Slashdot Mirror


User: CrimsonAvenger

CrimsonAvenger's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
9,858
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 9,858

  1. Re:Wait for it... on Malaysian Passenger Plane Reportedly Shot Down Over Ukraine · · Score: 1
    The coincidence is that the planned assassination attempt had failed, and the Arch-Duke was heading back from his meeting when traffic conditions required that they take another route...

    and the actual assassin (who wasn't the intended assassin) had gone off to sulk over the failure, and was walking down the street that the Arch-Duke's procession had chosen to avoid that traffic problem.

    The rest, as they say, is history.

  2. Re:A Phone call wouldnt of hurt on Sony Forgets To Pay For Domain, Hilarity Ensues · · Score: 1

    "wouldnt of" should be "wouldn't have" or "wouldn't've". Yes, it's a native speaker sort of mistake. What's amazing is that this guy managed to get through elementary and high school still doing this.

    As I've said before, never try to type a word or phrase you've only heard spoken.

  3. Re:There's no such thing as a "permanent ban" on US House Passes Permanent Ban On Internet Access Taxes · · Score: 1

    Two things:

    If the law that this law is replacing accomplished the same thing but required annual renewal, then no States will have taxes on internet services.

    Unless this is a matter in Interstate Commerce (admittedly, it's probably an easy case to make, but then automobile sales are a matter of Interstate Commerce, and are taxed by the several States), the Federal Government actually has no jurisdiction to tell the States they can't pass their own laws.

  4. There's no such thing as a "permanent ban" on US House Passes Permanent Ban On Internet Access Taxes · · Score: 0

    This is a law. Like all laws, it is automatically superseded by any later laws passed.

    This "permanent" ban is valid only until Congress passes a law allowing (or mandating) a tax on internet access, and is automatically voided by such a law.

    In other words, this is a waste of time, and it doesn't matter in the slightest if this dies in the Senate, is vetoed by the President, or just burned in effigy....

  5. Re:FBI crime prediction on FBI Concerned About Criminals Using Driverless Cars · · Score: 1

    How about they actually solve a murder, rape, or kidnapping once in a while? 35% of murders don't get solved .. maybe when they get that number down to like 5% I'll start believing the feds when they say it's gonna rain tomorrow.

    In the FBI's defense, it should be noted that they don't investigate murders or rapes, unless they happen on Federal property. Local police handle murders and rapes.

    Kidnapping are an FBI thing. Though only since the Lindbergh kidnapping. That was so high profile that J. Edgar thought he could get some great press for the FBI by solving it, so he horned in on what had been just another crime before.

  6. Re:don't drive with nobody in it? on FBI Concerned About Criminals Using Driverless Cars · · Score: 2

    Yeppers.

    For me, the biggest attraction of a driverless car is that I could go to work, then send it home. Or send it to pick the kids up from school.

  7. Re:Dumb dumb dumb advice... on Selectively Reusing Bad Passwords Is Not a Bad Idea, Researchers Say · · Score: 3, Informative

    I doubt it's ideal, but I use PasswordSafe and carry it on a USB stick.

    And in the end, there are only about three computers I ever access it from.

  8. Re:Fukushima on Mt. Fuji Volcano In 'Critical State' After Quakes · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Hmm, a quick bit of research finds that MOX fuel rods are basically PuO2, which doesn't do the pyrophoric thing - it's stable in dry air, heats up slowly in the presence of water vapor.

    Which at least suggests that the panic at the thought of a Pu fire is a bit exaggerated....

    Note also that spent fuel rods have rather less Pu in them than you might think, since most of it has been burned in the nuclear reactor before it became "spent".

  9. Re:Freedom of Expression... on French Blogger Fined For Negative Restaurant Review · · Score: 4, Informative

    Btw, how do you distinguish between defamation/slander and critics in the US?

    Slander/defamation in the USA require that the statement be a statement of fact, and that the statement be FALSE.

    An opinion cannot be slander/defamation.

    A TRUE statement cannot be slander.defamation.

    i.e. "I did not like the chateau briand" is a statement of opinion, and therefore not slander/defamation.

    "the coffee was served cold" could be slander/defamation is the coffee was, in fact, served hot. If, on the other hand, the coffee arrived at your table cold, it would not be slander/defamation.

