Slashdot Mirror


User: smooth+wombat

smooth+wombat's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
3,915
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 3,915

  1. Re:Lasers are easy to stop on The US Navy Wants More Railguns and Lasers, Less Gunpowder · · Score: 1

    Most jets are made with 11 inches of steel.

    I defy you to find one jet whose skin is 11 inches of steel.

  2. Re:Thanks Obama on US Health Insurer Anthem Suffers Massive Data Breach · · Score: 1

    Yes, I do have that much money available but I'm not the one forcing people to hand over their money to a private company.

    If someone WANTS to do so, that's fine, but the government telling people they MUST hand over their money, at virtual gun point, is not the way to go.

    Considering how adamantly opposed to the government sticking its nose into people's personal lives and the rantings against corporations, it sure is funny how you folks have managed to laud and support both the things you despise.

  3. Re:a wasted effort. on The Algorithm That 'Sees' Beauty In Photographic Portraits · · Score: 1

    If we don't know how many atoms are in this precise sea wave, we won't be able to conquer the universe. How else are we going to manipulate time and space so we can move off this rock if we don't know such things?

  4. Re: If he actually did all that... on Ross Ulbricht Found Guilty On All 7 Counts In Silk Road Trial · · Score: 1

    Just because the law was followed does not mean justice was done.

    The guy knowingly created a way for drug traffickers, human traffickers, pedophiles and others to meet in one location and do business with the intent to attempt to keep things private. How is convicting him not justice?

  5. Re:This Proves GMOs are Safe! on Photosynthesizing Sea Slugs Steal Genes From Algae · · Score: 1, Redundant

    So what you want is for someone else to do all the work then hand it over to you? Stop being a leech and do your own research.

    This shit costs money.

  6. Re:Thanks Obama on US Health Insurer Anthem Suffers Massive Data Breach · · Score: 1

    Hard to believe someone wasn't handing their money over to a private company because the government told them they had to, isn't it? Imagine that, someone taking responsibility for themselves rather than being forced to pour their money down a black hole just to make sure some CEO gets their bonus.

    The mind wobbles.

  7. Re:Unauthorized Suspicous-Looking Art in Public Pl on Georgia State Univ. Art Project Causes 2nd Evacuation & Bomb Squad Call · · Score: 5, Informative

    and placed with some kind of sign.

    They were. The linked story doesn't say it but this one does. Specifically:

    Photos of other cameras show them attached to trees, fences and windows around the city. Some include notes that identify the soda can as a "Georgia State Art Project." Some instruct passersby to "Please do not take down!"

  8. Re:Why don't they know? on Novel Fluorinated Compounds Discovered In Firefighters' Blood · · Score: 1

    Meanwhile, why are we even building flammable houses?

    Because we don't want to live in caves? Because concrete is too cold in the winter unless you add tons of flammable materials to keep one warm?

    In the interest of openmindedness, kindly elaborate on what you think we should be making houses with such that they don't burn.

  9. Re:Fraudulent herbal supplements? on Major Retailers Accused of Selling Fraudulent Herbal Supplements · · Score: 1

    "people in general are honest"

    Except that Dr. Gregory House would remind us all. . .

    Everyone lies.

  10. Insensitive clod! on "Once In a Lifetime" Asteroid Sighting Monday Night · · Score: 2

    I'm in the Northeast and this *&%!@ snowstorm is keeping me from viewing the stars.

  11. Re:You are at the other end of the spectrum. on New Nicotine Vaccine May Succeed Where Others Have Failed · · Score: 0

    Many people in your group go around denying the reality of addiction, saying it is just a choice, as easy as choosing soup over salad for lunch

    It is a choice. No one is born needing to shoot heroin or smoke a cigarette since they've never experienced. They make the conscious choice to do so despite the overwhelming evidence of what happens when you use both.. At that point one could argue it becomes an addiction, but no one is born being addicted (assuming their mother didn't make the choice for them).

  12. Re:Good news on Disney Turned Down George Lucas's Star Wars Scripts · · Score: 4, Funny



    That explains why there is so much lens flare in his movies. He's trying to recreate what he sees every day.

  13. Re:Office 2007 started the move into alternatives on Microsoft Announces Office 2016 and Office For Windows 10 Coming Later This Year · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Except in Microsoft's recent pattern, FINDING those items is much more difficult and less intuitive. What was once a single-click to see all your options from 'View' (for instance), is now a "click and hope" funfest as you meander from ribbon to ribbon trying to come across what you're looking for.

    The layouts are not intuitive, they have moved items from where they used to be, have buried items in sub-entries and it takes longer to accomplish what you want.

    By any measure, that is not an upgrade no matter how many people wish it to be so.

