Comment Re:Stability is NOT achieved that way. (Score 1) 114
neither
Comment Re:That's not direct democracy (Score 1) 308
democracy hasn't got to do with voting.
the main idea about democracy is that people DISCUSS the issues between themselves.
this is a point that is lost on almost everyone.
democracy is impossible when there are SO MANY PEOPLE in a community. That is why those who wrote the US constitution tried to offset this problem by creating the states. This idea draws HEAVILY from the achaean league http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achaean_League which was the evolution of democracy, trying to offset the main proble of great populations
once again: it's not the voting that is of great importance. it is discussing the problems of the community. If that can't be done, it doesn't matter if you vote or not
Comment Re:kid in front, semi in the back. (Score 1) 295
i should have written "someone who is behind you *must* be at a safe distance to stop even if you somehow stop on the spot" but i decided not to at the last moment because
turns out, i should have. because it happened.
also: "Some might argue that I should have been far enough back to allow for even an instantaneous stop in front of me, but it's not really feasible to leave a gap that large during rush hour." I have yet to see rush hour traffic where you go fast enough that you can't stop in time. if traffic is fast enough so that you can't stop in time, it is not rush hour traffic. and yeah, if you want to be safe, you *will* keep on letting a gap big enough *even* with idiots getting in between. the alternative (approaching dangerously close) is not really a good option.
or you can pay attention two or three cars ahead of you
Comment Re:kid in front, semi in the back. (Score 4, Insightful) 295
the kid/granny in front of you are not at fault. if you hit them you are at fault.
someone who is behind you *must* be at a safe distance to stop even if you perform emergency braking. if they hit you, they are at fault.
fill the rest yourself. in short you are just plain wrong. and dangerous.
Comment Re:But... (Score 1) 295
you are the cause of the problems, then; not the TC.
Comment Re:Relaxing is subjective (Score 1) 239
screaming hell music? hmmm... do me a favor will you? can you tell me what her opinion is about music like... say... The Betrayal by Fleshgod Apocalypse. Or Vampire from Nazareth by Septic Flesh?
just curious
Submission + - Chinese to keep us from going extinct in 2036 (technologyreview.com)
wisebabo writes: So as the article says, the Chinese have proposed sending a solar sail driven probe to hit the asteroid Apophis to make sure it has no chance of going through a "keyhole" near earth in 2029. If it goes through the keyhole then it will hit the earth seven years later.
The reason why they need to use a solar sail is because they want the very small probe (10kg?) to hit the asteroid in the opposite direction, a retrograde orbit which would otherwise require an insane amount of fuel (after being put on an escape trajectory it would need to first cancel out the earth's orbital momentum and then basically speed up to a likewise high velocity in the OPPOSITE direction). They are doing this to hit the asteroid at a very high impact speed.
While Apophis may not literally be capable of wiping us out (it "only" weighs 46 million kilograms) it might be able to wreck our civilization. So rather than putting the fate of our species into the hands of an untried technology (no solar sail has yet imparted substantial delta-V to its spacecraft) may I suggest an alternative? By using Jupiter as a gravity assist we could send a much heavier probe to hit it at comparable speeds. For example the Juno spacecraft, recently launched to the gas giant weighs almost 8000kgs.
Jupiter could sling a spacecraft around so as to completely cancel its orbital momentum (with no fuel expenditure!). Then it will fall directly towards the sun and, if guided correctly, could hit Apophis broadside. Considering it will be falling from a height of several hundred million miles it would pack quite a blow. Admittedly, the impact will be on the side rather than head on but that should be okay since all we have to do is assure that Apophis doesn't pass through the keyhole which is only 600m wide.
Don't get my wrong, I hope that solar sails become widely used for the (slow, cheap) transport of cargos in the solar system. It's just that I wouldn't base the defense of earth on them. Then again, if you were able to very accurately control the asteroid impactor, not only could you control IF the asteroid was going to go through the keyhole but WHERE it was going to go through. Then you could determine where, on earth, the asteroid was going to eventually going to hit.
Say on an unfriendly nation (that was preferably on another continent).
The reason why they need to use a solar sail is because they want the very small probe (10kg?) to hit the asteroid in the opposite direction, a retrograde orbit which would otherwise require an insane amount of fuel (after being put on an escape trajectory it would need to first cancel out the earth's orbital momentum and then basically speed up to a likewise high velocity in the OPPOSITE direction). They are doing this to hit the asteroid at a very high impact speed.
