Comment Re:Third Party (Score 1) 785
2) Implement a single flat sales tax. People with more money buy more, and thus everyone pays fairly. Note that corporations 'buy' their employees, and so that tax would hit salaries and wages too.
Comment Re:Slashdotted (Score 1) 109
Yes, I know it's huge but it's the only way I know how to do it.
Comment Re:Uhhhh.....free? (Score 1) 125
but iTunes still has DRM.
From http://www.apple.com/itunes/whatsnew/
High-quality, DRM-free music. iTunes Plus is the new standard on iTunes. Now, you can choose from millions of iTunes Plus songs from all four major music labels and thousands of independents. With iTunes Plus, you get high-quality, 256-Kbps AAC encoding. All free of burn limits and digital rights management (DRM).
No they don't.
Why Sustainable Power Is Unsustainable 1108
Urchin writes "Although scientists are agreed that we must cut carbon emissions from transport and electricity generation to prevent the globe's climate becoming hotter, the most advanced 'renewable' technologies are too often based upon non-renewable resources including indium and platinum —
resources that could dry up in 10-15 years if they were widely used in the renewable energy market."
Comment Re:Who cares? (Score 1) 664
Why didn't the Gov't just create a tax credit?
I think the whole mentality (at least the implicit claim) was that the credit would offset any extra expense incurred by the very lowest earning in the US. Those that earn the very lowest amounts don't pay federal income taxes so a tax credit isn't going to do much good for them.
First Human Embryonic Stem Cell Study Approved 139
dogmatixpsych writes "The FDA recently approved a privately funded study where human embryonic stem cells will be transplanted into subjects with complete spinal cord injuries. All trials will be paid for and conducted by researchers working for Geron Corporation. The stem cells come from the existing lines Pres. Bush approved federal funding for in August 2001. With Barack Obama now president, many scientists believe federal funding will soon become available for embryonic stem cell research on new cell lines, resulting in additional similar studies."
Comment Re:Now unveiling... (Score 3, Funny) 431
No, no. The affluence thing is actually spot on. See, I'm posting from a Mac and wearing a monocle.
Comment Re:The C Programming Disease (Score 1) 216
and most applications run only 1.1 times faster than a modern Java app anyway.
An instant ten percent speed up just by choosing the right language can be a meaningful speed increase in many applications.
Comment Re:Why red (Score 1) 106
My lord those hadrons look like penises!
Comment Re:The internet is full of assholes... (Score 1) 182
At least partially from Team America: World Police.
Comment Re:Experiment (Score 1) 77
Maybe, but at the very least you have to spend very long hours tolerating or even "collaborating with" arrogant jerks, many of whom are not more intelligent than you, but more attuned to the pandering and self-promotion game."
I would say you were probably at the wrong institution, or at the very least looking into working with the wrong people. I enjoy working with my advisor, and find that she is quite good at what she does.
Comment Re:"In the Process?" (Score 1) 256
300 was a dramatization of a comic book by Frank Miller which was inspired by the Battle of Thermopylae.
AT&T Slaps Family With a $19,370 Cell Phone Bill 725
theodp writes "Mama, don't let your babies send e-mail and photos from Vancouver. A Portland family racked up nearly $20,000 in charges on their AT&T bill after their son headed north to Vancouver and used a laptop with an AirCard twenty-one times to send photos and e-mails back home. The family said they wished they would have received some kind of warning before receiving their chock-full-of-international-fees 200-page bill in the mail for $19,370. Guess they didn't read the fine print in that 'Stay connected whether you are traveling across town, the US, or the world' AT&T AirCard pitch. Hey, at least it wasn't $85,000."
How To See In Four Dimensions 227
An anonymous reader writes "Think it's impossible to see four-dimensional objects? These videos will show you otherwise. Some mathematicians work with four-dimensional objects all the time, and they've developed some clever tricks to get a feeling for what they're like. The techniques begin by imagining how two-dimensional creatures, like those in Edwin Abbot's 'Flatland,' could get a feeling for three-dimensional objects. When those techniques are transferred up a dimension, the results are gorgeous."
Microsoft and OLPC Agree To Put XP On the XO Laptop 530
Apro+im points out a NYTimes report which states that Microsoft and the OLPC project have officially agreed to put Windows XP on the XO laptop. While Microsoft has been working toward this for some time, analysts began to think a deal was more likely after Walter Bender resigned from the project and was replaced by Charles Kane. Former OLPC security developer Ivan Krstic had a lot to say about Windows on the XO as well. From the Times:
"Windows will add a bit to the price of the machines, about $3, the licensing fee Microsoft charges to some developing nations under a program called Unlimited Potential. For those nations that want dual-boot models, running both Windows and Linux, the extra hardware required will add another $7 or so to the cost of the machines, Mr. Negroponte said. The project's agreement with Microsoft involves no payment by the software giant, and Microsoft will not join One Laptop Per Child's board. 'We've stayed very pure,' Mr. Negroponte said.
