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User: vonhammer

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  1. Oh, the irony on When Flying Was a Thrill · · Score: 1

    Those problems coalesced on the night of July 23, 2011, when a high-speed train rear-ended another train that had lost power during a storm and stalled on an overpass outside the southern coastal city of Wenzhou. Six train cars derailed, some of them falling 50 feet off the overpass. Forty people, including two Americans, were killed and 191 were injured. Graphic images of the accident, which outraged the Chinese public, were beamed around the world.

    This from your article.

  2. Re:Not mutually exclusive on Kentucky Lawmakers Shocked To Find Evolution In Biology Tests · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Most Catholics I know have a similar, "moderate", background with respect to evolution. It's the Protestants that tend to be more fundamentalist and deny evolution. I believe the reason is that, historically, Catholicism has relied on church traditions for its belief system. When the Protestants broke away they needed new source material to justify their path to God, so they turned to the Bible. This propelled them on a course that adheres more to the Bible (and its ancient science).

  3. Re:If Obama's BIRTH can be an issue on Let the Campaign Edit Wars Begin · · Score: 1

    Ah believe you mean The War of Northern Aggression...

  4. Re:Awesome on The Hobbit's Higher Frame Rate To Cost Theater Operators · · Score: 1

    > they use so-called "2K" (2 Kelvin?!?) projectors

    2K is 2048 x 1080 (just wider than 1080p).

  5. Re:Why did he get interrogated in the first place? on CryptoCat Developer Questioned At US-Canadian Border · · Score: 1

    Now, Mr. Kobeissi - who is KEYSER SOZE!!!

  6. Re:I guess two reasons ... on Robotic Squirrels Battle It Out With Rattlesnakes · · Score: 1

    Hmm, I'm guessing:

    3. Always scream like a girl when something bites your bible bump.

  7. Re:Not smart Enough? on Scientists Say People Aren't Smart Enough For Democracy To Flourish · · Score: 2

    > The best idea (and the one Socrates was least keen on) from Greek democracy was Sortition.

    No, the BEST idea from Greek democracy was Ostracism. Just think of it in action today...

  8. Re:Vote for Ron Paul. End the TSA on Ask Slashdot: What's the Best Way To Deal With Roving TSA Teams? · · Score: 1

    Wow, the Obama apologists are out in force today, I can't believe you were modded up to +5 Insightful.

    http://www.salon.com/2011/04/25/obama_guantanamo_rhetoric/

    excerpt below:

    March 2011:

    The president goes back on his campaign pledge completely. He signs an executive order to create a formal system of indefinite detention for the captives still kept at the Cuban facility. The order applies to around 48 of 172 prisoners currently held. The detention center — illustrated to be oppressive and reliant on haphazard methods by the freshly released documents — is now enshrined as playing a continuing role in U.S. policy.

    Most notably, a promise to close the facility does even not accompany his announcement of the executive order. Here is his March statement in its entirety:

    . . . (cf. original article in link above)

    Little wonder then, that Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union told the Washington Post, “It is virtually impossible to imagine how one closes Guantanamo in light of this executive order In a little over two years, the Obama administration has done a complete about-face.”

  9. Re:Nitrogen Asphyxiation on Designer Creates "Euthanasia Roller Coaster" · · Score: 2

    This is very similar to to what some rebreather divers have done by accident. Turn off the oxygen supply (or forget to turn it on) while keeping the CO2 scrubber working. The N2 levels build, the O2 levels drop, no CO2 to cause respiratory distress and a gentle fade off into death.

  10. Re:But what if... on Scientists Discover Tipping Point for the Spread of Ideas · · Score: 1

    From TFA:

    "They are also looking to study how the percentage might change when input into a model where the society is polarized. Instead of simply holding one traditional view, the society would instead hold two opposing viewpoints. An example of this polarization would be Democrat versus Republican."

    So, their model was based upon a non-polarized population.

  11. Re:Wrong answers on Watson Wins Jeopardy Contest · · Score: 1

    >Billy Bishop was famous for having the the second most kills of all the WWI pilots.

    Rene Fonck might object to that statement.

