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User: OshMan

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  1. Contact info for McDonald's France on Man Physically Assaulted At McDonald's For Wearing Digital Eye Glasses · · Score: 1

    Here is the contact info from the McDonald's website for the French office. Perhaps they should hear about the bad press they are receiving from this incident.

    McDonald's France S.A.
    1 Rue Gustave Eiffel
    78045 Guayancourt Cedex
    France
    Phone* : 33-130-48-6000
    Fax* : 33-130-48-6300
    * U.S. customers, dial 011 + before an international number, except in Canada, dial 1 + number.

  2. Re:There are Viking Robots on Mars? on New Study Suggests Mars Viking Robots Found Life · · Score: 1

    Nobody ever expects the viking robots until its too late. That's the whole point of them.

  3. really? on Teacher Suspended For Reading Ender's Game To Students · · Score: 1

    Talk about wiggin out.

  4. Re:Technically... on Utah To Teach USA is a Republic, Not a Democracy · · Score: 1

    Democratic republic is what I was taught.

  5. Re:For those who like this sort of thing, this is on TiVo To Brick All Remaining UK PVRs On June 1 · · Score: 2

    10 years ago when I bought the Tivo, SageTV if it was even available yet was in its infancy. Regardless I believe I paid less than $300 dollars for the Tivo box so your $590 solution wouldn't have been much of a savings if any. Also, I've got to say that myTivo has far outlasted any PC I've ever owned. It took almost 10 years to fail, and I think the only problem is with the modem. But I've moved on to Roku rather than repair it.

  6. Re:For those who like this sort of thing, this is on TiVo To Brick All Remaining UK PVRs On June 1 · · Score: 2

    As one of the "fools" who paid for lifetime service I'd like to inject some facts here. I paid something like $300 for lifetime, and used that service for almost ten years before the box failed from hardware issues. Had I not purchased the lifetime service I would have paid somewhere around $1200 for that service during the same time. In fact I could still repair the box and keep using it if I chose. So please explain to me where it was foolish to pay $300 rather than $1200?

  7. Re:"Faith Science Basis?" on Australian Schools To Teach Intelligent Design · · Score: 1

    I would argue that ID can not accurately/honestly be presented as a "theory" at all, at least not in the sense of the word as used by Science. Because that would connote that it had amassed a body of supporting evidence, which it has not. However, ID could honestly be presented as a hypothesis, although a nearly useless one in that it makes no predictions and is fundamentally (pun intended) un-testable. Perhaps it could be used as a good example of a poorly formed hypothesis? ID could also be useful fodder in a discussion of Occam's Razor, but it would need to be in the role of a negative example which introduces unnecessary additional assumptions.

  8. A point well missed on Life's Building Blocks Found On Asteroid 24 Themis · · Score: 1

    Whether this "implies" that the building blocks of life were delivered via this method is a secondary hypothesis. I feel that a more important implication is that these "building blocks" can develop in a particularly harsh, non-earth environment. This gives more credence to the notion that life could have arisen on the primordial earth as postulated by science. And it gives credence to the notion that life may well have arisen elsewhere in the universe.

  9. Re:Evacuate this universe! on LHC Shut Down Again — By Baguette-Dropping Bird · · Score: 1

    For that to be true the birds would have to be agents of the mice. And that seems a bit far fetched.

  10. Re:The rats' name is not 'Algernon', or is it? on Scientists Build a Smarter Rat · · Score: 1

    Hmmm didn't know that one, thanks looks interesting. But I may have to disqualify him for not actually being a rat ..... I think.

  11. Re:The rats' name is not 'Algernon', or is it? on Scientists Build a Smarter Rat · · Score: 1

    No offense intended. My point is that the mid 40s and up camp (including me ;) are likely to think of Flowers for Algernon first. Since many of us already read it in high school when secret of NIMH came out. And were perhaps a bit (or more) too old for the movie. People roughly your age I would expect might think first of Secrets of NIMH, as you point out already in sequel mode and no doubt on TV a lot. I don't know how many 20 and under there are on Shashdot, but I expect they might think first of Pinky and the Brain. I know about the later 2 because I have kids. I'm not sure where the mice from Hitchhiker's Guide fall in. But it's a reoccurring theme, or perhaps meme and I find that interesting. Maybe the real question is how old are the researchers?

  12. Re:The rats' name is not 'Algernon', or is it? on Scientists Build a Smarter Rat · · Score: 1

    Me too, but if there are any younger folks on the list perhaps N.I.M.H or even "the Brain" would strike the same nerve.

  13. Re:Alas its' first words were... on Robot Controlled By Human Brain Cells · · Score: 1

    Or in this case ex-ter-mi-RAT!

