That's just one specific example, look about and you can find hundreds of other things in daily use which came about thanks to military R&D and our need to blow things up better than the next guy, or prevent things from being blown up.
The logical fallicy with the above is this: can you demonstrate that we couldn't have spent the money more effectively and still receive the same consumer benefit? The argument you are giving is that somehow focusing on a military project is going to efficiently translate into a consumer benefit. If I am focused on project "X", it might have a benefit for application "Y", but would not have the same bang for the buck as if I just focused on application "Y" in the first place. You might find instances where this is not the case, but over several projects the trend will hold true.
Excuse my ignorance on this one, but if the missile disrupts electrical systems, how is a Faraday cage going to help? Assuming that your generation is not self contained, would such a disruption take out the electrical system outside of the Faraday cage? And if there is a sufficient spike, still do damage to devices inside the cage? Yea, I imagine with sufficient surge protection and battery backup you might be able to withstand the attack, but in all seriousness, only a really hardened target would have a chance. In the era of asymmetric warfare, the U.S. would be unlikely to face an enemy with this type of planning and resources. And if it were symmetric conflict, I doubt the United States would be worried about such a target attack. Instead they would cripple infrastructure or simply take out the building.
The more likely use case would be conducting a targeted raid and using a weapon like this to ensure that all security systems and communications systems were disabled right before the raid. Think Bin Laden compound.
The even more likely scenario is that this is a way of making some companies very rich and this weapon will never see use.
On the one hand I love reading about science stories. On the other, I am frankly tired of spending billions of dollars to prove the US has the biggest penis. Please cut our military spending 50 percent, focus on diplomacy and better targeted aid. Fund alternative energy to reduce our reliance on dictatorships.
And how is an Apple product announcement not news for nerds?
Did you read the Summary? This isn't a product announcement. This is details about a product announcement announcement. The next logical step is to have a press release indicating that sometime in the near future we will release a press release about a new product and the press release's press release is on 8.5x11 heavy cardstock paper.
No, what is sad is how people judge a "winner" of a debate. I've seen honest conservatives who thought the first debate was a draw while the vast majority of people thought Romney won based on being "aggressive". Apparently the Romney ape beat his chest harder than the Obama ape, and that is enough for the rest of the tribe to decide that Romney is alpha and Obama the beta.
There is no fundamental reason that an operating system needs more than periodic security updates to remain viable. There is absolutely NOTHING that our company needs from an OS that Windows XP doesn't provide. So, from my point of view, the only reason to upgrade is because we are forced to. Why should I be required to update an OS simply because the manufacturer wants a few more bucks?
We have an app that does not work in XP mode, or at least couldn't until this year. Very legacy, specialized app... no knock on Microsoft here, just a legacy app used by a couple thousand actuaries across the country. The thing looks like it is a DOS program with a slapped on front end. Regardless, it hated running in Windows 7.
Just as an FYI, your statement #2 appears to be on the mark. I read more about the damage and the only accounts I could find indicated "historical" buildings had collapsed. So my questioning the building codes appears to be off the mark.
I wondered if there was more to the story than the summary indicates. I find it hard to believe a country like Italy would convict based on not having the ability to predict an earthquake.
I did some reading, and the charges have more to do with creating a perception that the earthquake risk was remote and being negligent in their duty to keep the people educated about earthquake preparation and vigilance.
Whether you agree that the scientist were negligent or not, the article title and summary are misleading and flamebait.
My company has roughly 200 employees. From my perspective, I will plan to migrate off of our remaining XP machines (about 30) only because of security updates. In early 2014, I understand that security updates will cease, though I expect it will be extended. Were is not for this deadline by Microsoft, I wouldn't force the upgrade. In a corporate environment, the OS isn't terribly relevant, but the applications are. You'd be surprised how many application are still not ready for a native 64 bit environment, some niche programs that we rely on just won't work unless a 32 bit OS is emulated.
So, if Microsoft continued XP support indefinitely, I would never move. XP SP2 is the first OS Microsoft has offered that is solid and stable (just don't let users run as admin).
One step closer to Star Trek. Seriously, though, someone needs to set up a "BadPhoneCallTranslation.com" domain and set it to replay some of the funniest or awkward phone call translations.
