Slashdot Mirror


User: MrLogic17

MrLogic17's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
530
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 530

  1. Animal, not plant on Converting Sunlight Into Liquid Fuel With a Bionic Leaf · · Score: 4, Informative

    The headline implies that we have a machine replicating the process of a plant. The summary indicates that what they have is a vat of bacteria that are making alcohol. Not nearly as attention grabbing, considering mankind has been using yeast & bacteria to make alcohols of various forms since the dawn of time.

    If they have a more efficient process with simpler (cheaper) inputs, kudos to them. But this ain't no artificial leaf.

  2. Re:Let it Decay on FCC Fines Verizon For Failing To Investigate Rural Phone Problems · · Score: 1

    Woosh. The FCC mandates that they do exactly that- provide the same basic service to rural customers. It's the law. They aren't doing that, hence they are in violation of the law to the tune of $5,000,000. Same requirements apply to many other services, including roads.

    Your city-centric biases don't change that fact.

    Living is large cities is a relatively new concept, in the grand scheme of things. You should try to get out a little. We have very low noise, great air quality, no traffic, no light pollution, no noisy neighbors, lower crime, etc. I still can't see why anyone would want to live in a city.

  3. Assumptions on The 'Radio Network of Things' Can Cut Electric Bills (Video) · · Score: 2

    Most people are commenting about Demand Response - appliances delaying to lowering usage at peak prices. That is not what this is about.

    This is about having multiple power companies, and switching between them based on price. Interesting idea, but that assumes that a person even has the option of a second power utility. The vast, vast majority of places in the US have a single, monopoly power utility.State government controls such things, and they are not easily changed.

  4. $1,000,000 idea on Ford Ditches Microsoft Partnership On Sync, Goes With QNX · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I have a million dollar idea - if it doesn't' exist already. A radio head-unit upgrade to a real dream car system: physical knobs & buttons, and a USB & headphone input jack. That's it. Maybe even with no LCD display at all - just a power on/off LED.

    Man, I'd buy one of those, and I bet a lot of other folks would too....

  5. Re:Great. More touchscreens. on Ford Ditches Microsoft Partnership On Sync, Goes With QNX · · Score: 1

    Have you been car shopping lately? Find a car that meets all of your non-electric criteria that still has physical buttons.

    For some reason auto manufactures think we all want nifty touch screens - and consumers now don't have a choice.

  6. Re:Great. More touchscreens. on Ford Ditches Microsoft Partnership On Sync, Goes With QNX · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Ditto. I don't want a car media interface. I want dedicated physical buttons & knobs for the climate, radio volume & input selection.
    And a place on the dash to mount my own phone/tablet with a nearby USB plug.

    I have never seen an electronic car interface that was any good at all, and that includes every navigation system I've ever seen. My phone has better navigation (Waze rocks), better audio, and a better interface than anything a can manufacturer could ever try to copy.

    I only upgrade my car every 10+ years - an even then it might not be a new car. Hey Detroit - stop trying. Give up. Let Apple/Android/[new startup] give me the tech I want. If you want to get fancy, give the phone a read-only API to the car's status.

  7. Learning through repetition on Once Again, Baltimore Police Arrest a Person For Recording Them · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Best solution? Encourage everyone to record every interaction with the police. This will systematically education the police on the rights of citizens.

    Just like the 2nd Amendment public carry folks with a big old riffle slung over their shoulder on the sidewalk - it educated the police & public at the same time, and nobody gets hurt. (The the latter case, jimmes get russeled by some liberals, but, meh)

  8. View angles on The Case For Flipping Your Monitor From Landscape to Portrait · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Some monitors are make to be viewed landscape, and when rotated have horrible view angles.
    I found some at work where the view angle was so bad, only one eye would get a good picture, while the other eye showed a faded & discolored image. Rubber-necking around would find a small sweet spot for viewing.

    TLDR; doesn't work well on some monitors.

  9. Do not want on Starbucks Testing Mobile Order and Pay In Portland On iOS · · Score: 2

    I'm seeing single-store apps to order & pay all over the place. Wendy's, Burger King, now Starbucks...

    Why would I want to have a different app for every single store I visit? That's why I have cash & common credit cards - they work everywhere.

    Do not want. Doomed to fail.

  10. Re:Accurate on The Driverless Future: Buses, Not Taxis · · Score: 1

    This.

    We already have automated buses, single cars, and long-haul trucks that arrive automatically, on-demand. Every large city already has a network of them.
    It just so happens there's a person in the driver's seat today. In the near future there may be a computer in that seat. Nothing else changes, from a transportation angle.

  11. Re:Practically alone... on Complex Life May Be Possible In Only 10% of All Galaxies · · Score: 1

    If you're stranded on a desert island, with no ability to reach another island- you are very much alone. Doesn't matter how many billions of other people there are out there, if you have no chance at reaching or talking to them.

    If this math holds up, the next interstellar island is further away than we thought... and we are likely going to be a very lonely species.

  12. Re:uhhh... on NASA Offering Contracts To Encourage Asteroid Mining · · Score: 1

    No but you might want those contracts from NASA to subsidize the launch fees. Space isn't a game for the poor.

