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User: the_Upsetter

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  1. Re:No. They don't. on Do Your $20 Bills Explode In the Microwave? · · Score: 5, Funny
    And for the record, I just zapped a $20 bill for 20 seconds and it's barely even warm, on Jackson's right eye or anywhere else

    Well, I can't fault your methods, you've got every base covered. It would appear that you've conclusively proven this experiment to be a hoax!

    Another peer-review success story.

  2. actual title on Weird Presents Anyone? · · Score: 1
    actually the full title was...

    On The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life

    check here
  3. I'm more interested in how to... on Innocent File-Sharers Could Appear Guilty? · · Score: 1

    help 'guilty' filesharers appear innocent.

  4. This "Space Elevator" seems cool and all, but on Still More on Space Elevators · · Score: 4, Funny
  5. MOD PARENT TO INFINITY on Geek Eye for the Average Guy · · Score: 1

    very, very insightful

  6. So obvious... on How Does One Become a Game Tester? · · Score: 1

    ... the same way you'd go about becoming an astronaut!

  7. or do it with flash on Snowflake Photos · · Score: 1

    here

    (pretty neat little site, IMO)

  8. Archaeologist sneaks in to "area 51" -- sorry on Los Alamos Security Infiltrated By Reporter · · Score: 1
    My fault... that last article is an overview of this, longer, more in-depth article.

    This article (better, but longer) is his account of the journey into Papoose Lake... again, not sure how much of it is fantasy/embellishment... but it's a fascinating read.

  9. Archaeologist sneaks in to "area 51" on Los Alamos Security Infiltrated By Reporter · · Score: 1
    ...here's a story about how archaeologist Jerry Freeman snuck into Papoose Lake after being repeatedly denied entry by the USAF.

    Not sure how much is fantasy, and how much reality... but it's clear to me that he did do it.

    (He didn't get caught, either... died many years later, in his sleep).

  10. Re:Einstein on Sir Isaac Newton: The world Will End In 2060 · · Score: 1



    Of course... Leibniz is the real father of the 2060 apolcalypse.

  11. Them's some good reasons. on Garmin Palm Device With GPS · · Score: 1
    Locate where I was on the map in seconds

    I'll give that to you... with one small caveat. If you own a gazeteer/map that will allow you to make sense of the UTM or lat/long coordinates and/or any small visual clues you get from your consumer grade GPS... then chances are, you already knew where you were on your map in the first place

    Mark the hotel we'd just checked into, so we could easily find it again

    "John... we just have to walk NE about 900 Meters, we'll be at the hotel room in no time!"

    "gorilla (36491)... we're in Manhattan... how do you suppose we'll do that?"

    You have the map, right? (discussed earlier) Write that info down.

    Check our speedo was accurate, to ensure no nasty fines

    Really? What were your findings? Did you adjust your speed by the +/- .13 MPH and optimize your road trip? (more to the point... did you drive the speed limit the whole time!?!? James Dean, you're not.

    Record how far we drove each day

    You realize, of course, that we'll have no need for this function once america's engineers can finally master the "Car-Odometer"... (no longer in the realm of science fiction! We'll have it in the next dozen years, I have it on good authority).

    (Relax... I own a GPS, too... they're great fun. But no need to justify your purchase in this way :)

  12. I've seen the white papers... on UK Team to Study Rainmaking Machines · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...it's a beowulf cluster of Blackfoot indians in some sort of recursive dance.

  13. Childrens Letters To Einstein on Einstein Unveiled · · Score: 5, Interesting
    A great amount of insight can be found in what children wrote to the man ...

    Some Highlights...

    Dear Dr. Einstein,

    I am a pupil in the sixth grade at Westview School. We have been talking about animals and plants in Science. There are a few children in our room that do not understand why people are classed as animals. I would appreciate it very much if you would please answer this and explain to me why people are classed as animals.

    Thanking you,
    Sincerely,
    Carol
    November 12, 1952

    The very thoughtful answer...

    Dear Children:

    We should not ask "What is an animal" but "what sort of thing do we call an animal?" Well, we call something an animal which has certain characteristics: it takes nourishment, it descends from parents similar to itself, it grows, it moves by itself, it dies if its time has run out. That's why we call the worms, the chicken, the dog, the monkey an animal. What about us humans? Think about it in the above mentioned way and then decide for yourselves whether it is a natural thing to regard ourselves as animals.

