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User: Randym

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  1. Richard Florida answered this on High Tech Companies Becoming Fools For the City · · Score: 1

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_class#Places_of_high_Creative_Class_populations:

    In Cities and the Creative Class, Florida devotes several chapters to discussion of the three main prerequisites of creative cities (though there are many additional qualities which distinguish creative magnets). For a city to attract the Creative Class, he argues, it must possess "the three 'T's": Talent (a highly talented/educated/skilled population), Tolerance (a diverse community, which has a 'live and let live' ethos), and Technology (the technological infrastructure necessary to fuel an entrepreneurial culture).

    I would add that the increased possibility of serendipitous interactivity with other Creatives in an urban environment may be one of the underlying factors that leads to the selection of certain cities and not others.

  2. Halting problem on Doctorow on the War on General Purpose Computing · · Score: 1
    "Make me a general-purpose computer that runs all programs except for one program that freaks me out."

    Isn't this just another version of the halting problem, with mathematics replaced by politics?

  3. Re:Illegal ?? Unethical ?? on Russia's Former KGB Invests In Political Propaganda Spambots · · Score: 1
    But hey, now you can accuse anyone you disagree with online of being a 'KGB bot'!

    That sounds like something a KGB bot would say!

    Great -- a new twist on Godwin's Law.

  4. Re:I have no fear of death. on How Long Do You Want To Live? · · Score: 1

    "He is not God of the dead, but of the living." (nudge, nudge, wink, wink --say, know more?)

  5. Re:640K years on How Long Do You Want To Live? · · Score: 1

    It's probable that, hand-in-hand with life extension, will come the ability to tune age to anywhere on the adult spectrum. "Old" age would come to seem only a charming oxymoron. (Due to the massive pruning of neurons occurring at the end of adolescence, one could probably not 'back up' past about 25 or so.) If that's the case, my guess is that most people will settle at somewhere in their 30's -- the combined peak of mental and physical fitness. Given that, most people would then have no problem living indefinitely. The settlement of the universe would then become an interesting lark, as a thousand years, combined with the relativistic effects of near-lightspeed travel, would seem to take no more than a decade would take now. (tip of my hat to Joe Haldeman).

  6. ...and Jerry Pournelle! on Ask Slashdot: Most Underappreciated Sci-Fi Writer? · · Score: 1

    People kind of forget about him, but I don't know why. He was constantly being nominated for Hugos and Nebulas. I read Niven and Pournelle's Inferno long before I read Dante Aligheri's Divine Comedy trilogy -- but it compares quite favorably in retrospect.

  7. Science Fiction Hall of Fame: ed. Robt. Silverberg on Ask Slashdot: Most Underappreciated Sci-Fi Writer? · · Score: 1

    I can't believe that no one mentioned Science Fiction Hall of Fame: The Greatest Science Fiction Stories of All Time ! Chosen by the members of the Science Fiction Writers of America and published in 1970: stories were from 1929-1964. No ISBN in my (tattered) copy, but Library of Congress Card Number 70-97691. Edit: Oh wait: look here: http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Science_Fiction_Hall_of_Fame_Volume.html?id=yPVbDv5DqkoC. 52 of 58 people rated it 4 or 5. You can then buy it right over in the left-hand column. Go, go!

  8. Re:brunner? on Ask Slashdot: Most Underappreciated Sci-Fi Writer? · · Score: 1

    And don't forget Stand on Zanzibar. *And* The Sheep Look Up. Dystopias that stand with the bes--, er, the worst of them.

  9. Re:David Gerrold! on Ask Slashdot: Most Underappreciated Sci-Fi Writer? · · Score: 1

    Finally! Everyone knows he wrote the classic ST episode The Trouble with Tribbles, but he also wrote two other classics: When H.A.R.L.I.E. Was One -- a 'computer becoming aware' book that ranks up there with Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, and -- my fave -- The Man Who Folded Himself -- a time travel adventure that makes Heinlein's classic story By His Bootstraps seem simplistic. Message to Hollywood: Make The Man Who Folded Himself into a movie! Please! Not only do you get a mind-bending book that movie-making technology has finally evolved to enable you to present in a realistic way, but you also get a great author who can write the kickass screenplay too. You're very welcome!

  10. Actual origin of Scientology on Ask Slashdot: Most Underappreciated Sci-Fi Writer? · · Score: 3, Interesting
    (by inventing Scientology as part of a casual bet with Heinlein over who could invent the best religion)

    According to Harlan Ellison, who was there, the actual event came about at a Con in NYC in 1952 when L. Sprauge de Camp made a joke that, if you wanted to make money with science fiction, you should just invent your own religion. L. Ron, however, took it seriously.

