How many times has one's smartphone been infected by malware? How many people do you know whose smartphone was infected by malware? What about tablets? The problem has already been solved by shifting to a different type of computer than a PC.

Ironically wasn't one of Compaq's first PC computers a portable? I wonder if there was any reaction at all to a person carrying around an approximately $3000 USD computer in public. Also, did anyone try to just rip one off?

One of the problems is that the "wrong stance" on climate change is just a reason to stigmatize people as being morally unworthy. We have reinvented the Pharisees versus everyone else. The Pharisees were actually reasonably moral people, virtuous and giving donations to charity. In fact the deniers of climate change are not doing a thing to prevent any major renewable energy project from proceeding in the world. There has been a massive build-out in solar panel and wind turbine manufacturing capacity, and there are multiple giant installations being constructed in solar concentration and in offshore wind farms. The technologically super-advanced Germany, regardless of political party, is firmly committed to its Energiewende that will increase that country's usage of renewables to 60% by 2050. Whatever obstacles there are to renewables, the climate change deniers are for practical purposes unimportant. Failure is not because of others, it lies in ourselves. Stop blaming, start fixing.

And what are the odds there aren't at least a half dozen other bugs as serious still to be found in the OpenSSL source code ...

Go to for example the mathematics stack of any decent university library and thumb through the beginning of books written around the era of the beginning of the Vietnam War. Do not be surprised to see many acknowledging support from the Office of Naval Research for topics such as algebraic topology. Post World War II the military was the best support basic science ever had in the United States. It was the left who deliberately tried to destroy this amazingly fruitful collaboration between the military and basic science with the Mansfield Amendment(s), deliberately taking away basic science's best patron and shunting off funding to a politically impotent National Science Foundation. Here for example is an actual bombing and killing of a scientist who wasn't even involved in the targeted research. If the right did such a thing today Hollywood would instantly make a major movie and the event would be seared into public consciousness by the media for decades. Instead we'll never hear a peep from the media about this senseless atrocity today. It's not growing hatred of science. It's the echo of the left's hatred of science dating back from the Vietnam War era.

Inevitably for topics such as this where seemingly smart people choose to collectively do something dumb, someone will drag in creationists in a disparaging manner. It's this feeling of superiority over creationists that's causing this particular problem. The thought process of these people who live in affluent progressive areas such as New York City or the Bay Area is that because they feel they are not blinded by the religion of the masses, they are superior in their ability to analyze information to the masses and all those who pander to the masses. After all, if they know better than religious leaders, they might also know better than government leaders who also have to persuade the masses, or business leaders. As long as these people can keep telling themselves that what they are doing is not based on their own religion, they will never be persuaded to accept vaccination. Because going against religion to them is the ultimate good.

The encouragement of NIMBYism to block projects such as nuclear power has only created blowback that basically blocks everything, including projects vital to wind power. Let's take the example of Europe and powerlines:

Many projects can't make any headway because numerous citizens' initiatives are blocking things like high-voltage transmission lines ... "It took over 30 years before a power line between France and Spain could be built," recalls an expert on the EU Commission ... In Germany there are also protests against virtually every major project of the Energiewende

The article offers a ray of hope that Europe might establish a process where permits are granted in three and a half years with only one court about to stop the process:

The EU has also taken a brash course on this front: The proposal would make it possible for the 200 top projects in Europe to receive a construction permit within three and a half years -- with only one court that would hear the objections of project opponents.

Of course imagine the outrage if this short-circuiting of the right of protest and judicial review were granted for other types of energy projects ...

When I think of the Sun and science, I can't help but think of the James Bond movie Moonraker where the opposing teams of astronauts / space marines are killing each other in Earth orbit with space lasers, one guy gets hit, and he starts to fall into the Sun.

So Sailfish / Jolla supports all baseband chips that can be found on all Android devices in China? In addition to ST-Ericsson, Qualcomm, Huawei, Samsung, MediaTek, etc.?

Obviously the station is on a fishing boat as in the James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only

Major portions of the Caltrain track from San Francisco to San Jose are simply IMPOSSIBLE to "upgrade." The track is rolling right through rich small cities with not much room on either side. What is the upgrade, putting everything on massive concrete and steel supports or burying it? The first option would never be allowed because it would a horrendous eyesore and stupendously expensive, the second option would simply be impossibly expensive.

BART was the only chance, and when it wasn't extended many decades ago to encircle the Bay, the situation became irreparable.

Parts of the United States tried similar ideas to reduce the future numbers of poor people. These attempts are now considered to be an atrocity.

It's surprising to me that geeks have missed the golden opportunity to drive home one consistent message: Western tech companies need to grow up and invest in hardware and stop saying it's too hard and expensive. Qualcomm's CEO earned a Ph.D. in EECS from Cal-Berkeley, and Qualcomm has bought ATI's Mobile Graphics division and developed its own ARM SoC. Apple bought Palo Alto Semiconductor and developed their own ARM SoC. Samsung spends billions on up-to-date fabs, has their own ARM SoC, and their own LTE baseband chipset. Apple and Samsung are basically stuck with each other partnering on financing next-generation fabs to stay even with Intel. Meanwhile all the struggling companies have in common they don't do hard hardware but have to buy it from someone else.

Here's the proof it is known what are the angles best for knowledgeable fans to see the game. They just don't want to show them for live events. This example is for the NFL. Ask oneself, for any sport, hockey, soccer, baseball, are the angles one sees on broadcast television the ones the coaches analyze when they look at film? Of course not.

I'm fairly sure TV coverage deliberately sabotages viewing angles to maximize the draw of live attendance. TV screens have increased, resolution continues to increase, yet views of action are no wider than when the picture on over-the-air coverage could barely be distinguishable from snow. Take hockey on US TV for example. The way the coverage is presented, the action is essentially random. Shots are never wide enough to see long passes or the maneuvering of either the recipients of the passes or the defense to impede them. The same goes for soccer. Soccer coverage is particularly disassociated from the target audience because that audience increasingly is interested in the game for the beauty of the passing not the infrequent scoring. I see all over the area common people who are kicking around soccer balls never to shoot the ball but merely for the sheer joy of passing.