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User: davidmcg

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  1. Interesting topic... on Ask Slashdot: After We're Gone, the Last Electrical Device Still Working? · · Score: 1

    The problem is that any country or area relying on renewable energy, such a wind turbine, hydro-electric etc will still continue to run, but the power stations will be unmanned and as a result, the system will shut down despite the original source of that energy still running. Only devices I can imagine continuing to run would be things like solar powered devices, like watches, calculators etc. I don't think anything complex would be able to continue without human intervention.

  2. I'll stick with my Omega thanks. on Reactions to the New MacBook and Apple Watch · · Score: 1

    I could afford the most expensive model, but over £10k for something that could be obsolete in a year in a total waste of money. I like Omegas, Rolex's etc and I believe they’re worth it cause I would expect my Omega Seamaster to last me a life-time...not to expect to replace it in a year with a newer model. I've been going off Apple stuff for a while now. Apart from their phones, and a lesser extent, their tablets, their hardware has been declining in quality for years. Shame really but it does feel Apple is turning into Vertu.

  3. Three thoughts... on Malaysian Flight Disappearance 'Deliberate' · · Score: 4, Interesting

    1. Why are cockpit voices recorded only in the black box? If other data from a plane is constantly being sent for maintenance purposes, while in flight, why do planes not also not relay cockpit voices to some storage system, for just such a situation? CCTV keeps footage for a few hours or a few days, why is this kind of valuable data not also routinely stored? 2. I don't know how low you have to fly a plane to fly "under the radar" but isn't is possible that the pilot or a hijacker flew the plane below radar to somewhere where it is now on the ground? 3. One other possibility: the plane was shot down, and the country that did it, realizing the mistake, is participating in the search to cover up. Militaries have shot down civilian jets before. The Soviet Union and the USA have both done so.

  4. Black Holes on Why We Think There's a Multiverse, Not Just Our Universe · · Score: 1

    I've often thought about the possibilities in what existed pre the big bang. Is it entirely possible that our universe is, in itself, the result of the output from a black hole from another universe? This also implies that there are other universes out there that are born from our universe.

  5. Re:Can someone who knows about astronomy fill me i on Massive Exoplanet Discovered, Challenges Established Planet Formation Theories · · Score: 1

    I remember reading something some time ago about how light from a distant object is used to determine the composition of a star, or a planet. As different elements produce a difference wavelength of light, this can be used to determine the composition of a stellar object and by comparing this to other known objects with similar composition, this can be used to determine how the object was formed and it's relative age.

  6. I agree with OP on Promising Vaccine Candidate Could Lead To a Definitive Cure For HIV · · Score: 0

    There is an entire industry with an innate economic interest to obstruct, suppress and discredit any information about the eradication of diseases. The pharmaceutical industry makes over one trillion dollars from selling drugs for ongoing diseases. These drugs may relieve symptoms, but they do not cure. We have to realize that the mission of this industry is to make money from ongoing diseases. The cure or eradication of a disease leads to the collapse of a multi-billion dollar market of pharmaceuticals. We are bombarded with advertising campaigns by pharmaceutical companies wanting to make us believe that they are “Searching for Cures” “Striving for the Eradication of Diseases” or “Increasing Life Expectancy” and other false promises. With these deceptive statements, the pharmaceutical industry has for decades been able to disguise the true nature of its business – maximum profit from ongoing diseases. In other words, a cure for HIV will never see the light of day as it would undermine the profits made from selling life-long drugs to patients and would pretty much destroy the pharmaceutical industry. This would only benefit one company who would make massive profits and would refuse to share the cure with other companies and organisations.

  7. Never succeed on Sony Unveils the PS Vita TV and Slimmer Vita Handheld · · Score: 1

    I was one of those who purchased a PS Vita sometime ago. I found the selection of games to be mostly casual style games. The cost of the games is prohibitive to anyone but those with disposable income. I've seen a number of games on there cost upwards of £29, where the same game can be bought for IOS for a lot less (£2 or below). Until Sony sort this out, it's always going to be a niche player (if that) and nothing more. It a shame, as the hardware is the PS Vita is powerful enough to have some serious killer games on there. I'm selling mine if you're interested :)

  8. Who? on John McAfee Triggers the Ultimate False Positive · · Score: 0

    who? ...

  9. Totally mis-read title on Can a Japanese AI Get Into University? · · Score: 1

    I have to say, I didn't see the 'ai' bit and read it as 'can a Japanese get into university?' and thought 'how racist is that?' and 'you really need to improve your grammar' :-)

  10. hmmm on Connecticut Group Wants Your Violent Videogames — To Destroy Them · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'll believe that video games result in violent behaviour the day when someone gets arrested for mass murdering pigs by hurling various birds at them.

  11. hmm on NASA Warns of Potential "Huge Space Storm" In 2013 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Doesn't worry me seeing as we won't survive 2012 anyway.

  12. hmm on Man Arrested For RuneScape MMORPG Online Robbery · · Score: 1

    This sort of thing is happening more often these days. It is a sign that virtual worlds are overlapping the real world and is only going to get more prolific as more and more people spend their lifes in virtual worlds and virtual worlds become more indistinguishable from the real world. Next thing you know you'll be arrested as a war criminal for that mass-massacre you carried out in Battlefield 2. Seriously, it's almost as if the worlds created by Neal Stephenson or William Gibson are slowly coming true.

