Slashdot Mirror


User: kheldan

kheldan's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
3,904
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 3,904

  1. Re:Been there, done that. on China Targets 2022 For Space Station Completion · · Score: 1

    Why can't they just participate in the International space station, again?

    Because their xenophobic policies prohibit 'contamination' of their citizens wherever they can manage to avoid it, and besides which they're probably afraid that the crew they send to the ISS would have a perfect opportunity to defect to the West, seeing as how they'd be outside of any countrys' borders while in orbit.

  2. Re:Sounds familiar on Researchers Working On Crystallizing Light · · Score: 1

    Except that in NextGen Star Trek (24th century and later), the holodeck uses photons restrained by force fields, totally different technology than what they're experimenting with here (I think).

  3. Re:Maybe on Using Wearable Tech To Track Gun Use · · Score: 1

    Personally, I'd prefer that convicts serve their full sentences and we dispense with parole altogether.

    I think that personally you (and everyone else) would be shocked and angered by how much that would end up costing you in taxes. Prisons are overcrowded enough as it is, and that just makes everything worse, and the problem isn't being made any better by 'operated for profit' privately-owned prisons that contract themselves out to state governments.

  4. Re:Maybe on Using Wearable Tech To Track Gun Use · · Score: 1

    If it prevents their parole from being violated

    Do you own pets? Ever notice that they learn to not do things you get mad at them for doing (jump on the kitchen counter or on tables, etc) when you're watching, but will do it when (they think) you're not watching? It boggles my mind to think that anyone believes humans to be any different. You watch a parolee 24/7/365, of course they're going to behave, they have no choice. Is that going to really change their character? Maybe not. Hardened criminals are going to wait out their parole so the monitoring device comes off, then go back to their tried-and-true criminal ways. Non-hardened criminals who really want to just do their time and never commit crimes again, live a normal life, may as well have 'CONVICT' tattooed across their foreheads. If you're not going to trust them at all then you may as well just not let them out of prison in the first place. While there needs to be the punishment aspect of the criminal justice system and the prison system, if you're not making an effort to rehabilitate offenders, then what's the point? Some can't be rehabilitated, true, but that's another discussion. For the ones who can and want to be rehabilitated, there needs to be some level of trust or there's not much point in letting them out in the first place.

  5. Re:Good luck with that. on Chinese Man Sues State-Owned Cell Phone Company For Blocking Google · · Score: 1

    Oh, I doubt he'll be killed for his actions.
    What'll more likely happen, is he'll have 'a mental breakdown' as a result of the stress of the proceedings, and have to be institutionalized 'for his own health and safety', where he'll be drugged to the gills -- until one day months or years later he'll 'recover' and recant his actions against the State 'because he was obviously having mental/emotional problems that were affecting his judgement' or somesuch. Naturally his family will foot the bill for his 'hospitalization' and 'rehabilitation/treatment', which will bankrupt them, but since family is so important in China, they'll be more than happy to reimburse the State.

  6. "In two years" on GM To Introduce Hands-Free Driving In Cadillac Model · · Score: 1

    Is that the new version of 'in five years'?

    I predict that 'in two years' they'll announce that they 'still have a few details to work out' and that it will be released 'in (the) next year's model'.. and so on..

  7. Re: Do it yourself? on Ask Slashdot: Best Service To Digitize VHS Home Movies? · · Score: 1

    MATERIAL quality of the 1-hour tapes, not RECORDING quality, goddamnit..

  8. Re:Do it yourself? on Ask Slashdot: Best Service To Digitize VHS Home Movies? · · Score: 1

    You're reading WAY too much into two words here ('broadcast quality'). They were 'broadcast quality' because they were 1-hour tapes, not the typical garden-variety 2-hour tapes, the tape itself was thicker and overall higher quality than consumer-grade VHS tapes, and they weren't cheap when I bought them; the 'broadcast quality', if you're not getting it still, referred to the material quality of the tapes (better quality tape itself, better quality shell, better quality tape-path components within the shell, etc), not in any way, shape, or form referring to improvement of recording quality (which is impossible, VHS is VHS.

