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User: jamesl

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  1. On the other hand ... on How Human Psychology Holds Back Climate Change Action · · Score: 1

    ... maybe people have rationally and reasonably evaluated the risk and concluded that action is not needed.

  2. I'm sure that the company had a number of normals -- people living someplace other than Boston (Singapore? London? Moscow?) -- to compare to their Boston subjects.

    Actually, I'm not very sure about that.

  3. And the other 75% ... on Google Now Serves 25% of North American Internet Traffic · · Score: 1

    ... is porn.

  4. Phones? on Detroit's Emergency Dispatch System Fails · · Score: 1

    How many cops carry personal cell phones on the job? Seems like giving dispatch a list of their numbers would keep things moving in such an emergency.

  5. Body transplant on Neuroscientist: First-Ever Human Head Transplant Is Now Possible · · Score: 5, Informative

    They are really putting a "new" body on the old head. Therefore this is a body transplant.

  6. Units wrong on Why US Mileage Ratings Are So Inaccurate · · Score: -1

    For example, the maximum acceleration on either test is 3.3 mph per second.

    It's hard to take a paper seriously when it gets the units of measure wrong.

  7. No sign yet on From 'Quantified Self' To 'Quantified Car' · · Score: 1

    It's all a sign that that the ethic of ubiquitous mobile/cloud sensing and analytics that 'quantified selfers' are applying to their personal health and fitness is spilling over to neighboring areas of consumer technology, including transportation. The Automatic Link device costs $70 and will begin shipping in May.

    It will only be a sign if people actually pay $70 for it. I'm sure that Xconomy will publish a follow-up piece next year.

  8. Sounds like ... on Overconfidence: Why You Suck At Making Development Time Estimates · · Score: 0, Troll

    ... predictions of catastrophic anthropogenic global warming.

    1- 'Expert' predictions about some future event are so completely unreliable as to be basically meaningless.
    2- Nonetheless, the experts in question are extremely confident about the accuracy of their predictions.
    3- And, best of all: absolutely nothing seems to be able to diminish the confidence that experts feel.

  9. The cost of a tool on Some Windows XP Users Can't Afford To Upgrade · · Score: 1

    A tool used in business should reduce the cost of doing business by reducing labor or increase the output of the business to more than pay for the tool. If it is not possible to justify the reported $10,000 cost then go back to paper and pencil.

    If "others" (competitors) are able to buy the tool and this business is not then the problem is with the fundamental profitability of the business.

    This looks like an ad for Software as a Service. The cost is clear, incremental and the obligations of the vendor are called out clearly in a contract. The cost/benefit is clear and the vendor needs to keep his product and his customer competitive in order for the revenue stream to continue.

  10. Not cost competitive on IBM Models Human Blood System To Build Solar Power Prototype · · Score: 1

    The cost of energy with this system is " ... less than 10 cents per KWh ... cost at coal power stations is 5 - 10 cents per KWh ... "

    And it will be on-line at most eight hours per day.

    Other than that, it's a good deal.

  11. Massive on Foxconn Signs Massive Android Patent Agreement With Microsoft · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Beware all stories with "Massive" in the headline.

  12. No hardware on Windows 8 Killing PC Sales · · Score: 1

    Perhaps it was an almost total lack of touch enabled, Windows 8 optimized hardware at product introduction and for some time after.

  13. Massive? on Sequester Grounds Blue Angels · · Score: 1

    The United States Navy, which controls the Blue Angels, has reported that the grounding comes from the massive rollbacks in spending ...

    Defense spending outlays (including "overseas contingency operations" for Iraq and Afghanistan) will be reduced from $670.3 billion in 2012 to approximately $627.6 billion in 2013, a decrease of $42.7 billion or 6.4%.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Sequestration

    Definition of Massive (adj)
    1.bulky: large, solid, and heavy
    2.comparatively large: large in comparison with what is typical or usual
    3.large-scale: extremely large in amount, degree, or scope
    (Bing.com)

    A 6.4% cut doesn't qualify as "massive."

