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User: ridgecritter

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Comments · 297

  1. Re:Classic Slashdot on Fire Destroys Iron Mountain Data Warehouse, Argentina's Bank Records Lost · · Score: 1

    Theverge link was amazingly awful. I had no idea. And I can certainly see how it's Dice's direction for /. Just as certainly, not mine.

  2. Well said. on Canadian Health Scientists Resort To Sneaker Net After Funding Slashed · · Score: 1

    Thank you.

  3. Re:Some more explaination on Bizarre Star Could Host a Neutron Star In Its Core · · Score: 1

    Thanks for this. No mod points to give you, but I see they're not needed.

  4. Re:It won't work - sure about that? on Australian Team Working On Engines Without Piston Rings · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I wouldn't dismiss this right away.

    If the physical features on the piston provide resistance to gas flow along the piston/cylinder annulus similar to that provided by piston rings, they wouldn't need a close-fitting piston - therefore no expansion coefficient headaches. It may also be that the hydrodynamics tend to center the piston in the cylinder, which would reduce contact events and scuffing wear.

    You could probably get a feasibility go/no check with a few weeks' worth of modeling. The resonance interactions in the piston grooves when the combustion pressure front reaches them would be very interesting to see.

  5. any tax consequences of seizure? on US Federal Judge Rules Suspicionless Border Searches of Laptops Constitutional · · Score: 2

    If my laptop or other device is seized at the border (and not returned), do I get to claim this as a casualty loss during the tax year? What about any machine-locked software on the laptop that I would have to repurchase? If my e-device is returned and acts funny, can I deduct the cost of a forensic exam to look for dropped-in malware? Gotta be a way to monetize this idiocy in my favor.

  6. Re:Really? on Rough Roving: Curiosity's Wheel Damage 'Accelerated' · · Score: 1

    Interesting, thanks. Wish I had mod points today.

  7. Re: Capitalism Democracy? on Investor Lawsuit Blames NSA For $12B Loss In IBM Value · · Score: 1

    The President's appointment of the CJ of USSC is, like his other appointments to the USSC, subject to confirmation by the Senate.

    I'm pretty sure the FISC judges are unique in their appointments being subject to no oversight whatever.

  8. Re:Let Me Get This Straight on Investor Lawsuit Blames NSA For $12B Loss In IBM Value · · Score: 1

    I believe what's meant by "sovereign" here is "sovereign immunity", by which the US government (including the NSA as a Federal entity) is immune from lawsuits unless it consents to be sued.

    YMMV under the Federal Tort Claims Act and/or the Tucker Act, but basically, the NSA enjoys the Federal government's umbrella immunity from suit which, under limited circumstances, may be rebutted or overcome.

  9. Re:Capitalism Democracy? on Investor Lawsuit Blames NSA For $12B Loss In IBM Value · · Score: 1

    "The court that issues these decisions (FISC) is not the court that decides what is Constitutional..."

    Yes, but since "The court's judges are appointed solely by the Supreme Court Chief Justice without confirmation or oversight by the U.S. Congress."(*), the court that *does* determine constitutionality isn't exactly unbiased towards FISC.

    I don't know of another circumstance in which a court's judges are appointed by a single judge of the only court that could review the appointees' decisions. As well as those appointments being made with no oversight whatever.

    * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Foreign_Intelligence_Surveillance_Court

  10. Re:I was wondering on Investor Lawsuit Blames NSA For $12B Loss In IBM Value · · Score: 1

    Maybe they can hire Snowden to help them with discovery. Could be something useful to the litigants in the unreleased documents. Although I guess it could be tough to get NSA to authenticate them so they'd be admissible evidence.

  11. "Eat hot peroxide, Bezos!" on SpaceX Wins Use of NASA's Launch Pad 39A · · Score: 1

    Oh, for mod points!

  12. Re:Slight change in title, if I may on Nobody Builds Reactors For Fun Anymore · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Completely agree. As a child, I learned a good deal about chemistry and explosives through DIY activities. Those childhood lessons (nobody got hurt) have gotten me some good jobs at major aerospace companies and at a space startup. A kid doing today what I did back when would be instantly jailed and put on the terr'ist list forever. Hell, I fear what would happen if DHS were to find my oxy/acetylene welding set in my home shop. Our increasingly Draconian restrictions are fencing off ever more sources of inspiration and creativity.

  13. Re:Gallium = Sticky on First Images of a Heart Injected With Liquid Metal · · Score: 3, Informative

    It is that. I've seen it stick to Teflon and graphite components. It coats glass and silicon wafers with a nice mirror surface.

    Lowest melting nontoxic liquid metal I've heard of is Galinstan, a eutectic alloy of gallium, indium, and tin, melts around -19C. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galinstan

  14. Jammer tech? on No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service — and No Google Glass, Either · · Score: 1

    I've not looked into the technical details of GGlass. Is it susceptible to jamming? Might it be feasible to carry a wifi/BlueTooth jammer on my person that would inhibit GG's recording functions? If so, KickStarter, anyone? Or has it already been done?

  15. Re:Power abhors a vacuum. on Building an Opt-In Society · · Score: 2

    Yeah. One wonders what dreams these people have that are being blocked by the government.

