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User: spinninggears

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  1. A traveling salesman built-in is cool I guess... on Wolfram Language Demo Impresses · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So we don't count the lines of code behind the "FindShortestTour" function?

  2. Re:chem 101 on Antarctic Marine Wildlife Is Under Threat From Ocean Acidification, Study Finds · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't the issue is how much carbon the oceans can sink. (Your giant test tube). I think the issue is whether ocean life can survive it. Besides Chem 101, there is also Biology 101.

  3. Re:Maybe raising taxes isn't the only solution. on Cisco Pricing Undercut By $100M In Big Cal State University Network Project · · Score: 0, Redundant

    America is not like the rest of the world. First normalize the populations, then compare the averages.

  4. My solution on Ask Slashdot: What's Your Take On Stand-Up Desks? · · Score: 1

    I use a motorized drafting table. On Ebay for 50 bucks, since everybody uses CAD now. Fully adjustable.

  5. Re:One small victory for a man.. on Censored Religious Debate Video Released After Public Outrage · · Score: 1

    Is this sarcasm, a Poe, or have you misunderstood your audience? Most here are quite familiar with ad hominem, straw men, categorical errors and false equivocation.

    I prefer to win arguments by presenting and refuting objective evidence, but usually just get fallacy ridden rants such as the one you present. Are you trying to show how ridiculous Haught is in debates by example? If so, you have done an excellent job.

    Apologies for the tone, but hey as one of Coyne's ilk, you called me clueless.

  6. So why hasn't UC Berkeley been getting cheaper? on Ron Paul Wants To End the Federal Student Loan Program · · Score: 5, Interesting

    In California, since the 1970's, the state has subsidized less and less of the tuition for students, while student loan amounts have not been increased substantially, and yet the state universities have not gotten less expensive in the process.

    Sometimes Ron Paul says things that are correct, but silly (like how we could lower health care costs by removing the requirement medical providers be licensed. Probably true, but....) Mostly though, he just says things that are incorrect and silly. His supporters piece together some sort of reality from this that makes sense to them, I guess.

  7. Urban OS Marketing Dept: This is Engineering... on An Operating System For Cities · · Score: 3, Interesting

    With due respect to the marketing folks behind Urban OS, it reality the engineering is actually going in the direction of passing useful information through the network to a variety of embedded computers who then make such decisions as granting priority to a firetruck.

    I have been developing software such as this for quite a while, and it simply makes a lot more sense to tell, for instance, a traffic controller directly that a city bus is on the way than it does to tell a centralized system that a bus is on the way and have it command a traffic controller. The traffic controller is the "expert system", developed by people who know what it is supposed to be doing. It just needs data to do it's job.

    On that last point, sensor failures are the reason most intelligent traffic controllers fail to do their job correctly, and the more sensors you have, the higher the percentage of failed sensors in the system. You need to solve that problem first, before you worry about what CPU the solution is running on.

  8. Robotics is an even greater sci/eng investment on Neil Armstrong To NASA: You're Embarrassing · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Unmanned spacecraft require just as much science and engineering, and is a better investment.

  9. Yes, this can be considered canonical on What Is the Most Influential Programming Book? · · Score: 1

    Somebody knows what they are talking about. I suspect an excellent education at MIT.

  10. Is the FCC unbiased in this whole process? on Measuring Broadband America Report Released · · Score: 1

    From the report: "The data in this Report is based on a statistically selected subsetof those consumers—approximately 6,800 individuals—and the measurements taken in their homes during March 2011."

    Interestingly, after a year of complaining to my ISP, using the data from my SamKnows router, that I was not getting anywhere close to my advertised download speed, in March 2011 I suddenly started getting it ( an ~4x boost). I wonder if my speed will now start to degrade now that the report is out? Or is it just coincidence?

  11. Just wait a few months .... on Why Has Blu-ray Failed To Catch Hold? · · Score: 1

    I think that most people are just waiting for a price point/feature set to justify the switch. I finally purchased a blu-ray player when it dropped under $100 and included apps like Netflix streaming.

  12. Re:No. on Is Science Just a Matter of Faith? · · Score: 1

    If all scientists were engaged in some conspiracy to hide the truth, then you might have a point. But they don't -- one scientist corrects another, and at some point, I am assured of getting the correct information (or the most correct information that science can give).

    This is not faith. This is the result of the scientific methodology.

  13. Re:What do you have to do to be called a "scientis on MythBuster Developing Light-Weight Vehicle Armor · · Score: 1

    It takes a lot of things for people to seriously consider calling a person a scientist. I can think of a few:

    -- Non-trivial investigations that build upon previous research
    -- Objective measurements
    -- Communicating results to peers in a format that allows conclusions to be verified
    -- Advancement of knowledge
    -- Funding by other scientific stakeholders

    Does Mythbusters meet any/all of these? Maybe, but it would be a real stretch.

  14. Another example of the Dunning-Kruger Effect on MythBuster Developing Light-Weight Vehicle Armor · · Score: 1

    Not knowing what you do not know often leads to an optimistic view about one's expertise in a subject. Mythbusters can be fun to watch, but only on television would one spend so much to demonstrate so little.