  14. A pimple on Energy Use From Wireless Networks Will Dwarf Data Center Use By 2015 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    (an increase in carbon footprint from 6 megatons of CO_2 in 2012, up to 30 megatons of CO_2 in 2015).

    World CO2 emissions for 2011 was estimated to be over 33 thousand million tons. I will not be losing any sleep over this tiny bit of manufactured melodrama.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_dioxide_emissions#List_of_countries_by_2011_emissions_estimates

  15. How to debug a surgical bot? on Scientists Tout New Way To Debug Surgical Bots · · Score: 4, Funny

    Just run it through the autoclave.

  16. Obvious answer on Ask Slashdot: Protecting Home Computers From Guests? · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ... many of these guests have high risk computing habits and have more than once infested one of our computers with malware ...

    Change a few words ... many of these guests have high risk driving habits and have more than once driven one of our cars into a phone pole ... and the answer is obvious.

    Not convinced? Try this one ...
    ... many of these guests have high risk sexual behavior habits and have more than once infected one or more of our girl/boy friends ...

  17. Paywalled on New Catalyst Allows Cheaper Hydrogen Production · · Score: 1

    Once again, Slashdot promotes and links to a paywalled source.

  18. What's a bubble? on Do Big-Money Acquisitions Mean We're In a Tech Bubble? · · Score: 1

    Almost by definition, it is impossible to see a bubble except in hindsight.

  19. Good Job! on Where Can You Find an Electric Vehicle Charging Network? Estonia · · Score: 2, Funny

    Estonia now has three charging stations for each and every electric car in the country. Good Job!

  20. The sooner the better on Telstra Bigpond To Use Outlook.com As Email Handler · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Are the days of ISPs providing in-house email servers coming to an end?

    In my experience, ISPs provide at best, a second class email service and I would be surprised if it was anything more than a necessary evil for them.

    Microsoft, Google et al can provide a product that is fully integrated across all devices and easily accessed around the world. How many valuable ISP customers are using ISP provided email anyway?

  21. And the US is doing this why? Is South Korea broke? Doesn't Japan have a national defense force? China is in pretty good shape militarily.

    In fact Xi Jinping could pick up the phone and tell Kim Jong-Un to put his missiles away and stop being a jerk. Assuming they have working phones in North Korea.

  22. Disruptions on Global Warming Has Made the North Greener · · Score: 1, Funny

    In the north's Arctic and boreal areas, the characteristics of the seasons are changing, leading to great disruptions for plants and related ecosystems.

    Define "disruptions."

    Climate change is normal and continuous. Our ecosystem is robust to change. Some humans apparently are not.

  23. Cause for "divide" on 'Bandwidth Divide' Could Bar Some From Free Online Courses · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This is so far down the page that likely no one will see it but I am posting for the record.

    From Pew ...

    In April of 2009, 7% of American adults age 18+ used dial-up internet at home. (As of April 2012, this number is 3%) These are the reasons they gave for not switching to broadband.

    Price must fall -- 35%
    Nothing would get me to switch -- 20%
    Don't know -- 16%
    It would have to become available where I live -- 17%
    Other -- 13%
    http://pewinternet.org/Commentary/2012/May/Pew-Internet-Broadband.aspx

    So, in this survey, only 17% of 3% said that high speed internet was unavailable.

  24. Where are these people? on 'Bandwidth Divide' Could Bar Some From Free Online Courses · · Score: 1, Informative

    The difference between those who have access to fast connections and those who have only dial-up speeds or access via a cellphone is "bigger than people think," he said.

    Quick. Name three people you know (not just people you've heard of) who fall into the above category because "fast connections" are not physically available to them.

  25. Show me the cuts on How the U.S. Sequester Will Hurt Science and Tech · · Score: 3, Informative

    Actually, the sequester doesn't cut federal spending at all, or rather it cuts it only in the Washington sense of any reduction from projected baseline increases is a cut. In reality, even if the sequester goes through, the federal government will spend more every single year.
    http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/fairy-tale-spending-cuts

    Spending will still go up, just not as much.