  12. Re:Fermi's paradox. on The Galaxy May Have Billions of Habitable Planets · · Score: 1

    Then who or what created God? If you say nothing, then isn't that just as unlikely as having an infinitely dense concentration of something that burst, creating everything we observe?

  13. You think that's bad, try tr on Canada Supreme Court Broadens Internet "Luring" Offense · · Score: 1

    There are even some situations in the US in which you can be subject to the equivalent of double or even triple jeopardy. Eg. if you are in the military, then after you get acquitted by a state court, the military can try and convict you. If you somehow get acquitted of the state crime, you can always be tried and convicted of an equivalent (but different) federal crime - that's how some civil rights atrocities were handled. I've heard that the worst thing you can do is: murder a postal worker, while a member of the armed forces, on tribal Indian land.

  14. Re:Socialism is a four-letter word? on Tech Allows Stable Integration of Wind In the Power Grid · · Score: 1

    And tax loopholes and tax shelters were a way of life for the wealthy, and there was no AMT. To really return to those days, we should not just raise taxes, but eliminate the AMT, and reintroduce all of the tax loopholes that existed.

  15. Re:Come to California... on Nothing To Fear But Fearlessness Itself? · · Score: 1

    This is because Democrats believe in higher taxes (actually, redistribution of wealth), while Republicans believe in lower taxes. Unfortunately, the Republicans have never been able to reduce government spending to match their lower taxation plans and, therefore, deficits rise. Whether this failure is because Democrats prevent them from cutting spending, or they are secretly another party of Big Government, or because the constituency prevents it, doesn't really matter. The only way to solve the deficit problem, and deal with taxation, is to force a balanced budget amendment upon Congress. Otherwise, they will collectively choose deficit spending rather than cut spending or raise taxes.

  16. Re:First thought - on 250-Foot Hybrid Airship To Spy Over Afghanistan · · Score: 1

    They so missed an opportunity. Imagine the Pig balloon from Pink Floyd's Animals.

  17. Headline missed the boat on After 8 Years of Work, Be-Alike Haiku Releases Official Alpha · · Score: 2, Interesting

    After eight years work,
    Be-Alike Haiku released -
    Official Alpha.

  18. Possible usage on New Zealander Invents Segway Alternative · · Score: 1

    From TFA:> I have just become the first British journalist to road test the YikeBike, billed as a mini penny-farthing for the 21st century.

    Hey, just in time for this retread

  19. What about the music? on AMC Releasing a New "The Prisoner" In November · · Score: 1

    I can probably forgive most changes, but they had better not mess with the music! I want the exact same soundtrack and closing video sequence of the penny-farthing bicycle. A Lotus 7 would be nice, but not required. And who here can recall where Patrick McGoohan used his trademark "Be seeing you" on another series? (Columbo, he even played an evil spy on that episode).

  20. Toy Commander on Which Game Series Would You Reboot? · · Score: 1

    A fantastic idea that disappeared with the Sega Dreamcast. Your imagination is the limit.

  21. Don't forget Zaxxon on Tron Legacy Exposed · · Score: 1

    Zaxxon, released in 1982 was an isometric-view 3d game.

  22. Re:If the Apollo Program would have continued . . on What If the Apollo Program Had Continued? · · Score: 1

    And just how do the Democrats plan on creating another Tech Bubble like the one that coincides with your "8 years of increasing prosperity?"

    And if the taxes caused the prosperity, then why didn't that happen when George H. W. Bush raised them in his term?

    You know, instead of causing a recession that lost him the election?

    Just curious.

  23. Re:#1 failure... on Fifteen Classic PC Design Mistakes · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Read the Motorola 68000 assembly language manual and marvel at its simplicity and elegance. I believe they had an 8-bit and 16-bit equivalent back then. That would be my choice. Advantages are the simple addressing scheme, many general purpose data registers, brilliantly simple assembly language.

  24. Re:CapsLock on Fifteen Classic PC Design Mistakes · · Score: 1

    Funnily enough, I found this useful exactly once - on a C64. A game I was playing (forget which one) used the shift key to pause. A way to pause for long time, while you got something to eat, etc, was to use the caps-lock.

  25. Re:Pardon my ignorance, but... on First Acoustic Black Hole Created · · Score: 1

    This gives you the best explanation: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=phonon