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User: Toad-san

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Comments · 672

  1. Doesn't Gravity Affect Angle of Repose? on Astronomers Solve Puzzle of the Mountains That Fell From Space · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Iapetus has only a fraction of Earth's gravity (Iapetus radius 735 KM, Earth radius 6371 KM, you do the math, after figuring out the relative density for yourself). Wouldn't a hugely smaller gravity significantly affect the angle of repose they carry on about in that referenced scientific paper? I doubt you can compare the angle of repose of rounded particles (or snow and hail) on Earth with that of a very small _and airless!_ moon.

    But I'll leave that to the astrophysicists to work out.

  2. Re:Is something being casually elided here? on Is Germany Raising a Generation of Illiterates? · · Score: 1

    I watched part of "12 Years A Slave" last night.

    The difference between the vocabulary and grammar of the uneducated slaves and that of the character Solomon Northup was striking.

    Neither grammar nor spelling will be "picked up by exposure." Both are a discipline, and a discipline takes work.

    Sorry, "teachers", we aren't giving you a slide on this one. Do your job, make the kids do their job. Teach, learn.

  3. Finally! on NSA Allegedly Exploited Heartbleed · · Score: 1

    "and today's xkcd has the "for dummies" depiction of how it works."

    Thank you, thank you, thank you! At last I get it. So simple. So fiendishly simple.

  4. Re:Enforcement on Algorithm Challenge: Burning Man Vehicle Exodus · · Score: 1

    I'd personally recommend Molotov cocktails.

    But then everyone would want to slow down and stare at the burning vehicles, and that would just compound the problem.

  5. I Knew They Were Smart on Crows Complete Basic Aesop's Fable Task · · Score: 1

    but not THAT smart!

    I always knew they could count to three. However other birds may be better at counting.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B...

  6. Re:Troi on Why Darmok Is a Good Star Trek: TNG Episode · · Score: 1

    I was wondering about that too. Are they overly fixated on Troi? Or hugely disappointed about What Might Have Been?

  7. Re:That *is* funny! on Tesla Model S Gets Titanium Underbody Shield, Aluminum Deflector Plates · · Score: 1

    Agreed, kind of funny. Looking at the videos at the link, it's obvious to me though: that large metal screw that pops out is a critical weak link in the entire vehicle. Why, armadillos could DIE if they were hit by a screw being ejected like that!

    I wonder if film of a Tesla running over an antitank mine is next.

  8. Re:Fucking NIMBYs on What Fire and Leakage At WIPP Means For Nuclear Waste Disposal · · Score: 2

    Depends on what you consider damage. I submit that the tank and vehicle tracks left in desert areas during WW II exercises 70 bloody years ago might still be visible .. but I hardly consider them damage. You'll have to prove the value of "desert pavement" to me first. And your claim that deserts are "extremely valuable to the planet" is questionable too. I submit that the Gobi Desert was a lot more useful to the dinosaurs fossilized there when it was green and lovely than it's been for the past dozens of millions of years.

  9. You Pay For What You Use on AT&T Exec Calls Netflix "Arrogant" For Expecting Net Neutrality · · Score: 1

    They're all missing the main point, the bottom line, the simple solution:

    The customer (that's you, the Internet user) pays for what he uses. Bandwidth, total gigabytes, whatever. You wanna watch Netflix? No problem, Bunky: pay for it. ALL of it, including the bandwidth you gobble while viewing.

    Your subscription to Netflix pays them for their procurement, storage and upload costs. Your subscription to AT&T (or whoever your ISP is) pays for your download bandwidth.

    Simple. I don't know why they're making this so hard.

  10. Re:Don't forget Duke Energy on It Was the Worst Industrial Disaster In US History, and We Learned Nothing · · Score: 1

    Maybe not. The complaints and hugely embarrassing (too obvious?) political fixes have finally drawn in a Federal grand jury .. for what that's worth.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...

    I'm in Nawth Ca'lina; hope something works out. I wonder if anyone has a clue as to how to clean a river once it's been polluted by sludge like this? Vacuum the bottom?

