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User: loganljb

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  1. Re:WTF? Anti-Gay? on Scientific Breakthrough Increases Plant Yields By One Third (wsu.edu) · · Score: 2

    While you would probably consider politifact to be biased (or think that not supporting same-sex marriage isn't the same as "anti-gay"), how about this: http://www.politifact.com/new-...

  2. Re:Nothing technical about it. on Alicia Keys Latest Artist To Enforce No Cell Phone Policy at Concerts (slashgear.com) · · Score: 1

    While you're probably correct in general, that's not really always a valid assumption.

    At small venues, it's quite possible to hear an annoying cell phone ringing. I was at an Indigo Girls concert recently, and Lucy Wainwright Roche opened for them (really good, and hilarious, by the way). During one part of her performance, she was speaking to the audience (small venue, remember?), and someone's cell phone a few rows back from the front started ringing. Lucy heard the ringing just fine, and asked the person to go ahead and answer the phone so that we could all talk to them. It was pretty darned funny, and hopefully quite embarrassing for the culprit.

  3. Re:I wish I could buy GMO seeds on Genetically Modified Rice Makes More Food, Less Greenhouse Gas · · Score: 1

    If you're talking about the Garden Gem tomato (not actually a GMO, I think, but a very carefully created cultivar), see here: http://hos.ufl.edu/kleeweb/new....

  4. Re:Someone cannot math on The Solar System Is Awash In Water · · Score: 1

    Actually, the article and summary are using long scale 'billion' not short scale 'billion', so the multiplier is 10^12 rather than 10^9. Us Yanks would call it 150 trillion cubic meters. See the wikipedia article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L....

    It's 3 orders of magnitude more water than most native English speakers would think.

  5. Re:How long will it take slashdot to spin this? on Gates Donates $500M+ To Fight Malaria and Other Diseases · · Score: 2

    Well, now that you've ruined the entire thread, what's the point in posting? You killed every point a loyal Slashdotter should cover. Nicely done, sir.

  6. Re:Whoever extracts elements first wins. on MIT Study: Only 3.1% of USA Used Electronics "e-Waste" Were Exported · · Score: 2

    We already can transmute lead into gold. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_transmutation. Of course, it costs more in energy than the gold is worth -- which probably applies equally to garbage mining, so the comparison is quite apt.

  7. Re:Even worse... on Death to the Trapezoid... Next USB Connector Will Be Reversible · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Obviously, you've never tried plugging a USB cable into the back of a tower that can't easily be moved (with a lot of connections in the back, it's rather difficult to move unless all of your wires are long). The plugs are sideways. What's up and what's down?

    Equally, for micro/mini USB, have you ever tried plugging in your phone in the dark, when it's yelling at you about needing to be charged? For that matter, those connectors are TINY. Can you read anything written on them?

    Reversible connectors -- or connectors with an actual OBVIOUS direction -- would be very nice.

  8. Re:What moron judge allowed this? on Lavabit Case Unsealed: FBI Demands Companies Secretly Turn Over Crypto Keys · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Like I said, I don't disagree with how LavaBit handled this. In fact, I think EVERYONE should treat federal 'requests' for information the way that Ladar Levinson has, and greatly admire the stand he has taken. I was simply saying that it was more complicated than the summary made it out to be.

    That being said, in my personal opinion the fact that the fed can request envelope information with no probably cause is a travesty. I see it as no different than pulling mail out of my mailbox to see who I write letters to and who writes to me. This should be illegal search and seizure

  9. Re:What moron judge allowed this? on Lavabit Case Unsealed: FBI Demands Companies Secretly Turn Over Crypto Keys · · Score: 4, Informative

    Things are a bit more involved than they seem from reading just the summary. The fed originally requested that LavaBit provide them with information regarding a single account (header information only, but on an ongoing basis), which they are allowed to obtain without probable cause. LavaBit refused the initial request, then stalled when given a court order to provide this information (I believe LavaBit was in the right in doing so -- I'm NOT supporting the fed's case, just providing information). The fed took LavaBit back to court, and obtained a court order requiring that LavaBit provide the SSL key, as the fed did not believe that LavaBit would comply with an order for information on a single account. The best part was when LavaBit sent them the SSL key, as a 4 point font printout :-)

    In other words, when LavaBit wouldn't provide them information on a single account, the fed escalated to the nuclear option.

  10. Re:Typical way of taking away freedom on Hockey Sticks Among Carry-On Items TSA Has Cleared For Planes · · Score: 2

    Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of the liberty to take a real bottle of shampoo on an airplane, or the liberty of not having to arrive at the airport an hour or more early only to be subjected to demonstrably ineffective (and possibly, over the long term, dangerous -- although that hasn't been demonstrated because of the refusal of the TSA to perform actual testing) security theater, or the liberty of not having your toddler groped by an underpaid, undertrained, overzealous, security goon.