  13. Well... on Hacker McKinnon To Be Extradited To US · · Score: 1

    I personally believe that the US just want to give him a huge scare. They want to make him believe that he is going to be severely punished for his crimes. What I think will happen is that he will be extradited, but the punishment won't be as severe as the US have led him to believe. In the end, I think the US will believe that he has been punished enough and either give him a substantial fine or 6 months in prison and then let him go.

  14. I think that.... on LHC Shut Down Again — By Baguette-Dropping Bird · · Score: 1

    a remake of Alfred Hitchcocks 'The Birds' is in order.

  15. Probably been mentioned already..but... on Yet Another Premature Declaration of Email's Death · · Score: 1

    Sadly, an ever-increasing number of people are relying too heavily on Facebook to keep in touch with friends, collegues etc. The problem lies with the fact that relying on Facebook to organise and contact your friends is such a silly move. Email has the advantage that it's an open standard. Anyone can create an email client. However, Facebook is just one entity. It is not an open communication standard and, as soon as Facebook go the way of the dodo, say goodbye to all your friends because you never took the time to ensure you had an alternative way of contacting them such as email.

  16. On the edge of a cliff... on Facebook User Arrested For a Poke · · Score: 1

    my facebook friend's status message said he was feeling suicidal and was standing on the edge of a cliff......so I poked him. erm. I'll get my coat

  17. well... on Iran's Nuclear Ambitions · · Score: 1, Interesting

    The only country to ever use nuclear weapons against another country is the USA. I don't blame Iran for wishing to defend themselves from war-mongering nations.

  18. hmm on Hard Drive With Clinton-Era Data Missing From Nat'l Archives · · Score: 1

    ia this Bills pr0n collection?

  19. Will this include on Microsoft Rumored To Lay Off Thousands Worldwide · · Score: -1, Redundant

    ...steve balmer? He might not like that. Watch out for flying chairs etc.

  20. This is not news! on Indian Moon Mission To Launch Next Month · · Score: 0, Redundant

    NEXT!

  21. tests can be useful on Testing IT Professionals On Job Interviews? · · Score: 1

    there are a lot of cowboys in the IT industry there days. There are a lot of 'IT professionals' who sound fantastic on paper, but in the actual workplace, fail to perform. I believe tests can be useful making sure the person you are interviewing DOES indeed have the knowledge that is claimed on a CV, otherwise it would be a waste of time interviewing them.

  22. Re:Fixed on GMail Vulnerable To Contact List Hijacking · · Score: 1

    Not quite, that particular exploit has been fixed but the list is still freely available in XML form.

  23. Re:I'd be sceptical but... on Games On Demand Service For Mac · · Score: 1

    Like with the infinitely superior wheel-mouse?
    Or windows that maximize?
    Or a hierarcichal file explorer?
    Or a taskbar? Have you ever used OSX for more than 5 minutes? Then you, sir, are a stupid idiot.

    * The Mighty Mouse is at least 3 times as useful as those "wheel-mouse" abominations. It doesn't have a wheel, it has a small trackball. That means a) higher resolution and b) ability to scroll in 2D instead of 1D. If you've ever used a mouse in serious work and not just websurfing, you'll know how infinitly valuable that is.
    The Mighty Mouse was a long time coming after the PC wheelmouse (that I doubt was invented by MS but I can't be bothered to look up). There also have been other 2D scrolling mice. However, OS X has always worked well with multi-button and wheel mice. I'd say that a multi-button mouse set up to activate expose is much more useful to use than Windows with its taskbar. The mighty mouse is not my favourite mouse but as all USB mice have worked fine for me then that is not an issue


    * OSX windows don't maximize. They optimize. There's a difference there, one you have to see to appreciate. Maximize is simple, wasteful and ugly. Optimize is simple (to use), efficient and beautiful. Maximise seems to be the Windows way of doing things, to me it's only really useful on a small screen. With a larger screen I'd prefer to make better use of it. Clicking + on a Mac to get the Window an optimal size seems the best option - although some apps don't implement it properly (e.g. Firefox)

    * Finder isn't based on explorer, it's based on the NeXT filesystem browser as is immediatly obvious to anyone who's used both. In fact, from what I've heard the vista explorer has once again copied Finder's useful shortcut bar. The finder really does need an overhaul, the shortcut bar is the only good point about it. However, spotlight, has made searching the best way to look for files.

    * There is no taskbar on OSX. The Dock contains information about running tasks, but it is much more, more useful, efficient and nicer to look it. If you call it "copying" that Ferrari builds cars with the same number of wheels as the original Ford, then yes. By any other definition, the Dock is not a copy of the taskbar.

    Why's there no "-1 bullshit" or "-1 misinformation" mod choice?
    The dock is based on a similar concept in Nextstep. I used to use WindowMaker in the 90's as my Window Manager under Linux and that was based on a nextstep look and feel and that had a similar concept to the dock. I preferred WindowMaker over Windows at the time.
  24. Re:Submitter has a problem with Firefox? on GMail Vulnerable To Contact List Hijacking · · Score: 1
    Indeed the current article is a bit light on details but it does say it affects the three main browsers - time to expect the barrage of "I'm glad to have switched back to IE7" posts from others that have not RTFA.

    The link to test out the vulnerability seems to be down.

  25. Re:summary wrong on Wikipedia Blocks Qatar [Updated] · · Score: 2, Informative

    But as it says in the linked to post it's impossible to create a new account when logged in through the proxy, however, existing account holders should be fine.