This is easily explained, actually.
on
Sleep Less, Eat More?
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· Score: 5, Interesting
Without having read TFA, I can already say that this is fairly obvious if you think about it.
When you start to get tired, you feel low-energy. When you feel low-energy, you eat "quick energy" foods - those that are readily metabolized and high in calories. It's your body saying "Oh, crap! We don't have enough energy right now! Do something about it!" (This is due to falling glucose levels in the brain as you get tired, but I'm sure that's covered in TFA.)
Of course, you don't really need the energy, you need sleep. The result is that you take in waaay more calories than your body actually uses. The more sleep deprived you are, the more this happens.
It makes me wonder if there's a causal relationship between the decreasing amount of sleep your average American (and, indeed, member of any industrialized nation) gets and the increases seen in obesity.
In a Reuters article, a NASA geophysicist theorizes that the quake compacted the Earth enough to speed up the planet's rotation by 3 microseconds.
As if the day weren't short enough as is. My work tells me that that extra 3 s are coming out of my freetime - NOT out of the company clock.
Why couldn't it have been slowed down by, oh, say, 8 hours or so? The extra 6 hours/day I'd have to put in might even be worth the extra 2 hours I'd have off....though, who am I kidding? They'd just add 10 hours to the work day, and I'd be worse off than before. *sigh*
In movies, sequels suck. I mean, they suck a LOT. And before all of you start saying "Well, Star Trek [insert favorite one] was better than the original!", I have one word for you: Matrix.
The reasons for this are many. Lower budgets, raised expectations, changes in writers, directors, creative and technical staff, trying to extend a situation that shouldn't be extended, "direct to video", etc.
However, in video games, sequels are generally very good compared to their predecessors. Now, before you go saying "Final Fantasy [your least favorite one here] was so much worse than [your favorite one here]!", I can retort that you've just proved my point.
The reasons for this are many, but among them are: increased budget, improved technology, gameplay can be improved in an evolutionary fashion, a generally lesser emphasis on character development (so reusing characters isn't as big of a deal, since they are largely peripheral to the process; think "Mario"), an increased focus on the producers of the games themselves, etc.
In other words, the production of sequels for both formats is exceptionally different, and so, therefore, are their results. That's not to say there aren't exceptions on either side, but if you look hard enough at the exceptions, you'll probably find examples of techniques from the other format. (For example, changing the creative direction for Silent Hill 4 was disasterous, whereas a lack of emphasis on character development is what has allowed the Godzilla franchise to continue to exist).
I noticed that, when jogging, the ASIMO lifts its arms up in a manner similar to what humans will do when hustling. Does anyone know if this was purely aesthetic, or if it served some purpose?
(a) Criminal Infringement.--Any person who infringes a copyright willfully...(2) by the reproduction or distribution, including by electronic means...which have a total retail value of more than $1,000, shall be punished as provided under section 2319 of title 18, United States Code....
(b) Forfeiture and Destruction.--When any person is convicted of any violation of subsection (a), the court in its judgment of conviction shall, in addition to the penalty therein prescribed, order the forfeiture and destruction or other disposition of all infringing copies or phonorecords and all implements, devices, or equipment used in the manufacture of such infringing copies or phonorecords. (emphasis obviously mine)
You heard it here first, people. Infringe the copyrights of over $1,000 worth of records on the internet, and the ENTIRE INTERNET MUST BE DESTROYED.
Alas, you have grossly underestimated the power of the American homophobia. To a lot of 'Mer'ca, things like a foreign war, taxes, the economy, and so on are far too esoteric. They can't grasp the importance surrounding the national debt, or wrap their heads around basic civil rights issues.
However, one thing they do know is that their interpretation of the Bible says that gay sex means going to hell, and putting someone in power who allows gay marriage (by whatever name), and therefore gay sex, is tantamount to saying the entire nation approves of it - and therefore is sinful. And they'll be damned if they don't do something about it. (Literally, in this case.)
Nevermind that that's not what the original Hebrew texts say. Nevermind that the nation was founded on a separation of church and state. Nevermind that the person espousing this has other policies that may not make sense. The important thing is that 'Mer'ca isn't going to Hell by allowing the gays to have sex.
People who don't know anything about all of the other things at stake will turn out in droves to protest gays having sex. I'll cite as evidence the fact that ELEVEN states had measures on the ballot to prevent gay marriage, civil unions, and domestic partnerships.
With all the trouble that'd been made over the security of electronic voting machines, and the problems reported here and elsewhere regarding them and their use, I'm more than a little surprised that there's been no conversation regarding this that's been modded up.
Personally, I would LOVE to see some sort of a table with all the precincts that used electronic voting and what their results were, so that they could be examined for bias in either direction. Has anyone done this? Or is anyone willing to do this and share with the group?
Er, wait. I'm guessing that Capcom just decided to branch out a bit, and that the money they'd make on the PS2 after porting would be greater than that they'd make with an exclusive GameCube deal.
