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User: Ender's+in+use2

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  1. Re:The Biggest Inconsistancy on Review: Star Wars Episode III · · Score: -1

    I have no idea why I'm -1. I started posting and moderator moderating recently and my karma nosedived. Currently it's at Terrible.

    I've only been modded down twice, once for off-topic in a reply much like this one. And once as Troll for making the "beowolf cluster" joke about a planetary exploration satellite that ran linux.

    Perhaps I modded down someone really important?

  2. Re:The Biggest Inconsistancy on Review: Star Wars Episode III · · Score: 1, Interesting

    OBI-WAN: When your father left, he didn't know your mother was pregnant. Your mother and I knew he would find out eventually, but we wanted to keep you both as safe as possible, for as long as possible. So I took you to live with my brother Owen on Tatooine... and your mother took Leia to live as the daughter of Senator Organa, on Alderaan.

    I'm sorry, but I don't remember this dialogue at all. Did you transcribe this from watching the movie, or are you just going from memory?

    Here's my recollection of the conversation:

    OBI-WAN: The emporor knew, as I did
    that if Anakin Skywalker were to have any children they would be a danger to him. That is why your sister remains safely anonymous.

    LUKE: Leia... Leia is my sister!

    OBI-WAN: Your insight serves you well. Burry you feelings deep down Luke... etc.

  3. Re:Heat Sinks / Spreaders? on Update on Project Prometheus · · Score: 0

    "taking photovoltaics (solar panels) with you too would be rather pointless. - PVs would cost extra to put into space to start with and would also need trickery to align them with the sun"

    You're right that taking photovoltaics would be pointless, but this has more to do with the low Watts/m^2 of the solar light as far out as Jupiter. Past about Mars orbit you need nuclear power, whether it's a reactor like in this case, or simply the heat given off by radioisotope decay like with Cassinni.

  4. Re:Is this science fiction? on Update on Project Prometheus · · Score: 0

    Actually it was the Bush Jr. Whitehouse that started pushing for nuclear powered spaceflight again.

    And just how often do you get to use Larry Flint as a source of reference material to back up your /. post?

  5. Re:Before you ask ... on Update on Project Prometheus · · Score: -1, Troll

    Imagine a Beowulf cluster of these things!

  6. Re:Or on Software V-Chip for PC Games? · · Score: 0

    "Parents could pay attention to their children and not let them buy the game in the first place."

    Buy the game??? Does anyone actually buy the game anymore? P2P, borrowed or copied install disks, saving lunch money... I can think of many ways to get games that don't involve parents buying them for their children.

    I'm all for technology that lets parents make decisions for their own children so that they don't need to try to ban games I want to play.

  7. Re:Now THAT's Funny!.. on America's Not So Up to Speed · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    I'm getting indeterminate sarcasm readings from that.

    I'm choosing to take it as a compliment.

  8. Re:IT'S NOT A WEEK AT /. WITHOUT THIS STORY! on America's Not So Up to Speed · · Score: 1

    "I personally think that our low homeless population is due to our harsh winters."

    We can see if this is a correct assumption by comparing the Canadian city of Vancover to the American city of New York. Vancouver has a milder climate than New York. It rarely snows, and flowers bloom all year.

    The Vancouver metro area has a population of around 1.9 million. New York city has a population of around 8 million.

    Vancouver has 500-1200 homeless people. New York has around 36,000 people using homeless shelters.

    So New York city, with four times the population of Vancouver Metro and a colder climate than Vancouver Metro, has 30-72 homeless for every 1 homeless in Vancouver Metro. Factoring in the size difference, that's 7.5-18 times the per capita homeless rate.

    One can therefore conclude that it's not the winters that keep Canada's homeless population low.

  9. In Soviet Canada... on America's Not So Up to Speed · · Score: 0

    Broadband pays for you!

  10. Re:IT'S NOT A WEEK AT /. WITHOUT THIS STORY! on America's Not So Up to Speed · · Score: 1

    Lower standard of living? Canada?

    "For almost a decade (up to the year 2001), Canada was ranked number one among 175 countries in the United Nation's Quality of Life survey." - Vancouver Best City in the Americas (Third in world) - Mercer Human Resource Consulting

    The U.N. currently ranks Canada third in quality of life, U.S. eighth.

    Canada may not be as populous as the United States of America. It's definately not as powerful, either economically or militarily. But IMHO, it's a better county to live in. Its people are better educated, they live longer, and they have a smaller homeless population.

