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User: Dunbal

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Comments · 12,109

  1. Re: Looking more and more likely all the time... on German Scientists Confirm NASA's Controversial EM Drive · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Modern physics is never incorrect. Although it can be misunderstood at times. In the same way that relativity does NOT disprove Newton it confirms it, but extends it. Who would have thought that a little denominator with square root 1-(v squared / c squared) was missing, especially since if v = 0 then the whole denominator ends up being one...which means that all previous laws are valid exactly as they are. Science is not about great schisms where meanings and understandings are suddenly reversed from one generation to the next. That's politics and religion. Science is about progress, with every additional step necessarily building on the steps that were before it. Of course sometimes when you're standing a few steps higher up you get a better overall view of your surroundings and realize that maybe you were misinterpreting a few things before but now you understand them perfectly... until someone comes and puts another little step under your feet and you can see even further...

  2. Re:Blimey on German Scientists Confirm NASA's Controversial EM Drive · · Score: 1

    Oh you'll slow down alright. Eventually. In a spectacular fireworks display when you slam into some planet/star that got in your way... you probably won't be alive by then though.

  3. Re:Blimey on German Scientists Confirm NASA's Controversial EM Drive · · Score: 1

    Something is going to be generating the electricity to create those microwaves, and THAT is going to require some sort of fuel. There is no free lunch. Perpetual motion does not exist. And ya cannae change tha laws of physacks Jim.

  4. Re:Blimey on German Scientists Confirm NASA's Controversial EM Drive · · Score: 2

    they're just really efficient in a vacuum.

    Fixed that for you. Well, for your reader anyway - you probably understand it. Because of the way these things work, they are just about useless anywhere other than a vacuum. The only way you can spend a tiny tiny amount of energy accelerating particles to massive speeds is when there's nothing else in their way for them to bounce off of. But if you are not in any kind of rush for your delta v and are in near total vacuum this is almost a perfect engine.

  5. Re:And yet 15 years later... on Computer Science Enrollments Match NASDAQ's Rises and Fall · · Score: 1

    There is. It's called Muphry's law..

  6. Re:not really Re-entry? on Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo's Re-entry Tech: the Feather · · Score: 1

    Just under orbital speed, around 7000 metres per second?

  7. Re-entry blues on Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo's Re-entry Tech: the Feather · · Score: 2

    However, the problem of safely re-entering the atmosphere is a daunting challenge as well.

    Yes this is especially true since they updated Kerbal Space Program manager to 1.02...

  8. Re:No decrease does not mean an increase on Robots Appear To Raise Productivity Without Causing Total Work Hours To Decline · · Score: 1

    Today we have far more stuff then our parents ever did.

    Er, today there are far more people still living with their parents than ever. If you want to measure "standard of living" in terms of gadgets go ahead. In the 1950's one man could support his wife and several kids with a house fully paid for, health costs were not a problem, etc. Today? You are a slave to the bank. Don't you or your wife dream of getting sick. Can you afford that baby, and more importantly will mom and dad mind you adding yet another family member into the already crowded house?

  9. Re:Drivers are employees on Uber Class-Action Case May Hinge On What the Drivers Want · · Score: 1

    And someone needs to go about registering and licensing the drivers, like the law says taxi drivers are supposed to be. Just because you don't "call" it a taxi doesn't mean it's not a taxi. The law already exists and Uber needs to be held accountable.

  10. Re:So will stacking us vertically on Simple Geometry = More Seats In an Airline · · Score: 5, Insightful

    But do you dislike it enough to pony up for business/first class tickets? No? Then suffer, cattle.

  11. A new category of worker on The Uber Economy Needs a New Category of Worker · · Score: 1

    How about illegal worker?

  12. Re:Colors you can see on There Aren't a Trillion Different Smells After All · · Score: 1

    I can do it myself. It's cheaper for me to hire someone to do it. My time is worth more than his.

  13. Re:Colors you can see on There Aren't a Trillion Different Smells After All · · Score: 2, Interesting

    No, it's seeing people (like a carpenter I hired yesterday for a job) struggle to add 75 and 60 in their head that makes me feel superior. I don't expect them to understand complicated things.

