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Comment Re:Because it's a Public Service (Score 1) 445

by britneys 9th husband (#33920912) Attached to: How to Heartlessly Arbitrage Used Books With a PDA

If my donations to Goodwill were destined only to line someone's pockets, I would quit donating used articles and instead destroy and discard them.

A better idea would be to scan your used stuff yourself, sell it online, and donate the proceeds to charity. This makes more money for the charity than donating the actual item would have anyway. The only downside is you don't get to scam the IRS by claiming that your old busted coffee table is worth $100.

Comment Re:Someone's head is going to roll...... (Score 1) 459

by britneys 9th husband (#29336489) Attached to: Thieves Clear Out Apple Store In 31 Seconds

How many apple stores are there? And how many of them have been robbed? The probability of this happening is far less than 25%, so... if you think spending that money is a good idea, you're welcome to play in my home poker game anytime.

And I'm not even considering the marketing loss associated with filling an apple store with a bunch of ugly-ass Kensington locks.
Television

Senate Passes Another Bill To Delay Digital TV Transition 318

Posted by Soulskill from the it's-almost-like-they're-worried dept.
An anonymous reader tips news that the US Senate has passed another bill to delay the transition to digital TV. This is the second such bill to pass the Senate; the first was narrowly defeated in the House. The new version has an important difference — it would allow the transition to take place gradually over the four-month period between the original transition date (February 17th) and the extended date (June 12th). TV stations around the country could choose when they wanted to make the change, allowing those who have already begun plans to stop analog transmission to continue their shut-down operations.

Comment Re:The real problem (Score 1) 794

by britneys 9th husband (#25813749) Attached to: Should You Get Paid While Your Computer Boots?

I agree in principle -- if I get $x an hour for 8 hours of my time, who cares if the employer's internal system considers this to be $x+whatever for 7.5 hours? Two possible problems though:

1. Minimum wage. The pay needs to be high enough so this doesn't turn into a way to pay people below minimum wage.

2. Overtime. With this system, it takes 2.5 more hours to start making time and a half. Unless everyone works at most 40 (real) hours a week, this will be a problem.

Comment Battletoads (Score 1) 266

by britneys 9th husband (#25686299) Attached to: Are Neo-Retro Game Releases a Fad?

Saturday night at midnight, they're going to be re-releasing the original Battletoads (ie THE greatest NES game of all time) on the Wii. They signed an exclusivity deal with Gamestop, so be sure and call to reserve your copy before you go since they'll run out fast.
Music

Record Label Infringes Own Copyright, Site Pulled 282

Posted by kdawson from the wonder-who-filed-the-complaint dept.
AnonCow sends in a peculiar story from TorrentFreak, which describes the plight of a free-download music site that has been summarily evicted from the Internet for violating its own copyright. The problem seems to revolve around the host's insistence that proof of copyright be snail-mailed to them. Kind of difficult when your copyright takes the form of a Creative Commons license that cannot be verified unless its site is up. "The website of an Internet-based record label which offers completely free music downloads has been taken down by its host for copyright infringement, even though it only offers its own music. Quote Unquote Records calls itself 'The First Ever Donation Based Record Label,' but is currently homeless after its host pulled the plug."
Science

Another Way the LHC Could Self-Destruct 367

Posted by kdawson from the no-physics-whatsoever dept.
KentuckyFC writes "Just when you thought it was safe to switch on the LHC (though it won't be for a while yet), another nightmare scenario has emerged that some critics worry could cause the particle accelerator to explode. The culprit this time is not an Earth-swallowing black hole but a 'Bose supernova' in the accelerator's superfluid helium bath. Physicists have been playing with Bose Einstein Condensate (BECs) for over 10 years now. But in 2001, one group discovered that placing them in a powerful magnetic field could cause the attractive forces between atoms to become repulsive. That caused their BEC to explode in a Bose supernova — which they called a 'Bosenova,' a name that fortunately did not catch on. This was little more than a curiosity when only a microscopic blob of cold matter was involved. But superfluid liquid helium is also BEC. And physicists have suddenly remembered that the LHC is swimming in 700,000 liters of the stuff while being zapped by some of the most powerful magnetic fields on the planet. So is the LHC a Bose supernova waiting to go off? Not according to the CERN theory division, which has published its calculations that show the LHC is safe (abstract). They also point out that no other superfluid helium handling facility has mysteriously blown itself to pieces."
Space

Hubble Stops Sending Data, Mission On Hold 141

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the try-to-do-as-little-dying-as-possible dept.
mknewman writes to tell us that NASA is no longer receiving data from the Hubble Space Telescope, which could possibly delay the shuttle launch planned just two weeks from now. There is a backup system installed which may be used instead of training the astronauts on the installation of the new component, but that would itself leave no fallback option. "NASA is reviewing whether the mission should be delayed a couple of months so that plans can be made to send up a replacement part for the failed component, said NASA spokesman Michael Curie. It would take time to test and qualify the old replacement part and train the astronauts to install it in the telescope, Curie said. NASA also would have to work out new mission details for the astronauts who have trained for two years to carry out five Hubble repair spacewalks."

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