    "the waitress was a stone-cold bitch" is a statement of opinion, hence not defamation.

    "the waitress spat in my soup" is slander/defamation if the waitress did NOT spit in your soup, otherwise not.

    I am aware that in many countries that "false" part of "false statement of fact" is not part of the definition of slander/defamation", so saying bad things about someone, even if literally true, can be slander/defamation, but that's not the way it works on this side of the pond.

  10. Re:bullshit on Rand Paul and Silicon Valley's Shifting Political Climate · · Score: 2

    Perhaps this should be a case study on smaller governments causing more problems than they should, and those that promote "small government" lying and trying to blame "big government" and unions.

    For what it's worth, "small government" is not synonymous with "local/State government", nor is "big government synonymous with "Federal government".

    A city government, within the bounds of the city, can quite easily be "big government" when it tries to micromanage everything in the city.

    Likewise, the Federal government can quite easily be labelled "small government" when it avoids trying to micromanage everything (not that that's actually happened since the New Deal).

  11. Few alternatives? on Harvesting Energy From Humidity · · Score: 1

    A cube measuring about 50 centimeters on a side â" about the size of a typical camping cooler â" could be sufficient to fully charge a cellphone in about 12 hours. While that may seem slow, people in remote areas may have few alternatives.

    You're not going to be carrying this thing in a backpack, so it's not like you won't have a car to charge your cellphone.

    On the other hand, you might be far enough out in the boonies that you can't get a car to where you are. Of course, the question then becomes "how are you using a cellphone when the nearest cell tower is 40 miles away"?

    That aside, if my choice reduced to carrying a cube 20 inches on a side to charge my cellphone or eight extra cellphone batteries, I know which I'd pick.

  12. Re:For us dummies.... on White House Punts On Petition To Allow Tesla Direct Sales · · Score: 1

    Your sales tax is due in the state that you reside, not the state the purchase takes place in

    Interesting theory you have.

    When I buy something in Tennessee, I pay sales tax in TN, NOT in my state of residence. Likewise if I buy something in any other State.

  13. Re:ugh on The Last Three Months Were the Hottest Quarter On Record · · Score: 1

    Every time it snows, deniers claim "see, there's no global warming" and believers say "weather is not climate!"

    And every time we have an unusual hurricane, the people who were saying "weather is not climate" point at the hurricane and say "see, proof positive of global warming!".

    Guys, weather is NOT climate. Even when the weather supports your side of the argument, it's not climate.

  14. Re:Electric card on People Who Claim To Worry About Climate Change Don't Cut Energy Use · · Score: 1

    Or maybe they know their electricity comes from a source they're okay with? (nuclear, solar, wind, hydro)

    Most of the AGW discussion I see here (and elsewhere) considers nuclear to be even worse than AGW, so it's unlikely that knowing their electricity comes from nuclear would give them a warm fuzzy.

    I congratulate you, by the by, for recognizing that nuclear is a good thing from an AGW perspective.

  15. Re:Or the converse... on People Who Claim To Worry About Climate Change Don't Cut Energy Use · · Score: 1

    Is a possible interpretation of the data that "people who don't use much energy, don't feel the need to worry about climate change"?

    Yes, that's possible. It's always been true that smug people worry less about everything that doesn't increase their excuses to be smug.

    Note that using less energy does NOT translate to "climate change isn't going to happen" (haven't seen a single proposal that reduces CO2 emissions to net zero), so, at best, we're talking slowing the process down until we're all dead and leaving it for our grandchildren to deal with....

  16. Re:So was the landing successful? on SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Blasts Off From Florida · · Score: 1

    No, if you'll read TFS more carefully, that's the description of the test in April. I doubt they have much info on the latest test to make public yet.

  17. Re:"double the mission" on With New Horizons Spacecraft a Year Away, What We Know About Pluto · · Score: 1

    They would hope to set the course shortly after leaving Pluto.

    They would hope to set course shortly before reaching Pluto. A gravity assist from Pluto will significantly increase the size of course change that could be made.

  18. Re:Connotations on Public To Vote On Names For Exoplanets · · Score: 1

    *cheers*

    Very astute of you, Fuzzy^2 Fungus....

