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Comment Fact Check.. Ahem. (Score 3, Informative) 106

Per http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S... It was formally scheduled for mandatory retirement in 2010 in accord with the directives President George W. Bush issued on January 14, 2004 in his Vision for Space Exploration.[20] Unless maybe GHWB was a closet Left-sider? So. whats the vision he had? Dumping our leadership position?

Comment Technology crosses levels... train as such... (Score 2) 139

Why imprison kids at the consumer level by giving them all such a closed platform as the iAnything? Select paths for several levels of technology, and let them pick their course. Some will be into Fancy Displays, Some into 1's and 0's, some are into networking etc... Have them share the development thru release of a content delivery system... Top to bottom. Would Pi work for this ? sure. Would Ipad - for some levels, but why pay for it? Stand back an look what will get invented!!!!!!! I get the impression that current kids see past generations as "in the way", the generation responsible for the Internet's freedom that is now taken for granted. Its like food. Are we too used to pulling food from a plastic bag, and don't see where it came from. Gotta give everyone a sense of ownership and participation in the worlds realities. Gotta reconnect to food as part of being a Earthling, and Dataflow as part of a people driven information service. Otherwise we'll only find green slime to eat and be able to shop for crap on an information goatpath.

Comment Engineering - less about facts... (Score 2) 323

My engineering degree has prepared my for a job in IT in 2 main areas. First, critical thinking, and second, envisioning/building systems with many moving parts. Basic concepts like UID/GID, and file permissions may seem core to IT Skills, but are the last thing that seem to be foundational to many SW developers. Also the ability to think on ones feet, to build a system of moving parts, into a system of many more moving parts. So many of my Graduating class have switched to IT jobs. Civil, Mechanical, chemical, even Electrical gearheads have made the jump. Reason? We are trained to think and consider all the details. Why, its where the money is. Want a foundationally sound system? Pair a software/Visionary with an Engineer and you will get solid/durable results. Be sure to spec out the requirements, the expectations, and the succcess criteria.

Comment Cranium reconstruction is not uncommon (Score 3, Interesting) 80

Have seen a few cranial reconstruction implants made from MRI/CT to replace cranial defects from trauma and cancer etc. Amazing technology for sure. Beats the alternative by a huge margin. Doing a MRI of a soldiers body at induction might be a good resource when bad things happen? We need to stand behind our soldiers that go into harms way, in the many ways ...

Comment HPG Axis rationalization or push the T-Button? (Score 1) 201

Would a proper diagnosis of Low T, include the FSH and TH levels? Anything else to measure? Does insurance pay for GnRH? Wiki article gets into Leptin/Ghrelin as well. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H... ). Simply pushing pellets or topical gels seems really imprudent. We need to treat symptoms less and find out why there is an imbalance. Do Doctors have the support of insurance companies to run the proper tests?

Comment Multiple medium Bangs? (Score 1) 96

Why not a regional bang? Could a galaxy (or subset of the universe) invert into a medium bang? Always wondered if intelligent beings, always being fascinated by science and understanding, eventually win the Darwin-Award by blowing themselves up? Or... imploding their Solar System into a black hole... (also winning the Darwin-Award !!).

Comment If everything started from a point in space/time.. (Score 1) 96

How could one galaxy pass another or collide with it? Assuming that everything that exists started from the same point, and receive its primary ejection vector (speed + direction), how is it that one galaxy could crash into another? Its not like one galaxy would decide to make a right turn into another. Plus there would be a VERY compelling velocity/vector gradient map that would point back (overall) to the point of origin of the big bang. Anyone seen one of these? Science is based on observed evidence, but can also develop theories that go beyond. Fine. The big tip off is corroboration. Do bodies observed in the universe have a radial/spherical pattern with Faster bodies further from a common location, and slower bodies being closer to that point? If so, I'll start to listen. Next, string theory, if I heat up a gyroscope, hang it onto a spring, and attach that spring to a buoy in the ocean, will I have a 12 dimensional energy state that is as valid as a 12 dimensional universe that we -had- been tired of hearing about. Even Sheldon Cooper is off string theory. didn't see a paper that says it was discredited. Time for someone to step into the role of Science-Man - sort of like weather-man. Tell us whats coming, but would have to be just a teeny bit more accountable, as tax payers do drive science, substantially.

