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Comment Re:Fuck those guys (Score 1) 569

That makes a new loop hole: Cop wants someone dead. Cop makes an anonymously swatting call. Cop goes in knowing it's fake and kills the person he wants dead. Cop gets off free.

The police are the ones doing the shooting, not the caller. The cop always has final say if he should pull the trigger or not. Any cop shooting someone else should always be held accountable for that shooting. Most shootings are justified, some are not.

There are already laws against false reports. They should be strengthened.

Something similar to this actually played out recently.

The home owner ended up shooting and killing the right cop (the one with the grudge) and got off. Apparently the other cops didn't like the dead guy much so there wasn't a big rally to hang the innocent home owner.

Comment Re:And now why this can not be done in the USofA (Score 5, Insightful) 317

Hydroelectric for some reason is never talked about for green energy. Because of the Hoover dam image. A large structure that completely changes the local environment. The problem is in america, we are still stuck on the idea of Big Energy large grids covering the nation. We don't think in terms of small energy, having a small community powered by modest green sources. And every community can have different sources to meet their needs. Solar is good. But some of us live in areas where there is a lot of tree cover (and cutting trees isn't really the green option), Other areas have a decent wind, and others are near running water. These smaller sections will in agragate may take up more space, their impact is actually a lot less, as a smaller plot of land can heal a lot faster then say plowing down hundred acres.

Comment Re:WTF AM I DOING HERE! (Score 1) 109

Presumably this would be done in a sterile room and that the patient would need to be cleared for any potentially hazardous bacterial infections and the such.

They noted that the BBB is restored within a few hours. Assuredly not a 100% safe treatment to be sure, but that's hardly new in medical science (think of all the potential side-effects listed with every medication. Never mind things like full body irradiation as prep for bone marrow transplants, cutting up (or even out) pieces of the brain to reduce seizures and so on.)

Sometimes the cure is worth taking some risks. Of course "sometimes" isn't the same as "always" and it would need to be determined case by case based on the patient's other co-existing conditions, the will of the family, financial situation, etc.

They are using sound waves. It may be non-invasive and require little more than shaving the target point and applying a lubricant to the skin.

Though, if they are going through the skull there is a VAST difference in what will get through a mouse skull from what will get through a human skull.

Opening the head up to get it done... well that's sort of going to cause other problems so the treatment won't be ethical / used due to risks elsewhere.

Comment Re:There was a happy middle ground (Score 1) 237

That is arguing that using the Web Standard as a means for Application deployment isn't the best method. I agree... However it became the only practical one organically.
It offered a few key advantages.
1. Everyone had a browser. Not everyone had any other thin client protocol that works with Windows, Mac, and Linux and Unix systems. So for a thin client solution it was the only tool you had without additional downloads.

2. The Web give your data then disconnect. Design while an issue in programming, does allow the server to handle much more active users then say with Xwindows, or Telnet or most other thin client solutions.

3. HTML was designed for relatively slow connections. If you were to strip out images, you probably can still browse many pages even with a 14.4k modem.

Comment Re:Browsers getting too complex (Score 4, Insightful) 237

I wouldn't say a browser is trying to be an OS but more of an interpreted language compiler.
But if you turn off those nostalgia blinders. Of the days of the old web. We needed to install a program for almost everything, you needed an encyclopedia, then you put in that Encarta CD. Every piece of software worked for a particular OS. We had some multi-platform but they required other software that you needed to be lucky enough to have a version for your system as well. You needed ports open to share data with an other system...

This is why back in the 1990's nearly everyone had to use windows. It is because buying a Mac, or using Linux will give you disadvantage in available software. The advanced browser opened up your Linux and Mac to the world, and people really don't care much what freaking OS you are using, because the content renders nearly the same.

Comment How practical are the exploits? (Score 1) 237

I want to know how vulnerable browsers are, not if they are. Always assume what you are using is vulnerable, if you feel completely safe with your software, then you are the one most likely to get hacked. But I want to know the level of effort it will take to perform such exploits. Some interestly coded HTML/XML /Javascript where you can drop the files on Any Web Server and perform the export. Perhaps it is in the HTTP protocol, where you need to write a Server Side application to perform the HTTP Calls. Or is it in in the level of special TCP/IP packets where you need to have the OS send funny data.
Is the exploit Just by going local and using local data, is it outside exploitable.

This is important. Not to excuse having a software vulnerability, but by having a priority for them to get fixed, and assessing how far such things can spread.

Comment Re:I don't see this much uproar (Score 2) 128

As far as I see, there is just as much danger for a rating system to be packed with ultra conservative everything is evil, as it is with an ultra liberal where everything is OK.

Now that said, just because you may make morally questionable products, it doesn't mean you think that it should be all rated "e"

Comment Science Fiction Fear. (Score 1) 299

Most of the fear around genetic manipulation falls around Science-Fiction scenarios. Which in order to make it entertaining they will often play with the worst case scenarios. Super soldiers, Freaky Person/Animal hybrids, etc. which to get such a case means a lot of experimentation, that would lead to a lot of dead or grossly Ill people. Such science on humans is already unethical, as your are giving birth to a bunch of people with a high chance of failure, and Illness.

However the goal for Genetic Manipulation in humans, isn't making someone a super human, but an average human. For people with genetic traits that make people sick and prone to disease. Giving them a chance to live a healthy normal life.

Comment Reality (Score 3, Insightful) 214

Stop blaming those other people for all the issues in the world, because they are blaming you right back. The idea that utopia can happen if people do it exactly my way, is not realizing the diversity in people and their particular needs.

Just because RMS is right about a lot of thing doesn't mean he is always right. The same with everyone.
Open source has its place, but it is also the cause for many of these outsourced jobs. As it gives people in poorer areas acces to advanced computing software, so they can apply and say they have such skills and then undercut people who live in a higher income area.
It is nice to be good and Nobel, but you still have bills to pay, not everyone can work at a not for profit, government, or educational institution and do what they train for. They need to work in the corporate world, to keep this job that pays the bill you need to be sure the company stayed in business, so you make software that they attend to sell closed source.
Because...
1. The software is easy to use so there is no money in consulting services.
2. Access to the Internet means there isn't much money in distributing your software.
3. The software fills a niche that is important but doesn't get enough attention to survive on good will.
4. You need to work with other vendors who has patented code, or closed licenses. But they are vital to the overall product.

It is not that open source is bad, it has its place mainly in infrastructure based systems OS, Web Servers, Web Browers, Office products, Developer tools. But once you get into general purpose it gets much harder

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