  11. Re:Just try to do the same on Cameras On Cops: Coming To a Town Near You · · Score: 1

    Actually, a lot of laws are being changed to permit just this. And a lot of police departments, officials, etc. are losing their jobs when they interfere with this.

    It's not perfect, not by a long shot, but it IS getting better. And a good thing too, IMHO.

  12. Re:The answer? on How Engineers Are Building a Power Station At the South Pole · · Score: 1

    An RTG wouldn't produce any waste, being completely self-contained. The Soviets used them for years to power lighthouses and other remote sites, as did the USAF.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R...

    The objection might be price, since I have no idea how much a 100W or 200W RTG would cost. But you'd save all the manpower costs and risks of having to build something, they're quite tough and immune to most meteorological conditions, and easily replaced at the end of their life cycles (10 years in the case of the most common Soviet ones).

    As I understand it, no one says you can't have a nuclear power plant (especially an RTG) in Antarctica. McMurdo had one for a decade (albeit with problems).

    http://www.takepart.com/articl...

    So these RTG's should do just fine .. if they can afford it.

  13. The Japanese Invasion? Better Do Your Homework on Japan Marks 3rd Anniversary of Tsunami Disaster · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Study what you know nothing about.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O...

    "Nearly 500,000 Purple Heart medals were manufactured in anticipation of the casualties resulting from the invasion of Japan; the number exceeded that of all American military casualties of the 65 years following the end of World War II, including the Korean and Vietnam Wars. In 2003, there were still 120,000 of these Purple Heart medals in stock."

    That's right: we're STILL awarding Purple Heart medals manufactured for that invasion.

  14. No funding? No problem! on NASA Forgets How To Talk To ICE/ISEE-3 Spacecraft · · Score: 1

    A friend suggested they just make the specs open source. Someone will build it :-)

  15. But For Practical Jokes ... on Inside Chris Anderson's Open-Source Drone Factory · · Score: 2

    Perhaps it wouldn't be completely infeasible to consider a large fixed-wing model aircraft (like a C-130 model?) programmed to autonomously land on an aircraft carrier? One nice and stable and stationary, like in Norfolk Naval Yard? With an onboard video camera transmitting to an external recorder of course, since the Navy probably wouldn't have much of a sense of humor about this sort of thing and you might not want to ask for it back.

    Sure would make for a hell of a Youtube video though :-)

    Not that I'm suggesting anyone try anything like that, of course, having no wish to visit Guantanamo (despite the friendly moose).

  16. Yep, A Real Ethical Problem on Doctors Say New Pain Pill Is "Genuinely Frightening" · · Score: 1

    IF you're one dead-set on controlling others and their lives. Me, I'm a firm believer in "Darwin Rules". Make sure the truth is out there (e.g., if it's addictive like other medications that one horror story above describes). But if some damned fool is set on destroying his life (and possibly his liver, teeth, eyes, brain, etc.) with drug abuse .. hey .. I'm not standing in his way, not for a minute.

  17. Re:Has anyone noticed... on Scientists Study Permian Mass Extinction Event As Lesson For 21st Century · · Score: 1

    I fully agree. And, whatever you do, don't start any damned mass extinctions, okay?

  18. World of Warcraft on Ask Slashdot: What Games Are You Playing? · · Score: 1

    Yes, still .. for 4-5 years now, and still enjoying it.

    Years ago I used to enjoy the various "giant walking machine" sorts of games (MechWarrior and the like), the multi-user online MMOG ones. But the hackers and cheats spoiled them for me. I played Warbirds (a fairly realistic MMOG WW II flight sim) for years, until game changes and a loss of other users made it too boring. Battleground Europe, another MMOG (you see the pattern now?) was fun for a year, me and my trusty German antitank gun :-) But the game became non-fun for a solo player like myself and I dropped out of it too. Tried Star Wars: The Old Republic, too rigid and structured despite interesting graphics. Played World of Tanks for a while because of its highly realistic tank models and interesting terrain .. but the player interaction and totally silly "tactics" drove me away. Just couldn't get into Eve, despite its huge popularity.

