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Comment Re: Another reason I no longer fly. (Score 2) 298

With "TSA-Pre" (which you can get e.g. by signing up for global entry) you can avoid many of
these inconveniences. e.g. you can keep shoes on, keep computer inside bag, keep liquids in bag.
Global entry has other major advantages for international travelers (avoid immigration lines).
http://www.globalentry.gov/

Comment The LAT is not Dwyer's sensor (Score 1) 263

Dwyer hopes his sensor aboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, will provide more data."

The "sensor" referred to in the article appears to be the main instrument on board the Fermi spacecraft: the not very imaginatively named Large Area Telescope,
or LAT. This was developed by a very large international team, including NASA and the DoE in the US. However, Dwyer, as far as I know, was not
a member of this large team. (And I don't think the article or Dwyer actually claim this.)
The data obtained from the LAT are made public as soon as possible, usually within much less than 24 hours,
after being obtained. Anyone in the world is free to download and analyze these data.
http://www-glast.stanford.edu/
http://fermi.gsfc.nasa.gov/ssc/
The Fermi satellite also carries the GBM - gamma-ray burst monitor, which has provided the majority of the results on gamma-rays
from lightning. The data from this instrument are also immediately public.
http://gammaray.msfc.nasa.gov/gbm/

Comment Re:Fakery (Score 2) 248

Are you saying "head down the road apiece until you git to where the old Johnson place used to be, then stay on that road until you git to the oak tree- no wait, they cut that down- tell you what, you just go for about 10 minutes until you see a guy on a thresher and ask him," isn't good information?

It would be if I could get even that. But everyone was just totally clueless, not even any map. When I worked in a petrol station in the UK (when I was a student) we had a local map pinned to the wall because we had so many people stopping and asking for directions.

These days like everyone else I just rely on my phone for navigation, of course.

Comment Re:Fakery (Score 3, Informative) 248

up with inordinately complex solutions to everyday problems... it's like guys who insist on not stopping for directions... they'll drive in circles for hours when all it would have taken was to walk into a gas station and ask where to go.

Off topic but: When I lived in the UK I used to ask for directions at petrol stations very often and always got good information. But, when I moved to the US I tried asking for directions at gas stations and never got any useful help at all. So, asking for directions at gas stations is not useful, based on my research...

Comment Re:They get it (Score 1) 404

Many phones can work with T-mobile's service over wifi. For me that's at least as good as having a local cell extender.

http://t-mobile-coverage.t-mobile.com/4g-wireless-broadband-service

However, it appears the iPhone may not be able to use this initially.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/26/t-mobile-iphone-no-wifi-calling-feature-enabled/

Comment Re:Seems like a good step (Score 5, Informative) 154

That seems better. "More than a decade" sounds too short term of an investment.

According to the NY Times, the overall gas available may be more like 100 years' worth:

Jogmec estimates that the surrounding area in the Nankai submarine trough holds at least 1.1 trillion cubic meters, or 39 trillion cubic feet, of methane hydrate, enough to meet 11 years’ worth of gas imports to Japan.

A separate, rough estimate by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology has put the total amount of methane hydrate in the waters surrounding Japan at more than 7 trillion cubic meters, or what researchers have long said is closer to 100 years’ worth of Japan’s natural gas needs.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/13/business/global/japan-says-it-is-first-to-tap-methane-hydrate-deposit.html?hp

Comment Re:"Big Data" (Score 1) 201

People who know the point they want to make use profanity, people who are to stuck up / proper try to talk around the use of swearing and usually end up sounding like a complete idiot.

Personally, I find I'm often more influenced by whether by a native speaker makes frequent basic grammatical errors or not. (e.g. "to" vs. "too").

(And by McKean's law I must have several errors in the sentence above of course.)

Comment Re:Unexpected consequences of paywalls. (Score 1) 700

Apparently, the logs also showed he took a lengthy detour through Manhattan, rather than a direct route.

According to the reporter in a subsequent followup:
Mr. Musk has referred to a “long detour” on my trip. He is apparently referring to a brief stop in Manhattan on my way to Connecticut that, according to Google Maps, added precisely two miles to the overall distance traveled from the Delaware Supercharger to Milford (202 miles with the stop versus 200 miles had I taken the George Washington Bridge instead of the Lincoln Tunnel)
http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/12/the-charges-are-flying-over-a-test-of-teslas-charging-network/?hp

Comment Re:negatory, cut them back, hard (Score 5, Interesting) 605

Coming to the US with a green card is very difficult. I know of nobody who did that where I work (federal government science lab).
I have a PhD in physics, I came to the US on an H1B visa (as did many of my colleagues).
Then, after several years, I got a green card, then a few years after that I became a US citizen.
That path (H1B -> green card -> citizen) has been followed by very many of my scientist and engineer colleagues.
I'd like to think that we make a strong contribution to the US scientifically, economically, and culturally.

Comment Re:things like these (Score 1) 412

Citation?

Teenager faces prosecution for calling Scientology 'cult'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/may/20/1
UK teenager arrested for anti-war Facebook post
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/232192.html
April Jones: Matthew Woods jailed over explicit Facebook comments
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/oct/08/april-jones-matthew-woods-jailed

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