Slashdot Mirror


User: peter303

peter303's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
6,640
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 6,640

  1. by its "mooing" on MIT Engineers World's First Schizophrenic Mice · · Score: 1

    It thought it was a cow.

  2. names taken fro UNIX too on Microsoft Paternity Case Settled · · Score: 1

    Many of the command names are same as UNIX (fther of Linux), which had been around since the early 70s. Since UNIX command names are gnerally obscure, it was a clear case of "borrowing". No one cares.

  3. thank the postoffice on ACLU Protests Police Scanning License Plates · · Score: 1

    This technology spun off from automated letter address scanners. Need for rapid OCR under less than ideal conditions.

  4. "just around corner" for decade on Toyota Unveils Plug-in Hybrid Prius · · Score: 1

    People are working on them. Biggest problem Ive heard is they are deafeningly noisey.

  5. Bill Gates got his degree 30 years late on Brian May, Rock Legend, Soon-To-Be Astrophysicist · · Score: 1

    Harvard finally gave one to the dropout.

  6. is there a true long nanotube yet? on New Carbon-based Paper Stronger Than Nanotubes · · Score: 1

    I thought they could only grow them a few millimeters long and what passes for nanotubes is a polymer of the microtubes. Still very amazing material however.

  7. This happened during 9-11 on Our ATM Is Broken, Go To Jail · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Because bank lines were cut, some banks did NOT turn off their Manhattan ATMs so that customers could obtain emergency cash. Of course, when this was discovered, this was abused. I havent heard of the followups of any persecutions, if any.

    FEMA disbursed cash with low identity proof threshholds because the assumption was many people lost their IDs during the disaster. This was abused (and mocked in the media). FEMA is trying to collect the cash, but many of the thieves dont have much. Its a dilemma: damned if you are too tight with aid; damned if you are too loose.

  8. old method = lab fees on Higher Tuition For an Engineering Degree · · Score: 1

    In the past the differential cost of education wasnt added to tuition, but as laboratory fees to science and engineering courses. This captures the med students and engineering major, but the the business school majors.

  9. but Spock died in 2nd movie?????? on Leonard Nimoy to Play Spock in Next Star Trek Movie · · Score: 1

    Isnt he like 70 years old now?

  10. OSHA and ATF could delay reopening on Explosion at Scaled Composites Kills 2, Injures 4 · · Score: 1

    Other agencies will replace "NASA" and investigate this tragedy. This is dangerous work.

  11. large screen tvs worst blow since SUVs on Change Google's Background Color To Save Energy? · · Score: 1

    A large screen plasma tv is often the largest energy hog in the home, even execeeding the consumption of the refigerator - the former champ. And these tvs are selling like mad. I heard a our state utiligy official note that much of the growth in electrical consumption was due to new electronic devices.
    Large screen projection and LCD are not as big energy hogs.

  12. $400m x 2 + $10m / per month on Top Ten Discoveries of the Mars Rovers · · Score: 1

    A lot of the cost of a super-successful mission like Magellan, Galileo and the Rovers is the continuing operating cost. At some point the return on cost shrinks so that NASA ends the mission. I suspect the 2007 and 2009 Mars launches could compete with operating resources.

    Another example is Hubble, initally $1.5B. However three servicing missions doubled that, and two decades of operation doubled it again. Still getting great results but may be retired if the final servicing mission never occurs due to launch delays.

  13. Cant find MB2 and MB3 #$^%&* on Steve Jobs Hates Buttons · · Score: 1

    AT kleast in old Macs.

  14. #11 Artificial Intelligent rover-geologists work on Top Ten Discoveries of the Mars Rovers · · Score: 1

    Most days the scientist/engineers upload the daily commands in the Martian morning, then download telemetry and data in the evening. Inbetween the Rovers pretty much operate on their own. There have been occasional snafus like Opportunity getting stuck in a sand dune for six weeks. But its been reprogrammed to detect getting stuck and not digging itself in now.

  15. my $20 cellphone more powerful than 15-year old PC on Are Cheap Laptops a Roadblock for Moore's Law? · · Score: 1

    Just means computer power will expand into more niches, while the central platform gets more powerful. You'll have the power of your 1970s Cray supercomputer in your toaster or cellphone beacuse that is an economical small CPU to manufacture.

  16. Apple makes money; MSFT loses money on Next Generation Zune Coming for Holiday Season · · Score: 1

    I wonder why MSFT stockholders allows Microsoft second-rate money losers in the market for years and years. Xbox, MSN, Zune... Apple usually makes a profit in its first year. Maybe thats why MSFT stock is still below its 1990s peak and APPL is six thimes its 1990s peak.

  17. iPhone loads webpage in less than a day? on Ubiquitous Multi-Gigabit Wireless Within Three Years · · Score: 1

    OK, not that bad. I'm a little disappointed in ATT 2.5G.

  18. 2GB/200GB $499 laptop Best Buy (after rebate) on $298 Wal-Mart PC Has OO.org, No Crapware · · Score: 1

    Prices are plummeting again.
    However I never trust those rebates.

  19. "Mutant monkeys escape from Africa" on Humans Evolved From a Single Origin In Africa · · Score: 1

    Headline of 10PM news, July 19, 85,000 BC.

  20. talking about star trek too on Farscape (Kinda) Returns · · Score: 1

    I've heard sanctioned web star trek web-only episodes too from two of the former actors at scifi conventions. (There lots of unsanctioned stuff on the web now).

  21. you guys arent standing in line? on Harry Potter Leaked Via Handheld Camera · · Score: 1

    For your HP7 book?
    Theres a few silly lines about town.
    Last week people started lining up for the 12:01AM movie at noon. They had eight sold-out midnight shows.

  22. pretty common; even youtube doesnt work on linux64 on Does Comcast Hate Firefox? · · Score: 1

    Lots of sites dont work 100% on firefox. Youtube does work completely on linux64 firefox. I think its a flash issue.

  23. energy hierarchy same as digestion on America's First Cellulosic Ethanol Plant · · Score: 1

    Sugar (cane, beets) has more ethonal energy than starch (corn) than cellulose (wood, grass). The thrid case is so difficult that animals have evolved weird strategies for extracting enery - four sto If you believe otherwise, then I'll my deed to a bridge in NYC.

  24. 1988 Morris internet worm on The Computer Virus Turns 25 in July · · Score: 4, Interesting

    That was the first virus I remember, but its just 19 years old. It paralyzed the internet when it was released. But then the Net just had a few thousand nodes, most of them in the university. The worm was supposed to count nodes by sending a copy of itself to every entry in the host table, but the author forget to account for duplicates and circularities. So it just replicated until it filled the process spaces and internet bandwidth.

  25. fine print: sponsored by MSFT on Dangerous Java Flaw Threatens 'Virtually Everything' · · Score: 1

    Im suspicious.