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User: barfy

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  1. Better Red Shift Explanation? on Evidence of a Correction To the Speed of Light · · Score: 1

    Does the extreme distances of very far galaxies red shift and rapid expansion, better explained by vacuum polarization and a slow down of light over extreme distances? So that what we are not seeing is some sort of doppler shift, but instead of something akin to friction over very long distances using this process that both delays the light, and shifts the frequency to red? And if so, does this change the expansion of the universe answer?

  2. Re:Change coin to insurgent on 545-Person Programming War Declares a Winner · · Score: 2

    ...It's a moral imperative!

  3. Subjectively, on Wikipedia Mining Algorithm Reveals the Most Influential People In History · · Score: 1

    I am going to give little credence to any objective list that puts Madonna (The Singer) on the top 5 of any such list. I just can't imagine that they aren't counting links to Madonna (The mother of Christ) and associating them to the singer.

  4. It happens sort of automatically at some point... on Microsoft Doesn't Have Plans For a Dedicated Handheld Gaming Device · · Score: 1

    It is just a matter of time that the device world catches up with the Xbox. The underlying development tools will eventually allow game deployment on other windows hardware. I also think this will be true for casual gaming to the Xbox, and a universal platform for all sorts of other goodies to come.

  5. Currently there is not enough platinum in the world to move any significant auto infrastructure to hydrogen fuel cells.

  6. The real question is step 1... on Creationists Demand Equal Airtime With 'Cosmos' · · Score: 0

    From the Cosmos show, the key ingredient of all life is the DNA factory in the cell. Where the DNA is stripped and duplicated and new cells are created. This is true for all life, and the process of accidental mistakes that result in desirable traits become part of the life tree because the life is more sustainable or competes well compared to previous versions, ultimately over an extremely long time, 100's of millions of generations results in the totality of life on earth.

    The unanswered question, is how does this DNA duplication factory happen by accident? Not to mention the accidental creation of DNA in the first place. I believe that these are unanswered and unduplicated in any experiment or theory (one theory are that it isn't accidental everywhere, but somehow happened accidentally once, and redistributed in the universe by some form, an alien invasion), (Other theories are that is a divine spark), (Others is that the universe in a perverse form of chemistry and physics demands that life spontaneously appears wherever the conditions are ripe). It's not a question of the eye, or the complexity of the brain. But life itself.

    The next question becomes why small ever more complex that life is, how does this accidental creation of life itself, does the basic operating system, which is I suppose essentially chemistry, how does this chemical thing that happened, how in the world of I suppose anything, is rich enough in the get-go to ultimately support the ability to create all life and all life functions. (I think that this question may indeed be easier than the step 1 questions). Why is the first accidental step to life a single cell microbe, and not say a full grown human being. Why is accident 1 not more complex? We share 50% of our DNA with Bananas. We both have the same DNA factory inside our cells.

  7. Space elevators on the moon... on Back To the Moon — In Four Years · · Score: 1

    It would seem that space elevators would be much easier to construct on the moon for a variety of reasons, and dramatically lower the cost of getting stuff/people to and from the moon. Even if all we do is go around and scoop up asteroids it would be a worthwhile mining task...

  8. Re:How can the situation be improved? on Why Is US Broadband So Slow? · · Score: 1

    food has a huge government input. The Farm bill is one of the largest pieces of legislation financially. A large reason food is cheap, is that the government provides incentive to supply food at a slight overage and maintains returns to the farmers by artificially inflating markets. I was with you until the last sentence.

  9. Re:Diabetics on Digital Taste Interface · · Score: 3, Informative

    There is good reason to believe that sweet testing things cause insulin production, especially because certain items, especially sugars start making it into your blood stream prior to ingestion. This is the believed source of the diet coke makes you fat syndrome. It causes insulin response because of sweetness, gating existing blood sugar into cells for storage. Lowering blood sugar which needs to be replaced making you eat, eat sooner, eat more often, eat energy dense foods. If they are ONLY testing blood sugar response on diabetics, you may find that it DOESN'T affect blood sugar, because they are diabetic. Where this makes a world of difference is in pre-diabetics. Those that already have too much stored in their body, but have either yet to max out, or that the insulin production in their body hasn't already been damaged.