  13. Re:Not news! on Study: Space Rock Impacts Not Random · · Score: 1

    That would be our mutual friend, Albert.

    http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A... (ctrl-F, dice, [enter])

  14. Proof of racism! on Amazon Releases (Not Many) Details On Its Workforce Demographics · · Score: 1

    Amazon demographic of African Americans: 15%
    USA 2010 census African Americans: 12.6%

    There we have it, proof of racism within Amazon. I eagerly await Jessie Jackson's protests of non-black victims.

  15. Re:Am I the only one? on The CDC Is Carefully Controlling How Scared You Are About Ebola · · Score: 1

    Ah, but it is spread through casual contact. Someone cough near you? Droplets are evil little creatures. Handshake with someone who coughed on their hands?

    If you've not had the flu ever in your life, then you can feel safe. Ebola spreads at least as easily as the flu, likely much easier.

    What I really worry about is the non-human vectors. Imagine one dog (1) in the park, finding the vomit of an infected human (2), and this becoming a new, very hard to track infection source. "Our family isn't feeling so good - can you watch Fido while we go to the doctor?" Repeat.

    (1) - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pm...
    (2) - http://www.nbcnews.com/storyli...

  16. Re:Only cost them 25 percent of customer bills? on Small Restaurant Out-Maneuvers Yelp In Reviews War · · Score: 3, Informative

    Exactly. They're refusing Danegeld, and sticking it back to the Dane.

    Good on 'em.

  17. Re:Wait, they couldn't of... on NY Magistrate: Legal Papers Can Be Served Via Facebook · · Score: 1

    Wait - why would Facebook have her address? I've never given that info to Facebook.

    The problem here is that an unreliable, unsecure, unverified account for a person claiming to be her is being used for official legal notice. It's even worse than E-Mail, and I'm not aware of that being a valid means to receive legal notices.

    This is all a very bad idea.

  18. Re:heh on Study: Ad-Free Internet Would Cost Everyone $230-a-Year · · Score: 1

    Slashdot is a bad example. Back when it was owned in Ann Arbor, I kept ads on - to reward the site for giving me value.

    Since the buyout by Dice, I now check the box to hide the ads. They are a large for profit company, they can live just fine without my ad hits. Oh, and most of the ads I do see on this site are for other Dice sites. I don't want to reward bad behavior.

  19. Re:$230 isn't the problem on Study: Ad-Free Internet Would Cost Everyone $230-a-Year · · Score: 1

    This.

    If ad ads were 100% gone today, someone would re-invent them by tomorrow night.

    Advertising isn't a way for users to subsidize a web site - it's a method for companies to advertise their products & services. If it became illegal to charge or pay money for ads, they would still exist. Companies want to grow sales, and one way to do that is advertising.

  20. Re:Now do that with an AA-12 on Point-and-Shoot: TrackingPoint's New Linux-Controlled AR-15s · · Score: 1

    Good comment, however when I got to this line:

    Shoot him with a missile, and now you're sure he's not just merely dead, he's really most sincerely dead.

    ...my mind was suddenly speaking with a helium voice. Don't you know that helium is rapidly becoming very expensive?!?

  21. Who has the market share? on Windows XP Falls Below 25% Market Share, Windows 8 Drops Slightly · · Score: 5, Informative

    I read the very short article, so you don't have to.

    Windows is the bulk, at 91.68%, of that Windows 7 is 51.22%

    Mac is 6.64%

    And overall, Linux is 1.68%

  22. Re:Take two cars on New Toyota Helps You Yell At the Kids · · Score: 1

    Which (gasp) didn't exist when I was a child and yet somehow we managed without. ..... Prior to that you either had a full sized econoline van, a VW mini-bus, a station wagon or a second car. Worked out just fine.

    What percentage of the population could afford that back in the 70? or 80's?

    Never was a problem getting all the people wherever we needed to go. I rode from the Great Lakes down to Florida several times in the back of a VW Scirocco.

    And now we get to the heart of the problem. Would the local police or resident busy-bodies (with 911 on speed dial) let you get away with that today? Everyone needs a proper seat with seat-belt and side air bags. Rolling around lose in the back of a station wagon was good enough for us X'ers, but it's now considered reckless and dangerous today. And that is why minivans are essential to anyone with more than 2 kids.

  23. 7 weeks? on Sony Forgets To Pay For Domain, Hilarity Ensues · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Wow, giving the company 7 weeks before Network Solutions took the site down? That's going way above & beyond. The average luser like me would be taken down the day of expiration.
     

  24. Re:Or Just Use a Password Manager on Selectively Reusing Bad Passwords Is Not a Bad Idea, Researchers Say · · Score: 1

    Can I borrow your phone for a second? I need to E-Mail myself some copy & pasted data real quick...

    A single point of failure is a single point of failure, be it desktop, phone, or cloud. I trust no one to hold onto my passwords for me.

  25. Re:Hairdresser on Ask Slashdot: Future-Proof Jobs? · · Score: 1

    Would you make the same recommendation if OP's offspring were a son?

    Yes, there are male hairdressers - but your recommendation smells of gender stereotyping.