Comment Re:lol (Score 1) 335
Cute snark, but following your thought don't you imply that we the electorate can be effectively dealt with as if we were potted palms?
If true, I shiver down to my roots...
Comment writing your congressman can't hurt (Score -1, Redundant) 179
After reading this earlier Slashdot story, I wrote all three of both our Vermont congressmen and urged them to reconsider support for PIPA and SOPA. The only reply I received was from Sen. Patrick Leahy.
Here's a snippet from TFA with a relevant notion: contacting your representative can't hurt (emphasis added):
"[...]However, sponsors of the bill have heard concerns about its effect on the domain name system from fellow lawmakers, Internet engineers, human rights groups and "a number of Vermonters."," [Leahy] said.
Comment put pressure on your congresscritter (Score 5, Interesting) 179
After reading the earlier Slashdot story, I wrote all three of both our Vermont congressmen and urged them to reconsider support for PIPA and SOPA. The only reply I received was from Sen. Patrick Leahy.
Here's a snippet from TFA with a relevant notion: contacting your representative can't hurt:
"[...]However, sponsors of the bill have heard concerns about its effect on the domain name system from fellow lawmakers, Internet engineers, human rights groups and "a number of Vermonters."," [Leahy] said.
Comment Re:The Future Is Here!! (Score 4, Insightful) 408
If one reads to page 2 of tfa, they only claim the technique works well in this instance. They go on:
Even for computer-intensive aspects of analysis pipelines, GPUs aren’t necessarily the answer. “Not everything will accelerate well on a GPU, but enough will that this is a technology that cannot be ignored,” says Gollery. “The system of the future will not be some one-size-fits-all type of box, but rather a heterogeneous mix of CPUs, GPUs and FPGAs depending on the applications and the needs of the researcher.”
and
GPUs have cranked up the speed of genome sequencing analysis, but in the complicated and fast-moving field of genomics that doesn’t necessarily count as a breakthrough. “The game changing stuff,” says Trunnell, “is still on the horizon for this field.”
So yes, the article is a bit breathless, but if utilizing GPUs helps cure my potentially impending genetic disorder, I'm all for it.
Comment Re:`why not stop the car? (Score 1) 469
After read tfa, I concede your and the AC's point. As bpjones sagely notes below, though, we need better design goals.
Comment `why not stop the car? (Score 4, Informative) 469
The idea that we should promote drowsy driving by making it (hypothetically) less fatal to do so is laughably absurd. Sometimes a driver needs to swerve to miss an accident occurring--no time to signal, so into the pileup we go? Hmm...
Comment Re:Microsoft is a has-been (Score 1) 211
I notice their stock price is still lower than it was in 2001.
I'm no expert, but Microsoft shares split 2 for 1 on Jan. 27, 2003. Does your comparison take that into account?
This info was Scroogled from http://www.microsoft.com/investor/Stock/StockSplit/default.aspx
Comment Re:Someone here actually suggested it before (Score 2) 584
A simple fix [...] is to order posts in reverse chronological order.
Actually, you can change your preference (if you are logged in) by clicking Options>Discussions and switch from "Oldest First" to "Newest First". Several other choices are available there, too.
Comment Re:what good is an apology... (Score 0) 180
Gotta warn my wife
How very condescending of you. I just bet she'll be thrilled to hear you have an excuse to harangue her. Leave your job at work...
Submission + - ICANN Approves .XXX (pcworld.com)
lothos writes: "Pornography will have its own top-level domain, dot-XXX, the board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers decided today."
Comment Re:Oh well. (Score 3, Interesting) 116
If you use Firefox there is an add-on called Scroogle that sidesteps these cursor-movement worries, plus leaving no tracks for Google to assimilate. It will add itself to the list of available search engines. I use it almost exclusively nowadays. Of course one must trust Pathetic Cockroach, the author, but the 5-star reviews speak loudly to me. I've never heard any criticism of it and would be interested if there is...