The article mentions having one station here and another on the other side, so that the craft itself need not carry its own propulsion.
However, any sort of malfunction - from the braking side not firing at the right time, to the braking side getting knocked off angle by a micrometeorite at the wrong moment, to the craft itself getting pushed off course - would mean that the craft itself would go hurtling through space with no real chance to be rescued.
The way around this? Keep an on-board propulsion system that's able to slow it down from full-speed back to 0, and then speed it up enough to get back to where you were going originally in a reasonable amount of time.
Which kind of defeats the purpose of the entire method.
Sounds good to me! Just so long as those that are not allowed to participate in the creation of laws due to failing the test are also not bound by those laws that they have no voice in shaping.
All this talk of the VIA boards reminds me that Intel was talking a lot about how picoBTX systems should be available sometime soon. I saw that Gateway is already shipping the first standard BTX systems, but I was wondering if anyone out there in/.land had some better dirt on when the picoBTX systems are supposed to be available.
Google seems to be filled with months-old news about picoBTX, so maybe someone here has the scoop?
And you probably like women for their personality too. Wierdo.
Singular. All hail Queen Borg!
But, I kid. I kid.;)
Re:Breed Plutonium? Steam?
on
Port-A-Nuke
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· Score: 1
See, you set it up like a giant lite-stick.
You put a bunch of pebbles on either side, and just "crack" the reactor to release them into the appropriate place. And hey, if something goes wrong, at least everything around it will start glowing.
I thought I'd toss in a quick mention to my personal favorite, StepMania. It's reached a level of maturity such that there is a group that's turning this into an actual arcade game.
There aren't many other OSS gaming projects that can claim that. (Though, they're doing the same with this one. They've got one of these at the Mall of America, even.)
Yay Open-source turned viable business model! (Well, as viable as the arcade scene is these days...)
Slashdot Mirror
Without having read TFA, I can already say that this is fairly obvious if you think about it.
When you start to get tired, you feel low-energy. When you feel low-energy, you eat "quick energy" foods - those that are readily metabolized and high in calories. It's your body saying "Oh, crap! We don't have enough energy right now! Do something about it!" (This is due to falling glucose levels in the brain as you get tired, but I'm sure that's covered in TFA.)
Of course, you don't really need the energy, you need sleep. The result is that you take in waaay more calories than your body actually uses. The more sleep deprived you are, the more this happens.
It makes me wonder if there's a causal relationship between the decreasing amount of sleep your average American (and, indeed, member of any industrialized nation) gets and the increases seen in obesity.
No, no, no. The Klingon dictionary bit is a red herring. The texts read the *meek* shall inherit the earth... not the *geek*.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that I was in the minority of people who actually read the article.
/.'ers from making pizza-box case mods with their laptops and posting links to said mods here.
Something about a link to "Fictional Products" on the top of the page doesn't exactly instill confidence in the product.
Not that it won't stop a thousand
In a Reuters article, a NASA geophysicist theorizes that the quake compacted the Earth enough to speed up the planet's rotation by 3 microseconds.
...though, who am I kidding? They'd just add 10 hours to the work day, and I'd be worse off than before. *sigh*
As if the day weren't short enough as is. My work tells me that that extra 3 s are coming out of my freetime - NOT out of the company clock.
Why couldn't it have been slowed down by, oh, say, 8 hours or so? The extra 6 hours/day I'd have to put in might even be worth the extra 2 hours I'd have off.
There is, of course, a major difference.
In movies, sequels suck. I mean, they suck a LOT. And before all of you start saying "Well, Star Trek [insert favorite one] was better than the original!", I have one word for you: Matrix.
The reasons for this are many. Lower budgets, raised expectations, changes in writers, directors, creative and technical staff, trying to extend a situation that shouldn't be extended, "direct to video", etc.
However, in video games, sequels are generally very good compared to their predecessors. Now, before you go saying "Final Fantasy [your least favorite one here] was so much worse than [your favorite one here]!", I can retort that you've just proved my point.
The reasons for this are many, but among them are: increased budget, improved technology, gameplay can be improved in an evolutionary fashion, a generally lesser emphasis on character development (so reusing characters isn't as big of a deal, since they are largely peripheral to the process; think "Mario"), an increased focus on the producers of the games themselves, etc.
In other words, the production of sequels for both formats is exceptionally different, and so, therefore, are their results. That's not to say there aren't exceptions on either side, but if you look hard enough at the exceptions, you'll probably find examples of techniques from the other format. (For example, changing the creative direction for Silent Hill 4 was disasterous, whereas a lack of emphasis on character development is what has allowed the Godzilla franchise to continue to exist).
I noticed that, when jogging, the ASIMO lifts its arms up in a manner similar to what humans will do when hustling. Does anyone know if this was purely aesthetic, or if it served some purpose?
(a) Criminal Infringement.--Any person who infringes a copyright willfully...(2) by the reproduction or distribution, including by electronic means...which have a total retail value of more than $1,000, shall be punished as provided under section 2319 of title 18, United States Code....
