Comment Re:Canadians, this is your chance (Score 1) 164
"Far more to negotiate with your cousins" should be "Far *easier* to negotiate with your cousins". Right, Preview button and pay attention this time.
Comment Re:Canadians, this is your chance (Score 1) 164
You don't want the TPP and you don't want the US forcing their copyright laws onto you. Here's your chance to say that you want neither.. you should holler it from the rooftops until every last corrupt politician knows it.
Totally, absolutely, completely agree!
Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom already share so much in common. Far more to negotiate with your cousins than the neighbours.
Comment TPP Does NOT Need America (Score 5, Insightful) 164
I respect Canada for placing *their* needs before that of the US unlike the New Zealand and Australian governments act of total, complete and utter capitulation.
TPP doesn't need the US and Canada should be brave enough to propose direct negotiation with Australia, New Zealand, Brunei and Singapore. When you include the United Kingdom then these four Commonwealth realms have so very much more in common than a shared and separate Head of State. Our support of democracy, human rights, the doctrine of common law, a single language and our Westminster Parliamentary tradition to entreat with our contemporises in Brunei and Singapore. Diplomats already refer to these four nations as CANZUK then by including both Brunei and Singapore we'd have a trading pact second only to the US, Japan, the EU and China (with NZ already in an FTA with China and Australia very likely soon to follow).
It's the Commonwealth unification of similar minds and morals for *our* own mutual benefit instead just American copyright holders who continue to extend their copyright period.
Submission + - Kiwi Geeks - Listen Up You Primative Screwheads(1) (pirateparty.org.nz)
Sinesurfer writes: There is a solution when the NZL Govt Rushes Thru Controversial Anti-Piracy Law [http://slashdot.org/story/11/04/13/1310255/NZL-Govt-Rushes-Thru-Controversial-Anti-Piracy-Law]
after the US Offered To Draft NZ 3-Strikes Law, Fund Copyright Initiative [http://politics.slashdot.org/story/11/05/01/1242259/US-Offered-To-Draft-NZ-3-Strikes-Law-Fund-Copyright-Initiative].
Certainly it is not a much fun when a NZ MP Enjoys Copyright Infringement, Votes For 3 Strikes [http://politics.slashdot.org/story/11/04/15/0027244/NZ-MP-Enjoys-Copyright-Infringement-Votes-For-3-Strikes]
so the New Zealand Pirate Party — http://pirateparty.org.nz/
[1] Listen Up, You Primitive Screwheads!!! The Unexpurgated Cyberpunk Referee's Guide, 1994, R. Talsorian Games, Inc, ISBN-13: 978-0937279458
after the US Offered To Draft NZ 3-Strikes Law, Fund Copyright Initiative [http://politics.slashdot.org/story/11/05/01/1242259/US-Offered-To-Draft-NZ-3-Strikes-Law-Fund-Copyright-Initiative].
Certainly it is not a much fun when a NZ MP Enjoys Copyright Infringement, Votes For 3 Strikes [http://politics.slashdot.org/story/11/04/15/0027244/NZ-MP-Enjoys-Copyright-Infringement-Votes-For-3-Strikes]
so the New Zealand Pirate Party — http://pirateparty.org.nz/
[1] Listen Up, You Primitive Screwheads!!! The Unexpurgated Cyberpunk Referee's Guide, 1994, R. Talsorian Games, Inc, ISBN-13: 978-0937279458
Comment That Magma is very Close (Score 3, Informative) 215
It's a wonderful idea (and don't get me wrong, we use geothermal energy in NZ [it's around 5% of our power generation]) but the inherent danger of magma is that if you make one little error you're dealing with MAGMA!!!
it's the second most hostile energy source after nuclear energy, the only difference is the half life isn't thousands of years.
oh! and 7000 is little more than 2 kilometres, that's really, really, really close for magma (the other way to look at it is that it's a very, very, very think mantle on the Earth near Iceland). Most other estiamtes of the Earth's mantle are ~=50-60 Km's vs. 3% of the average thickness beneath Iceland.
Good luck to Iceland!
Comment Spoiler Free Comment (Score 1) 384
Sow this last night (New Zealand time or Wed 1100 hrs GMT).
Lot's of eye candy, sagerine backstory to justify the 'quest/journey' but worth your time.
Comment Re:A little more (Score 1) 1153
Yes, the popularity of lotteries proves the lack of understanding around basic statistics.
Comment Re:Er, (Score 2, Interesting) 457
So.... does the EFF sue Aiplex, the MPAA or the film owner?
(that's assuming Aiplex is careful not to upset hackers smarter than Aiplex). Do not DDOS Aiplex and if you're caught remember I told you not to do it.
Grad Student Invents Cheap Laser Cutter 137
An anonymous reader writes "Peter Jansen, a PhD student and member of the RepRap community, has constructed a working prototype of an inexpensive table-top laser cutter built out of old CD/DVD drives as an offshoot of his efforts to design an under $200 open-source Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) 3D printer. Where traditional laser cutters use powerful, fixed-focus beams, this new technique dynamically adjusts the focal point of the laser using a reciprocating motion similar to a reciprocating saw, allowing a far less powerful and inexpensive laser diode to be used. The technique is currently limited to cutting black materials to a depth of only a few millimeters, but should still be useful and enabling for Makers and other crafters. The end-goal is to create a hybrid inexpensive 3D printer that can be easily reconfigured for 2D laser cutting, providing powerful making tools to the desktop."
Nuns Donate Their Brains to Alzheimer's Research 148
Many Catholic religious orders are participating in a long range Alzheimer's disease study. Rush University's Religious Orders Study began in 1993 and tracks the participants' mental abilities through yearly memory testing. In addition to the annual tests, the study subjects agree to donate their brains. From the article: "The researchers sought members of religious orders, hoping they would be willing to donate and would not have children or spouses interfering with that arrangement at the last minute. More than 1,100 nuns, priests and brothers across the country representing a wide range of ethnic groups are taking part."
Comment Replay: Typically, I get N pieces of snail mail pe (Score 1) 228
Not counting junk mail it's more like 2 bills a month (from providers that don't use email) and birthday cards once a year.
This snail mail thing is dying if it isn't already dead.
Comment Re:Wait for Google then... (Score 1) 622
The "black border" is a bezel to keep your fingers (on the hand holding the device - when it is hand held) away from the touch screen. They *are* ugly but also necerssary.
8-)
Comment Re:Elation? (Score 1) 119
It's sad how many people have that attitude until they mature past their teenage years (that do not extend to their thirties).
Chinese Root Server Shut Down After DNS Problem 91
itwbennett writes "After a networking error first reported on Wednesday last week caused computers in Chile and the US to come under the control of a system that censors the Internet in China, the 'root DNS server associated with the networking problems has been disconnected from the Internet,' writes Robert McMillan. The server's operator, Netnod, has 'withdrawn route announcements' made by the server, according to company CEO Kurt Lindqvist."
How the TSA Plans On Inspecting Your Monkey 114
The uncertainty of what might happen to your service monkey at an airport security checkpoint won't keep you awake at night anymore, thanks to the TSA. They have issued an easy to follow list of how they will ensure your helper monkey won't go all Planet of the Apes on your flight. Some of the security techniques used to make sure your primate is not a terrorist include: "Security Officers will conduct a visual inspection on the service monkey and will coach the handler on how to hold the monkey during the visual inspection. The inspection process may require that the handler to take off the monkey's diaper as part of the visual inspection."
