Comment please, do kill yourself (Score 1) 881
if you think that is an appropriate response to a fucking movie about a half-assed myth, then by all means, do the world a favor
Comment Re:I mention this (Score 1) 581
That's a very interesting point. If you look at how various countries have developed nuclear power, most went for plutonium-burning breeder reactors. The cold war superpowers, the UK, France and Israel all went with fast breeder reactors for "research" purposes. Only later did commercial thermal reactors for power generation come online.
Nowadays with the IAEA keeping an eye on things, any developing country pretty much has to target a traditional HEU-burning thermal reactor design.
Submission + - Microsoft Disconnects Xbox Owners (bbc.co.uk)
Shrike82 writes: The BBC are reporting that around 600,000 XBox owners have been banned from using Microsoft's XBox Live service for modifying their consoles to "play pirated games". The article mentions Terms of Use violations as the reason for disconnections, and cites game piracy as the main reason behind this move. The bans will only affect online services, so anyone banned from XBox Live can still use their consoles for offline gaming.
Submission + - Why the Google Phone Isn't Taking Off 2
Hugh Pickens writes: "Farhad Manjoo writes in Slate that while the iPhone commands nearly 14 percent of smartphone sales and BlackBerry about 21 percent. Android has only 3 percent and that even though it's far friendlier to developers, Android has failed to attract anywhere near the number of apps now clogging the iPhone. Manjoo writes that Google went wrong by giving handset manufacturers and carriers a great deal of control over the design and marketing of Android phones so there is no idealized "Google phone"--instead, Android devices get names like the T-Mobile G1 or the myTouch 3G, and each is marketed separately and comes with its own distinct capabilities and shortcomings. "Outside handset manufacturers lack ambition--none of them even seems to be trying to match the capabilities of the iPhone, let alone to knock us down with features that far surpass those of Apple's device," writes Manjoo. "A smart handset manufacturer could build a top-of-the-line Android device that outshines Apple's phone in at least a few areas--better battery life, a much better Web browser, a brighter or bigger screen, faster or more functional controls ... something that might help Android inspire gadget lust. But so far, that's not happening." John Gruber adds that the goal should be to make a phone that is better than the iPhone. "Carefully select a handful of areas where you can beat the iPhone, and then promote the hell out of these features," writes Gruber. "If your hope is to gain a strong foothold in the market with a sub-par device, you are mistaken. If Apple is BMW, you can be Porsche.""
Comment Re:Standardization (Score 1) 289
Quote: The browser makes a crappy newspaper.
Is that because:
- it can't be crumpled into a ball to start a fire?
- it is awkward to place in the bottom of a birdcage?
- fish and chips cannot be wrapped in it?
If a dedicated hardware reader has advantages that make it easier to read and more portable what is to stop equivalent technology from showing up in laptops?
Submission + - New Flu strain appears in the US and Mexico H1N1 (abc.net.au)
Combat Wombat writes: "The Mexican government says a strain of the influenza virus has killed at least 45 people and infected hundreds of others.
Seven non-fatal cases have also been confirmed in the United States.
Mexico's health ministry says the new virus has reached epidemic levels.
It was originally described as a form of swine flu, which had mutated and been passed to humans.
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says closer analysis showed it is a never-before-seen mixture of swine, human and avian viruses.
Humans can occasionally catch swine flu from pigs but rarely have they been known to pass it on to other people.
Most of the cases so far recorded have been in or near Mexico City and have largely affected men between the ages of 25 and 44.
As well as ordering the closure of all schools in the capital and neighbouring Mexico states, the ministry is advising the population to avoid crowded areas and not to shake hands or kiss one another.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the virus has the same genetic structure as a new strain of swine flu, designated H1N1, seen in seven people in California and Texas."
Submission + - Texas secession from the United States (blogspot.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Article about the likelihood of Texas seceding from the United States.
