes guys think twice about cheating.

  3. Well I hope Bill Nye will remember by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Southern man don't need science around anyhow...

    1. Re: Well I hope Bill Nye will remember by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Patently self-evident.

    2. Re: Well I hope Bill Nye will remember by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1

      Whoosh!!

      --
      If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
  4. The real insult by sh00z · · Score: 4, Informative

    Sorry, NASCAR's not a sport.

    1. Re:The real insult by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      Do you consider Indy car a sport? Rally racing? Horse racing? Bike racing? It depends on your definition of sport I suppose.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    2. Re: The real insult by hackwrench · · Score: 2

      No, NASCAR is an organization. Motorsport's the sport.

    3. Re:The real insult by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Even computer gamers are considered "athletes" by some definitions..

    4. Re:The real insult by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      I have heard some call competitive chess a sport too.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    5. Re:The real insult by PRMan · · Score: 1

      Horse racing is a sport, but only for the horses.

      --
      Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
    6. Re:The real insult by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Correction: It's a bunch of drunken beer drinking wannabe hicks driving around a circle track. I didn't mean to insult the real hicks.

    7. Re:The real insult by taustin · · Score: 1

      Perhaps it's a sport in the sense that mutations are sometimes called sports.

    8. Re:The real insult by Moof123 · · Score: 1

      NASCAR and the NFL are just high budget drinking games.

    9. Re:The real insult by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

      NASCAR is a sport the same way two idiots punching the living shit out of each is.

      Just because it is stupid doesn't imply it not a sport.

      If you have a winner/loser, and viewers, it is a sport (regardless of how dumb it is.)

    10. Re:The real insult by bobbied · · Score: 1

      Maybe down on the dirt tracks they drink and drive, but they most assuredly DON'T drink and drive at the top two levels in NASCAR because they drug test at that level. The fans do drink, but the teams have to wait until the race is over and the car is in the hauler unless they happen to win that week. Breaking that rule is NOT tolerated and will get your team booted off the track in a heart beat, despite what you see in the movies.

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    11. Re:The real insult by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      well, trolling is a sport, especially on slashdork.

    12. Re:The real insult by Enigma2175 · · Score: 1

      NASCAR is a sport the same way two idiots punching the living shit out of each is.

      Just because it is stupid doesn't imply it not a sport.

      If you have a winner/loser, and viewers, it is a sport (regardless of how dumb it is.)

      So if I'm playing football in the park with friends and nobody is watching, it's not a sport? But somehow the same activity becomes a sport the minute a non-player shows up?

      --

      Enigma

    13. Re:The real insult by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They'd wipe out on the first right turn at Laguna Seca.

    14. Re:The real insult by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry, NASCAR's not a sport.

      Agreed. Sports are holding pools for people with no applicable skills to society but excellent physical characteristics utilized in a such a way as to eliminate other selection factors so when the technology reaches the appropriate stage we can mine them for genes to be distributed to the rest of the species that have at that point shifted toward intellectual pursuits while becoming physically meek and troll-like in appearance. NASCAR doesn't involve extreme physical ability nor good looks, hence it cannot be considered a sport (there is just no genomic value in the participants of it.)

    15. Re:The real insult by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      APK sure seems to think it is, his heart is racing and his fingers are a movin.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    16. Re:The real insult by sh00z · · Score: 1

      No to any motor"sport." Horse racing, no. Bike Racing, yes. Simply put, to be a sport, it should require that the majority of the total energy expenditure come from the participant. Unfortunately, under my definition, not only is bowling a sport, but so is competitive eating (already shows up in the sports section of my local paper).

    17. Re:The real insult by sh00z · · Score: 1

      I disagree, If you have a winner/loser, it's a competition. To be a sport, the competitors must do the work. Car drivers do only a tiny fraction of the total work in their race.

    18. Re:The real insult by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Let's see you do it, macho man. You'd throw up after the first quarter mile and cry for mommy.

    19. Re:The real insult by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As someone who plays chess, fuck those people.

    20. Re:The real insult by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      One of these things is not like the other. Why did you include "bike racing" in your list of faux sports? The motor in that case, is a human one - thus it is a sport, QED.

    21. Re:The real insult by aicrules · · Score: 1

      Where exactly did that come from? Did you pee in his cheerios or something? He sure does have a lot of time to spend finding every post you ever post and replying ad nauseum with something about ...well I'm not sure exactly what it is about.

    22. Re:The real insult by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But, I suppose Video Gaming is... ?

    23. Re:The real insult by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was wondering the same thing.

  5. Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Rockets aren't "environmentally correct".

    1. Re:Huh? by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 2, Insightful

      This. Nor is plutonium.

      Call me when we're putting things in orbit with hemp and sunshine.

    2. Re:Huh? by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      Call me when we're putting things in orbit with hemp and sunshine.

      Your mind, man....

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    3. Re:Huh? by elrous0 · · Score: 1

      This. I love the delightful irony of him blasting NASCAR for being wasteful, considering how much fuel the average rocket launch burns. Not to mention the fact that at least NASCAR doesn't add to the national debt that our grandkids will be stuck with.

      And, let's face it, a NASCAR race is no more useless to science than another trip to the ISS. And just imagine the resources that Mr. Nye wants to burn just to send a man to Mars so he can stand there and say "Yep, it's a rust desert alright."

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    4. Re:Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Call you on what? If all we're given to use is hemp and sunshine, that will leave most technology out. Stupid Dionysians.

      You'll all have nice tans and be very high when the overlords show up.

  6. Paraphrasing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    To paraphrase Mr. Nye, “You do not like what interests me, so you must be an idiot, a moron or a redneck."

    1. Re:Paraphrasing by ClickOnThis · · Score: 3, Informative

      To paraphrase Mr. Nye, “You do not like what interests me, so you must be an idiot, a moron or a redneck."

      Which he did not say at all. Not even close.

      The "red-state yokels" quote in TFS is from the article's author, not Bill Nye.

      I read TFAs and watched TFVs. Nye didn't say anything disparaging about NASCAR fans. He talked about addressing new challenges in a NASCAR setting, such as winning a race using a pre-set allotment of fuel.

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    2. Re:Paraphrasing by Pfhorrest · · Score: 1

      To paraphrase Mr. Nye, “You do not like what interests me, so you must be an idiot, a moron or a redneck."

      "...but I repeat myself."

      --
      -Forrest Cameranesi, Geek of all Trades
      "I am Sam. Sam I am. I do not like trolls, flames, or spam."
  7. Not to mention it's the same bunch of "rednecks" by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 1

    Indeed, NASA has suggested that the exploration of space is like NASCAR only with rocket ships instead of souped up, high powered cars.

    No to mention that many of the rocket scientists and/or astronauts/test pilots are the same sort of - occasionally even the same instances of - "rednecks" that build and/or drive the cars.

    Sure there were also transplanted German rocket scientists. But the Otto Cycle - the four-stroke cycle of the gasoline engine - was originated (with "coal gas" for the fuel) by a German scientist / engineer, too: Nikolaus August Otto.

    --
    Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
  8. Dear Lord baby Jesus... by zawarski · · Score: 1

    ...there in your ghost manger, just lookin' at your Baby Einstein developmental videos, learnin' 'bout shapes and colors. I would like to thank you for bringin' me and my mama together, and also that my kids no longer sound like retarded gang-bangers.

  9. "environmentally correct"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not enought to be PC... Now you need to be EC too?
    Give me a frick'n break.

  10. "environmentally correct technology" by Nutria · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Who in their right mind considers burning tons of dodecane (aka RP-1 kerosene) to produce tons of CO2 to be an "environmentally correct technology"?

    STOP THINKING WISHFULLY, Mr. Science Guy!!!

    --
    "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
    1. Re:"environmentally correct technology" by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      Not to mention the water being dumped into the upper atmosphere by upper stages of rockets. I have heard that there is a measurable difference in high altitude clouds due to the space program, I wonder if Mr. Nye thought this through...

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    2. Re:"environmentally correct technology" by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Nye didn't say that. It's a summary by the Examiner's troll writer. Nye was just saying that NASCAR should embrace the latest tech like NASA does, instead of old tech. I'm no expert but I thought that the point of NASCAR was that it isn't high tech, so the barrier to entry is relatively low compared to, say, F1 or Le Mans.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    3. Re:"environmentally correct technology" by PRMan · · Score: 1

      Literally.

      --
      Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
    4. Re:"environmentally correct technology" by Nutria · · Score: 1

      NASCAR should embrace the latest tech like NASA does, instead of old tech.

      How "latest tech" is burning dodecane?

      --
      "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
    5. Re:"environmentally correct technology" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your typos make you sound like a redneck.

    6. Re:"environmentally correct technology" by Nutria · · Score: 1

      NASCAR should embrace the latest tech like NASA does, instead of old tech.

      Forgot to mention that NASA never uses the latest tech. Ever. They're always more than a decade behind state of the art (that's what "latest tech" means, after all).

      http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a17991/voyager-1-voyager-2-retiring-engineer/

      NASA needs people who can write the assembly language of the chips on the Voyager craft...

      --
      "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
    7. Re:"environmentally correct technology" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      NASA needs people who can write the assembly language of the chips on the Voyager craft...

      Is maintaining contact with a pair of probes launched over 30 years ago really a valid example?

    8. Re:"environmentally correct technology" by UnknowingFool · · Score: 1

      Forgot to mention that NASA never uses the latest tech. Ever.

      [sarcasm] Yes I mean when they sent men to the moon, they used decades old technology they borrowed from the Russians when the USSR sent cosmonauts to the moon. Also the Space Shuttle was just a hodge-podge of components they had lying around for years.[sarcasm]

      They're always more than a decade behind state of the art (that's what "latest tech" means, after all).

      For some technology like computers, NASA is not the most advanced as they have requirements that those on Earth don't have. Specifically the CPUs that NASA has to use have to be hardened for radiation which means they have to be specifically designed and made for this purpose which may take a decade. For other technology, there really isn't any equal because it doesn't exist. The toilet on ISS doesn't exist anywhere else because no one would spend that much money on a zero G toilet (because they don't need one).

      NASA needs people who can write the assembly language of the chips on the Voyager craft...

      I doubt NASA or anyone has the power to change the programming language of a spacecraft they sent out 30 years ago. We can barely do that with computers from 30 years ago here on Earth. I doubt you could code in Java on an Apple ][ if you wanted to do so.

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    9. Re:"environmentally correct technology" by Nutria · · Score: 1

      Ok, not "ever". But not in a damned long time. After Apollo, they became *very* conservative technologically, because they feared that any disaster would turn the public against them.

      --
      "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
    10. Re:"environmentally correct technology" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I doubt NASA or anyone has the power to change the programming language of a spacecraft they sent out 30 years ago.

      The Voyager probes have 64 kilobytes of memory to work with, which is barely enough to send direct instructions to the equipment and record some minimal readings (before blasting them back towards Earth). Java is not just out of the question, it's a foreign to the probe as the aliens it's searching for.

    11. Re:"environmentally correct technology" by UnknowingFool · · Score: 1

      After Apollo, they stop receiving the massive funding for a single project that they did before. They also did not have a directed, singular purpose. But they still did other important work.

      In manned flight, they built a space station (Skylab), the Space Shuttles, and then assisted with another space station (ISS). In unmanned flight, NASA continued with the exploration of the solar system continued while sending probes to study the outer planets (Voyager) and the inner planets (Mariner, Pioneer, Viking, MERS, Curiosity, Opportunity, Spirit).

      In terms of other scientific study, NASA has been rather important in launching multiple satellites that have changed our understanding of the universe: COBE, WMAP, etc. Also they built what some may argue is the most important scientific instrument we have known: the Hubble Space Telescope.

      Many of those projects involved technology we did not before.

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    12. Re:"environmentally correct technology" by konohitowa · · Score: 1

      Shoutout to the November winner!

    13. Re:"environmentally correct technology" by backwardsposter · · Score: 1

      I think he's referring to the grand scale of time and money spent studying the earth, it's environment, climate and hazard changes...

    14. Re:"environmentally correct technology" by backwardsposter · · Score: 1

      Because space travel is all NASA does, right?

      http://www.nasa.gov/topics/ear...

  11. And I should pay attention to Bill because...? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bill is not really a scientist. He plays one on TV and in appearances. His degree is mechanical engineering. While he's an intelligent man, he thinks he knows more than he does. NASCAR may not be everyone's cup of tea, but the sheer amount of engineering and science that goes into NASCAR vehicles would shock people. I've researches and seen the cars in real life. While not a fan myself (I prefer rally car), NASCAR is accessible to fans, while NASA and most of what it does isn't. NASCAR is a simple pleasure that people love. I've never seen kids more excited than at races. The level of fun tension is palpable, the drivers are friendly and open to the fans, they readily sign things, tours of the track are available.

    1. Re:And I should pay attention to Bill because...? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nye acts like an arrogant douchebag to cover up for deep seated insecurities. At least that's my opinion of him. I could be wrong. He might act like an arrogant douchebag for completely different reasons.

    2. Re: And I should pay attention to Bill because...? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, fuck Nye and his insecure, anonymous bullshit.

  12. Multiple Issues by eepok · · Score: 3, Interesting

    First, NASA was pandering when it said space travel was like NASCAR. Any relationship is thoroughly stretched... except maybe the emphasis on orbiting. But space stations don't need to worry about camber.

    Second, what Bill said was an "All tigers are cats" issue. Yes, you will probably see a higher concentration of NASCAR fans in the anti-NASA group, but by no means is he saying that NASA supporters cannot be NASCAR fans or that all NASCAR fans are unintelligent. He wasn't insulting "(All) NASCAR fans", he was equating people who pay more attention to NASCAR than NASA to a lower intelligence.

    Ex.
    A: Your cousin is stupid.
    B: How dare you insult my family name!?
    A: No, not your family name-- YOUR COUSIN.

    1. Re:Multiple Issues by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Orbiting... funny

    2. Re:Multiple Issues by taustin · · Score: 1

      he was equating people who pay more attention to NASCAR than NASA to a lower intelligence.
       

      So he's a different flavor of elitist asshole. He's still an elitist asshole.

    3. Re:Multiple Issues by Austerity+Empowers · · Score: 1

      I think a) he should have avoided NASCAR in general because it has connotations, and just said "people watch too much sports and not enough science" (probably true), and not necessarily insulting a particular demographic, except the exact one he wanted to insult and b) his point is probably that it's an absolutely pointless, valueless diversion and not about advancing human knowledge or ability...it's about a bunch of guys trying to beat each other on a race track to no good end. However much science or engineering they apply to it, appears to be for no useful purpose. That's the definition of a sport really, although a harder point to defend is that nothing good can come out of it.

      Basically, he thinks we fuck off too much and spend too much money on it. Which I think is probably a fact, although unprovable. I think we would definitely be better off if people's diversions had at least a pretense of being constructive... but I think this message is lost on an audience that is never going to get it or contribute anyway.

    4. Re:Multiple Issues by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can see why you might say he's an elitist, but what reason do you have for saying he's an asshole?

      Unless all elitists are assholes...

      In which case why are you being redundant?

    5. Re:Multiple Issues by publiclurker · · Score: 1

      still doesn't make him wrong, however.

    6. Re:Multiple Issues by Nethemas+the+Great · · Score: 1

      I'd liken it to a comment whereby one calls the Amish technologically backwards.

      --
      Two of my imaginary friends reproduced once ... with negative results.
    7. Re:Multiple Issues by wyHunter · · Score: 1

      Since Mr. Nye is a Leftist, this further demonstrates your point.

    8. Re:Multiple Issues by taustin · · Score: 1

      And that you desperately need for him to be right so you can feel superior doesn't make him right, either. NASCAR is far a more accessible user of cutting edge science than NASA will ever be.

    9. Re:Multiple Issues by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wish I didn't have the occasion to know this, but Bill Nye is both an elitist and an asshole.

      Sometimes, it is better to have never met your hero. The high production media world can craft a benevolent authoritative persona, but if the actor(*) behind it is left to his own devices, the elitist asshole will shine forth and put truth to the lie. I've met him several times and witnessed far too many things from him to ever cleanse the title of asshole from my mind whenever his name is brought up.

      (*) Bill Nye was once a work-a-day engineer like many of us. He was quite possibly an asshole at that time, but certainly not so much of an elitist. To be fair, there is a large percentage of the tech community who have tendencies to be assholes, so that is forgivable. Finding fame has a tendency to amplify our worst qualities. Now, he is an actor who pays to keep his PE license current while not practicing, because that is his last shred of real credibility. The platforms (like this interview and numerous talks at conventions) that he is afforded by nature of being a celebrity don't rely on credibility but the sycophantic support that celebrity brings.

    10. Re:Multiple Issues by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh no! He's coming to take your guns, fill your house with illegal immigrants, and force you to gay marry them!

    11. Re:Multiple Issues by thinkwaitfast · · Score: 1

      The most anti-NASA people are people who have worked for NASA.

    12. Re:Multiple Issues by publiclurker · · Score: 1

      is that what they say around your trailer park son? perhaps you should do something but watch fox and hang out at family reunions to get dates. You might learn something.

    13. Re:Multiple Issues by konohitowa · · Score: 1

      That was an amusing way of confirming taustin's opinion.

    14. Re:Multiple Issues by wyHunter · · Score: 1

      I have no idea what his points on any of those things are, but I DO know what the American National Socialist party's policy is on it, and yes, if he follows their program, you're right. For the record, illegal immigrants are doing illegal stuff (duh) and shouldn't be here, and as for gays marrying not wanting to marry a man I could care less what they do. As for taking guns, well, see my first point.

    15. Re:Multiple Issues by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      NASA should have said it's like F1, not NASCAR. NASCAR would be still using an evolution of the Saturn V system. NASCAR bet the farm on the Shuttle, and doesn't have a solution to putting men in space anymore besides pay the Russians to do it, who are still using an evolution of their Saturn V contemporary program.

