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Comment Re:Gaben Ain't Dumb (Score 1) 412

That depends on two things:

The OpenGL stack. AMD hasn't put the same effort NVidia has into making OpenGL fast. At the moment, almost every 3D program on Linux is using OpenGL.

The porting technique. Some of the games are Linux native, while others use an API translation layer, which includes every game coded against DirectX.

Comment Re:Math Doesn't Add Up (Score 1, Insightful) 144

Ah, but regenerative braking does help you in hilly terrain. Trucks waste a lot of energy countering gravity in mountainous areas. Regenerative braking also doesn't fade or wear out with repeated use, so is cheaper in the long run. Regenerative braking is totally worth it for long-haul trucking.

Comment Re:That's a funny new definition of "entitlement" (Score 1) 438

The programming laws for terrestrial broadcasters don't apply to online distribution, thus there are no "Canadian content" requirements for Netflix.

Personally I think we should scrap the Canadian content rules, though with the increasing irrelevance of terrestrial broadcast there's less and less point in doing so.

Comment Re:Quality was never the problem (Score 1) 565

I would argue it's developers abandoning Windows and moving to Mac. None of the dozen developers where I work use Windows. We're all Linux and Mac, about half and half. I suspect that's why Microsoft created their Linux compatibility layer: to stop the exodus of developers.

Of the developers using Linux, it's a mix of people like me who have been using it for seventeen years and people who have only recently picked it up.

It's not a complete replacement though: the sales and marketing side is about half Windows, half Mac, and no Linux.

Comment Re:During Takeoff? (Score 3, Insightful) 275

Below 10,000 ft, airplanes are travelling at less than 250 mph. At takeoff, it's closer to 175 mph for a jet like a 737. At less than a perpendicular angle, the rate of travel across a field of view is less than that. If a person holds their arm out they can point with a lot of precision -- it's a lot easier than tracking an object at the same distance with binoculars. Furthermore, you must consider being at a distance away from the airplane. The greater the distance, the slower the plane is moving and the easier it is to aim at. Pointing straight up is rarely the issue, but if you're a mile away and the plane is on approach at say 2000 ft, that's only a 20 degree angle. Sitting in the cockpit of a 737, a pilot can see the edge of a taxiway -- the vertical field of view out the window is quite good. The lasers involved in these incidents are often much more powerful than a pen laser pointer and are many are strong enough to cause permanent eye damage. Unlike an incandescent bulb, lasers lose very little energy on the way to their targets. It's like those idiots on the highway who blind you with high beams at night, only much worse -- and I've had my night vision temporarily ruined by headlights a couple miles away. Lastly, there are lots of metal bits in a cockpit to reflect the laser, and the windshields are often marked by micro-abrasions from dust and insects, which can cause the whole windshield to glow.

Here is what it looks like from the cockpit. Are pilots bullshitting? Try driving a car down an unlit rural road at night with that in your eyes and report back to us.

A 1 watt laser is enough to flash the ISS. It doesn't take much.

Comment Re:more to it (Score 1) 292

The methanethiol they add to natural gas is about equally toxic. The use the different chemical so you know it's natural gas and not something else. Methanethiol occurs naturally in the body, so small concentrations are harmless. High concentrations are deadly. Methanethiol, like H2S, is heavier than air and it may pool in low lying areas.

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