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User: HeadlessNotAHorseman

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Comments · 470

  1. Re:Won't work. on Let the Games Be Doped · · Score: 1

    I used to play chinese checkers against my dad when I was a kid. To begin with, he would let me make two moves for every one of his. When I started beating him, I got a double move every second move, then a double move every third move and so on until I was playing evenly against him (and legitimately winning). It made the game fun, and kept me interested because I had a chance of winning.

  2. Re:Maybe this is not so unreasonable on Airline Cancels All Flights Booked Through Third-Party Systems · · Score: 1

    Why don't Ryanair just include a captcha image to prevent screenscraping?

  3. Re:Hot chicks at the olympics on New Olympics Scoring: No More Perfect 10.0 · · Score: 1

    Height is also an issue. Taller people have a higher fulcrum point which makes it more difficult to do gymnastics (IANAGBMFW - I am not a gymnast but my father was). Technology changes too. For example in my father's day the floors were just a plain floor with a thin mat on it. Now they have springy floors which means you can jump a lot higher in the floor events.

  4. Re:Huh on New Olympics Scoring: No More Perfect 10.0 · · Score: 1
    I've also been working on a clear definition of what is and what isn't a sport. I've only just started, so I still have a lot of work to do. So far I have the following:
    A sport:
    • Tennis
    • Caber tossing
    • Pheasant plucking
    • 100m backstroke
    • Armadillo wrestling (Peruvian rules)

    Not a sport:

    • Sitting on a rock
    • Picking the gunk out from under your toenails
    • Refrigerator maintenance
    • Octathlon
    • Armadillo wrestling (Uruguayan rules)

    If anyone else has any ideas, please help me add to my list.

  5. Virus eating virus eating virus.... on Viruses Infected By Viruses · · Score: 5, Funny

    So a virus that attacks viruses eh? I wonder if there a virus that attacks the virus that attacks the viruses? And a virus that attacks the virus that attacks the virus that...er...well, you know what I mean. And what if the first virus evolves to attack the last virus....every time you get one of those mysterious unidentified itches it could just be a ring of viruses all chasing each other around in circles!

  6. Re:Efficiency. on "Mobile Plate Hunter" Cameras Raise Questions · · Score: 1

    Don't you realise the fines that they generate from catching people with lapsed insurance and emissions tests pay for the donuts that fuel the cops that are working on the important things!

  7. Why not do what they do in Australia...? on "Mobile Plate Hunter" Cameras Raise Questions · · Score: 1

    In Australia cars have to be registered annually, which includes compulsory 3rd party personal insurance. When you register the car, you get a sticker which you put on the inside of your windshield. The stickers are colour-coded by year, and have the expiry date written on them. It's very easy to see at a glance from afar whether the registration has expired.

  8. Unsung hero? Not quite... on Brian May, Rock Legend, Publishes His Thesis · · Score: 1

    According to this, there is at least one song written about him...

  9. Re:Exxon/Mobil to explore Saturn Pipeline on Liquid Lakes On Saturn's Moon Confirmed · · Score: 1

    Private investment is all about costs vs benefits vs risk. A private investor is not going to invest in something unless this ratio is in their favour. At the moment no (rational) private investor would consider the cost * risk for this kind of venture to be profitable. That is why government investment is required: the government does not have to factor in monetary benefits, therefore they afford to put up the necessary costs. Eventually, government-sponsored science yields enough base data for private investors to begin risking investment costs with the hope of gaining benefits (cf space tourism).

  10. Re:Internets... on Yale Students' Lawsuit Unmasks Anonymous Trolls · · Score: 1

    The solution? Give your children very common names. My wife is almost impossible to find online because her name is so common. When she was in high school, there were four or so other people with the same first and last name. One of them even had the same middle initial.

    That's why I named all three of my daughters "John Smith"!

  11. Re:The posters deserve to be unmasked on Yale Students' Lawsuit Unmasks Anonymous Trolls · · Score: 1

    I remember back in school we weren't allowed to use the internet for references. All our references had to come from printed literature

    A more useful approach would have been for your teachers to allow internet references, but to also teach you how to evaluate whether an internet reference is trustworthy or not (for example Wikipedia vs an online scientific journal). A minimum number of book references should also be required (it is still important to learn how to read a book!). I suppose it depends on when you went to school - in the early days of the web they probably would not have predicted how ubiquitous the WWW would become, and even after that it would take a few years for the curriculum to catch up.

  12. MONIAC on Judge Rules Sprint Early Termination Fees Illegal · · Score: 1

    While we are talking about economy, can anyone please direct me to an online version of the MONIAC? It would really help me to understand basic economics if I could play around with the variables and have immediate visibility of the effects. Thanks!

  13. Re:Not The Same People on WB Took Pains To "Delay" Pirating of Dark Knight · · Score: 1

    I've noticed a lot of complaints about other people talking, crunching loudly, kicking seats etc at the cinema. Is that some sort of cultural thing? Or is it that the bad experiences don't happen often but people are just recalling them with greater clarity? I ask because I live in Australia and whilst I don't go to the cinema often, I can't recall every having a bad experience due to the behaviours of others.

