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User: Narrowband

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Comments · 97

  1. Obviously not... on Scientists Keep Rabbits Alive With Oxygen Microparticle Injections · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...they were experimenting with Rabbits.

  2. Of course, the truth is that of the population willing to respond to a survey about Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, the Hulk, Spiderman, and alien invasions, probably two-thirds secretly hope Bruce Banner gets elected by write-in vote.

  3. It would already be broken on SOPA Protests 'Poisoned the Well,' Says Congressional Staffer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Well, yes, for residents of countries that have that power, the Internet is, in fact already broken.

  4. Software system integration on Ask Slashdot: Best Training To Rekindle a Long Tech Career? · · Score: 2

    Sounds like you've done a lot on making different pieces of the IT puzzle work together on the infrastructure side. Maybe there's something there?

  5. The six billion dollar $20 bill on Fighting Counterfeiters With Quantum Money · · Score: 2

    When it costs eight or nine orders of magnitude more to produce the money than the face value of the money itself, that's generally regarded as a design flaw. It's a sure bet that you could absorb a whole heck of a lot of losses from counterfeiting for the cost of inventing new quantum particle manipulation and testing technologies and distributing them throughout a banking/finance system. By the time it pays for itself, you'd need to have currency that can survive commerce via warp drive.

    Separate point -- even if the physics don't preclude the whole concept, what do you want to bet you couldn't do the testing in a non-destructive manner (i.e., without affecting the properties of the quantum particles). "Well, it WAS a real $20 bill. Oops."

  6. Not so surprising on Geezers Pick Stronger Passwords Than Young'uns · · Score: 3, Informative

    This one seemed pretty intuitive to me. If you've lived a longer life, you probably have a bigger list of personal experiences to pick from where there are words/phrases to build passwords around that are meaningful to you.

  7. Goodbye, useful metadata on Google Applies For Dot-LOL Domain · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I wonder at what point gTLDs are going to make it harder to recognize a URL when it comes up in text. Right now, I expect it's not too hard to write code that identifies a URL as a URL and sets up a link. But when my website name can be AUTOEXEC.BAT, things might get a bit different.

  8. Sci Fi Luminaries? on Star Trek Luminaries Behind the Fastest Funded Film Project On Kickstarter · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I hope they succeed, but... all that talent, and they couldn't think of a name better than "Space Command?"

  9. So, he's building a steampunk ship? on Australian Billionaire Plans To Build Titanic II · · Score: 4, Funny

    "As close to the original as possible" with "state of the art 21st Century technology..." hmm.

  10. FULL universe simulation on First Full Observable-Universe Simulation · · Score: 5, Funny

    When in the simulation does it reach the point where it starts simulating the Curie supercomputer simulating it?

  11. Problem: They weren't charged with stealing data on Court Rules Workers Did Not Overstep On Stealing Data · · Score: 1

    This seems to be the heart of a lot of the confusion in this thread. Basically, whether or not they stole data (or whether it's possible to steal data) isn't relevant, because that isn't the crime they were charged with.

    What they WERE charged with was trying to get system access they weren't authorized for, which they didn't do; they just logged in and took what was within the purview of their own authorized account access. That's what the judge pointed out.

    Whether they're guilty of some other crime or not remains to be seen. But the judge is saying you can't charge someone with a random crime that sounds related, you have to charge them with whatever crime they committed, if you want it to stick. Just because a computer was involved doesn't make it hacking. It's like someone used a crane to drop a car on top of something to destroy it, and the person responsible got charged with wreckless driving.

  12. Lighter on Power-Saving Web Pages: Real Or Myth? · · Score: 1

    Boss to Dilbert: My laptop is too heavy.

    Dilbert to boss: Try deleting some files to make it lighter...

  13. Re:Who knew on IBM Sells Point-Of-Sale Business To Toshiba · · Score: 1

    Why? I see their hardware in checkout lanes everywhere. I assumed others have noticed too.

    Yes, but you don't see them as much in restaurants, I see more Micros stuff there... or even grocery stores. Empirically, just from personal recollection, they seem to be popular in all the brick and mortar types of chains that seem to be struggling themselves. Hmm.

