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User: Mr2cents

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Comments · 1,355

  1. Re:The Doors on Martian Naming Madness · · Score: 1

    Anything named after The Doors or even Jim Morrison?

    They keep that for The End.

  2. Why does it need to orbit a star? on How Would You Define a Planet? · · Score: 2

    If a planet gets kicked out of its orbit (unlikely now, but during planet formation it's surely possible), it would stop being a planet?

  3. Solution.. on VirtuSphere Immersive Virtual Reality · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Don't walk, fly!

  4. Re:Imagine that! on The Implications of Google's Digital Library · · Score: 0, Redundant

    That's an interesting story, but the guy was burned for translating the bible, not for printing it.

    I found this part hilarious: "printer Peter Schoeffer completed a run of between 3,000 and 6,000 New Testaments. The books were shipped in bales of cloth down the Rhine and smuggled into ports in the south and east of England. Many were collected by order of the Bishop of London, Cuthbert Tunstall, and ceremonially burned in October 1526 in front of St. Paul's Cathedral."

  5. Arrrr, matey! on Movie Studios Unveil New Anti-Piracy Lab · · Score: 0, Redundant

    ROTFLMWLO!!

  6. Re:..services.. on Linux-Powered Humanoid Robot on Sale Friday · · Score: 1

    The chastity belt

    Ahh.. still referred to as the golden age by lock-picking geeks!

  7. Re:Imagine that! on The Implications of Google's Digital Library · · Score: 0, Redundant

    I'm sure people copying books by hand were worried about those printed books in much the same way. But the overall benefits are clear to everyone living today.

  8. Re:IQ scores go up every generation on Intelligence in the Internet Age · · Score: 1

    This is a phenomena that is not yet really understood.

    Did you ever see the Darwin Awards?

  9. Re:Here we go again.. on Space Elevator Gets FAA Clearance · · Score: 1

    Most probably the tether will be attached to a floating construction to allow it to be moved away from bad weather. But still, even if they can make it, there is more than one catch: how will micrometeorites degrade the cable? How about the huge voltages present in our athmosphere? Will the radiation from the Van Allen radiation belt cause wear on the cable? Will the wind be able to twist the cable (didderent heights can have different wind directions)? I never hear anything about those potential problems, however I doubt they are all trivial.

  10. Here we go again.. on Space Elevator Gets FAA Clearance · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It could become a terrorist target.

    Sigh, could you please shut up about terrorist threats? What makes a space elevator more a threat than a space shuttle, or a Golden Gate bridge? BTW: space shuttles are full of highly explosive fuels!

    This is a good moment to ask yourself if you're not affected by propaganda too much..

  11. Re:Malaysia is a bit optimistic on Malaysians to Vote on First Astronaut · · Score: 1
  12. Re:Tomorow's News: on Dell Releases First Consumer Product with Mandriva · · Score: 2, Funny

    Collaborating with MS Office users is impossible.

    That's exactly why I don't use MS Office.

  13. Pfew! on IE Flaw Puts Windows XP SP2 At Risk · · Score: 4, Funny

    Luckily I didn't install SP2!

  14. Re:Have they checked the obvious? on Missing Lab Mice Infected With Plague · · Score: 1

    Even if it can be transmitted that way, many animals don't eat prey they didn't kill themselves. Only scavengers do so.

    But still, saying that it is no big deal is not funny. If it were to break out, the people responsible should be sued for death by negligence. It's a bad practice to minimize each mistake; when you're playing on that level you shouldn't be able to make such mistakes.

  15. Re:Smaller changes? on MS Upgrades To Be Smaller And More Frequent · · Score: 2, Funny

    I don't think they can get much smaller than the changes planned in Vista.

    That's why Microsoft is secretly researching quantum-changes; changes so small they cannot be detected even by diff!

  16. Wrong problem. on Why Does Current Clustering Require Recoding? · · Score: 1

    More processors don't always increase speed, you have to be able to split up the problem in chunks and then work on them at the same time. The algorithms that simulate a processor aren't easily run in parallel, basically. Or require too much communication overhead.