Comment Who is our advocate on this? Kane in Korner? (Score 1) 201

As USA had initially led the charge along the path to the internet of things (ugghhh I hate how that sounds), we have to consider that the cost needs to drop and the service needs to improve. This is accomplished by customer service -and- increased efficiency and developing technology rather than just propagating the status quo. At my home, there is only one option for Internet, even though another ISP (has a V in the name) offers High Speed Internet that is -up to- 3 Mbps - in this day and age - thats BROKEN... Around the planet costs and service are way better. This seems a transgression of public trust. The Board of public utilities throws up its hands and professes it has no control over which provider provides what, but, how will this change/improvement come to be? Who is the consumer advocate that can get the ISPs to modernize? Google seems to be trying, but the rest of them are self absorbed and not going to budge on their good thing.. their ... Triple play Hoax. The phone used to be copper lines, and was truly 24/7, but now its VOIP. Get Ooma and be done with it. Anyways... Who is going to lead the charge on modernization, and get things moving?

Comment Time for a new paradigm? (Score 1) 201

Ok. so this wont be repealed, and the i's are crossed and the T's are dotted, so no one broke the law, so... how about we push them to fulfill the promise they made, but do it wirelessly? Put wireless access points on each home, and tie our home networks into it. SO they find physical plant expensive - oops - I am SURE they can get us 45 Mbps to each house over wireless!

Comment Opportunity (paid for but) lost NJ (Score 5, Interesting) 201

Verizon is off the hook? Who is going to answer for that? Well rip me off! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/... Verizon has been getting breaks since this was first signed in early nineties. HP advises 4,000 -> 5,000 (excess charges and tax breaks) per houshold paid to Vz? This rolls up to the Board of public Utilities for letting them off the hook. Time for a BridgeGate scandal check here. We have a very anti-competitive environment, where each carrier must have a handshake-certified regional monopoly in many towns. Comcast, Optimum, and Verizon seem to have cut the state into mico-monopolies, while the rest of the world is passing us by. Are our taxes too low? Nope!

Comment Two realities have to be considered (Score 1) 484

First, no medium or smaller company is going to want to own IT hardware, and employ IT Staff. they want to buy applications from Cloud. Or thats what they think they need - damn the torpedos and the internet availability issues and loss of control. Even large companies dont think their dedicated, hard working folks offer any competitive advantage. They are just overhead in MGT eyes. Levels of bureaucracy ensure that workers get no credit for their succes. Second, letting H1B workers in displaces US workers, and drops the labor rates in the US for all other US workers. We train the foreign workforce,then chase them away so they go home with a clue on how to run businesses. Is it better to keep them here or not let em in, or restrict H1B count? Either way, business wants to pay less for what it perceives as commodity skillsets. (again, not recognizing the skills of the domestic worker). Then the jobs can go offshore and then the contracts that are written and the cross training provided results in a loss of control of the IP, as well as the financial performance. The guy in the next cube works for your competition, and gets the sales reports for both before you and before your competition, and goes on day trading escapades accordingly. The question never asked: Is the US worker more productive, more creative and more effective at doing IT work? I've heard hte rate is about >> 2:1 for headcount, favoring the US worker, but this is not acknowledged. EU has a protectionist view. Wonder how history will see that?

Comment This should be easy to correlate (Score 1) 132

There are many occupations that should be available to correlate this -rather direct- attack on one fuel type. Truck Mechanics... Exposed to liquid and exhaust Tunnel operators that sit by many idling diesel trucks Truck drivers that drive older / dirtier vehicles. Volkwagen TDI drivers vs gas powered cars Sea Captains and deckhands that get exposed to bunker The direct assault on Diesel only seems callous at first glance. Am assuming that none of the Study participants never had exposure to diesel ever before. How stressful was the test, and could that have caused measurable changes? How did the test subjects not-know that they were breathing in diesel fumes? Lets do the same test on theater smoke, on second hand tobacco smoke, Farts and other noxious things that don't kill immediately.

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