Comment sha(ck|g)space (Score 4, Funny) 95
... see, children, the difference between nerds and non-nerds may be as small as the one between 'ck' and 'g'.
Comment Antares series by M McCollum (Score 1) 892
I read the Antares novels by Michael McCollum some time ago. Got a very realistic feel.
- ships: living quarters to the outside, spinning when stationary to have gravity at least somewhere. all sizes, from battleship to one-man-scout. ugly.
- weapons: lasers, nuclear weapons.
- battles: short and rather deadly
Comment Re:Going down in flames (Score 1) 575
Javascript is out of place on server side, which is why server style Javascript has never caught on, and it doesn't really make a lot of sense as a general purpose programming language either.
Last I checked, server-side JavaScript seemed to be all the rage with the cool kids.
JavaScript was born for the browser ( and even has (horrible) features that only make sense in a browser ( try 'blah'.bold()), except that they dont), but that doesnt mean it is a bad language for all other purposes.
Comment Re:Uniquely Human? (Score 1) 79
Is the "drive to explore" uniquely human?
I don't know.
My chickens are pretty inquisitive.
parent++
We humans tend to think we're very special, and we are - we are more intelligent, we are more empathic, etc... but we cannot claim that we are the only ones possessing intelligence or inquisitiveness or even homosexuality.
Comment oblig xkcd (Score 2) 123
as in: http://xkcd.com/123/
Submission + - Teach Your Toddler Perfect Pitch 5
garthsundem writes: "Diana Deutsch, president of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition, says that perfect pitch can be trained — start early by labeling a keyboard with colors or animal stickers. Once you've paired tone with meaning, you can switch it later to note names, like A, B, C."
Submission + - Pirate Bay appeal refused by Swedish Supreme Court (computerworlduk.com)
concertina226 writes: The Swedish Supreme Court will not hear an appeal from the founders of The Pirate Bay against prison sentences and fines imposed by the Swedish Court of Appeals, the court said on Wednesday.
Over a year ago, the Court of Appeals sentenced Fredrik Neij, Peter Sunde, and Carl Lundström to 10 months, eight months and four months of jail time, respectively. The court also said they must collectively pay a 46 million kronor (£4.3 million) fine.
Over a year ago, the Court of Appeals sentenced Fredrik Neij, Peter Sunde, and Carl Lundström to 10 months, eight months and four months of jail time, respectively. The court also said they must collectively pay a 46 million kronor (£4.3 million) fine.
Comment Re:Socialism doomed space travel beyond LEO (Score 1) 756
After all, the money spent on social programs dwarfs what is spent by NASA.
I was going to say the insane military budget dwarfs the social programs. But I seem to be wrong
Comment Re:More of them? (Score 1) 109
:D
All these planet discoveries. It kind of gets boring, after a while.
But then: how friggin cool is that?
When I was a kid, Science fiction was about all those worlds that maybe could be out there. Now we know they are there.
Submission + - European Commission VP calls SOPA "bad legislation (twitter.com)
Rui del-Negro writes: "After stating that "there is no EU version of SOPA; internet regulation must be effective, proportionate, and preserve the benefits of the open net", EC Vice-President for Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes has now gone all the way and tweeted that she is "glad the tide is turning on SOPA" because "we don't need bad legislation when we should be safeguarding the benefits of the open net". Later she added that "speeding is illegal too, but you don't put speed bumps on the motorway" (presumably to get through to those people who can only think in terms of car metaphors).
In stark contrast with US politicians, Kroes seems to think that the current copyright and distribution models hurt artists more than piracy does. Also in stark contrast with the backers of SOPA, Kroes says she is proud to be a geek ("It pays my mortgage and keeps my family fed. I also wash everyday too!") and seems to understand how issues like privacy and open standards affect that series of tubes known as the internets."
In stark contrast with US politicians, Kroes seems to think that the current copyright and distribution models hurt artists more than piracy does. Also in stark contrast with the backers of SOPA, Kroes says she is proud to be a geek ("It pays my mortgage and keeps my family fed. I also wash everyday too!") and seems to understand how issues like privacy and open standards affect that series of tubes known as the internets."
Submission + - New T-Ray Source May Make Star Trek Medical Scanne (fellowgeek.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Terrahertz waves, or T-waves as they’re frequently known, may make portable medical scanners a reality. Scientists at the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) recently published a paper in the journal Nature Photonics that detailed a new way of creating T-waves that is not only more reliable than existing methods, but smaller too.
The new technology manages to shrink the production down significantly, while letting a beam of T-rays be focused and powerful. That means that, for the first time, you could put a full body scanner onto the palm of your hand.
The new technology manages to shrink the production down significantly, while letting a beam of T-rays be focused and powerful. That means that, for the first time, you could put a full body scanner onto the palm of your hand.
Submission + - Choosing anonymous proxies 2
bradley13 writes: There are lots of anonymous proxies out there, and anyone concerned about their privacy probably uses one for at least some of their web-browsing.
The Megaupload story highlights the fact that having servers in the USA is not a great idea. There are also other countries one may not want to trust. Oddly, very few proxy services mention where their equipment is located.
What anonymous proxy services do members of the Slashdot community use? What criteria do you use to select them? How paranoid are you, and for what types of Internet usage?
The Megaupload story highlights the fact that having servers in the USA is not a great idea. There are also other countries one may not want to trust. Oddly, very few proxy services mention where their equipment is located.
What anonymous proxy services do members of the Slashdot community use? What criteria do you use to select them? How paranoid are you, and for what types of Internet usage?
Submission + - Could MRAM ultimately replace DRAM? (techworld.com.au)
angry tapir writes: "A new form of nonvolatile MRAM memory with the promise to eventually replace DRAM is slowly making its way into products. Everspin says its MRAM (magnetoresistive random access memory) is trickling into products that require reliable, fast non-volatile memory that can preserve data in the event of a power failure. MRAM has been under development for decades, and Toshiba and Hynix last year committed to developing the new memory type to ultimately replace DRAM and NAND flash. MRAM operates just like standard memory, but uses magnetic properties to store data instead of storing a charge on a capacitor as with DRAM."
Submission + - Microsoft App: No to the Ghetto (cbslocal.com) 1
TheMiddleRoad writes: Microsoft is purportedly developing an app that, based on crime statistics, guides users away from certain areas. Civil rights groups are not amused.
Submission + - The Universe is Digital, not Quantum (scientificamerican.com)
xkr writes: Professor Craig Hogan, at Fermilab, says the universe is filled with intrinsic jitter. This jitter comes not from quantum physics, but rather space is made of "tiny chunks." "Hogan's noise would imply the universe is digital." So it appears we are in the Matrix after all, and the Matrix is a digital computer. His work is published in the Feb 2012 issue of Scientific American, available on line.