  10. Suspected Action by NSA, Police? on Explosions at the Boston Marathon · · Score: 1

    Ok... Pure speculation, but what I would do if I was designing an anti-terrorist plan.

    Imagine you have immediate access to all cell phone activity in the country. There are reported reasons to believe that this is true...

    ASAP prepaid cellphone lockout in the area, and possibly nationwide or just rich target areas.

    Almost immediately thereafter cellphone number of the triggers and what phone called them. (This can be done by simply looking at calls that weren't answered at the right time and right location),

    Tracking of location of calling phone, to within a cell tower.

    Time tracking of triggered phones and calling phone, within a relatively short period of time. Proximity (time/location) to any other preferably pre-paid phones, this will give an indication to additional devices.

    Transmit to authorities continual location of calling phone.

    Full time tracking of triggered phones. To give location of origin of bomb making, number of devices, time of plot, testing of devices.

    Take down of bomb making site.

    Additional features I am sure.

    All within hours, max. I am sure that this would have been scripted for almost immediate action. Who knows what the constitutional implications are.

  11. Yes cuz safari... on Apple Has a New Porn Problem · · Score: 1

    won't load pornmd.com with specially formatted pages and videos for the iPhone. This is a stupid story...

  12. Why??? on Ask Slashdot: How Do I De-Dupe a System With 4.2 Million Files? · · Score: 1

    Ok, first, why do you need to do this? Space is pretty darn cheap, and this seems like a tremendous waste of time and energy to save tens of dollars. But more importantly, I find I need TONS less space now that I just depend on the Internet to keep all of my porn and to stream it.

  13. Re:trifecta on Making Saltwater Drinkable With Graphene · · Score: 1

    Only if it improved battery life by 10x...

  14. Please Please Please... on Microsoft Announces 'Surface' Tablet · · Score: 1

    I have wanted a convertible (which this is close to), that allowed typing when appropriate, but the interface was sensitive to the fact I am touching the screen or using a stylus. The previous windows versions just didn't work because everything was upper left centric. Which means if your right handed you simply obscured the screen. And interaction with the pen didn't let you interact with the document. PLEASE or PLEASE have fixed this. I am currently apple centric, but I am not a fanboy, I live where the implementation best matches what I want. I am totally willing for windows to have this correct. I am encouraged, so far if value was number one on my list, they are getting much closer, and it will be important. But if they can just tear down a few walls in usability and design...

  15. Re:This is reference hardware for... on Microsoft To Sell Its Own Windows RT Tablet · · Score: 1

    I was RIGHT!

  16. This is reference hardware for... on Microsoft To Sell Its Own Windows RT Tablet · · Score: 1

    Smart Glass. This is a bit different than a phone. Just like they make Keyboards, Mice and Joysticks. This is primarily for the smart glass living room marketplace, and they are going to explore ideas that are best for that space and application, as well as all the other cool stuff you can do with a tablet.

  17. Neither... on Which Fading Smartphone Company Is More Valuable To Microsoft, RIM Or Nokia? · · Score: 1, Interesting

    They are not trying to be Apple, but more like Google. They are not attempting to make a play like Xbox, but rather a massive infrastructure play. RIM provided an interesting value proposition at the time. They would send somebody to install a thing in your server room that let the mail work on the phone. This was HUGE. Microsoft is attempting to not require RIM by making their mail servers aware that they are talking to a phone. And that they will be first class with Hotmail, and possible with Yahoo. And Gmail may well limp and work as well.

    I think it will come down to the Windows environment and the ITunes environment. This race will become much closer over time. Apple found a huge wedge with iPod, in establishing the iTunes environment on top of a compelling UI and continual Internet Access and compelling and good enough environment to develop for. There was simply nothing else like it.

    Android is simply too lasses faire and requires too much learning for your non-geek and simply doesn't "work" yet.

    Windows phone definitely appears to match the compelling features of the Apple environment and will become easily a major player in the market place. Personally, they are very close. I love the 900, but I am going to live off contract for awhile while I get the last few drops of functionality out my 4. What happens next, I don't know. But I definitely do not think that Microsoft needs to spend resources buying a handset manufacturer.