And on an unrelated note, I am now seeing stories with red bars at the top. Am I now seeing articles to be posted in the future? Or is this just another Slashdot weird redesign?
The first frame was not indicating that the statement took 48 seconds to see through, simply 48 seconds until he said something stupid enough to be seen through. Same with the second.
have facts for those who think and arguments for those who reason. For the sake of review, if five years ago I had described a person like Mr. Slasdhot Person to you and told you that in five years he'd fill the air with recrimination and rancor, you'd have thought me contumelious. You'd have laughed at me and told me it couldn't happen. So it is useful now to note that, first, it has happened and, second, to try to understand how it happened and how he has written more than his fair share of lengthy, over-worded, pseudo-intellectual tripe. In all such instances Slasdhot conveniently overlooks the fact that his greed will be his undoing. In the presence of high heaven and before the civilized world I therefore assert that he has repeatedly threatened to elevate his campaigns to prominence as epistemological principles. Maybe that's just for maximum scaremongering effect. Or maybe it's because Slasdhot should start developing the parts of his brain that have been impaired by Leninism. At least then he'll stop trying to put narrow-minded thoughts in our children's minds.
On the surface, it would seem merely that Slasdhot's blithe disregard for the victims of his myopic effusions is what first made me realize that Slasdhot is offended by the truth. But the truth is that if anything, Slasdhot has planted his habitués everywhere. You can find them in businesses, unions, activist organizations, tax-exempt foundations, professional societies, movies, schools, churches, and so on. Not only does this subversive approach enhance Slasdhot's ability to fortify a social correctness that restricts experience and defines success with narrow boundaries, but it also provides irrefutable evidence that he motivates people to join his terrorist organization by using words like "humanity", "compassion", and "unity". This is a great deception. What Slasdhot really wants to do is promote racial superiority doctrines, ethnic persecution, imperialist expansion, and genocide. That's why Slasdhot's argument that mediocrity is a worthwhile goal is hopelessly flawed and absolutely circuitous.
A "respected" member of Slasdhot's brownshirt brigade recently said (to closely paraphrase), "Slasdhot is above everyone else". To top that off, if you're like most people you just shrug your shoulders whenever you hear about Slasdhot's latest ugly sottises. When your shoulders get tired of shrugging I hope you'll realize that I obviously hope that the truth will prevail and that justice will be served before Slasdhot does any real damage. Or is it already too late? The complete answer to that question is a long, sad story. I've answered parts of that question in several of my previous letters, and I'll answer other parts in future ones. For now, I'll just say that Slasdhot accuses me of being impolite in my responses to his incoherent, intransigent methods of interpretation. Let's see
AT&T vs. Concepcion is what allowed companies to get away with this crap. The California Supreme Court rightly ruled that such clauses are "unconsionable" where there is disparate baragaining power between the two parties. Even before reading this case, I had the exact same train of logic. When I am negotiating with a peer, it is fine to agree to such clauses. When I have the upper hand, the court should not recognize such abusive clauses.
If the Supreme Court (led by Scalia in a 5-4 decision) won't shoot down suck idiotic clauses, then it is up to our Congress to do so. How many of you want to hold your breath waiting for that to happen.
When I posted this, the parent comment was -1 and I figured mine would get modded the same way. You can imagine my shock and amusement when not only was mine modded up to +5, but so was OP.
While you have a very intelligent post, I think you have missed the point of my post. What I am disagreeing with is the modding down of the post. A downmod isn't a way of saying "I don't agree with your point".
More reading indicates that the center of mass of our solar system can be inside or outside of our solar system depending on the position of Jupiter relative to Saturn. I didn't know this before.... interesting stuff.
Slashdot Mirror
It's a bit like saying taking down a building has no collateral damage if it doesn't cause other buildings to collapse.
That is exactly what it means. If it takes down the intended building, then the intended building is not collateral damage.
Unless the cameras were damaged, then no, there isn't collateral damage. Being knocked offline isn't "damage".
That's just one specific example, look about and you can find hundreds of other things in daily use which came about thanks to military R&D and our need to blow things up better than the next guy, or prevent things from being blown up.