  14. Re:Yes. on Should Disney Require Its Employees To Be Vaccinated? · · Score: 0

    In general, the real silliness of drug tests is when they are used by things like fast food restaurants

    Right, because I want to be the customer who has their food spiked by someone who was high or under the influence because they thought it would be funny. Imagine them sprinkling crack or LSD on food and someone has a reaction or leaves in their car and has an accident. That's totally hilarious.

    or worse when they are used as a condition of welfare

    If you have money to buy drugs you have money to buy food or pay your bills. Or have we abandoned personal responsibility?

  15. Re:No way! on Senator Who Calls STEM Shortage a Hoax Appointed To Head Immigration · · Score: 4, Insightful
    then "the more you pay the more you get" should be true as well

    That's the specious logic corporations use to justify the exorbitant salaries of their CEOs despite numerous studies showing the person at the top has little to no impact on the performance of the company.

    Then again, when corporations say they can't their workers more they are by default stating they don't want the best workers because they're not willing to pay the folks on the front line what they're worth.

    Some reference material:
  16. Re:Foreign it is then! on Fake Engine Noise Is the Auto Industry's Dirty Little Secret · · Score: 1

    What's the point of an engine that runs correctly in a car that looks good if everything else is shit?

  17. Re:One has to wonder on IRS Warns of Downtime Risk As Congress Makes Cuts · · Score: 1

    My second thought was, if their budget is cut all they have to do is reduce the scope of their mission.

    They can't. The scope of their mission is defined by Congress. They are tasked with carrying out what Congress says. They can't unilaterally say, "We're not going to do what we're told to do."

    That said, if they wanted to reduce their mission scope they could always ignore trying to collect money from people who didn't hand over their money to private companies since this has nothing to do with the collection of taxes.

  18. Re:My take is different on Jim Blasko Explains 'Unbreakable Coin' (Video 2 of 2) · · Score: 1

    and they charge their customers a small transaction fee in the form of an exchange rate difference.

    So you lose money each time you use it? That sucks.

    I don't have that problem when I use real money. If something costs $10, I give the person a $20 bill and get $10 back. By your logic I might $9.95 back.

    What a horrible deal for the person using this crap currency.

  19. Re:I don't get it on The Paradoxes That Threaten To Tear Modern Cosmology Apart · · Score: 4, Informative

    how does empty space have energy?

    That was my question as well until I read Brian Greene's explanation in his book, The Fabric of the Cosmos.

    In short, the Higgs Field. Long answer, think of what we call space as a fabric (hence the title of his book). The Higgs Field is the fabric upon which everything else "sits". Even if there are no particles in a given unit of space, it is not empty because the Higgs Field is still there.

    Start on page 254 of his book and work your way through as he describes the field and how it (supposedly) permeates everything.

  20. Where are the pitchforks? on Linus On Diversity and Niceness In Open Source · · Score: 1

    "I'm not a nice person, and I don't care about you.

    Funny, when I have said the exact same thing on here, people whine that I should care about someone else, how I have no compassion or am just plain evil.

    When Linus comes out and says the same thing, he's regarded as quirky and a hero.

    Nice double standard. Just like, "Big government is in the hands of evil corporations! Get it out of our lives! Except when we want Big Government to force people to hand over their money to corporations so I don't have to take personal responsibility for my actions."

    Nice job, hypocrites.

  21. Re:90 days may be a little short on Google Releases More Windows Bugs · · Score: -1, Troll

    In effect they are trying to destroy the market for zero day exploits

    So like the malware known as Google Chrome? If it can install itself when someone doesn't have admin rights, it's malware.

  22. Re:Obligatory Onion link on Radio Shack Reported To Be Ready for Bankruptcy Filing · · Score: 1

    because their prices absolutely suck in Canada

    I can assure you it's not just in Canada their prices suck.

  23. Re:People forget about people. on Pirate Activist Shows Politicians What Digital Surveillance Looks Like · · Score: 1

    Just because people have some kind of agenda doesn't mean you should avoid everybody.

    They didn't say they were avoiding everybody, just those associated with churches or religion. That isn't everybody, just a large subset of everybody.

    Talk about not using your brain.

  24. Re:Pope Francis - fuck your mother on Pope Francis: There Are Limits To Freedom of Expression · · Score: 1

    Maybe God shouldn't have given man free will. Then it wouldn't be bitching about the results.

    Or better yet, maybe God should have done a better job of creating us in the first place, then this wouldn't be an issue.

  25. Re:Extradition? on Uber Suspends Australian Transport Inspector Accounts To Block Stings · · Score: 2

    That's why drivers should have insurance so we don't have to sue them.

    Except if you're running a business, which is what Uber is, on your personal insurance. Then your insurance company won't cover you, and may drop you, which means you end up getting sued anyway.