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User: DarthVain

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  1. Re:When automation is cheaper than people... on Mines May Eliminate More Than Half Their Human Workers Within 10 Years (computerworld.com) · · Score: 1

    Just a small point beyond proof of concept and into reality. First I think it is a great idea. On the really out there kinda of spin off there is the fact that if we every really hope to do this outside of planet Earth, it will have to be automated robots, improving that first will have great gains later trying to rig something like that suitable for non-Earth environment. As much as someone might like to romanticize about being a "Space Miner" it really isn't all that feasible. Having said that, back to my point which is *highly* relatable....

    Most mines tend to be in pretty damn remote places. Often with few resources (other than the mine). So anything that is built will have to be super durable/resistant, modular, standardized replacement parts, easily available/reparable, etc... Because waiting months for replacement parts to be eventually shipped in isn't really going to work so well. People for all their faults are pretty flexible/adaptable.

  2. This has been an even more magnified issue in Canada. The CRTC which is the group in charge of regulating the industry has tried in the last year or so to curtil the companies by basically saying that they must A) offer a basic package that costs 25$ and B) have a-la-carte options available.

    So of course the first thing that both (because there is really only 2 in Canada, Bell and Rogers) companies did was obey the letter of the law whilst totally destroying the spirit. So the both offer a 25$ package. However they fill it with garbage, then attached a ton of fees to it, then make you pay rental fees for boxes and the like, so in the end you get a terrible service, that costs about what one of their other "discounted" services cost. Similarly with the a-la-carte options they basically price them out of existence and don't offer certain key popular channels should you choose those packages. All of this in the end so that they can report back at the end about how few customers want those features, and how most would like how they normally do business.

    I believe the CRTC is now looking at what to do about this. We'll see if there is a slap on the wrist or any real action to support change. Anyway right now the big boys are just playing games and daring the regulator to do anything about it.

  3. Well it also had Nelix as well who was annoying. Remember the Tulix or Nelvok or whatever the hell that episode was, good times that.

    Then there was Chakotay. The dream quests.... That whole baby thing. Granted I like the fact that they had a Native person in the show as a main figure twas about time really.

  4. Lazy writers is what was wrong with Voyager. Don't get me wrong I watched the whole thing and liked it, however it did two things more than another other Star Trek show and it really didn't need to.

    So here is a ship, flung into the unknown, farthest reaches of space, you can literally do anything with the story, and the environment, the amount of creativity is just about limitless.

    Instead we get by far the most "Holodeck" episodes, and OMG the holodeck has malfunctioned *again* and all the people are real and the safety protocols are off, and we're stuck in here, what are we to do! Then there is the time travel episodes, again why?

    About there only thing I can think of was that due to budgeting constraints it was cheaper to have a set that was an Irish bar or Nazi invasion, or re-runs of already produced material than coming up with new CGI and expensive sets.

    Though even that might be in the Star Trek tradition as I heard that was basically the reason for the creation of the "Transporter" was they didn't want to pay for the creation of all those transitional shuttle scenes it would take to visit planets.

  5. Re:They tell you upfront it isn't going to be good on Star Trek Discovery Gets Delayed After Losing Showrunner Bryan Fuller (variety.com) · · Score: 1

    The trouble with Janeway which has been pointed out by more than a few, and likely because they wanted her to project the strong woman character, was that they made her the expert of everything.

    In all other male captains, they were leaders first, and delegated most of not all the other stuff to other more qualified people. Why? Because that is reality really. With Janeway they made her an expert everything, half the time she would devise the answer to the problem herself, then do it personally, without as you say displacing a hair on her head. Ok we get it, she is very competent already...

    Personally I hope they have a Captain who is intrinsically flawed. Someone who depends on others. Heck I want one that has the crew rolling their eyes at what they are being ordered to do. Just give me an engineer that will say "sure I can do it that way Captain, wtf do I know, I'm just a stupid engineer..." Then do it his way anyway, then congratulate the Captain on the success afterwards for their "quick thinking"....

  6. I thought he was being delightfully sarcastically ironic until "for the past couple centuries"...

    At any rate I'm sure there is just as many Russian/Soviet weapons out there as US in various ill advised hands...

  7. They would like nothing more than to have Trump on John McAfee Thinks North Korea Hacked Dyn, and Iran Hacked the DNC (csoonline.com) · · Score: 1

    This seems unlikely to me.

    Considering Clinton supported and is a fan of the nuclear deal Obama made with Iran to lift sanctions, it would appear that she would be the favorite candidate for Iran self interest.