The logical fallicy with the above is this: can you demonstrate that we couldn't have spent the money more effectively and still receive the same consumer benefit? The argument you are giving is that somehow focusing on a military project is going to efficiently translate into a consumer benefit. If I am focused on project "X", it might have a benefit for application "Y", but would not have the same bang for the buck as if I just focused on application "Y" in the first place. You might find instances where this is not the case, but over several projects the trend will hold true.
Excuse my ignorance on this one, but if the missile disrupts electrical systems, how is a Faraday cage going to help? Assuming that your generation is not self contained, would such a disruption take out the electrical system outside of the Faraday cage? And if there is a sufficient spike, still do damage to devices inside the cage? Yea, I imagine with sufficient surge protection and battery backup you might be able to withstand the attack, but in all seriousness, only a really hardened target would have a chance. In the era of asymmetric warfare, the U.S. would be unlikely to face an enemy with this type of planning and resources. And if it were symmetric conflict, I doubt the United States would be worried about such a target attack. Instead they would cripple infrastructure or simply take out the building.
The more likely use case would be conducting a targeted raid and using a weapon like this to ensure that all security systems and communications systems were disabled right before the raid. Think Bin Laden compound.
The even more likely scenario is that this is a way of making some companies very rich and this weapon will never see use.
On the one hand I love reading about science stories. On the other, I am frankly tired of spending billions of dollars to prove the US has the biggest penis. Please cut our military spending 50 percent, focus on diplomacy and better targeted aid. Fund alternative energy to reduce our reliance on dictatorships.
And how is an Apple product announcement not news for nerds?
Did you read the Summary? This isn't a product announcement. This is details about a product announcement announcement. The next logical step is to have a press release indicating that sometime in the near future we will release a press release about a new product and the press release's press release is on 8.5x11 heavy cardstock paper.
News for Nerds
Stuff that Matters
Apple Stories Regardless
No, what is sad is how people judge a "winner" of a debate. I've seen honest conservatives who thought the first debate was a draw while the vast majority of people thought Romney won based on being "aggressive". Apparently the Romney ape beat his chest harder than the Obama ape, and that is enough for the rest of the tribe to decide that Romney is alpha and Obama the beta.
Nice trolling.
There is no fundamental reason that an operating system needs more than periodic security updates to remain viable. There is absolutely NOTHING that our company needs from an OS that Windows XP doesn't provide. So, from my point of view, the only reason to upgrade is because we are forced to. Why should I be required to update an OS simply because the manufacturer wants a few more bucks?
We have an app that does not work in XP mode, or at least couldn't until this year. Very legacy, specialized app... no knock on Microsoft here, just a legacy app used by a couple thousand actuaries across the country. The thing looks like it is a DOS program with a slapped on front end. Regardless, it hated running in Windows 7.
Just as an FYI, your statement #2 appears to be on the mark. I read more about the damage and the only accounts I could find indicated "historical" buildings had collapsed. So my questioning the building codes appears to be off the mark.
I wondered if there was more to the story than the summary indicates. I find it hard to believe a country like Italy would convict based on not having the ability to predict an earthquake.
I did some reading, and the charges have more to do with creating a perception that the earthquake risk was remote and being negligent in their duty to keep the people educated about earthquake preparation and vigilance.
Whether you agree that the scientist were negligent or not, the article title and summary are misleading and flamebait.
My company has roughly 200 employees. From my perspective, I will plan to migrate off of our remaining XP machines (about 30) only because of security updates. In early 2014, I understand that security updates will cease, though I expect it will be extended. Were is not for this deadline by Microsoft, I wouldn't force the upgrade. In a corporate environment, the OS isn't terribly relevant, but the applications are. You'd be surprised how many application are still not ready for a native 64 bit environment, some niche programs that we rely on just won't work unless a 32 bit OS is emulated.
So, if Microsoft continued XP support indefinitely, I would never move. XP SP2 is the first OS Microsoft has offered that is solid and stable (just don't let users run as admin).
Yes, I also find it hard to believe that they've drawn down water 1/4 kilometer. That is just amazingly bad.
The other hard-to-believe is how a 5.1 earthquake did so much damage. How poor are the building standards in Spain?
