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User: rufusdufus

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  1. Overpromising lifespan on The Light Bulb That Can Change the World · · Score: 1

    From TFA: Compact fluorescents, even in heavy use, last 5, 7, 10 years. Years.
    This is hype. I was tired of replacing so many bulbs in my house, so I replaced them with flourescents that guaranteed a 5 year lifespan. They lasted 6 months. I tried another brand, got the same performance. They did last longer than old style bulbs, but not enough to matter; I'm not sure if the power savings covered the added bulb cost or not. A wash at best.

  2. This..this..its not even wrong.. on Vista the Last of Its Kind · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What does this article mean anyway? Its a bunch of buzz words mixed together in an apparently random order.

  3. Do they know what they are talking about? on Under the Hood of Quantum Computing · · Score: 2, Interesting
    The linked article, and the company web site is very sparse on information. Is there any indication that this guy knows what he's talking about? I did find one 'fact' on their web site that indicates that the answer may be no. Take a look at the last paragraph on the page:

    Quantum computers can be used to get approximate solutions to large NP-complete optimization problems much more quickly than the best known methods running on any supercomputer.



    I think this statement is incorrect. My understanding concurs with what is written in the wiki article:


    This dramatic advantage of quantum computers is currently known to exist for only those three problems: factoring, discrete logarithm, and quantum physics simulations. However, there is no proof that the advantage is real: an equally fast classical algorithm may still be discovered (though some consider this unlikely). There is one other problem where quantum computers have a smaller, though significant (quadratic) advantage. It is quantum database search, and can be solved by Grover's algorithm. In this case the advantage is provable. This establishes beyond doubt that (ideal) quantum computers are superior to classical computers.


    and


    BQP is suspected to be disjoint from NP-complete and a strict superset of P, but that is not known. Both integer factorization and discrete log are in BQP. Both of these problems are NP problems suspected to be outside BPP, and hence outside P. Both are suspected to not be NP-complete. There is a common misconception that quantum computers can solve NP-complete problems in polynomial time. That is not known to be true, and is generally suspected to be false.

  4. Re:Long Lines on Is Your Laptop At Risk While Traveling? · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is how we know that that 'terrorusts' don't want to 'kill amerkuns'. If killing was their primary goal, they could start blowing up any sort of public event that have no security like concerts, movies, town meetings, carnivals, or krispy kreme openings.
    The goal is to blow up symbols to inspire fear in the populace by use of mass media. There have been bombs set in discos and the past, but those didn't effect public behavior much at all, people kept on dancin.

  5. If the ban persisted, business would suffer on Is Your Laptop At Risk While Traveling? · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The ban was lifted already. As it had to be. Business travellers routinely carry laptop computers with confidential client information on them, they would be negligent if they checked them into the current baggage handling system. Forget about the laptop being damaged since it is possible to package it safely, but the possibility of lost client data would be too high of a risk.
    While a permanent laptop ban would have a serious impact on certain types of businesses and travellers, it would have an even more serious impact on the airlines when their primary client base was forced to use charter aircraft.

  6. Good on the FCC, now go get Fox on Fake News Stories Probed · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Remember the story of Fox producing a faked story about rBGH where whistlblowers sued them and the courts decided not that Fox hadn't lied, but that it was legal for them to do so? The FCC should have stood up then. If they are going to stand up now, they will have to apply the rules to Fox as well..right?

  7. The question is , why did AOL release info at all? on EFF Files Complaint with FTC Over AOL Data Leak · · Score: 1

    It was a very strange thing for AOL to release that search history. Out of the blue, they suddenly announce they are giving away some of their data. Why did they do this? They must have had a reason. The only thing I can think of off hand is they needed a way to make the information public so it could be used legally by law enforcement?

  8. Lets teach GToD instead on Did Humans Evolve? No, Say Americans · · Score: 0, Troll

    Who cares if some idiot in Kansas doesn't understand evolution. It makes no difference, weather people know and understand evolution make very little difference in our daily lives. Instead, lets teach the Germ Theory of Disease in place of evolution. It is far more disturbing that 50% of the people don't wash thier hands after using the restroom than how many don't believe in evolution. When people don't use good hygeine, they spread disease and that has a real effect on everyone.
    If we do a good job of teaching the GToD, evolution will fall out of it, because people will learn how bacteria evolve to become drug resistant.

  9. Blue Pill seems insincere on Vista Hacking Challenge Answered · · Score: 3, Insightful

    She also admitted that she had to perform the hack in higher privileged administrator mode rather than the lower privileged user account control.

    Seems to me this 'hack' gets the cart before the horse. If you are able to run malicious software in administrator mode, you can do anything at all, not just compromise signed code authorization. Heck you could replace the whole OS. The point of security is to prevent unknown persons from being able to run malicious software in the first place.

  10. have they been to tthe 'least developed nations'? on Solar Wi-Fi To Bring Net to Developing Countries · · Score: 4, Informative

    Its hard to believe that anyone who had actually visited some of the least developed countries could post something about computers and WiFi to help them out. When I was in Malawi for example, the people didn't know what electricity was. There was only one water spigot in the entire village, at the whitemans church. The only piece of technology they could recognize was my wristwatch, which they were in awe over. My $1000 digital camera? They couldn't even 'see' it: they had no reference as to what it was, might was well have been a rock.
    They dont even have shoes. These people's most valuable posessions are sticks. I'm not kidding. Sticks are fuel for cookfires. They walk all day with a hundred pound of sticks on their back, with no shoes, no roads.

    Now, these people cant read either. Can you not see how pretentious it is to expect them to value a laptop with WiFi when they are starving and can't read?
    Get them some shoes first. That will help them a lot more.

  11. The biggest mistake ever on Big Dig - One of Engineering's Greatest Mistakes? · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Probably the biggest mistake that ever happened in China at Shaanxi where the people had riddled the Loess Plateau with Yaodongs (dwellings). The earthquake of 1556 killed over 800,000 people, many of whome were crushed when the Plateau collapsed onto dwellings. Makes the Big Dig's problem seem pretty small in comparison.

  12. The only defense on Undetectable Rootkits Through Virtualization? · · Score: 0, Troll

    I've been telling people this for a while, mainly to blank stares; you cannot detect if you have a virus/keylogger/spyware on your system. All those utilities people pay so much for are worthless! They only detect the known malware, but nobody knows about the undetected hacks. The technology discussed in this article has been around for longer than the OS's have been!
    You must assume in this day and age that if your computers will become infected with undetectable malware within a relatively short time of normal internet connectivity.
    Accepting this then, the only truly safe way to compute today is to keep your boot/OS/application drive from being writable. Baring this, the next best step is to re-image your drive from non-writable media daily. Throw away the expensive antivirus scanners, they do nothing.
    Are you staring blankly at me? Did you know that you can reimage your drive in 5 minutes and guarantee your computer is clean? Thats far less time than it takes a scanner to scan ineffectively your system files. The main trick is to boot from a DVD and to store the image on an external harddrive. And to use a certain discipline in creating incremental images that keep them malware free. This, along with a firewall, is the only reliable defense today.

  13. Typical breathless AI crap on Robot Dogs Evolve Their Own Language · · Score: 1

    There is absolutely no concrete information in this article. Its just a bunch of laymen's terminology that could apply to any old lame technology. It should be a red flag that this research is tied to a commercially branded toy. AI researchers and marketting droids share the common trait of talking up stupid shit; there is no evidence of anything interesting happening here.

  14. Solar cars do the same thing with no fuel at all! on UBC Engineers Reach Mileage Of Over 3000 MPG · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This vehicle looks just as unrealistic as the solar cars they race in Australia, the main difference being that the Solar cars use no fuel at all! Whats the point? This stuff will never be used on a massive scale.

    Its time these challenges insert ergonomic requirements into their competitions. Start with requiring the cabin to have a certain size, with reasonble seats,leg room, and storage. In this way they can start tackling the real issues with fuel consumption.