    Canada is not perfect, but don't say it has a lower standard of living.

  11. Correct me if I'm wrong... on Crack Found in Shuttle Tank · · Score: 1
    ...but isn't there always a Soyuz docked at the space station for emergency escapes?

    "There's always at least one Soyuz docked at the station in case its service is needed as an escape vehicle." www.spacetoday.org

  12. Re:Mexico, Eh? on U.S. to Require Passport To Re-Enter Country · · Score: 1
    You didn't read past the 1st non-quote line of his post, did you?

    He was being 'funny.' I.e.: It's so easy to sneak in across the US/Mexico border that if they won't let you in at the 49th parallel, you can just sneak around to the back door which is unlocked.

    Or at least that's how I read it.

  13. Re:Why Repeat Our Mistakes? on Japan's 20-Year Plan for Space · · Score: 1
    Why go on vacations?

    It would be far easier, cheaper, and safer to mail a disposable camera to 100 random Arubians with a postage paid return envelope and wait for the vacation snapshots to come streaming back.

    We go because it's in our nature.

  14. Re:Yes, think R2D2 crossed with Tanya Harding on Homemade Mecha Walks in Japan · · Score: 1

    You can tell the wheels are motorized because the unit turns without moving its legs. It seems to turn like a tank does, by driving forward on one side, and backward on the other.

  15. Yes, think R2D2 crossed with Tanya Harding on Homemade Mecha Walks in Japan · · Score: 1, Informative
    It very much rolls, not walks. It's clear that the legs do not even have to move. In fact, it's clear that if they didn't bother rolling the legs forward one after the other then the unit would move about five times faster than it does.


    Very disappointing.

  16. There are only two movies I couldn't finish: on What's the Worst Movie You've Ever Seen? · · Score: 0

    Cabin Boy and Fear

  17. Re:Stellar Pong? on Japanese Deploy Solar Sail · · Score: 0

    Remember that unlike on the ocean where you travel in straight lines, moving around in space is all about orbits.

    Solar sails can be used to either slow your orbit (bringing you closer to the thing you're orbiting) or increase your orbital velocity (which will put you into a wider orbit). Therefore, while you are close enough to your star for the angles to work out, you can 'run' or 'reach'.

    Now that I found my profile, maybe I can get another +5 Informative.

  18. Democratically elected representatives on NSA, The Technology Future, and Where It Is · · Score: 0

    Democratically elected representatives != Democracy.

    US citizens do not live in a democracy (I'm not sure anyone does). You democratically elect you leaders. There is a difference.

  19. Re:What the heck is an "encoded" conversation. on NSA, The Technology Future, and Where It Is · · Score: 0

    Oh yeah, the NSA is spying on foreigners. The CIA doesn't mind them in their jurisdiction.

    Oh yeah, the terriorists are speaking foreign languages. Like good ol' Tim M.

    You are the NSA target. You and your conversation with your mother about her taxes and how she's gonna sue GM.

  20. Re:Constitutionality on Implications Of The International Cybercrime Treaty · · Score: 1

    And meanwhile your system rots on an evidence shelf for two years.

  21. Re:There's a better way.. on Solar Sails · · Score: 1
    Hmm... I did read the article now and it looks like I'm wrong. However, I'm not sure how this thing can accelerate past the heliopause.

    Maybe it doesn't.

    Maybe it just dumps the "drive" at that point and coasts.

  22. Re:There's a better way.. on Solar Sails · · Score: 1
    I didn't follow your link, so I might be wrong, but this technology is limited to planetary travel.

    Solar-sails (and maser sails) are very exciting because they are true interstellar drives, powered by photons that can be generated in stars or by lasers and masers.

  23. Re:ICBM==Earth-Earth Payload, not Earth-Space on Solar Sails · · Score: 1
    The article points out that the Russian ICBM launch is a "sub-orbital deployemt" test.

    In other words, it's not staying up there. A orbital test that will last for days, weeks, or months is scheduled for later in the year.

  24. Bury wire arround the perimeter. on Robot Positioning Systems? · · Score: 1

    A commercial product that has been doing this for years now runs on solar power, all the time, and follows a random pattern stopping when it reaches the wire.

  25. Re:Just use your eyes, and don't void your insuran on Robot Positioning Systems? · · Score: 1

    Er, I'm sure it doesn't run a typical lawnmower attachment with a high-speed blade or anything. At least, I hope it doesn't run a typical lawnmower attachment with a high-speed blade or anything. A small slow crawling lawnmower doesn't need to be dangerous.