Comment Re:Collusion (Score 3, Insightful) 1186
By that definition Nitrogen is a pollutant too, along with, well, any gas but Oxygen.
Comment Re:8 gauge wire (Score 0, Offtopic) 217
One of the displays contained a gigantic object that looked like it would take two men to shift.
yes things have gotten much smaller over the years, even the shift key.
Comment Re:Tax digital downloads and amil order products? (Score 1) 293
Here in the US I'm opposed to raising taxes to that of a Western European nation on the basis that we already on average work more hours per week than any other country. I'll consider letting my government raising taxes when I get the same pay I do now for working Western European hours.
Comment Re:LOL (Score 1) 1235
Clarify this: do you mean you have to pay the "holding fee" on everything once you get a Class 3 or what? A very good friend of mine has AP for his .223 and .308, neither of which have any "holding fee" associated with them. Yes I'm sure there was a sales tax applied at sale, and possibly some federal tax because it's ammo, but I'm not sure about the latter because I've never bought any ammo. I just shoot his :)
Also I don't see this "holding fee" happening for things you can buy online, like ammo. My friend gets all his ammo from online, it comes in nice metal tins covered in Russian / Bulgarian whatever writing. He also has what I'm guessing you mean by high capacity (30 round magazines) and there was no fee.
Also I don't see this "holding fee" happening for things you can buy online, like ammo. My friend gets all his ammo from online, it comes in nice metal tins covered in Russian / Bulgarian whatever writing. He also has what I'm guessing you mean by high capacity (30 round magazines) and there was no fee.
Barack Obama Sworn In As 44th President of the US 1656
Just before noon today, Eastern time, Barack Obama was sworn in before the US Capitol building as the 44th President of the United States (Whitehouse.gov has already been updated to reflect the new President), and offered an inaugural address which outlined some of the challenges that the country currently faces, both within the country's borders and abroad. Obama's election has been called "a civil rights triumph," and his candidacy has inspired perhaps the most visible political involvement of young voters of any candidate since John Kennedy. Here's your chance to discuss the newest occupant of the White House and what you'd like to see happen over the course of his presidency.
Comment Re:Rumble in the New year (Score 1) 301
what about that guy who sets off dynamite? (hey this is the Appalachians)
Comment Re:I'm in Japan for six months... (Score 1) 570
Some phones cost $500, it depends what you want in a phone. All my phone needs to do is call people, have a phone book, and voicemail. That can't cost anywhere near $500. I would rather outright by my cheap phone and not have it subsidized by the phone company (yes I know I can go buy a one that does what I need on ebay cheap).
I'm 20 something, don't pay for texts and have then blocked on the account.
I'm 20 something, don't pay for texts and have then blocked on the account.
Australian Court Lets Lawyer Serve Papers Via Facebook 204
a302b writes "A Canberra lawyer has been permitted to serve legal documents via Facebook for a couple who defaulted on a loan. He claims he needed to do this because he was unable to track them down to a physical address. At what point does our online presence become 'real?' And what opportunities are available for fraud, if social networking sites are considered legal representations of ourselves, even when they can be anonymously created under any name?"
Mad Scientist Brings Back Dead With "Deanimation" 501
mattnyc99 writes "Esquire is running a a jaw-dropping profile of MacArthur genius Marc Roth in their annual Best and Brightest roundup, detailing how this gonzo DNA scientist (who also figured out how to diagnose lupus correctly) went from watching his infant daughter die to literally reincarnating animals. Inspired by NOVA and funded by DARPA, Roth has developed a serum for major biotech startup Ikaria that successfully accomplished 'suspended animation' — the closest we've ever come to simulating near-death experiences and then coming back to life. From the article: 'We don't know what life is, anyway. Not really. We just know what life does — it burns oxygen. It's a process of combustion. We're all just slow-burning candles, making our way through our allotment of precious O2 until it becomes our toxin, until we burn out, until we get old and die. But we live on 21 percent oxygen, just as we live at 37 degrees. They're related. Decrease the oxygen to 5 percent, we die. But, look, the concentration of oxygen in the blood that runs through our capillaries is only 2 or 3 percent. We're almost dead already! So what if we turn down the candle's need for oxygen? What if we dim the candle so much that we don't even have the energy to die?' " The writer Tom Junod engages in what Hunter Thompson once called "a failed but essentially noble experiment in pure gonzo journalism." If you can suspend your inner critic for a time, it's a fun ride.
Comment Re:Halloween evolves over time (Score 1) 658
One more thing, there is a been garden this year.
Geoengineering To Cool the Earth Becoming Thinkable 419
johkir writes "As early as 1965, when Al Gore was a freshman in college, a panel of distinguished environmental scientists warned President Lyndon B. Johnson that CO2 emissions from fossil fuels might cause 'marked changes in climate' that 'could be deleterious.' Yet the scientists did not so much as mention the possibility of reducing emissions. Instead they considered one idea: 'spreading very small reflective particles' over about five million square miles of ocean, so as to bounce about 1 percent more sunlight back to space — 'a wacky geoengineering solution.' In the decades since, geoengineering ideas never died, but they did get pushed to the fringe — they were widely perceived by scientists and environmentalists alike as silly and even immoral attempts to avoid addressing the root of the problem of global warming. Three recent developments have brought them back into the mainstream." We've discussed some
pretty
strange
ideas
in the geoengineering line over the last few years.
Wealthy Mexicans Getting Chipped in Case of Abduction
306
Because the number of abductions in Mexico has jumped almost 40% in the past 3 years, the wealthy are getting subcutaneous transmitters so they can be tracked when kidnapped. Xega, the Mexican security firm which makes the chips, has seen a sales jump of 13% this year. The company injects the crystal-encased chip, the size and shape of a grain of rice, into clients' bodies with a syringe. The chip then sends radio signals to a larger device carried by the client with a global positioning system in it. A satellite can then be used to find the location of the missing person. Things must be a lot worse in Mexico than I thought.
Why Microsoft Cozied up to Open Source at OSCON 325
This year at OSCON it seemed that you couldn't throw a stone without hitting someone from Microsoft (and in fact, I'm sure several people did). They were working very hard to make themselves known, and working desperately to change public opinion of Microsoft's involvement in the open source community. Linux.com's Nathan Willis took a look at what they were preaching, with a hefty dose of skepticism, and tries to postulate what the "angle" is. Of course, the powers that be at Microsoft may have finally seen the writing on the wall and felt the pressure from Google enough to alter their strategy a bit. For now I guess we'll have to wait with guarded optimism (or laughable contempt, depending on how old/jaded you are).
Alaskan Village Sues Over Global Warming 670
hightower_40 writes to mention that a small Alaskan village has sued two dozen oil, power, and coal companies, blaming them for contributing to global warming. "Sea ice traditionally protected the community, whose economy is based in part on salmon fishing plus subsistence hunting of whale, seal, walrus, and caribou. But sea ice that forms later and melts sooner because of higher temperatures has left the community unprotected from fall and winter storm waves and surges that lash coastal areas."
California Lawmaker Seeks Climate Change as part of Public Education 313
Andrew Feinberg writes "A California State Senator is seeking to mandate climate change as part of the standard science curriculum. Other members of the legislative body seek to teach an opposing view. 'Simitian noted that his bill wouldn't dictate what to teach or in what grades, but rather would require the state Board of Education and state Department of Education to decide both. Although global warming is mentioned in high school classes about weather, it is currently not required to be covered in all textbooks, said the head of the California Science Teachers Association ... teachers would have plenty to discuss: rising levels of carbon dioxide, how temperatures are measured globally, and what is known and not known about global warming.'"
