Well, just to head off about 90% of the comments which will be "oh noes the scientists will kill us all!", they are putting the DNA into plasmids, not a virus capsule.
But...but...from TFA:
"The plasmids then were sent to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, where they were inserted into human kidney cells for the final step in the virus reconstruction."
Just because a mass-market game is earning a lot of money doesn't mean that game developers have stopped creating more innovative games. There are ALWAYS new, original and exciting games coming out.
I would really appreciate any links you may have to sites that feature lots of new, original and exciting games. I'm sort of reading between the lines and assuming you are referring to some of the lower budget fare coming out of the smaller, independent game developers. Seriously, I would love to know about such a resource!
Because right now all I have is the avault demo download list:
And to be honest, the "indie" games that crop here are just as depressingly discouraging as the big budget games. Not only are the indie games recycling the same old tired premises as the big boys (racing, FPS, RTS, flight sim, tetris-like puzzle, or arcade shooter, take your pick, because that's pretty much it!) but their games have the added bonus of crappy graphics and sound.
Where does a game player go when he wants true innovation?
Amazon has the clear advantage here. They already operate distribution centers in several locations around the US, have experience in inventory management and quick shipping, and can even rent videos at a slight loss for a while, using it to drive business to the rest of their operations.
I don't think the advantage is so clear...Netflix has all that stuff too, and has already been in the business for a long, long time (in Internet time, anyway.) Walmart already went head-to-head with Netflix for a while and eventually gave up.
I've been a long time constomer of both Netflix and Amazon. I think both are good companies. I think the Netflix price is very reasonable (we don't have cable or broadcast TV, so we watch a lot of movies; our per-movie cost winds up being around $1 - $1.50). I just don't see what Amazon could offer that would be so much better than Netflix that I would want to switch.
I wonder if the government will be using these printers themselves, they have more to hide than anyone else. Now when a confidential document is leaked it can be more easily tied to a government official.
There was an interview on NPR a few weeks ago with Michael Smith, the British journalist who uncovered the "Downing Street Memo." He said that governments already do this: when a classified document is distributed, they often introduce subtle changes in wording from one copy to the next, so that each person receives a very slightly different copy. That way, in theory if the document is leaked, they can figure out who leaked it.
Maybe they killed it for a good reason
on
P2P and TV
·
· Score: 1
OK, I'm evil and bad, I downloaded the illegal pirated leaked screener.
I had to stop watching after 5 minutes, I was already snickering uncontrollably. It was complete cheese balls. What kind of "global conspiracy" happily identifies itself to the first stranger that picks up one of its sekret phones?
Does it get any better? Should I keep watching?
Great book. Probably the best sci-fi treatment of the subject that I've read. Really goes into all of the ramifications, from philosophical to technological to economical to sociological, of what such a capability would really mean if we had it. I'd recommend it to anyone with an interest in downloading.
Although, the book does kind of go off into the weeds at the end...something about sufficiently complex cellular automata becoming self-sustaining even if the computers running them are shut down, or something...ah well, at least the first half is worthwhile.
While I agree it's not going to fundamentally change our lives, podcasting *has* fundamentally changed the way I listen to radio. By which I mean, it allows me to timeshift internet radio (there's basically no good FM radio where I live.)
I get most of my new music by listening to KCRW (http://www.kcrw.org/online/). Since they are on the west coast and I'm on the east coast, a lot of their music shows are at inconvenient times for me. So, I wrote a little program that downloads the shows I like (they broadcast in MP3 format), and then I can copy them to my mp3 player and listen to the show whenever and wherever I like. This has allowed me to go from listening to KCRW only occasionally to catching every single one of my favorite programs.
After sufficient exposure, the robot will soon realize that it is not the same as the other children. It will then leave the preschool and embark upon an existential quest to be come a human child. Eventually it will realize that this is impossible, and spend the next thousand years moping around the post-apocalyptic landscape, long after all the human children are gone.
Hopefully, this story will spawn another stimulating Slashdot discussion about how and why Star Trek sucks now and how Berman is an idiot. If we're extra lucky, maybe it can even segue into a discussion about why the old Star Wars was great and the new Star Wars is terrible and how George Lucas has lost it.
