OK. I was unaware of that. From what I remembered, the whole binary liquid bomb had been debunked as 'difficult to mix ahead of time because it's unstable; impossible to mix on the plane because of the long times involved and the specific conditions needed to avoid premature detonation (which would not be explosive enough), and very hard to detonate without attracting a whole lot of attention.'

Apparently that notion was wrong.

Nonetheless, I stand by the rest of my statement. DHS/TSA responds to awkward attempts at terrorism with far-reaching overreaction, while honest-to-goodness systemic threats are treated as non-issues. This is a problem.

I first found this incident via Bruce Schneier & Wired.

The most telling thing, for me, was this section of the linked article:

“DHS and the FBI are gathering facts surrounding the report of a water pump failure in Springfield, Illinois,” according to a statement released by DHS spokesman Peter Boogaard. “At this time there is no credible corroborated data that indicates a risk to critical infrastructure entities or a threat to public safety.”

So...in the instance of a single shoe bomber, stopped by his own stupidity and the efforts of other airline passengers, TSA (a section of DHS) responds by calling it a systemic risk to air travel, and we must all take off our shoes. In the instance of a plot to use liquid explosives, which probably wouldn't have worked and was stopped in the planning stages, TSA responds by calling it a systemic risk and we must all limit ourselves to 3oz bottles of liquids that fit in a quart size bag. In the instance of a single underwear bomber, stopped by his own stupidity, TSA responds by calling it a systemic risk to air travel, and we must all be subject to X-ray/millimeter wave scanners and/or the big Grope.

In the instance of SCADA hacking, which could conceivably harm our infrastructure on a significant and systemic level from afar, with little/no risk of the perpetrators being caught, DHS responds by saying, "No big deal."

There's something very...wrong here.

So... you're saying that you were vaccinated, and your daughter was vaccinated, but you both still got Pertussis.

But we're all supposed to get vaccinations because that will protect us from getting Pertussis.

Questions:
A) How likely is it to contract Pertussis in a population of completely unvaccinated people?
B) What are the risks (side effects) and probabilities of those risks to that population if 100% of the population is vaccinated?
C) By what amount is the risk of contracting pertussis lowered if 100% of people get vaccinated against that disease?

If C > B, then vaccinate 'em all. If B > C, then the cure is worse than the disease. If there's some balance that makes sense for at-risk sub-groups within the population, then tailor the recommendation to those sub-groups.

If you haven't done the studies, then shut up.

Finally! Now we know how Dude Perfect makes all those shots!

Please PLEASE let it be Sarah Palin!

/I'm a registered Republican
//I can't stand Palin

"...and vote in the primaries."

Better yet, if your state allows, vote for the candidate you'd rather see in the main election from the other party. If you're a Democrat, pick your favorite Republican. If you're a Republican, pick your favorite Democrat. This will moderate the parties and make things better.

In Chicago, there's a great hipster coffeeshop called The Wormhole (warning, the website sucks). It features all sorts of great '80s memorabilia like plastic lunchboxes, Goonies posters, Star Wars action figures, etc etc. But the absolute best feature is a real life, honest-to-goodness DeLorean, complete with a food processor glued to the back and dressed up to look like Mr. Fusion, and a California license plate that reads "OUTATIME".

So yeah, there's plenty of 80s nostalgia out there, if you're willing to look for it.

Good Lord, it's awful.

A couple examples of completely inappropriate non-sequitur groupings:
Lost, but only sort of the TV show
Obama, only not.

These were gleaned from my own FB page over the last two days.

I really hate this 'feature'.

According to Gene Roddenberry's novelization, V'ger was not a result of porn but the derelict probe falling through a wormhole and ending-up near a plant of "living machines". They captured the original Voyager 7(?) probe, and upgraded the technology so it could complete its task of exploration.

Do they? Probably 95% of people living in Texas are Texan by birth, just as I am American by birth. Sure I can move someplace else, but I will always retain my nationality (and state of birth).

It also bothers me when I hear people insulting Utah or France or Japanese citizens. I may not agree with their unusual cultures, but it's THEIR choice how they run themselves (and none of my business).

>>>I understand a BluRay disk is 25-50 GB but they only need that much space so they can support MPEG-2 video.

BluRay uses MPEG 4 (also known as h.264).

This is the second time in two weeks I've had mod points. Apparently NOT visiting slashdot is how you get picked. (shrug)

Back on topic:

Why do people keep posting things like "even texans have to evolve"? Maybe I've spent too much time listening to College PC curricula, but that strikes me as being highly offensive. Imagine replacing "texans" with "women" or "blacks" or "retards" instead.

-1 for Anon. Coward

The game's off the market Already and I never got a chance to play it. Oh well.

You sound like a Libertarian ("corporations are good because they employ people").
But I'm not aware of any libertarian that thinks GE shuld have been bailed out. They all think GE should have been left to die, and the pieces bought-up by other healtheir corporations (like google, microsoft, CBS, et cetera).

500GB divided by 50 GB == 100 times??? This must be that new math I heard about. Maybe it's time to do a refresher course at my local college.

(1) I thought Pioneer has already developed a twenty-layer bluray disc that stored 500 GB. So not that big of a deal for GE to do the same.

(2) Optical media will not be dead if ISPs keep putting 150 GB (i.e. three-to-six hd movies) limitations on their internet lines.

(3) Optical discs allow me to KEEP the movie for life. Downloads do not, thanks to DarmnRM.