  13. "environmentally correct technology" by wisnoskij · · Score: 1

    There is absolutly nothign environmental about space travel.

    --
    Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
  14. What a maroon... by jedidiah · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Bill Nye is another anti-Sagan (just like Tyson).

    On the first day of Aeronautics 101, before our professor said anything else, our professor told us about how he was called upon to consult for a racing team. They were having trouble getting maximum performance out of the car. He suggested a couple of tweaks to improve the car's aerodynamics and that improved the car's performance.

    THIS is the kind of thing you say to NASCAR fans instead of insulting them like some sort of middle school know-it-all.

    Nye's comments were a huge slap in the face to a lot of practicing ENGINEERS.

    --
    A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    1. Re:What a maroon... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He's a progressive first, and a scientist (sort-of) second. Which means he is narrow minded and bitter towards people with differing viewpoints on the world. And his only way to deal with it is to be mean and bitter == progressive.

    2. Re:What a maroon... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He suggested a couple of tweaks to improve the car's aerodynamics and that improved the car's performance.

      Well now, that's steppin' on the toes of the NASCAR committee! May as well burn down the barn

    3. Re:What a maroon... by russbutton · · Score: 1

      He's a progressive first, and a scientist (sort-of) second. Which means he is narrow minded and bitter towards people with differing viewpoints on the world. And his only way to deal with it is to be mean and bitter == progressive.

      Funny. I could say the same thing about conservative == mean and bitter.

    4. Re:What a maroon... by Cramer · · Score: 1

      You do understand NASCAR is a STOCK CAR series? All cars are supposed to be identical (and there are entire rule books on it.) While there will be very minor differences, it's driver ability / skill, and more than a dash of luck, that determines the winner. Yes, teams do bend the rules, and out-right cheat, but that's highly self-policed. (somebody will eventually rat your ass out.)

      What NASCAR fans are there to see are the really LOUD, fast cars... and the wrecks!

    5. Re:What a maroon... by irrational_design · · Score: 1

      Anyone at an extreme of a social spectrum === mean/narrow-minded/bitter

    6. Re:What a maroon... by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

      > Bill Nye is another anti-Sagan (just like Tyson).

      I haven't heart that before.

      I'm curious what makes you say Nye is anti-Sagan?

      Ditto for Tyson ?

    7. Re:What a maroon... by taustin · · Score: 1

      Er, no, that's not true of NASCAR. There are racing circuits where it is, but NASCAR's not one of them.

    8. Re:What a maroon... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's pointless, you can't convince a person to be smart via a sport. They are born smart and curious or they are not. You can slightly better educate them and make them more knowledgeable, but your basically pissing away your time. There is no reason or need to appeal to NASCAR fans. Either they get science or they don't, end of story.

      It's not like we really have anything to gain by helping them have a laymans understanding of aerodynamics. Some people SEE physics and math and some people can only just get a faint glimpse in their mind for a brief second, training won't help much.

    9. Re:What a maroon... by russbutton · · Score: 1

      Anyone at an extreme of a social spectrum === mean/narrow-minded/bitter

      The thing which keeps people from solving problems is the inability to talk to each other, and much more importantly, to listen to each other. When someone paints a whole group, in this case, liberals and conservatives, with the broad brush of "mean/narrow-minded/bitter", then no discussion is possible and nothing can get done.

      I remember when Bill Clinton got elected and folks on the right were raging about how horrible he was and it just didn't make sense to me. Bill Clinton was never a liberal and neither is Hillary. Just as soon as Obama became a viable candidate, the same thing happened with him, and he isn't a liberal either.

      You don't always get what you want, but always get what you expect. In this case if you expect a Dem politician to be the Devil's minion, then that's what your reality will be.

      My brother-in-law is a life-long Republican, but we see eye-to-eye on most things. Do you want really want to fix things or are you content to just sit there and throw your monkey feces at each other?

    10. Re:What a maroon... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      how about extremists on both sides being mean and bitter?

    11. Re:What a maroon... by PhrostyMcByte · · Score: 1

      Well, he did give a reason right there. Rather than slinging mud at the NASCAR crowd, he should be trying to anchor his message in a way that gets them excited about the scientific aspects of it.

      I feel like Nye is generally really good at doing the latter, and this was just an unfortunate break in his cool. It can't be easy staying calm when you're debating morons. Everyone's got a breaking point.

    12. Re:What a maroon... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      While there were areas that I disagree with Sagan about, I readily admit that he was an excellent spokesman for science and scientific thought. He had the ability to bring alive the wonder about the world in non-scientists. Plus, while he was intelligent, obviously, he wasn't a dick about it. He helped bring people TO science, and made it seem open to everyone.

      Tyson and Nye come across as elitist pricks. They drive people AWAY from science.

      And Mr. Nye, if those NASCAR folks start paying more attention to NASA, they might decide it isn't a place they want their tax monies to go, and start writing their congressscum asking them to defund NASA. So please shut the fuck up.

    13. Re:What a maroon... by Nethemas+the+Great · · Score: 1

      I've got a hunch said racing team was not having a consultation for a NASCAR entrant.

      --
      Two of my imaginary friends reproduced once ... with negative results.
    14. Re:What a maroon... by Nethemas+the+Great · · Score: 1

      Just like you (used to...) read Playboy for the articles?

      --
      Two of my imaginary friends reproduced once ... with negative results.
    15. Re:What a maroon... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, he did give a reason right there. Rather than slinging mud at the NASCAR crowd, he should be trying to anchor his message in a way that gets them excited about the scientific aspects of it.

      Which is pretty much exactly what he did. Then a douchenozzle with an agenda posted to Slashdot with a clickbait summary which basically says the opposite of what Nye actually said, and the Slashdot crowd, true to form, goes all frothy at the mouth and spends enormous amounts of time and energy arguing about something which didn't even happen.

    16. Re:What a maroon... by wyHunter · · Score: 1

      Not the ones I've met. I'm neither Salvation Army nor LDS but those are two groups of extremely charitable individuals. That doesn't jive with either mean, or bitter, though they both have ideas I find somewhat odd.

    17. Re:What a maroon... by russbutton · · Score: 1

      When people actually listen to each other, problems can get solved. Those who call themselves either liberal or conservative in this country will find they have much more in common than not. But if they choose to demonize each other by painting folks with a broad brush, then dialog isn't possible. My comment was simply in response to the guy who characterized liberals as being mean, bitter, etc. In so doing, he's unable to engage in any kind of meaningful conversation.

      Think about it. Do you believe you could actually engage Donald Trump in a meaningful conversation?

    18. Re:What a maroon... by rsborg · · Score: 1

      Bill Nye is another anti-Sagan (just like Tyson).

      On the first day of Aeronautics 101, before our professor said anything else, our professor told us about how he was called upon to consult for a racing team. They were having trouble getting maximum performance out of the car. He suggested a couple of tweaks to improve the car's aerodynamics and that improved the car's performance.

      THIS is the kind of thing you say to NASCAR fans instead of insulting them like some sort of middle school know-it-all.

      Nye's comments were a huge slap in the face to a lot of practicing ENGINEERS.

      Sorry, Sagan was a man of his times. Back in the 70s the country gave a shit about NASA, space exploration, and astrophysics. Now it's been shoved off the front pages of newspapers in favor of Kardashians and sports (my guess - it's not nearly as profitable for our corporate owned "news").

      It's pretty amusing that you think the measure of a scientist is if they can grok engineering. They're two different disciplines, and good scientists generally not good engineers and vice-versa (your Aero101 professor is likely an exception) despite your all caps.

      --
      Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
    19. Re:What a maroon... by SvnLyrBrto · · Score: 1

      You mean the same salvation army that denies homeless transgender women open beds in their shelters; leaving them out on the streets to die in the cold? You mean the same LDS church that spent millions on prop 8 to take away civil rights from gays in California and now demands that mormon children disavow their gay relatives if they want to remain in the church themselves? They sure do seem mean and bitter to me.

      --
      Imagine all the people...
    20. Re:What a maroon... by LenE · · Score: 1

      Bill Nye is not a scientist. He only played "The Science Guy" on TV. That was a TV character that he invented.

      By training and his early career, he is an engineer.

      By fame-driven ego and immersion into an oxygen deprived echo chamber, he is an insufferable leftist.

    21. Re:What a maroon... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good point. In my experience non-engineering scientists are like this. They tend to live in a fantasy land where real-world problems don't enter into the equations. Sometimes you just want to get things done relative to specifications. Science and mathematics obviously gets you there, but it doesn't always have to be "pure". to acheive the goals at hand.

    22. Re:What a maroon... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That is the idea of having the labels "conservative" and "liberal". They only serve to divide. That IS the sole purpose of those concepts.

    23. Re:What a maroon... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nye's comments were a huge slap in the face to a lot of practicing ENGINEERS.

      So you believe that practicing ENGINEERS support the use of outdated technology to solve modern problems?

      Because that was the issue Nye had with NASCAR. Instead of allowing them to design the absolute best vehicle possible, they put artificial restrictions on what is allowed in order to maintain the affordability of the "sport" (and I use that term extremely loosely). They only recently allowed such "extreme" technologies such as electronic fuel injection or unleaded fuel.

      His comments were very specifically in support of technology and ENGINEERing, suggesting that NASCAR should celebrate amazing technical prowess and technological advancement as much as the astounding skills and reaction times of the drivers.

    24. Re:What a maroon... by ClickOnThis · · Score: 1

      Bill Nye is another anti-Sagan (just like Tyson).

      Really. I guess you didn't watch the reboot of Cosmos last year, hosted by Tyson. He spoke at length in one of the episodes about how Sagan was a gracious and welcoming host to the young Tyson when he visited Sagan at Cornell while deciding on an undergraduate university.

      As for Nye, he has spoken fondly of his contact with Sagan, as a student in his Astronomy class, and later as a member of the Planetary Society, which Sagan founded. Nye is now the head of that society.

      Nye and Tyson are far from being anti-Sagan.

      http://io9.com/watch-bill-nye-...

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    25. Re:What a maroon... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're just dead wrong, by the way. NASCAR teams are very quiet about the supercomputer time they're buying, but it's very clear from the decrease in wind tunnel time that they're very successful at it.

    26. Re:What a maroon... by thinkwaitfast · · Score: 1
      Back in the 70s, space was mysterious. Everyone knew what a planet was, but nobody knew what they looked like.

      Thanks to special effects, all that has changed. Now everyone knows what planets are like in distant galaxies and every few months are introduced to new ones. Space exploration can only offer the same boring places year after year and with cute, but tired names of rocks. Nobody is into that stuff except a few scientists and a group of scientist pretends.

    27. Re:What a maroon... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No. The LDS church doesn't require people to disavow relatives. They simply ask that new members affirm that they believe the church's core doctrines, including that on marriage. There is a difference between acknowledging that an action is a sin and condemning a person.

    28. Re:What a maroon... by neo-mkrey · · Score: 1

      IMHO: Nye is anti-Sagan and Tyson is Sagan-lite.

  15. Not to mention... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So the Earthlings have polluted their planet and now want to strip mine another one, leaving tons of space junk wherever they go? Just when Gaia thought her disease would burn itself out it infects other hosts? NASA may be the most environmentally damaging organisation in the universe. ;)

  16. I'm not a scientist, but I play one on TV by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Amazing how many people that fools.

  17. Bill Nye is a narrow minded nerd by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Open yourself up Nye to NASCAR and how it spends lot's of money testing in wind tunnels, reducing weight, resistance, its not about pure horsepower its about using less fuel and still maintaining speed. But I imagine Bill Nye set his mind up long ago about how he feels about NASCAR. Go back to your Chicken little pleas that the Earth is melting down, and all of humanity will be destroyed. Good lord Mr. Nye go to a strip club get wasted or jump out of a airplane or something.
    Get back in touch with reality and don't comment about stuff you nothing about.

    1. Re:Bill Nye is a narrow minded nerd by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      STOCK. CAR. RACE. All the cars have the same weight. All the cars have the same body shape. All the cars have the same displacement and power. All the cars have the same tires. ETC ETC ETC While there may be very minor differences (and teams do cheat), it's 99.99999% driver ability.

    2. Re:Bill Nye is a narrow minded nerd by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      well it's funny that you say that because stock cars (out of a manufacturer) have better drag ratios, higher horsepower engines, go faster and have less emissions.

      that was his problem with nascar. the aerodynamics testing is for bending the aero rules of nascar, they are not for producing the ideal vehicle for the race. the engine tweaks are for circumventing nascar engine rules etc. the rules are intended to keep all the cars the same - and the same in this case meaning using decades old base technology in a stupid way engineering wise.

      the weight is regulated too.

      get over it, there is no actual car go fast research going on in nascar anymore. if you really thought it had anything to do with using less fuel and maintaining speed the cars would look totally different and use different valvetrains.. hell your honda civic from mid '90s is a century further in technological concepts than the shitters in nascar.

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
  18. There are rednecks and then there are rednecks... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2

    My late father once told me that NASCAR rednecks were different than the ordinary rednecks of our family. I think it has to do with the gas (petrol vs. beans).

  19. NASA will test its next Rover at NASCAR stadiums. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    NASA has announced that it will text the next version of its Mars rover at NASCAR venues. The two environments are strikingly similar. They contain no trace of intelligent life whatsoever.

  20. Holy context removal, media! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    in after dozens of "omg he just doesn't like what someone else likes" posts. Why not read the original BI article?

    He's not telling anyone not to like NASCAR. On the contrary, he's saying that he likes NASCAR, but that he'd like a slightly different sport even more, where the challenge was similar but the rules were different, to appeal to his mechanical engineering side.

    1. Re:Holy context removal, media! by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      Yeah, that is even worse. He wishes NASCAR was the Solar Challenge.

      http://www.worldsolarchallenge...

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  21. Bill Nye PR Fail by Irate+Engineer · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If Bill Nye actually visited pit row in a NASCAR race he'd see that there is a hell of a lot of applied science being employed to eek out a bit more performance and mileage out of these vehicles. It isn't a drag strip - stopping for gas in NASCAR costs time and position and the teams would love to run the whole race without pitting. There are a lot of brains behind NASCAR.

    A lot of performance improvement applied to commercial vehicles comes from NASCAR, believe it or not. You need to look past the BMC-drinking fans in the crowd that are there for the crashes and actually see what is happening in the pits.

    Bill, just a reminder, you don't get racing fans to embrace science by calling them illiterate, shit-beer-drinking rednecks. You do this by showing where science is applied in things that they already love, and let their interest take off from there. I am a proponent of science too, and you don't help the cause by being an elitist prick in a bowtie.

    --

    Left MS Windows for Linux Mint and never looked back!

    Vote for Bernie in 2016!

    1. Re:Bill Nye PR Fail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > If Bill Nye actually visited pit row in a NASCAR race he'd see that there is a hell of a lot of applied science being employed...

      I grew up in the USian Southeast. I got to meet and spend a lot of time with *many* NASCAR fans. 80% of them both don't give a shit about *any* of the applied science behind somewhat-high-performance racing, *and* are educationally and constitutionally incapable of *understanding* said science. Many of them *might* spout the buzzwords that they hear the announcers say, but they have *no* real understanding of what any of that actually means.

      There are *too* many functionally illiterate, shit-beer-drinking rednecks for scientists and engineers to spend their *very* limited time trying to reach a substantial fraction of them. There are *far* more important things for a smart, capable person to do. Leave that shit to marketing organizations who specialize in such things.

    2. Re: Bill Nye PR Fail by hackwrench · · Score: 1

      While calling NASCAR the anti-NASA ignores all the science NASCAR does and all the rules it has about what must and must not go into a car for safety and environmental reasons, Bill Nye didn't do the things you just said. Bill Nye says he likes to watch races, but he has shown that he resembles the stereotypical NASCAR racer a lot more than he lets on by focussing on the value that determines what wins the contest without looking deeper into the science that makes it come about. I don't care about watching the races but I at least am aware of the science that goes into it, because it's not like they are keeping it a secret. They even sacrifice some speed for safety and environmental reasons.

    3. Re:Bill Nye PR Fail by taustin · · Score: 1

      I grew up in the USian Southeast. I got to meet and spend a lot of time with *many* NASCAR fans. 80% of them both don't give a shit about *any* of the applied science behind somewhat-high-performance racing, *and* are educationally and constitutionally incapable of *understanding* said science.

      The same is true of NASA fans, in my experience. They know more buzzwords, sure, but they don't understand them any more than NASCAR rednecks do.

    4. Re:Bill Nye PR Fail by UnknowingFool · · Score: 1

      This is what Bill Nye actually said in his book.

      "I get it. I understand the appeal of a stock car race. It’s just exciting, and I’m all for it,” he writes. “I just want NASCAR to adapt to the new mainstream. I want the circuit to produce vehicles that could compete in races anywhere int eh world, and win. I want the racing series to spin off new tech that will do more with less. For me, as an American mechanical engineer, I hope NASCAR decides to look forward rather than backward.”

      He's not against NASCAR. He just laments that the goals of NASCAR are about power and speed only and less about efficiency and economy. For example, the limit of fuel in a NASCAR race is not the amount of fuel but the time it takes to fuel a car. If there was some tweaking so that racing teams had to take fuel economy into account, it would be more interesting to him. I think currently the cars get maybe 3 mpg.

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    5. Re:Bill Nye PR Fail by Irate+Engineer · · Score: 1

      80% of them both don't give a shit about *any* of the applied science behind somewhat-high-performance racing, *and* are educationally and constitutionally incapable of *understanding* said science. Many of them *might* spout the buzzwords that they hear the announcers say, but they have *no* real understanding of what any of that actually means.