    One of the few truly effective security changes since 9/11 was the very simple expedient of adding always locked, reinforced cabin doors.

    While we're on the subject of liberty, someone who had a personal hand in the founding of our country had something very relevant to say about this situation... They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.

  11. Typical way of taking away freedom on Hockey Sticks Among Carry-On Items TSA Has Cleared For Planes · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is a fairly typical way to permanently take away freedom. Take away a LOT of freedom during an 'emergency', then later give back a small portion of that freedom. People will be so relieved by the small concessions that they forget the larger liberties that they no longer enjoy.

  12. Re:UNLEASH CAPITALISM on Tesla Motors Sued By Car Dealers · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm not a big supporter of complete Laissez-faire capitalism, so don't take this the wrong way... But this story is about exactly the opposite of what you seem to think it is. The problem in this case is the franchise law -- which is government interference in the free market, which is anathema to true capitalism -- not with capitalism. Of course dealerships are going to sue -- they've got a nice racket going on, with government backing.

  13. Re:PCs for Kids on Ask Slashdot: What To Do With Over 500 Used DIMMs? · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wouldn't that be 'take a byte'? Sorry, couldn't resist.

  14. Re:Meh on Bring Back the 40-Hour Work Week · · Score: 1

    I thought loan wolves all worked in the banking industry.

  15. Re:Merger will still happen on Leaked AT&T Letter Damages Case For T-Mobile Merger · · Score: 2

    The Honeywell / GE Merger in 2001, for one. That was stopped by the EU, not the FCC, but the idea is the same.

  16. Re:I guess the Vatican doesn't want on Vatican Bans IOS Confession App · · Score: 1

    Seriously? Of course indulgences were sold -- under the guise of 'charitable contributions'. If you are told that a contribution to charity can reduce your sentence in jail, and that the charity that you're supposed to contribute to is owned, operated, and controlled by the warden, isn't that basically selling a reduced jail sentence?

    Indulgences were sold for the construction of St. Peter's basilica. The church investigated, and downplayed the role of the priest at the top of the chain -- instead, those that played up the idea to the poor were blamed. Those involved were not 'counterfeiting' anything, they were just misrepresenting what was needed for an indulgence (a prayer was just as good as money). However, the idea of giving indulgences to rebuild the basilica certainly started at the top, and is 'selling' no matter how you look at it.

  17. Re:I guess the Vatican doesn't want on Vatican Bans IOS Confession App · · Score: 1

    Actually, you're completely correct -- in that Google is your friend.

    According to wikipedia (I know, downmod me for using this as a source), abuse of the sale of indulgences was a major point of contention, and one of the reasons why Martin Luther started the protestant reformation. I can't imagine that wikipedia is any MORE biased on this subject than the official Catholic web site.

    Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indulgence

  18. Re:Simple solution on Adobe Security Chief Defends JavaScript Support · · Score: 1

    Yes, but it should be the default, with an option to ENABLE script support for specific documents, not a system-wide setting. Like noscript lets you mark specific pages as trusted.

  19. Simple solution on Adobe Security Chief Defends JavaScript Support · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Well, gee -- how about creating the equivalent of noscript for Adobe, then? That way, the user can decide for themselves if they want to run scripts in what they THOUGHT was just a formatted text document.

  20. Re:More competition needed on Telcos Want Big Subsidies, Not Line-Sharing · · Score: 1

    Just out of curiosity, how much would you, or those who inherit your property, have to pay to replace this septic system in 30 years compared to the cost of connecting to the government run system then as opposed to now?

    While I'm almost definitely not in the same area as the OP, I do have direct, relevant, recent experience with this. This year, on our property, we had a complete leach field failure. Not exactly unexpected -- this particular field has been in continuous use for 40 years, and the tank has been pumped ONCE during that time (keep in mind, you are supposed to have your tank pumped out every 5-7 years). The total cost, including a new distribution box (the old one was cracked) for putting in an entirely new set of lines under a different part of the property -- $1700. That included excavation, having the tank pumped, materials, everything. While not cheap by any means, this will probably last us for another 40 years -- at which point the original field will almost definitely have returned back to usable condition, and we can have the distribution box switched back over to the original field.

  21. My eyes must be going. on Spring Design Sues Barnes & Noble Over Nook IP · · Score: 1

    Man, I think I need to get glasses. I looked at the headline, saw that Spring Design was suing Barnes and Noble over Nookie, and thought that maybe I was in the wrong business.

  22. Re:size doesn't matter on Fermilab Not Dead Yet, Discovers Rare Single Top Quark · · Score: 4, Funny

    I think that what this actually demonstrates is that it isn't the size of the accelerator that matters -- it's how long you can keep it running before it explodes.

  23. In other, related news... on Sarcasm Useful For Detecting Dementia · · Score: 1

    Australian scientists have determined that a disproportionate percentage of Anonymous Cowards suffer from dementia.