Comment Re:fuck you iceland. (Score 1) 684
haha, I can't type today.
Comment Re:fuck you iceland. (Score 2) 684
How exactly? Other than my bad grammar.
I like my body, my many of my friends like my body, why shouldn't I do with it as I please?
Comment fuck you iceland. (Score 5, Insightful) 684
This is dumb, as a woman who's various parts are all over the internet I think this is bullshit.
Comment I'M CONTRIBUTING. (Score 1) 260
Reddit says this is fake, so obviously it must be fake.
IT Job Market Recovering Faster Now Than After Dot-com Bubble Burst 242
tsamsoniw writes "More new tech jobs have emerged since the end of the past recession than during the same recovery timelines following the dot-com bubble burst and the early-1990s recession. What's more, the unemployment rate among technology professionals is now half that of the national average — with especially low unemployment rates for database administrators and network architects. What's not clear, though, is how many unemployed techies aren't being counted because they've abandoned job searches."
Pot Smokers Might Not Turn Into Dopes After All 332
ananyo writes "Back in August last year, we discussed a study reportedly showing heavy marijuana use in teenagers had been linked to a decline in IQ in later life. Now, a new analysis suggests that the study may have been flawed. Using the same data, the researchers found that they could explain the IQ drop by properly accounting for socioeconomic factors — such as individuals from poorer backgrounds being more likely to smoke cannabis as well as having reduced access to schooling."
Fabricating Nature and a Physical Turing Test 36
Nwe submitter arrow3D writes "A new startup in Norway is focused on design and fabrication at the level and quality of nature. Using pure mathematical volumes, rather than surfaces or voxels, they are developing a new generation of 3D modelling tools specifically aimed at high resolution 3D printing, to 'support the future of design and manufacturing.' Their software was recently used to create the multi-material Minotaur Helmet by Neri Oxman from MIT, as featured in Wired UK last month. An interesting thought (as recently illustrated in Dilbert) is the idea of a Physical Turing Test for synthetic objects and that both Turing Tests may require each other — i.e. only by designing and building at the resolution of nature can we achieve the intelligence of natural objects. Their software platform is still very much under development but they've started trying to
'save the world from polygons' with a KickStarter campaign that's live now."
Study Claims Human Intelligence Peaked Two To Six Millennia Ago 637
eldavojohn writes "Professor Gerald "Jerry" Crabtree of Stanford's Crabtree Laboratory published a paper (PDF) that has appeared in two parts in Trends in Genetics. The paper opens with a very controversial suggestion: 'I would be willing to wager that if an average citizen from Athens of 1000 BC were to appear suddenly among us, he or she would be among the brightest and most intellectually alive of our colleagues and companions.' From there, Crabtree speculates we're on the decline of human intelligence and we have been for at least a couple millennia. His argument suggests agriculture and, following from that, cities, have allowed us to break free of some environmental forces on competitive genetic mutations — a la Mike Judge's theory. However, the conclusion of the paper urges humans to keep calm and carry on, as any attempt to fix this genetic trend would almost certainly be futile and disturbing."
Comment Re:summaery cubed: fusion is a waste of time (Score 1) 138
Fusion isn't a waste of time, tokamak is a waste of time.
Bussard reactors, look into them. They're way more promising, would cost a lot less, have been proven to scale well such that a prototype costing around ~$200m work hit break even.
Comment Re:I know a simple solution: (Score 3, Interesting) 487
That's not always why.
I could pass a drug test easy, nothing I do stays in my system longer than 2-3 days, I don't smoke cannabis and never have. I do however take great issue with any employer wanting access to my urine, it's a step into my personal life I'm unwilling to allow them to take.
I can see the logic for testing where you'll be responsible for other peoples lives, but it's not like they ban you from drinking is it? It's inconsistent.
Comment Re:Make it illegal (Score 1) 1199
As we can see from the prohibition of illegal drugs, this totally solves the problem!
I really shudder to think what the result of making nicotine illegal would be, given it's one of the most addictive substances in the world. I presume it would make the havoc that the illicit cocaine trade wrecks on south american look miniscule.
Why Are We So Rude Online? 341
kodiaktau writes "An article in the WSJ discusses why internet users are more rude online than they are in person. The story discusses some of the possible reasons. For example, a study found that browsing Facebook tends to lower people's self control. An MIT professor says people posting on the internet have lowered inhibitions because there is no formal social interaction. Another theory is that communicating through a phone or other device feels like communicating with a 'toy,' which dehumanizes the conversation. Of course, a rude conversation has never happened on Slashdot in the last 15 years."
Comment Re:probably should have been lowered anyway (Score 2) 1239
The money supply inflates exponentially, so yes every debt ceiling raise will tend towards being the biggest ever. Let's see them on a dimensionless scale by dividing by something of equal measure, say GDP.
Dimensional analysis should be required learning in high school
Dimensional analysis isn't taught in high school!? Seriously!?
Jeeze. That would explain a whole bunch about what's wrong with the world.
United States Loses S&P AAA Credit Rating 1239
oxide7 writes with this excerpt from the International Business Times: "The United States lost its top-notch AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor's on Friday in an unprecedented reversal of fortune for the world's largest economy. S&P cut the long-term U.S. credit rating by one notch to AA-plus on concerns about the government's budget deficits and rising debt burden. The move is likely to raise borrowing costs eventually for the American government, companies and consumers."
Only 39% Curse At Their Computers? 286
netbuzz writes "That's what we are to believe based upon a survey of 14,284 individuals conducted by security vendor Avira. That survey found that 39 percent of respondents 'cursed or yelled at the computer out loud.' And no computer is needed to calculate the implication: 61% of those participating in the poll believe themselves to have never once uttered a profanity or raised their voice in the direction of a malfunctioning machine. Are the majority of us genuinely possessed of such remarkable self-control? Or might some of these self-reported stoics be exercising a bit of selective memory?"
