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User: techno-vampire

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  1. Re:The fall...check...landing...what? on Space Diving: Iron Man Meets Star Trek Suit In Development · · Score: 1

    Terminal velocity for something person-shaped is about 120mph.

    Is that terminal velocity for somebody spread out flat, or somebody coming down feet first? It can make a big difference.

  2. Re:The fall...check...landing...what? on Space Diving: Iron Man Meets Star Trek Suit In Development · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Jet boots need fuel..

    Lots and lots of fuel if you're going to make a safe landing at that speed. By the time you add in all the extra space needed for all of that fuel, gyros to keep you properly oriented and enough shielding to protect you on the way down, you have a landing boat, not a suit.

  3. Re:Point = missed on Why Everyone Gets It Wrong About BYOD · · Score: 1

    And what antivirus do you recommend for an Ubuntu installation that I keep patched?

    ClamAV. Not because you need it to protect your own computer but because having installed and running kills two birds with the same stone. First, of course, it allows you to say that you've got AV software installed and running. Second, it will (or should, at least) catch any infected files that you're co-workers send you before you pass them on to somebody else who might get infected by them.

  4. Re:In case you're wondering on Human Stem Cell Cloning Paper Contains Reused Images · · Score: 1

    How true. However TFA does state specifically that the errors are considered to be accidental, so I thought that it should be mentioned at least once in the discussion.

  5. Re:In case you're wondering on Human Stem Cell Cloning Paper Contains Reused Images · · Score: 1

    Yes. Of course. That's why there's such a big deal being made about the fact that it only took four days to be accepted, nowhere near enough to have done the job properly.

  6. In case you're wondering on Human Stem Cell Cloning Paper Contains Reused Images · · Score: 1

    I took a moment to RTFM (Yeah, yeah, I know; this is Slashdot where nobody ever RTFMs.) and found out what the problem is. In at least one case, the same image appears twice with different captions, and in several others, the labels contain the wrong data. So far, nobody is accusing the authors of intentional wrongdoing, but the incident does raise concerns about papers not being properly edited or reviewed before acceptance.

  7. Re:Separate issues on Motion To Delay Sanctions Against Prenda Lawyers Denied · · Score: 2, Informative

    So, because the judiciary is very conservative, his appointment is being suspended until the allegations are cleared.

    They're not doing this because the judiciary is very conservative; some judges are, some are very liberal. It's just because our court system has centuries of experience with this type of thing and knows that judges are like Caesar's wife. They not only need to avoid doing anything that would call their impartiality into question, they have to be above suspicion. Being investigated on a "morals" charge could jeopardize every case he works on because his integrity would become an issue on appeal, and the easiest way to avoid that is by not having him hear cases where the charges against him might become significant.

  8. It's not exactly new, you know. on Ask Slashdot: Wiring Home Furniture? · · Score: 1

    Hotels have offered power outlets, network connections and (sometimes) usb connectors on desks and tables for years, now, both in rooms and in their lobbies. I don't remember seeing any on couches, but they often have easily accessible outlets in the wall, or on the floor. The last time I can remember having to get under a table to get to a socket in a hotel lobby was back in 2010. It's not exactly hard to do, you know, you just have to take the same precautions you'd use if you were putting a new outlet into the wall, and make sure your work is up to code.

  9. Re:They're just getting a head start on Obamacare. on Medical Firm Sues IRS For 4th Amendment Violation In Records Seizure · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The most charitable thing you can say at the moment is that they apparently have more power than they can manage is a responsible way, let along legal way.

    It may be more accurate to say that certain IRS agents think they have far more power than they actually do and have let their mistake go to their heads.

  10. Re:It's just so sad that the practice on Fed. Appeals Court Says Police Need Warrant to Search Phone · · Score: 4, Informative

    AIUI, cops tend to follow this type of ruling very, very carefully and do their best not to violate any new guidelines handed down. This isn't because they have such a great respect for the law (although many individual cops probably do) but because they don't want to have their evidence declared inadmissible, with the chance that the entire case might be thrown out. After all, they don't have to agree with the rules of evidence, they just have to make sure they follow them.

  11. Re:Yeah... on 97% of Climate Science Papers Agree Global Warming Is Man-made · · Score: 1

    Well, this is Slashdot, you know. What else did you expect other than unfounded speculation by people who didn't RTFM and hyperbole?

  12. Re:Yeah... on 97% of Climate Science Papers Agree Global Warming Is Man-made · · Score: 1

    If you'll go to the post I originally replied to, you'll find this: "For all we know, 97% of those researchers were ungrad-students doing research for a professor that required them to assume AGW was man-made." I was just remarking that using the term AGW includes the assumption that it's man made, and that any professor who expects them to use that term also expects them to accept that assumption.

  13. Re:Yeah... on 97% of Climate Science Papers Agree Global Warming Is Man-made · · Score: 1

    Thank you; I sit corrected. Still, the point remains that the term AGW assumes that it's caused by mankind.

  14. Re:Yeah... on 97% of Climate Science Papers Agree Global Warming Is Man-made · · Score: 1

    For all we know, 97% of those researchers were ungrad-students doing research for a professor that required them to assume AGW was man-made.

    For that matter, for all we know, almost all of the papers that took the position that the current warming trend wasn't man-made were rejected and that their position on the cause was part of the reason. I'm not saying that there was selection bias, just that it's a possible explanation. And, btw, the A in AGW stands for anthropomorphic, or, "man made," so AGW is man made by definition.