  14. Opening weekend sales mean nothing? on WB Took Pains To "Delay" Pirating of Dark Knight · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I don't get how you can measure how good a film is based on it's opening weekend? The opening weekend only measures how good the marketing is...I would put more stock in the second and third weekends, when word-of-mouth has had time to spread.

  15. Re:Storage? on Delivering 8K VFX Shots For the Dark Knight · · Score: 1

    They stored it on 72,817,778 floppy disks.

  16. Re:8K? 18K? on Delivering 8K VFX Shots For the Dark Knight · · Score: 1

    K means Kelvin. They store the film at very low temperatures so that it lasts longer!

  17. Re:Sad on Spam King Escapes From Federal Prison · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    If you are planning to do something like this, you might as well do it properly! Sure, he knocked off his family, but he could've done a lot better. I have calculated that the absolute worst way to commit suicide (i.e. the method that would cause the most trauma to the people left behind) is:
    1. Dress up in santa suit
    2. Go to large shopping mall or other gathering of many families (preferably around christmas time)
    3. Using a machine gun or some other rapid-fire weapon, shoot as many of the parents as you can (be sure NOT to kill any children)
    4. with the last remaining bullet, shoot yourself

    Voila, many people dead, and many children traumatised by watching their parents killed by santa claus. I challenge anyone here to think of a worse way to take yourself out!

  18. Re:To quote George Carlin on Spam King Escapes From Federal Prison · · Score: 1

    I make the point about this because I don't think most people consider male rape a real social problem... it's just funny. Whereas a girl getting raped, that's serious business.

    As a politically correct person, I make a point of ensuring that I find both male and female rape equally funny.

  19. Re:Huh? on Scientists Solve Riddle of Toxic Algae Blooms · · Score: 1

    Not long ago Schindler was given a $1M award for lifetime contributions to science, and I'm not aware of anyone who would say it wasn't richly deserved.

    I would say it wasn't richly deserved. But then again, I have no idea what I am talking about. At least now you are aware of me though!

  20. Re:City of... what? on Scientists Solve Riddle of Toxic Algae Blooms · · Score: 1

    (Of course, I'm from Texas, where an "area the size of the STATE of New Jersey" would barely be counted as a moderate-sized ranch.)

    I refute that statement. Area of New Jersey is 22,608km^2. Largest ranch in the US is about 6,000km^2. It seems that the only thing in Texas bigger than New Jersey are the Texans' egos!
     
    Australia outshines everybody: as per the second link above our biggest cattle station is 34,000km^2 (that's bigger than Belgium, baby!).

  21. Re:The end of one-handed surfing? on Computer Mouse Heading For Extinction · · Score: 1

    I love to skateboard, but by-and-large it's a lopsided method of exercise unless you constantly switch stance. I'd love to interact with my raster using two hands but the mouse has the advantage of configurability -- that is, you can change the cursor's speed and velocity to get more from less wtih the added bonus that it's a lot less intrusive onscreen than fingers are.

    Did anybody else read that as "I'd love to interact with my sister using two hands"?? Ewwww!

  22. Re:This assumes the big bang is correct. on One of the Coolest Places In the Universe · · Score: 1

    The apparent movement of galaxies moving away from each other is what gives rise to the notion of the big bang. What if this is just an optical illusion?

    It's not an optical illusion, it just looks like one!

  23. Re:Copyright infringement, too on Why ISPs' "Stand" Against Child Porn Is Actually Not a Stand Against Child Porn · · Score: 1

    Well the solution to the anorexia/obesity problem is simple: use liposuction to remove the fat from the fatties, and lipopropulsion to pump it into the skinnies. Voila! Instant average weight for everybody! I envisage a big circle of people arranged fat-thin-fat-thin, each connected with tubes and noisy gurgling pumps. The fat people face outward and are given food, the thin people face inwards and regurgitate into a kind of drain/sluice arrangement in the centre of the circle.

  24. Re:A modest proposal on FBI Fights Testing For False DNA Matches · · Score: 2, Insightful

    At the moment there is insufficient downside to a wrongful conviction for anyone involved (apart from the innocent person convicted). I propose that if a conviction is shown to have been wrongful then everybody involved (the cops, prosecutors, jury, judge, etc.) should serve the same penalty (or part penalty) as the wrongfully convicted person had to up to the point the conviction was quashed.

    It's a nice idea, but if you do that then you risk people erring too far on the side of caution. If I was on a jury and there was a risk of me being punished for finding the defendant guilty then it is likely that I would vote not guilty (even if I strongly believed based on the evidence presented that he/she was guilty). Ideally you want your judges/juries to be impartial, but if they have something to gain/lose then they no longer have that impartiality. Sure, some of them will make bad decisions every now and then, but at least they will make bad decisions for the right reasons.

  25. It's in the bible! on Mars Lander's Robot Arm Shuts Down To Save Itself · · Score: 1

    I'm not a Christian, but it sounds like this robot has been reading the bible:
    Matthew 9:43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched