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User: Zelaron

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Comments · 27

  1. Moral trains on Drivers Prefer Autonomous Cars That Don't Kill Them (hothardware.com) · · Score: 1

    While we're at it, why don't we develop autonomous trains that derail themselves when something more valuable than the passengers is estimated to be in the way? Predictability, not the implementation of morally arbitrary and exploitable subroutines that will kill the passengers, is key, IMAO.

  2. Re:Too cumbersome on Omnidirectional Treadmill: The Ultimate FPS Input Device? · · Score: 1

    VirtuSphere*. Even the name of the product wasn't memorable enough, apparently...

  3. Too cumbersome on Omnidirectional Treadmill: The Ultimate FPS Input Device? · · Score: 1

    While it's not as bad as VirtuaSphere, I think I'll wait a little longer for a brain-computer interface.

  4. Give me your answer, do... on The War Z Taken Offline Following Hack · · Score: 1

    I'm not sure whether the crackers or the developers are more deserving to be brought along for this ride:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAa14HpM-1o

  5. Re:Closing the door a little too late? on To Prevent Deforestation, Brazilian Supermarkets Ban Amazon Meat · · Score: 1

    Amazon sells meat? Excuse me, I gotta update my shopping list.

    Yes, but they've carefully limited their selection to not offend anyone after the horsemeat scandal:

    http://www.amazon.com/ThinkGeek-Canned-Unicorn-Meat/dp/B004CRYE2C/qid=1364496739&sr=8-1

  6. New Years EVE on Ask Slashdot: What Is Your New Years Eve Tradition? · · Score: 1

    As of this year, I'll be undocking a Drake in Jita to unload enough Festival Launcher fireworks to fry someone's GPU.

  7. Re:I am disappoint on Mysterious Sprite Photographed By ISS Astronaut · · Score: 1
    Discovery News should learn not to point their links to the wrong articles... Anyway, here we go: OTHERWORLDLY SPRITES MAY SIGNAL ALIEN LIFE

    Because sprites are connected to lightning, and lightning plays a key role in many theories concerning how life first developed on Earth, it stands to reason that the existence of sprites on other planets (both in our own solar system and others) may be something to look out for when searching for signs of alien life, according to Dubrovin.

  8. Re:I am disappoint on Mysterious Sprite Photographed By ISS Astronaut · · Score: 2

    Mysterious, photographed by ISS and no mention of aliens. I am disappoint.

    Actually, TFA does mention aliens:

    ANALYSIS: Otherworldly Sprites May Signal Alien Life

  9. Here we go again... on Insects As Weapons · · Score: 1

    Paine argues that foreign insect pests have been deliberately introduced in the Golden State, in hopes of decimating the state's population of eucalyptus

    Timothy Paine seems awfully knowledgeable of these terrorists' specific goal of removing 1/10 of the population of Eucalyptus trees.

  10. Re:Near miss? Near hit, rather.... on Astronomers Catch Asteroid In Near-Miss Video · · Score: 1

    Near miss? Near hit, rather....

    In this context, the word "near" is not being used to mean "almost" but "close in proximity." It would be nice if the use of "near miss" would stop on the grounds that it's ambiguous (rather than necessarily wrong, which it isn't).

  11. Re:Is it "too real"? on Hobbit Film Underwhelms At 48 Frames Per Second · · Score: 1

    It seems feasible that the relative lack of information in 24 fps movies forces our brains to fill in the blanks to a higher degree. Information overload may thus not evoke the same emotional attachment to films in the average viewer.

  12. Yes! on Do E-Readers Spell the Demise Of Traditional Schooling? · · Score: 1

    I came across a an article this morning that suggests that the Nook and the Kindle have changed things in such a way that schools are becoming obsolete.

    Agreed; soon there will be absolutely no need for a an education!

  13. Re:Nuclear != Radioactivity on Germany To End Nuclear Power By 2022 · · Score: 1

    You discover something that already existed but you, and perhaps others, did not know about. You invent something that did not actually exist. It can be solid like a jet engine or conceptual like an algorithm. Someone can no more invent radioactivity than a new exoplanet.