  17. Re:applicability? on Keyboard Sound Aids Password Cracking · · Score: 1

    I read about a museum that uses two parabolic dishes to transmit the sound of a ticking clock across the room. When you stand near the focal point, the sound becomes hearable. Also, I heard of an art-project that would consist of two parabolicly carved stones placed on each side of a river, so you could talk to each other across the river. I don't know if it was carried out. It would be a really nice piece of hacker-art, though.

  18. Re:Methane doesn't replace water. on Titan Occupies A Solar System Sweet Spot · · Score: 5, Interesting

    But it still remains very interesting to study. All these problems you propose are valid, but the chemistry at those places could still be very complex, and the thing with life is, once it has started its' complexity will rise with the next generations.

    Our experience life is, let's face it, laughable. We only have one genesis to work with. The premise of liquid water is solely based on Earth observations. I don't know about you, but at least I don't know about any holiday resort on Earth next to a liquid methane lake. there just aren't any.

    If I hear about an energy source, complex carbon-based chemicals and a liquid to mix them, then, with an open mind, I think some emerging intelligence may occur after billions of years. Even if it is a freak accident, if you believe a complex system can exist for even a few hundred millions of years without one freak accident, then you're obviously not an engineer. Maybe it will not be life as we know it, but damnit Jim, it will be alive!

  19. Re:Why? on Wi-Max Deployed in Katrina Disaster Area · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Well, president Bush made it clear he wants to rebuild a prettier city. Now, cities have upgraded poor neighbourhoods in the past, with the result that the prices skyrocket and poor people get driven out. Once it is a fancy neighbourhood with rich people, national budgets will be easily diverted to build big constructions to divert the water. But right now, it isn't worth the trouble.

    Also, note this:
    > Telecom executives and analysts, though, aren't so sure it's the right time or place.

    What they mean is: "Why should we try to sell fiberoptic network to poor people? They stink!" If they install fiber now, it will be only in the rich neighbourhoods, and it will only underline the factual segregation that is still present today in the USA. This has become painfully clear in the last weeks already, so indeed, it's not the right time nor place.

  20. Re:Depends on what is considered "private industry on Katrina Delays Shuttle · · Score: 1

    > You've got to do so before it falls back below 125 miles, but gravity falls with the square of the distance so isn't as big of a problem.

    But you have to start counting from the center of the earth. The gravity does not change that much at all between 6400km and 6600km.

  21. Re:Forget about breaking the DRM on EFF Releases Music DRM Guide · · Score: 3, Insightful

    While I'd never like to see DRM'd files as the sole distribution method as this is to open to proprietry player lock-in, I have zero objection to it as an alternative method of purchasing music.

    The record companies have always been trying to force copy protection upon any medium. Any time a copying device gets on the market, they go wild! BTW, they force us to pay taxes on blank CDs because 'they are only used to copy music', but at the same time it remains illegal to copy them (totally ignoring the fact that I paid taxes to do so).

    This DRM thing will not remain limited to those online songs, it will (try to) become a general 'feature', locking you down and threatening your electronic freedom.

  22. Re:Why has no one mentioned... on Technology In Katrina's Wake · · Score: 1

    It explains the explosions they're hearing, though..

  23. My suggestion.. on Looking for Portable MPI I/O Implementation? · · Score: 3, Funny

    Have you tried reversing the polarity?

  24. Re:Oh the possibilities! on Send your name to Pluto · · Score: 5, Funny

    P1: I've entered all the names in our intergalactic search engine.
    P2: So, what did it find?
    P1: "Slashdot crowd"

  25. Re:Donation on New Mad Cow Test on the Horizon? · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Well, I gave blood during my stay in the states in '98. Everybody knew I was a foreigner and no one complained.

    Of course not, it was a great way to get a free dna sample from you, you foureign commu^H^H^H^H^H^H terrorist! We're watching you!!!