    Although I play solo in almost all my games (I'm not very social), I enjoy having other players around, the unexpected things that happen, even the occasional social intercourse. So I prefer the online multiplayer games rather than solo console games on my PC. However I'm not young and my reflexes are not as they once were, so these "twitch" shooter games are right out: no way I'm going to compete or even survive with the 14-year-old players. And if the game is a bloody trivia contest of things you must memorize, hugely complicated User Interfaces and keyboard commands .. fageddaboudit. I'm not spending my bloody LIFE on this thing, you know.

    So I'm sticking with World of Warcraft. Thanks, Blizzard: you done good. And nothing in the game's turned me off yet.

  19. Re:There is a way to reduce trolling... on Psychologists: Internet Trolls Are Narcissistic, Psychopathic, and Sadistic · · Score: 1

    Is American Idol still hiring?

  20. Shennanigans? on Britain's Eastern Coast Yields Oldest Human Footprints Outside Africa · · Score: 2

    I haven't walked the seashore. I haven't examined the sediments (and never will now, apparently). I'm certainly not the bearer of an archeology sheepskin from some exalted university.

    But ...

    http://www.independent.co.uk/n...

    http://www.independent.co.uk/i...

    Does anyone see more than two prints in any sort of logical and likely walking pattern? You know, one in front of the other, left foot, right foot? No, I didn't think so.

    "Of the 50 or so examples recorded, only around a dozen were reasonably complete - and only two showed the toes in detail. Tragically, although a full photogrammetric and photographic record has been made, all but one of the prints were rapidly destroyed by incoming tides before they could be physically lifted."

    That's odd: EVERY bare foot print I've ever seen clearly showed the toes (even Bigfoot's!). And how curious, that "footprints" cast in rock-hard sediment that has survived for a million years beside a seaside that's repeatedly changed depth over the milleniums .. suddenly are totally and almost completely destroyed by the very next incoming tide? How .. unfortunate.

    The Happisburgh geology (readily available with the most trivial search) also does not support this. The beach surfaces and their underlying sedimentary structure are NOT a million years old.

    https://www.bgs.ac.uk/landslid...
    http://books.google.com/books?...

    No, I'm sorry, I'm not buying this. Someone was seeing what they wanted to see.

  21. Re:Wow... on Snowden Used Software Scraper, Say NSA Officials · · Score: 2

    Yep, that's how I'd do it, if I had access to those kinds of networks and an overwhelming curiousity (or suspicion). Not that I'd ever do anything like that of course [glances over shoulder] .. or even think of harming one of our most valuable national assets [glances at black helicopter over trees and discounts] ...

    Excuse me, there's someone at the ...

  22. Shennanigans? on Britain's Eastern Coast Yields Oldest Human Footprints Outside Africa · · Score: 2

    Look as closely at the "footprints" as you can in these images:

    http://www.independent.co.uk/n...

    And then consider this statement:

    http://www.independent.co.uk/n...
    "Of the 50 or so examples recorded, only around a dozen were reasonably complete - and only two showed the toes in detail. Tragically, although a full photogrammetric and photographic record has been made, all but one of the prints were rapidly destroyed by incoming tides before they could be physically lifted."

    Sooooo .. they existed (presumably buried by the seaside) for almost a million years .. appear, and then are DESTROYED by the next incoming tide?

    Riiiii-ight.

  23. Perfect Cover-All Solution on Now On Video: GCHQ Destroying Laptop Full of Snowden Disclosures · · Score: 1

    Now, no matter what the government demands, the Guardian can always say "Oh yeah, that .. it was on that laptop. Remember that laptop?"

  24. Identifying the Gangster? on Developer Loses Single-Letter Twitter Handle Through Extortion · · Score: 1

    Wouldn't that be quite trivial, since he wanted the @N handle so badly and all? Surely someone can now identify the new owner of that handle?

    And contact their cousin Vinnie in Joisey to go speak to him?

  25. Re:Big deal. on 23-Year-Old Chess Grandmaster Whips Bill Gates In 71 Seconds · · Score: 1

    Yep, he probably would've whipped me in three. Don't feel bad, Bill. Your talents lay elsewhere.