Comment Hell of a deal (Score 4, Informative) 151
$1.6 billion for 12 flights of SpaceX's planned Dragon spacecraft and their Falcon 9 boosters. $1.9 billion
Compared to the shuttle, it's a pretty damn good deal.
Comment Re:BULLSHIT. (Score 1) 504
Along with ALL your games?
Comment Re:AKA (Score 1) 354
It's not like you can do that easily with a boxed modern PC game anyways.
Comment In the long run (Score 1) 259
Either way, the desirable trait of not having the breast Cancer gene will be passed on to the next generation, which might include girls. If not that one, then the next, and so on...
Comment Re:Easier solution (Score 2, Informative) 249
But that's why these guys keep building cool stuff like this all the time. If it isn't the location, they'll MAKE IT be the location.
Remember, before Disney World, south Orlando was literally a swamp.
Comment Re:Spycraft: The Great Game (Score 1) 249
Speaking of live actors berating you: At the last mission of the GDI campaign on C&C 3, you can chose to use a Tiberium bomb to finish the mission, or just complete it using conventional means (whatever that means on the C&C universe). If you do use the Tiberum bomb, Gen. Granger (Played by Michael Ironside) scolds you for annihilating NOD along with your troops and civilians. Needless to say, I will never cross Michael Ironside again.
Comment Re:911, but not Mom? (Score 1) 232
They go after teens because teens have no rights or lobbies.
They'll grow out of that problem eventually.
Botnets As "eWMDs" 172
John Kelly writes "The current issue of Policy Review has a paper by an American computer scientist and the recent Permanent Undersecretary of Defense for Estonia. Drawing on the Estonian cyber attacks a year and a half ago, as well as other recent examples, they argue that botnets are the major problem. They propose that botnets should be designated as 'eWMDs' — electronic weapons of mass destruction. The paper also proposes a list of reforms that would help to limit the scale and impact of future botnet attacks, beginning with defining and outlawing spam, internationally." Many of the proposed solutions are common-sensical and won't be news to this audience, but it is interesting to see the botnet threat painted in such stark terms for readers of the Hoover Institution's Policy Review. For a more comprehensive overview of cyber-security threats, listen to NPR's interview with security experts on the occasion of the release of a new report, "Securing Cyberspace for the 44th Presidency," which recommends creating a cyber-security czar reporting to the President.
Comment Re:No fly zone (Score 1) 486
US Has Been In Recession Since December 2007 540
The National Bureau of Economic Research said Monday that the US has been in a recession since December 2007. The NBER is a private, nonprofit research organization of academic economists who determine business cycles. The stock market took a dip on the news that reached double-digit percentages for some tech stocks.
Sweet Molecule Could Lead Us To Alien Life 72
Matt_dk writes "Scientists have detected an organic sugar molecule that is directly linked to the origin of life in a region of our galaxy where habitable planets could exist. The international team of researchers used the IRAM radio telescope in France to detect the molecule in a massive star forming region of space, some 26,000 light years from Earth."
Comment I don't want to be off topic but... (Score 2, Interesting) 216
Why is it that whenever someone says "I don't want to be off topic" something copletely off topic follows?
Anyway, compiling C/C++ into the Actionscript VM might start (or reinvigorate) a trend of broader programing language support for VM's. The specific platform that came to mind was Android. One of the main complaints I've been hearing is that developers are contained by Android's own (some say retarded) implementation of Java. I think it would be awesome to see something like a C/C++ compiler for other VM platforms, making it easier for developers to port their applications to a wider range of devices.
Anyway, compiling C/C++ into the Actionscript VM might start (or reinvigorate) a trend of broader programing language support for VM's. The specific platform that came to mind was Android. One of the main complaints I've been hearing is that developers are contained by Android's own (some say retarded) implementation of Java. I think it would be awesome to see something like a C/C++ compiler for other VM platforms, making it easier for developers to port their applications to a wider range of devices.
Apple's New MacBooks Have Built-In Copy Protection 821
raque writes "Appleinsider is reporting that the new MacBooks/MacBookPros have built-in copy protection. Quote: 'Apple's new MacBook lines include a form of digital copy protection that will prevent protected media, such as DRM-infused iTunes movies, from playing back on devices that aren't compliant with the new priority protection measures.' Ars Technica is also reporting on the issue. Is this the deal they had to make to get NBC back? Is this a deal breaker for Apple or will fans just ignore it to get their hands on the pretty new machines? Is this a new opportunity for Linux? And what happened to Jobs not liking DRM?"
The ISS Marks 10 Years In Space 153
Matt_dk writes to point out the upcoming tenth anniversary of the International Space Station in two days' time. "On 20 November 1998, a Russian Proton rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome for a historic mission: It was carrying the first module of the International Space Station ISS, named Zarya (Russian for 'dawn'). This cargo and control module, which weighs about 20 tonnes and is almost 13 meters long, provides electrical power, propulsion, flight path guidance and storage space. The launch of the module... heralded a new era in space exploration, as, for the first time ever, lasting cooperation in space was achieved between Russia, the US, Europe, Canada and Japan. Over the next ten years, many other modules were brought into orbit, and ISS developed into the largest human outpost in space. Since that time, the building blocks, transported by Russian launch vehicles or the US Space Shuttle, have expanded the ISS to the size of a soccer pitch and a current total mass of about 300 tons."
Netbooks Take a Bite Out of Windows Profits 221
twitter writes "Analysts at Bloomberg noticed the tumble in Microsoft's traditional software sales last quarter and blamed it on netbooks: 'The devices, which usually cost less than $500, are the fastest-growing segment of the personal-computer industry — a trend that's eating into Microsoft's revenue. Windows sales fell short of forecasts last quarter and the company cut growth projections for the year, citing the lower revenue it gets from netbooks. When makers of the computers do use Windows, they typically opt for older and cheaper versions of the software. Equipping Linux on a computer costs about $5, compared with $40 to $50 for XP and about $100 for Vista, according to estimates by Jenny Lai, a Taipei-based analyst at CLSA Ltd.' This is why MS declared war on the segment last year and palm top computers in previous years. While they may have successfully tamed the Asus EEE PC, they can't hold back everyone who wants to make a buck on cheap hardware and free software. Analysts have predicted the fall of MS's business model when computers break below $250/unit retail. We are there now, and it has shown in the bottom line."