    That is indeed the difference between "discover" and "invent" which most English speakers would probably agree on being the correct one. Etymologically, however, the word "invent" originates from the Latin verb invenire, which literally means "to find" or "to discover". That particular meaning, once incorporated into English, remains in certain authoritative dictionaries and thesauruses, such as the aforementioned Oxford Thesaurus of English:

    invent
    verb
    1. originate, create, innovate, design, device, contrive, formulate, develop
    2. conceive, think up, come up with, hit on, mastermind, pioneer
    3. discover, find
    4. coin, mint

    I do think that what constitutes a language should largely be determined by common use if there are already perfectly cromulent replacements for certain words. Still, I would still be hard-pressed to call anyone wrong even if they made a crazy-sounding claim like "Christopher Columbus invented the Americas in 1492" as long as I know that they have the means to point and laugh at me for appearing oblivious to how their slightly obscure use of English is correct.

    Hopefully, the "invent" => "discover" semantic implication will soon become archaic, so that I will never under any circumstances be tempted to drag discussions off topic like this again.

    (It's actually a semantic logical equivalence. Did you know that the Wright brothers discovered the first powered airplane in 1903?)

  14. Re:Nuclear != Radioactivity on Germany To End Nuclear Power By 2022 · · Score: 1

    No. He discovered/named it. It existed long before him. He invented the scientific idea.

    You are missing my point. Henri Becquerel invented radioactivity itself (not just the scientific theory of it), despite radioactive decay taking place before he or anyone else we know of knew about it. If he had somehow given rise to the existence of radioactive decay in the universe, he could also have been said to have invented radioactivity, but "invented" no longer directly conveys the semantics of "discovered" in that case.

  15. Re:Nuclear != Radioactivity on Germany To End Nuclear Power By 2022 · · Score: 2

    Firstly, nobody "invented" radioactivity.

    Actually, Henri Becquerel invented it. A good thesaurus (such as Oxford Thesaurus of English) will show you that invent is, annoyingly, synonymous with discover.

  16. Re:Jebus on 12-Year-Old Rewrites Einstein's Theory of Relativity · · Score: 2
  17. But what about... on Breaking Into the Super Collider · · Score: 1

    ...doubled research in Dallas? :(

  18. Re:Sad writing (and summary) on Ikaros Spacecraft Successfully Propelled In Space · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The basic human need to be watched was once satisfied by God. Now, the same functionality can be replicated with data-mining algorithms.

  19. Re:Pirate Bay down? on Pirate Bay Announces Sale to Swedish Company For $7.8 Million · · Score: 1

    It's possible, but TPB has been fine during previous traffic spikes, e.g. just after its creators were sentenced.

  20. Re:Pirate Bay down? on Pirate Bay Announces Sale to Swedish Company For $7.8 Million · · Score: 1

    Update: They're dead now. The only good reason for a DDoS attack this early on would probably be to hail Eris.

  21. Re:Pirate Bay down? on Pirate Bay Announces Sale to Swedish Company For $7.8 Million · · Score: 1

    Weird. It doesn't work here either (I'm in Sweden). http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/thepiratebay.org reports that it's currently up though.

  22. Re:Minor? on Meteorite Destroys Warehouse In Auckland, NZ · · Score: 1

    Or a stem cell?!

  23. Re:Original Research on Improving Wikipedia Coverage of Computer Science · · Score: 1

    When exactly will Wikipedia become the depository of all human knowledge?

  24. Re:Oh boy. on MS Says Windows 7 Will Run DirectX 10 On the CPU · · Score: 1

    Does this imply someone is finally going to purchase a Tesla now?

  25. Re:Dictionary files on Unix Dict/grep Solves Left-Side-of-Keyboard Puzzle · · Score: 1

    Thank you; the YAWL list is sufficiently perfect!