    Considering that Trump has said publicly that he thinks that deal was horrible and that he could have done much better getting the US a better deal (presumably a worse deal for Iran), and the hard line he has taken with what he thinks of Iran and nukes etc... I seriously doubt Trump would be a better candidate for Iran's self interest, and can't really believe that anyone within the Iran power structure would think so. Unless of course they think he would be more disruptive to the US than even the damage he might do to Iran.

  8. Re:Bollocks on Russians Seek Answers To Central Moscow GPS Anomaly (yahoo.com) · · Score: 1

    Also even a piloted drone requires some sort of signal for operation which is also likely vulnerable to blocking, as otherwise splat (or autonomous take over which would then be subject to the other anyway).

  9. Re:Signal triangulation = GPS on Russians Seek Answers To Central Moscow GPS Anomaly (yahoo.com) · · Score: 1

    Two things.

    Likely the reason for the GPS scrambling isn't to deter human beings from locating within the area. If one were to build an autonomous drone however that might make any attack just a bit harder. It would require a manual operator, which would be subject to distance limitations, and also loss of connection as likely that signal can also be blocked.

    Second, the story says "GPS", but doesn't actually say which GPS. So far as I am aware there are at least 3 or 4 variations of GPS out there. GPS as commonly known is the US system, but Russia and China also have their own systems. So I am not sure if they mean one or all of the systems are being blocked. It would seem less useful if only the Russian one were blocked for example and that might just point to a technical issue perhaps.

  10. Ya well it probably wasn't 24 Billion in cash. These deals usually have some very low value in cash (well in relation, huge to me or you), and most of it would have been in MS stock, which depending on its worth at the time determines its value. Likely trying to sell 24 Billion in stock is hard to do, and would probably affect the value, even if there wasn't wording in the agreement saying that you could do that right away.

    When ever I see these large values being thrown around I have to remind myself that they are largely imaginary values. i.e, Facebook is "worth" 374$ Billion. Yahoo used to be "worth" a lot more, or I wonder how Tom at Myspace is doing these days. Foursquare comes to mind also. These valuations in billions for these tech companies are not based on actual assets or anything... Heck I can only imagine the arcane wizardry used to dream up what some of these things are worth.

    Granted MS is pretty stable as those things go, but still. That said, I also would have taken the money and run and probably do something else with the rest of my life.

  11. Also if all you are using is a Mac and not remoting into something else (as technically at that point you are really using something else, the Mac is just a client) you are probably not really doing anything terribly important in the first place (with your computer) other than using basic office software. Meaning why would you need to call tech support if all you are doing is playing around with documents and perhaps spreadsheets and email.

    Basically low hanging fruit. We'll see how that TOC looks when ALL Windows has been replaced with Macs (if that is even achievable due to software compatibility constraints).

    For an analogy, corporately we support a range of Windows computers, however most are bottom line desktops and laptops for the masses, which if there is support it is usually to do with account or network issues which have little to do with the OS or the computer at all. I'm sure all or some of these could be replaced with Macs with comparable support levels. Now try that with a Workstation using specialized software, legacy software, developmental software, etc... First it would be hard to do, second I doubt the support issues encountered would be any less.

    Also from my experience with Apple products, one of the other reasons they might have less support calls is that probably in many cases they just can't do things by design. So there isn't a support call because Apple doesn't support a task or feature to begin with, you just can't do it.

  12. Re:Economics? on First New US Nuclear Reactor In 20 Years Goes Live (cnn.com) · · Score: 1

    You're missing the mandatory decommissioning costs which can be a lot particularly when by the time all those years go by it would be even more expensive (just due to inflation etc), but yes still profitable. Presumably they would be taking a percentage of the profits and putting it into a fund over time to lessen the impact due to time (provided they don't cheat or raid the fund).

    However even if it was at cost it would still be worthwhile due to the pubic good and the energy infrastructure of the nation.

  13. Experimental Reactors on First New US Nuclear Reactor In 20 Years Goes Live (cnn.com) · · Score: 1

    This has been a problem for decades to which no nation really wants to address. Putting aside even power generation for a second, there are experimental reactors out there that are used to produce certain isotopes for various reasons.

    Chalk River is a perfect example in Canada. A number of years ago, due to budget cuts and mismanagement there was a problem a the station causing it to be shut done for an extended period of time. It basically produced isotopes used in medical procedures. However it, even though being built back in the 60's, is one of only 3 in the entire world, which caused an immediate shortage of the availability of said isotopes and rationing had to occur for a period of time until it could be brought back online.