    L. Sprauge de Camp, unfortunately, remains unappreciated.

  11. Two legs and two tails is best on XRL Hexapod Robot Gets a Tail, Learns To Use It · · Score: 1

    Since you are dealing with 3D space, you will need *4* points of awareness to keep the center of gravity in balance. You might think that 3 legs and one tail would be best, but then you have to deal with a disbalanced processing problem: triangulation in space, followed by an add-on to balance that. Better to deal with three 2-point axle balancing problems instead. (A:B, C:D, AB:CD).

  12. Now for the killer app: mosquitoes on DARPA Creates Machine Which Extinguishes Fires With Sound · · Score: 1
    to insect-sized reconnaissance drones.

    'The sound increases air velocity

    Use four insect drones to 3D triangulate the position of mosquitoes, which have a unique visual signature in flight. Use a synchronized sound burst from three to push a mosquito directly into the path of a synchronized infrared laser pulse from the fourth, which heats and kills it. Repeat. Good-bye malaria.

  13. Must be said on Ron Paul's New Primary Goal Is "Internet Freedom" · · Score: 1
    The revolution is occurring around the world," it reads. "It is occurring in the private sector, not the public sector. It is occurring despite wrongheaded attempts by governments to micromanage markets through disastrous industrial policy.

    Yes, wrong-headed attempts like INVENTING THE INTERNET. The fact is that the private sector didn't even arrive at the Net until the infamous Green-Card spam some *25* years after the net was conceived, designed and built by scientists funded by the US government-funded DARPA. Argh. There's a reason the average age of a Libertarian fanboy is under 25: people grow up and start grasping how economics *actually* works. They discover that the world is not -- and never was -- the black-and-white free market so lovingly depicted by Libertarian utopianists -- and never will be. [SOP] On the plus side, it is good that Libfans exist -- their constant screeching keeps the creeping fascism of neoliberalism somewhat at bay.[/SOP]. Hooray for dynamic tension.

  14. Like SCOTUS 'Can't require' decision re:Obamacare? on FBI: We Need Wiretap-Ready Web Sites — Now · · Score: 1
    wiretap-friendly

    Why ...hello, Mr. Orwell. Didn't see you come in. Nice newspeak: you mean: constitutionally-unfriendly, isn't that right?

    What I wanted to say though was that this can be looked at in light of the probable outcome of the 'Can the government *require* you to purchase health insurance? My guess is that the answer will be NO. Can the government legally *require* you make your site "wiretap-friendly"? If it's in the Constitution that Congress has jurisdiction over interstate commerce; it's also in the Constitution that 'The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.' It would seem that the government CANNOT *legally* REQUIRE you to do this -- even MORE than it cannot REQUIRE you to purchase health insurance (assuming that's the outcome of the Obamacare case). Like wiretaps, the government should have to do this on a case-by-case basis. Freedom should be the default condition, not just what's left over.

  15. Troll functioning on Intelligence Map Made From Brain Injury Data · · Score: 1
    The researchers also found that brain regions for planning, self-control and other aspects of executive function overlap to a significant extent with regions vital to general intelligence. The study provides new evidence that intelligence relies not on one brain region or even the brain as a whole, Barbey said, but involves specific brain areas working together in a coordinated fashion.

    So.... are trolls actually missing functional areas, or are they just cognitively uncoordinated?

  16. So Penrose and Hameroff were (about) right! on Researchers May Have Discovered How Memories Are Encoded In the Brain · · Score: 1
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind

    When he wrote his first book on consciousness, The Emperor's New Mind in 1989, Penrose lacked a detailed proposal for how quantum processing could be implemented in the brain. Subsequently, Hameroff read Penrose's work, and suggested that microtubules could be suitable candidates for quantum processing, an hypothesis which remains intensely controversial. The Orch-OR theory arose from the collaboration of Penrose and Hameroff in the early 1990s. Microtubules have a well established position in conventional biology and neuroscience. Microtubules are the main component of a supportive structure within neurons known as the cytoskeleton. In addition to providing a supportive structure, the known functions of microtubules include transport of molecules including neurotransmitters bound for synapses and control of the development of the cell. Microtubules are composed of tubulin protein dimer subunits.

    http://www.gizmag.com/memory-storage-theory/21900/

    Tuszynski and his colleagues noted that the geometry of the CaMKII molecule was very similar to that of tubulin protein compounds. These tubulins are contained within microtubule protein structures, which in turn occupy the interiors of the brain’s neurons. They are particularly concentrated in the neurons’ axons and dendrites, which are active in the memory process. The scientists wanted to understand the interaction between CaMKII, tubulin and microtubules, so based on 3D atomic-resolution structural data for all three protein molecules, they developed highly-accurate computer models. What they discovered was that the spatial dimensions and geometry of the CaMKII and microtubule molecules allow them to fit together. Furthermore, according to the models, the microtubules and CaMKII molecules are capable of electrostatically attracting one another, so that a binding process can occur between them. This process takes place within the neurons, after they have been synaptically connected, to (in some cases) permanently store memories.

