My idea of the perfect cable:

Four strands, two copper, two fiber.
The two fiber strands enable redundancy (ring topology all the way to the end-point);
The two copper strands for being able to provide power to devices.

That's it. That's all that's needed.

The math behind quantum physics and relativity is of secondary importance compared to the phenomena they predict and define. Einstein had the insight that everything must be relative, and the math followed from that. Mathematicians merely model nature based on existing insights. But it are these insights that create new science and discoveries, and not the math that models them.

The judge should complain to the law makers.

Quoting linked w3.org page:

Obl. xkcd

Against the .

Why is RGB used for filtering at all? Wouldn't it be better to use the inverse (i.e., CMY or no-red, no-green, no-blue) instead? Wouldn't that allow twice as much light to pass through? I must be missing something obvious, someone care to explain what I am missing here?

Wind, temperature changes and radiation from the sun pretty much define the weather on Mars. Any changes to the chemical composition on the rock surface will be due to these factors. Therefore don't expect anything exciting.

Let me guess. Inside of rock is chemically exactly the same as its surface. At least, that is what I would expect since the rocks eroded.

Why do people think getting rid of the mouse is a good idea but getting rid of the keyboard is not? If touchscreens are so marvelous lets ditch keyboards too!
There's actually quite a market for tablets, in case you haven't noticed.

Obviously W8 is a complete disaster but having a touch screen on a laptop can be nice when implemented correctly. Ergonomically, it makes a lot of sense actually. I compared the strain on my arm when swiping my fingers across the screen of my laptop and when using the mouse. When I rest my elbow in front of the laptop, the strain on my arm is even less then when using a mouse, because when using a mouse I have to retract my arm and can only support the weight of my arm with my hand. When touching my screen, I barely have to move my arm. I move my hand slightly forward and I am able to touch my screen anywhere. Another big bonus is the directness. Using a mouse goes like: looking-for-mouse; move-hand-to-mouse; moving-mouse-pointer-to-correct-screen-location, clicking-mouse-button. With a touch screen I can simply: move arm 10 centimeters forward; press whatever I want on the screen with my finger. It's just more convenient and faster.

But it would be a mistake to use the same UI which was designed for use by a mouse as a touch-screen UI. If a user interacts with the UI using the touch screen, UI elements like menus should be larger and behave differently than when they are accessed with a mouse. For example, scrolling a page could be a swipe on the screen, but using a mouse a swipe would be awkward. Specifically, the mouse paradigm where you move a little pointer on the screen and press a button must not be copied to the touch-screen paradigm, such that pressing a finger on the screen is equivalent for the OS a mouse-button press. Such an implementation would be disastrous. Instead, the UI should adapt to larger fingers, be less picky on where someone lands his fingers, and use larger, dynamically appearing GUI elements so users can see what they are doing, as their hand and fingers are now in front of the screen. And use swipe gestures. Lots.

I think laptops with touch screens are the future, but I suppose it will take some iterations before Microsoft and Apple understand the differences and optimize their GUIs for use by touch screen as input device. In the mean time, creating a single UI for both mouse and touch-screen input is plain dumb and a waste of effort.

This is brilliant. Hope my company adopts this as quickly as possible. I don't have time to read time wasting work-related mails at my job. In case you missed it it's the season and I have my hands full doing on-line shopping and hunting down coupon codes. I already hardly have any time left to read the frickin' news sites. And I guess if you think your mail is so important, just put a request at the bottom to consider forwarding it to the next member of the department or project team, so each person who receives it can make a balanced decision whether to bother a next person with your mail, that interferes with other priorities.

Sending a 3D printer to Mars? Are you out of your mind?

Better anticipate on the things you want to do on Mars, than to send over raw materials and a 3D printer, and think... "gosh, what shall we put together today?"

threats of GW are 'similar to and in many cases greater than those posed by terrorist attacks.'

I get it. In the name of fighting terrorism and now GW, the people are stripped from their civil rights, liberties reduced and taxes increased.

Just as with religion, GW and terrorism are represented as a great threat and oppressive measures follow soon after.

This is a time in history to start paying attention.

That you get 275,000 apps that work ono the iPad mini.

Which ones, old, pre-retina iPad apps or newer retina iPad apps that will look like shit if they work at all?

This device should have had a retina resolution if it was to exist at all. Now it is just an enlarged iPhone. Only few developers will target this device specifically. It will be a niche device. I can see it being used by waiters for taking orders on a busy terrace. But as a media consumer or internet front-end device it will fail. The screen is a huge step back compared to all other iOS devices except the iPad 2. If Apple really believed in a device of this size, it should have had a retina resolution.

The iPad mini is a device with a flawed screen. Everything will just seem bigger because of the lower ppi. Very very bad design decision. Sure, it can pre-Retina iPad apps. But what about retina iPad apps? They will look like shit if they run at all.

Apple should have kept the retina resolution. Sure, the display would be new in terms of number of pixels, but at least the number of ppi would be more consistent. Everything would appear comparable in size. Now, on the iPad mini, everything will seem larger while at the same time the display is smaller than an iPad.

This will just not fly. Developers will be reluctant to adapt their apps for this device. Lack of apps will result in low sales. This device will FAIL.