Submission + - Nano-Thermite Identified in WTC Dust
Beauford writes: "A recent peer reviewed article has positively identified the presence of small unreacted fragments of nano-thermite (a high-tech explosive) from several independent samples of World Trade Center debris dust. The mass fraction of nano-thermite within the dust suggests that several tonnes were initially present in the buildings before 911. Production of nano-thermite is not easy, and requires advanced chemical engineering. The findings are being emphatically shared amongst 911 truthers, and Niels Harrit, first author of the paper, has been giving interviews on mainstream Danish news. The paper was published in The Open Chemical Physics Journal, and represents an extensive amount of research and labour. Seeing as how its conclusions are quite definitive, should I be worried that I haven't heard about this in national news?"
Submission + - Texas governor suggests his state could secede 1
groslyunderpaid writes: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/15/gov-rick-perry-texas-coul_n_187490.html
Texas Gov. Rick Perry fired up an anti-tax "tea party" Wednesday with his stance against the federal government and for states' rights as some in his U.S. flag-waving audience shouted, "Secede!"
Later, answering news reporters' questions, Perry suggested Texans might at some point get so fed up they would want to secede from the union.
Submission + - Playboy Posts Back Issues Online: for Free (pcmag.com)
Anomnomnomymous writes: "Through a partnership between Microsoft and Bondi Digital Publishing, Playboy Enterprises has put 53 back issues of Playboy on the Web, viewable through Microsoft's Silverlight viewer.
The issues cover the years 1954 through 2007, and appear as they did in the print version, with advertisements left intact. To do so, Bondi Digital Publishing scanned and re-typed each issue of Playboy, the company said in a statement.
Users will need to install Microsoft's Silverlight player, but hey: I've seen worse cases where it was needed!"
Comment Re:That's really a shame. (Score 2, Funny) 356
So true, just like when they found Amelia Earhart's plane last year. Major news outlets didn't think it was newsworthy enough to run the story at all.
Submission + - TX Science Educator Fired - Was Non-Neutral re: ID (nytimes.com) 1
jeffporcaro writes: "Texas' Director of Science Curriculum was "forced to step down" for favoring evolution over intelligent design (ID). She apparently circulated an e-mail that was critical of ID — although state regulations require her not to have any opinion "on a subject on which the agency must remain neutral." I hope they don't enforce the same kind of neutrality regarding heliocentricity or other scientific "debates.""
Submission + - The buzzing LCD monitor/TV plague 1
(Score.5, Interestin writes: Some years ago there was a plague of exploding capacitors on motherboards. Currently, the plague seems to be buzzing LCD monitors and TVs. The problem is caused by the use of cheap and nasty inverters for LCD backlights, and only occurs when the brightness is set to less than about 90-95% (specifically, the problem occurs when the duty cycle on the PWM dimmer drops below about 95%). It's not immediately noticeable because as shipped the products have their brightness cranked to maximum, which obscures the problem. This affects virtually every LCD monitor and TV brand, Acer, Hitachi, HP, NEC, Philips, Samsung, Sony, Viewsonic, you name it, even a trivial google search returns thousands of hits. The only solution currently seems to be to keep RMA'ing the monitor/TV until you happen to get one that doesn't have this problem. Haven't the vendors learned anything about cheap-and-nasty components from the exploding-capacitor fiasco?
Submission + - Music industry wants credit card nums in ID3 tags (michaelrobertson.com)
An anonymous reader writes: In an obituary for AnywhereCD which closes in one week, MP3.com founder Michael Robertson chronicles how at least one record label wanted him to put credit card numbers of buyers into songs. Fascinating story about how at least some of the labels still don't get it and why AnywhereCD is about to buried.
Submission + - "Illegal" file sharing network eDonkey dis (timesonline.co.uk)
sufijazz writes: "The TimesOnline (UK) website reports that
The second largest file-sharing network on the internet has been severely disabled in a significant coup for the music industry's fight against piracy.
Of course, there are those of us who question whether all file sharing on eDonkey is illegal. But that little question seems to have gotten lost in the entertainment industry's tirade against file sharers."