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User: Smallpond

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Comments · 1,709

  1. Re:Let's hope... on Smartphone Kill Switch, Consumer Boon Or Way For Government To Brick Your Phone? · · Score: 1

    Actually, it's just a change to /etc/hosts.

  2. Re:From the wikipedia on Scientists Baffled By Unknown Source of Ozone-Depleting Chemical · · Score: 4, Informative

    Clorox had $5.6B in sales last year, of which 10% was laundry products according to their annual report. A gallon of bleach sells for $2, so if all their sales generated 275M gallons of bleach-containing chemicals = 1M m3 x 101 mg/m3 = 100,000 gm. Nope. That amount is negligible compared to what the study reports.

  3. Re:As long as... on Rightscorp's New Plan: Hijack Browsers Until Infingers Pay Up · · Score: 1

    You can sue for damages. Please provide documentation of monetary damages resulting from being disconnected from the internet.

  4. Total information awareness on Scientists Record Quantum Behavior of Electrons Via Laser Lights · · Score: 1

    We now can tell exactly how fast this electron is going. Unfortunately, now we can't find it.

  5. Re:End state and private capitalism. on Ask Slashdot: How Dead Is Antivirus, Exactly? · · Score: 1

    Apple alone shifted $54B offshore to avoid US taxes. If we closed tax loopholes but LOWERED corporate taxes, we would have more than enough to pay for it.

  6. Re:Real people just don't like dealing with Hipste on Companies That Don't Understand Engineers Don't Respect Engineers · · Score: 2

    Right -- before the hipsters, software types came to work in suits and ties. I distinctly remember that from the 70's. Oh wait, that was a hallucination. I remember them mostly wearing Birkenstocks, cutoff jeans and Peace symbol tees. I'm in my 60's but I don't have the selective amnesia of the above AC. In fact, I think the software types are mostly young marrieds and pretty serious about their work [anyway, more serious than I was]. When they propose new technology it is backed up with the advantages and not to get under the skin of the old fogies who think VB is just fine.

    Some of our "hipsters" brought in some technology written in Erlang. It has been thoroughly tested by several groups and is now being adopted in multiple applications. It will surprise some people to learn that different processes can be written in different languages, and that it is usually better to use the right tool for the job.

  7. Re:What about the great monthly caps of Canada? on Knocking Down the Great Firewall of China · · Score: 1

    When you have multiple cables running to neighborhoods the number of downed lines and mysterious cable cuts increases dramatically.

  8. Re:Why so many China stories today? on Knocking Down the Great Firewall of China · · Score: 1

    Afghanistanism - noun, A journalism term used to describe the practice of reporting on distant parts of the world that is not relevant to the subscribers (obsolete).

  9. Re:Lantern? on Knocking Down the Great Firewall of China · · Score: 2

    A lighthouse sits in one place and is easy to hit with a mortar. A lantern is easy to move and shield.

  10. Re:Space Drive or Global Warming? on Why the "NASA Tested Space Drive" Is Bad Science · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Sorry. Science doesn't work by votes.

  11. Re:POTUS Obama's hand is in the cookie jar...Again on EFF: US Gov't Bid To Alter Court Record in Jewel v. NSA · · Score: 4, Interesting

    My favorite example of government overreach was:

    "The danger to political dissent is acute where the Government attempts to act under so vague a concept as the power to protect 'domestic security.' Given the difficulty of defining the domestic security interest, the danger of abuse in acting to protect that interest becomes apparent."
        -- Redacted from a US Supreme Court document by the Ashcroft
              Justice Department in the name of national security.

  12. Re:No, no unfair advantage at all... on Amputee Is German Long Jump Champion · · Score: 1

    From TFA

    Rehm runs and jumps with a specially designed blade that is 15 inches longer than his other leg

    I can't imagine why anyone would accuses him of 'cheating' ...

    The device is like a spring, so it stores energy as well as having extra length and mechanical advantage, and better still its far stronger and requires much more force to break.

    I'm sorry he lost his leg, but there is no why this is 'fair' by any sense of the word.

    It would be like wearing $500 shoes in a marathon when other runners are barefoot. Or like using a wind tunnel to train your bobsled team!

  13. Re:ads on Privacy Lawsuit Against Google Rests On Battery Drain Claims · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Because Google should not be in business to make money. They should just give you free stuff.

  14. Re:What are the selection effects Scientific Metho on When Beliefs and Facts Collide · · Score: 1

    Science already knows that it can't answer all questions.

  15. Re: on Damian Conway On Perl 6 and the Philosophy of Programming · · Score: 2

    Fortran is very good about backwards compatibility...can still compile and run Fortran-77 programs in the newest incarnations...

    Finding a working card punch is the problem.

  16. Re: i dont see a problem here on NASA Approves Production of Most Powerful Rocket Ever · · Score: 1

    NASA is doing what it should do, spend research dollars on stuff companies won't do. Space-X and other commercial ventures will be able to do day-to-day launches.

  17. Re:consent on In 2012, Facebook Altered Content To Tweak Readers' Emotions · · Score: 1, Interesting

    There are laws governing obtaining informed consent from humans before performing psychological experiments on them. I doubt that a EULA can override them. This should be interesting...

    There is no such law. In any case, this is the the basis for the entire news business. Why do they report murders but not acts of charity (unless a celebrity is involved)? It is all about getting you to watch and see ads. Facebook is doing nothing that TV news hasn't been doing for years.

  18. Re:Who is that? on Wikipedia Editors Hit With $10 Million Defamation Suit · · Score: 1

    I gues you missed the fact that I was replying to a post that Wikipedia claims to be accurate, when in fact they claim the opposite.

  19. Re:RTFA on Wikipedia Editors Hit With $10 Million Defamation Suit · · Score: 1

    Good find. It's hard to call that an objective article. Both IP addresses in the edits belong to Bell Canada. Sounds like he may have a case.

  20. Re:Who is that? on Wikipedia Editors Hit With $10 Million Defamation Suit · · Score: 1

    I won't believe it unless you link to the Wikipedia article.

  21. Re:Who is that? on Wikipedia Editors Hit With $10 Million Defamation Suit · · Score: 3, Funny

    There were no US scientists who believed in the Medeival Warm Period at the time (800 - 1300).

  22. Re:Who is that? on Wikipedia Editors Hit With $10 Million Defamation Suit · · Score: 1
  23. Re:On belay on Gecko Feet Inspire Hand-Held Spider-Man Paddles · · Score: 1

    Weight goes up as the cube of size while area goes up as the square, which is one reason there are no 2 meter geckos.

  24. Re:Dear Slashdot on EFF Tells Court That the NSA Knowingly and Illegally Destroyed Evidence · · Score: 1

    Wait, OPEC employees post on slashdot? That explains a lot...

  25. Re: So... to summarise: on EFF Tells Court That the NSA Knowingly and Illegally Destroyed Evidence · · Score: 4, Informative

    It actually turns out to be very easy to do something about it:
    https://supporters.eff.org/don...