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User: xtal

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  1. Shut up and take my money already on iFixit Takes Apart the Oculus Rift DK2, Finds Galaxy Note 3 Display Inside · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Finish this.. I've been waiting since the iGlasses came out in 1997..

  2. Re:Another very good reason... on China Builds Artificial Islands In South China Sea · · Score: 1

    The problem is there is no alternative to oil.

    None.

    Nuclear may provide energy dense alternatives but you'd need to have been building plants 10 years ago. Coal is an option, but you will turn the sky grey.

    Green technologies do not have the energy density needed. Simple napkin math can demonstrate this. There are no conspiracies; the world runs on oil because there are no alternatives available. A refusal to recognize the underlying thermodynamics and energy requirements in real world units, rather than fluffy unicorns and windmills, holds back adult discussions of what needs to happen and when.

    The only technology available is nuclear. Manhattan-project style efforts to crack fusion technologies, or more usefully, the battery problem, would go a long way to help. We're not just there yet.

  3. ...paper replacement on I Want a Kindle Killer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    All I want is a paper replacement.

    There are large e-ink displays, but they all lack high resolution input - as high as a 0.5mm pencil can get you.

    15 years after I graduated, I still carry engineering paper, and I get it from the same bookstore. All that's changed is I take pictures of my notes instead of scan them now.

    Come on Apple - want to innovate? Figure that one out. I triple dog dare you.

  4. Re:Article is about computers OUTSIDE the classroo on Teachers Union: Computers Can Negatively Impact Children's Ability To Learn · · Score: 2

    The only thing the Teacher's Unions are terrified of.. is that they're going to be replaced.

  5. Hurry up and take my money.. on How Virtual Reality Became Reality · · Score: 1

    Competition is coming.

    *cough* Valve *cough*

  6. Competition is great on ANTVR - China's Answer To Oculus Rift Is Raising Funds · · Score: 1

    ..get the damn product finished Oculus.

  7. Re:Why? on UN to Debate Use of Fully Autonomous Weapons, New Report Released · · Score: 1

    If you do not have men with guns to protect your freedom, money, women, *insert thing here, other (bad) men with guns will come take it from you.

    That's human nature, and I have no problem with my way of life being protected under threat of planetary annihilation.

    Forget that lesson at your peril.

  8. Focus on your studies as much as possible on Ask Slashdot: Computer Science Freshman, Too Soon To Job Hunt? · · Score: 5, Interesting

    You are making a huge financial investment in both real dollars and opportunity cost.

    Don't worry about developing web sites. Spend that time advancing your core knowledge. Learn as deep and as abstractly as you can. The technologies will change, the knowledge will not.

    Any job you take now will likely not impact your career. Find out if there's a professor you can work with in another faculty instead - by going up and down halls knocking on doors if possible. Chances are they have some IT problems that need solving this summer or know someone who does.

  9. This is a good thing! on Google Testing Gmail Redesign · · Score: 2

    It's so goddamn awful, it will drive me away from Gmail, its uncomplicated and great search results, and make me get off my lazy ass, and set up my own cloud service that I control.

    It might even make me motivated enough to limit my exposure to Google in other ways, too.

    The volume of non-work email I deal with has been dropping steadily, anyway - to the point where my own solution managed in my own cloud service might be worthwhile.

    I strongly suspect I am not alone.

    Full speed ahead Google!

  10. Re:If You Add... on Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, and Lately, Coding · · Score: 1

    The people doing the funding there most certainly need more code monkeys..

  11. Re: Motivated rejection of science on Wyoming Is First State To Reject Science Standards Over Climate Change · · Score: 1

    The standard model has been verified in countless experiments, and made predictions that have been subsequently verified.

    Opinion is not the same as experimental validation, and I am unaware of such experimental rigor as applied to climate modelling.

    You don't get it both ways. Unfortunately, we've gone down the road where you can't question climate science anymore, and that's where it stops being science and starts being something else.

    Are we changing the planet? Almost certainly. How much? Unknown. What is the impact? Also unknown. We do know that the climate has changed large amounts in a short period in the past, and will do so again. That's about it.

    It doesn't matter anyway - nobody is going to stop driving, nobody is going to accept the sacrifice. Our best bet is to accept the change headlong, and pour our intellectual capital - all those people - into figuring out ways to engineer the planet's climate, and develop clean, high density power that can drive those technologies (that is code for nuclear power).

    C'est la vie. But don't compare climate science with the standard model or general relativity. You are wrong.

  12. Math is hard! on Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, and Lately, Coding · · Score: 1

    ..for average high school teachers.

  13. Re:Jamming in real war... on Norway Is Gamifying Warfare By Driving Tanks With Oculus Rift · · Score: 1

    The jamming gear, likely by an order of magnitude or two.

