Comment Re:The Matrix... (Score 1) 98
If only I hadn't wasted all my mod points in Idle... Sorry AC.
Comment Re:Or better yet (Score 1) 1367
Who's more likely not to respect the law? Drunken idiots or smart, innocent people?
This particular drunken idiot already was idiotic enough that he broke the current drunk-driving law. What makes you think he would have respected the alcohol prohibition law? We know how easy to find illegal drugs are now. Alcohol would be the same.
Comment Re:I take a Libertarian POV. (Score 1) 1367
And at least it means that if those drugs are available through government programs, it'll be taking away some of that money that drug lords are supposedly making, and pump billions more dollars back into the government.
Comment Re:wrong (Score 1) 1367
You say that like the goal of government is to generate revenue. Of course they could nominally collect more in taxes with legalization, but the individuals in government would lose the considerable power and influence the prohibition gives them now.
Plus, as has been made very clear in the current financial crisis, taxation is no longer the preferred mode of generating revenue for the government. Inflation is far more controllable and subtle.
Comment Re:Well.. (Score 1) 188
Notably, it's the only browser here that doesn't have inline find with Ctrl+F (even IE does these days), but inline find can be brought up with the / button.
Ctrl+F works just fine, in addition to "." and "/".
Comment That explains the name SpaceX (Score 1) 30
This post feels like the summary of a porno shoot!
Comment Slashdotted? (Score 1) 287
The ultimate hack.
Comment Brain Trust Program (Score 1) 684
You should check Dr McCleary's book. Good advice from a scientific who actually explains how he reached his conclusions.
The Science of the Lightsaber
197
Smartcowboy writes "Chances are that you have seen a lightsaber at one time or another, whether on the evening news or down at the local cantina. Therefore you know that a lightsaber is an amazing and versatile device that is able to cut through nearly anything in a matter of milliseconds.
Have you ever wondered how these remarkable weapons work? Where does the energy come from, and how are they able to contain that energy in a rod-like column of glowing power?
In this article, you will have a chance to look inside a lightsaber and discover the source of its incredible characteristics." I was sure the blade was made from the focused hate and disappointment of the last three movies.
Comment Re:No sense... (Score 1) 541
Why create regulation at all in the first place? Because they can?
Woman Admits Sending $400K To Nigerian Scammer
857
svnt writes "Janella Spears wiped out her husband's retirement account, remortgaged their paid-for house, and took out a lien against the family car in an attempt to cash in on the deal. A undercover officer involved with the investigation called it the worst example of the scam he's ever seen. Thoughtfully, Spears has gone public with her story as a warning to others not to fall victim."
Comment Re:28 MPH is not fast enough for realistic street. (Score 1) 173
Actually, I would not mind this type of car getting popular, since it would lower the air and noise pollution in crammed cities quite considerably.
Lower air pollution? This thing runs on air! Imagine all this air released into the air. *Shivers*
Tying Knots With Light 125
thedreadedwiccan points out a summary of a recently released physics paper about tying knots with light. A pair of researchers showed that a relatively new solution to Maxwell's equations allows light to be twisted into stable loops. They are designing experiments to test the theory now, and it could have a big impact on fusion technology. The paper's abstract is available at Nature, though a subscription is required to see the rest. Quoting:
"In special situations, however, the loops might be stable, such as if light travels through plasma instead of through free space. One of the problems that has plagued experimental nuclear fusion reactors is that the plasma at the heart of them moves faster and faster and tends to escape. That motion can be controlled with magnetic fields, but current methods to generate those fields still don't do the job. If Irvine and Bouwmeester's discovery could be used to generate fields that would send the plasma in closed, non-expanding loops and help contain it, 'that would be extremely spectacular,' Bouwmeester says."
Telco Sues Municipality For Laying Their Own Fiber 408
unreceivedpacket writes "Ars Technica reports that a company called TDS Telecom is attempting to sue the town of Monticello, Minnesota for deploying their own fiber network. Shortly after the town voted to lay the fiber, TDS Telecom filed suit and notified the town that they would be deploying their own fiber network. The telco has recently responded to Ars Technica, saying they only sued to save Monticello from itself, apparently feeling that the municipality is unprepared for the onerous costs of maintaining such a network, and would lack the expertise to do so."
Why Is the Internet So Infuriatingly Slow? 812
Anti-Globalism writes "The major ISPs all tell a similar story: A mere 5 percent of their customers are using around 50 percent of the bandwidth, sometimes more, during peak hours. While these 'power users' are sharing three-gig movies and playing online games, poor granny is twiddling her thumbs waiting for Ancestry.com to load."
