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User: jfern

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Comments · 393

  1. Re:Thoughts on virtual thoughts on Effort to Create Virtual Brain Begins · · Score: 1

    Seeing as it'll take a decade or more, it probably doesn't run in real time.

    22.8 teraflops probably isn't going to be on your normal desktop computer in 2015.

  2. Re:Similar /. Story in April on Drilling to the Center of the Earth · · Score: 1

    Zonk worded it a bit better the other time.

  3. Episode 11? on Star Trek XI In Two To Three Years. · · Score: 2, Funny

    Hmm, they don't seem to like making these in order.

  4. Re:If they had been Comp Sci students.... on Stanford Rejects Business School Hackers · · Score: 1

    >It's sad for the unlucky ones that this happened, but the harsh reality is that smaller mistakes are enough to let your competitors wipe you out in real business. Perhaps they'll learn something valuable from business school after all.

    And if they're really really unethical MBA students who make lots of mistakes, all they'll be able to do is become President.

  5. Re:Quantum computing? on Researchers Control the Flip of Electron Spin · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Quantum error correction can be used to fix quantum errors. If the errors are independent, local, then there is a fault tolerant threshold, below which you will be able to correct enough errors to do arbitrary quantum computation. Error correction will typically add polylog (polynomial in log n) overhead in the number of qubits and the running time. So Shor's factoring algorithm becomes O(n^3 log^a n) instead of O(n^3).

  6. Re:Quantum computing? on Researchers Control the Flip of Electron Spin · · Score: 2, Informative

    This advance deals with manipulating the spin of a single electron (a single qubit) The hard part of quantum computing is reliably maniuplating two qubits. With single qubit operations and measurements, and a two qubit CNOT, one can perform arbitrary quantum computation.

  7. Re:May I Be the First ... on Stanford Accelerator Uncovers Archimedes' Text · · Score: 1

    In the first one, you'd die of the cold.
    In the second one, you'd probably get shot.
    So probably the third one.

  8. Re:They have this in Indiana... it doesn't work... on Real-ID Passes U.S. Senate 100-0 · · Score: 1

    It says Pi=3.2 right here in a very assinine way:

    "This is because one-fifth of the diameter fails to be represented four times in the circle's circumference."

  9. Re:They have this in Indiana... it doesn't work... on Real-ID Passes U.S. Senate 100-0 · · Score: 1

    Actually they tried to set it to 3.2 AND 16/7 * sqrt(2). Therefore sqrt(2)=1.4.

    http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jlawler/aux/pi.html

  10. It was an amendement to some "must pass bill" on Real-ID Passes U.S. Senate 100-0 · · Score: 2, Informative

    That's why sadly even Boxer and Feingold voted for it. In the House it had a fairly partisan vote, with only 8 Republicans voting no, and 42 Democrats voting yes. The roll call is here.

  11. Wait, I should have read the article on Wired Amends Stories With Fabricated Quotes · · Score: 1

    What Fox does is much worse, making up clearly false quotes.

  12. So? on Wired Amends Stories With Fabricated Quotes · · Score: 1

    FoxNews does this all the time.

    See here for an example.

  13. Re:Emeryville will just sue on San Francisco Getting Stem Cell Agency HQ · · Score: 1

    Emeryville isn't exactly in the middle of nowhere, being right next to Berkeley and Oakland, and only a few miles from San Francisco and a bunch of other cities.

  14. Re:"Ban" on San Francisco Getting Stem Cell Agency HQ · · Score: 3, Informative

    Those 60 cell lines are crap.

  15. Re:Already debunked. on Will McNealy Take Sun Private? · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Maybe they have some friends on the SEC. George W. Bush would have gotten in trouble for inside trading in 1990, except his daddy was President.

  16. Let's see on Aspect-Oriented Programming Considered Harmful · · Score: 1

    1. Make useless 5 page document
    2. Have a link from Slashdot allow you to buy said document for $249
    3. Profit!

  17. What? on Saving Lives with Design · · Score: 1

    This memo was obviously written by someone trying to get Bush's attention to actually give a shit about going after terrorism. Instead Bush went on vacation that month (August 2001).

  18. Here's Berkeley's graduate rankings on Caltech Pranks MIT's Prefrosh Weekend · · Score: 1

    The 5 area rankings are:

    Arts & Sciences #1
    Biological Sciences #5 (after Stanford, MIT, Harvard, UC San Diego)
    Engineering #2 (after MIT)
    Physical Sciences & Math #1
    Social & Behavorial Sciences #1

    Link

  19. Re:Electoral College on Al Gore Invents Internet TV · · Score: 1

    Advertizing per capita is lower in the heartland states than California. Can you explain to me why they wouldn't advertize in the small states?

    And, anyways right now the voters of Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, and Alaska are being taken for granted. Wouldn't you like to see the candidates have to to campaign there?

  20. Re:Electoral College on Al Gore Invents Internet TV · · Score: 1

    >Oh...and SURPRISE...doing away with the electoral college would heavily favor the Democrats, since most of them live in those populous states.

    In 2000, the Bush campaign decided that there was a chance they'd win the popular vote and lose the electoral vote. I guess they had their options covered for however the popular and electoral vote went. Here's the article.

    In 2004, Bush won the popular vote by 2.47%, and Ohio by 2.10%. If there was a uniform shift of between 2.10% and 2.47%, Bush would have still won the popular vote, but Kerry would have won the electoral vote.

  21. Re:Electoral College on Al Gore Invents Internet TV · · Score: 1

    In 1876, Colorado was admitted to the union to give 3 EV to the Republican party. They didn't bother to have a popular election, the state legislature just appointed the 3 electors.

    Anyways, the election had some uncanny similarities to 200. The Republican ended up *ahem* officially winning Florida by several hundred votes, losing the popular vote, and winning the electoral college with so small a margin that any state would have made the difference.

  22. Re:hah on U.S. to Require Passport To Re-Enter Country · · Score: 1

    Schiavo case: Bush is anti-feeding tubes being yanked.

    In the case of a mother who wanted to save her 6 month old child, but was unable to pay, the feeding tube was yanked because of a law Bush signed into law as Texas governor.

    That's a good example of why Bush sucks.

  23. Re:This cries out for a lawsiut against Harvard! on Harvard Business School: You Peek, You Lose · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Harvard didn't give two shits about ethics back when the future inside trader named George W. Bush graduated.

  24. Re:[PREDICTION] on Sun Storms Deplete Ozone, Too · · Score: 1

    No one ever said that humans were responsible for all of the climate change.

    As for the medieval peak, there's some dispute over that, but even the pro-medievil peak people have it as less than 0.1 degree warmer.

  25. Re:Global Warming is a serious threat. on Sun Storms Deplete Ozone, Too · · Score: 1

    More than one thing can be a factor. I suppose you're going to try to claim that the sun increases greenhouse gasses, too?