  14. Re:Jamming in real war... on Norway Is Gamifying Warfare By Driving Tanks With Oculus Rift · · Score: 3, Interesting

    You've just realized why autonomous drones are necessary; they can't be jammed.

    If you're broadcasting a 1 MW jamming signal, you are a pretty bright light for HARM missiles or other radar-seeking technology. More sophisticated schemes or ECM are possible, but the physics is pretty clear on how you track down a broadcast location.

  15. ..they haven't outlawed any of those things, and the technology adoption is growing like wildfire now. Commercial enterprise wants secure commerce, and they're going to get it.

    Never underestimate the almighty dollar.

  16. Eh? on Kerry Says US Is On the "Right Side of History" When It Comes To Online Freedom · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "I expect you to hold the United States to the standards that I've outlined, I also hope that you won't let the world forget the places where those who hold their government to standards go to jail rather than win prizes."

    I don't even know where to begin with this one.

    Don't worry. The internet will deal with this because there's money on the line, and the US should understand this. If you start with a base assumption everything is being recorded and monitored, then you can build systems that have protections against that designed in from the start. Math is awesome.

    The outcome from this will be an even harder to stop internet. This may have be an unintended effect, but may end up being a net positive gain for personal liberty in the long run. History is full of reasons why this is a good thing, and why we must never lower our guard.

    Interesting times.

  17. Re:Jewelry on Japanese and Swiss Watchmakers Scoff At Smartwatches · · Score: 1

    That's great, but certain professions limit your options for self expression.

    These are also the professions where one is likely to have the disposable income to drop $5k on a watch as your primary accessory.

    See how that works?

  18. What about us four-eyes? on Oculus Rift Developer Kit 2 Ready For Pre-Order Today · · Score: 1

    Does this prototype work for those who need glasses?

  19. It happened before.. on Hackers Allege Mt. Gox Still Controls "Stolen" Bitcoins · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This happened a few years ago and is why I have nothing to do with Bitcoin - I lost quite a few coins, then decided it was too risky to be involved with until the exchange problem was figured out.

    I am not sure why this is not more widely known, but there you go. I am not sure there is a solution to this problem.. without the involvement of traditional government.

  20. Re:Life finds a way.... on Deadly Avian Flu Strain Penetrates Biosecurity Defenses In Seoul · · Score: 1

    1918. Less than 100 years ago. 3-5% of total world population died.

    People forget. History repeats. :(

  21. This is the second, not first MtGox incident on MtGox Sets Up Call Center For Worried Bitcoiners · · Score: 2

    I had.. a few Bitcoins a very long time ago.

    I stopped being interested the first time the exchange went screwy and f--ked over people. I think it was a database hack of some type or DDOS.

    It's unregulated, and the problem is you need a exchange to turn Bitcoins into Cash, and Cash into Bitcoins. That means somewhere you have to trust someone.

    Call me when a nation state is backing a cryptocurrency. That will change everything. Until then it is a crap shoot.

  22. Xtal's rule of money on Amazon Coins and How the Definition of 'Crypto-Currency' Is Getting Too Loose · · Score: 3, Funny

    Can you buy an ounce of blow with it?

    If yes, it's currency.

    If no, it ain't.

    Pretty simple. It also sums up why governments have issue, and will inevitably crack down.

    A crypto currency backed by a nation-state would be a very interesting thing indeed.

  23. Rocco on Ask Slashdot: Anti-Camera Device For Use In a Small Bus? · · Score: 1

    Rocco is effective at deterring people from taking pictures in strip clubs.

    Answer: Have Rocco ride shotgun.

  24. Re: Take medicine away from the wizards on Apple Rumored To Be Exploring Medical Devices, Electric Cars To Reignite Growth · · Score: 1

    This isn't about products. It's about access to your health data when you can trivially generate good quality long term trends.

    A number of people don't think you should be able to access your own blood chemistry reports, DNA, MRI, charts, and other medical data.

    Those are inputs into expert systems sometimes that very may reveal trends that could save your life. They are also inputs that can be analyzed offshore at very low cost - in different regulatory environments.

    This isn't about snake tonic. This is about data - your data - and who will own it.

    I welcome Apple coming to that party.

  25. Take medicine away from the wizards on Apple Rumored To Be Exploring Medical Devices, Electric Cars To Reignite Growth · · Score: 0

    Apple could be in a position to leverage advances in sensing technology to make medicine cheaper and much more accessible.

    They're also big enough to beat down the FDA and Wizard lobby (aka Doctors).

    THz imaging is another wildcard in the non intrusive sensing market that nobody is talking about. Making this technology small and cheap is something a lot of very smart people are working on.

    All this data fed into the cloud in real time and analyzed for problems? What's not to like?