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User: hedgemage

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  1. Will price point even matter? on 3D Printing Might Save the Rhinoceros · · Score: 2

    Considering the market is being driven by very wealthy individuals who will pay any price for their boner pills, I would think that it wouldn't substantially change the price since these wealthy individuals could afford to pay a little extra to have certified 100% real rhino horn that's been lab tested. Unless the copies are so good that they will fool even experts, its not going to stop the trade. Sounds like a great way to make money off of the people who can't afford the real stuff, though!

  2. Ugh. Its that season again... on Microsoft Will Help Iowa Caucuses Go High-Tech · · Score: 1

    Time to be reminded how our method of holding national elections is completely broken and inefficient. I wish I could save up all my sleeping time and sleep every fourth year so I don't have to deal with the circus. Just wake me up on voting day and I'll do my duty.

  3. I need a reminder on Yahoo Called Its Layoffs a "Remix." Don't Do That. · · Score: 1

    Serious question: what does Yahoo! do that earns them money? I honestly can't name anything off the top of my head.

  4. Won't make it to 50 on Games Workshop At 40: How They Brought D&D To Britain · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Looking at GW's current business model and practices, it is clear that they are at the brink of collapse. Not because they aren't making money, but because their business model is, well, models. The ever increasing prices for their models and rulebooks is spiraling out of control, meaning that the barriers to attracting new players are increasingly steep. Add to this the rapid decrease in costs of 3D printing technology and soon people won't need to buy their products at all. They are slowly attempting to become an intellectual property-based company, and are using the same kind of ham-fisted, strongarm tactics that traditional media companies use that discourage fan collaboration and community. Right now, there is no one in their leadership with any clue or plan to adapt to the changing market and disruptive technologies. Their time is limited. People will still play their game, but their revenue streams will dry up.

  5. Leftover Ash? on Mystery Ash Clouds Rain In Parts of Washington, Oregon · · Score: 4, Informative

    Uh, the Northwest is a big place and the air is anything but stagnant. We entered the wet season a couple of months ago, so the chances of the particulates being locally originated is laughable since everything has been pretty moist for weeks. The Time article cites no sources about "ash leftover from last year's fires" so I'm going to assume that someone was either pulling something completely out of context or out of their anal cavity or both.

  6. Re:Don't Make Storms Mad on Terrestrial Gamma Ray Bursts Very Common · · Score: 1

    The parent post is an Abomination. You should be a Leader and not Ravage this message board with your... uh... Doc Samson?

  7. Re:Agreed! on UK MP Says ISPs Must Take Responsibility For Movie Leaks, Sony Eyes North Korea · · Score: 5, Funny

    You're not thinking this through, we're talking about computers here.
    These crimes used computers, and these computer use software, the software companies are to blame for aiding and abetting these hackers and pirates!
    And those computers also use power which is generated by utility companies who need to step up and accept their responsibility for this criminal behavior!
    Heaven help the soft-drink company that makes whatever beverage these criminal masterminds used to quench their thirst during their reign of terror! Hopefully they will have the moral rectitude to admit that they must also shoulder the blame!

  8. 2mm by 12mm on Entrepreneur Injects Bitcoin Wallets Into Hands · · Score: 4, Insightful

    That's... not small considering your hands are pretty tightly packed full of muscles, ligaments, and bone with very little free space that doesn't need to flex. twist, or shift during use, and they're always knocking into things. Even if this is a good idea technologically, it sure sounds like its a bad idea for practical reasons, at least until the capsule can be made smaller.

  9. Public Use of a Public Space on Creationism Conference at Michigan State University Stirs Unease · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So what? It is use of a publicly available space. No matter how bizarre their beliefs, these folks have a right to assemble and speak (assuming they paid the rental fees!).
    If the conferences are open to the public, then the appropriate thing to do would be to attend and laugh. Treat it like the comedy club act that it is, and get a good chuckle. If question and answer is permitted, follow the rules of proper debating and ask reasoned questions. Bonus points if you are actually a believer and use biblical/theological sources to tear apart the spurious claims of these extremists.

  10. Re:Sounds wasteful and stupid ... on Haier Plans To Embed Area Wireless Chargers In Home Appliances · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I really want to hear some numbers to inform me how efficient this is. I am not a EE or physicist, so I'm having a hard time seeing how this could be efficient in any way.
    Wouldn't wireless charging in this sense, even if it was initiated by the target device, result in a lot of wasted power? If a transmitter is beaming out power it wouldn't all be 'captured' by a device needing to be charged, would it?
    Isn't this similar to filling a glass of water by setting it on your front lawn and turning on the sprinklers? Yes the glass will fill, but in the process, a lot of water has been broadcast to places where the glass wasn't there to receive it.