  9. Do it yourself? on Ask Slashdot: Best Service To Digitize VHS Home Movies? · · Score: 5, Informative

    If the overall quality is a high priority to you then why not get a decent video capture device and do it yourself? By the way, if it's all on analog video tape like VHS, isn't it going to have degraded somewhat all by itself over time anyway? I've still got some VHS tapes I recorded myself that are at least 10 years old, and a high-end Sony VCR I kept (used to have two) and even though they were brand-new 'broadcast quality' tapes recorded at 2-hour speed, they really don't look all that great now. Honestly if it were I, and it was that important, I'd get a good video capture device, capture it all to the most uncompressed format I could, and do the editing myself.

  10. Re:Here's an idea on Could Tech Have Stopped ISIS From Using Our Own Heavy Weapons Against Us? · · Score: 1

    First of all I'm not 'terrified' of anything at the moment because there is so far as I know no imminent threat, I'm pissed off at these people who act worse than wild animals. I'm also pissed off at people with their heads in the sand/wearing rose-colored glasses who think we should just stay in our little corner of the world and let every group of assholes out there do whatever they want so long as it's not on U.S. soil. As much as I wish we lived in a world where that could be the way of things, the fact of the matter is the world is too small for that sort of thinking anymore, and as I keep on saying: It's WAY too late to just pull in and ignore things.

    Also you people who keep criticizing me and keep putting words in my mouth and assuming what I'm thinking can go fuck yourselves. I'm sick and bloody well tired of clueless people who refuse to see beyond the end of their own nose telling me I'm suffering from any number of neuroses when the fact of the matter is I am paying attention to what the fuck is going on when apparently the rest of you are off in your own little make-believe worlds full of nothing but roses and hearts and butterflies. Seriously, try UNDERSTANDING the news before you try to lecture ME on it, you assholes.

  11. Re:Here's an idea on Could Tech Have Stopped ISIS From Using Our Own Heavy Weapons Against Us? · · Score: 1

    What you are is an idiot for not seeing the necessity of spinning a 'what if' scenario for short-sighted people who think we (the U.S.) should just 'mind our own business' and ignore what's going on in the rest of the world, and apparently your eyesight is at least a myopic considering your 'it couldn't happen here!' attitude. Do I really have to go through old news stories and find all the instances since 9/11 of domestic terrorism in 1st-world countries including right here in the U.S.? In any case please shut the fuck up you're annoying.

  12. Re:Here's an idea on Could Tech Have Stopped ISIS From Using Our Own Heavy Weapons Against Us? · · Score: 1

    ..and by the way: How is anything I've said FUD? Do you not read the news? Have you not heard what these and other Islamic religious extremists have said about the U.S., and seen what they've done to U.S. citizens they've captured? Have you not heard the numerous stories about schoolgirls being brutally attacked and maimed or killed for having the audacity to go to school? Can you not see that it doesn't take any imagination at all to see what they'd do to us all given carte blanche to do as they please? Is your head really buried that deep in the sands of denial?

  13. Re:Here's an idea on Could Tech Have Stopped ISIS From Using Our Own Heavy Weapons Against Us? · · Score: 1

    I'm not 'conservative' by any stretch of the imagination, but I can see the writing on the wall. Apparently you can't.

    Tell you what, buddy: You think your grasp of world politics is so awesomely genius? Write down all your ideas and send them to the Secretary of State and to the President and let's see what happens. While you're at it please write them all down in detail in this thread so we can laugh at you, too.

  14. Re:Here's an idea on Could Tech Have Stopped ISIS From Using Our Own Heavy Weapons Against Us? · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Sure thing buddy, great idea. Let's see how you feel about your own ideology when you wake up one morning to find Islamic Jihadists pointing guns at you and informing you that you need to convert to Islam, immediately, or face execution, or that you are now subject to Sharia Law whether you like it or not, and that your daughters will have acid thrown in their faces for having the gall to actually go to school to learn to read, write, and do math. As distasteful as it may be, you have to face the reality of the fucked-up world we're living in: There are people out there that hate you just because you exist, they don't care what your opinions are, they don't care what your politics are, they want you, your family, and everyone you know dead because their interpretation of their fucking religion (or their using religion as an excuse, you decide which is which) says that you're an abomination in the eyes of Allah and as such they have a duty to wipe you from the face of the earth. Of course I'll be shouted down now by a thousand assholes here on /. with rhetoric like 'it's all about money' or 'it's all about oil' or whatever, but the fact remains: We can't go back now. We abandon our allies based on idealism? We'll be abandoned in turn, hated even worse, and left to be destroyed. Sorry buddy, there's no turning back now.

