Comment Re:Transparent Bonnet (Score 1) 172
Well, not quite....
Comment Re:Ah, "unlimited"... right. (*cough*) (Score 1) 983
Then why do they call it "unlimited?"
Because they're selling to you.
It's not up to the consumer to know if a company's business plan is sustainable or not.
It is, if you want that company and your data to be still there in X months time.
Claiming unlimited usage and then having a cap is just false advertising.
If that's illegal where you live, call them on it. If not, move somewhere with decent consumer protection legislation.
Comment Re:Taking exception to a statement in the summary (Score 1) 470
IIRC, the research which found plastic bags will last for "hundreds of years" was in fact looking at plastic bottles.
That's my recollection too, in my case gained from here (about 10 minutes in):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03b2zbk
(That plays in the UK, but I've no idea if it'll work in whatever corner of the planet you're in)
Specifically it's referring to Polyethylene Terepthalate (are you old enough to remember Terylene? If so, that's the stuff. If not, good for you).
Submission + - OpenStreetMap Launches a new easy to use HTML5 editor
SWroclawski writes: On the heels of the news that OpenStreetMap is allowing anonymous contributions with its "note" system, the project has launched a new in-browser editor called iD, which is not only easier to use, but written completely in Javascript, using the D3 library for rendering.
With all these improvements, OpenStreetMap is gaining popularity and has started a new http://donate.openstreetmap.org/server2013/donation campaign for additional hardware to support all the new contributors.
With all these improvements, OpenStreetMap is gaining popularity and has started a new http://donate.openstreetmap.org/server2013/donation campaign for additional hardware to support all the new contributors.
Submission + - OpenStreetMap adds easier reporting of map problems
An anonymous reader writes: OpenStreetMap recently topped 1 million registered users. Now they are trying to make the barrier to entry for contributing to the project even lower. A new "notes" feature, announced on the project's blog, allows anonymous users to submit bug reports which will alert mappers in the area to incorrect or incomplete map information. The feature also allows for commenting on notes, potentially enabling two-way communication between a mapper and a bug reporter if more information is needed.
Comment Re:Test Drive Again -- With A Video Camera (Score 1) 609
Exactly this.
Given Tesla's previous unsuccessful attempt to sue Top Gear in the UK, I'm amazed that in 2013 we seem to be witnessing a slanging match "I was doing X speed / No you were doing Y". Surely anyone reviewing a electric car (actually, any car) would have a GPS not connected to the car with them and be able to provide full logs on request?
Also, wouldn't anyone driving a Tesla for the first time and seeing the range display reading an unexpectedly low value take a a picture of it with their phone?
Comment Re:CEO Switchout (Score 4, Informative) 700
There's a bit more "he said / she said" in this followup article:
including links to Elon Musk's "detour" claims, and the NYT journo's rebuttal.
Comment Tax as in beer (Score 1) 649
It's already done in Europe on beer producers:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_Beer_Duty
It works very well in the UK.
Submission + - The DOS Bug That Almost Killed The Spirit Mars Rover (itworld.com) 3
jfruh writes: "On January 21, 2004, the Spirit Mars rover, which had been cheerfully collecting data and sending it back to Earth for the two weeks since it had landed, suddenly ground to a halt. Mission controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory were getting pings indicating that the rover was alive, but that was it. Over the next eleven days, the JPL team coaxed the rover back to life, eventually discovering that the heart of the problem lay in a DOS memory management bug interacting with insufficiently tested third-party code."
Submission + - Mutations Helped Humans Survive Siberian Winters (sciencemag.org)
sciencehabit writes: Researchers have identified three genetic mutations that appear to have helped humans surive in the frigid climate of Siberia over the last 25,000 years. One helps the body's fat stores directly produce heat rather than producing chemical energy for muscle movements or brain functions, a process called "nonshivering thermogenesis." Another is involved in the contraction of smooth muscle, key to shivering and the constriction of blood vessels to avoid heat loss. And the third is implicated in the metabolism of fats, especially those in meat and dairy products—a staple of the fat-laden diets of Arctic peoples.
Comment Thanks Slashdot! (Score 1) 58
A quick look here:
http://resultmaps.neis-one.org/newestosm.php
Suggests roughly twice as many new mappers (at least in the UK) during the last 24 hours than would be normal.
Comment Re:Clearly it should be 911 (Score 1) 354
The Chileans would certainly remember, if they didn't write their dates the "wrong way around".
Comment Re:Game Theory? LOL... (Score 1) 227
I'm planning on watching this BBC Documentary this weekend; it looks like the first segment discusses game theory.
Perhaps not quite up there with some of Adam Curtis' other stuff (e.g. Pandora's Box), but definitely well worth watching.
Comment Re:Yogurt does the same thing (Score 1) 183
So the country's doing just fine, right?
Comment Re:Hard Facts (Score 1) 345
When TomTom puts their name on the front of the box, it's TomTom's problem (and, in the users' minds, their fault).
