Comment Of course it's for surveillance. (Score 1) 33
"free phone-messaging app" is all anyone should need to know to recognize something as a surveillance tool.
Comment White Spandex (Score 1) 445
Do what makes the difference between amateur event lighting designers at crappy small festivals and professional high-quality lighting designers. Crappy ones will point bright lights into people's faces and it hurts. Good designers will put up white fabric and sails everywhere and point lights into the sails and sometimes up into the sky.
While it might not be exactly applicable to your backyard lighting application, it's something to think about.
While it might not be exactly applicable to your backyard lighting application, it's something to think about.
Comment No one will buy it because of the OS. (Score -1, Redundant) 227
It runs Windows. No one will buy it, and those who do will soon regret it.
Enough with the pretending Windows phones are actually good for something.
Enough with the pretending Windows phones are actually good for something.
Comment Re:This really about porn and video games... (Score 1, Insightful) 770
No. It's because his parents didn't kick him out for being useless.
You can't be addicted to porn and video games if you don't have food and a roof over your head.
You can't be addicted to porn and video games if you don't have food and a roof over your head.
Comment Re:Where is the problem? (Score 3, Insightful) 770
This isn't just about socializing. It's about working outside the home, being able to cook for yourself, doing your own laundry, doing your own shopping, etc. These adult kids are capable of none of these things.
Being an introvert is one thing. Being unwilling to do what's necessary to survive independently is another thing altogether.
Being an introvert is one thing. Being unwilling to do what's necessary to survive independently is another thing altogether.
Comment Re:My son... (Score 1) 770
No he's not. He's only a prime example if his parents are still enabling him to be useless into his 30s. For 17 year olds, it's quite normal.
I'd recommend getting him to pay rent if he's over 18 and not in school. Otherwise, kick him out. My parents did this, and I think it was a great idea.
I'd recommend getting him to pay rent if he's over 18 and not in school. Otherwise, kick him out. My parents did this, and I think it was a great idea.
Comment Want to meet a Japanese woman? (Score 0, Offtopic) 770
I've heard time and time again, that Canadian (and American) men are highly desired by women in Japan. I've also heard time and time again, that the reason is because too many Japanese men are downright useless and misogynistic assholes.
Are you a genuinely nice North American dude with a real job? If so, it really is remarkably easy to meet wonderful women in Japan.
Are you a genuinely nice North American dude with a real job? If so, it really is remarkably easy to meet wonderful women in Japan.
Comment Not Possible. (Score 1) 143
From the summary:
"not only doesn't require viewers to wear special glasses, but it also can be viewed from a wide variety of angles."
I do not see how this is possible without changing the laws of the universe. Maybe some marketing person just decided they can re-define what 3D means.
"not only doesn't require viewers to wear special glasses, but it also can be viewed from a wide variety of angles."
I do not see how this is possible without changing the laws of the universe. Maybe some marketing person just decided they can re-define what 3D means.
Comment They're half-right. (Score 2) 372
I can understand some of this. There are people who push technology where it really is cumbersome. Blackboard, for instance, is a horrible tool and costs more time, money, and effort for both instructors and students than just using paper would. At my university, only the most incompetent computer professors used Blackboard. The best ones used their own simple web sites and pushed content with FTP.
There are places where technology does help, but it's not universal. I still strongly believe that math and theoretical physics should be taught on a whiteboard and pencil/paper. I was using a tablet PC, way before the tablet craze, which worked pretty well.
In liberal arts classes, however, a laptop and keyboard was invaluable. I could type way more content than people with pens and paper, and if somebody missed a class, sharing notes was trivial.
In the end, it's about the right too for the right job, and fancy tech often simply doesn't add any value. It all depends on the kind of course and learning environment.
There are places where technology does help, but it's not universal. I still strongly believe that math and theoretical physics should be taught on a whiteboard and pencil/paper. I was using a tablet PC, way before the tablet craze, which worked pretty well.
In liberal arts classes, however, a laptop and keyboard was invaluable. I could type way more content than people with pens and paper, and if somebody missed a class, sharing notes was trivial.
In the end, it's about the right too for the right job, and fancy tech often simply doesn't add any value. It all depends on the kind of course and learning environment.
Comment Re:Science is the antithesis of religion... (Score 4, Insightful) 528
I completely disagree. The conflict you speak of is a media fabrication, because controversy sells, and all intelligent people recognize this. Religion and faith can help some people be at peace and believe things which science does not yet explain - and there are certainly many things which science does not explain.