While Apophis may not literally be capable of wiping us out (it "only" weighs 46 million kilograms) it might be able to wreck our civilization. So rather than putting the fate of our species into the hands of an untried technology (no solar sail has yet imparted substantial delta-V to its spacecraft) may I suggest an alternative? By using Jupiter as a gravity assist we could send a much heavier probe to hit it at comparable speeds. For example the Juno spacecraft, recently launched to the gas giant weighs almost 8000kgs.
Jupiter could sling a spacecraft around so as to completely cancel its orbital momentum (with no fuel expenditure!). Then it will fall directly towards the sun and, if guided correctly, could hit Apophis broadside. Considering it will be falling from a height of several hundred million miles it would pack quite a blow. Admittedly, the impact will be on the side rather than head on but that should be okay since all we have to do is assure that Apophis doesn't pass through the keyhole which is only 600m wide.
Don't get my wrong, I hope that solar sails become widely used for the (slow, cheap) transport of cargos in the solar system. It's just that I wouldn't base the defense of earth on them. Then again, if you were able to very accurately control the asteroid impactor, not only could you control IF the asteroid was going to go through the keyhole but WHERE it was going to go through. Then you could determine where, on earth, the asteroid was going to eventually going to hit.
Say on an unfriendly nation (that was preferably on another continent).
Submission + - To Save the Galaxy, Destroy Humanity (discovery.com)
astroengine writes: "In a study carried out by NASA and Pennsylvania State University scientists, several intelligent extraterrestrial encounter scenarios are examined. One of the scenarios is a sci-fi favorite: what if we encounter an alien race hellbent on destroying us? However, there's a twist.
This isn't mindless thuggery on behalf of the aliens, and they're not killing us to get at our natural resources, they have a cause. They want to exterminate us for the greater good of the Milky Way."
This isn't mindless thuggery on behalf of the aliens, and they're not killing us to get at our natural resources, they have a cause. They want to exterminate us for the greater good of the Milky Way."
Submission + - 13-Year-Old Makes Fibonacci Solar Breakthrough (inhabitat.com)
An anonymous reader writes: While most 13-year-olds spend their free time playing video games or cruising Facebook, one 7th grader was trekking through the woods uncovering a mystery of science. After studying how trees branch in a very specific way, Aidan Dwyer created a solar cell tree that produces 20-50% more power than a uniform array of photovoltaic panels. His impressive results show that using a specific formula for distributing solar cells can drastically improve energy generation. The study earned Aidan a provisional U.S patent – it’s a rare find in the field of technology and a fantastic example of how biomimicry can drastically improve design.
Submission + - RKK Energia confirms private trip to the Moon (kyivpost.com)
Teancum writes: "RKK Energia, the prime contractor for the Russian space program and the company who builds the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, recently confirmed negotiations are underway with space tourism company Space Adventures for a privately financed crewed flight around the Moon. While the offer and purchase of at least one seat has been discussed earlier, this is the first time Energia has confirmed the negotiations and has gone into at least some details in terms of what they are expecting to have happen with this flight and the approximate timeframe for when this flight would take place... sometime in 2016 or 2017."
Comment Re:Viewpoint from an American in China (Score 4, Informative) 220
I live in China and access Slashdot frequently. I've never seen it blocked. Most foreign news sites are rarely blocked in China, and even negative articles about China's government are usually accessible. The exception is news sites with a lot of articles in Chinese, those are often blocked. And around certain important dates some news sites like the BBC may be inaccessible for several days.
Comment Viewpoint from an American in China (Score 5, Interesting) 220
I'm an American who has lived in China for 7 years.
Most ordinary people in China believe the firewall is only for blocking pornography and dangerous information from terrorists. They don't believe political discussion is being blocked. In fact, there are many blogs and social networking sites in China full of political discussion, which are of course censored, but it is only a few sensitive topics that will be removed, so most users will never notice the censorship.
From the comments in this thread, it seems like most US internet users (even the savvy users on Slashdot) likewise believe that US web censorship is only for blocking IP infringement, and never for censoring political discussion.
So it would seem that Chinese and US internet users are equally misinformed and complacent about their own governments' internet censorship.
Comment Re:Go go Google (Score 2) 138
drugs are controlled with prescriptions, because otherwise people would scarf down whatever they wanted. Imagine people eating antibiotics like candy? Where would this lead? or antipsychotics? Oh i think i have $whatever let me get some promadiazepam or whatsitsname
Comment Re:flash is malware/adware (Score 1) 244
needs it for sound
Comment Re:Alternatives? (Score 1) 605
shouldn't be too hard to do encryption