  19. Re: 666 on Predicting a Future Free of Dollar Bills · · Score: 0

    As opposed to gold, which has never seen the price move.

    Generally, when the price of gold moves, it's as a result of a sudden influx in supply (can you say, Forty-Niners? the original ones, not the football team), or a sudden (or not so sudden) change in the money supply.

    In other words, gold costs much more now than it did back in the day because we've printed much more money....

  20. Re:Ranges from bad to terrible ping times on O3b Launches Four More Satellites To Bring Internet To 'Other 3 Billion' · · Score: 1

    Won't argue with actual ping rates through Iridium. Merely pointing out that the lightspeed limits on the ping rate is in the vicinity of 75 ms. The rest of that is hardware issues, not issues with the satellites being so very far away. Note that a straight up-down-up-down query-response using only one Iridium satellite should have a FOUR millisecond round trip at lightspeed.

  21. Re:Triangle on O3b Launches Four More Satellites To Bring Internet To 'Other 3 Billion' · · Score: 1
    I did. I assumed an upward leg to a satellite near the horizon, relay through five other satellites to the other side of the planet, then a downward leg. Then back.

    Note that I was only discussing speed of light lag, not lag caused by archaic hardware and other problems that apply equally well to links NOT using satellites.

    In other words, a satellite link should be ~75 ms worse than a wireless link that doesn't go through a satellite.

    Assuming satellites using Iridium's orbits, of course. A geosynchronous satellite would have MUCH worse ping rates, if only because you have ~500 ms for a straight up-down-up-down query-response loop, even without having to relay to other satellites.

  22. Re:Why are the number of cabs [artificially] limit on Lyft's New York Launch Halted By Restraining Order · · Score: 1

    This is the reason why people have so much debt: the entire economy has become a "competitive market" where those participating in it - employees - barely survive, no matter how much it produces.

    No, people have so much debt because they insist on buying things they can't afford. No, you really don't NEED a Tesla. Or even a new car. A five-year-old used car will do fine. Nor do you NEED the latest tech toy. Etc, etc, etc.

    Now, admittedly, Fed policy with regard to the Housing Bubble (basically, pump money into the economy until the height of the bubble is the new normal) has driven housing prices to nearly unsustainable levels, at least till the inflation in housing prices spreads more generally through the economy over the next five years or so.

  23. Re:Ranges from bad to terrible ping times on O3b Launches Four More Satellites To Bring Internet To 'Other 3 Billion' · · Score: 1

    ping times are going to vary from bad (Iridium) to very bad (nearly half way the the moon for geostationary),

    Two things:

    Iridium orbit is ~780 km. Which means worst case ping times (due to the satellites) should be around 75 ms.

    Geostationary orbit is 35786 km up. Lunar orbit is 384400 km up. Note that "less than one tenth" is NOT "nearly halfway".

  24. Re:Why is Obama doing this . . . ? on After NSA Spying Flap, Germany Asks CIA Station Chief to Depart · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You may not know this, but the President of the United States doesn't have an office in the NSA, and doesn't have direct access to their leadership or decision-making.

    Actually, he DOES have direct access to their leadership and decision-making. He's the PRESIDENT!

    All he needs to do is pick up his phone and call the NSA Director, tell him to get his ass over to the White House RIGHT NOW, and, lo, the NSA Director will be heading toward the White House.

    Then he tells the NSA Director words to the effect of "Stop this shit, right the F**k now!", and lo, it will be stopped.

    And if that doesn't work, there's the "Fire him, right now" option. Like when Truman fired MacArthur back in the day.

    Remember, he's the President. Head of the Executive Branch. Which includes both CIA and NSA. They all work for HIM, not the other way around.

    The fact that this is still going on does not show a lack of power on the part of Obama, it shows agreement with this on the part of Obama.

  25. Re:To what end? on After NSA Spying Flap, Germany Asks CIA Station Chief to Depart · · Score: 1

    Germany wants its own trade deals in private.

    While you can negotiate a trade deal privately, it's pretty much impossible to operate one privately. After all, at least one other country has to know the details, and most (if not all) of the economic effects are easily detectable....