Comment Re:Another worst design. (Score 4, Funny) 232
The Pontiac Aztec. God they were ugly.
Must've been evolution, because there sure wasn't a lot of intelligent design that went into that one...
Comment Re:Don't use bootcamp, but I use Fusion (Score 1) 396
Considering 7 isnt even officially out yet, perhaps the haters should wait for some updates.
But then they'd miss out on a prime opportunity to rant senselessly without any facts at all.
Knowing this place, they'd even get modded up.
/~Rockwolf
xkcd To Be Released In Book Form 198
History's Coming To writes "xkcd creator Randall Munroe has revealed on his blag that the acclaimed stick-figure comic will be produced in real dead-tree book form. Fantastic news for all fans of comedy, maths, science, and relationship screw-ups — especially given that the book will be sold in aid of the charity 'Room To Read.' Rumors that the book contains a joke in the ISBN remain unconfirmed." The NY Times article that Munroe links (registration may be required) is from April of this year, and I am amazed that this community didn't note the story at that time. The book will be published by breadpig, which was created by Alexis Ohanian, one of the founders of reddit.
Comment Re:Im no scientist (Score 2, Funny) 82
No, the moon has virtually no atmosphere unlike Mars which has a thin wind, causing erosive effects. The moon is like a museum until something hits it.
At which point it continues to be a museum, just with a hole in it.
/~Rockwolf
RadioShack To Rebrand As "The Shack"? 629
Harry writes "Rumor has it that RadioShack is planning to re-brand itself as The Shack later this year, after eighty-eight years under the old name (most of them with a space in between 'Radio' and 'Shack'). I hope it's not true, because I don't think the move would do a thing to make the retailer a better, more successful business." Where will we go to buy soldering irons and those RCA to headphone jack adapters now?
Comment Re:Hate to break it to you... (Score 1) 211
If I see the word Appalachian in this thread I'm going to stab my face with an icepick.
Appalachian.
Be a nice chap and don't make a mess.
/me offers towel
/~Rockwolf
Experts Puzzled By Bright Spot On Venus 107
Hugh Pickens writes "BBC reports that astronomers are puzzled by a strange bright spot which has appeared in the clouds of Venus, first identified by US amateur astronomer Frank Melillo on 19 July and later confirmed by the European Space Agency's Venus Express spacecraft. 'I have seen bright spots before but this one is an exceptionally bright and quite intense area,' says Melillo. The bright spot has started to expand since its first appearance, being spread by winds in Venus' thick atmosphere. Scientists are unsure as to what is causing the spot. 'An eruption would have to be quite energetic to get a cloud this high,' said Dr. Sanjay Limaye of the University of Wisconsin. Furthermore, at a latitude of 50 degrees south, the spot lies outside the region of known volcanoes on Venus. Another potential source for the bright spot are charged particles from the Sun interacting with Venus' atmosphere. It's also possible that atmospheric turbulence may have caused bright material to become concentrated in one area. 'Right now, I think it's anybody's guess,' adds Limaye."
Piston-Powered Nuclear Fusion 147
katarn writes "General Fusion is a startup proposing they can create commercially viable fusion using acoustic shock waves, triggered by 220 precisely controlled pneumatic pistons. Their approach is based on a US Naval research concept called 'Linus' and old research done by General Atomics. They feel we now have the high-speed, digital processing capable of pulling off this feat, where decades ago the technology was not available. I think we can hold off on the 'vaporware' claims for a bit; everyone is aware of the horrible track record for turning fusion concepts into reality, but they don't claim to be the first with the idea or that there are not substantial challenges in the way. If nothing else, it is a fascinating concept."
Los Alamos National Laboratory has further details on this type of fusion, and longtime LANL researcher Ronald Kirkpatrick did an external assessment (PDF) of General Fusion's plans. Popular Science had a lengthy story about the company a while back. The reason they're back in the headlines now is that they've secured enough funding to begin work on a prototype reactor.
Comment Re:DEFINE: Subjectivity (Score 1) 834
I could call a girl a perfect ten, even if she turns out to be barren.
I'd say that one goes to 11.
/~Rockwolf
Microsoft Exec Says, "You'll Miss Vista"
273
Oracle Goddess writes "'Years from now, when you've moved on to Windows 7, you'll look back at Windows Vista fondly. You'll remember its fabulous attributes, not its flaws.' That's the opinion of Steve Guggenheimer, vice president of the OEM division at Microsoft. 'I think people will look back on Vista after the Windows 7 release and realize that there were actually a bunch of good things there,' Guggenheimer said in a recent interview. 'So it'll actually be interesting to see in two years what the perception is of Vista.' A dissenting opinion comes from Bob Nitrio, president of system builder Ranvest Associates, doesn't believe organizations that skipped Vista will ever regret their decision. 'I don't think for a second that people are suddenly going to love Windows 7 so much that they will experience deep pangs of regret for not having adopted Vista,' said Nitrio. If I had to bet, I'd go with Bob's take on it." My first thought was, Steve meant Windows 7 is designed to be virtually unusable as payback for all the complaints about Vista, but I might be biased.
Comment Re:Local perspective (Score 1) 198
As a resident of Kampala, Uganda I can say that this is a huge development here. East Africa is one of the last densely populated places on the planet that is entirely dependent on satellite for all data and voice communications. I currently pay about $50 a month for a connection that can burst up to 160kbps, averages at about 40kbps, and doesn't work about 30% of the time.
As a resident of Australia, the land of searing droughts, flooding rains and high-cost capped DSL, can I be the first to say... Ouch!
And we thought we had it bad...
/~Rockwolf
Comment Re:And here I was ... (Score 1) 109
This presents an interesting situation without an easy, clear cut answer. As a tax payer, I'm not sure what makes more sense. Do I want the government spending my money with a private company like Microsoft or Google, or do I want them spending my money developing their own infrastructure.
As a taxpayer, I'm entirely unsure that the government cares what you think.
/~Rockwolf
Comment Re:I must say... (Score 1) 299
That being said, they absolutely should make a Decepticon option for the appropriate cars.
Mercury Marauder.
You said appropriate, not GM.
/~Rockwolf
Comment Re:Variances from Ideal (Score 1) 317
A MOAB dropped within a block of my office is my biggest worry.
That's either a really good or really bad problem to be having.
Comment Re:American ain't English (Score 1) 396
I picked stonewolf for several reasons. Wolf I have explained. Stone is slang for Completely; utterly as in stone cold; standing stone still. So, completely,utterly the wolf.
Being a wolf is a way of life. It's rare to find someone who truly understands that.
The most important thing about the wolf is that he sees the world as it is, not as he wishes it to be.
The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it. - George Bernard Shaw.
Sorry for the glib quote, it just seems appropriate. I get called cynical all the time, usually by people who talk too much.
I hope you make it over here some day. IMHO Monument Valley is worth the trip all by its self. And, I know of a big red rock in the outback of Australia that I want to see some day.
I'm planning on it, once I've spent some time around the deserts down this way.
Uluru is an impressive sight. Well worth spending time around there, just seeing what's around - and I don't mean the tourist areas. Feels strange to drive 300 miles into the desert, then come across a car-park full of tourists with cameras, all taking bad photos of a red rock, talking loudly and wondering if they can make it back to the Alice before nightfall (answer's almost always no, for the record - and why would you want to? The desert is a fantastic place after dark). I suspect all the tourists get scared without their sodium street light security blanket, wondering what the twinkly lights are above their head...
/~Rockwolf
