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Comment Re:Phasing out support for 10.4? I still run 10.3! (Score 1) 440

OSX 10.0 - released March 2001. Unsupported since the release of 10.2 in August 2002.
Windows XP - released October 2001. Can't buy it in the shops anymore but it's still supported.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP#Support_lifecycle

On April 8, 2014, all Windows XP support, including security updates and security-related hotfixes will be terminated.

Comment Re:Energy (Score 1) 533

You can't afford to arrive sweaty and take a shower? It costs money to shower? Or perhaps time. You don't have the time to shower. And it would be impossible to leave 5 minutes earlier, arrive 5 minutes earlier and take a shower?

I ride 8 kms (approx 5 miles) each way 5 days a week, rain, hail or shine. There are no showers at the office so I just take it easy on the way to work to avoid getting sweaty. I carry panniers mounted on a rack on the back of the bike instead of a backpack to avoid getting a sweaty back. I ride a lot faster heading home. I have a shower and a change of clothes there.

Comment Re:It's still natural selection (Score 3, Informative) 313

Not the individual's genes, the individual gene. In all plants and animals it is reproduction combined with mutation and recombination that is driving evolution.

Social animals posses genetic traits which promote social or herd behaviour. In these animals the trait survives because for these animals in the environment in which the trait emerged it increases the chance of survival and reproduction. The gene promotes itself.

Worker ants are infertile. They share common genetic information with the queen. To protect the nest and the queen increases the chance of propagation of their genes even though they do not reproduce themselves. There's probably a gene for that.

I have no idea about infanticide but I do recall hearing of a study recently which observed that homosexual men frequently have one or more close female relatives who are unusually fecund. I can't find the link and the research may have since been debunked but the idea is interesting as it suggests the possibility of a gene which increases the reproductive fitness of one individual while reducing the reproductive fitness of another.

Of course that assumes that being homosexual reduces your chance of reproduction.

Comment Re:Sanctifying Raskin, again (Score 1) 278

and what was the user interface innovation of 1984? The reinvention of the windowing GUI or reinvention of the mouse? Or perhaps it was the reinvention of using the two together?

Of course these remarkable innovations pale in comparison to the more recent reinvention of the touch screen interface on a mobile device. And next week they'll be reinventing the tablet. Awesome.

Comment Re:Why? (Score 1) 308

Because like all manufacturers they would be excluded from the Californian market if they fail to offer a vehicle which complies with the Californian "zero emissions" (ie. move the emissions to the power station) requirements. You'll notice the only places the electric Mini is available in North America are New York (no idea why) and California.

Comment Re:38 or more years old news. (Score 1) 331

When science and popular folk wisdom collide I don't see that popular folk wisdom gains any credibility. Popular folk wisdom is just a bunch of untested assertions unsupported by evidence stronger than personal anecdote. "My aunt Claire never washed, ate dirt with ever meal and lived to 103". So what? Some dirty people die in childhood. Some clean people live a long and relatively disease free life.

Evidence based science FTW.

Also, there are no facts, only theories. Long standing theories well supported by scientific evidence are sometimes mistaken for facts.

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