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User: amliebsch

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Comments · 2,625

  1. Re:One more thing... on The Case That Apple Should Buy Nokia · · Score: 2

    Actually HTC is making the "signature" WP8 devices, not Nokia.

  2. Re:Trailer-generators on Toyota Abandons Plans For All-Electric Vehicle Rollout · · Score: 1

    Another disadvantage: the time when you would most want to tow something else, like an actual trailer or a boat - on a longer trip - you can't, because you're towing part of your car instead. There's also the issue of safety: trailers are terrible for handling and make driving, dangerously lethal as it already is, even more difficult.

  3. Re:How much dough does this man have!? on Richard Branson 'Determined To Start a Population On Mars' · · Score: 2

    He actually started the space company because nobody would provide him with a rocket cheaply enough to launch his greenhouse. So, he decided he would have to do it himself.

  4. Re:Good to keep in mind on How the Critics of the Apollo Program Were Proven Wrong · · Score: 1

    There's no inherent reason you *have* to rebuild everything, it's just that our resuable designs are not sufficiently advanced. Early jet engines had to be rebuilt after almost every flight; but after a few decades of refinement, they can operate almost continuously for months without major maintenance.

  5. I doubt it. I mean, I asm certain that most people value their privacy. They just don't value it all that highly. The first time frozen pizzas go on sale 5/$10, most people will conclude that it's worth the price.

  6. Re:My prediction on Sci-Fi Writers of the Past Predict Life In 2012 · · Score: 1

    You're on to something, but I think it's simply a case of chronological proximity bias. The problems we face today always *feel* like the most severe problems ever faced, but that is probably often just because they are the most prominent in our minds. I mean, look how many writers from the last century predicted widespread famine, because when you ran the numbers it just didn't seem possible. They thought it was the biggest problem humanity ever faced. Eventually we managed to overcome it and now it feels like a big nothing. Instead we have our own, new, biggest problems humanity has ever faced. Except they're not, not really. They just seem that way because we know that the other ones got solved, and we don't know yet how to solve the unsolved ones. And those writers, in turn, were probably overestimating the relative severity of that problem compared to other historical problems.

    It's the same perspective problem that causes doomsdayism.

  7. Re:Option #X: Buy Win8 laptop, return it the next on UEFI Secure Boot and Linux: Where Things Stand · · Score: 1

    If enough manufacturers are seeing this reason for return and losing money because of it, you can be sure they'll start charging restock fees.

    FTFY.

  8. Re:Thin edge of the wedge. on UEFI Secure Boot and Linux: Where Things Stand · · Score: 1

    The point is that there is nothing that will be preventing you from doing whatever you want to the hardware you bought: hack it, wipe it, blend it, nobody will stop you. What you are actually complaining about is that the hardware you bought isn't exactly the hardware you want. But, it's a lot harder to blame other people for the poor purchasing decision you made.

  9. Re:Simple adjustment: on Entangled Particles Break Classical Law of Thermodynamics, Say Physicists · · Score: 1

    Honest to god, real-life spit-take. Keyboard's okay, though, it's a Model M.

  10. There's already an entire website specifically for that purpose.

  11. Re:Article title on Entangled Particles Break Classical Law of Thermodynamics, Say Physicists · · Score: 1

    Thank you, Dr. Science.

  12. Re:Would not one have to spend energy... on Entangled Particles Break Classical Law of Thermodynamics, Say Physicists · · Score: 1

    I don't recall the specific physics principle, but it is something along the lines of 'particles below a certain size cannot be measured without affecting their behavior'.

    It's the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. However, by reversing the polarity of the entangled particles and running them through the matrix field of a Heisenberg compensator, you get a controlled tachyon burst that counteracts entropy. At least, that's what I gathered from this write-up.

  13. Re:The best is when people break the stereotype. on Ask Slashdot: Is There a Professional Geek Dress Code? · · Score: 1

    No, no, you want to say "serious business." Mirrored shades, porn 'stache, aloha shirt, silk sport coat, and a concealed smartphone holster.

  14. Re:Your staff on Ask Slashdot: Is There a Professional Geek Dress Code? · · Score: 1

    That would be great! Get them with the cursive name patches, too. And might as well strap on elbow pads by default for working under the desks!

  15. Re:Look to Gene Kranz on Ask Slashdot: Is There a Professional Geek Dress Code? · · Score: 1

    You know, I'm not sure if there was an explicit dress code beyond "shirt and tie," or if it was simply a case of everybody following Kranz's lead. I'm fairly certain that engineers were originally expected to wear suits, but somewhere along the line that rule was relaxed and short sleeves permitted due to the heat generated by all the equipment.

  16. Look to Gene Kranz on Ask Slashdot: Is There a Professional Geek Dress Code? · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Mission control, 1960's, shall forever be the exemplar of true nerd fashion. However, in a bow to modernity, the pocket slide rule could probably be replaced with a smartphone.

  17. Re:Maybe it's just me on Windows 8 Graphics: Microsoft Has Hardware-Accelerated Everything · · Score: 1

    The difference is how much rendering is done by vertex and pixel shaders, and how much is pre-rendered by the CPU and blitted to the GPU as a texture. Ideally you want as much of the former as you can.

  18. Re:crash faster on Windows 8 Graphics: Microsoft Has Hardware-Accelerated Everything · · Score: 1

    [string]::join(" ",(get-content file.txt)) -replace "[^[a-z]"," " -split " " | group-object | sort-object -desc Count

  19. Re:Ok... on The 300 km/h Superbus · · Score: 1

    Or, if you want to get really crazy sci-fi, a kind of jet-powered "superbus" made out of lightweight materials like composites and aluminum, that travels above the roads and doesn't require any infrastructure between the start and end points at all! It could go much faster and could travel in direct routes, disregarding terrain altogether. Maybe someday...

  20. Re:A foul subject. on Making Saltwater Drinkable With Graphene · · Score: 2

    Salt? That goes on the fries, of course.

  21. Re:Please Define on Hip Hop Artists Developing Open Source Beat Making Software · · Score: 1

    It's FL Studio now, but yeah, it's amazing how powerful it's become. Oh and by the way, free updates for life! Though they do sell harder/better/faster/stronger plugins as well.

  22. Re:Car Analogy on Microsoft's Surface Caught Windows OEMs By Surprise · · Score: 1

    That's like saying 4-door sedans are overdone! Ridiculous!

  23. Re:Why did Microsoft rename their old "Surface"? on Microsoft's Surface Caught Windows OEMs By Surprise · · Score: 1

    They renamed table-Surface to "Pixelsense." There's a link at the bottom of the new surface page.

  24. Re:Prediction on Shenzhou 9 Sparks Renewed Debate On Space Race With China · · Score: 1

    Not mention, rockets don't even work in a vacuum! I read it in the NYT!

  25. Re:Just like their trains... on Chinese Firms Claims It Can Build World's Tallest Tower in 90 Days · · Score: 1

    Not to mention, (I can only speak for North America) we actually have a long tradition of prefabricated housing, even from before modularized building was possible. E.g., Sears Modern Homes