      There are *too* many functionally illiterate, shit-beer-drinking rednecks for scientists and engineers to spend their *very* limited time trying to reach a substantial fraction of them. There are *far* more important things for a smart, capable person to do. Leave that shit to marketing organizations who specialize in such things.

      Maybe true - but maybe you can get the 20% and not actually antagonize the other 80%. You'll never win the hearts of 100%, but you don't piss off the 20% by lumping them in with the 80% that are hopeless.

      --

      Left MS Windows for Linux Mint and never looked back!

      Vote for Bernie in 2016!

    6. Re:Bill Nye PR Fail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Everything, literally, is applied science and it's all quite interesting, even silly human interactions fall into patterns you can map out.

      NASCAR is science, sure, but it's very far from cutting edge. NASCAR imposes limits on innovation and will can new technology that falls outside of their comfort zone. NASCAR uses science, like everyone else, but they don't represent any kind of significant progressive science agenda. It's a lot of engineering to drive around in circles and we don't learn anywhere near enough vs the amount we spend to have the races.

      Do you understand that? It's a net loss for science because those billions of dollars could go to real science, but OH WELL, so is any form of entertainment really. You may randomly inspire a brillient person who happens to be watching or love NASCAR with the science, but it's still a net loss.

      Imagine if you took the total invested to make NASCAR happens.. all costs and profits and invested it into real science. You'd get a hell of a better return. That's the huge difference between playing with science for FUN and pushing the envelope of science.

    7. Re:Bill Nye PR Fail by Obfuscant · · Score: 1

      He's not against NASCAR.

      Of course not. He just wants it to change into something completely different. "I just want NASCAR to adapt to the new mainstream." It's called "stock car" for a reason.

    8. Re:Bill Nye PR Fail by Irate+Engineer · · Score: 1

      This is what Bill Nye actually said in his book.

      "I get it.

      No, he doesn't fucking get it. See the following:

      He's not against NASCAR. He just laments that the goals of NASCAR are about power and speed only and less about efficiency and economy. For example, the limit of fuel in a NASCAR race is not the amount of fuel but the time it takes to fuel a car. If there was some tweaking so that racing teams had to take fuel economy into account, it would be more interesting to him. I think currently the cars get maybe 3 mpg.

      NASCAR teams would LOVE to run a race on one tank of gas or less. Power and speed AND fuel economy are all important. Pitting kills position. It sucks. If you actually watched races, you'd see that many racers lose because they ran out of gas trying to stretch their tank to the finish line. They are not working to see how much fuel they can dump through their engines.

      --

      Left MS Windows for Linux Mint and never looked back!

      Vote for Bernie in 2016!

    9. Re:Bill Nye PR Fail by UnknowingFool · · Score: 1

      NASCAR teams would LOVE to run a race on one tank of gas or less.

      There is no penalty other than time for refueling. There are no rules for minimum fuel economy.

      Power and speed AND fuel economy are all important.

      It's not fuel economy really that they are concerned about but rather fuel consumption. Power is more the problem.

      Pitting kills position. It sucks. If you actually watched races, you'd see that many racers lose because they ran out of gas trying to stretch their tank to the finish line. They are not working to see how much fuel they can dump through their engines.

      Yes I have seen the races and it's a bold assumption of yours that I have not. And if there was a fuel cap on top of other conditions, how different would the races be? Then engineering wise, the teams have to worry that as an aspect too.

      .

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    10. Re:Bill Nye PR Fail by thinkwaitfast · · Score: 1

      80% of them both don't give a shit about

      That's less than the number of pro space people who know anything about physics or engineering. Or space for that matter. It's a cargo cult to most.

    11. Re:Bill Nye PR Fail by prunus.avium · · Score: 1

      Those cars haven't been "stock" for decades.

    12. Re:Bill Nye PR Fail by werepants · · Score: 1

      Exactly right. It only takes a few statements to this effect to totally undermine all the positive PR work Nye has done for science. The fastest way to produce anti-intellectualism is for intellectuals to go around insulting people for being ignorant and denigrating their harmless pastimes.

      Science needs better representatives.

  22. competition by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Indeed, NASA has suggested that the exploration of space is like NASCAR only with rocket ships instead of souped up, high powered cars

    NASA would only be like NASCAR if there was the same kind of competition. They could do more to promote this competition with SpaceX, XPrizes, and others, and it would be good for the field in every way.

  23. Instead of bashing NASCAR. . . by Idou · · Score: 1

    Why not praise Formula E?

    --
    Sdelat' Ameriku velikoy Snova!
    1. Re:Instead of bashing NASCAR. . . by gweilo8888 · · Score: 1

      Maybe because it's a godawful formula with terrible-sounding cars, gimmicks like Tweet to Pass (err, I mean "FanBoost", gotta have a brandname), and which seems to have been designed to emphasize the failings of electric cars (every driver needs two entire cars instead of two exchangeable or fast-charging batteries, and to call attention to this you can't actually step out of one car and into the other, but instead have to complete a freaking foot race down the pitlane when you change cars.)

      It's a pathetic joke of a formula, and deserves to die quickly and quietly.

    2. Re:Instead of bashing NASCAR. . . by Idou · · Score: 1

      NASCAR fan, I presume?

      --
      Sdelat' Ameriku velikoy Snova!
    3. Re:Instead of bashing NASCAR. . . by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Doesn't make what he said any less correct if he is.

    4. Re:Instead of bashing NASCAR. . . by Idou · · Score: 1

      I think it encompasses the entire point of my original post. . . Bill Nye bashing NASCAR fans because they are not focusing on NASA just seems strange and ineffectual. If NASCAR were shutdown, would those fans flock to NASA? Hell no! They would spend more time watching monster trucks and professional wrestling.

      The earlier (perhaps, same as you) poster's reply complains about car sounds and other "non scientific" aspects of the Formula E race, completely missing the point that it is not about which is a better "formula" (whatever that means when electricity is being used. . .), but which race is more applicable to the argument Bill Nye is making.

      --
      Sdelat' Ameriku velikoy Snova!
    5. Re:Instead of bashing NASCAR. . . by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      but instead have to complete a freaking foot race down the pitlane when you change cars

      Thanks for confirming that you have never actually watched it.

    6. Re:Instead of bashing NASCAR. . . by gweilo8888 · · Score: 1

      Actually, no. I can't stand roundy-roundy racing.

    7. Re:Instead of bashing NASCAR. . . by uninformedLuddite · · Score: 1

      Having never followed Formula E I had to look up Tweet to Pass. That's fucking retarded.

      --
      The new right fascists are bilingual. They speak English and Bullshit.
  24. Excellent by turkeydance · · Score: 1

    click-bait. well played, sir.

  25. He's a Kool-Aid drinker anyways... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...so why should I care what Bill Nye thinks? He's a demagogue on climate and science and religion. Not a person worth minding.

    1. Re:He's a Kool-Aid drinker anyways... by ClickOnThis · · Score: 1

      Climate-change denial is Kool-Aid.

      Climate-change science is single-malt scotch.

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    2. Re:He's a Kool-Aid drinker anyways... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How did you learn to write with that brain?

  26. Is there a reason to pay more attention to NASA? by WoodstockJeff · · Score: 2

    NASA research brought us a lot of things in the past. Not so much any more. We get excited now about putting a camera with a transmitter out at absurd distances, to find out things about our solar system that will (possibly) affect our lives 50-100 years from now.

    Would it improve if we took some or all of the money spent on NASCAR and funneled it into NASA? Maybe a little... but would the result be more exploration, or simply more expensive exploration? Money's really the only thing that could be repurposed, because there is certainly a limit on how many people can participate in NASA.

  27. Sure are a lot of morons in this thread by 0xdeadbeef · · Score: 5, Informative

    They're eating up the author's framing as if it was literally what Nye said. What he actually said was that NASCAR should reward fuel efficiency as well as speed, as it would make a more interesting engineering problem.

    Besides, everybody knows that if you're not NASCAR, you're NASCDR.

    1. Re:Sure are a lot of morons in this thread by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Keep your NASLISP to yourself.

    2. Re:Sure are a lot of morons in this thread by taustin · · Score: 1

      They're eating up the author's framing as if it was literally what Nye said. What he actually said was that NASCAR should reward fuel efficiency as well as speed, as it would make a more interesting engineering problem.

      If fuel efficiency weren't the most important engineering factor involved, he'd look a lot less like an elitist prick right now.

    3. Re:Sure are a lot of morons in this thread by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      NASCAR does reward fuel efficiency, as do almost all motor sports.

    4. Re:Sure are a lot of morons in this thread by LaissezFaire · · Score: 1

      And what he implied is that it would make it a more interesting engineering problem ... to him. With his rule change to limit the amount of gasoline he said the Prius would win over the current cars. That sounds like a solved engineering problem. At the very least it's a different engineering problem, with fuel efficiency rated much more than speed. It's not like there aren't fuel mileage races today, where the drivers and teams coax out the last bit of fuel so they don't have to pit one last time.

      Hmm, looking at fuel efficiency in NASCAR vs. NASA, NASCAR wins hands down. Sending a rocket into space takes a whole lot more fuel than a 500 mile NASCAR race. NASCAR must be a more interesting event and engineering problem than a spacecraft launch, then. "But, they're different things!" Yup, and so are Prius and NASCAR races, Bill.

    5. Re:Sure are a lot of morons in this thread by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If fuel efficiency weren't the most important engineering factor involved, he'd look a lot less like an elitist prick right now.

      Wow, taustin, you believe the strangest things. When it comes to NASCAR, no, fuel efficiency isn't the most important engineering factor. At most it's a secondary, and most often a tertiary engineering factor.

      The first, naturally, is safety. NASCAR will look poorly on a lot of things, but breaking the safety rules is a quick ticket to the hauler. Intentional, accidental, inadvertent, doesn't matter if it effects performance or not. So that is the most important factor. Next, however is performance in terms of speed. That's where the aerodynamics, engine and tires come in. These matter in every race, from qualifying to finishing. After that comes the fuel mileage, which depends on coincidence more than intent. If there is a long-green flag at the right time in the right race, yeah, you can go for a mileage win. It happens occasionally.

      But when it comes to that, they talk about what the driver does, not about what the car does. Or can do. Really, counting the driver kicking the car out of gear and coasting?

  28. Re:NASA will test its next Rover at NASCAR stadium by Coren22 · · Score: 1

    They contain no trace of intelligent life whatsoever.

    Much like the previous testing locations.

    --
    APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  29. Re:Not to mention it's the same bunch of "rednecks by CaptainLard · · Score: 1

    Don't forget the Wankel, Diesel and jet engines.

  30. Unlike NASA, NSACAR doesn't use taxpayer's money. by laserhead · · Score: 1

    Unlike NASA, NSACAR doesn't use taxpayer's money. People watch NSACAR for fun, voluntarily. If you really believe space exploration is important and exciting, use your own money. You can do this by donate to private space exploration institutions or companies, buy their products, invite your family and friends to do the same, etc.

  31. Contributions by sycodon · · Score: 1

    Most of the advances in performance, stability, safety economy, etc. have come from the racing industry, or rather, car companies field testing those technologies in the racing world.

    --
    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
  32. RE:Text by hackwrench · · Score: 1

    NASA planning to communicate with rover by text message confirmed!

  33. "People who don't like what I like are stupid." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    NASCAR is probably the most science/engineering oriented sport out there.

    Really?
    It is the special olympics version of motor sport, so your F1 and rally are going to come out ahead on that I suspect.
    So once we get its more complex motor sport brothers out of the way...
    Airplane racing? yeah lets not talk about this either.

    More science with a few equations and dealing with knowns, than there is in say conditioning an Olympic athlete 24x7 like a guinea pig?
    Long range shooting has plenty of calculation and equipment customization.
    Once big money in any sport comes into play, the research and other science floods in to get at the money.

    In the end the whole argument would be stupid even if it was accurate because the average fans care nothing about the science (the average fan is pretty opposed to science).
    The fans care about "Did the good guy win?" (AKA who ever they were rooting for) and "Yeehaa! another crash/explosion!". What you are looking at from a fan level, is the "sport" you would get, if Michael Bay were to invent a sport.

  34. Oh come on by Crashmarik · · Score: 0

    Nye has been giving off the "Do what I say, I know better than you vibe" forever. What's really funny is the way he loves to go way outside his field of expertise and lecture incorrectly.

  35. He's wrong because.. by greenwow · · Score: 0

    The NASCAR fans are so often supporters of NASA since it is a corporate welfare scam.

    1. Re: He's wrong because.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It just funnels money from the people to corporations.

  36. And yet more differences include by sizzzzlerz · · Score: 1

    all the myriad ways each of the teams find to cheat

    1. Re:And yet more differences include by bobbied · · Score: 3, Informative

      It ain't cheatn' less the rule book says it's Cheaten' . (And it's not *really* Cheaten les NASCAR catches ya.)

      Look, it's generally incredibly hard to "cheat" in NASCAR on a continuing basis and get away with it. There is a reason NASCAR keeps the acceptable car design VERY simple and why they do all kinds of inspections, before, during and after the race to insure compliance with the rules. They don't always catch somebody when they are breaking the rules, but if you keep it up, eventually they will catch it.

      What I find amazing is how inventive teams can be. Like putting in 100' of extra fuel line, hidden in the frame of the car to get a few extra gallons of fuel on board is a classic. Everybody is angling for that extra edge, some way to eek out a little bit of performance or shave off a 1/10th of a second a lap. They come up with some amazing tweaks at times, at least until everybody figures out the same thing or NASCAR changes their rules and inspection procedures to stop it.

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    2. Re:And yet more differences include by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What I find amazing is how inventive teams can be. Like putting in 100' of extra fuel line, hidden in the frame of the car to get a few extra gallons of fuel on board is a classic.

      This is exactly what Bill Nye is complaining about. Wouldn't it be nice of those people angling for an extra edge were doing things that would translate into real world advances? The whole thing about limiting your fuel if you're car is more efficient means these kinds of stupid tricks are more important than efficiency. There has to be a better balance.

  37. Re: Unlike NASA, NSACAR doesn't use taxpayer's mon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Exactly. NASA is just Republican corporate welfare.

  38. Sports in general by hackwrench · · Score: 1

    This just in: Studies show sports celebrate old "technology". Technonogies celebrated include bipedal physiques with some celebrating something called a biological brain.

  39. Coren22's "greatest hits" fails #2/5... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "I guess we should avoid your crap, it looks like it is marked as malware. Good luck getting that removed." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Monday November 02, 2015 @03:52PM (#50850445)

    62 sources of good repute show + /. users say otherwise:

    Proven safe by 57 antivirus programs in its 64-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    +

    Same for the 32-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    &

    Per VirScan its installer too -> http://f.virscan.org/APKHostsF...

    ---

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl... & MalwareBytes = BEST antivirus per this VERY recent testing of them all http://www.av-test.org/en/news... /.'ers say my work is good too:

    "his hosts program is actually pretty good" - by xenotransplant (4179011) on Monday August 10, 2015 @03:34PM (#50287195)

    "I like your host file system." - by Karmashock (2415832) on Wednesday September 09, 2015 @03:57PM (#50489401)

    "APK is kinda right... I've given up on JS based adblocking and gone to blackholing in /etc/hosts, just like it was back in the 90s. The computational load has gotten intolerable for any ad-blocking using JS. I've tried his hosts file generating software. It works." - by bmo (77928) on Thursday October 15, 2015 @11:30AM (#50736071)

    "his hosts tool is actually useful for those cases in which one does indeed want to locally block stuff outright while consuming minimum system resources" by alexgieg (948359) on Friday September 25, 2015 @09:57AM (#50596461)

    ---

    You tried using Computer Associates another antivirus I turned over on false positives (1/8 over time) & they were caught in ACCOUNTING SCANDALS FRAUD http://www.bing.com/search?q=c...

    Reputable source (not): They had to sell off their PC security suite too (crap also) LOWERING the 'threat level' on THAT program (not my hosts file engine) TO ZERO!

    * YOU ARE WRONG ON EVERY ACCOUNT NOTED!

    APK

    P.S.=> To be continued in part #3/5... apk

  40. Wind Tunnel Testing by hargrand · · Score: 1

    Maybe Billy Bob Nye knew this, and just ignored it, but NASA's customers for time in its wind tunnels at the Langley Research Center include several NASCAR teams.

  41. Not actually that bad... by raftpeople · · Score: 2

    I read the article expecting to read Bill slamming NASCAR, but in reality he acknowledges the excitement of speed in a race and the level of engineering involved which is why he suggested a fuel limit to spur advancements in fuel consumption (due to the competitive nature of the race and the engineering component that already exists).

    1. Re:Not actually that bad... by Medievalist · · Score: 1, Interesting

      I read the article...

      You must be new here.

      ...expecting to read Bill slamming NASCAR, but in reality he acknowledges the excitement of speed in a race and the level of engineering involved which is why he suggested a fuel limit to spur advancements in fuel consumption (due to the competitive nature of the race and the engineering component that already exists).

      Oh, stop interfering with the narrative. It's important to discredit Bill Nye because he might believe in global warming or something equally non-slashdottish. He probably doesn't even get a woody whenever nuclear power is mentioned! You shouldn't be telling people that he's actually suggested a way to make NASCAR more of an engineering challenge, you're messing everything up with your "facts" and "objective viewpoint".

    2. Re:Not actually that bad... by ClickOnThis · · Score: 1

      Mod parent up.

      Contrary to the headline and summary, Bill Nye did not insult NASCAR fans. This is clear if you read TFAs. The insults were in the voice of the article's author, not Nye's.

      Unfortunately, Dice sometimes prefers clickbait to the facts.

