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Comment Re:The mythbusters need to test this now! (Score 4, Informative) 378

Why, when the funny version is available on YouTube?

A local one from the other week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVEkK_ZhKQo

The local intelligentsia have been doing this on and off since at least 2008:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/now-theyre-robbing-with-gas-atms-blown-up/2008/11/18/1226770451062.html

Comment Re: Minor setback (Score 1) 213

Also, never mind the fact that the tanks were built as thin and as lightweight as possible, so had they been pressurized and converted into living spaces, they would have provided little to no shielding against space debris or radiation. Also, never mind the fact that by definition they were almost empty after launch, so you would still need to haul up all the fittings, equipment, furniture, etc... that you would need to stick inside them.

Also, never mind the fact that it was one of the options seriously considered for what became Skylab...

Comment Re: Hitler and the NAZIs were so stupid. (Score 2) 292

Actually, it's an acronym for NAtionale soZIalist, the political party.

Actually, it's a contraction, German style.

Actually, it's neither; it's the first two syllables of "Nationalsozialistische" (i.e. 'Na-tzi-o-naal...'), with more than a bit of Austro-Bavarian baggage attached...

Comment Re:What can I really do with these things? (Score 0) 81

The sad thing is that, for a fraction of the price of a BeagleBone Black, you could've built the whole thing out of standard logic chips.

It would've worked better, been much more immune to errors (e.g. who wins - the person who pressed first, or the person who's I/O pin/port is scanned first? What happens when 2 people press between port reads? etc.), and everyone would've learned something about both electronics and logic, not just programming.

Comment Re:Innovative sheepdips (Score 3, Informative) 91

Yes. I remember the lawsuit.

Apparently only the Ars hackjob version, or similar stories.

The Wikipedia section is a reasonable rundown, athough it's not entirely accurate - it skips over some of the early history (like the initial 1992/1993 Australian patent/update), mentions nothing about the patent's acceptance into the 802.11 patent pool, skips quite a bit between the development of 802.11a and the patent lawsuit, and slightly misrepresents the state of Radiata at the time of the lawsuits...

Comment Re:Innovative sheepdips (Score 3, Informative) 91

I am one of the authors of 802.11 and 802.16 that both use OFDM.

Then you would (or should) know that the CSIRO patent is specifically about dealing with interference caused by short-delay local multipath reflections in OFDM systems, not OFDM itself.

And you would know (or should be able to find out) when it was initially accepted into the IEEE patent pool for 802.11. Hint: it was right near the beginning, predating the parts of the standard that use the techniques by many years...

Comment Re:10 years ago on Slashdot (Score 3, Interesting) 222

You seem to have a low threshold for disagreement, if you consider pointing out that a site with multiple anti-Obama, anti-government, and anti-Democrat pop-ups, advertisements, and articles might be a little bit biased to be "attack[ing] the messenger". Adding a little melodramatic sigh afterwards doesn't bolster your argument.

Apart from that, you still seem a little confused between 'local' vs 'global', and 'weather' vs 'climate' - not to mention how to interpret both graphs and what I wrote. And you vastly underestimate the amount, quality, and coverage of storm data available since at least the 1950's (if not much earlier).

But, y'know, if you want to come back with an understanding of global climate rather than a pre-packaged anecdote-based opinion of one aspect of local weather, I'm sure you'll find someone to discuss it with you.

Comment Re:The Pirate Bay (Score 2) 302

It was added to the US constitution because state governments were unable to implement copy laws.

Not to mention that for the next 100+ years the US largely refused to recognise overseas copyrights (and, in many ways, actively encouraged Americans to break them.)

Comment Re:10 years ago on Slashdot (Score 2) 222

Today, 10 years since that discussion, we are living through a 30 year low hurricane-frequency.

Well, that's certainly a reliable source. I'm surprised they didn't try to blame it on Obama...

But OK, so hurricane frequency is at a 30 year low in America. World-wide, hurricanes, cyclones, & similar category 3+ storms are at a 40+ year high.

Comment Re:The Fossile Fuel Advocates can fuck off! (Score 1) 401

I'm getting tired of the anti-intellectualism here on Slashdot.

Want to know Slashdot's dirty little secret?

It's always been an intellectual vacuum for anything other than IT - and even in that case it's always been poisoned by ideological zealotry.

Not that the rest of the internet is much better; the only thing that changes from site to site is the focus of interest...

Comment Re:Propagation delay ??? (Score 2) 720

I have placed it in another room and run HDMI and USB cables, but the propagation delay caused horrible tearing and lag when playing games

Eh? This sounds more like crappy cables, than anything else. Propagation delay on an extra 10-feet of cables is hardly measurable much less noticeable.

^ This ^

And the poster wonders if wireless will help?

I know /. has never been much of a technical site - but you'd think its fairly well-known by now that wifi is gonna be slower than cables...

Comment I'm torn (Score 3, Insightful) 110

On the one hand, this recognises the reality that the vast majority of what's called "IT" is really at a skilled trade level (not dissing trades or tradespeople; I was a tradesman for many years and now consider myself as an 'academic tradesman').

On the other hand, it's likely to open the door to even more half-interested people wandering through a half-arsed degree just to get some 'qualifications'...

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