  11. Wrong Price! on Apple 1 Sells At Auction For $905,000 · · Score: 4, Funny

    What a bunch of frickin' casuals! If they truly knew their history, the price would have been $905,666.66.

  12. Re:Intellectual Property on 3-D Printed "Iron Man" Prosthetic Hands Now Available For Kids · · Score: 1

    This is Disney we're talking about, they won't sue... not yet... first comes the waves of C&D letters and thinly veiled threats.

  13. Re:This should have been a no brainer on Florida Supreme Court: Police Can't Grab Cell Tower Data Without a Warrant · · Score: 4, Funny

    You'd be mistaken! The founders meant actual, physical paper (made from wood pulp, no vellum or papyrus!) when they said "papers" and "effects" to specifically mean snuff boxes. Law enforcement are merely constitutional purists.

  14. Magic Doesn't Help on The CDC Is Carefully Controlling How Scared You Are About Ebola · · Score: 5, Insightful

    People are the same the world over.
    In many communities where Ebola is running rampant, superstition, and a belief in shamanistic or animistic magic are helping spread the disease and prevent proper care.
    And here in the US, I've seen a well-shared Facebook link to a 'natural health' site that tells you how you can get Ebola from ATM keypads and doorknobs, but you can protect yourself via essential oils and the immune system boosting properties of silver! No need for autism creating vaccines!
    I'm so glad I don't live in a place where people think magic potions and mystic talismans will ward off disease!

  15. Something I don't want to hear... on Microsoft's "RoomAlive" Transforms Any Room Into a Giant Xbox Game · · Score: 1

    "The blood spray particle physics are AMAZING!"

  16. I need definitions on Researcher Fired At NSF After Government Questions Her Role As 1980s Activist · · Score: 5, Insightful

    First off, what is a "Domestic terrorist group" and who makes the decision. Second, what are 'ties'? She was a member of 2 organizations that had 'ties' to a 'domestic terrorist group'. Does this mean financial or material support or that Joe Blow was also a member of the groups involved and therefore he was a 'tie'. Lastly, what was her 'dishonest conduct'? If she outright lied, that's one thing. If during her interviews/form filling she was asked if she had 'ties' (there's that slippery word again!) to any terrorist group if she honestly didn't know group X was considered a 'domestic terrorst group' when she wasn't even a member of group X and was instead a member of group Y which was NOT a 'domestic terrorist group' is that justifiable grounds for dismissal?

  17. The only problem is... on NASA: Lunar Pits and Caves Could House Astronauts · · Score: 3, Funny

    Scientific films of yesteryear have informed us that any lunar caves are inhabited by insect men. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt00...

  18. Wouldn't it be more appropriate to say... on Windows 9 To Win Over Windows 7 Users, Disables Start Screen For Desktop · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Instead of saying "One of Microsoft's main goals with Windows 9, the next major version of Windows, is to win over Windows 7 hold outs." wouldn't it be more factual to say the main goal is to "overcome the design failures that prevented widespread adoption of Windows 8."

    As much as they love to pat themselves on the back for having such a "revolutionary" design, there is no better evidence that it Win 8 was a groupthink circlejerk than how no one who had the choice would use it.

  19. The real secret on Secret of the Banjo's Unique Sound Discovered By Nobel Prize-Winning Physicist · · Score: 3, Informative

    The drum membrane is made out of 'possum skin.

  20. Re:Thrill over the idea at least on EVE Online's Space Economy Currently Worth $18 Million · · Score: 1

    So in Eve the shopkeeper gets the thrill of having someone break his window so he can pay for the thrill of having it replaced? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P...

  21. But... on Mobile Game Attempts To Diagnose Alzheimer's · · Score: 1

    I can't remember where I left my mobile device.

  22. Comparable to... on Florida Judge Rules IP Address Can't Identify a BitTorrent Pirate · · Score: 2

    IANAL but isn't making the assumption that the registered user of an IP address is responsible for any and all illegal activity that involve that IP address the same kind of leap of logic that you'd make if you assumed that any crime committed with a gun directly implicates the registered owner of said firearm?

  23. Re:Other 50% are uninformed on Survey Finds Nearly 50% In US Believe In Medical Conspiracy Theories · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Cite sources please. Reputable journals only.

    Problem is that the US has made it nearly impossible to research the effects of marijuana/THC so there is a real lack of good data. Facing this lack of evidence, too many people are stating outrageous claims that pot will do everything from cure the common cold to cancer and everything in between.

  24. Most important question! on Waves Spotted On Titan · · Score: 2, Insightful

    CAN YOU SURF THESE WAVES?

  25. hostile ot all known life? on Kepler's Alien World Count Skyrockets · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm not a xenobiologist, but wouldn't a high-pressure hydrogen-rich atmosphere conceivably be home to organisms similar to those that live around deep sea volcanic vents? Will we be going to war with/conquered by giant tubeworms?