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User: peter303

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  1. microsoft doubles its India operations on NSF Reports No Geek Shortage · · Score: 1

    I guess the largest US tech company agrees .

  2. difference between a computer and an appliance on Mobile Phone as Home Computer? · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Both a computer and an appliance these days may have a powerful CPU inside, interface screen and controls, and communications capability. An "appliance" hides this under a focused user interface. A computer comes up with a more generalized interface, afterwards you may select a particular fuctionality. For example people think of an iPod as "music appliance", even though it contains more memory than most PCs in the 20th century and nearly as powerful CPU. If you can "see the computer underneath" in an apppliance either the architect was making it multi-purpose, or implemented the user interface poorly.

  3. $25 a gigabyte? on The Profit Margin on the iPod nano · · Score: 1

    The article says Apple is getting a gigabyte of flash for $25 (wholesale). The best RAM prices I've seen this year has been $118 (retail). As recently as last year flash was more expensive.

  4. exhibitionism on Blogging As A Form Of Therapy · · Score: 1

    Blogging is just people showing off their pathetic, meaningless, dull lives.

  5. US has been doing this for years on European Students to Put Microsatellite Into Orbit · · Score: 1

    Even high schools have sent up mini satellites.

  6. bad explanation? on Mysterious Stars Surround Andromeda's Black Hole · · Score: 4, Insightful

    My explanation is almost as bad as the fundamentalists. If something complicated happens, they say God made it rather some scientific explantion. I'm just substituting advanced aliens for God.

  7. power center of advanced civilization on Mysterious Stars Surround Andromeda's Black Hole · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If it appears to be physically difficult to explain these stars, perhaps it is an artificial constuction. I'd expect an advanced extra-terrestial civilization to exploit the immense power of the galactic core black hole. Who knows what they are doing with it? Sustanence? Wormhole transport? Communication? Entertainment? Maybe one hundred infant stars whizzing around the center has something to do with this.

  8. emotion a driver of consciousness + intelligence on Cursing as Peephole Into Brain Architecture · · Score: 1

    When people talk about being "conscious" they are mainly describing a feeling rather than a logical process. Dennett describes such in his several books on the subject. Minsky's sequel to the articial intelligence Society of Mind is titled The Emotion Machine, and is about the role of emotion in intelligence. No wonder strong emotion is at the root of human language ability.

  9. OT: sue the pope! on Authors Guild Sues Google Over Print Program · · Score: 1

    This is a little off-topic, but I just read in a Houston paper that one the priest-abuse lawyers is trying to get a court to let him sue the pope. I guess that follows that old bank-robber saying "thtat where the money is".

  10. Chinese manned launch in October on NASA's New Shuttle · · Score: 1

    China announced it is launching its second manned orbit the first week of October, just after the National Day holiday (Oct 1). This one may orbit five days. They used a an "improved" Soyez type vehicle. China has also announced a manned moon program for the 2010s.

  11. score on IQ tests increasing on Intelligence in the Internet Age · · Score: 1

    Google the "Floyd effect" named after the psychologists that found IQ tests to soldiers have been increasing abotu 3 points per decade over the 20th century. Happening for both urban and rural and all races. Guesses include better education and the stimulation of mass media.
    Note this doesn't mean all intelligence is increasing, but the kinds of things they test for.

  12. toss in a cell-pphone jammer too! on New System to Counter Photo and Video Devices · · Score: 1

    If I could get one of those along with a device to stop cell phones in movie theatres and symphony concerts I'd be happy. They're currently illegal in the US, nominally for safety reasons, but you can find them on the underground.

  13. foil wallets or pockets on MasterCard To Distribute RFID Credit Cards · · Score: 1

    Just get one of those foil lined wallets or clothing with such pockets. They are novelties in the US now, but would become more common with RFID cards.

  14. started in San Francisco on The Tech of Burning Man · · Score: 2, Informative

    The originally did it on Baker Beach. Lots of gay and Silicon Valley nerd content in the beginning. Then they dot.com arts scene joined. It got to big to do in S.F. and migrated to the Nevade desert.

  15. wanted: the "iPod of eBooks" on When Will E-Books Become Mainstream? · · Score: 1

    Digital music hadnt completely hit its stride until iPods and iTunes came along. Of course alot of good pieces were already out there. However the iPod combined good comprises in price, style, availability and corporate buy-in.

  16. plague is common in California and Colorado on Missing Lab Mice Infected With Plague · · Score: 1

    Many of the rodents and prarie dogs in California and Colorado carry the bubonic plague. You just have to be sure your pets dont hassle them and come done with, but some do. As the article mentions a few humans get it too.

  17. maybe England will completely flood on Global Warming Past The Point of No Return · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    And stop this incessant whining aboout global warming.

  18. call it Java-java then? on Indonesia Adopts Java Desktop System on Linux · · Score: 0

    I wonder if beacuase Java is major Indonesian province had anything to do with it.

  19. invited for tea at Moonbase China on NASA Plan to Return to the Moon · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Since China plans a moon base in ten years, then NASA can visit them for a nice cup of tea. China will have a week-long orbital flight in three weeks and the Russians are visiting the space station. Americans can look up at the pretty lights in the sky, wave and cry.

  20. picture window view of the Rocky Mountains on Ultimate Software Developer Setup? · · Score: 1

    I put a picture window in my office with a view of a hundred miles of the Rocky Mountains. I'd watch them turn red at sunrise and get covered with snow in the winter. Plus occasional tornadic thunderstorms in the summer. Switching to distance vision periodically after staring at a screen relaxes and sooths the eyes.

    Well, I have that picture window, so I cant complain. Maybe an ocen-beach view would be nice now and then.

  21. Crichton's book "Prey" on Microrobot Developed at Dartmouth · · Score: 1

    The Jurassic Park author wrote a reasonably entertaining book about military nano-bots becoming artificially intelligent and start acting on their own. Eventually this will be a theater movie.

  22. that MPEG with your partner in bed on Data Still Left on Storage Devices for Sale · · Score: 1

    I knew I forgot to erase something before tossing that disk! Now its all over the InterNet.

  23. is the US manned program over? on China's Second Manned Space Flight · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    With any launches now pushed to 2007 at the earliest due to foam problems and hurricane damage, I wonder if the shuttle will ever launch again. It seems to be easy for NASA to find reasons not to go into space.

  24. whatever happened to regular RAM? on Samsung Develops 16Gb Flash Memory · · Score: 4, Interesting

    When I look at local computer parts prices, DRAM has been stuck at the $100 / GB range for three years now. Flash passed its price point earlier this year and is not looking back. I used to marvel at how RAM prices used to drop. (Flash is slower and can only be written a limited number (1E5) of times.)

  25. most of my MIT C.S. courses were useless on Computer Science Curriculum in College · · Score: 1

    Of the dozen or so MIT computer science courses at MIT, most of them are now useless because the field changed a lot in a couple decades. But the important point was to continue to learn . At MIT maybe I learned 15 computer languages, none of them commmerically useless. I estimate I picked up another 15 since then, probably about four them commercially useful. And still get paid very well for this semi-useless learning.