Carl Sagan would argue that science is in fact the truest form of democracy. And I would follow Carl Sagan to the ends of the Earth in that belief, if he were still around.
Off-topic and in all seriousness, but too often it seems to me like we're just so lost without Carl in this world. Ten years, and it seems like we've barely moved anywhere without him...
First, we got the [laser], and that was good,
'Cause we love peace and motherhood.
Then [China] got the [laser],
But that's okay,
'Cause the balance of power's maintained that way!
Who's next?
This shouldn't be anything of a surprise. The law doesn't enter into it: every traceable activity that any citizen [or non-citizen] of this country engages in is surely monitored by the government where it is practical for it to do so.
1) There were obviously no tags at the time of the first post.
2) It added little to the discussion. There's a discrepancy.
3) It had little merit on its own. Again, discrepancy.
4) What does that have to do with anything?
I've certainly had more incisive things to contribute to discussions before than one-liner Propagandhi lyrics, but I consider a -1 score for my post to be, beyond reasonable doubt, haywire moderation.
Or as the Second Law of Legal-Dynamics states:
'In any process to convert the heat energy that flows from a hot object to a colder object into work, there will inevitably be some loss. One cannot transform 100% of the heat flow into productive work.'
The world has been dying for this sort of energy-reduction initiative, and when it comes along, it's from Wal-Mart... This reminds me of when PETA wanted everyone to go out and buy a BK Veggie sandwich. Just a whole big ethical mess.
Forgive my sophomoric understanding of the science involved here, but I have a few questions to throw out there for the grad students and pedagogues:
First, how does one define the abstraction of the pad detecting, as the parent puts forth, if an object "needs" power? What's to stop it from sending just as much power to a piece of conductive metal, say, a penny, as opposed to a cellular phone?
[As I'm sure someone will naturally assume I'm supposing that a penny is comprised entirely of highly-conductive copper and get didactic on my ass by posting the actual metallurgic composition of a penny, I'll let Wikipedia save us all the trouble: "Copper-plated Zinc:
97.5% Zn, 2.5% Cu".]
The obvious difference, anyway, between a penny and a cell phone battery is that though both have potential to carry a current, one already holds some charge and the other does not. Can this wireless power technology be made to be "smart" enough to unerringly detect the presence of an existing discrepancy in the electromagnetic field and send power in that specific direction? Aren't there several scenarios in which one could confound the machine? For instance, what's to stop someone to foolishly place, say, a bar magnet on the pad? What effect would this have?
Anyway, I'm throwing these questions out there in curiosity, and if anyone can lob a pearl or two back, much appreciated.
Say what you will for or against global warming or for or against the relative merits of George W. Bush's policies, but if you're implying that George W. Bush is in any way an iconoclast, you had best check yourself.
What scares me more than the eagerness of the powers-that-be to use technology to further diminish our privacy is the willingness of the common man to use these same technologies to diminish our privacy of his own volition under the guise of love.
Slashdot Mirror
Carl Sagan would argue that science is in fact the truest form of democracy. And I would follow Carl Sagan to the ends of the Earth in that belief, if he were still around.
Off-topic and in all seriousness, but too often it seems to me like we're just so lost without Carl in this world. Ten years, and it seems like we've barely moved anywhere without him...
To paraphrase Tom Lehrer:
First, we got the [laser], and that was good,
'Cause we love peace and motherhood.
Then [China] got the [laser],
But that's okay,
'Cause the balance of power's maintained that way!
Who's next?
'Happiness is a [pissed] pawn'.
This shouldn't be anything of a surprise. The law doesn't enter into it: every traceable activity that any citizen [or non-citizen] of this country engages in is surely monitored by the government where it is practical for it to do so.
1) There were obviously no tags at the time of the first post.
2) It added little to the discussion. There's a discrepancy.
3) It had little merit on its own. Again, discrepancy.
4) What does that have to do with anything?
I've certainly had more incisive things to contribute to discussions before than one-liner Propagandhi lyrics, but I consider a -1 score for my post to be, beyond reasonable doubt, haywire moderation.
It really is astounding how redundant my first post was.
What a stupid world.
I say we take off, nuke the suit from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
Srs!
Or as the Second Law of Legal-Dynamics states: 'In any process to convert the heat energy that flows from a hot object to a colder object into work, there will inevitably be some loss. One cannot transform 100% of the heat flow into productive work.'
IDK; IANAP.
Ain't nothin' but a G thang, baby.
I say we take off, nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
I'm Leary of this. *Ducks.*
If Wikipedia's maintaining corporate objectivity means its ultimate failure or stagnation, I will go down with the ship in a heartbeat.
The world has been dying for this sort of energy-reduction initiative, and when it comes along, it's from Wal-Mart... This reminds me of when PETA wanted everyone to go out and buy a BK Veggie sandwich. Just a whole big ethical mess.
Forgive my sophomoric understanding of the science involved here, but I have a few questions to throw out there for the grad students and pedagogues:
First, how does one define the abstraction of the pad detecting, as the parent puts forth, if an object "needs" power? What's to stop it from sending just as much power to a piece of conductive metal, say, a penny, as opposed to a cellular phone?
[As I'm sure someone will naturally assume I'm supposing that a penny is comprised entirely of highly-conductive copper and get didactic on my ass by posting the actual metallurgic composition of a penny, I'll let Wikipedia save us all the trouble: "Copper-plated Zinc: 97.5% Zn, 2.5% Cu".]
The obvious difference, anyway, between a penny and a cell phone battery is that though both have potential to carry a current, one already holds some charge and the other does not. Can this wireless power technology be made to be "smart" enough to unerringly detect the presence of an existing discrepancy in the electromagnetic field and send power in that specific direction? Aren't there several scenarios in which one could confound the machine? For instance, what's to stop someone to foolishly place, say, a bar magnet on the pad? What effect would this have?
Anyway, I'm throwing these questions out there in curiosity, and if anyone can lob a pearl or two back, much appreciated.
Me am Superman!
Lo-is!
Say what you will for or against global warming or for or against the relative merits of George W. Bush's policies, but if you're implying that George W. Bush is in any way an iconoclast, you had best check yourself.
What scares me more than the eagerness of the powers-that-be to use technology to further diminish our privacy is the willingness of the common man to use these same technologies to diminish our privacy of his own volition under the guise of love.
Seriously, though, are you a real person?
So, and I'm not trying to offend here as I am genuinely confused -- do you actually talk like this, or is this satire?
Actually, I'd imagine it to be "Philip".
...Spice World?
Only on Slashdot does making a joke pertaining to "TFA" invariably get less mod points than a joke pertaining to Microsoft.