(b) Forfeiture and Destruction.--When any person is convicted of any violation of subsection (a), the court in its judgment of conviction shall, in addition to the penalty therein prescribed, order the forfeiture and destruction or other disposition of all infringing copies or phonorecords and all implements, devices, or equipment used in the manufacture of such infringing copies or phonorecords. (emphasis obviously mine)
You heard it here first, people. Infringe the copyrights of over $1,000 worth of records on the internet, and the ENTIRE INTERNET MUST BE DESTROYED.
Enjoy!
It's a trick question. After playing Tron 2.0, I can say definitively that if it's malware, they're all the green guys.
You don't have to defeat your enemies. You simply have to outlive them.
TV exists to serve my Playstation!
All bow before the almighty Playstation! All hail its non-commercial existance! Revel in the glory that is engaging, interactive content!
Alas, you have grossly underestimated the power of the American homophobia. To a lot of 'Mer'ca, things like a foreign war, taxes, the economy, and so on are far too esoteric. They can't grasp the importance surrounding the national debt, or wrap their heads around basic civil rights issues.
However, one thing they do know is that their interpretation of the Bible says that gay sex means going to hell, and putting someone in power who allows gay marriage (by whatever name), and therefore gay sex, is tantamount to saying the entire nation approves of it - and therefore is sinful. And they'll be damned if they don't do something about it. (Literally, in this case.)
Nevermind that that's not what the original Hebrew texts say. Nevermind that the nation was founded on a separation of church and state. Nevermind that the person espousing this has other policies that may not make sense. The important thing is that 'Mer'ca isn't going to Hell by allowing the gays to have sex.
People who don't know anything about all of the other things at stake will turn out in droves to protest gays having sex. I'll cite as evidence the fact that ELEVEN states had measures on the ballot to prevent gay marriage, civil unions, and domestic partnerships.
With all the trouble that'd been made over the security of electronic voting machines, and the problems reported here and elsewhere regarding them and their use, I'm more than a little surprised that there's been no conversation regarding this that's been modded up.
Personally, I would LOVE to see some sort of a table with all the precincts that used electronic voting and what their results were, so that they could be examined for bias in either direction. Has anyone done this? Or is anyone willing to do this and share with the group?
Nintendo is dying!
Er, wait. I'm guessing that Capcom just decided to branch out a bit, and that the money they'd make on the PS2 after porting would be greater than that they'd make with an exclusive GameCube deal.
Now taking bets on how long it takes for SF projects to pop up for these very same titles!
Admit it. You're thinking of doing it right now. I can see it in your monitor glare.
The article mentions having one station here and another on the other side, so that the craft itself need not carry its own propulsion.
However, any sort of malfunction - from the braking side not firing at the right time, to the braking side getting knocked off angle by a micrometeorite at the wrong moment, to the craft itself getting pushed off course - would mean that the craft itself would go hurtling through space with no real chance to be rescued.
The way around this? Keep an on-board propulsion system that's able to slow it down from full-speed back to 0, and then speed it up enough to get back to where you were going originally in a reasonable amount of time.
Which kind of defeats the purpose of the entire method.
A beowolf cluster of human brains.
They have this. It's called "slashdot".
Hmm... launching the Governator into space, you say? Methinks a reality tv-show is in the making...
I recommend all humans should hold their breath until they die and save the planet.
I could not agree more! Save the planet! Kill yourself!
http://www.churchofeuthanasia.org/
Sounds good to me! Just so long as those that are not allowed to participate in the creation of laws due to failing the test are also not bound by those laws that they have no voice in shaping.
Failing test scores, here I come!
All this talk of the VIA boards reminds me that Intel was talking a lot about how picoBTX systems should be available sometime soon. I saw that Gateway is already shipping the first standard BTX systems, but I was wondering if anyone out there in /.land had some better dirt on when the picoBTX systems are supposed to be available.
Google seems to be filled with months-old news about picoBTX, so maybe someone here has the scoop?
...isn't Diebold at all. It's those pesky "activist judges" who want to go allowing the undesirables to vote.
What'll those crazy unelected judges do next?! If we're not careful, soon they'll be "enforcing the Constitution" or some other such nonsense.
(For the humor impaired, this is not a troll.)
And you probably like women for their personality too. Wierdo.
;)
Singular. All hail Queen Borg!
But, I kid. I kid.
See, you set it up like a giant lite-stick.
You put a bunch of pebbles on either side, and just "crack" the reactor to release them into the appropriate place. And hey, if something goes wrong, at least everything around it will start glowing.
I thought I'd toss in a quick mention to my personal favorite, StepMania. It's reached a level of maturity such that there is a group that's turning this into an actual arcade game .
There aren't many other OSS gaming projects that can claim that. (Though, they're doing the same with this one. They've got one of these at the Mall of America, even.)
Yay Open-source turned viable business model! (Well, as viable as the arcade scene is these days...)
No, sir... what you are thinking of is a HAT scanner.