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User: Jyms

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  1. Conservation == Threat on World Wildlife Falls By 58% in 40 years (bbc.com) · · Score: 1

    The biggest threat is the so-called conservationists. Conservationists have shifted from "sustainable use" to animal rights. An animal that does not have a "use" is a parasite. An animal that has a "use" will always be welcome on private land, while an animal that has no "use" will most likely be unwelcome. This might not sit well with many people, but it is reality. If you want animals to survive, don't make them useless. Unless you want just a handful of animals in public reserves. And even then, you will have to be prepared to spend a lot of money on protecting them from poachers.

  2. Re:I KNEW IT! on Want To Fight Allergies? Get a Dirty Dog · · Score: 1

    I grew up on a farm. Thousands of sheep, and plenty of horses and cows. Many pets, dogs, cats, sheep, birds, goats, etc. and yet I still have dust and pollen allergies. I think exposing your immune system is good, but it does not guarantee you anything.

  3. Re:How can those incentives help? on Code.org: More Money For CS Instructors Who Teach More Girls · · Score: 1

    Why? I recently attended an end of year function with a Linguistics department. Out of the 30 or so final year students in the course, two are male. That is about 7%. This year they have had more male students than usual. Yet no one complains. There are no incentive schemes for them to produce more male graduates. There are no threats to cut their funding or staffing. So why does CS need more female graduates?

  4. Re:self-flying planes on Airline Pilots Rely Too Much On Automation, Says Safety Panel · · Score: 1

    Surely passenger planes are prime candidates for remote piloting. They fly long boring routes and land at a variety of airports. If they were piloted remotely, you could have a specialist for each type of aircraft at each airport and you could have frequent shift changes on the boring bits. That way you always have the optimum pilot in control. It also changes the whole hijacking think quite a bit.

  5. Re:New possibilities on Solid Concepts Manufactures First 3D-Printed Metal Pistol · · Score: 1

    Could you blend the metals? In other words, if you wanted to transition from one material to another, could you do it in a gradual fashion by slowly changing the ratios?

  6. Re:Really? on Student Arrested For Using Phone App To 'Shoot' Classmates · · Score: 1

    Can I assume that games like Paintball (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paintball) and Laser Quest (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_Quest) are also illegal in the USA, or is this a technology thing? Is the virtual world seen as more dangerous than the physical world?

  7. Not sure about multiplayer on AquaTop Immersive Display System: Get Your Hands Wet to Sink Some Files · · Score: 1

    This is pretty cool, but can you imagine how dirty the water will get. The bath example is probably the most practical one.

  8. Re:Better idea, shut it down - it's illegal.... on Obama on Surveillance: "We Can and Must Be More Transparent" · · Score: 1

    He received the 2009 Nobel Peace prize, so clearly he will do no evil and you must just not be understanding him correctly.

  9. Re:I'm amazed... on George Zimmerman Acquitted In Death of Trayvon Martin · · Score: 0

    What amuses me is that if you have one ancestor that is not white you can qualify for all kinds of affirmative action type benefits because you are not considered white. This "racist white killer" too probably qualifies for AA benefits.

  10. Re:Out of character... on Thousands of Whistle Blowers Vulnerable After Anonymous Hacks SAPS · · Score: 1

    Clearly you are not all that familiar with modern day South Africa. The current government is plenty oppressive and becoming more so by the day. Apartheid era laws are being used to "control" the populace and new laws, like the Protection of State Information bill, are being implemented to prevent the government from being held accountable for its actions. The ANC is becoming the NP it replaced.

  11. Re:pfftt... on A Computer-based Smart Rifle With Incredible Accuracy, Now On Sale · · Score: 1

    I realise you are joking, but in my neck of the woods you can go almost forever without finding a McDonalds and ironically the traditional hunting method is the one described above. Two legs are more efficient than one, so you simply chase your prey on foot until it collapses and then you kill it. I wonder how the anti-cruelty people feel about that.

  12. Re:pfftt... on A Computer-based Smart Rifle With Incredible Accuracy, Now On Sale · · Score: 1

    I doubt that this is intended to be a hunting rifle. I suspect that this is just a "nice" way to show what it can do for the military. Now every soldier can be a sniper with minimal training required.

  13. Re:Royalty? Just say no. on Did the Queen Just Resurrect the Snooper's Charter? · · Score: 1

    If this guy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhyYgnhhKFw&list=SPqs5ohhass_QZtSkX06DmWOaEaadwmw_D&index=30) is correct, then I would not mind if the royal family lived in my country.

  14. Re:This is the best way of gun control on Printable Gun Downloads Top 100k In 2 Days, Thanks to Kim Dotcom · · Score: 1

    Why do people have such a big problem with suicide anyway? It is not like we have a shortage of people on Earth. If some people want to off themselves and free up more resources for the rest of us, I think that is very noble of them. Preventing suicide by removing the most convenient tool is not exactly solving the problem. In a way you are making life even harder for the suicidal.