    Education, n.: That which discloses to the wise and disguises from the foolish their lack of understanding.
    -- Ambrose Bierce

  15. Re:This will not end well. on Blade Runner Sequels and Prequels Happening · · Score: 2

    So Alcon was responsible for the remake of "The Wicker Man", huh? The original is a classic of the genre, the remake is endlessly mocked as one of the worst films ever. This is clearly not a group of people that should be entrusted with Bladerunner.

  16. Where have I heard this before? on Chrome OS Doesn't Trust Apps Or Users · · Score: 1

    " Once users are banned from installing applications, or modifying the system security, usability, and more are improved, the Googlers claim."

    For years I have fought IT staff who held the position that the computers should never actually be used by putting applications on them. They used the exact same logic shown here.

    Google does not trust apps. The reason I got into open source was because I did not trust OS and library vendors.

    The reason I have never used Apple products was their attitude of "It you want to do what we don't allow you to do, you are obviously wrong in wanting to do it".

    I don't see this as progress.
     

  17. Maybe you should rethink your premise on Should I Learn To Program iOS Or Android Devices? · · Score: 1

    I would recommend not thinking you can "revive" you skills and produce useful apps for a school district (or anyone for that matter). You will probably just produce a lot of non-maintainable code naively written. Based upon the background you described, your software experience is basically that of a CS undergrad (full respect for your 18 years as a hardware designer). Minimum knowledge for useful apps today: client/server, databases, web, AJAX, networking, threading or multi-tasking, efficient GUI, OS, etc, all which take years of knowledge building to master, before even thinking about SDK's and development environments or methodologies. Your idea is like a software developer with 18 years experience saying "I would like to start designing with integrated circuits and build useful devices (I took an electronics course once, long ago) and want to know which electronic CAD packages are best. Sorry, I just don't see this is a productive plan.

  18. Re:Not that great... on First Human-Powered Ornithopter · · Score: 1

    I can't judge much at all from the videos, be it "wing twist" or whether this machines performs any better than an ordinary glider. Considering this is graduate student project at a major university, I was expecting real data and analysis not just videos. The U of T PR machine seems to be working quite well however.

  19. Re:Ornithoglider on First Human-Powered Ornithopter · · Score: 1

    Put me in an ordinary glider, give me the same initial altitude and initial velocity, and I think I will go as far as this machine.

  20. Re:Yes, the flapping is keeping it in the air on First Human-Powered Ornithopter · · Score: 1

    Can you really tell from the video you can determine how long and far he could have flown without the "flapping wings". I would like to see a comparison of this machine with an ordinary glider launched with the same altitude and speed.

  21. Re:Nonpartisan? on What US Health Care Needs · · Score: 1

    I believe health care falls under the implied intent of the US Constitution as stated in the preamble: "promote the general welfare". Trying to frame this discussion as one of "rights" misses the bigger picture. Congress creates social programs, health care is one of them. The 14th amendment guarantees we all have the right of access to these programs.

  22. Brings to mind the defintion of logic.... on Researchers Create Logic Circuits From DNA · · Score: 1

    LOGIC, n. The art of thinking and reasoning in strict accordance with the limitations and incapacities of the human misunderstanding. The basic of logic is the syllogism, consisting of a major and a minor premise and a conclusion — thus: Major Premise: Sixty men can do a piece of work sixty times as quickly as one man. Minor Premise: One man can dig a posthole in sixty seconds; therefore — Conclusion: Sixty men can dig a posthole in one second. This may be called the syllogism arithmetical, in which, by combining logic and mathematics, we obtain a double certainty and are twice blessed. From Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"

  23. Re:Gotta love... on Extremists Warn South Park Creators Over Muhammad In a Bear Suit · · Score: 1

    Go to work for Planned Parenthood or some other family planning organization that performs legal abortions. Spend you day dealing with death wish hate mail and bomb threats. Factor in the fact that these are not always empty threats -- your colleagues have in fact been murdered and bombed. Look around at the security fortress you must work in. Check out internet sites, once public (now private) that track where you work and live. Realize that you are personally demonized every Sunday by you local Christian religious leaders, in propanganda-speech proven to very effective in motivating those who are, shall we say, less than "connected" to reality. Put up with this every week for years. Then come back and explain your claim that Christian groups do not threaten others with anything more dangerous than a boycott.

  24. Re:just pay them more on Improving Education Through Better Teachers · · Score: 1

    Your personal experience is fascinating, but not very helpful. The real standard is what teachers make on average, including the value of benefits (and the time off for summer and holidays), given their level of education and experience, in comparison to others in there geographic area. I do not personally believe that English teachers are worth a lot of salary (although I would reward a really good one). I do however believe math and science teachers are. I find it ridiculous that qualified math and science teachers must work for the same salary as an English teacher, which is what is demanded by the teaching profession itself. If teaching salaries are low, it is because they are paid to the standard of the lowest common denominator.

  25. Re:Or they're terrified on Study Finds the Pious Fight Death Hardest · · Score: 1

    The universe is not "so damn mathematical". Humans are, so all descriptions of the universe are. It's like saying "the universe is so damn big". It is not, you are just small. I don't know how to get around the fact that all descriptions of the universe are relative to us, but I don't jump to the God conclusion because of it.