  14. Eyes of the world on Barack Obama Wins the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize · · Score: 1

    I think the real accomplishment that this reflects is Obamas role in changing the perception of the US as an aggressive unilateral nation that has no serious interest in dealing with global warming or participating in true international cooperation. In this respect it is similar to the Gorbachev award in the 90s. I think it is an opportunity for some introspection into how US diplomatic style affects the rest of the world for better or worse. It is also an indication of a changing of the winds on how we as a nation are perceived, and perhaps an opportunity for a better relationship with the larger community of nations. Like the general goodwill of other nations extended to the US after 911, this is an opportunity that can be squandered, or used constructively. Only time will tell whether Obama seizes or drops this moment.

  15. Any Software Engineers out there? on Schooling, Homeschooling, and Now, "Unschooling" · · Score: 1

    As a software engineer, I've learned different technologies along the way as I needed them, sometimes taking a class, usually just diving into samples and figuring it out. These include InstallScript, XSL, Java, JavaScript, JSF, Flex, and a pile of markup languages and other necessities. How many of you software folks out there have needed to learn a new language or technology for work? Did you take 2 years off and go back to school? I doubt it. When I've needed to know or understand something new it's always been easier for me to learn than when someone else thought I needed to know it. That's the core idea of Homeschooling, that when they need or want to learn something kids will dive into it and make it happen. Both my kids went into kindergarten excited about learning, and had their enthusiasm beat down in different ways mostly by the institutional one size fits all treatment. Now we homeschool, and though not "radical unschoolers" we're certainly somewhere on the unschool spectrum. It's brought back their enthusiasm. In fact my eleven year old expects a "sciencey fact" every night. We've been over everything from dark matter to plate tectonics to the importance of the magnetosphere. My nine year old got excited about a Nova Science now episode and went on at length telling me about how scientists hope to be able to use algae to create biofuel. All I can say is, its working for us, but it's not just about letting them wander aimlessly, sometimes its about putting things in their path and seeing what excites them.

  16. Re:Huh. on South Park Creators Given Signed Photo of Saddam Hussein · · Score: 1

    Now that one was almost weirder than the last. Strange day on the tubes I guess. By the way anonymous coward, I'm probably what you would consider a "leftie", so you might want to examine your own bias as well.

  17. Re:Huh. on South Park Creators Given Signed Photo of Saddam Hussein · · Score: 1

    Wow that smelled a bit antisemitic/racist/whatever, bitrex. I'm disappointed that kind of comment got modded up so far.

  18. Davros? on iRobot Develops Hamster-Guided Robotic Vacuum · · Score: 2, Funny

    Clearly this is the prototype for the first Dalek. I'll bet it can't vacuum stairs either.

  19. Is your spider sense tingling? on Spider Missing After Trip To Space Station · · Score: 1

    Send Peter Parker up, he's got a knack for finding lost mutant spiders. Osh

  20. Galactus on The Best Fictional Doomsday Devices · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Maybe this is the wrong crowd for this, but in the Marvel Comics universe there is a character who is an elemental force of death who calmly goes through the universe devouring planets. His name is Galactus, and the Silver Surfer is one of his "heralds". Both characters of epic amounts of cool. Osh

  21. Re:Demonstrate competence on Getting Hired As an Entry-Level Programmer? · · Score: 1

    I moved from QA to engineering by getting involved at my own company. First I prototyped, then built an auto run application. Then I got involved in, and eventually took over installs. Now I'm a web applications engineer. Take some initiative, get involved. If your company is worth a damn then they'll be interested in growing your career and keeping you. If you're good at it they should be happy to keep giving you more. If you can't do this then you're at the wrong company. And if you need to change companies, lots of QA departments are also involved in fixing bugs. Look for one of those.

  22. Mod points? on Berners-Lee Wants Truth Ratings For Websites · · Score: 1

    Um, what about something like mod points or ebays seller ratings? Let the wisdom of the masses indicate what they think of a site.

  23. Re:Truth on Ford's 65MPG Due In November, But Not In the US · · Score: 1

    In the name of fuel economy I've been riding the internet to work 2 times a week and cut my fuel use by 40%. I think incentives to employers to encourage, or just allow more telecommuting could go a long way. How many of us drive to work to sit in front of a computer all day?

  24. Re:flashblock on Adobe Flash Ads Launching Clipboard Hijack Attacks · · Score: 1

    Granted that flash is often used gratuitously but deriding all companies using it is really over the top. There has been a long painful march toward delivering "Rich Internet Applications" starting back before Java AWT and Swing. Ajax while having shown the possibilities for RIA's, with apps like Gmail, is a chaotic wilderness of home spun and cross browser nightmares. Adobe's Flex a technology built on top of flash is becoming a very powerful and cross browser compatible alternative for making highly interactive and dynamic interfaces. Ignore it at your career's peril.

  25. Re:Cost Effective? on Americans Refusing To Wait For Mainstream EVs · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Note that's almost exactly half the price of a new Prius. I'd say he came out way ahead on the purchase of a new(ish) energy efficient vehicle.