    With kind regards,
    Albert Einstein
    January 17, 1953
  14. We are "no better" than factory workers! on Hi-tech Work Places no Better than Factories? · · Score: 1
    Am I the only one detecting a hint of smugness in this title?

    Here's a newsflash... improve cube farm conditions along with factory conditions.

    That poor sap punching out industrial sprinkler fitting heaters has every bit as much of a right to expect decent working conditions.

    WAKE UP tech-geek gunslinger. There are millions of us now, and we are interchangeable to a frightening degree. "Us vs. them" went out with the furby.

  15. the perils of profiling on When Personalization Runs Amuck · · Score: 2, Interesting
    It's very hard to create a composite sketch of people based on behaviour (too narrow). But, you'd be suprised how easy it is to make this same sketch from spatial data.

    I work for a rather large GIS software company, and one of our larger clients is responsible for most of the dead tree junkmail you get in your mailbox. How do they figure out that you would likely buy a Lexus/are looking to refinance your mortgage/want to join a health club?

    simple... PRISM

    put your zip code in there and see how accurately your spending/watching habits are reflected. Perhaps TiVo should ditch their "personal" profiling for regional profiling.

  16. Re:Nicolas Cage. on Getting More Face Time · · Score: 1

    or WAS HE?!

  17. Re:No Unions! on Unions in the Tech Sector? · · Score: 1
    Rather than the open market determining rates, it will be the union. I, personally, would much rather take my chances and go for the higher wage.

    Sounds like a good plan, champ... well thought out.

    Who else is just salivating at some of these "open market determine[d] rates" right about now.

  18. similar to the Degree Confluence Project... on Washington Shoreline Photos · · Score: 1
    (actually... this one might be a bit more useful than the DCP, but not quite as ambitious)

    For those who haven't had a chance to look at the Degree Confluence Project ... do so now. Don't waste another second.

    Basically, they're trying to take a photograph of the confluence of every latitude/longitude integer degree intersections... Absolutely fascinating.

  19. Re:Mixed emotions... on NASA Has Plans for 2nd Space Station at L1 · · Score: 4, Informative
    the Interstate Highway System, the TVA, rural electrification, the Public Library system (just off the top of my head)... none of these were driven by these elusive "market forces" the original poster refers to.

    (which is not to say that they didn't precipitate in quite a little jolt for this nation's capitalists)...

    Clearly there's a bit of saliency to the argument that a little "push" by the govt. can jump-start some of these "market forces."

  20. Re:Mixed emotions... on NASA Has Plans for 2nd Space Station at L1 · · Score: 0
    ...market forces have shown to be the driving force in all new ventures.

    What were the market forces behind the underappreciated and pioneering MIR?

  21. Re:Slashdot: home of the semi-interesting read on The Aging Gamer · · Score: -1, Offtopic
    Gotta love it when people with good karma get modded "offtopic."

    note to moderators: There is no "meta-offtopic" moderation... so the best you can do to this post is to ignore it

  22. functional vs. artistic on LoTR:LEGO Originals · · Score: 1
    which is more geeky? I like the gun link better than the hobbit link.

    After all, isn't it cooler when the lego creations actually do something ?

  23. Re:Truth about plots . . . on Star Trek: Pick A Plot · · Score: 1

    well... there are several models competing...

    The 1 plot, 3 plot, 7, 26, 36... it could go on forever...

    check here for a list of different models.

  24. Buy from indie labels... steal from corporate... on Universal, Sony Cutting Prices on Downloaded Music · · Score: 1

    This is my formula... feel free to make it your own.

    My on reckoning of "theft" would make it impossible to "steal" from Columbia Records (or Sony... or whomever).

    No tears shed for those corporations... or the artists who consent to their exploitation.

  25. potent illustration of why these are not "toys" on USMC Shows Off New Toys · · Score: 1


    I'm not trying to be priggish... and I'm not the kind of person to tilt at every semantic windmill... but calling these things "toys" (even though they have an undeniable geek/tech allure)... minimizes their deadliness.

    Something designed to efficiently kill humans isn't a "toy."

    I realize the purpose and ubiquity of war... and I'm not "above" talking about it (or the implements used in it) constructively... but let's not call these deadly things "toys."