Comment Re:Umm, what? (Score 1) 245
Don't be jealous, there's plenty of me to go around.
Comment Re:Umm, what? (Score 1) 245
You're 0 for 2.
That's adorable that you're keeping score.
Comment Re:Summary of what ESR is doing (Score 1) 245
Seems like it'd be worthwhile to trial a real computer of similar spec to what he's wanting vs. a virtual server, to see relative speed and relative cost. You can get some pretty stonking powerful VPS instances if you're willing to pay for them, and with Amazon you can optimize for different workloads such as GPU, CPU, or fast IO.
There can't be that many projects on CVS who are sticking with it only because they're waiting for someone else to manage the switch to git, and you'd need a fair number to make this worthwhile, IMO. I think he may be tilting at windmills.
Comment Re:Umm, what? (Score 0) 245
Oh, look. Speaking of fringe libertarians, here's one of
Run along, kid. I know better than to think you're willing to change your mind about your religion.
Comment Re:Summary of what ESR is doing (Score 1) 245
Why do this instead of spinning up an Amazon AWS instance on demand? It shouldn't cost much to convert a source repository with that method, especially compared to buying a whole computer.
Comment Re:Umm, what? (Score 1, Troll) 245
And then he turned into a neoconservative/fringe libertarian nutbar after that business with the skyscrapers in '01.
Comment Re:I'm surprised (Score 1) 334
Poorly, most likely. Enfields manufactured in the subcontinent (India and Pakistan both) aren't well-regarded with respect to quality.
At any rate, rechambering will require replacing the barrel, bolt, receiver, sights, and possibly parts of the magazine. That's most of the gun already, and you're compounding your logistics problems by having a small number of guns with this specific configuration.
Comment Re:Enfield .303? Wow!! I know these rifles. (Score 1) 334
Closer to 1889, not 1930. The late 1880s through early 1900s was when the common military rifle cartridges of the World Wars were developed. Trivia: the
Comment Re:I'm surprised (Score 1) 334
However, it hasn't been produced in a long time (parts wear out), it's for an obsolescent caliber (complicates logistics a bit), and there are better rifles now.
Comment Re:May I suggest (Score 2) 334
The Finns came up with a good solution with their reworked Mosins: 3-piece wooden stocks. They left gaps between the pieces to allow for expansion and contraction with ambient air temperature and humidity.
The One App You Need On Your Resume If You Want a Job At Google 205
HughPickens.com writes Jim Edwards writes at Business Insider that Google is so large and has such a massive need for talent that if you have the right skills, Google is really enthusiastic to hear from you — especially if you know how to use MatLab, a fourth-generation programming language that allows matrix manipulations, plotting of functions and data, implementation of algorithms, creation of user interfaces, and interfacing with programs written in other languages, including C, C++, Java, Fortran and Python. The key is that data is produced visually or graphically, rather than in a spreadsheet. According to Jonathan Rosenberg , Google's former senior vice president for product management, being a master of statistics is probably your best way into Google right now and if you want to work at Google, make sure you can use MatLab. Big data — how to create it, manipulate it, and put it to good use — is one of those areas in which Google is really enthusiastic about. The sexy job in the next ten years will be statisticians. When every business has free and ubiquitous data, the ability to understand it and extract value from it becomes the complimentary scarce factor. It leads to intelligence, and the intelligent business is the successful business, regardless of its size. Rosenberg says that "my quote about statistics that I didn't use but often do is, 'Data is the sword of the 21st century, those who wield it the samurai.'"
Fusion and Fission/LFTR: Let's Do Both, Smartly 218
TheRealHocusLocus writes: Disaster preppers have a saying, "two is one and one is none," which might also apply to 24x7 base load energy sources that could sustain us beyond the age of fossil fuel. I too was happy to see Skunkworks' Feb 2013 announcement and the recent "we're still making progress" reminder. I was moved by the reaction on Slashdot: a groundswell of "Finally!" and "We're saved!" However, fusion doesn't need to be the only solution, and it's not entirely without drawbacks.
All nuclear reactors will generate waste via activation as the materials of which they are constructed erode and become unstable under high neutron flux. I'm not pointing this out because I think it's a big deal — a few fusion advocates disingenuously tend to sell the process as if it were "100% clean." A low volume of non-recyclable waste from fusion reactors that is walk-away safe in ~100 years is doable. Let's do it. And likewise, the best comparable waste profile for fission is a two-fluid LFTR, a low volume of waste that is walk-away safe in ~300 years. Let's do it.
Why pursue both, with at least the same level of urgency? Because both could carry us indefinitely. LFTR is less complicated in theory and practice. It is closer to market. There is plenty of cross-over: LFTR's materials challenges and heat engine interface — and the necessity for waste management — are the same as they will be for commercial-scale fusion reactors. To get up to speed please see the 2006 fusion lecture by Dr. Robert Bussard on the Wiffle ball 6 plasma containment, likely the precursor to the Skunkworks approach. And see Thorium Remix 2011 which presents the case for LFTR.
All nuclear reactors will generate waste via activation as the materials of which they are constructed erode and become unstable under high neutron flux. I'm not pointing this out because I think it's a big deal — a few fusion advocates disingenuously tend to sell the process as if it were "100% clean." A low volume of non-recyclable waste from fusion reactors that is walk-away safe in ~100 years is doable. Let's do it. And likewise, the best comparable waste profile for fission is a two-fluid LFTR, a low volume of waste that is walk-away safe in ~300 years. Let's do it.
Why pursue both, with at least the same level of urgency? Because both could carry us indefinitely. LFTR is less complicated in theory and practice. It is closer to market. There is plenty of cross-over: LFTR's materials challenges and heat engine interface — and the necessity for waste management — are the same as they will be for commercial-scale fusion reactors. To get up to speed please see the 2006 fusion lecture by Dr. Robert Bussard on the Wiffle ball 6 plasma containment, likely the precursor to the Skunkworks approach. And see Thorium Remix 2011 which presents the case for LFTR.
Comment Re:Swift must be a good programming language... (Score 1) 305
*whoosh*
Saturn's 'Death Star' Moon May Hide Subsurface Ocean 48
astroengine writes With its heavily cratered, geologically dead surface, Saturn's moon Mimas was considered to be scientifically boring. But appearances can be deceiving. Using data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft, new research shows something strange inside Mimas that is causing the moon to sway as it orbits around the ringed gas giant. Computer models point to two possibilities. First is that Mimas, which is about 250 miles in diameter, has an oblong or football-shaped core, a clue that the moon may have formed inside Saturn's ice rings. The second option is that Mimas has a global ocean located 16 miles to 19 miles beneath its icy crust.
Comment Re:Gates should keep up on current events. (Score 1) 839
BINGO!
{a link to mises.org filled out my card}