Comment Steering Wheel tray (Score 4, Funny) 240
Here's a bizarro product, and the 1000's of customer reviews (with pictures) that were submitted:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000IZGIA8/ref=s9_simh_co_p263_d4_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=left-1&pf_rd_r=0964R987N5R9BZSJ4NP6&pf_rd_t=3201&pf_rd_p=1263271162&pf_rd_i=typ01
Comment Re:Simple question... (Score 4, Informative) 142
short answer: If [Jupiter] were about sixty times more massive than it is, it would indeed be a star!
Submission + - BBC News - Two million US PCs recruited to botnets (bbc.co.uk)
MollyB writes: From the BBC: "The US leads the world in numbers [2.2 million] of Windows PCs that are part of botnets, reveals a report.
More than 2.2 million US PCs were found to be part of botnets, networks of hijacked home computers, in the first six months of 2010, it said.
Compiled by Microsoft, the research revealed that Brazil had the second highest level of infections at 550,000."
The Microsoft Security Intelligence Report (PDF) discusses almost every aspect of botnets, complete with charts, graphics, and tables. One notable exception is the vulnerability of Windows to infection by malware, a seemingy myopic omission.
More than 2.2 million US PCs were found to be part of botnets, networks of hijacked home computers, in the first six months of 2010, it said.
Compiled by Microsoft, the research revealed that Brazil had the second highest level of infections at 550,000."
The Microsoft Security Intelligence Report (PDF) discusses almost every aspect of botnets, complete with charts, graphics, and tables. One notable exception is the vulnerability of Windows to infection by malware, a seemingy myopic omission.
Submission + - Unpublished Iraq War Docs Trigger WikiLeaks Revolt (wired.com)
Tootech writes: A domino chain of resignations at the secret-spilling site WikiLeaks followed a unilateral decision by autocratic founder Julian Assange to schedule an October release of 392,000 classified U.S. documents from the war in Iraq, according to former WikiLeaks staffers.
Key members of WikiLeaks were angered to learn last month that Assange had secretly provided media outlets with embargoed access to the vast database, under an arrangement similar to the one WikiLeaks made with three newspapers that released documents from the Afghanistan war in July. WikiLeaks is set to release the Iraq trove on Oct. 18, according to ex-staffers — far too early, in the view of some of them, to properly redact the names of U.S. collaborators and informants in Iraq.
“The release date which was established was completely unrealistic,” says 25-year-old Herbert Snorrason, an Icelandic university student who until recently helped manage WikiLeaks’ secure chat room. “We found out that the level of redactions performed on the Afghanistan documents was not sufficient. I announced that if the next batch did not receive full attention, I would not be willing to cooperate.”
At least half a dozen WikiLeaks staffers have tendered their resignations in recent weeks, the most prominent of them being Daniel Domscheit-Berg, who, under the name Daniel Schmitt, served as WikiLeaks’ German spokesman.
Key members of WikiLeaks were angered to learn last month that Assange had secretly provided media outlets with embargoed access to the vast database, under an arrangement similar to the one WikiLeaks made with three newspapers that released documents from the Afghanistan war in July. WikiLeaks is set to release the Iraq trove on Oct. 18, according to ex-staffers — far too early, in the view of some of them, to properly redact the names of U.S. collaborators and informants in Iraq.
“The release date which was established was completely unrealistic,” says 25-year-old Herbert Snorrason, an Icelandic university student who until recently helped manage WikiLeaks’ secure chat room. “We found out that the level of redactions performed on the Afghanistan documents was not sufficient. I announced that if the next batch did not receive full attention, I would not be willing to cooperate.”
At least half a dozen WikiLeaks staffers have tendered their resignations in recent weeks, the most prominent of them being Daniel Domscheit-Berg, who, under the name Daniel Schmitt, served as WikiLeaks’ German spokesman.
