Comment Re:Yes but... (Score 1) 57
More importantly, what're the commands to make emacs run it? Other than going through C-x M-c M-butterfly
Comment Re:The Y2K bug was REAL (Score 2) 179
I know of at least one organization which had a significant Y2K problem, even after making preparations.
Sadly, the preparations were "Hire someone to take the fall when the shit hits the fan so we can continue with business as usual. Er... hire someone to ensure Y2K preparedness."
The fatal glitch in the plan was that the person who got hired made friends with an exec in the parent company before the ball dropped. So, when things went south the hire got a silver parachute while the rest of the company folded.
Quite a mess. Should certainly count as a "significant problem".
Submission + - LHC experiment detects FTL nuetrinos (bbc.co.uk) 1
Asmodae writes: An LHC Experiment sending neutrinos to a detector in Italy found a discrepency, the neutrinos were arriving early. So early in fact that they appear to be moving faster than the speed of light. They've done a lot of measurements, but the findings are significant enough that the researchers remain cautious
Submission + - Speed-of-light experiments yield baffling results (bbc.co.uk)
intellitech writes: "Puzzling results from Cern, home of the LHC, have confounded physicists — because it appears subatomic particles have exceeded the speed of light. Neutrinos sent through the ground from Cern toward the Gran Sasso laboratory 732km away seemed to show up a few billionths of a second early. The results will soon be online to draw closer scrutiny to a result that, if true, would upend a century of physics. The lab's research director called it "an apparently unbelievable result"."
Submission + - Brain Imaging reveals the movies in our mind (sciencedaily.com)
wisebabo writes: Unbelievable.
Submission + - Crowdsourced evolution of 3D printable objects (endlessforms.com)
JimmyQS writes: "The Cornell Creative Machines Lab, which brought us chatbots debating God and unicorns, has developed Endlessforms.com, a site using evolutionary algorithms and crowdsourcing to design objects that can be 3D printed in materials such as silver, steel or silicone. MIT's Technology Review says "The rules EndlessForms uses to generate objects and their variants resemble those of developmental biology—the study of how DNA instructions unfold to create an entire living organism. The technology is 'very impressive,' says Neri Oxman, director of the MIT Media Lab's Mediated Matter research group. She believes the user-friendliness of the evolutionary approach could help drive the broader adoption of 3-D printing technologies, similar to how easy-to-use image editors fueled the growth of digital photography and graphic manipulation. Oxman [notes] that this could ultimately have an impact on design similar to the impact that blogs and social media have had on journalism, opening the field to the general public." The New Scientist has a quick video tour and describes how the same technology can evolve complex, artificially intelligent brains and bodies for robots that can eventually be 3D printed."
Comment Economic vs Social contracts (Score 1) 148
I remember reading a Chapter from Freakonomics describing how temporarily imposing an economic contract (X happens, Y dollars change hands) on what had formerly been a social contract (X happens, you should feel proud/guilty) ended up permanently voiding the social contract.
While it's probably the case that MS is some combination of "Afraid bounties would bankrupt them" and "Using obscurity in place of security" and "Everything you don't want to be", I do wonder if they might accidentally be doing the Right Thing. Probably not, of course, but what if Mozilla and Google's Big Bounties actually ended up damaging the motivation of those who search for and report vulnerabilities because it's the right thing to do?
Anyone know how many other companies have substantial vulnerability bounties? Moreover, anyone know if there's any research on possible links between bounty offers and useful reports?
Comment Profit? (Score 1) 964
you're saying "1. We're not... 2. We're owned... 3. We're either... 4. We're probably
I see 1 through 5 and I see 7, but what's number 6?
Comment IE 6? (Score 1) 423
If the ballot goes by market share, does that mean the top slot goes to IE6?
Comment Appendix. Huh. What is it good for? (Score 1) 337
I recall reading somewhere [citation needed] that, rather than being completely useless and best removed, the appendix serves as a back-up repository of useful/necessary intestinal bacteria.
Comment Re:Cows are fractal . . . (Score 1) 152
just stick a cow [model] into a blender and render to whatever resolution you would like.
Cow frappe?
The
Comment Re:700 pounds -- goodbye safety standards! (Score 1) 319
A car that will never sell anywhere in the US due to total inability to pass crash safety test. I'm actually surprised that it can be sold anywhere in the first world, to be honest.
Unable to pass crash safety tests that are calibrated to being pummeled by a Hummer sailing along at least 15 mph over the posted limit, or crash safety tests that are calibrated to similarly-sized vehicles operating within the posted safe limits? Cuz, you know, if we're comparing apples to oranges anyhow, I'll point out that a SUV probably wouldn't stand up so well to being rolled over by an M1A1 Abrams main battle tank, so you should be surprised they can be sold anywhere in the first world as well.
Comment coitus interruptus? (Score 1) 607
Flus are annoying, they show up wether you want them to or not, right in the middle of something else you were doing.
I thought you were going to say "Telemarketer Flu"
Comment DMCA Angle (Score 1) 315
Wouldn't the standard way to abuse the DMCA be to put some kind of trivial "Copy/access protection scheme" on the material being turned in? The teacher is given the necessary tool to unlock/access the content, but anyone else accessing the content (without the student's permission, of course) is bypassing/circumventing an access control feature.
Comment Can he do that? (Score 1) 1
I didn't realize that CEOs were allowed to act non-reprehensibly. What's the catch?