  15. Did some politician come up with this stupid idea? on Could Tech Have Stopped ISIS From Using Our Own Heavy Weapons Against Us? · · Score: 1

    For cryin' out loud, people, did some idiot politician with no idea how tech works in the real world come up with this idea?

    Here's the problem:
    Simply put, any tech can be hacked. As you'll note from the last several decades, copy protections, DRM, what have you, can and have all been hacked to circumvent them, and in some cases it took a fraction of the time to hack them than it did to create them in the first place! You design some sort of technology to 'remotely disable' weapons of war and two things will happen:
    1. The 'enemy' will hack them at a critical moment so you can't use them, and
    2. You leave them behind, they'll hack them and use them anyway.

    You want to 'disable' weaponry you're forced to leave behind? The best way is the tried-and-true old-fashioned way: You rig them with explosives and destroy them. For bonus points, you booby-trap them so that the enemy sets them off when they come to take posession of the aforementioned weapons left behind, so that you not only destroy the hardware, you destroy as many of them as possible in the process, and in the case of these 'Islamic State' assholes, the more of them you can take out, the better. Congratulations, you've made the world a better place through the use of demolition charges.

  16. Re:April's Fools Early? on After Celebrity Photo Leaks, 4chan Introduces DMCA Policy · · Score: 2

    This.
    4chan's fate was sealed as soon as it became mainstream; it was just a matter of time after that.

  17. Re:Nope! on New Usage-Based Insurance Software Can Track Drivers Using Smartphones · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I second the motion; fuck that. We're already 'tracked' in enough ways we (apparently) can't control, I'll be damned if I do it willingly. As is I'm getting fucking sick and fed up with feeling more and more every year like we're animals in a zoo or criminals in a prison.

  18. Re:Needs more infrastructure on Hidden Obstacles For Google's Self-Driving Cars · · Score: 1

    I trust computers WAY more than people for this task

    Don't know about you but I work with computers and electronics ALL DAY LONG at my job and I will not mince words with you: YOU ARE A FOOL FOR BELIEVING THAT. Luckily for everyone people like you are not the ones who get to decide for everyone how this is going to play out, and also luckily for everyone this is not going to happen in our lifetimes if at all, so I suggest you keep your driving skills current because you're going to be driving yourself around for a good long time to come.

  19. 'Restrict the flow of information' on Grand Ayatollah Says High Speed Internet Is "Against Moral Standards" · · Score: 1

    It's a very common page from the playbook of every dictator and oppressive regime. Keep the people in the dark as much as possible, or better yet in the case of religion, demonize other, non-church-authority sources of information, insist that if you use them you are committing a sin, and that only information from church leaders is valid and right. The only good thing in this story is that moves like this just highlight how desperate these people are to maintain power over the people, and how much that power is, year by year, slipping through their fingers like so much sand, as they grip tighter and tighter.

    I don't want to live forever, but for this one reason alone: I'd be pleased to live long enough to see humans, as a race, finally evolve beyond this silly need for 'god(s)' and 'religion' and finally realize they've been relying on themselves all along, and that it's a Good Thing to be that way. Then power-hungry and/or deluded people like this 'Grand Ayatollah', and the Pope, and anyone like them, would no longer hold sway over people. Then we'll really have a shot at having a civilization to be proud of.

  20. Re:yet if we did it on Deputy Who Fatally Struck Cyclist While Answering Email Will Face No Charges · · Score: 1

    Agreed. And this decision is utter and complete bullshit. The DA's office should all be fired over this. Cop needs to go to jail, plain and simple: Distracted driving, vehicular manslaughter.

