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User: geek42

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Comments · 69

  1. Re:probably = guess again on Canada Hid the Konami Code In Its Commemorative $10 Bill Launch (engadget.com) · · Score: 1

    Canadian bills are printed in Australia, that's where the plastic bills were invented. https://www.thoughtco.com/cana...

  2. Re:How about Google Scholar? on Tearing Down Science's Citation Paywall, One Link at a Time (wired.com) · · Score: 2

    Google Scholar counts citations too and it is free.

    Totally agree, google scholar, also Researchgate. From the article: "This is the first time we have something at this scale open to the public with no copyright restrictions". Hm.. Sceptical.

  3. Re:I'm all for correct country proportions, but on Boston Public Schools Map Switch Aims To Amend 500 Years of Distortion (theguardian.com) · · Score: 1

    Indeed, the two largest countries are rather under-represented. As many have already commented: what's wrong with a globe or google earth?

  4. Stirring research, or merely shaken? on Whisky Aged On NASA's International Space Station Tastes "Different" · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I didn't read too far, but how was the impact of aging in space disambiguated from the impact of the transportation process? Shaking and high accelerations come to mind as potentially significantly impacting the whisky. We certainly know these to affect beer...

  5. Labelling problem on Imagining the Future History of Climate Change · · Score: 2

    Trouble is, the moment you step out of your role as a scientist to actually fight for something (stop gathering data, start inciting action), you're no longer considered a scientist, and are instead labelled an activist or politician.

    Still, looks interesting. Has anyone read this an/or the (shorter) 2013 essay by the same authors, and of the same title? http://www.mitpressjournals.or...

  6. Shocking... on Video Gamers See the World Differently · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Breaking news: gamers better at playing games.

  7. Re:Recently? on Does Quantum Theory Explain Consciousness? · · Score: 1

    Stick with people that know how the brain actually works, like Edelman.

    I'd missed Edelman until now... he doesn't seem to come up as much in conversation as the others. Looks like good reading. What/who else can you recommend?

  8. Life to Mars on Abandon Earth Or Die, Warns Hawking · · Score: 1

    Time to revive Elon Musk's Life to Mars project? http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=3698

  9. How? on How To Communicate Science to a Polarized US Audience · · Score: 5, Funny

    Use small words.

  10. Quick.... on Texas Creationist Museum Facing Extinction · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... no one buy it!

  11. Re:advice from a fellow mechanical engineer on Industrial Labs that Still Do Fundamental Research · · Score: 1

    Firstly, I think it is important to distinguish mechanical engineering (probably include civil engineering too) from computing/software/IT type engineering. I'm don't want to get into arguments about why and I'm not trying to be controversial or put anyone down, but I do think the CS situation is not particularly relevant.

    I know you're not interested in getting in an argument here - neither am I - I just wanted to point out that while there are certainly distinguishing differences between mechanical and software engineering, your (rather insightful) comments apply equally well across these fields.

  12. I knew it... on Ingredients in Beer as a Cancer Treatment? · · Score: 1

    Guinness is good for you!?

  13. Why stop at planar depth of field? on Refocusable Plenoptic Light-Field Photography · · Score: 1
    The nifty thing about refocussing light fields is that you don't have to do it the same way a camera does. A camera always has at most a single plane in perfect focus, and that focus drops off as you get further from the plane. But some recent research has shown that you can place an extended region of depths in perfect focus, with a falloff in focus as you get further from that region.

    You could, for example, put a 2-meter region of depths containing your subject in perfect focus, and have a sharp transition to blurriness at the edges of that 2-meter region.

  14. Will the real mechanical turk please stand up.... on Amazon's Mechanical Turk · · Score: 1

    How long until someone makes a series of bots smart enough to make money at this?

  15. Good to see... on Send your name to Pluto · · Score: 1

    Someone already put in Douglas Adams.

  16. My personal favourite.... on Happy Fifth Birthday GAC and Mindpixel! · · Score: 1
    0.67 The answer to the meaning of life is 42 ?

    0.63 Would it be incorrect to say that "42" is the answer to the universe, and all that other stuff?

    0.60 Does this question contain 42 letters and numbers?

    0.60 the meaning of life is 42?

    0.51 Is the ultimate answer to life, the universe, and everything 42?

    0.50 Is the answer to the ultimate question 42?

    0.50 is 42 the answer to life the universe and everything?