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    3. Re:Not actually that bad... by tbannist · · Score: 2

      Indeed. The second linked article is a hit piece on Bill Nye. It uses prejudicial language and selective quoting to distort what Bill Nye actually wrote in his book about climate change. It implies he's saying NASCAR is the anti-NASA because people who like NASCAR are stupid which is severe distortion. He was actually talking about it being the anti-NASA from a climate change point of view. He even makes the somewhat amusing point that if you imposed a fuel limit (one tank, for example), a stock Toyota Prius would win the race because none of the standard cars could finish it. The point being that NASCAR could spur a lot of technical innovation by imposing a limit like that, although I think having read the comments above, Bill's may actually be wrong, the NASCAR rules seem to be pretty strict about not allowing technology to play too large a role in the race.

      --
      Fanatically anti-fanatical
  42. Coren22's "greatest hits" fails #3/5... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Virus scanners/Adblock software don't need admin priv to update" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    Neither does my program. AV does to remove threats - Adblock addons = Vastly INFERIOR in abilities + efficiency vs. hosts as I proved & no one proved me wrong to date!

    ---

    "your software does" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    No, hosts do due to WFP/SFP - Intake update of new hosts data doesn't!

    ---

    "won't reveal your source code" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    I don't owe you it. I don't give away work to be stolen by others so it's misused like GOOGLE CHROME http://it.slashdot.org/story/1...

    ---

    "What's stopping you from pointing my bank's web site at your private server?" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    I don't keep a server. Security guru (not - you create no ware for security & your forensics skills = non-existent): Put it in a VM, trace it using process monitor + wireshark to prove it (don't need code)!

    ---

    "the possibility of being caught, which would be pretty hard to catch w/ such a large hosts file, as no one can go through it manually." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    I place hardcoded fav sites @ top of hosts for speed & reliabilty - you'd spot it easily & bulk of hosts is sorted blocked known bad threats.

    ---

    "What are you going to do when Windows gets rid of the hosts file completely?" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    Hasn't happened..

    ---

    "They have already taken steps to make it useless in Windows 10." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    It works there!

    Telemetry tracking's killing 10 by itself! Win10 = Win8: A flop - who're you fooling other than yourself?

    APK

    P.S.=> Con't. in #4/5... apk

  43. Coren22's "greatest hits" fails #4/5... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Coren22 'eats his words' vs. me 2x yet again:

    "introduces risk you are relying on a 3rd party to update a hosts file potentially opening you up to MITM attacks" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 17, 2015

    How can my program do it?

    Only things it puts in as non-blocking IP addy to hostnames is ones users give it as their favs to speed up @ the TOP of hosts REVERSE DNS VERIFIED!

    (For more speed, & reliability + security - in RAM as 1st resolver queried = faster & more secure vs. remote DNS w/ all its security issues in Kaminsky flaw, DNSChanger malware IP stack settings, routers bushwhacked in DNS settings, rogue DNS, Open DNS servers abused by malware. It aids in reliability vs. redirects).

    YOU'D SPOT IT INSTANTLY AS THEY ARE @ TOP OF CUSTOM HOSTS & can easily edit anything you want out of it!

    (Rest = known bad sites from 10 reputable security community sites for blocking - the MAJORITY of what's in my hosts files!)

    ---

    "maybe one day you can get a score 5 comment" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 17, 2015

    See subject & ~ 12 +5 upmods making you "eat your words" vs. me (1st one: You tried using what I post there against me to FAIL):

    +5 'modded up' posts by "yours truly" (11):

    http://news.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://tech.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://news.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://science.slashdot.org/co...
    http://tech.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://hardware.slashdot.org/c...
    http://news.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://news.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://hardware.slashdot.org/c...
    http://yro.slashdot.org/commen...
    http://yro.slashdot.org/commen...

    "You believe you are getting the better of me" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 17, 2015

    YOU GOT THE BEST OF YOURSELF in tech fails & lies about me. Your immature signatures about me SCREAM you're butthurt! You did it to yourself.

    APK

    P.S.=> Con't. in #5/5... apk

  44. Coren22's "greatest hits" fails #5/5... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "defame me saying things he knows aren't true - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 04, 2015

    Hypocrite you're projecting & your signatures do the rest.

    "the feeling of icky his software - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 04, 2015

    I show /.'ers say differently by quoted testimonials - Show us you've done better: YOU can't!

    "maybe someone will think they are true - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 04, 2015

    Quotes of you = true - & You can't keep your word + projecting what YOU do (AD/DNS lie).

    "I don't have time for the Troll APK, and refuse to respond anymore to a post signed APK" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 03, 2015

    I protect users speeding them up, helping reliability, & security + anonymity online w/ more ability & efficiency than ANY 1 solution doing more w/ less - do you? No.

    "I should change my signature again to rile him up more." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 03, 2015

    Childish sigs = all you've got!

    "I refuted his assertions - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 04, 2015

    &

    "You claim I have never proved you wrong...a flat out lie." - by Coren22 on Monday November 16, 2015

    &

    "I proved you wrong on numerous occasions" - by Coren22 on Monday November 16, 2015

    Where & on what tech? "Cat got your tongue"??

    "written in shitty Delphi, "How to secure Windows" docs I could have written in my sleep when I was 20" - by Coren22 on Monday November 16, 2016

    You're 30++ & haven't done either!

    Show you've done MORE vs.a small partial list of mine & better, + earlier:

    http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    THEN talk vs. TALKING OUT YOUR ASS!

    CIS Tool took fixes from me http://slashdot.org/comments.p... which you doubted & my layered security guides got me paid http://pcpitstop.com/news/winn... MILLIONS use.

    APK

    P.S.=>

    "I never admit you were right" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015

    You PROVED I AM... apk

  45. Coren22's "greatest hits" fails #1/5... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Apk doesn't think DNS servers are worth running & believes Microsoft Active Directory can run w/out DNS." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday October 27, 2015

    Where'd I say it? Show us. I say AD needs internal DNS far back as 2007 http://forums.tweaktown.com/wi...

    See "To warn users who have ActiveDirectory/AD LAN-WAN setups to NOT use external DNS servers" there on OpenDNS free (I use it) + AD in my security guide.

    + Migrate hosts across a LAN (admin/scripts not GPO)-> http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    ---

    I'm RIGHT on admin priv + hosts (WFP/SFP)!

    "figured out why privilege escalation's a bad thing?" - by Coren22 on Tuesday September 22, 2015

    How else can I programmatically update hosts itself?

    ---

    "it requires elevation to write hosts" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday September 23, 2015

    Hypocrite later admits it!

    Even MalwareBytes AntiMalware (best one) DEMANDS it or it can't do a job fully like many security tools!

    ---

    "Needing admin privileges every time a program updates is poor design" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015

    Stupid, mine doesn't to get new data. Only hosts itself updates need it vs WFP/SFP. Users set it too. It's not programmatic impersonation.

    ---

    "90's technology to fight modern war" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015

    Ozymandias/Watchmen per a namesake:

    "I resolved to apply antiquities teachings" (hosts) "to our world today & began my path to conquest - Conquest not of men but of the evils that beset them: Fossil Fuels (antispyware), Oil (antivir), Nuclear Power (addons) are like a drug & you gentlemen along w/ foreign interests are the pushers"

    It works Aryeh Goretsky NOD32/ESET said hosts = good security-> http://it.slashdot.org/comment...

    Oliver Day (Symantec) too-> http://www.securityfocus.com/c...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts' Admin hosts+recommends APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-2 32/64-bit-> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl...

    APK

    P.S.=> Con't. in #2/5... apk

  46. Dur by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Dur, but he's the reason I'm interested in science. Bill Nye is smart. Dur.

  47. Coren22's "greatest hits" fails #2/5... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "I guess we should avoid your crap, it looks like it is marked as malware. Good luck getting that removed." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Monday November 02, 2015 @03:52PM (#50850445)

    62 sources of good repute show + /. users say otherwise:

    Proven safe by 57 antivirus programs in its 64-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    +

    Same for the 32-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    &

    Per VirScan its installer too -> http://f.virscan.org/APKHostsF...

    ---

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl... & MalwareBytes = BEST antivirus per this VERY recent testing of them all http://www.av-test.org/en/news... /.'ers say my work is good too:

    "his hosts program is actually pretty good" - by xenotransplant (4179011) on Monday August 10, 2015 @03:34PM (#50287195)

    "I like your host file system." - by Karmashock (2415832) on Wednesday September 09, 2015 @03:57PM (#50489401)

    "APK is kinda right... I've given up on JS based adblocking and gone to blackholing in /etc/hosts, just like it was back in the 90s. The computational load has gotten intolerable for any ad-blocking using JS. I've tried his hosts file generating software. It works." - by bmo (77928) on Thursday October 15, 2015 @11:30AM (#50736071)

    "his hosts tool is actually useful for those cases in which one does indeed want to locally block stuff outright while consuming minimum system resources" by alexgieg (948359) on Friday September 25, 2015 @09:57AM (#50596461)

    ---

    You tried using Computer Associates another antivirus I turned over on false positives (1/8 over time) & they were caught in ACCOUNTING SCANDALS FRAUD http://www.bing.com/search?q=c...

    Reputable source (not): They had to sell off their PC security suite too (crap also) LOWERING the 'threat level' on THAT program (not my hosts file engine) TO ZERO!

    * YOU ARE WRONG ON EVERY ACCOUNT NOTED!

    APK

    P.S.=> To be continued in part #3/5... apk

  48. Coren22's "greatest hits" fails #3/5... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Virus scanners/Adblock software don't need admin priv to update" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    Neither does my program. AV does to remove threats - Adblock addons = Vastly INFERIOR in abilities + efficiency vs. hosts as I proved & no one proved me wrong to date!

    ---

    "your software does" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    No, hosts do due to WFP/SFP - Intake update of new hosts data doesn't!

    ---

    "won't reveal your source code" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    I don't owe you it. I don't give away work to be stolen by others so it's misused like GOOGLE CHROME http://it.slashdot.org/story/1...

    ---

    "What's stopping you from pointing my bank's web site at your private server?" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    I don't keep a server. Security guru (not - you create no ware for security & your forensics skills = non-existent): Put it in a VM, trace it using process monitor + wireshark to prove it (don't need code)!

    ---

    "the possibility of being caught, which would be pretty hard to catch w/ such a large hosts file, as no one can go through it manually." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    I place hardcoded fav sites @ top of hosts for speed & reliabilty - you'd spot it easily & bulk of hosts is sorted blocked known bad threats.

    ---

    "What are you going to do when Windows gets rid of the hosts file completely?" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    Hasn't happened..

    ---

    "They have already taken steps to make it useless in Windows 10." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    It works there!

    Telemetry tracking's killing 10 by itself! Win10 = Win8: A flop - who're you fooling other than yourself?

    APK

    P.S.=> Con't. in #4/5... apk

  49. Re:Is there a reason to pay more attention to NASA by UnknowingFool · · Score: 1

    NASA research brought us a lot of things in the past. Not so much any more. We get excited now about putting a camera with a transmitter out at absurd distances, to find out things about our solar system that will (possibly) affect our lives 50-100 years from now.

    NASA is about hard science as it always has been. It may not be as exciting as in the past because now that humans have done it, it isn't exciting. Humans have been to space now. They have been to the moon. They have a space station. The next step is a mission to Mars. Sometimes the science does not pay off dividends immediately. But can you say that about NASCAR technology? From what I can tell very little of it makes it into cars that we use every day. Part of the reason is in NASCAR a car is generally built to win one race and not to last. Also part of NASA's current mission is studying weather and climate of the Earth. To put into perspective, climate is one area of current science that is affected by NASA's previous explorations. The understanding of greenhouses today began with the exploration of Venus in the 1970s.

    Would it improve if we took some or all of the money spent on NASCAR and funneled it into NASA? Maybe a little... but would the result be more exploration, or simply more expensive exploration? Money's really the only thing that could be repurposed, because there is certainly a limit on how many people can participate in NASA.

    As the human population grows, there may come a time in the future where the Earth simply cannot sustain too many. What will humans do at that point? Relocating to other planets in this solar system is not a viable option today with the technology that we have. Someone has to do the initial work of developing this basic technology. NASA happens to be one of the few agencies that is doing it although they get less and less funding every year.

    --
    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
  50. Coren22's "greatest hits" fails #4/5... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Coren22 'eats his words' vs. me 2x yet again:

    "introduces risk you are relying on a 3rd party to update a hosts file potentially opening you up to MITM attacks" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 17, 2015

    How can my program do it?

    Only things it puts in as non-blocking IP addy to hostnames is ones users give it as their favs to speed up @ the TOP of hosts REVERSE DNS VERIFIED!

    (For more speed, & reliability + security - in RAM as 1st resolver queried = faster & more secure vs. remote DNS w/ all its security issues in Kaminsky flaw, DNSChanger malware IP stack settings, routers bushwhacked in DNS settings, rogue DNS, Open DNS servers abused by malware. It aids in reliability vs. redirects).

    YOU'D SPOT IT INSTANTLY AS THEY ARE @ TOP OF CUSTOM HOSTS & can easily edit anything you want out of it!

    (Rest = known bad sites from 10 reputable security community sites for blocking - the MAJORITY of what's in my hosts files!)

    ---

    "maybe one day you can get a score 5 comment" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 17, 2015

    See subject & ~ 12 +5 upmods making you "eat your words" vs. me (1st one: You tried using what I post there against me to FAIL):

    +5 'modded up' posts by "yours truly" (11):

    http://news.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://tech.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://news.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://science.slashdot.org/co...
    http://tech.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://hardware.slashdot.org/c...
    http://news.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://news.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://hardware.slashdot.org/c...
    http://yro.slashdot.org/commen...
    http://yro.slashdot.org/commen...

    "You believe you are getting the better of me" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 17, 2015

    YOU GOT THE BEST OF YOURSELF in tech fails & lies about me. Your immature signatures about me SCREAM you're butthurt! You did it to yourself.

    APK

    P.S.=> Con't. in #5/5... apk

  51. Coren22's "greatest hits" fails #5/5... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "defame me saying things he knows aren't true - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 04, 2015

    Hypocrite you're projecting & your signatures do the rest.

    "the feeling of icky his software - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 04, 2015

    I show /.'ers say differently by quoted testimonials - Show us you've done better: YOU can't!

    "maybe someone will think they are true - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 04, 2015

    Quotes of you = true - & You can't keep your word + projecting what YOU do (AD/DNS lie).

    "I don't have time for the Troll APK, and refuse to respond anymore to a post signed APK" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 03, 2015

    I protect users speeding them up, helping reliability, & security + anonymity online w/ more ability & efficiency than ANY 1 solution doing more w/ less - do you? No.

    "I should change my signature again to rile him up more." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 03, 2015

    Childish sigs = all you've got!

    "I refuted his assertions - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 04, 2015

    &

    "You claim I have never proved you wrong...a flat out lie." - by Coren22 on Monday November 16, 2015

    &

    "I proved you wrong on numerous occasions" - by Coren22 on Monday November 16, 2015

    Where & on what tech? "Cat got your tongue"??

    "written in shitty Delphi, "How to secure Windows" docs I could have written in my sleep when I was 20" - by Coren22 on Monday November 16, 2016

    You're 30++ & haven't done either!

    Show you've done MORE vs.a small partial list of mine & better, + earlier:

    http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    THEN talk vs. TALKING OUT YOUR ASS!

    CIS Tool took fixes from me http://slashdot.org/comments.p... which you doubted & my layered security guides got me paid http://pcpitstop.com/news/winn... MILLIONS use.

    APK

    P.S.=>

    "I never admit you were right" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015

    You PROVED I AM... apk

  52. Coren22's "greatest hits" fails #1/5... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Apk doesn't think DNS servers are worth running & believes Microsoft Active Directory can run w/out DNS." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday October 27, 2015

    Where'd I say it? Show us. I say AD needs internal DNS far back as 2007 http://forums.tweaktown.com/wi...

    See "To warn users who have ActiveDirectory/AD LAN-WAN setups to NOT use external DNS servers" there on OpenDNS free (I use it) + AD in my security guide.

    + Migrate hosts across a LAN (admin/scripts not GPO)-> http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    ---

    I'm RIGHT on admin priv + hosts (WFP/SFP)!

    "figured out why privilege escalation's a bad thing?" - by Coren22 on Tuesday September 22, 2015

    How else can I programmatically update hosts itself?

    ---

    "it requires elevation to write hosts" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday September 23, 2015

    Hypocrite later admits it!

    Even MalwareBytes AntiMalware (best one) DEMANDS it or it can't do a job fully like many security tools!

    ---

    "Needing admin privileges every time a program updates is poor design" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015

    Stupid, mine doesn't to get new data. Only hosts itself updates need it vs WFP/SFP. Users set it too. It's not programmatic impersonation.

    ---

    "90's technology to fight modern war" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015

    Ozymandias/Watchmen per a namesake:

    "I resolved to apply antiquities teachings" (hosts) "to our world today & began my path to conquest - Conquest not of men but of the evils that beset them: Fossil Fuels (antispyware), Oil (antivir), Nuclear Power (addons) are like a drug & you gentlemen along w/ foreign interests are the pushers"

    It works Aryeh Goretsky NOD32/ESET said hosts = good security-> http://it.slashdot.org/comment...

    Oliver Day (Symantec) too-> http://www.securityfocus.com/c...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts' Admin hosts+recommends APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-2 32/64-bit-> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl...

    APK

    P.S.=> Con't. in #2/5... apk

  53. Coren22's "greatest hits" fails #2/5... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "I guess we should avoid your crap, it looks like it is marked as malware. Good luck getting that removed." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Monday November 02, 2015 @03:52PM (#50850445)

    62 sources of good repute show + /. users say otherwise:

    Proven safe by 57 antivirus programs in its 64-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    +

    Same for the 32-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    &

    Per VirScan its installer too -> http://f.virscan.org/APKHostsF...