    However it was an experimental reactor built by a nation, with really no commercial value so no company is going to do it. With all the issues associated with creating new reactors what nation wants to get into that business either, and how does a politician sell that to its people. The need is still there regardless.

  14. Re:6.8 Billion on First New US Nuclear Reactor In 20 Years Goes Live (cnn.com) · · Score: 1

    I don't think it is so much the technical specifications that influence the size so much as the regulatory burden placed on projects that makes developing anything at a smaller scale not really feasible.

    It is the same with a number of different industries with similar regulatory burdens, only that with the case of nuclear it is exacerbated to an extreme degree.

    If some of the smaller designs were treated differently likely the R&D to go into making more of those designs more feasible. As it is, why would companies pour billions into developing technology that realistically in the current regulatory environment have little chance of being implemented due to inflated per project cost.

    There are plenty of examples where people wonder why certain things are done at such a large scale, and usually the reason is that it is the only way to make it fiscally feasible due to all the additional costs associated with it. Refineries probably fall into that, as do a lot of mining operations for example.

  15. How is this still a thing. I suspect that most of the anti-vaxx comments are coming from midwives as opposed to actual nurses. I know someone who is a big proponent of midwifery, and it is all about the vegan, all natural, oatmeal, tree birth using unicorn tears and good karma if you get my drift. These would be the same people arguing for homeopathy as alternative medicine. Lets call a spade a spade and say that these folks fall into the category of snake oil salesmen (though not all, and those that are may be good intentioned not sinister opportunists) rather than actual medical professionals.

    I mean it basically says "lets throw away hundreds of years of medical advances and do it the old medieval way!" because that makes a lot of sense, are we really surprised that the same people might think vaccinations are the work of the devil?

  16. How about use what you go. I haven't seen a platformer actually use everything available for 1080p let alone 4K. What is the purpose of it all if no video games are made to take advantage of it. There there is the whole thing where you actually need a 4K TV to actually use it which most people don't have. I suppose if movies existed (which I don't think they even do) they might be able to take advantage of it, but then you're getting away from the primary purpose of the console anyway. I mean I haven't see game commercials on TV for the new consoles that don't already look 5 years out of date.

  17. Re:He's also charged with money laundering. on KickassTorrents Lawyer: 'Torrent Sites Do Not Violate Criminal Copyright Laws' (arstechnica.co.uk) · · Score: 1

    This. Either the court case will barely even touch on IP, or if it does that portion of the case will be dismissed. However, they will get him on money laundering probably. Kind of like getting Al Capone for tax evasion. Not really what they arrested him for, but good enough to put him in jail.

  18. Re:Grass is always greener on All the Good Netflix Movies Are in Canada and Brazil (gizmodo.com) · · Score: 2

    I used to switch to US netflix all the time. There are differences. However it is always changing. It doesn't always make any sense to the actual consumer, half the time I just mumble to myself "must be some weird licencing thing"...

    At any rate one of the big things for me at the time used to be that ALL the Star Trek content was on the US Netflix, whereas on Canadian Netflix had very little (a couple movies, and maybe TOS)...

    At one point switching back and forth I noticed that the latest episodes of Top Gear were on Canadian Netflix, but not US Netflix...

    There there was a time when I started to watch a TV series on Canadian Netflix, only to have it suddenly vanish without warning... Again licencing foolery.

    To be honest it is all just wearisome.

    The latest Star Trek and Netflix BS is the new TV show that CBS is making. Will be in international libraries in Netflix. However not in the US (CBS) or Canada (BELL) because of exclusive licencing deals. Whatever.

  19. So what if the parachutes deployed too early? So long as they deployed, one would assume they they would do their job regardless (eventually). Unless of course there were also parameters to detach and eject the parachutes just prior to landing or rocket burn. Perhaps having the Parachutes deploy so early slowed the craft so much that only a very short burn was even required to land safely.

    The optimist in me likes to think that in doing so, about the only thing that might be causing the "delay" is that I believe Mars has wind, sometimes considerable, within its atmosphere which if it loitered in too much could be conceivably off course and land someplace else. Which on the negative side of things could have had it land in a crevasse or something, but more likely it could just be causing some communication trouble because they are pointing their communication efforts at the wrong location.

