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User: PaulBu

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Comments · 785

  1. Whatever means necessary? on Google, Apple, and Others Remove Content Related To the Confederate Flag · · Score: 4, Informative

    Ever heard of Corvin Amendment (approved by Lincoln!) which would preserve slavery in states where it was legal? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    Basically it was offer to the South to keeep their slaves, if only they would not leave the Union!

    They still fought the war to leave, so it was not "all about slavery", more about tariffs.

    Paul B.

  2. Except if you pay with silver quarters... on The Vicious Circle That Is Sending Rents Spiraling Higher · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If you pay for anything you mention in pre-1965 90% silver coins, it would end up staying the same.
    0.715 ozt of silver per $1 back then is $11.37 today ($15.90/ozt spot price).

    Here is your 11x dollar devaluation since it got off silver standard.

    Paul B.

  3. Re:Explanation seems to violate charge conservatio on Fuel Free Spacecrafts Using Graphene · · Score: 4, Informative

    Well, CRT face is (weakly) grounded, so e- kinetic energy can excite atom for subsequent photon emission, but its charge will happily leak into the ground.

    There is no "ground" anywhere next to flying spacecraft!

    Actually, on reading the preprint, yes, electrons come from under the Fermi level, get lost in the process and graphene foam (or, spacecraft carrying it) *will* become charged -- it was pointed out in the article as well, but I did miss it on quick read.

    AC below actually paints a rather dramatic picture of what can happen next! :)

    Paul B.

  4. Explanation seems to violate charge conservation.. on Fuel Free Spacecrafts Using Graphene · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Where the heck those extra electrons came from? Absorbing photon momentum (more efficient solar sail) sounds feasible, but "accumulating electrons" from nowhere and then emitting them in one direction (where light came from) ... less so.

    Paul B.

  5. vertebrate and invertebrate parties on Patriot Act Spy Powers To Expire As Rand Paul Blocks USA Freedom Act Vote · · Score: 1

    Your comment made my day! :)

    Paul B.

  6. Re:Planetary magnetic field generator on NASA Will Award You $5,000 For Your Finest Mars City Idea · · Score: 1

    It does not have to be a one-turn coil, 350 turns would require only a MA of current, or only about 10000 times more than a big car starter motor uses! :)

    Paul B.

  7. Re:Don't single out EPA on Senate Advances "Secret Science" Bill, Sets Up Possible Showdown With President · · Score: 2

    Medical studies in particular: you really don't want the public to have access to the private medical data which is used in medical studies.

    I can not see how this is a valid argument -- of course such data should be anonymized and not traceable to an *individual* patient (this is where privacy kicks in), but it is done in publicly published medical research anyway ("Patient A [not Sam Smith!] was responding to treatment... ").

    As to temperature data -- if there is suspicion that it is tainted by "local political concerns" -- should we even consider it to be valid *scientific* data?

    Paul B.

  8. Heh, maybe it is superfluid? on Dark Matter Is Even More of a Mystery Than Expected · · Score: 1

    Just partially kidding...

    Paul B.

  9. Using PayPal to pay for a nuke... on PayPal To Pay $7.7 Million For Sanctions Violations · · Score: 1

    Priceless! :)

  10. Have been shown how they would have done it... on CIA Tried To Crack Security of Apple Devices · · Score: 1

    "Using Metadata to find Paul Revere"
    http://kieranhealy.org/blog/ar...

    Paul B.

  11. Wavelength matters too? on You're Doing It All Wrong: Solar Panels Should Face West, Not South · · Score: 1

    My first though without even reading the summary:

    Of course pointing it to the South would "catch" more integrated spectrum, but not all of that can be converted to electricity efficiently (they are more efficient for longer wavelength), so it should not *hurt* much to till them westwards (or eastwards), where/when blue light ("useless for") is filtered by the atmosphere...

    By the way, blue light is still absorbed/heats/damages the cells, but not gets converted to voltage. Or some such... ;-)

    Aligning with peak demand might make more sense though.

    Paul B.