  15. Re:That's nice on The First Fully 3D-Printed Gun Has Been Successfully Test-Fired · · Score: 1

    Have a closer look at your stats. A country like the USA has one of the highest guns per capita rates 88.8 per 100 and sits uncomfortably high in the gun related deaths list. By contrast, a country like South Africa has very strict gun control laws (12.7 per 100), yet sits even higher up the list than the USA (with a 7th of the guns per capita). The USA has figures of 10.2 firearm related deaths, of which 3.2 are homicides and 6.3 are suicides. South Africa on the other hand sits at 18.5, almost twice the rate of the USA, but the breakdown of homicides and suicides is 17.0 homicides and just 2.0 suicides. In other words, only the criminals have guns. Not legal ones, mind you, but guns none the less.

  16. Re:Equal rights on So What If Yahoo's New Dads Get Less Leave Than Moms? · · Score: 1

    First, equal treatment is a myth. Nobody wants it (not quite nobody, but very few people). Everybody wants their gender, religion, race, etc. to get preferential treatment.

    Second, they should just rephrase it. New parents get 8 weeks parental leave and the birth giver gets a further 8 weeks to recover from the major medical procedure they underwent.

    Life is not fair. Never has been and never will be. Trying to make everybody the same is pointless and stupid.

    So the average female employee is going to get between 8 and 16 weeks more leave than her male colleague over the course of a lifetime. Life is so unfair.

  17. Re:Fraud is fraud on Video Poker Firmware Bug Yields Big Money, Federal Charges · · Score: 1

    Excellent point! I am by no means a frequent gambler, but on the odd occasion that I have been to a casino that is pretty much how it has worked for me. Put in money, push random buttons and hope for the best. I once won a fairly decent amount of money, but had absolutely no clue how the game worked (what the rules were) that I was playing.

  18. Re:Fraud is fraud on Video Poker Firmware Bug Yields Big Money, Federal Charges · · Score: 1

    If you notice that a dealer is having a bad day (stressed, tired, angry with his boss) and overpaying players and you choose to sit down and play at that table, are you a criminal? I agree that you are unethical, but are you a criminal?
    Alternatively, let's say you accidentally pushed this sequence of buttons and were overpaid, but did not know how it happened. What should you do?

  19. Re:how much does it cost to research? on What Does It Actually Cost To Publish a Scientific Paper? · · Score: 1

    That works well for you, but my journal article only cost me (ZAR) R100000 to produce, including research, grad students, overhead, etc. That comes to about $11000. So while your publishing costs is only 6% of the cost of producing the research, for me it is 27%. That really hurts my budget.

  20. Re:Cool story bro. on TSA Log Shows Passengers Say the Darndest Things · · Score: 1

    Joking about bombs, especially at airports is perfectly normal. Almost every single person I know that has ever flown has joked about it. Almost all of them mentally try and focus not to joke about it when they go to the airport because they are aware of the potential for trouble. Not joking about bombs at airports is abnormal behaviour.

  21. Re:Cool story bro. on TSA Log Shows Passengers Say the Darndest Things · · Score: 1

    Good point! I have a very nice very expensive flash-light. I often mount it on a rifle when I hunt vermin. Being very expensive, I only have one. I got pulled over by airport security because they wanted to check for explosive residue on my flash-light. Luckily, I had two flash-lights in my bag. My nice expensive one and a brand new Maglight I bought as a gift. They picked the Maglight. I asked what would happen if they found residue on it and they refused to answer. I quickly realised that shutting up and walking away was the way to go.
    Upon sharing this with friends I heard what happened to one that got a hug from a mutual friend that works in the explosives industry. You are guilty until proven innocent and even then you are stuffed around because you embarrassed the system.

  22. Re:This is news? on No Wi-Fi Around Huge Radio Telescope · · Score: 1

    Why not just make noise cancellation headphones for the telescope? Relying on people not accidentally (or deliberately) "jamming" these very expensive instruments seems crazy, especially when there is a technological solution.

  23. Remember to account fro stress on The Mathematics of the Lifespan of Species · · Score: 1

    I thought this was a well known truth. As a kid we would guestimate the expected life expectancy of critter (species, not individual) by listening to how fast its heart beat. We would then confirm it later by checking the literature. You had to make an allowance for the fact that the critter was usually stressed and therefore the heart rate would be a bit higher than normal. I always just assumed that a muscle could only contract so many times before breaking down.

  24. Confused by highlights on USAF Taps ESPN To Compile Drone "Highlight" Video · · Score: 1

    I am not a huge fan of North America sports, but I always get confused by ESPN highlights. Why do they dedicate so much time to showing coaches and officials talking to each other or looking at monitors? They always show some guys in animated conversation or staring at a screen. How does this contribute to the highlights? In other sports (rugby, cricket, soccer, etc.) they show the actual on field highlights.

  25. Re:Unauthorized export resale? on New Hampshire Cops Use Taser On Woman Buying Too Many iPhones · · Score: 1

    I thought the correct spelling was Bruce Lee, not Bruce Li. Maybe they thought this was one of his relatives.

    I guess these well trained officers of the law were justified to taze her if they were unable to restrain a 40-odd year old woman. Maybe policemen should train in karate so that they wont need tazers any more. Lucky for her they had tazers. I remember a few years ago when we were told that tazers will only be used as a non-lethal alternative if a gun would previously been used. If it was not for the tazers she would have been shot.