  14. Re:trick them into it ... on Ask Slashdot: How Do You Find Jobs That Offer Working From Home? · · Score: 1

    If we all strive to pull ahead the pack as a whole improves. Sure someone will always be out in front, but we'll all be better than we were yesterday. Why do most people accept mediocrity? I could just give in and be mediocre myself - believe me it would be much less frustrating.

  15. Re:trick them into it ... on Ask Slashdot: How Do You Find Jobs That Offer Working From Home? · · Score: 1

    Which explains exactly why they are 100% expendable and replaceable. But isn't it a shame that most people have zero interest in something that they spend 25% or more of their time doing, let alone something that feeds them?

  16. Re:Generally? You don't. on Ask Slashdot: How Do You Find Jobs That Offer Working From Home? · · Score: 1

    This is a problem with you - you have not established clear boundaries with your wife. My wife works from home and I know to leave her alone. She informs me of which calls are important so I take the dogs and keep them in the bedroom with me so that they are quiet if the doorbell rings, etc. Since I work from home too but I'm more flexible I make lunch at the time she agreed to have it (according to her outlook calendar for the day). I only start complaining when I see it's 7pm and she's still working... or when she allows herself only 10 minutes for lunch, but I know she won't change. But tell me - why doesn't your wife work? That way she'd leave you alone.

  17. Re:trick them into it ... on Ask Slashdot: How Do You Find Jobs That Offer Working From Home? · · Score: 3, Interesting

    there's light-years long queue out of here of people who would gladly accept to get shit upon their faces to get a job

    Maybe if you're a burger flipper. How about developing your skillset so that you're not just another drone? There are people who are highly sought after. My wife for example was made redundant at a Fortune 500 and another large company called her the minute they found out (about a week after her notification) to offer her an even better position. She didn't have time to work on her CV before she was on a plane to do the interviews. Needless to say she got the job. And there is no question of her working from home when she wants to.

  18. Re:Even if it was true, terrible value for money on Dallas Police Falsely Credit TrapWire System For Arrests · · Score: 2

    Considering that the Brits are now in the dozens of millions of pounds for standing two (2) policemen outside the Ecuadorian embassy for a couple years, I'd think hundreds of millions of dollars. What this really means is that the system is completely broken and money just disappears, which is to be expected in a corrupt nation.

  19. Re:No business acumen on Taylor Swift: Apple's Disdain For Royalties Is 'Shocking, Disappointing' · · Score: 2

    as they investment of time and effort requires serious dedication.

    A couple hours spent interviewing someone to hire to set it all up? Yeah, lots of time and dedication. I'm not saying she'd do it herself. She'd hire people to do it for her. You think Paris Hilton personally manages her cosmetics line?

  20. No business acumen on Taylor Swift: Apple's Disdain For Royalties Is 'Shocking, Disappointing' · · Score: 1

    You'd think that someone worth a couple hundred million dollars would be able to launch their own pay-per-download site for their music and cut out the middlemen.

  21. Desperation on Windows 10 Will Be Free To Users Who Test It · · Score: 2

    Can't even give it away huh?

  22. And the weirdest thing is on Facebook's Absurd Pseudonym Purgatory · · Score: 1

    People are stupid enough to comply with them when they request documents too. Seriously. I'm pretty sure my dog can live without a facebook account if the account she currently lends me is ever closed.

  23. Re:IMAX did the right thing on IMAX Tries To Censor Ars Technica Over SteamVR Comparison · · Score: 1

    No, the right thing to have done is hire a lawyer who actually understands law.

  24. Re:IMAX is a trademark, shame on Ars' editors. on IMAX Tries To Censor Ars Technica Over SteamVR Comparison · · Score: 1

    You can use trademarks as often as you want provided you attribute them correctly.

  25. Liveleak killer? on Google Launches YouTube Newswire To Verify Eyewitness Videos · · Score: 1

    Good luck with that.