  15. It's not that salty on Swedish Data Center Saves $1M a Year Using Seawater For Cooling · · Score: 4, Informative

    The Baltic Sea isn't anywhere near as salty as it sounds. There are so many rivers emptying into it that parts of it, especially in the northern part, are very close to fresh water, and most (if not all) of the fish there are fresh water species. That's why, back in the Viking days, people in that area had to buy salt from mines in what's now Poland, instead of getting it from the sea as most other maritime areas do. This simplifies things tremendously, because they don't have to worry anywhere near as much about corrosion from the salt.

  16. Re:You aren't refusing to change on Ask Slashdot: Dealing With a Fear of Technological Change? · · Score: 1

    Using archaic tools for modern jobs is just flat out asinine. You didn't grow up with those tools -- those tools are from my university days. And I'm 49, not 24.

    I'm 63. If I'd kept with what I first learned, I'd still be using punched cards and batch processing. Now, I use a GUI for most things, but hardly a day goes by that I don't open an xterm for something because there are some things that I just find easier that way. Personally, if I need a CLI editor, I like Mork's editor: nano.

  17. Re:Shorter answer on Book Review: The Plateau Effect: Getting From Stuck To Success · · Score: 1

    I think it is you who is stuck believing what you tell yourself. You can't accept that (highly likely) possibility your government simply used you and tossed you aside, exploiting some of the best years of your life. But hey, I guess like your pills and hearing aids.

    It was Johnson who got us there because he thought that Kennedy wanted it. Gradually, through his Administration and Nixon's, the far-left contingent of the Democrats got stronger and stronger. Then, after the war was officially over, when the NVA invaded again, it was the Democrats (who as you pointed out controlled Congress) reneged on the agreement to support ARVAN and left them to be slaughtered.

    And, as far as my VA benefits, without them, I probably wouldn't need hearing aids because I would have died about a decade ago after I ran out of money to pay for the medicines that keep me alive. Of course, if the government had "tossed me aside" as you claim, they'd have closed the VA or declared all 'Nam vets ineligible instead of providing care for us, but don't let inconvenient facts get in the way of your prejudices.

    May you live forever, Ephialtes.

    Thank you, but nobody who knows me has ever even considered accusing me of being a radical. I'm just another aging Boomer, who happens to have lived through a section of history that you can't understand any more than I can really understand either World War.

  18. Re:Shorter answer on Book Review: The Plateau Effect: Getting From Stuck To Success · · Score: 1

    Shrug! Go ahead and believe what you've been taught. I was there, and I can assure you that the opposition to the war was never as general as is now claimed. What is true is that the opposition was very vocal and the support wasn't.

  19. Re:Shorter answer on Book Review: The Plateau Effect: Getting From Stuck To Success · · Score: 1

    That's because I didn't. I earned it by helping turn back an invasion intended to overrun a country that didn't want to be ruled by communists. Later, of course, the leftists in Congress gave the commies everything they wanted and pissed away what we'd done.

  20. Re:Shorter answer on Book Review: The Plateau Effect: Getting From Stuck To Success · · Score: 1

    ...it was unwinnable without actually flattening Vietnam and killing everyone there...

    Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better. I was there, and I know how people like you threw away everything we did because they told it was unwinnable by people who were afraid to serve.

  21. Re:Shorter answer on Book Review: The Plateau Effect: Getting From Stuck To Success · · Score: 1

    This is how I feel about the Boomers. We can't keep throwing money at the problem...

    Speaking as an early Boomer, I agree with you. Too many of us have never learned that the world really doesn't owe us a living. As an example, back in the late '60s and early '70s there were an awful lot of angry young sheeple bleating, "Hell no, we won't go!" because they were only interested in what their country could do for them and weren't willing to do anything for their country. Now, they're nearing retirement, their healthcare costs are rising and they're wondering how they'll be able to afford it. Me? I can't say that I'm the most successful Boomer there ever was, but I'm never going to have to wonder how to pay for the thirty-one pills I take every day, my insulin or my hearing aids. I went. I served. I have VA benefits.

  22. Re:It's the Forrest Gump principle on Massive Amount of Malware Targets Older Java Flaws · · Score: 1

    Yeah, 'cause I wanna spend my whole damn day installing patches!

    With Microsoft, all you have to do is turn on Windows Update and the patches will be installed once a month, like clockwork. Or, with Linux, you can check for updates any time you please and pick up whatever's come in since the last time you checked. Either way, the process is (mostly) automated.

  23. It's the Forrest Gump principle on Massive Amount of Malware Targets Older Java Flaws · · Score: 2

    People who still use older versions of Java probably aren't up to date on other patches or updates either, making them even easier to exploit or infect. Stupid is as stupid does, and that includes IT policies that don't allow machines to be kept current when it comes to security.

  24. The Hughes System on Did Internet Sales Tax Backers Bribe Congress? (Video) · · Score: 1

    Then there's the system Howard Hughes used: he'd donate to any politician that looked like they had a chance to win. That way, no matter who won, Howard could say, "I gave." In fact, that's why nobody tried to find out where that slush fund Bebe Rebozo was holding onto came from during the Watergate Scandal; they all knew it was from Hughes, but they were all afraid of what might come out if his name was mentioned.

  25. Re:Long story short... on Microsoft Developer Explains Why Windows Kernel Development Falls Behind · · Score: 1

    i think the gp is an idiot who uses anything except debian.

    Debian isn't the only distro that keeps old kernels by default. I use Fedora, and the default is a total of three kernels. However, I'd agree that anybody who runs Linux and doesn't keep at least one backup kernel is, at best, an idiot.