  14. Brick and mortar technology on IBM Sells Point-Of-Sale Business To Toshiba · · Score: 1

    I wonder if they may be betting that the market for point of sale systems will diminish as stores like Borders and Circuit City go bankrupt in favor of online retailers like Amazon? Possibly better to sell now before that happens.

  15. But really, it's the lack of Pirates... on Losing the Public Debate On Global Warming · · Score: 1

    Of course, what's really happening is that people now know the closely guarded secret, that Global Warming is caused by the lack of Pirates in modern times: Link to Forbes article

  16. Plasma flashlight, sonic screwdriver... on Battery-Powered Plasma Flashlight Makes Short Work of Bacteria · · Score: 1

    Quick, where's the laser wrench? And the fusion shovel?

  17. So what won you over to the Internet? on Online Services: The Internet Before the Internet · · Score: 1

    Your post reminds me that when I first had real Internet, I was on local BBSs, too, and they were more fun. At least until MUDs came along. I think that was what really won me over, as much as I hate to admit it. And then I guess they found a way to make the Internet profitable, so it became self-sustaining.

    Makes me wonder, what did it take to win other people over to the Internet from what you had before?

  18. Re:Ah, BBSs on Online Services: The Internet Before the Internet · · Score: 2

    Thinking back, I sometimes wonder if BBSs weren't more fun then than the Internet is now. Now it's too... I don't know, serious. People do work with it. Students can look things up for school. You can shop for stuff. Sure, there are games, and social networking, and so forth, but it's missing something.

    BBSs, though, they were all for fun. Maybe you got some modems and ran one with your friends. If you were keeping pace, you went for the latest software and added "doors" for things like games and such. They were pretty small deals; you knew most everyone on your board, it was like your own private club or treehouse.

    Oh well, I guess you can never go back again.

  19. Re:Third and fourth groups on Online Services: The Internet Before the Internet · · Score: 1

    Sign me up for group 3: I still remember the noise from loading programs into a TI-99/4A by cassette tape. And "portable computing" meant you had one of those early HP programmable calculators with the software on mag-cards.

  20. Internet before the Internet on Online Services: The Internet Before the Internet · · Score: 3, Informative

    The Internet was available before 91 on dial-up, at least if you were a college student. There just wasn't as much on it then, and sometimes it was more likely you could reach your friends online on your local BBS. Heck, there wasn't even DNS, you had a phone book of IPs you entered into your hosts table.

    But I bet the real Internet culture shock for Gen X/Y is probably that they don't remember a time before commercial content or business activity was allowed on the Internet. It wasn't just that there wasn't a web and e-commerce hadn't taken off, it was freakin' prohibited.

  21. Re:Practical example of where that fails on NHTSA Suggestion Would Cripple In-Car GPS Displays · · Score: 2

    You live in the suburbs of a major metropolitan area, but the city roads are terrible and you don't drive into them much. You get called for Jury duty, requiring that you do drive into the city to reach the courthouse. The GPS helps you from being lost in a mass of spaghetti-style exit structures for the access roads, and multiple one-way streets. Also important, if you make a wrong turn, and get off your chosen directions, it can help you find your way back. I know this from experience.

    I can't place judgment on your opinion, because I know I used to have a low opinion of GPS, so I know how easy it is to think just as you do. In fact, my opinion of GPS was much like the xkcd on Google Maps. But after serving Jury duty, I now appreciate it greatly, and understand why people rely on them so much.

  22. Re:Advantage of single big telescope? on Massive Construction Effort Begins For World's Largest Telescope · · Score: 1

    Wasn't a better approach to building telescopes to have multiple smaller ones working in conjunction, spread out across acres of land (or more) ?

    There are two factors that help a large telescope for astronomical observations, resolution and light gathering. Combining smaller scopes (through some process like interferometry) gets you better resolution. There's a limit to what you can do effectively, though and a lot of gear in between has to stay aligned properly to work it. My gut feel for the engineering of it says that the probability of something failing would go up with the square of the number of scopes. For the other factor, the light gathering power (the ability to observe and image dim objects) only comes with surface area to gather more light/photons, and that means larger diameter scopes/mirrors, even if it's multiple larger scopes.