Great logic. Distract the issue by pointing the finger at everyone else except yourself, so you can continue to happily drive your car, ignoring all the problems inherent in auto-depency. Oh yes, throw in some good ol fashioned bicycle bashing too, since we all know THEY are the real problem. Classic.
As it turns out, a simple Google search reveals that in urban areas (i.e. where the vast majority of us live), automobiles are by far and away the leading cause of air pollution.
Here's just one example, a little reading to get you started:
http://www.nutramed.com/environment/carsepa.htm
Excerpt, in case you can't be bothered:
"Two-thirds of the carbon monoxide emissions come from transportation sources, with the largest contribution coming from highway motor vehicles. In urban areas, the motor vehicle contribution to carbon monoxide pollution can exceed 90 percent."
Here's another good one:
http://www.texasep.org/html/air/air_5mob.html
Excerpt:
"Taken together, transportation is a significantly greater source of pollution than are industrial sources, power plants or small businesses."
On the other hand, if you want the convenience of being able to buy tracks online from a well known and reputable store, then you are going to have to face the facts that you have agreed to play by their rules with regards to DRM.
You're right, of course, but I'm not entirely sure what the point is: Yes, it's Apple's right to use DRM, just as it's my right to therefore choose to not patronize their product, but the end result (a great online service that I'll never use) is still unfortunate and I think it's perfectly valid to complain about it.
What would otherwise be a great online service is crippled by a stupid, short-sighted DRM system. I would use iTunes, but I don't and never will because their music is DRM'd. I don't want to have to use third party tools to bypass their copy protection and violate the TOS in the process. I will just continue to buy CDs (almost always used), and to patronize other online music companies who trust their customers like Magnatune and EMusic.
I realize that Apple doesn't have much choice in this matter; they had to deploy DRM in iTunes in order to get the record labels to play along. Still, the end result is the same: an otherwise great service that might as well not even exist at least as far as I'm concerned.
As for me, I think it's strong evidence that God was behind the Big Bang.
As for me, I think it's strong evidence that something is happening that we don't understand.
Feel free to attribute anything we don't currently understand to "God", it's your right; humans have been doing it for thousands of years. Of course, thousands of years ago it was twinkling lights in the sky and occasional crop failures; today it's the big bang.
Personally, I'm perfectly comfortable accepting that that there are still many, many things about this universe that we cannot explain; furthermore, I'm confident that given enough time, we might even figure out the answers to some of those things. There will always be mysteries to keep us puzzled and searching for answers. In the meantime I don't need to imagine an all powerful mythical being to feel better about it.
Slashdot Mirror
Which, by the way, is owned by Amazon.
But...but...from TFA:
"The plasmids then were sent to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, where they were inserted into human kidney cells for the final step in the virus reconstruction."
I thought it's been well known for years that gorillas use tools. You don't think they've typing all that spam by hand do you?
Oh, wait...
every time some European brags about how much better their cell phones are than American cell phones.
I'm bringing my own towel to hotels from now on.
Yeah. Well, if 1 minute, 26 seconds is "almost" 15 minutes, anyway.
I would really appreciate any links you may have to sites that feature lots of new, original and exciting games. I'm sort of reading between the lines and assuming you are referring to some of the lower budget fare coming out of the smaller, independent game developers. Seriously, I would love to know about such a resource!
Because right now all I have is the avault demo download list:
http://www.avault.com/pcrl/
And to be honest, the "indie" games that crop here are just as depressingly discouraging as the big budget games. Not only are the indie games recycling the same old tired premises as the big boys (racing, FPS, RTS, flight sim, tetris-like puzzle, or arcade shooter, take your pick, because that's pretty much it!) but their games have the added bonus of crappy graphics and sound.
Where does a game player go when he wants true innovation?
Please don't say Japan!
2. Make sure Apache is running
3. Post link to toaster on Slashdot
4. Wait 3 minutes. Bing! Toast is ready!
I don't think the advantage is so clear...Netflix has all that stuff too, and has already been in the business for a long, long time (in Internet time, anyway.) Walmart already went head-to-head with Netflix for a while and eventually gave up.
I've been a long time constomer of both Netflix and Amazon. I think both are good companies. I think the Netflix price is very reasonable (we don't have cable or broadcast TV, so we watch a lot of movies; our per-movie cost winds up being around $1 - $1.50). I just don't see what Amazon could offer that would be so much better than Netflix that I would want to switch.