    ---

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl... & MalwareBytes = BEST antivirus per this VERY recent testing of them all http://www.av-test.org/en/news... /.'ers say my work is good too:

    "his hosts program is actually pretty good" - by xenotransplant (4179011) on Monday August 10, 2015 @03:34PM (#50287195)

    "I like your host file system." - by Karmashock (2415832) on Wednesday September 09, 2015 @03:57PM (#50489401)

    "APK is kinda right... I've given up on JS based adblocking and gone to blackholing in /etc/hosts, just like it was back in the 90s. The computational load has gotten intolerable for any ad-blocking using JS. I've tried his hosts file generating software. It works." - by bmo (77928) on Thursday October 15, 2015 @11:30AM (#50736071)

    "his hosts tool is actually useful for those cases in which one does indeed want to locally block stuff outright while consuming minimum system resources" by alexgieg (948359) on Friday September 25, 2015 @09:57AM (#50596461)

    ---

    You tried using Computer Associates another antivirus I turned over on false positives (1/8 over time) & they were caught in ACCOUNTING SCANDALS FRAUD http://www.bing.com/search?q=c...

    Reputable source (not): They had to sell off their PC security suite too (crap also) LOWERING the 'threat level' on THAT program (not my hosts file engine) TO ZERO!

    * YOU ARE WRONG ON EVERY ACCOUNT NOTED!

    APK

    P.S.=> To be continued in part #3/5... apk

  54. Coren22's "greatest hits" fails #3/5... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Virus scanners/Adblock software don't need admin priv to update" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    Neither does my program. AV does to remove threats - Adblock addons = Vastly INFERIOR in abilities + efficiency vs. hosts as I proved & no one proved me wrong to date!

    ---

    "your software does" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    No, hosts do due to WFP/SFP - Intake update of new hosts data doesn't!

    ---

    "won't reveal your source code" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    I don't owe you it. I don't give away work to be stolen by others so it's misused like GOOGLE CHROME http://it.slashdot.org/story/1...

    ---

    "What's stopping you from pointing my bank's web site at your private server?" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    I don't keep a server. Security guru (not - you create no ware for security & your forensics skills = non-existent): Put it in a VM, trace it using process monitor + wireshark to prove it (don't need code)!

    ---

    "the possibility of being caught, which would be pretty hard to catch w/ such a large hosts file, as no one can go through it manually." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    I place hardcoded fav sites @ top of hosts for speed & reliabilty - you'd spot it easily & bulk of hosts is sorted blocked known bad threats.

    ---

    "What are you going to do when Windows gets rid of the hosts file completely?" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    Hasn't happened..

    ---

    "They have already taken steps to make it useless in Windows 10." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    It works there!

    Telemetry tracking's killing 10 by itself! Win10 = Win8: A flop - who're you fooling other than yourself?

    APK

    P.S.=> Con't. in #4/5... apk

  55. Just a nit pick.... by bobbied · · Score: 1

    Hey Bill.. You do realize that NASCAR has not burned just gasoline for a number of years now... They switched to a 15% blend of ethanol way back in 2011 as I recall...

    But hey there Billy boy... It's easy to criticize something you don't really understand. Three is actually a LOT of science and technology involved in NASCAR even though the car design is deceptively kept simple. There is actually a lot of really bright folks involved in NASCAR that do some really amazing things when you dig into what is actually going on. Yes most of it is hidden behind the pit wall, but that doesn't make what these people do any less worthy of respect and admiration. They are out there engineering solutions for problems which have never been seen before, developing tools and techniques to evaluate and quantify the effectiveness of their ideas then competing with others to see who can innovate the fastest without causing catastrophic failures in one of the most demanding places you can imagine.

    And that's just the engineering side.... Don't get me started on how 6 guys can change 4 tires, fill up the tank,get the driver a drink and put the car back on the road and all the tools behind the wall in less than 18 seconds, almost without fail. Or how some driver, literally going down the road at 200 MPH in a vehicle that would rather be airborne at that speed, keeps the thing pointed in the right direction though the turns in the face of buffeting winds, air that's upset by the car 2 feet in front of him, blinding sun, ever changing track conditions and 42 other guys trying to use the same bit of asphalt to get across the same line before him. And how anybody can do that for as much as 500 miles, stopping only 16 seconds at a time.

    Just admit it Billy, you just don't like NASCAR so you don't go to the races or bother to understand how any of it works... But do you have to go out and insult nearly half the population of a number of pretty important states with your ignorance of things they like to do? Just because they talk differently from you, doesn't make them stupid.... Look, you are entitled to not like NASCAR if it's not your cup of tea, but you are NOT entitled to making scathing remards about the people who don't see things you way.

    Full disclosure... While I'm not a die-hard NASCAR fan and I find watching most of the races a bit tedious so I don't often take the time, I've been to a number of races over the years and I can see why people can really enjoy them. In general, it's good fun with good people and where it's not my favorite cup of tea, I don't mind consuming a bit from time to time. Same with baseball, football and sometimes even golf, and NASCAR is every bit the team sport that baseball or football is... So, Billy boy, what you are really proving with your inane statements is that you have a pretty high opinion of yourself, too high for your own good, and you are intolerant of people who are different from you and look down on them out of ignorance. In the future, I suggest you keep your mouth shut and I'd recommend you stay away from the track until this blows over some, it might not be safe if somebody recognizes you...

    --
    "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    1. Re:Just a nit pick.... by vbraga · · Score: 1

      Here's what he said:

      "I get it. I understand the appeal of a stock car race. It’s just exciting, and I’m all for it,” he writes. “I just want NASCAR to adapt to the new mainstream. I want the circuit to produce vehicles that could compete in races anywhere int eh world, and win. I want the racing series to spin off new tech that will do more with less. For me, as an American mechanical engineer, I hope NASCAR decides to look forward rather than backward.”

      I'm not American and I never cared about motorsports so I don't really have any connection to this - so please, excuse me if I'm talking shit but what he actually wrote seems to be very sensible, unlike what troll-like summary.

      --
      English is not my first language. Corrections and suggestions are welcome.
    2. Re:Just a nit pick.... by Nethemas+the+Great · · Score: 2

      You understand that ethanol is an indirect petroleum derivative right? That whole game was a means whereby one might shore up corn farmers. The only real difference between gas and ethanol is that in the case of the latter you have to first dump the petroleum onto the ground.

      As for the rest, you're basically just describing logistics and driver talent. Maybe you can call it engineering, but it isn't what comes to most people mind.

      --
      Two of my imaginary friends reproduced once ... with negative results.
    3. Re:Just a nit pick.... by bobbied · · Score: 1

      Yea, NASCAR is based in tradition and simplicity, it's kind of their thing. The got their start racing actual "stock" (meaning direct off the show room floor) cars with only a minimum amount of allowed alterations. It has had to depart from this original idea a bit, but they retain as much simplicity as they can in the car design by keeping it as simple as they can. It's part of their charm. Formula 1 and Indy are all out, make it go as fast as possible affairs with little technology that enables it off limits while NASCAR is dedicated to simplicity.

      In the last decade or so though, NASCAR has had to allow some technology to creep into the car and has started to depart more and more from the "stock" part of their name. They used to run carburetors and distributers, now they run fuel injection and electronically controlled ignitions. They now have cars that have to be identical in shape, size and weight with frames that have to adhere to strict geometry and construction rules, which has taken away a lot of the meaning of what a "Toyota" or "Ford" was. They all run the same tires, same fuel, same everything else except for what color it's painted and the driver's seat they bolted into it. In the process, NASCAR has lost some of it's charm. So I'm not sure it is in their best interest to just allow unfettered access to technology in the sport because I fear it will drive away the people there to watch what can be done with the simplest of tools.

      Bill doesn't seem to understand what NASCAR is, or value its traditions, which generally comes across as uppity and narcissistic. It's kind of like a food snob looking down his nose at you for enjoying that bowl of beef stew because you didn't use Kobe beef with the right kind of vegetables in a Dutch oven and cooked it the day before, but threw yours in the crock pot this morning before work. He thinks you are stupid, unrefined and don't know better, when all you really want is to enjoy your dinner of beef stew like your mom used to make.

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    4. Re:Just a nit pick.... by bobbied · · Score: 1

      Oh I fully understand that Ethanol is a fools errand.. Converting food into motor fuel is just about as stupid as you can get....

      NASCAR is more than just logistics and driver talent, there is a whole load of tradition to go along with all that plus a whole lot of very bright people trying to engineer their way into some legal advantage or not getting caught trying something not so legal. It's quite the engineering challenge and most teams have big budgets to hire staff to design/build/test everything from engines to brakes and come up with the right combinations for each of the venues they must operate in.

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    5. Re:Just a nit pick.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He doesn't like NASCAR because he is classest and elitist. I mean I like bil but when he says that about nascar he is looking at the red neck fans and southern accents and saying they are stupid. I agree go behind the wall and those guys are top notch.

    6. Re:Just a nit pick.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yea, NASCAR is based in tradition and simplicity, it's kind of their thing.

      Not really, no. It's how they portray their thing. Which is very very different from the reality.

      They do have a product to sell. God and American Pie. With a touch of James Dean. Just enough to seem real.

      The got their start racing actual "stock" (meaning direct off the show room floor) cars with only a minimum amount of allowed alterations. It has had to depart from this original idea a bit, but they retain as much simplicity as they can in the car design by keeping it as simple as they can.

      Again, no. The car design is uniform, not simple. And no, they departed from the original idea so far that the logos are the only things that are shared with a street car.

      Been a long time gone, at that. Safety mostly. But also performance.

      It's part of their charm. Formula 1 and Indy are all out, make it go as fast as possible affairs with little technology that enables it off limits while NASCAR is dedicated to simplicity.

      I think you know even less about Formula 1 and Indy than NASCAR then. They do have different technology in F1 and Indy, but their rule books are much the same as NASCAR's. You can do this, but only in this way. No doing that. So on and so forth.

      And they all push the limits. This year, Joe Gibbs seems to be doing something with their air guns. Last year or the year before, they were all busting out the fenders, before that, Rousch had something to do with Skew. And there was that one incident where Carl Edward's had a piece of cover open up in some way. Was it in Phoenix or Vegas? I can't remember which. I can remember some Toyota guy bitching about it though.

      Amusing considering where he is today.

      In the last decade or so though, NASCAR has had to allow some technology to creep into the car and has started to depart more and more from the "stock" part of their name. They used to run carburetors and distributers, now they run fuel injection and electronically controlled ignitions.

      Ironically, that was getting them closer to the cars in the showrooms. According to what I can find, the last carburetor in the US was in 1994 on an Isuzu.

      I can't say that NASCAR went that direction in order to go showroom quality, I think it was more about the air quality, and the fuel, because nobody would pay them to advertise LEADED fuel anyway, but they may pay for Sunoco Green E15 advertisements.

      They now have cars that have to be identical in shape, size and weight with frames that have to adhere to strict geometry and construction rules, which has taken away a lot of the meaning of what a "Toyota" or "Ford" was. They all run the same tires, same fuel, same everything else except for what color it's painted and the driver's seat they bolted into it. In the process, NASCAR has lost some of it's charm.

      That would be back in the 1980s. 1970s for some of that. I honestly can't imagine anybody letting you bring your own fuel to the track, but I suppose it could have happened at one point. Tires were standardized a long time ago though. Goodyear has been the exclusive official supplier for all three since 1997, and before that, it was still a limited choice. And the weight is a minimum, but well, is anybody going to add more weight? Uh no. And it's been done for years and years, though certain tricks like weighted tire hubs are gone. They check at the end of the race now.

      Now the rest, well, when the Car of Tomorrow was first out, it was pretty identical for everybody, but even before that, cars were made to a standard template for quite a while. The days of the Superbird were long gone. Now though, they have begun to differentiate slightly based on appearance after some aerodynamic testing. Did you not hear them talking about the new noses? It was last year or the year before I think.

    7. Re:Just a nit pick.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey Bill.. You do realize that NASCAR has not burned just gasoline for a number of years now... They switched to a 15% blend of ethanol way back in 2011 as I recall...

      Yeah, because Bill's problem was with the fuel they used. That's the gist of it. Right? No wait, it's not. Though I, like many people, am embarrassed it took them so long to get off leaded fuel.

      But hey there Billy boy... It's easy to criticize something you don't really understand.

      Oh god, this is delicious. Hey, Bobbied-boy, maybe you don't really understand Bill Nye or his words.

      But you sure found it easy to blow your stack.

      Three is actually a LOT of science and technology involved in NASCAR even though the car design is deceptively kept simple. There is actually a lot of really bright folks involved in NASCAR that do some really amazing things when you dig into what is actually going on. Yes most of it is hidden behind the pit wall, but that doesn't make what these people do any less worthy of respect and admiration.

      Goodness me, where did you get the idea that Bill Nye doesn't respect and admire them? Please tell us where you get that idea by quoting his words.

      C'mon. Do it. RTFB. I won't even complain if you pirate it.

      They are out there engineering solutions for problems which have never been seen before, developing tools and techniques to evaluate and quantify the effectiveness of their ideas then competing with others to see who can innovate the fastest without causing catastrophic failures in one of the most demanding places you can imagine.

      IOW, just like every other form of motor sport. Also to some extent, the nautical and aerial sports. Let's try not to be quite so arrogant, here, huh? I assure you, while the particulars vary, it's all being seen.

      I could even make a case for the ergonomics dating back to the Labors of Hercules and the guy who used a lever to move the world. Unless, of course, your driver parks too close to the wall and then you don't have the room to stand. As happened this week, but I forget who. I remember the guy talking about it, but not the driver. I want to say Kurt Busch. I really do. But I'm not certain. Oh wait, it was Kyle. Happens to everybody though, sooner or later.

      And that's just the engineering side.... Don't get me started on how 6 guys can change 4 tires, fill up the tank,get the driver a drink and put the car back on the road and all the tools behind the wall in less than 18 seconds, almost without fail.

      Almost without fail? Ah, if only. As I mentioned above, though Kyle came in 4th, so no harm in the end. But more people than that, actually. The guys behind the wall also help, by catching tires and passing the second contain of gas. Oh and they let a guy use a brush on a pole to clear the front grill. And actually, it's the seventh guy who gives the driver his water bottle. Or hers. Driver comfort. It was up to eight a few years ago, when they had a catch can, but it only took a few incidents before they modified the cans to be self-venting. Sigh.

      Or how some driver, literally going down the road at 200 MPH in a vehicle that would rather be airborne at that speed,

      Ah Hell no, WTF gives you that idea? They make sure the vehicles have enough downforce for a damn good reason. The cars are even designed to crash with downforce, particularly at the restrictor plate tracks. They do not want cars flying into the catch fences.

      Bad idea. Bad. Bad. Bad.

      keeps the thing pointed in the right direction though the turns in the face of buffeting winds, air that's upset by the car 2 feet in front of him, blinding sun, ever changing track conditions and 42 other guys trying to use the same bit of asphalt to get across the same line before him.

      Ack, I don't know about you, but I h

  56. Coren22's "greatest hits" fails #4/5... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Coren22 'eats his words' vs. me 2x yet again:

    "introduces risk you are relying on a 3rd party to update a hosts file potentially opening you up to MITM attacks" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 17, 2015

    How can my program do it?

    Only things it puts in as non-blocking IP addy to hostnames is ones users give it as their favs to speed up @ the TOP of hosts REVERSE DNS VERIFIED!

    (For more speed, & reliability + security - in RAM as 1st resolver queried = faster & more secure vs. remote DNS w/ all its security issues in Kaminsky flaw, DNSChanger malware IP stack settings, routers bushwhacked in DNS settings, rogue DNS, Open DNS servers abused by malware. It aids in reliability vs. redirects).

    YOU'D SPOT IT INSTANTLY AS THEY ARE @ TOP OF CUSTOM HOSTS & can easily edit anything you want out of it!

    (Rest = known bad sites from 10 reputable security community sites for blocking - the MAJORITY of what's in my hosts files!)

    ---

    "maybe one day you can get a score 5 comment" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 17, 2015

    See subject & ~ 12 +5 upmods making you "eat your words" vs. me (1st one: You tried using what I post there against me to FAIL):

    +5 'modded up' posts by "yours truly" (11):

    http://news.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://tech.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://news.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://science.slashdot.org/co...
    http://tech.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://hardware.slashdot.org/c...
    http://news.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://news.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://hardware.slashdot.org/c...
    http://yro.slashdot.org/commen...
    http://yro.slashdot.org/commen...

    "You believe you are getting the better of me" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 17, 2015

    YOU GOT THE BEST OF YOURSELF in tech fails & lies about me. Your immature signatures about me SCREAM you're butthurt! You did it to yourself.

    APK

    P.S.=> Con't. in #5/5... apk

  57. Coren22's "greatest hits" fails #5/5... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "defame me saying things he knows aren't true - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 04, 2015

    Hypocrite you're projecting & your signatures do the rest.

    "the feeling of icky his software - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 04, 2015

    I show /.'ers say differently by quoted testimonials - Show us you've done better: YOU can't!

    "maybe someone will think they are true - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 04, 2015

    Quotes of you = true - & You can't keep your word + projecting what YOU do (AD/DNS lie).

    "I don't have time for the Troll APK, and refuse to respond anymore to a post signed APK" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 03, 2015

    I protect users speeding them up, helping reliability, & security + anonymity online w/ more ability & efficiency than ANY 1 solution doing more w/ less - do you? No.

    "I should change my signature again to rile him up more." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 03, 2015

    Childish sigs = all you've got!

    "I refuted his assertions - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 04, 2015

    &

    "You claim I have never proved you wrong...a flat out lie." - by Coren22 on Monday November 16, 2015

    &

    "I proved you wrong on numerous occasions" - by Coren22 on Monday November 16, 2015

    Where & on what tech? "Cat got your tongue"??