    Memory, consciousness -- really, what's the difference?

  17. Cloudnet! on The Risk of a Meltdown In the Cloud · · Score: 1

    "All your data are belong to ME! Give cookie NOW! Or I RANDOMIZE!"

  18. So is Louisiana... on Sweden Moving Towards Cashless Economy · · Score: 1
    Louisiana Bans Cash for Secondhand Transactions

    http://www.opposingviews.com/i/money/personal-finance/louisiana-bans-cash-secondhand-transactions

    A new Louisiana law, House bill 195, passed earlier this year says that those who buy or sell secondhand goods are prohibited from using cash. State representative Rickey Hardy, who co-authored the bill, says: "They can give a check or a cashiers money order, or electronic (transfer)." Rep. Hardy says the bill is targeted at criminals who steal anything from copper to televisions, and sell them for cash. He claims that having a paper trail will make it easier for law enforcement: "It's a mechanism to be used so the police department has something to go on and have a lead." Besides non-profit resellers like Goodwill, and garage sales, the language of the bill covers stores that resell used goods and even flea markets.

  19. Those who can't teach -- run for school board! on Teacher Suspended For Reading Ender's Game To Students · · Score: 1
    Here's a teachable moment in civics: organize the students to recall the school board -- for living in the wrong century. I don't which century they are living in, but it clearly isn't the 21st.

    Oh wait....South Carolina? I think they stopped comprehending civics in 1860.

  20. What about Lake Michigan? on Optimize Offshore Wind Farms Using Weather Modeling · · Score: 2
    ...a team of engineers at Stanford has harnessed a sophisticated weather model to recommend optimal placement of four interconnected wind farms off the coast of the Eastern United States...

    This map indicates that Michigan has wind resources consistent with community-scale production. The map shows that the land-based community-scale wind resources in Michigan are concentrated along the immediate shores of the Great Lakes (especially Lakes Michigan and Superior) and on islands. The Great Lakes themselves have good-to-outstanding wind resource.

    http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/maps_template.asp?stateab=mi

    Chicago (and Northern Illinois, Northern Indiana, Southern Wisconsin, and Western Michigan) would certainly benefit from these wind farms in Lake Michigan; they could be placed far enough from shore so that there is no 'Nantucket problem'.

  21. I hope *you* don't live in Louisiana on Will Mobile Wallets Replace Their Traditional Counterparts? · · Score: 3, Informative
    As long as there are legal purchases for which many people would prefer to have plausible deniability, there will be cash.

    Law Bans Cash for Second Hand Transactions

    Cold hard cash. It's good everywhere you go, right? You can use it to pay for anything. But that's not the case here in Louisiana now. It's a law that was passed during this year's busy legislative session. House bill 195 basically says those who buy and sell second hand goods cannot use cash to make those transactions.

    http://www.klfy.com/story/15717759/second-hand-dealer-law

  22. I hope you don't live in Louisiana on Will Mobile Wallets Replace Their Traditional Counterparts? · · Score: 1
    Law Bans Cash for Second Hand Transactions

    Cold hard cash. It's good everywhere you go, right? You can use it to pay for anything. But that's not the case here in Louisiana now. It's a law that was passed during this year's busy legislative session. House bill 195 basically says those who buy and sell second hand goods cannot use cash to make those transactions.

    http://www.klfy.com/story/15717759/second-hand-dealer-law

  23. Most common word not in dictionary? on Physicists Discover Evolutionary Laws of Language · · Score: 1

    May I suggest "foo"? (although it might be considered a back-formation from the jargonic acronym 'FUBAR'.) *We* all use it a lot, don't we?

  24. Here's something better than 'Culturomics' on Physicists Discover Evolutionary Laws of Language · · Score: 1

    Since this is 'a body of knowledge about words', how about logology? That would make a worker in the field a 'logologue'. This is a Greek/Latin hybrid: "logos" from the Greek meaning (approximately) "word".

  25. Get politican's DNA first! on New York State Passes DNA Requirement For Almost All Convicted Criminals · · Score: 1
    Richard Aborn, one of the bill's backers, said, 'We know from lots of studies and lots of data now that violent criminals very often begin their careers as nonviolent criminals. And the earlier you can get a nonviolent criminal's DNA in the data bank, the higher your chances are of apprehending the right person.'"

    In other news, we need DNA from all politicians. 100% of all public corruption cases -- a serious crime that strikes at the heart of democracy -- involve them. And the earlier you can get a political criminal's DNA in the data bank, the higher your chances are of apprehending the right person. Violent politicians very often begin their careers as nonviolent politicians. Don't let them exempt themselves like they did with the Do-Not-Call list!