  21. Re:Needs more infrastructure on Hidden Obstacles For Google's Self-Driving Cars · · Score: 1

    more infrastructure

    Sure. Just like broadband Internet, right? Because everyone in Kansas has broadband now, right? Oh, wait, that's right, they don't! There are suburbs I've lived in where there was nothing but dialup..

    The fact of the matter is: The entire highway infrastructure will have to be completely overhauled, at enormous expense, before 'self driving cars' could be a reality, or even have a chance at being prevalent. Even then there will always be roads and places where there is no such infrastructure, and people will have to operate the vehicle themselves to get where they want to go. Also, what do you do about situations where you're not even sure where you're going? At the very least, the puzzle of real, full-on human-level artificial intelligence has to be solved, I think, before anything like this can be practical. There are too many variables, you can't program an 'expert system' for all of them, something will come up it doesn't know how to handle.

    I thought of something else that will be a problem with 'technology' like this, with regards to criminal activity. I've made the argument before that hacking a system like this will be as easy as hacking any other computer system, and criminals will use it to steal vehicles, or to carjack/kidnap people. Imagine this scenario: All you'd need are two or three 'attacking' vehicles, to surround and restrict an autonomous vehicle in such a way that is has no choice but to slow down, in order to avoid what it perceives as an imminent collision. From there it becomes a trivial matter to continue slowing down, and forcing the vehicle to pull over and come to a complete stop. From there extracting the passenger(s) becomes exceedingly trivial, and voila, you've either kidnapped the passenger, stolen the vehicle, or both. There's no way they're going to code an 'evasive maneuvers' routine into the vehicle, or even come up with a reliable way to have it detect that it's being gamed like this. Of course someone will say 'Nobody is going to do this!' or 'That'll never happen!', or 'All cars will be autonomous so it won't be possible', but that's as complete a fantasy as saying (in some people's dystopian future) 'guns are illegal so where would anyone get a gun?'. At best I think we'll have an advanced 'autopilot' system, as an option, of course, but people will still be driving their own cars, at least for the next, say, 50 years or so.

  22. Flip-phone and damned proud of it, TYVM on Ask Slashdot: What Old Technology Can't You Give Up? · · Score: 1

    Moto Razr V9. Before anyone calls me a Luddite: I don't have sufficient use for the features of a smartphone to justify the cost of purchasing a smartphone in the first place. I barely use a phone as a phone for that matter, it's only even turned on a few minutes a day unless I'm actually using it to make a call. Seriously, I don't understand how it is so many people treat a cellphone like it's a lifestyle, especially with what a dataplan costs from wireless companies. Yes, I understand you can use wifi instead, but still: why the obsession? I've got any number of other things to do than sit there an obsess over a telephone, regardless of how much processing power it has, etc.

  23. Re:Anecdotal verification on Coffee Naps Better For Alertness Than Coffee Or Naps Alone · · Score: 1

    I'm an amateur athlete, so it's usually more like 'come home from work, am kind of tired, need to do training, decide to take a short nap, drink or eat something with caffeine in it first, nap for 20-30 minutes, get back up, get up to speed again, get ready, go out and do training, feel much better than if I just pushed through it'. Can do this at work, though, too, especially at lunchtime.

  24. Anecdotal verification on Coffee Naps Better For Alertness Than Coffee Or Naps Alone · · Score: 3, Funny

    I've done this for years, and didn't even know it was a thing. Seems to work.

  25. Re:Provisionally, I'm OK with this: on DoT Proposes Mandating Vehicle-To-Vehicle Communications · · Score: 1

    You're in the middle ground between myself (always have manual control available, unimpeachably) and the guys frothing at the mouth for fully automated cars with NO manual controls of ANY kind (who I think are so stupid they must be trolls), and you're reasonable sounding enough that I'll address you rather than get in another shouting match with them:
    Be honest with me: Would you ever feel 100% secure getting into a box on wheels that has nothing more than a big red button marked 'EMERGENCY STOP' to control the vehicle in an emergency? Here's the Nightmare Mode version of that question: Would you feel OK putting your own children in such a vehicle, programming it's destination, and waving as they roll away? Myself, I cannot see how anyone with a lick of common sense could possibly be OK with such an arrangement, and I also cannot believe that I'm in such a tiny minority as some would have me believe.