    "written in shitty Delphi, "How to secure Windows" docs I could have written in my sleep when I was 20" - by Coren22 on Monday November 16, 2016

    You're 30++ & haven't done either!

    Show you've done MORE vs.a small partial list of mine & better, + earlier:

    http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    THEN talk vs. TALKING OUT YOUR ASS!

    CIS Tool took fixes from me http://slashdot.org/comments.p... which you doubted & my layered security guides got me paid http://pcpitstop.com/news/winn... MILLIONS use.

    APK

    P.S.=>

    "I never admit you were right" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015

    LOL, you PROVED I am... apk

  58. Coren22's "greatest hits" fails #1/5... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Apk doesn't think DNS servers are worth running & believes Microsoft Active Directory can run w/out DNS." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday October 27, 2015

    Where'd I say it? Show us. I say AD needs internal DNS far back as 2007 http://forums.tweaktown.com/wi...

    See "To warn users who have ActiveDirectory/AD LAN-WAN setups to NOT use external DNS servers" there on OpenDNS free (I use it) + AD in my security guide.

    + Migrate hosts across a LAN (admin/scripts not GPO)-> http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    ---

    I'm RIGHT on admin priv + hosts (WFP/SFP)!

    "figured out why privilege escalation's a bad thing?" - by Coren22 on Tuesday September 22, 2015

    How else can I programmatically update hosts itself?

    ---

    "it requires elevation to write hosts" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday September 23, 2015

    Hypocrite later admits it!

    Even MalwareBytes AntiMalware (best one) DEMANDS it or it can't do a job fully like many security tools!

    ---

    "Needing admin privileges every time a program updates is poor design" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015

    Stupid, mine doesn't to get new data. Only hosts itself updates need it vs WFP/SFP. Users set it too. It's not programmatic impersonation.

    ---

    "90's technology to fight modern war" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015

    Ozymandias/Watchmen per a namesake:

    "I resolved to apply antiquities teachings" (hosts) "to our world today & began my path to conquest - Conquest not of men but of the evils that beset them: Fossil Fuels (antispyware), Oil (antivir), Nuclear Power (addons) are like a drug & you gentlemen along w/ foreign interests are the pushers"

    It works Aryeh Goretsky NOD32/ESET said hosts = good security-> http://it.slashdot.org/comment...

    Oliver Day (Symantec) too-> http://www.securityfocus.com/c...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts' Admin hosts+recommends APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-2 32/64-bit-> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl...

    APK

    P.S.=> Con't. in #2/5... apk

  59. Coren22's "greatest hits" fails #2/5... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "I guess we should avoid your crap, it looks like it is marked as malware. Good luck getting that removed." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Monday November 02, 2015 @03:52PM (#50850445)

    62 sources of good repute show + /. users say otherwise:

    Proven safe by 57 antivirus programs in its 64-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    +

    Same for the 32-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    &

    Per VirScan its installer too -> http://f.virscan.org/APKHostsF...

    ---

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl... & MalwareBytes = BEST antivirus per this VERY recent testing of them all http://www.av-test.org/en/news... /.'ers say my work is good too:

    "his hosts program is actually pretty good" - by xenotransplant (4179011) on Monday August 10, 2015 @03:34PM (#50287195)

    "I like your host file system." - by Karmashock (2415832) on Wednesday September 09, 2015 @03:57PM (#50489401)

    "APK is kinda right... I've given up on JS based adblocking and gone to blackholing in /etc/hosts, just like it was back in the 90s. The computational load has gotten intolerable for any ad-blocking using JS. I've tried his hosts file generating software. It works." - by bmo (77928) on Thursday October 15, 2015 @11:30AM (#50736071)

    "his hosts tool is actually useful for those cases in which one does indeed want to locally block stuff outright while consuming minimum system resources" by alexgieg (948359) on Friday September 25, 2015 @09:57AM (#50596461)

    ---

    You tried using Computer Associates another antivirus I turned over on false positives (1/8 over time) & they were caught in ACCOUNTING SCANDALS FRAUD http://www.bing.com/search?q=c...

    Reputable source (not): They had to sell off their PC security suite too (crap also) LOWERING the 'threat level' on THAT program (not my hosts file engine) TO ZERO!

    * YOU ARE WRONG ON EVERY ACCOUNT NOTED!

    APK

    P.S.=> To be continued in part #3/5... apk

  60. Things that go Round and Round... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Whatever the engineering behind it, NASCAR == Bread and Circuses for the modern age.

  61. Coren22's "greatest hits" fails #3/5... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Virus scanners/Adblock software don't need admin priv to update" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    Neither does my program. AV does to remove threats - Adblock addons = Vastly INFERIOR in abilities + efficiency vs. hosts as I proved & no one proved me wrong to date!

    ---

    "your software does" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    No, hosts do due to WFP/SFP - Intake update of new hosts data doesn't!

    ---

    "won't reveal your source code" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    I don't owe you it. I don't give away work to be stolen by others so it's misused like GOOGLE CHROME http://it.slashdot.org/story/1...

    ---

    "What's stopping you from pointing my bank's web site at your private server?" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    I don't keep a server. Security guru (not - you create no ware for security & your forensics skills = non-existent): Put it in a VM, trace it using process monitor + wireshark to prove it (don't need code)!

    ---

    "the possibility of being caught, which would be pretty hard to catch w/ such a large hosts file, as no one can go through it manually." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    I place hardcoded fav sites @ top of hosts for speed & reliabilty - you'd spot it easily & bulk of hosts is sorted blocked known bad threats.

    ---

    "What are you going to do when Windows gets rid of the hosts file completely?" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    Hasn't happened..

    ---

    "They have already taken steps to make it useless in Windows 10." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    It works there!

    Telemetry tracking's killing 10 by itself! Win10 = Win8: A flop - who're you fooling other than yourself?

    APK

    P.S.=> Con't. in #4/5... apk

  62. Bill Nye by argStyopa · · Score: 0

    ...was a great host of a children's science show.

    Is less great as a patronizing quasi-leftist spokesman, practically militant about things he believes are true and utterly uncomprehending that people might disagree with him (they're all just stupid-heads anyway).

    --
    -Styopa
    1. Re:Bill Nye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Frankly, I'm not sure why people give a shit what he says anymore.

  63. Coren22's "greatest hits" fails #4/5... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Coren22 'eats his words' vs. me 2x yet again:

    "introduces risk you are relying on a 3rd party to update a hosts file potentially opening you up to MITM attacks" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 17, 2015

    How can my program do it?

    Only things it puts in as non-blocking IP addy to hostnames is ones users give it as their favs to speed up @ the TOP of hosts REVERSE DNS VERIFIED!

    (For more speed, & reliability + security - in RAM as 1st resolver queried = faster & more secure vs. remote DNS w/ all its security issues in Kaminsky flaw, DNSChanger malware IP stack settings, routers bushwhacked in DNS settings, rogue DNS, Open DNS servers abused by malware. It aids in reliability vs. redirects).

    YOU'D SPOT IT INSTANTLY AS THEY ARE @ TOP OF CUSTOM HOSTS & can easily edit anything you want out of it!

    (Rest = known bad sites from 10 reputable security community sites for blocking - the MAJORITY of what's in my hosts files!)

    ---

    "maybe one day you can get a score 5 comment" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 17, 2015

    See subject & ~ 12 +5 upmods making you "eat your words" vs. me (1st one: You tried using what I post there against me to FAIL):

    +5 'modded up' posts by "yours truly" (11):

    http://news.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://tech.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://news.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://science.slashdot.org/co...
    http://tech.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://hardware.slashdot.org/c...
    http://news.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://news.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://hardware.slashdot.org/c...
    http://yro.slashdot.org/commen...
    http://yro.slashdot.org/commen...

    "You believe you are getting the better of me" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 17, 2015

    YOU GOT THE BEST OF YOURSELF in tech fails & lies about me. Your immature signatures about me SCREAM you're butthurt! You did it to yourself.

    APK

    P.S.=> Con't. in #5/5... apk

  64. Coren22's "greatest hits" fails #5/5... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "defame me saying things he knows aren't true - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 04, 2015

    Hypocrite you're projecting & your signatures do the rest.

    "the feeling of icky his software - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 04, 2015

    I show /.'ers say differently by quoted testimonials - Show us you've done better: YOU can't!

    "maybe someone will think they are true - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 04, 2015

    Quotes of you = true - & You can't keep your word + projecting what YOU do (AD/DNS lie).

    "I don't have time for the Troll APK, and refuse to respond anymore to a post signed APK" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 03, 2015

    I protect users speeding them up, helping reliability, & security + anonymity online w/ more ability & efficiency than ANY 1 solution doing more w/ less - do you? No.

    "I should change my signature again to rile him up more." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 03, 2015

    Childish sigs = all you've got!

    "I refuted his assertions - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 04, 2015

    &

    "You claim I have never proved you wrong...a flat out lie." - by Coren22 on Monday November 16, 2015

    &

    "I proved you wrong on numerous occasions" - by Coren22 on Monday November 16, 2015

    Where & on what tech? "Cat got your tongue"??

    "written in shitty Delphi, "How to secure Windows" docs I could have written in my sleep when I was 20" - by Coren22 on Monday November 16, 2016

    You're 30++ & haven't done either!

    Show you've done MORE vs.a small partial list of mine & better, + earlier:

    http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    THEN talk vs. TALKING OUT YOUR ASS!

    CIS Tool took fixes from me http://slashdot.org/comments.p... which you doubted & my layered security guides got me paid http://pcpitstop.com/news/winn... MILLIONS use.

    APK

    P.S.=>

    "I never admit you were right" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015

    You PROVED I am, lol... apk

  65. Sad state of affairs by wb7dpf · · Score: 1

    I've been really disappointed in government for the last 20 years or so - science and data is ignored and replaced with any opinion that somebody wants to broadcast repeatedly. It's unfortunate the we have a science guy saying things that only furthers this thinking. Auto racing has resulted in many safety features that are being used - including in space, and vice versa. I think we should rename him, Bill Nye the Science Sty.

    1. Re:Sad state of affairs by wyHunter · · Score: 1

      Because science now depends entirely on public funding, it is absolutely political. This means it is less useful - because it depends on the winds of politics. Perhaps the worst thing the USA did was break up AT&T. The Bell System made telecom expensive - but a lot of the money was funneled into basic research that has produced most of the tech we take for granted today - and even if the manufacturing wasn't there in the 1960s and 1970s - the ideas WERE. Now, not so much.

  66. Actually, no. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    even Salon and LiveScience (neither is right wing) agree that conservatives tend to be happier people. Of course, left wingers then have to go all bitter and mean about it and try to diagnose this happiness as some form of dysfunction... (thereby reenforcing the whole thing)

    Conservatives have not made any movie about assassinating Obama while he is actually serving in the White House; Liberals DID make such a film about assassinating Bush while HE was in office. Conservatives do not insist that nobody should watch a TV channel with opposing political view (like MSNBC for example), no they WANT people to watch the insanity and see it for what it is. Liberals on the other hand are nearly paranoid about opposing points of view and are always insisting people should not watch the channel they oppose (Fox News).

    The Left end of the political spectrum views people as only interchangeable parts of groups and wants to treat them as such in a grand social machine; this means the rights of the group trump the rights of the individual and the desires of the masses, hence the fixation on the US as a Democracy and the willingness to shut down free speech anytime a group is offended. This leads to identity-politics, socialized services, re-distributive economics, ever-growing government, and the general unhappiness of many as they realize their ideology means that, as individuals, they are insignificant and should be sacrificed for the good-of-the-many (as defined by the many, rather than by them). People on the left also tend to be more secular and therefore have a bleak view that they will live for a few decades and then plunge into oblivion, nullifying their existence and making it completely irrational to even care about what happens after they are gone, including even whether anybody cares that they were ever among the living.

    The right end of the political spectrum views people as unique individuals who each have their own value; this means the rights of the individual trump the desires of the masses unless something like an national security threat is involved, hence the fixation on the US as a Republic and the reflexive repulsion towards political correctness. This leads to a desire for smaller government that generally leaves people alone (just doing the critical stuff like national defense and dealing with murderers etc), allowing them to succeed or fail as they choose. This is the freedom-to-try model over the protection-from-failure model. They also tend to believe in VOLUNTARY private charity over forced government re-distribution. Whether it's true or not, this idea of a freedom to succeed leads people to think they might "strike it rich" or succeed in some other way. People on the right also tend to be more religious, often (depending on faith) believing in some sort of after-life that is generally hoped will be better than their current life and an ongoing existence. All of this puts value (often God-given value) on each individual - an idea that can hardly make one bitter.

    I'm not arguing which side is "right" in the sense of true/correct, just that the different beliefs (whether completely true or loony-tunes wrong) have a natural and rational effect upon the attitudes and behaviors of those who hold them - and that this has been exposed countless times by academic studies, so No, you cannot honestly say the same thing about conservatives

  67. Coren22's "greatest hits" fails #1/5... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Apk doesn't think DNS servers are worth running & believes Microsoft Active Directory can run w/out DNS." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday October 27, 2015

    Where'd I say it? Show us. I say AD needs internal DNS far back as 2007 http://forums.tweaktown.com/wi...

    See "To warn users who have ActiveDirectory/AD LAN-WAN setups to NOT use external DNS servers" there on OpenDNS free (I use it) + AD in my security guide.

    + Migrate hosts across a LAN (admin/scripts not GPO)-> http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    ---

    I'm RIGHT on admin priv + hosts (WFP/SFP)!

    "figured out why privilege escalation's a bad thing?" - by Coren22 on Tuesday September 22, 2015

    How else can I programmatically update hosts itself?

    ---

    "it requires elevation to write hosts" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday September 23, 2015

    Hypocrite later admits it!

    Even MalwareBytes AntiMalware (best one) DEMANDS it or it can't do a job fully like many security tools!

    ---

    "Needing admin privileges every time a program updates is poor design" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015

    Stupid, mine doesn't to get new data. Only hosts itself updates need it vs WFP/SFP. Users set it too. It's not programmatic impersonation.

    ---

    "90's technology to fight modern war" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015

    Ozymandias/Watchmen per a namesake:

    "I resolved to apply antiquities teachings" (hosts) "to our world today & began my path to conquest - Conquest not of men but of the evils that beset them: Fossil Fuels (antispyware), Oil (antivir), Nuclear Power (addons) are like a drug & you gentlemen along w/ foreign interests are the pushers"

    It works Aryeh Goretsky NOD32/ESET said hosts = good security-> http://it.slashdot.org/comment...

    Oliver Day (Symantec) too-> http://www.securityfocus.com/c...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts' Admin hosts+recommends APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-2 32/64-bit-> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl...

    APK

    P.S.=> Con't. in #2/5... apk

  68. Coren22's "greatest hits" fails #1/5... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Apk doesn't think DNS servers are worth running & believes Microsoft Active Directory can run w/out DNS." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday October 27, 2015

    Where'd I say it? Show us. I say AD needs internal DNS far back as 2007 http://forums.tweaktown.com/wi...

    See "To warn users who have ActiveDirectory/AD LAN-WAN setups to NOT use external DNS servers" there on OpenDNS free (I use it) + AD in my security guide.

    + Migrate hosts across a LAN (admin/scripts not GPO)-> http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    ---

    I'm RIGHT on admin priv + hosts (WFP/SFP)!

    "figured out why privilege escalation's a bad thing?" - by Coren22 on Tuesday September 22, 2015

    How else can I programmatically update hosts itself?

    ---

    "it requires elevation to write hosts" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday September 23, 2015

    Hypocrite later admits it!

    Even MalwareBytes AntiMalware (best one) DEMANDS it or it can't do a job fully like many security tools!

    ---

    "Needing admin privileges every time a program updates is poor design" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015

    Stupid, mine doesn't to get new data. Only hosts itself updates need it vs WFP/SFP. Users set it too. It's not programmatic impersonation.

    ---

    "90's technology to fight modern war" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015

    Ozymandias/Watchmen per a namesake:

    "I resolved to apply antiquities teachings" (hosts) "to our world today & began my path to conquest - Conquest not of men but of the evils that beset them: Fossil Fuels (antispyware), Oil (antivir), Nuclear Power (addons) are like a drug & you gentlemen along w/ foreign interests are the pushers"

    It works Aryeh Goretsky NOD32/ESET said hosts = good security-> http://it.slashdot.org/comment...

    Oliver Day (Symantec) too-> http://www.securityfocus.com/c...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts' Admin hosts+recommends APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-2 32/64-bit-> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl...

    APK

    P.S.=> Con't. in #2/5... apk

  69. The biggest insult to a NASCAR fan... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is being a NASCAR fan in the first place.

  70. Coren22's "greatest hits" fails #2/5... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "I guess we should avoid your crap, it looks like it is marked as malware. Good luck getting that removed." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Monday November 02, 2015 @03:52PM (#50850445)

    62 sources of good repute show + /. users say otherwise:

    Proven safe by 57 antivirus programs in its 64-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    +

    Same for the 32-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    &

    Per VirScan its installer too -> http://f.virscan.org/APKHostsF...

    ---

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl... & MalwareBytes = BEST antivirus per this VERY recent testing of them all http://www.av-test.org/en/news... /.'ers say my work is good too:

    "his hosts program is actually pretty good" - by xenotransplant (4179011) on Monday August 10, 2015 @03:34PM (#50287195)

    "I like your host file system." - by Karmashock (2415832) on Wednesday September 09, 2015 @03:57PM (#50489401)

    "APK is kinda right... I've given up on JS based adblocking and gone to blackholing in /etc/hosts, just like it was back in the 90s. The computational load has gotten intolerable for any ad-blocking using JS. I've tried his hosts file generating software. It works." - by bmo (77928) on Thursday October 15, 2015 @11:30AM (#50736071)

    "his hosts tool is actually useful for those cases in which one does indeed want to locally block stuff outright while consuming minimum system resources" by alexgieg (948359) on Friday September 25, 2015 @09:57AM (#50596461)

    ---

    You tried using Computer Associates another antivirus I turned over on false positives (1/8 over time) & they were caught in ACCOUNTING SCANDALS FRAUD http://www.bing.com/search?q=c...

