Slashdot Mirror


User: MikeBabcock

MikeBabcock's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
6,826
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 6,826

  1. Re:I'll believe it when I see... on Warp Drive Might Be Less Impossible Than Previously Thought · · Score: 1

    Nobody would observe you moving faster than light at all. Technically from the right angle, they'd observe you moving instantaneously from what they perceive to be one point to what they perceive to be another.

  2. Re:I'll believe it when I see... on Warp Drive Might Be Less Impossible Than Previously Thought · · Score: 2

    If that's the reference you're using, I recommend a subscription to actual periodicals.

  3. Re:I'll believe it when I see... on Warp Drive Might Be Less Impossible Than Previously Thought · · Score: 2

    No, you don't. The whole point of warping space-time is to arrive at another point by moving that point closer to you.

    The typical explanation is to take a large surface, fold it in half, and punch a hole through. Now push a marble through the hole and unfold it again. The marble didn't move very fast, and didn't travel far, but arrived somewhere previously very far away.

    Warping spacetime is all about making distant locations closer so that we don't have to violate ftl rules.

  4. Re:First Intel, now AMD? on AMD's Hondo Chip 'A Windows 8 Product' · · Score: 2

    Sounds a lot like the same program that lead to Dell having a "We recommend Windows Server" banner above all their servers, despite having a very active Linux compatibility and sales program.

  5. Re:meh on Apple Announces iPhone 5 · · Score: 1

    Easiest answer? Every time I hit 'share' in any app and get a list of every app that knows how to share that file type.

    I can't just tweet from any app, I can post to Google Plus, Flickr or Instagram from anything that makes photos, I can share text from any app that has text to any other app directly. I can tap the share icon on Youtube and get a list of sharing apps that weren't known about when Android came out, because the API allows any app to register itself as a target. I can click on a photo and get a list of all the photo handling programs I have installed without launching one directly, and I can stream video over SMB from a Windows share to a video player through a file manager that knows nothing of the video software in question.

    Of course, I can also see the most recent several E-mails I got in my notification bar, or click hang-up directly from the same bar while talking on my phone with the third party navigation running in the foreground and automated photo uploading running in the background. And yes, I've had numerous people ask me about how I use my phone as a video recorder while driving in the background.

    Lots of these things are doable on other platforms, its the fact that any app can work with any other app directly on Android, without exiting and changing programs explicitly, without saving files in between, just by clicking a button because "Intents" exist. There are lots more, but explaining every single neat feature of Android isn't really necessary. You could just investigate for yourself, but you've chosen not to, so I can only presume you'll ignore any valid point I make and continue believing what you believe now.

  6. Re:Batshit Crazy! on EVE Online CSM and Diplomat Killed in Libyan Consulate Attacks · · Score: 1

    Since he said 'we Jews' he gets to use the term 'we' unless he's not a Jew.

    Your English could use upgrading.

  7. Re:Not at all. on Is iPhone Battery Usefulness On the Decline? · · Score: 1

    Blackberry was always just as cautious -- when you're successful you have to avoid changing too much, they said.

    It worked out, didn't it?

  8. Re:They've got it backwards. on Intel Says Clover Trail Atom CPU Won't Work With Linux · · Score: 5, Funny

    #!/bin/sh
    # million monkeys sky fairy code generator
    ln -s /dev/urandom /dev/skyfairy
    dd if=/dev/skyfairy of=/boot/bzImage bs=1k count=3000
    reboot

  9. Re:Oh yeah?? on Apple Announces iPhone 5 · · Score: 1

    I use my Nexus one-handed nearly all the time, and I don't have big hands.

    Also, the voice recognition is so good, I rarely have to thumb type at all. Google voice input is really very good.

  10. Re:Why do you need them? on Apple Announces iPhone 5 · · Score: 3, Informative

    How is it hypocritical to hope Samsung gives Apple a taste of their own medicine?

    Note: Samsung's upset about a patented technology they actually own and invented. Apple sued over mostly design patents that many places in the world mock because they simply shouldn't be patentable. Also it seems quite likely that Apple's own patents will be overturned on appeal since prior art was ignored by the jury.

  11. Re:Compared to 128x768 on the new BlackBerry on Apple Announces iPhone 5 · · Score: 1

    It might run Android when rooted ;-)

  12. Re:Oh yeah?? on Apple Announces iPhone 5 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Umm, it was made bigger just to be made bigger obviously, otherwise it wouldn't be bigger at all.

    Also, jeez, took them long enough to hit that 16:9 ratio for a device that brags about its media savvy.

    You know what's awesome? The look on an iPhone user's face when you hand them a Galaxy Nexus with its 4.7" screen and they suddenly realize that more screen real estate actually can fit in your hand and does look better.