    0.50 May the number 42, in at least some circumstances, be percieved as the meaning of life?

    0.50 is the answer to life 42 ?

    0.50 Is the answer to the question of life, the universe, and everything 42?

    0.49 Is 42 the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything?

    ...I'll just stop there - there are about 35 more! Seriously, I thought I was clever when I entered that once!

    Also noteworthy: 0.63 is mindpixel more important than work to Andre Ludwig at 925-242-6572?

    And my favourite: 0.42 Sex is not the answer. Sex is the question. What is the answer?

  17. In related news... on Craigslist to Beam Ads into Space (for Free) · · Score: 1

    ...thanks to a recent breakthrough in microfab techniques, write-only memory has decreased in cost by a factor of 10 - down to only $50 for a TERABYTE WOM chip! As a reseller of WOM, I find this very exciting, though I'm worried demand may exceed supply. Get your order in soon!

  18. Re:Good luck to U of C on Solar Power Put to Good Use · · Score: 1
    Zoo! Zoo! Zoo!

    I guess the Mechies and Zoo are actually cooperating on the solar car, and from what I hear, they have a reasonable chance of doing well. One of my buds has volunteered to drive the beast - he thinks it's a sure victory... but then, it's his first solar race.

    Keep on representin'!

  19. Re:Good luck to U of C on Solar Power Put to Good Use · · Score: 1
    That's the Engg spirit! Wait... destroy, demolish, win at all cost... you must've been in Mech, then, right?

    Zoo Rules!

  20. Jammed? on U.S. Makes Plans for GPS Shutdown · · Score: 1

    Jammed? (takes a taste of the jam) Raspberry. There's only one man who would dare give me the raspberry. (pulls down mask) Lone Starr! - DARK HELMET

  21. Ummm... on Bringing the Hydrogen Economy Back to Reality · · Score: 2, Insightful
    I'm all for a good round of debunking, and I agree with most of what this article had to say. There are a couple places, though where I think it manages to be a little misleading.

    THE HYDROGEN ECONOMY CAN RUN ON RENEWABLE ENERGY

    If any economy can, hydrogen fuel can. What's the alternative, exactly? An endless supply of non-renewable energy? That'd be a contradiction of terms, no?

    MASS PRODUCTION WILL MAKE HYDROGEN CARS AFFORDABLE

    Maybe this should be "more affordable" - and of course mass production will make them more affordable. What will really make hydrogen cars affordable though is the boundlessly rising cost of running fossil-fuel-burning vehicles.

    A gallon of gasoline contains about 2,600 times the energy of a gallon of hydrogen

    A gallon of hydrogen at what pressure? This statement is meaningless.

    The most promising of these technologies is the gas-electric hybrid vehicle

    Until we run out of gasoline, that is.

    "If we had a wider and more diverse set of energy sources, we'd be more robust, more stable,"

    Alright, this one I agree with!

  22. Nuclear power is NOT clean on Kyoto Treaty to Enter Into Force · · Score: 1

    Nuclear waste lasts hundreds of thousands of years. To get some perspective, tens of civilizations will rise and fall in that timeframe - and all of them will get the joy of rediscovering the great big steaming pile of radioactive crap we've left them.

  23. Re:Vivendi Support: You must be joking! on Steam Registration Servers Overloaded · · Score: 1

    And to boot, it didn't even fscking work. Any clues as to how to run this puppy in offline mode?

  24. Vivendi Support: You must be joking! on Steam Registration Servers Overloaded · · Score: 2, Interesting
    {Vivendi.Agent1} Please let me know what is says in front of Status: Offline mode:

    {Visitor 0} Status: Ready to play

    Offline mode: ready

    {Vivendi.Agent1} Now Close this window and disconnect your internet connection.

    {Visitor 0} You must be joking.

    ... a couple minutes pass ...

    {Visitor 0} If I disconnect my net connection, how will we continue our little chat?

    ... a while longer ...

    {Visitor 0} Are you still there or what?

    {Vivendi.Agent1} Ok then i will give you the procedure to run the game offline and you can try launching the game offline.

    ...

    About 5 minutes later he coughed up the location of the FAQ on steampowered.com. Dude.

  25. Re:I am not a lawyer on Is The Lone Coder Dead? · · Score: 5, Informative

    And yet if you invest time and money into producing a product, only to find that it relies on a patented method, you might quickly find your investment going down the drain - or rather, the fruits of your labour going to the patent holder.