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User: Chris+Mattern

Chris+Mattern's activity in the archive.

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Comments · 7,102

  1. Re:BSG chose bullets over lasers on Celebrating the Sci-fi Ray Gun · · Score: 1

    Ah, "Rods from God"; concept's been around for decades. If I had to take a stab at it, I'd guess Aerospace Engineering or Physics student might write it up as a thesis. 20 tons is for the strategic option; you get something close to a nuclear explosion from it. You wouldn't need or want many of 'em. By way of comparison, the Hubble weighs over 10 tons. You could 20 kg ones to kill tanks fairly effectively.

  2. Re:BSG chose bullets over lasers on Celebrating the Sci-fi Ray Gun · · Score: 1

    I'm not interested in transferring energy with a laser. I'm interested in slicing an arm off.

    Which is done by a transfer of energy, whether you do it with a laser or with a knife.

  3. Re:worst article ever on Tunnel Boring Machine Completes Hole Under Niagara Falls · · Score: 1

    I would've thought that they'd need to dig the tunnel because it *wasn't* there. Incidentally, how *do* you dig a tunnel that's already there?

  4. Re:You Canadites and your "metrics" on Tunnel Boring Machine Completes Hole Under Niagara Falls · · Score: 1

    Why couldn't you just say it's "a bit over two leagues"?

    So it's slightly larger than Major League Baseball?

  5. Re:Yey for solid-state memory! on Air France 447 Black Boxes Readable · · Score: 1

    Because planes with manually controlled hydraulics never had control failures or crashed, ever. Oh, and congratulations on your psychic powers for knowing that the crash was caused by a fly-by-wire failure before any of the evidence has been evaluated. Can you tell me where I should be investing in the stock market?

  6. Re:They are trying too hard to fit in on Think I'm Not American? Pass the Hamburgers. · · Score: 1

    Actually, it's easier than that. It's thousand-island dressing. That simple.

  7. Re:Ironically on Think I'm Not American? Pass the Hamburgers. · · Score: 1

    And Frankfurters are from Frankfurt!

  8. Re:Cultural Identification in Food on Think I'm Not American? Pass the Hamburgers. · · Score: 1

    but then, who isn't, there was a time when the Italians didn't have pasta

    Myth; Italian noodles go back to before the time of the Roman Empire. Tomatoes are quite recent, however.

  9. Re:Cultural Identification in Food on Think I'm Not American? Pass the Hamburgers. · · Score: 1

    Britain is at least that diverse, except there's hardly any pride (if that's the right word) in traditional British food

    "England has a splendid national cuisine. That nation being India."

  10. Re:Try Natto on Think I'm Not American? Pass the Hamburgers. · · Score: 1

    The Japanese like to say that only native Japanese can stomach natto, and it's an acquired taste even for them.

  11. Re:With the power of Heart! on The Challenges of Tapping Blood Flow For Power · · Score: 1

    No, because you're not powering the pacemaker directly, you're recharging a battery. Heart falters, pacemaker continues on its battery. Battery charge dips a little, is recharged when the heart recovers. No problems.

  12. Re:Eureka! on The Challenges of Tapping Blood Flow For Power · · Score: 1

    A pacemaker doesn't pump blood. We're talking about powering the control circuit, not the pump.

  13. Re:About the whole glucose into energy thing... on The Challenges of Tapping Blood Flow For Power · · Score: 2

    Short answer: Not really. Long answer: If it was trying to pull large amounts of energy, yes, but we're talking microwatts here. You'll never miss it.

  14. Re:End result: on Can Computers Be Used To Optimize the US Tax Code? · · Score: 1

    Actually, there used to be an option when you got to the end of Form 1040 to let the IRS calculate your tax for you. Almost nobody used it. If you owed additional taxes, you'd have to wait to get the IRS's calculation back and then send your check--and that check would be due April 15, so if you hadn't left enough time for the round trip, you'd have to just calculate it yourself so you could write the check with the return. If you were due a refund (and most people over-withhold and are due a substantial refund), you didn't want to wait on IRS calculations to get your money.

  15. Re:Just a rumor on Bill Clinton Suggests Internet Fact Agency · · Score: 1

    I guess it depends on what you say the definition of "say" is.

  16. Re:Then no Portal 2 for all their PCs... on Japan Says No To PlayStation Network Restart · · Score: 1

    I'll put in a vote for Valkyria Chronicles. I really like that game.

  17. Re:"Prove", ie. "Patch Apache"? on Japan Says No To PlayStation Network Restart · · Score: 2

    I believe user2 when he says this. He seems like a trustworthy guy.

  18. Re:"Prove", ie. "Patch Apache"? on Japan Says No To PlayStation Network Restart · · Score: 1

    When did they not hash passwords? They said they didn't *encrypt* passwords, but clarified that later that they meant they were hashed not encrypted. I actually found it rather reassuring that they understand the difference (and, yes, passwords should be hashed and not encrypted).

  19. Re:Who decided? on Newly-Discovered Arm of Milky Way Gives Warped Structure · · Score: 1

    Well, it's already warped...

  20. Re:Definitely a serious problem on The Rise of Filter Bubbles · · Score: 1

    Um, making money by government-mandated monopoly is NOT capitalism!

  21. Re:Tabloid trash on BitCoin, the Most Dangerous Project Ever? · · Score: 1

    Congress has the sole authority to coin money.

    Wrong. The Constitution says the Congress has the power to coin money, but never says it has the "sole authority". The Constitution does prohibit the *states* from coining money, but says nothing about private citizens.

  22. Re:What the fuck did they remove this time? on Sony Releases PS3 3.61 Update Ahead of PSN's Imminent Return · · Score: 1

    Citation, please. This change is not listed in Wikipedia's PS3 firmware history, and I have never heard of it before.

  23. Re:Who is the exception? on The Rules of Thumb For Tech Purchasing · · Score: 1

    Because physics so often deals with dividing by those quantities. What's the current on a zero-resistance wire?

  24. Re:So, on The Rules of Thumb For Tech Purchasing · · Score: 1

    You need to balance, yes, but store configurations tend to processor-heavy, because processor power is what impresses the average buyer. So, generally, you're looking at a situation where you want to rebalance towards memory.

  25. Re:On real estate on The Rules of Thumb For Tech Purchasing · · Score: 2

    It means a single person probably shouldn't buy a house. A couple, each making 26,700, would fit exactly into the formula.