  13. Re:meh on Apple Announces iPhone 5 · · Score: 1

    Actually most 'average' people I know end up asking "why can't I run something like that?"

    Sandboxing confuses people. They want to be able to do anything they want with their device, and when they see someone else (running Android or Windows Mobile*) doing something they can't do, they get upset.

    *I realize seeing someone using Windows Mobile is likely never to happen, but it could ...

  14. Re:meh on Apple Announces iPhone 5 · · Score: 1

    They realized that being more like their competition would help them sell more phones ...

    irony, it happens.

  15. Re:remember when slashdot was good?! on Apple Announces iPhone 5 · · Score: 1

    In fact the only feature I see that it has that's different from every Android device on the market right now is the sapphire crystal lens cover (which adds scratch resistance for those who care).

  16. On the other hand, I actually learned to question the source material being spoon fed to me on TV and found that there's very little data to support most of these suppositions, you would too if you checked.

    Yes, evolution happens, I'm not denying that, what I'm saying is we barely have a scrap of evidence for most things creationists disagree with except preconceived notions that we assume to be true. The age of the planet "must be" so old because it "must have" formed in a certain way. The fossil record is like a big hole in the ground but we use it to justify mass evolution between incredibly different species. Questioning these things should not be frowned on, and ignoring the truth of our mass ignorance is just making it worse.

    The fact of the matter is we don't know how the universe formed, we don't know why life came to be and we don't understand conciousness or the human desire for spirituality, and that's just a few. If you think you do know those things, you should probably go talk to someone who's done a few PhDs in the subject and you'll find they don't know either.

    More to the point, don't take my word on it ... but certainly don't trust Sesame street or PBS either. Do some real research before believing anything instead of having wool pulled over your eyes by haters on either side of a fence that need not exist.

  17. Re:Questions on Bill "The Science Guy" Nye Says Creationism Is Not Appropriate For Children · · Score: 1

    Someone needs to watch Terminator over again.

  18. Re:Eh? on Torque 3D To Be Released On Github Under the MIT License · · Score: 1

    If the game's graphics and input and sound sync suck because the engine sucked, that's the engine's fault (and the developer's for choosing it).

    I'm not saying that's the case with Torque, I'm just saying that engines have limitations that can cause a game to suck independently of the skills of the programmer using it.

  19. Re:You think this is a Game? on GoDaddy Goes Down, Anonymous Claims Responsibility · · Score: 1

    Godaddy does nothing illegal to my knowledge, doesn't exploit children in China, but simply has some philosophical ideas that go against the grain here.

    i thought freedom of thought was a major issue to most of us. Taking someone's business offline because the person they buy services from thinks differently than you is pretty terrible. Godaddy may not be a wonderful supporter of freedoms, but Anonymous just proved itself to be even worse.

  20. Re:Bob Parsons quote on GoDaddy Goes Down, Anonymous Claims Responsibility · · Score: 2

    And its terribly out of context ... he's talking about the difference between going out on a limb to do something risky and sticking to the safe route.

    It could be rephrased as "not taking risks is for cadavers."

  21. Re:He's not even the author on Amazon Blocks Arch Linux Handbook Author From Releasing Kindle Version · · Score: 1

    Because with public domain content nobody can get sued. There's no Copyright left to deal with. With GFDL or other permissive licenses, there are still Copyright toes to step on, and while if everyone plays nice if should go fine, not everyone always plays nice.

  22. Re:I do not know why this appear on Slashdot !! on Amazon Blocks Arch Linux Handbook Author From Releasing Kindle Version · · Score: 2

    I'm on Amazon's side on this one -- a GFDL book should either be free on Kindle or distributed another way -- selling it for any value would create confusion as you cannot claim full Copyright ownership of the book.

  23. Re:There's nothing Darwin about it. on Texas Opens Fastest US Highway With 85 MPH Limit · · Score: 1

    The part you're missing is fatal accidents as a percentage of vehicles on the road vs. fatal as a percentage of accidents.

    When Michigan studied going to 75mph, they found their accident rate dropped substantially, but the few that remained were nearly all fatal. That means you have a nearly 100% fatality rate, which looks bad, until you realize that your overall accident rate went down.

  24. Re:There's nothing Darwin about it. on Texas Opens Fastest US Highway With 85 MPH Limit · · Score: 2

    Remember, most people arguing against high speed limits have never driven the unlimited speed sections of the Autobahn. I have, and I can assure those who don't understand that many people are not driving over 120mph ... they're also smart enough to stay out of the faster lanes.

  25. Re:Yeah but... on Texas Opens Fastest US Highway With 85 MPH Limit · · Score: 1

    Modern speed limits are not well thought-out at all. They were designed for an era before seatbelts and anti-lock braking. Accident rates actually went down in many states when limits were raised from 55 to 75mph.