    Reputable source (not): They had to sell off their PC security suite too (crap also) LOWERING the 'threat level' on THAT program (not my hosts file engine) TO ZERO!

    * YOU ARE WRONG ON EVERY ACCOUNT NOTED!

    APK

    P.S.=> To be continued in part #3/5... apk

  71. Coren22's "greatest hits" fails #3/5... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Virus scanners/Adblock software don't need admin priv to update" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    Neither does my program. AV does to remove threats - Adblock addons = Vastly INFERIOR in abilities + efficiency vs. hosts as I proved & no one proved me wrong to date!

    ---

    "your software does" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    No, hosts do due to WFP/SFP - Intake update of new hosts data doesn't!

    ---

    "won't reveal your source code" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    I don't owe you it. I don't give away work to be stolen by others so it's misused like GOOGLE CHROME http://it.slashdot.org/story/1...

    ---

    "What's stopping you from pointing my bank's web site at your private server?" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    I don't keep a server. Security guru (not - you create no ware for security & your forensics skills = non-existent): Put it in a VM, trace it using process monitor + wireshark to prove it (don't need code)!

    ---

    "the possibility of being caught, which would be pretty hard to catch w/ such a large hosts file, as no one can go through it manually." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    I place hardcoded fav sites @ top of hosts for speed & reliabilty - you'd spot it easily & bulk of hosts is sorted blocked known bad threats.

    ---

    "What are you going to do when Windows gets rid of the hosts file completely?" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    Hasn't happened..

    ---

    "They have already taken steps to make it useless in Windows 10." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    It works there!

    Telemetry tracking's killing 10 by itself! Win10 = Win8: A flop - who're you fooling other than yourself?

    APK

    P.S.=> Con't. in #4/5... apk

  72. Go fast and turn left by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Indeed, NASA has suggested that the exploration of space is like NASCAR only with rocket ships instead of souped up, high powered cars

    This would be true if NASA only built rocket ships that can only turn left!

  73. Coren22's "greatest hits" fails #4/5... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Coren22 'eats his words' vs. me 2x yet again:

    "introduces risk you are relying on a 3rd party to update a hosts file potentially opening you up to MITM attacks" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 17, 2015

    How can my program do it?

    Only things it puts in as non-blocking IP addy to hostnames is ones users give it as their favs to speed up @ the TOP of hosts REVERSE DNS VERIFIED!

    (For more speed, & reliability + security - in RAM as 1st resolver queried = faster & more secure vs. remote DNS w/ all its security issues in Kaminsky flaw, DNSChanger malware IP stack settings, routers bushwhacked in DNS settings, rogue DNS, Open DNS servers abused by malware. It aids in reliability vs. redirects).

    YOU'D SPOT IT INSTANTLY AS THEY ARE @ TOP OF CUSTOM HOSTS & can easily edit anything you want out of it!

    (Rest = known bad sites from 10 reputable security community sites for blocking - the MAJORITY of what's in my hosts files!)

    ---

    "maybe one day you can get a score 5 comment" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 17, 2015

    See subject & ~ 12 +5 upmods making you "eat your words" vs. me (1st one: You tried using what I post there against me to FAIL):

    +5 'modded up' posts by "yours truly" (11):

    http://news.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://tech.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://news.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://science.slashdot.org/co...
    http://tech.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://hardware.slashdot.org/c...
    http://news.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://news.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://hardware.slashdot.org/c...
    http://yro.slashdot.org/commen...
    http://yro.slashdot.org/commen...

    "You believe you are getting the better of me" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 17, 2015

    YOU GOT THE BEST OF YOURSELF in tech fails & lies about me. Your immature signatures about me SCREAM you're butthurt! You did it to yourself.

    APK

    P.S.=> Con't. in #5/5... apk

  74. so what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    at the extreme other end of the cultural spectrum, most of the guys in the San Francisco bath houses and in the Folsom St parade don't seem to care about the applied sciences either.

    Neither end of the national cultural spectrum has anything to do with a phony TV "scientist" who seems intent on trying to inject all the worst of partisan politics into NASA - perhaps he's trying to help advance the new agenda of the Planetary Society which is to protect all the planets in the universe by preventing man from contaminating any of them by landing on them. The best way to implement that agenda is to cripple NASA by tearing down its historically bi-partisan support.

  75. Coren22's "greatest hits" fails #5/5... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "defame me saying things he knows aren't true - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 04, 2015

    Hypocrite you're projecting & your signatures do the rest.

    "the feeling of icky his software - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 04, 2015

    I show /.'ers say differently by quoted testimonials - Show us you've done better: YOU can't!

    "maybe someone will think they are true - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 04, 2015

    Quotes of you = true - & You can't keep your word + projecting what YOU do (AD/DNS lie).

    "I don't have time for the Troll APK, and refuse to respond anymore to a post signed APK" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 03, 2015

    I protect users speeding them up, helping reliability, & security + anonymity online w/ more ability & efficiency than ANY 1 solution doing more w/ less - do you? No.

    "I should change my signature again to rile him up more." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 03, 2015

    Childish sigs = all you've got!

    "I refuted his assertions - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 04, 2015

    &

    "You claim I have never proved you wrong...a flat out lie." - by Coren22 on Monday November 16, 2015

    &

    "I proved you wrong on numerous occasions" - by Coren22 on Monday November 16, 2015

    Where & on what tech? "Cat got your tongue"??

    "written in shitty Delphi, "How to secure Windows" docs I could have written in my sleep when I was 20" - by Coren22 on Monday November 16, 2016

    You're 30++ & haven't done either!

    Show you've done MORE vs.a small partial list of mine & better, + earlier:

    http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    THEN talk vs. TALKING OUT YOUR ASS!

    CIS Tool took fixes from me http://slashdot.org/comments.p... which you doubted & my layered security guides got me paid http://pcpitstop.com/news/winn... MILLIONS use.

    APK

    P.S.=>

    "I never admit you were right" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015

    You PROVED I am, lol... apk

  76. Why doesn't he just watch F1 instead? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Or would that not make the news.

  77. Uh, no he didn't. FTA by mveloso · · Score: 3, Informative

    Nye looked upon NASCAR and sneered, “Here I am trying to envision the smart, efficient transportation technology of tomorrow, and there is NASCAR celebrating a very old transportation technology of yesterday. You might call NASCAR the anti-NASA.”

  78. How weird. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So when the american citizen tells someone "There's no such thing as a right not to be offended" when they shoot their mouth off, and it's frequently the "independent maverick" type of person who would also tend to be for NASCAR, they really REALLY don't mean that there's no right for THEM to get offended. They're allowed to get offended like billy-o.

    Look, guys and gals, some people don't like NASCAR.

    Getting offended over that is REALLY dumb.

  79. Bill Nye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The mechanical engineer guy?

  80. No Country Songs About Space Exist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Plenty of outer space themed music in nearly every other genre. No songs in the country and western catalogs have been inspired by cosmos or our exploration of the heavens.

  81. What about... by Redmancometh · · Score: 1

    So all you NASCAR fans coming out of the wood work (and racing fans in general) I have a questions. Are there any motor racing events without restrictions to (at least) the engines?

    As a huge nerd...I'd love to see a motor sport that is more about the ability to manufacture some crazy ass vehicle than how good the driver is.

    1. Re:What about... by lgw · · Score: 1

      For safety reasons, never. F1 has been increasingly limited because the cars had reached speeds that no driver could successfully manage (but some, tragically, tried). Pretty much every element of racing has been successfully optimized tot he point where the human is the limit.

      If you want the most ridiculous engines, within the realm of reciprocating pistons, look no farther than top fuel dragsters. They run at the limits of the laws of physics these days, and they shortened the track from 1/4 mile because the cars were just too damn fast for safety, rather than reducing power.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    2. Re:What about... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Monster trucks use to be there, and there are some unlimited classes for motorcycles, but, in general, it turns into the "who has the most money" game, and they all go play formula.

    3. Re:What about... by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      For safety reasons, never. F1 has been increasingly limited because the cars had reached speeds that no driver could successfully manage (but some, tragically, tried). Pretty much every element of racing has been successfully optimized tot he point where the human is the limit.

      If you want the most ridiculous engines, within the realm of reciprocating pistons, look no farther than top fuel dragsters. They run at the limits of the laws of physics these days, and they shortened the track from 1/4 mile because the cars were just too damn fast for safety, rather than reducing power.

      And soo expensive. But yeah, nothing like extending a technology to it's limit. Which NASCAR definitely does not do. They purposely restrict performance. To the point where teh biggest skill needed is the ability to drive in a multi car jam at high speed That is a freaky talent, but not certain its the original spirit of NASCAR.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    4. Re:What about... by SuiteSisterMary · · Score: 1

      That or those drag-racing speedboats that go flying if the wind changes.

      --
      Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
  82. Cultural Interest by Kenshin · · Score: 1

    Interest in space wore off when the glamorous visions of the Space Age wore off, and as a culture we became aware of the banal realities of it.

    But kids have started to get interested in space again, thanks to Chris Hadfield's charisma and social media savvy.

    We need to *keep* them interested, though.

    --

    Does it make you happy you're so strange?

  83. Combine the 2 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Instead of sitting around and waiting for a president that has the balls to give them a budget again...

    Maybe NASA could slap a few beer logos on the side of the next space craft, rev up the engines a little more, draw in a crowd and then afford something more than space shuttles with parts made back in the '70s.

    And then just maybe they wouldn't have blown up. Twice!

  84. Re:Uh, yes he did. FTA by DRJlaw · · Score: 1

    "I get it. I understand the appeal of a stock car race. It's just exciting, and I'm all for it," he writes. "I just want NASCAR to adapt to the new mainstream. I want the circuit to produce vehicles that could compete in races anywhere in the world, and win. I want the racing series to spin off new tech that will do more with less. For me, as an American mechanical engineer, I hope NASCAR decides to look forward rather than backward."

  85. Idiot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm just going to have to say that Bill Nye is an idiot.

    He may know a few useful facts, but it's what he does with those facts that matters.

    IMO, he has failed as a scientist. He's nothing more than a useless political buffoon to me. I lump him in the same category as PETA.

  86. Hush, Mr. Nye by fragMasterFlash · · Score: 1

    Starting a flame war with people who try to out-brag each other with regard to who has seen the worst racetrack collision up close and personal isn't worth your time. Some of them might actually be red-state congress-critters that would take no pause in going after what little funding NASA has left.

  87. ethanol not from food by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    field corn isn't food for people . It is force fed to cows, but you wouldn't want to eat it. I"m an Iowan and we make lots of it.

  88. That's not a motorsport... by BoogieChile · · Score: 1

    I dunno, NASCAR's always struck me as a bit, um...soft?

  89. For what its worth by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 5, Informative
    I went to the article.

    I watched the video

    I went to the links on the article.

    The owner claims that Bill was sneering and depressed about things, and seems to have called NASCAR fans "red state yokels".

    I watched the video twice - didn't have anything there on any of that, it was a rather nice conversation with Bloomberg's people about education mostly.

    I asked the author of the story, if he could provide me the cites or any information regarding Nye sneering about NASCAR fans, or calling them red state yokels.

    But that isn't it at all - is it Slash Dotters. Nye rubs you the wrong way because he believes in global warming, so in the truthiness bubble, he actaully did sneer at those NASCAR fans who are red State yokels. That's what will get repeated by y'all isn't it?

    If you actually do read the article, what he said was an opinion, and knowing NASCAR fans myself, a fairly mild one at that.

    One of the things he writes:

    “There’s no reason why NASCAR couldn’t be like [NASA]: a race with rules designed to reward the coolest, most advanced vehicle technologies,”

    Doesn't sound too bad now does it?

    Now a more controversial matter, but hardly insulting - He speaks of making a fuel use limit - I'm not all about that, I'de sooner see them burning ally, (just my opinion) but I'm certainly not insulted.

    He also notes:

    “I get it. I understand the appeal of a stock car race. It’s just exciting, and I’m all for it,” he writes. “I just want NASCAR to adapt to the new mainstream. I want the circuit to produce vehicles that could compete in races anywhere in the world, and win. I want the racing series to spin off new tech that will do more with less. For me, as an American mechanical engineer, I hope NASCAR decides to look forward rather than backward.”

    Amazing how those innocuous comments get turned into Sneers and calling NASCAR fans Red State Yokels.

    Anyhow, here is the link to a site that isn't grinding an axe, and prefers actual quotes to made up stuff. http://www.businessinsider.com...

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    1. Re:For what its worth by Spinalcold · · Score: 1

      It saddens me that whenever NDGT and Nye are brought up on Slashdot there is such a terrible knee jerk reaction. So many posters and scientists seem to think that if someone communicates science they are automatically wrong and don't understand science. This is the exact attacks Sagan had to deal with when he published his paper on global warming, they attacked him because he loved to communicate science and was good at it as clearly is shown in Cosmos. It saddens me that the community hasn't changed at all.

    2. Re:For what its worth by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      It saddens me that whenever NDGT and Nye are brought up on Slashdot there is such a terrible knee jerk reaction. So many posters and scientists seem to think that if someone communicates science they are automatically wrong and don't understand science.

      Its weird, when the popularizer gets attacked from both sides. I can understand on some level the deniers who have a political agenda. I don't agree with them, but we live in a world where money interests attempt to bend physics to their political will.

      But if there is one ridiculous sin of some scientists, it is that some of them hate the popularizer. I think I know why they do.

      Ever deal with someone who when they explain something to you, they seem to be trying more to tell you how smart they are than explain? Maybe some of these folks have fallen prey to that. I'm much closer to the popularizer model - I believe that most concepts can be explained at some level that the listener can comprehend.

      This is the exact attacks Sagan had to deal with when he published his paper on global warming, they attacked him because he loved to communicate science and was good at it as clearly is shown in Cosmos. It saddens me that the community hasn't changed at all.

      This story is the perfect example of that. Bill Nye sneering, depressed ,calling NASCAR fans Red State Yokels. All made up from whole cloth.

      Now I think we all know that his idea for a fuel economy based race wouldn't work with NASCAR - but his idea of a fuel restriction while at first seeming odd, is in reality in the same league as the restrictor plates they put on their cars. Except that they would be trying to eke as much performance out of that instead of slow the cars down, as NASCAR is doing.

      In the end a fuel limited race can make for some possibly interesting developments. Not in NASCAR, but another race. Imagine tweaking the last bit of efficiency out of engines, and what that might translate to lengthening the time that petrofueled vehicles are viable. Already I'm thinking of an engine with the hotparts constructed out of ceramic to get as much thermodynamic efficiency as possible. Depending on the rules, braking pressure based regeneration, many innovations to be had.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    3. Re:For what its worth by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, Nye has rubbed me the wrong way because he and NdT are fairly poor science presenters. Stop comparing these two with Carl Sagan. It's a serious insult.
       
      StarTalk has all the trappings of The View with no real science content.

    4. Re:For what its worth by volmtech · · Score: 1

      Does Bill know that the S in NASCAR stands for STOCK? For safety and completive reasons they no longer actualy use production street cars. They also race vehicles that resemble pickup trucks. It is a speed show with specific rules. You want American high tech racing watch Indy cars.

      I wonder if Bill has any advise on how Pro Golf can improve their game? I'm sure science can devolve a ball that travels farther and the clubs they have to use are ridiculous.

  90. Right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bill is right and wrong. NASCAR is a piece of shit gas guzzling entity that would rather waste fuel running cars around in a circle. They might as well burn the fuel. NASA is much the same, burn fuel to accomplish very little. Yes, very little when you think about how much money goes in and what comes out.

    1. Re:Right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah NASCAR & NASA do seem very similar, they both mostly just go around in circles and sometimes things just blow up spectacularly.

  91. Re:Not to mention it's the same bunch of "rednecks by thinkwaitfast · · Score: 1

    the same sort of - occasionally even the same instances

    Shhhh. You're ruining what I think is referred to as a circlejerk. Must feel superior regardless of the truth.

  92. Wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    John Denver ring any bells?

    see: "Looking for Space" which was used in some tribute videos post-Challenger. Denver was a aviation and space fanatic and had hoped to fly into space as part of an "artists in space" project that was rumored to be in the pipeline as a follow-up to the "teacher in space" project in the mid-80's. All talk of that went away when the 1st teacher in space only lasted 70 seconds and the congress and NASA bureaucrats went into PR panic mode instead of "buck-up and get on with it" mode.

  93. Oh me! Oh my! The end .. is Nye! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh me! Oh my! The end .. is Nye!
    The end of reason that is. Mr Nye should have his little head examined sometime. His "job" description: pseudo-scientific nobody.

    The problem today is that most men just don't think. ~Earl Nightingale
    Precisely.

  94. Re:Is there a reason to pay more attention to NASA by thinkwaitfast · · Score: 1

    As the human population grows

    Human population is shrinking in the developed world. There's no reason to believe that trend won't continue.

  95. Rocket scientist took kids to NASCAR ... by perpenso · · Score: 1

    I don't know if your are joking or not, but know a number of scientist (of the rocket persuasion) who were very into the tech, specifically in engine efficiency, and some who even got patents working with some of the greats of the field.

    The rocket scientist that I know, who built stuff sitting on the moon right now, took kids to NASCAR. His father used to participate in amateur motorcycle racing when he (the rocket scientist) was a kid. That was partly responsible for developing his interesting in how mechanical things worked when he was young.

