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User: Overzeetop

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Comments · 8,297

  1. Re:Idiotic on The View From Inside A Fireworks Show · · Score: 1

    Not really. I've been on a commercial crew, and this has effectively zero impact on the safety of the show. The only danger would be the kind discussed by lawyers and insurance companies, neither of which would impact the actual firing safety of a show like this. It was shot over water, and even if this was knocked out of commission and landed on a barge, the weight would be insufficient to damage or misalign any but the smallest (3" or 4" mortar - and those are racked for stability.

  2. Re:Actionable malfeasance on NASA Approves Production of Most Powerful Rocket Ever · · Score: 2

    While I cannot disagree that this is not the way I'd choose to solve the heavy lift problem, to worry that $2.8 Billion (or even 26 Billion) is going to be the lie item that bankrupts the country seems to be missing the 3000 Billion we've spent over the last 13 years to avenge the loss of a pair of buildings costing less than $2.3B in today's dollars and fewer lives than the number lost in motorcycle accidents ever year.

    The stupid is much deeper than this minor boondoggle.

  3. Re:Size Matters on NASA Approves Production of Most Powerful Rocket Ever · · Score: 2

    Um, no. The "huge rocket" is just to get the major pieces into space. Space assembly makes the outrageous cost of ground assembly seem like pennies.

    Also, that "gentle nudge" is anything but, with escape velocity for earth being half again the speed of low earth orbit.

    We need a heavy lift vehicle that can get pre-assembled major components into space for the foreseeable future. I sincerely doubt this is the right way to do it, but when you ask the former executives of the current big space corporations and politicians to come up with a solution, this is what it will look like every time.

  4. Re:Please, Please, PLEASE ... on NASA Approves Production of Most Powerful Rocket Ever · · Score: 1

    Which brings you to the logical logistics solution: build your engines where you launch them. If only we could figure out a way to put 268 congressional districts in northern Florida and the other 267 near Vandenburg AFB, we'd have it made. The only reason any of the other NASA centers - and most of the "inclusionary" contractors exist are for congressional pork (the possible exception being Goddard/Wallops, due to proximity to DC).

  5. Re:We can thank corporate America on Ask Slashdot: How Often Should You Change Jobs? · · Score: 2

    Corporate America brought the pension, and Corporate America took it away, all in the span of 80 years - tops. It's certainly comfortable to have one, but it's not in any way some historic bedrock of society.

    Before the industrialists of the 20th century there were no corporate pensions, no lifetime employees (except for slaves). Then corporations came and exploited workers (because they could), and unions formed and grew large and powerful enough to exploit the corporations (because they could), then corporations outsourced and contracted to avoid unions (because they could), and now it looks like a free for all. Except that there will always be more workers than jobs - a fact born of globalization and the ongoing industrial (and information) revolution. The only exception is areas of protectionism where outsiders are not allowed to work, but those are dwindling. The result is that the people at the top have the pick of the mediocre to work at nearly any wage they choose, and only the brilliant workers will have true mobility and negotiating power. And the line between brilliant and mediocrity will shift to a smaller slice each year as the industrial revolution obsoletes more and more jobs each year.

  6. Hydraulic Bollards on Unintended Consequences For Traffic Safety Feature · · Score: 1

    Simple: install hydraulic bollards in the road timed to match the auto signals. Bollards at the crossing start/stop can be closely spaced or electrified to keep back pedestrians. Bollards at the stop line should be capable of stopping a 3T vehicle at 60MPH without damage, though a set of raised tire-spikes might be sufficient deterrent.

  7. Re:As someone who's profoundly nearsighted... on Overkill? LG Phone Has 2560x1440 Display, Laser Focusing · · Score: 1

    At that distance, your nose is closer than your fingers.

  8. Re:That is Length not width on Overkill? LG Phone Has 2560x1440 Display, Laser Focusing · · Score: 1

    They are, but phones vary in width and length depending on hard buttons and bezel sizes even for the same display size.

  9. Re:LG G2 better on Overkill? LG Phone Has 2560x1440 Display, Laser Focusing · · Score: 1

    You appear not to have bothered to read about the new battery results
    http://bgr.com/2014/06/09/lg-g...

    Screen contrast is down, indeed, though it went from the brightest smart phone to merely middle of the pack, which is a shame.
    http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_g3-...
    I'll admit I never really worry about black levels on a phone as long as they are dark-enough, though, since I never use it for critical cinematic viewing and suspect most of the population is with me on that. The loss of max brightness is, imho, the biggest downgrade, though the minimum brightness is lower, which is nice for night-time viewing.

    Can't argue about too many pixels, though as long as it doesn't kill the battery life I'm okay with it. It could be 8k if it didn't slow the phone down or deplete the battery - who cares?

    Hard to believe that a faster CPU and faster GPU is a "downgrade", but I guess if "faster" means "slower" to you...

    It is bigger, though less so than the increase in screen size would suggest. Size is a personal thing for a phone. At least with the G3 you can carry a spare battery (or two) if you need exceptional endurance and can't stand external batteries.

  10. Nobody tests RF ability anymore on Overkill? LG Phone Has 2560x1440 Display, Laser Focusing · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Just once, I'd love to see some side by side comparisons of the end-to-end RF ability of these new phones. While voice calls, the kids tell me, are a thing of the past we are getting more and more dependent on data connections. And how you get data is via RF link. And yet I haven't even seen link quality mentioned in a single review for at least two generations of smart phones.