  18. Seriously, this... on What Does a Software Tester's Job Constitute? · · Score: 1

    Create and propagate information that helps people to create and ship the software...

    Everything else is details on this. I was the senior software tester for multiple projects. I got paid more than most everyone else, because I owned the above. I helped and did everything, and spent as little time as possible, NOT doing anything else.

    However, most people spent tons and tons of time NOT doing the above. The created very little new and useful information, and propagated very little. The company would make up for this by hiring LOTS of people, to try and create more information. Lots of time, people were given my stuff, in an attempt to expand on it.

    Personally, I spent a very small fraction of my time on regression testing. A little more on verification. But most of my time creating and propagating information.

    I would spend time creating models and predictions, and watching carefully what would happen. I would look at errors, user expectations, standards, behaviors and functionality. And barf stuff out as quickly as possible. And some percentage of time was coming up with larger and better explanations.

    I was never done, and I never could work enough to find them all, and I was never satisfied. There was always rich veins of information to be uncovered and passed on.

    At some point it shipped anyways...

    Sometimes I was there for the next version, sometimes I did other things.

    My personal satisfaction, was knowing that I had a substantial impact on what shipped. And that it was better for me being there.

  19. Ultimate in planted evidence... on Full Disk Encryption Hard For Law Enforcement To Crack · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You want to do someone in, and have access to their computer, a USB program that creates an encrypted partition would be enough to do one in. Proving one's innocence would probably be near impossible.

  20. The problem is... on New Study Finds People Remember More Than They Think · · Score: 1

    They say more than they remember...

  21. I hope that this is true. on FTL Neutrinos Explained... Maybe · · Score: 0

    My theory maximum speed would be 2C. This would allow contemporaneous or slower information exchange at distance without causality paradox (you never get there faster than "now", and you wouldn't be able to pass information previous to now, and you couldn't pass the others information back in time as well). But it does mean that you would have wicked low latency between like here and say mars when playing doom. Or even from other stars... (you both have to invent the same device, and then be able to communicate and understand each other).

    You also have this very interesting possibility of neutrinos packed with information all hitting the big bang at the same time. Possibly CAUSING the big bang. I am hoping!

  22. Why is this a question... on How Do You Educate a Prodigy? · · Score: 1

    This individual is an extreme outlier. That you would want us to have some sort of educational bureaucracy to solve the educational issues of one, is bizarre on face. It is even bizarre to be asking here, other than what do the masses think of educating such an outlier.

    The fact is, that there already is an infrastructure out there of sorts. People that are used to dealing with outliers, both in their problems, their needs, and their successes. It is known that outliers like this, present their best work before the age of 25 when the shackles of wisdom start holding back the innovations of youth, innocence and ignorance of failure, and why it shouldn't be.

    There is the davidson institute in Arizona I believe, but there are plenty of colleges and universities that can deal with this as well. But certainly, this isn't really an issue of the educational "system". Which needs to cover the bell curve, and not the tiny edges way out there.

    And you should own a copy of Real Genius. Seriously. Really. This movie actually is genius in its understanding of young genius, and those that want to leverage it, and the social issues that come from being outside all social groups, and the success that comes in the end, even in spite of, and maybe because of genius.

  23. State Appeals, NOT federal court. on Court Rules It's Ok To Tag Pics On Facebook Without Permission · · Score: 1

    Court of Appeals of Kentucky.
    February 25, 2011.

  24. I think this can explain a lot. on Hawking: No 'Theory of Everything' · · Score: 1

    Imagine a world with walls and divide by zero situations. The speed of light, black holes, singularity, the big bang, absolute zero, quantum levels, differences between quarks and quasars. Tons of stuff.

    It is quite possible, that the laws of the universe are different on one side of the wall than the other. And better, you can't predict the behavior on one side, based on what you know about the laws on the other side, always.

    This precludes a universal answer for all our understandings of the universe, because of the difference in laws and behaviors on one side of the wall and the other.

    This means finding the walls (situations), and then discovering the rules for each area.

  25. This will root out those same people on "Pre-Crime" Comes To the HR Dept. · · Score: 1

    That don't realize that the new guy with the camera crew is somehow not the Undercover Boss?