One step closer to Star Trek. Seriously, though, someone needs to set up a "BadPhoneCallTranslation.com" domain and set it to replay some of the funniest or awkward phone call translations.
And on an unrelated note, I am now seeing stories with red bars at the top. Am I now seeing articles to be posted in the future? Or is this just another Slashdot weird redesign?
I have a seven-year-old Linksys that still broadcasts through my whole house and to my back yard.
The first frame was not indicating that the statement took 48 seconds to see through, simply 48 seconds until he said something stupid enough to be seen through. Same with the second.
have facts for those who think and arguments for those who reason. For the sake of review, if five years ago I had described a person like Mr. Slasdhot Person to you and told you that in five years he'd fill the air with recrimination and rancor, you'd have thought me contumelious. You'd have laughed at me and told me it couldn't happen. So it is useful now to note that, first, it has happened and, second, to try to understand how it happened and how he has written more than his fair share of lengthy, over-worded, pseudo-intellectual tripe. In all such instances Slasdhot conveniently overlooks the fact that his greed will be his undoing. In the presence of high heaven and before the civilized world I therefore assert that he has repeatedly threatened to elevate his campaigns to prominence as epistemological principles. Maybe that's just for maximum scaremongering effect. Or maybe it's because Slasdhot should start developing the parts of his brain that have been impaired by Leninism. At least then he'll stop trying to put narrow-minded thoughts in our children's minds.
On the surface, it would seem merely that Slasdhot's blithe disregard for the victims of his myopic effusions is what first made me realize that Slasdhot is offended by the truth. But the truth is that if anything, Slasdhot has planted his habitués everywhere. You can find them in businesses, unions, activist organizations, tax-exempt foundations, professional societies, movies, schools, churches, and so on. Not only does this subversive approach enhance Slasdhot's ability to fortify a social correctness that restricts experience and defines success with narrow boundaries, but it also provides irrefutable evidence that he motivates people to join his terrorist organization by using words like "humanity", "compassion", and "unity". This is a great deception. What Slasdhot really wants to do is promote racial superiority doctrines, ethnic persecution, imperialist expansion, and genocide. That's why Slasdhot's argument that mediocrity is a worthwhile goal is hopelessly flawed and absolutely circuitous.
A "respected" member of Slasdhot's brownshirt brigade recently said (to closely paraphrase), "Slasdhot is above everyone else". To top that off, if you're like most people you just shrug your shoulders whenever you hear about Slasdhot's latest ugly sottises. When your shoulders get tired of shrugging I hope you'll realize that I obviously hope that the truth will prevail and that justice will be served before Slasdhot does any real damage. Or is it already too late? The complete answer to that question is a long, sad story. I've answered parts of that question in several of my previous letters, and I'll answer other parts in future ones. For now, I'll just say that Slasdhot accuses me of being impolite in my responses to his incoherent, intransigent methods of interpretation. Let's see
AT&T vs. Concepcion is what allowed companies to get away with this crap. The California Supreme Court rightly ruled that such clauses are "unconsionable" where there is disparate baragaining power between the two parties. Even before reading this case, I had the exact same train of logic. When I am negotiating with a peer, it is fine to agree to such clauses. When I have the upper hand, the court should not recognize such abusive clauses.
If the Supreme Court (led by Scalia in a 5-4 decision) won't shoot down suck idiotic clauses, then it is up to our Congress to do so. How many of you want to hold your breath waiting for that to happen.
if you are interested in more details, read the ruling here: http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/10pdf/09-893.pdf
When I posted this, the parent comment was -1 and I figured mine would get modded the same way. You can imagine my shock and amusement when not only was mine modded up to +5, but so was OP.
Believe it or not, I think the parent post was on topic.
Yes... I was clearly posting too late at night.
While you have a very intelligent post, I think you have missed the point of my post. What I am disagreeing with is the modding down of the post. A downmod isn't a way of saying "I don't agree with your point".
Wow.... that is the joke. You realize that Australia's purpose for the British was to have an island to ship their criminals off to, right?
More reading indicates that the center of mass of our solar system can be inside or outside of our solar system depending on the position of Jupiter relative to Saturn. I didn't know this before.... interesting stuff.