  11. Re:Rangefinder handy for more than camera focusing on Overkill? LG Phone Has 2560x1440 Display, Laser Focusing · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Indeed. I do architectural work, including taking measurements of existing buildings. If I could use this to get a point cloud of a room it would be amazing. I'd be willing to start programming again if it meant being able to access even rudimentary data. While high accuracy is probably not in this, even +/-3" would be good for small places (up to, say 20-25 feet).

  12. Re:Corporations are not created under 501(c)(3) on Massachusetts SWAT Teams Claim They're Private Corporations, Immune To Oversight · · Score: 1

    I'm curious how a SWAT team managed to even get a tax exempt status for "Religious, Educational, Charitable, Scientific, Literary, Testing for Public Safety, to Foster National or International Amateur Sports Competition, or Prevention of Cruelty to Children or Animals Organizations," unless they somehow claimed they were addressing child abduction.

    The ACLU may not be specifically whining about the 501(c)(3) status, but rather that the corporation is claiming that they don't have to disclose anything about their non-charitable work because of their status. Which is, as you say, bullshit.

    I'd say the first stop would to contact the IRS department which oversees the 501 groups, but I understand that their email service is less than reliable, and they're all a bit touchy about in-person interviews lately.

  13. Re:Not the Law Enforcement Agency (Corporation?)'s on Massachusetts SWAT Teams Claim They're Private Corporations, Immune To Oversight · · Score: 1

    If they're not exceptionally careful there could be a case where the corporate veil is pierced and result in personal liability applied to the corporate officers. That would be far more chilling to this kind of bogus operation than merely ruling that they cannot hide behind corporate law to shield them from public transparency requirements.

  14. Woosh on The Military Is About To Get New Augmented Reality Spy Glasses · · Score: 2

    Really? The whole point of the GP post was that nearly all of the technological underpinnings of our modern, leisure-infested lifestyle are the result of governmental (and much of it military) research. I hate war as much as the next liberal, but it seems that the efforts of short-sighted humans are focused by the desire to be able to kill as many people as possible as easily as possible. Without it, we'd still be monkeys. Now if we could just quit the actual killing of people we'd be making some progress.

  15. How'd it do on Top Secret? on Is Time Moving Forward Or Backward? Computers Learn To Spot the Difference · · Score: 4, Interesting

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    (and..."Europe on 5 Quaaludes a Day," forward version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

  16. Re:Ruling doesn't change much. on Mass. Supreme Court Says Defendant Can Be Compelled To Decrypt Data · · Score: 1

    So if you admitted to killing the president, and that the murder weapon was in a locked safe that would take 1000 years to break into, you could not be compelled to open that safe?

  17. Re:Two words: legal liability on Making an Autonomous Car On a Budget · · Score: 1

    Everybody!!! Isn't the legal system great!?

    Yes, the driver, the installer, the manufacturer, the programmer - pretty much anyone who ever touched any part of the project will be named in the suit. It happens in building/architectural lawsuits all the time. The plumbing fails and everyone, including the drywall company, is in the list of defendants. I wouldn't be surprised to see the sidewalk lunch vendor on the list.

  18. 2d4 + flip a coin on Supreme Court Rules Cell Phones Can't Be Searched Without a Warrant · · Score: 1

    It's pretty obvious the method for deciding cases at this point.

  19. Re:Finite chance? on Evidence of a Correction To the Speed of Light · · Score: 1

    I'm not sure, but it may or may not involve monkeys, typewriters, and the works of Shakespeare.

  20. Re:Luddites on the loose. on FAA Bans Delivering Packages With Drones · · Score: 1

    "...without killing their children and dogs."

    Well, if you keep putting silly requirements on everything we'll never make any progress!

  21. On the contrary on FAA Bans Delivering Packages With Drones · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...this just means it's time for Amazon to laywer-up. Or lobbiest-up. Or both.

  22. Re:Not likely. on Microsoft Wants You To Trade Your MacBook Air In For a Surface Pro 3 · · Score: 1

    *shrug* I don't use Metro 95% of the time - I use the desktop on my W8 laptop and it works pretty much like W7, but with some mice shortcuts. The tiles interface is nice when I switch into tablet mode and am watching a movie or surfing or reading. It's not useful for AutoCAD or Photoshop or Word, where a mouse is far more efficient a tool for navigation. Still, it was pitifully easy to learn.

  23. No, I MEANT iOS on Microsoft Wants You To Trade Your MacBook Air In For a Surface Pro 3 · · Score: 1

    I meant iOS - the "easy, intuitive" interface from Apple. I've tried OSX and it's every bit as confusing as Linux GUIs and Windows to the first-time user, but that's a desktop OS, and the Metro side of W8 is a tablet GUI.

  24. Another language barrier? on China Starts Outsourcing From ... the US · · Score: 4, Funny

    As if it wasn't hard enough to learn Chinese to talk to your suppliers directly, now you've got to learn to understand people in Alabama? That's fucked up.

  25. I'm sold! on $500k "Energy-Harvesting" Kickstarter Scam Unfolding Right Now · · Score: 2

    Wow, only $1000? That's AWESOME! For a foldable car I'd be willing to pay, like $10,000, but if you're going to do a kickstarter and I can get in at the $1000 level, I'm TOTALLY in!!

    And that's probably exactly how these charlatans have managed to get that many supporters.