  15. Bluetooth tethering for true mobility on Wireless Data Plans Reviewed · · Score: 2, Informative

    The article focuses on pc-cards but doesnt mention bluetooth tethering to a cellphone. Using your cellphone as a wireless modem over bluetooth has some advantages over pc-cards. One big advantage of tethering is that you share one account and one bill with fewer fees. Since you probably already carry your cellphone around (with its built in bluetooth hardware), there is a weight/bulk advantage with tethering because you dont need the extra pccard and antennae. Another secret is that the cellphone operates on its own battery so the laptop battery life is effectively extended. These benefits really stand out when you are using a pocket sized computer like the sony 750p; tethering is the difference between an internet computer in your pocket and a computer in a suitcase.

  16. The disclosure project? on NASA Hacker Gary McKinnon Interviewed · · Score: 1

    In this article he claims the information he found was the 'disclosure project'. This is not a secret NASA project, it is a hoax/nutjob group with thier own webpage Disclosure Project Everything this guy is saying is from the disclosure project.

    Has slashdot completely jumped the shark? Not just the editors, but the readers as well. People actually makeing serious comments about some guy claiming the disclosure project is a secret nasa project?

  17. Car thieves steal Accords because they are common on Macs May No Longer Be Immune to Viruses · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Thieves steal honda accords more than any other car. Not because Accords are better, but because they are more common.
    You don't see a lot of mac viruses because virus writers are looking for a large population to spread their malware, and macs are few and far between.

  18. Wizard of Oz can tell you how will this works on Software Lets Programmers Code Hands-free · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Imagine you not only have a really good speech recognition system with a good language parser but an actual AI to talk to when you are writing your code. How well would this work? You can find out by getting a human friend to play Oz by 'hiding behind a curtain' and typing what you say in natural language. Try it. Then decide if a system like this will ever be useful.

  19. This has been cracked on Judge Creates Own Da Vinci Code · · Score: 1

    The solution is Jackie Fisher who are you dreadnought. Explanation in the solution secion at smithycode also here

  20. Its a DDOS blackmailer right? on On World of Warcraft's Network Issues · · Score: 1

    I thought it was common knowledge that Blizzard and AT&T are under attack from blackmailers using a DDOS.

  21. Our Nation's Enemies on Homeland Security Okays Closed Proceedings · · Score: 0

    Only crazy or incompetent people have enemies. If some crazed monkey throws poo at you, does it become your enemy or just a monkey to steer clear of? The "US vs Them" mentality has got to go; we can cope with people of different persuasions without branding them evildoers and going rambo on them.

  22. This would create a food buffer on Kids Build Soybean Fueled Sports Car · · Score: 1

    Increasing the food supply will make the world food supply more robust, even if it is used for fuel. Think of it as a failsafe system against global hunger; any society that grows enough to make fuels will be able to feed off their fuel crops in times of crisis. It doesn't solve the issue of getting food distributed to poor countries, but by reducing fuel prices, it does help the situation.

  23. Suborbital? on Space Race 2.0 has Begun · · Score: 1

    Suborbital flights strike me just like the space ride at the carnival. Lots of flash and a souvenir pin, but they don't actually push the envelope in technology. There is a huge difference between going up and coming down again compared to true orbital flight where you go up and dont come down.

        Maybe this will even delay humanity's push into space by deluding people into thinking they have contributed in some way to that goal.

  24. It's just a misspelling, its 'carrageenan' on Possible Breakthrough for AIDS Cure · · Score: 1

    They just misspelled the work in the article. Its carrageenan

  25. It looks like a junkie gadget on Sony Reader Taking Hold? · · Score: 1

    This thing looks like a plastic hunk of technology. Like an Ipaq, or more, like one of those cheap ripoff PDA's you see at the checkout at staples.

    No matter how good it is, its hard to see this thing taking off. Especially at that price!

    The main thing I would do diffent is give it a nice leather binding like a fancy book. And make it *look* like a book. Finally, the border around the LCD makes it look junky and distracting.