Damn, and me with no mod points!
There was an interview on NPR a few weeks ago with Michael Smith, the British journalist who uncovered the "Downing Street Memo." He said that governments already do this: when a classified document is distributed, they often introduce subtle changes in wording from one copy to the next, so that each person receives a very slightly different copy. That way, in theory if the document is leaked, they can figure out who leaked it.
I had to stop watching after 5 minutes, I was already snickering uncontrollably. It was complete cheese balls. What kind of "global conspiracy" happily identifies itself to the first stranger that picks up one of its sekret phones? Does it get any better? Should I keep watching?
You know, I think he might be on to something. When I click on the link in the article with my mouse, nothing happens!
Although, the book does kind of go off into the weeds at the end...something about sufficiently complex cellular automata becoming self-sustaining even if the computers running them are shut down, or something...ah well, at least the first half is worthwhile.
Sure I do. But that's only for their talk shows. I'm talking about the music shows. KCRW doesn't podcast their music shows (yet).
I get most of my new music by listening to KCRW (http://www.kcrw.org/online/). Since they are on the west coast and I'm on the east coast, a lot of their music shows are at inconvenient times for me. So, I wrote a little program that downloads the shows I like (they broadcast in MP3 format), and then I can copy them to my mp3 player and listen to the show whenever and wherever I like. This has allowed me to go from listening to KCRW only occasionally to catching every single one of my favorite programs.
After sufficient exposure, the robot will soon realize that it is not the same as the other children. It will then leave the preschool and embark upon an existential quest to be come a human child. Eventually it will realize that this is impossible, and spend the next thousand years moping around the post-apocalyptic landscape, long after all the human children are gone.
Hopefully, this story will spawn another stimulating Slashdot discussion about how and why Star Trek sucks now and how Berman is an idiot. If we're extra lucky, maybe it can even segue into a discussion about why the old Star Wars was great and the new Star Wars is terrible and how George Lucas has lost it.
As it turns out, a simple Google search reveals that in urban areas (i.e. where the vast majority of us live), automobiles are by far and away the leading cause of air pollution.
Here's just one example, a little reading to get you started:
http://www.nutramed.com/environment/carsepa.htm
Excerpt, in case you can't be bothered:
"Two-thirds of the carbon monoxide emissions come from transportation sources, with the largest contribution coming from highway motor vehicles. In urban areas, the motor vehicle contribution to carbon monoxide pollution can exceed 90 percent."
Here's another good one:
http://www.texasep.org/html/air/air_5mob.html
Excerpt:
"Taken together, transportation is a significantly greater source of pollution than are industrial sources, power plants or small businesses."
Say...is that a hard drive in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?
You're right, of course, but I'm not entirely sure what the point is: Yes, it's Apple's right to use DRM, just as it's my right to therefore choose to not patronize their product, but the end result (a great online service that I'll never use) is still unfortunate and I think it's perfectly valid to complain about it. What would otherwise be a great online service is crippled by a stupid, short-sighted DRM system. I would use iTunes, but I don't and never will because their music is DRM'd. I don't want to have to use third party tools to bypass their copy protection and violate the TOS in the process. I will just continue to buy CDs (almost always used), and to patronize other online music companies who trust their customers like Magnatune and EMusic.
I realize that Apple doesn't have much choice in this matter; they had to deploy DRM in iTunes in order to get the record labels to play along. Still, the end result is the same: an otherwise great service that might as well not even exist at least as far as I'm concerned.
You jest. But it's already been done! Surely you haven't forgotten Space: Above And Beyond.
I've heard the same thing said about the source code for Microsoft Windows. 40 million lines and counting, baby!
As for me, I think it's strong evidence that something is happening that we don't understand.
Feel free to attribute anything we don't currently understand to "God", it's your right; humans have been doing it for thousands of years. Of course, thousands of years ago it was twinkling lights in the sky and occasional crop failures; today it's the big bang.
Personally, I'm perfectly comfortable accepting that that there are still many, many things about this universe that we cannot explain; furthermore, I'm confident that given enough time, we might even figure out the answers to some of those things. There will always be mysteries to keep us puzzled and searching for answers. In the meantime I don't need to imagine an all powerful mythical being to feel better about it.