  12. No, that was stereo hearing on Study Shows How Humans Can Echolocate · · Score: 1

    There is a reason we have two ears -- to be able to distinguish the direction the sound is coming from!

    But it is not actively clicking and listening to the echo (though probably it would work much worse for a blind person who is also deaf on one ear!)...

    Paul B.

  13. Remind me to start a company... on The UPS Store Will 3-D Print Stuff For You · · Score: 1

    Remind me to start a company specialising in generating 3D CAD models of custom dildos! :)

    By the way, have they figured out how to print softer, rubber-like materials yet? I have an idea of a sister company too...

    Paul B.

  14. Moon is a harsh mistress... on Congress Can't Make Asteroid Mining Legal (But It's Trying, Anyway) · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I would say that an entity that managed to get there and posess some mined material up the Earth gravity well can probably deal with attempts to de-legalize it rather efficiently. ;-)

    Paul B.

  15. ~1000 *Bits* per square inch? on Seagate Releases 6TB Hard Drive Sans Helium · · Score: 5, Informative

    I thought that in 21st century we are talking about Gbits/inch^2, not just bits...

    Paul B.

  16. Thanks for your inquery! on Meet the MOSS Modular Robots (Video) · · Score: 1

    Electronics there is probably not rad-hard... Bioagents should be OK though!

    Paul B.

  17. I thought that we were supposed to be pro-active.. on How Reactive Programming Differs From Procedural Programming · · Score: 1

    not re-active! ;-)

    Paul B.

  18. Accidntally opressed "Redundant" to the most insig on Dogs Defecate In Alignment With Earth's Magnetic Field · · Score: 0

    Mod parent up! Informative, instead

    Paul B.

  19. Will we move to Mars by then? ;) on How Earth's Biosignature Will Change As the Planet Dies · · Score: 1

    Should become nice and warm, I hope! ;)

  20. Re:Yes, but... on New Headphones Generate Sound With Carbon Nanotubes · · Score: 3, Informative

    Could be nice way of sidestepping the Chinese and their "rare earth" near-monopoly.

    Judging from the author's names and affiliation, I quite doubt that it was their main motivation... :)

    Yang Wei *, Xiaoyang Lin , Kaili Jiang *, Peng Liu , Qunqing Li , and Shoushan Fan
    Department of Physics and Tsinghua-Foxconn Nanotechnology Research Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P. R. China

    But, it's still VERY COOL!

    Paul B.

  21. And, SElinux was given to us by which org? ;-) on Keeping Data Secret, Even From Apps That Use It · · Score: 2

    I think it was in the news recently, a lot, but not for their Linux contributions...

    Though, maybe those were referenced too, along with some other contribs to MS, standards organisations, etc.

    If anything, I am sure that someone is giving close and fresh look into SElinux parts right now...

    Paul B.

  22. Re:Zero is Still Zero on White House: Use Metric If You Want, We Don't Care · · Score: 1

    'Zero' is still 'zero' whether measured in metric or standard.

    Well, no!

    Not if you are talking about temperature measured in degrees C vs. F vs. K!

    Agreed with the rest of your comment though...

    Paul B.

  23. Re:That was the most worthless infomercial ever. on Researchers Report Super-Powered Battery Breakthrough · · Score: 1

    If my cell phone can transmit 30 times farther, I'm guessing that the power will drain from the battery 30 times faster.

    Assuming that your cellphone transmit unidirectionally (as it's natural for a cellphone to do!), is not getting 30 times the 'r' requires 'r^2' more power, i.e., your battery will drain 900 times faster? ;-)

    Paul B.

  24. Re:GitHub for the greedy? on Crowdfunding Open Source Software Enhancements and Bug Fixes · · Score: 1

    No, it does not -- the site is already /.ed, at 4 comments into this discussion... ;-)

    Paul B.

  25. BSD folks must have even more terrible problem... on The 'Linux Inside' Stigma · · Score: 5, Funny

    Why the heck Apple has OS-X and no BSD inside stickers, for many years now? ;-)

    Paul B.