Comment BEEP BEEEP BEEEP BEEEEEEEP!! (Score 2) 62
Couldn't listen to the whole song. That high pitched beep beep beep was grating my ears.
Comment Re:He's right, but missing the point (Score 1) 147
This is it exactly.
Comment Re:That's a shame (Score 5, Funny) 147
That was implied in the performance, you insensitive clod.
Comment You'll need it for the GRE (Score 2) 1086
If you want to get into post-graduate studies, this means taking the GRE test. There's a lot of math on the GRE that you have to do quickly.
None of it is terribly difficult, but I found that I was very out of practice, which slows me down quite a bit.
If you can do high school math in your head quickly, it vastly improves your score.
I've been in the CS industry for nearly 12 years and offloaded nearly all my high school era math off to calculators and spreadsheets. Very rude awakening when I took my first practice GRE.
Microsoft Charging Royalties For Linux 286
andydread writes "It seems Microsoft's campaign to scare manufacturers away from open source and Linux in particular is proceeding at full force. The latest news is from Digitimes out of Taiwan. Apparently Microsoft is threatening Acer and Asustek with having to pay Microsoft a license fee for the privilege of deploying Linux on their devices. This time, it's in the form of Android and Chorme OS. So basically, this campaign is spreading to PC vendors now. What are the implications of this? Does this mean that if I build PCs with Linux (Ubuntu/ChromeOS/Fedora) and sell them I am at risk of getting sued by Microsoft? "
Pay Or Else, News Site Threatens 549
WED Fan writes "The North Country Gazette, a news blog, says users who read beyond a single page of an article must pay up or they will be tracked down. They don't have a pay wall. If you go beyond page 1, you owe them. From the article: 'A subscription is required at North Country Gazette. We allow only one free read per visitor. We are currently gathering IPs and computer info on persistent intruders who refuse to buy subscription and are engaging in a theft of services. We have engaged an attorney who will be doing a bulk subpoena demand on each ISP involved, particularly Verizon Droids, Frontier and Road Runner, and will then pursue individual legal actions.'"
BP Robot Seriously Hampers Oil Spill Containment 264
ChiefMonkeyGrinder writes
"A high-tech effort by BP to slow the oil gushing from its ruptured well head led to a large accident yesterday that forced the company to remove a vital containment cap for 10 hours. Robots, known as remote operated vehicles, were performing multiple operations at the disaster site when one bumped into the 'top hat' cap and damaged one of the vents that removes excess fluid, according to the US Coast Guard. The robots weigh around four tons, and are controlled from vessels on the surface using advanced IT systems with both manual and automated functions. BP removed the cap for nearly 10 hours ... in order to assess it after a discharge of liquids was noted from a key valve. The cap's removal left the oil gushing out of the wellhead, largely uninterrupted. Admiral Thad Allen, US National Incident Commander for the response, told the media that part of the problem was the number of robots conducting simultaneous operations at an immense depth. A dozen robots are circulating the wellhead."
Another factor that may hinder containment even more is the increasing potential for tropical storms in that area of the Gulf.
Using Classical Music As a Form of Social Control 721
cyberfringe writes "Classical music is being used increasingly in Great Britain as a tool for social control and a deterrent to bad behavior. One school district subjects badly behaving children to hours of Mozart in special detention. Unsurprisingly, some of these youth now find classical music unbearable. Recorded classical music is blared through speakers at bus stops, outside stores, train stations and elsewhere to drive away loitering youth. Apparently it works. Detentions are down, graffiti is reduced, and naughty youth flee because they find classical music repugnant."
Netflix Will Delay Renting New WB Releases 418
DesertBlade tips the news that Netflix will delay renting new releases from Warner Brothers for 28 days, and adds "Luckily I am so far behind in my movie watching that I will probably never catch up anyway." "It's part of a strategy by several studios to create staggered releases of DVDs so that the most profitable transactions are available first and cheaper rental options take effect further down the road. The move could be copied by other studios, forcing consumers to wait nearly a month if they want to rent popular movies from Netflix. ... The studio is hoping that the four-week window will push consumers interested in watching movies at home to buy the DVDs or pay a premium to rent them from stores like Blockbuster or from Internet and cable video-on-demand services. Warner Bros. already imposes a 28-day window on $1-a-night kiosk firm Redbox."
Comment Re:I never liked Sci Fi corridors. (Score 1) 171
Neither does the Space Shuttle. There's no hallway connecting the mid-deck and flight-deck. There's just a hole in the ceiling/floor.
There's no empty hallways on typical airline jets; you go from the passenger compartments to the door to the flight deck. No hallway.
Comment I never liked Sci Fi corridors. (Score 0) 171
It never made any sense to have these huge waste-of-space tunnels in space craft.
When you have to carry your atmosphere with you, why create so many empty spaces that you have to then fill with air?
Use that space for something! Put labs there! Crew quarters! Something!
James Murdoch Criticizes BBC For Providing "Free News" 703
Hugh Pickens writes "News Corporation's James Murdoch says that a 'dominant' BBC threatens independent journalism in the UK and that free news on the web provided by the BBC made it 'incredibly difficult' for private news organizations to ask people to pay for their news. 'It is essential for the future of independent digital journalism that a fair price can be charged for news to people who value it,' says Murdoch. 'The expansion of state-sponsored journalism is a threat to the plurality and independence of news provision.' In common with the public broadcasting organizations of many other European countries, the BBC is funded by a television license fee charged to all households owning a television capable of receiving broadcasts. Murdoch's News Corporation, one of the world's largest media conglomerates, owns the Times, the Sunday Times and Sun newspapers and pay TV provider BSkyB in the UK and the New York Post, Wall Street Journal, and Fox News TV in the US." Note that James Murdoch is the son of Rupert Murdoch.
Comment At least it wasn't another sequel... (Score 3, Interesting) 705
I think "Moon" has been the only other major sci-fi non-sequel I've seen in the theaters in a long while...
I liked D9 and hope it does well.
Comment Re:Energy Space (Score 1) 304
It seems that if you keep reading the link, there's a lot more than just "THOUGHT"...
"The Moon's surface contains helium-3 at concentrations on the order of 0.01 ppm."
"each year three space shuttle missions could bring enough fuel for all human beings across the world." - Chinese Lunar Exploration Program
"In January 2006, the Russian space company RKK Energiya announced that it considers lunar helium-3 a potential economic resource to be mined by 2020,[43] if funding can be found."
Comment Re:Energy Space (Score 1) 304
All the helium 3 we could ever want is just sitting up on the surface of the Moon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium_3
But you're right. Before we go off to the Moon for a limitless supply of fuel, let's stay here and solve our problems without it first.