  96. NASA is a LOT like NASCAR by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They're both big marketing machines and almost unwatchable in video form. Does anybody remember the faulty somebody-didn't-check-her-data-close-enough press conference they held a few years ago? The one that was supposed to show bacteria that could replace phosphorus with arsenic in all their life processes? Really hyped it up THIS WILL HAVE A BIG IMPACT ON THE SEARCH FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE AS WELL AS IMPACT THE SEARCH FOR THE ORIGINS OF LIFE ON EARTH! Well, maybe if it was true. Marketing machine.

  97. Fuck Bill Nye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Considering a whole lotta NASA came from Huntsville Ala'freaking'bama where redneck is a GOOD thing and NASCAR is king... Bill needs to go back to whatever elitist snobish idiot hole he crawled out of and make a living representing for the likes of Barry, send me your Muslim Terrorist refugees and Al, ManBearPig, Gore.

  98. Re:Is there a reason to pay more attention to NASA by UnknowingFool · · Score: 1

    But the developed world is not the entirety of the world is it? Overall, humans population is growing.

    --
    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
  99. Bill wasn't as inflammatory as the summary by cozytom · · Score: 2

    Wow!

    There are already racing series that encourage fuel efficiency. Formula E is all electric, and is growing in popularity. It has HUGE sponsors.

    http://www.fiaformulae.com/

    A mix of fuel efficient and aviation could be some flavor of aircraft racing. Aircraft can actually be fuel efficient. Quickie aircraft will get about 80MPG while going over 150MHP.

    http://www.aviastar.org/air/us...

    Two seaters can get 45 MPG (or go 180mph):

    http://www.planeandpilotmag.co...

    This guy tweaked his airplane to get 100mpg

    http://blog.aopa.org/blog/?p=7...

    There are *LOTS* of aircraft that will get these fuel efficiencies.

    If you count seat miles per gallon, most modern jet liners will get about 100mpg

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

  100. Who gives a damn about NASCAR? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In the speed racing world (world, not US) NASCAR is a quaint nonentity. The world's top drivers are not, and never have been, in NASCAR. In fact, outside a rather limited portion of the US, nobody gives a damn about this rather ridiculous racing style.

  101. How do people even watch NASCAR more than once? by wardrich86 · · Score: 2

    Hell, after 5 laps you've seen it all...

    around and around and around and around and around and around and around.

    You'd be better off just waiting a few hours for the crash reel to find its way to the internet, since I'm guessing that's what most people watch it for... which begs me to wonder why we don't have a professional league demolition derby.

  102. Coren22's "greatest hits" fails #1/5... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Apk doesn't think DNS servers are worth running & believes Microsoft Active Directory can run w/out DNS." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday October 27, 2015

    Where'd I say it? Show us. I say AD needs internal DNS far back as 2007 http://forums.tweaktown.com/wi...

    See "To warn users who have ActiveDirectory/AD LAN-WAN setups to NOT use external DNS servers" there on OpenDNS free (I use it) + AD in my security guide.

    + how to migrate hosts across a LAN (admin/scripts not GPO)-> http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    ---

    I'm RIGHT on admin priv + hosts (WFP/SFP)!

    "figured out why privilege escalation's a bad thing?" - by Coren22 on Tuesday September 22, 2015

    How else can I programmatically update hosts itself?

    ---

    "it requires elevation to write hosts" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday September 23, 2015

    Hypocrite later admits it!

    Even MalwareBytes AntiMalware DEMANDS it or it can't do a job fully like many security tools!

    ---

    "Needing admin privileges every time a program updates is poor design" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015

    Mine doesn't to get new data to update hosts vs. threats. Only hosts itself updates need it vs. WFP/SFP. Users set it too. It's not programmatic impersonation.

    ---

    "90's tech to fight modern war" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015

    Ozymandias/Watchmen per a namesake:

    "I resolved to apply antiquities teachings" (hosts) "to our world today & began my path to conquest - Conquest not of men but of the evils that beset them: Fossil Fuels (antispyware), Oil (antivir), Nuclear Power (addons) are like a drug & you gentlemen along w/ foreign interests are the pushers"

    It works Aryeh Goretsky NOD32/ESET hosts = good security-> http://it.slashdot.org/comment...

    Oliver Day (Symantec) too-> http://www.securityfocus.com/c...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts' Admin hosts+recommends APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-2 32/64-bit-> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl...

    APK

    P.S.=> Con't. in #2/5... apk

  103. Coren22's "greatest hits" fails #2/5... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "I guess we should avoid your crap, it looks like it is marked as malware. Good luck getting that removed." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Monday November 02, 2015 @03:52PM (#50850445)

    62 sources of good repute show + /. users say otherwise:

    Proven safe by 57 antivirus programs in its 64-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    +

    Same for the 32-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    &

    Per VirScan its installer too -> http://f.virscan.org/APKHostsF...

    ---

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl... & MalwareBytes = BEST antivirus per this VERY recent testing of them all http://www.av-test.org/en/news... /.'ers say my work is good too:

    "his hosts program is actually pretty good" - by xenotransplant (4179011) on Monday August 10, 2015 @03:34PM (#50287195)

    "I like your host file system." - by Karmashock (2415832) on Wednesday September 09, 2015 @03:57PM (#50489401)

    "APK is kinda right... I've given up on JS based adblocking and gone to blackholing in /etc/hosts, just like it was back in the 90s. The computational load has gotten intolerable for any ad-blocking using JS. I've tried his hosts file generating software. It works." - by bmo (77928) on Thursday October 15, 2015 @11:30AM (#50736071)

    "his hosts tool is actually useful for those cases in which one does indeed want to locally block stuff outright while consuming minimum system resources" by alexgieg (948359) on Friday September 25, 2015 @09:57AM (#50596461)

    ---

    You tried using Computer Associates antivirus that I overturned on false positives (1/8 over time) were caught in ACCOUNTING SCANDALS FRAUD http://www.bing.com/search?q=c...

    Reputable source (not): They had to sell off their PC security suite too (crap too) LOWERING the 'threat level' on THAT program (not my hosts file engine) TO ZERO!

    * YOU ARE WRONG ON EVERY ACCOUNT NOTED!

    APK

    P.S.=> To be continued in part #3/5... apk

  104. Coren22's "greatest hits" fails #3/5... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Virus scanners/Adblock software don't need admin priv to update" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    Neither does my program. AV does to remove threats - Adblock addons = Vastly INFERIOR in abilities + efficiency vs. hosts as I proved & no one proved me wrong to date!

    ---

    "your software does" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    No, hosts do due to WFP/SFP - Intake update of new hosts data doesn't!

    ---

    "won't reveal your source code" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    I don't owe you it. I don't give away work to be stolen by others so it's misused like GOOGLE CHROME http://it.slashdot.org/story/1...

    ---

    "What's stopping you from pointing my bank's web site at your private server?" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    I don't keep a server. Security guru (not - you create no ware for security & your forensics skills = non-existent): Put it in a VM, trace it using process monitor + wireshark to prove it (don't need code)!

    ---

    "the possibility of being caught, which would be pretty hard to catch w/ such a large hosts file, as no one can go through it manually." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    I place hardcoded fav sites @ top of hosts for speed & reliabilty - you'd spot it easily & bulk of hosts is sorted blocked known bad threats.

    ---

    "What are you going to do when Windows gets rid of the hosts file completely?" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    Hasn't happened!

    ---

    "They have already taken steps to make it useless in Windows 10." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @04:14PM (#50904323)

    It works there!

    Telemetry tracking's killing 10 by itself: Win10 = Win8 = flops - who're you fooling other than yourself?

    APK

    P.S.=> Con't. in #4/5... apk

  105. Coren22's "greatest hits" fails #4/5... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Coren22 'eats his words' vs. me 2x yet again:

    "introduces risk you are relying on a 3rd party to update a hosts file potentially opening you up to MITM attacks" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 17, 2015

    How can my program do it?

    Only things it puts in as non-blocking IP addy to hostnames is ones users give it as their favs to speed up @ the TOP of hosts REVERSE DNS VERIFIED!

    (For more speed, & reliability + security - in RAM as 1st resolver queried = faster & more secure vs. remote DNS w/ all its security issues in Kaminsky flaw, DNSChanger malware IP stack settings, routers bushwhacked in DNS settings, rogue DNS, Open DNS servers abused by malware. It aids in reliability vs. redirects).

    YOU'D SPOT IT INSTANTLY AS THEY ARE @ TOP OF CUSTOM HOSTS & can easily edit anything you want out of it!

    (Rest = known bad sites from 10 reputable security community sites for blocking - the MAJORITY of what's in my hosts files!)

    ---

    "maybe one day you can get a score 5 comment" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 17, 2015

    See subject & ~ 12 +5 upmods making you "eat your words" vs. me (1st one: You tried using what I post there against me to FAIL):

    +5 'modded up' posts by "yours truly" (11):

    http://news.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://tech.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://news.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://science.slashdot.org/co...
    http://tech.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://hardware.slashdot.org/c...
    http://news.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://news.slashdot.org/comme...
    http://hardware.slashdot.org/c...
    http://yro.slashdot.org/commen...
    http://yro.slashdot.org/commen...

    "You believe you are getting the better of me" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 17, 2015

    YOU GOT THE BEST OF YOURSELF in tech fails & lies about me. Your immature signatures about me SCREAM you're butthurt! You did it to yourself.

    APK

    P.S.=> Con't. in #5/5... apk

  106. Coren22's "greatest hits" fails #5/5... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "defame me saying things he knows aren't true - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 04, 2015

    Hypocrite You're projecting & your signatures do the rest.

    "the feeling of icky his software - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 04, 2015

    I show /.'ers say differently by quoted testimonials - Show us you've done better: YOU can't!

    "maybe someone will think they are true - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 04, 2015

    Quotes of you = true - & You can't keep your word + projecting what YOU do (AD/DNS lie).

    "I don't have time for the Troll APK, and refuse to respond anymore to a post signed APK" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 03, 2015

    I protect users speeding them up, helping reliability, & security + anonymity online w/ more ability & efficiency than ANY 1 solution doing more w/ less - do you? No.

    "I should change my signature again to rile him up more." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 03, 2015

    Childish sigs = all you've got!

    "I refuted his assertions - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 04, 2015

    &

    "You claim I have never proved you wrong...a flat out lie." - by Coren22 on Monday November 16, 2015

    &

    "I proved you wrong on numerous occasions" - by Coren22 on Monday November 16, 2015

    Where & on what tech? "Cat got your tongue"??

    "written in shitty Delphi, "How to secure Windows" docs I could have written in my sleep when I was 20" - by Coren22 on Monday November 16, 2016

    You're 30++ & haven't done either!

    Show you've done MORE vs.a small partial list of mine & better, + earlier:

    http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    THEN talk vs. TALKING OUT YOUR ASS!

    CIS Tool took fixes from me http://slashdot.org/comments.p... which you doubted & my layered security guides got me paid http://pcpitstop.com/news/winn... MILLIONS use.

    APK

    P.S.=>

    "I never admit you were right" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday November 10, 2015

    You PROVED I am... apk

  107. Here's what bothers me by RogueWarrior65 · · Score: 1

    Why is Bill Nye being so elevated because of his opinions rather than his research? Does he even do any actual research? Can you even call it science if you only talk about your opinions on things? Are we just supposed to accept his opinion because 40 years ago he studied mechanical engineering? Or are people accepting his opinions because he was a TV personality as George Carlin once mocked in "Hello, I'm a famous person..."? And as for this NASCAR flap, is he really bitching because he thinks that if NASCAR went away, there would be more money for NASA and he might finally get chosen to be an astronaut after being rejected over and over?

  108. To be fair by DaMattster · · Score: 1

    The rocket pollutants that NASA spews doesn't make NASA a poster child for eco friendly. NASCAR has actually contributed back to the community in terms of developing safer automobiles.

  109. ID 10 T Error for Bill by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ID10T. This is the same "science guy" who thinks CO2 controls the Earth's climate. What an idiot.

  110. Bill Nye - The Anti-Science Guy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bill and his ilk need to go home to their "safe place", duck tape plastic over all of their windows and never leave again. Ever.

  111. He's got a point by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 2

    NASA sends you on one way trips somewhere else.

    NASCAR sends you around and around and you never get anywhere.

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
  112. Why does... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Slashdot make it so easy for trolls? Or maybe I'm missing the intent of this post. Maybe this wasn't posted to agitate and further polarize everyone. Maybe /. didn't run it up the flagpole as clickbait. Maybe I win the lottery and get struck by lightning..

  113. I agree with Bill Nye by NoSalt · · Score: 0

    Auto racing (including cars, motorcycles, boats, etc.) in general is burning through our very finite supply of fossil fuels. I say it should be banned outright.

  114. It wasnt red state yokels... by MarcMason · · Score: 1

    ...that has killed NASA. It was another condescending blue state jackass, not half as smart as he thinks he is, Barack Obama.

  115. Re:Is there a reason to pay more attention to NASA by thinkwaitfast · · Score: 1
    So is the developed world as a percentage of population.

    The main reason for population growth right now is medicine and longer lifespans. If everyone would just die at 30 from an ingrown toenail infection, population wouldn't be growing. Also, there is a lot of unused space on Earth. You could fit 7 billion people in less than a quarter the area of the US with the same population density of Seattle. Africa alone has enough arable land to feed 7 billion people. Considering most people don't live in the US, this would seem like a lot of growing space.

  116. the red-state yokels? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Where did "the red-state yokels" come from? I see it in the summary, and in the article, but not coming from Nye. It just doesn't sound like something he would say. OF course, I only skimmed the video clip, as TV is too mind numbing to watch anymore.

  117. Re:Is there a reason to pay more attention to NASA by UnknowingFool · · Score: 1

    Also, there is a lot of unused space on Earth.

    Technically true but meaningless as you neglected to factor in the amount of space to sustain a population. In your example how much land is required to sustain 7 billion. How much infrastructure do you need for that populaton?

    Your article also explains why it doesn't happen today: Politics, corruption, legal matters. It also does not state what happens if they world's population continues to grow. Can Africa sustain the world at 14 billion, 21 billion? What about the toil of environmental problems? Larger and bigger questions that the amount of physical space a person can take.

    --
    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
  118. Re:Is there a reason to pay more attention to NASA by thinkwaitfast · · Score: 1

    What about the toil of environmental problems?

    I pointed out and provided a link that the continent of Africa is sufficient space to sustain that population. This leave all of Europe, Asia, South and most of North America for extra. But as you say: Politics, corruption, legal matters. These are engineering and not physical limit problems.

    An interesting aside, you could fit the entire world population into Wisconsin with lower density than Manilla.

  119. Military Science by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Frankly, instead of going after NASCAR, Bill Nye should have gone after Fear, Terrorism, and the Military.

    Our military budget (for 2015) as it stands today is $631 Billion (with a B). That's 3 times the size of China's military budget, 7 times the size of Russia's, and more than the next 7 countries countries combined, which includes China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the UK, France, India, Germany, and half of Japan's budget too.

    NASA's budget OTOH is 17.46 billion for the same year.

    You could cut 3% of the our military budget and instantly double NASA's budget, and STILL be the greatest military in the world.

    The amount of money wasted on Fear and Terrorism (in the form of expanded 3-letter agencies for no good reason) is also frankly criminal. You could transfer the 60 billion budget of the DHS to NASA, and that alone would be a 500% increase for NASA. If I was president I'd do that immediately. We don't need the DHS, there's no reason for screeners at airports, part of flying is the risk of terrorism. We don't see people irrationally calling for the banning of cars because people die in car accidents, so there's no reason we should do the same for airline security. It's complete theatre, and the money could be better spent elsewhere.

  120. Fake controversy by ToddInSF · · Score: 1

    slashdot really has taken a nosedive. I blame 911.

  121. don't care by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't care because if I did care then I'd care. But I don't. If i did care and I don't then i would care. And I think no one cares except the people that do care... In which I still don't care because I just don't give a f*ck what some geek says about hicks. No one cared that the guy next to me on the bus said he didn't like black people... It was on the news or made it to any article anywhere because no one cares. I personally didn't care much for the guy as he was careless towards his caring for humanity as a whole... But in the end does Bill care or was he just high and rambling about the guys that used to pick on him in school?....

  122. Re:Is there a reason to pay more attention to NASA by UnknowingFool · · Score: 1

    I pointed out and provided a link that the continent of Africa is sufficient space to sustain that population.

    You are conflating two things as equal. It "only" takes a quarter of the US to fit 7 billion people. And it "only" takes the entire continent of Africa (if it were properly converted into farmland) to feed the world's population. Which "only" is it? By your own argument, it "only" takes an entire continent and a quarter of one to feed and house the whole world's population. At the same time, you've disregarded things like power, heat, cooling, sewage, water, sanitation, etc. Those things are somewhat vital to sustain a population. It's not just about 2 things that sustain a population: Space and food. So I wouldn't say that Africa is enough to "sustain" the population.

    --
    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
  123. Re:Is there a reason to pay more attention to NASA by thinkwaitfast · · Score: 1

    vital to sustain a population.

    It's not a physically impossible problem. There are enough resources on earth to build a nuclear power plant for ever 4 million or so people. And enough fuel to power them also.

  124. Re:Is there a reason to pay more attention to NASA by UnknowingFool · · Score: 1

    There are enough resources on earth to build a nuclear power plant for ever 4 million or so people. And enough fuel to power them also.

    Again, you're ignoring real, logistical problems with your "only" thinking. If "only" we could build enough nuclear reactors to supply7 billion people. If "only" we could lay down the infrastructure of power lines efficiently and neatly without any problems whatsoever. If "only" all the nuclear powers gave up their nuclear weapons and converted the material into fuel instead. If "only" . . . .

    --
    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
  125. Since when.... by MoarSauce123 · · Score: 2

    ....is driving around in circles and wasting fuel a "sport"? NASCAR is as senseless as American Football.