    Mr. Musk is doing good work in establishing commercial access to space and giving us a new choice in cars. SpaceX has a $1+Billion ISS supply contract from NASA (Government), and Tesla accepted and paid back a roughly half-billion dollar loan *from the government* that was extremely helpful in establishing the company's manufacturing operations. Seems to me that in Mr. Musk's case, the government has been a facilitator of his dreams.

    I'm less familiar with Messrs. Thiel and Page's histories, but it would not surprise me to learn that government made a direct contribution to each of their businesses at some point along the way. It certainly contributed indirectly through providing infrastructure like commercial laws and the courts to enforce them, facilitating an educated and healthy population from which they could recruit workers, and on and on.

  16. Didn't climb out of ground effect, on Aeromobil Flying Car Prototype Gets Off the Ground For the First Time · · Score: 1

    but still pretty cool.

    In the video, the aircraft seemed to fly level at an altitude no higher than its wingspan. This would have been in the ground effect flight regime, in which fixed wing aircraft have a bit more lift and less drag than at higher altitudes. Takes less power to fly in ground effect.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_effect_(aircraft)

  17. Honeypot? on Why Bitcoin Boomed During the Government Shutdown · · Score: 2

    I thought this was an interesting take on Bitcoin:

    http://ianso.blogspot.com/2013/10/bitcoin-as-law-enforcementnatsec.html

  18. Thanks for link on Saturn In All Its Glory · · Score: 1

    Great trailer, looking forward to the film's release.

  19. Re:Really? on DOJ: Defendant Has No Standing To Oppose Use of Phone Records · · Score: 1

    And if we would just get rid of that pesky presumption of innocence thing, we'd sure imprison more criminals. That would be a good outcome, purchased at far too high a price.

    In this case, the defendant sure looks like he's guilty. Doesn't matter. If the government didn't follow the law, he should walk.

    It sucks when we occasionally let defendants go free who are quite obviously guilty, just because somebody screwed up an evidentiary chain of custody, or was too loosey-goosey about getting a confession through enhanced interrogation, or collected evidence illegally, or whatever breach of due process happened because somebody was lazy/corrupt/just plain human. But we have to do it.

    When the government charges an individual with a crime, it's a proceeding by an entity of comparatively infinite power against an individual. It's good that the government has to follow rules exactly in this process. This good thing that we have costs a lot from time to time, and it's worth it.

  20. another mod up, please on TEPCO Workers Remove Wrong Pipe Get Splashed With Radioactive Water · · Score: 1

    Great link, thank you.

  21. Re:because it didn't matter on Fusion Reactor Breaks Even · · Score: 1

    "Why? Nobody else does." - I believe that's accurate and problematic. Hard to make good decisions if costs of alternatives are obfuscated. We need to fix this by looking for realistic energy accounting when we're evaluating any energy source technology.

    "It takes a lot of work to turn a breakthrough into a commodity." Agreed. And I'd keep funding NIF under this rationale alone.

  22. Re:because it didn't matter on Fusion Reactor Breaks Even · · Score: 1

    OK, I'll admit to temporary curmudgeonly-ness, or however it might be better expressed. Even if it never puts a watt on the grid, I value the physics and engineering we're uncovering in the fusion program. And the money is not much more than a roundoff error in our national budget. If I had to choose between the ACA and NIF, I'd pick the former. If I had to choose between NIF and the salaries of our delegates to Congress...well, I'd fund additional NIF studies to see what happens when we substitute a member of Congress for the hohlraum....

  23. because it didn't matter on Fusion Reactor Breaks Even · · Score: 1

    Maybe because it isn't actually significant. "Breakeven", IIRC, is most commonly understood to mean that the fusion reaction put out more energy than was used to initiate it.But if you're going to be commercially honest about the energy accounting, you need to consider all the energy you used - the 'wallplug' efficiency, as most laser folks would say.

    But LLL wants to sell this as a milestone because it yielded more energy *than the target absorbed*. Two way different criteria. LLL's milestone, while of academic interest and doubtless an engineering tour de force, provides no encouragement for commercial use of this technology.

  24. measures the entire vector & intensity time se on Matchstick-Sized Sensor Can Record Your Private Chats Outdoors · · Score: 1

    I looked at the company's web site. The technology description indicates that the sensor is a coplanar parallel pair of tiny hot wire anemometer elements located very close together. This structure measures the component of air velocity that is across the wire pair, in the wire pair's plane. Three of these sensors, mounted so they're mutually orthogonal (one each in the XY, XZ, and YZ planes) give the full vector field for air velocity. There is another co-located sensor that gives the pressure (intensity). So one small sensor assembly (about the size of a big kitchen match head) gives high accuracy directional information and time series pressure data. This data set contains everything needed to locate and record a sound source.

  25. Re:Is there really any point to this? on Tech In the Hot Seat For Oct. 1st Obamacare Launch · · Score: 1

    Posting AC because I moderated.

    Single payer is what we need, and is what most other developed nations have made work well, but it's completely impossible to implement in the United States at this time. Obamacare, the ACA, whatever you want to call it, is at least a substantive step in the right direction. Incremental, imperfect progress beats waiting for the perfect solution we won't get to for a couple of decades.