Comment No True Scotsman (Score 3, Interesting) 1469
So, no true rapist gets their victim pregnant?
Comment Re:Link (Score 2) 454
Link in useless form.
Comment My Password is Super Effective (Score 2) 454
I checked my password, and found that it will take 25.76 million trillion centuries. Hooray - no one that's never read XKCD will ever guess my password.
Obligatory: http://xkcd.com/936/
Comment Re:WTF? (Score 4, Funny) 223
You were lucky.
We dreamed of hex code. Our cubicles were in a septic tank, and we had to solder op-amps directly onto the PCB. During our break, our manager would thrash us with his belt.
Comment Lost Revenues (Score 4, Interesting) 650
So, based on the MPAA model for determining damages, doesn't 300K bootleg DVDs represent something approaching the GDP of many small nations? I mean, I haven't done the math, but 300K, times $10 on the shelf at Walmart, means that these companies lost somewhere over $200B.
Considering he received flags, which have a monetary value, he was getting revenue from this operation. This is a criminal enterprise of epic proportions.
This 92 year old man, a patriot, who supported hundreds of thousands of troops who were serving their country...must be the absolute scum of the earth.
But seriously - as long as I can make it patriotic and for a great cause, I can get away with something that has quite clearly crossed the line into "This has got to be illegal, no matter how you cut it"? Doesn't that suggest something is wrong with the law in the first place? What if I was making bootlegs for crippled orphans?
Comment Re:Relevant portion of one of the documents (Score 1) 615
Because the presence or absence of global warming has no direct bearing on the shape of our planet?
Comment Magnet Creator? (Score 0) 28
I initially read just the title and though "Wow - they've honored the creator of the magnet." Personally, I'd like to get some prizes out there for the guy who created electricity. Also for that one guy who invented rain. I mean, that invention alone paved the way for innumerable advances in the field of "inventing life forms".
2012 Japan Prize Honors Magnet Creator and Cancer Researchers 28
alphadogg writes with an excerpt from a Network World article: "The 2012 Japan Prize, one of the world's most prestigious science and technology honors, has been awarded to three American medical experts who are fighting cancer as well as to a Japanese inventor whose magnet technology has implications for energy conservation. In years past, the prize (which comes with a $650K purse) has honored computing accomplishments, including last year, when Unix inventors Dennis Ritchie and Ken Thompson were honored."
Japanese Scientist Creates Meat Substitute From Sewage
417
An anonymous reader writes "Hold on to your hamburgers — Japanese scientist Mitsyuki Ikeda at the Environmental Assessment Center in Okayama has invented an artificial meat substitute made from human feces. The unseemly meal is made by extracting protein and lipids from 'sewage mud.' The lipids are then combined with a reaction enhancer and whipped into 'meat' in an exploder. Ikeda makes the 'meat' more palatable by adding things like soy protein."
Comment Educational Songs (Score 1) 131
When I was a kid, TV shows had songs about the alphabet and counting. Apparently, The Wiggles are doing children's edutainment about theoretical physics? Wow...
'Motherlode' of Data Seized At Bin Laden Compound 718
itwbennett writes "The raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan Sunday also turned up an 'intelligence harvest' of computer-based data that was described by an anonymous government source as 'the motherlode of intelligence.' The data is being sifted through at a secret site in Afghanistan. An unnamed official was quoted by Politico as saying: 'Hundreds of people are going through it now. It's going to be great even if only 10 percent of it is actionable. They cleaned it out. Can you imagine what's on Osama bin Laden's hard drive?'"
Comment Misleading Statistics (Score 2) 292
I find this very interesting. In particular, I've had a number of people talk to me about how awesome Macs are, in particular discussing the adoption rate of OSX, etc. One of the things that continually gets pointed to is Apple's growth as evidence of this. While I don't pretend to have a strong grasp on the various numbers bandied about, if such a large percentage of Apple's revenue is solely from the iPhone, it really puts a damper on the idea that "based on Apple's growth, everyone will be using a Mac in just a few months" (hyperbole mine). Don't get me wrong, OSX market share may be increasing (possibly by large numbers), but my anecdotal examination of the world around me didn't seem to jive with what everyone was claiming.
NASA Worker Falls To His Death On Launch Pad 202
RedEaredSlider writes "Tragedy has struck NASA as the organization announced a space shuttle worker fell to his death at the Endeavour launch pad this morning. NASA said the United Space Alliance worker fell at approximately 7:40 am eastern at the NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A. The launch pad is currently holding the space shuttle Endeavour, which is slated to launch on April 19."
Comment Re:Faustian bargain? (Score 1) 283
For this to be a Faustian bargain, I expect that after the trial is concluded people will be finding body parts from jurors all over the courtyard and throughout the courtroom. Goethe didn't describe a particularly pleasant scene at the end there.
Comment Re:Treat it like any other secure system (Score 1) 376
I'm more interested in the secret, hidden grocery list embedded in unused portions of the grocery list you found. That's where the person kept the REAL list. The rest was something to make you think you found their grocery list if you happened to stop them at checkout and demand the password.