  20. Re:Nintendo OFFICIALLY has left the "console" mark on Nintendo Unveils 'Switch', Its New Gaming Console and Tablet Hybrid (engadget.com) · · Score: 1

    Agreed. Nintendo left the "serious" console market years ago and hasn't looked back. They are simply looking to merge their console "lite" product with the mobile platform, which on paper would seem to make a lot of sense for a lot of different reasons. How it will work in reality remains to be seen. As I recall everyone made fun of the original Wii back in the day (for lack of power), and it easily outsold probably both PS3 and Xbox360 together by a fair margin as a light gaming device.

    I also agree with the PC sentiment. I used to have a Xbox360, now I just use a PC. Sure there is the whole "I'd rather have a device that I can do more than just play games on rather than just a console" argument, but I would go much simpler than that. I have a PC that is probably like 3 or 4 years old right now, and sure it cost more than what you'd pay for a Xbox One or a PS4 new, but the simple fact is I see the commercials for games coming out TODAY for the new consoles, and they look like games that came out on PC 5 years ago. I get better looking games on a pretty old PC. In fact they only ones that don't look all that great are really just shitty ports of console games where they couldn't be bothered to make it look any better (never mind terrible UI meant for controllers).

    That said, I'm more interested in getting a 60$ NES Classic when it comes out in November! Though it is too bad it doesn't include Blades of Steel, or wireless controllers (tho that last one might argue you need the wires for the true retro experience).

  21. Well it is things like the new Star Trek TV show coming out by CBS that ticks people off. I live in Canada.

    It is to be available on Netflix internationally. However:
    In the US, it will only be available on CBS and their own home brew streaming service.
    In Canada up until people got angry it just wasn't available because of licencing BS. Now it is going to be on the Bell Space channel if you have cable AND have access to that specific channel.

    I have cable and subscribe to the Space channel so for me I don't much care anymore (other than on principle). I expect anyone else that is interested will just pirate it instead or do the VPN shuffle with Netflix to some other country ID.

    Anyway the media company's love to complain about piracy and region spoofing, but they do this sort of thing all the time presumably because they can make more money making exclusive deals with other companies like Bell even though as far as offering a service to their consumers it stinks (then are shocked and surprised that the consumers use alternative means).

  22. I know the only personal item I would take with me on the Mars journey would be an axe. You just can't trust everybody. I mean I know I wouldn't go insane. Someone else might go insane however. Then I'd have an axe. I'd name him Axey, and he'd be my best friend... Sometimes he tells me to... no I shouldn't talk about that, he doesn't like it.

  23. BS. Hogwash. Poppycock. Etc... on DNA Testing For Jobs May Be On Its Way, Warns Gartner (computerworld.com) · · Score: 2

    DNA has about as much to do with "intelligence" as purported IQ tests, which is to say very little other than in a very general sense. The same could be said for "leadership" and various other ridiculous tests more appropriate for nothing more than wasting time on FB.

    There is no "intelligence" gene, nor is there one for "leadership", that is absolutely ridiculous. I mean in a very broad sense you could use DNA to look for *possible* indicators of certain genetic disorders that may have an impact on either trait. However those disorders would also be so absolutely obvious that you could determine that by simple written comprehension or even say talking to someone for say 5 minutes.

    So all that BS aside, there are some ways in which DNA could effect your employment opportunities in a very real and sinister way. Namely if your employer pays for your benefits and insurance. A big chunk of either are medical expenses. They could potentially use DNA testing to eliminate you from competition for jobs on the simply liability of you and or your offspring might be more expensive medically (due to having indicators of possibility being susceptible to certain genetic maladies) requiring the employer to have more robust benefit or insurance packages.

    Anyway the idea of using DNA like a resume is absurd. A better indicator is environment, the biggest of which likely socioeconomic background (i.e. better opportunities, education, health, etc). That isn't to say that there isn't potential abuse for DNA information by employers.

  24. nanotechnology-based on CO2 To Ethanol In One Step With Cheap Catalyst (sciencedaily.com) · · Score: 1

    Certainly sounds cheap and easy to ramp into commercial production!

  25. Moral High Ground on Ecuador Acknowledges Limiting Julian Assange's Web Access (reuters.com) · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yes, however the reason that Ecuador feels the need to thumb their noses (by offering refuge) at the US is that they are a little angry about the US meddling in Ecuadorian affairs, least of all their own government processes. By allowing Assange to do the same with the US election they would be seen as a bit hypocritical. By not allowing, or more accurately by *publicly* not allowing they are taking the moral high ground, not only thumbing their collective noses again, but drawing to attention the afore mentioned fact. I wouldn't be surprised if they were fully aware of what he was doing and this was all planned out in advance (or at least they took proper advantage of the situation as it evolved).

    Slow golf clap. wp.