Science denialism is a problem yes, but it is absolutely possible to be religious without denying science. I was raised into a religious group of sorts which never denied any scientific observations. They would actually adjust and adapt their teaching as science advanced. I am no longer an adherent, but I have observed such religious thinkers, and quite frankly, the conflict and divisiveness is more of a problem than religion itself.
Science denialism is a problem yes, but it is absolutely possible to be religious without denying science. I was raised into a religious group of sorts which never denied any scientific observations. They would actually adjust and adapt their teaching as science advanced. I am no longer an adherent, but I have observed such religious thinkers, and quite frankly, the conflict and divisiveness is more of a problem than religion itself.
Comment Need for padded poles. (Score 2, Insightful) 76
In a few years, I expect to see the rate of pedestrian-car accidents and people running into poles to go up by an order of magnitude. Sure, it overlays in your field of vision, so it's not like looking down at a phone, but we're just not meant to multitask with our senses the way this kind of device demands.
I don't even want to think about how many idiots will drive while using such devices.
I don't even want to think about how many idiots will drive while using such devices.
Submission + - Microsoft announces Surface tablet, with kickstand and fold-out keyboard (extremetech.com) 7
MrSeb writes: "At its much-discussed “big unveil” this evening, Microsoft did indeed launch a tablet — but rumors that the device would showcase a Barnes & Noble partnership were misplaced. Instead, Microsoft showed a vision for a next-gen PC that combines the portability of a tablet with a minimalistic fold-out keyboard and integrated kickstand. Microsoft’s idea for the tablet (confusingly called Surface) is a device that integrates a better keyboard option than typing on the screen without adding size or weight. That’s where the new keyboard — which doubles as a screen cover — kicks in. At 3mm thick, it adds virtually nothing to the device’s size, but it opens up a world of inputs. There are two covers available — the Touch Cover (very thin) and the Type Cover (with proper, tactile keys). Microsoft is touting the device’s magnesium body, vapor-deposited construction, full PC functionality, and additional features like being the first tablet to showcase a 2×2 MIMO wireless antenna. Windows RT (ARM) and x86 versions are both in the works, with the x86 version apparently having a higher quality screen. No word on hardware specs yet; Microsoft is claiming it “rivals the best ultrabooks” and uses less power than the Core i5. I'm a little bit dubious on that front — and also dubious about how Microsoft's hardware partners will receive this new, rather competitive offering..."
Submission + - China to Build World's Tallest Tower in 90 Days (broad.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Even since the current world’s tallest builing – the Burj Khalifa in Dubai – was completed, there has been a constant battle to build the world’s next tallest building. The current record holder stands tall at 828 meters and took five years to build, but a Chinese company called Broad Sustainable Building (BSB) aims to smash that record by building the 838 meter Sky City tower, in Changsa, China in a mere 90 days. BSB plans to use prefab building techniques to construct the tower in record time.
Submission + - Generating Sequences of Primes in Conway's Game of Life (njohnston.ca)
trcollinson writes: One of the most interesting patterns that has ever been constructed in Conway’s Game of Life is primer, a gun that fires lightweight spaceships that represent exactly the prime numbers. It was constructed by Dean Hickerson way back in 1991, yet arguably no pattern since then has been constructed that’s as interesting. It seems somewhat counter-intuitive at first that the prime numbers, which seem somehow “random” or “unpredictable”, can be generated by this (relatively simple) pattern in the completely deterministic Game of Life.
Submission + - Tracking Designer Drugs, Many At Once (acs.org)
LilaG writes: Drug tests spot banned substances based on their chemical structures, but a new breed of narcotics is designed to evade such tests. These synthetic marijuana drugs, found in "herbal incense," are mere chemical tweaks of each other, allowing them to escape detection each time researchers develop a new test for one of the compounds. Now chemists have developed a method that can screen for multiple designer drugs at once, without knowing their structures. The test may help law enforcement crack down on the substances.
The researchers used a technique called "mass defect filtering," which can detect related compounds all at once. That's because related compounds have almost equal numbers to the right of the decimal point in their molecular masses.
The researchers tested their technique on 32 herbal products with names like "Mr. Nice Guy" and "Hot Hawaiian." They found that every product contained one or more synthetic cannabinoid; all told, they identified nine different compounds in them — two illegal ones and seven that are not regulated.
The news story appears in Chemical & Engineering News and the original paper is (behind a paywall) in Analytical Chemistry.
The researchers used a technique called "mass defect filtering," which can detect related compounds all at once. That's because related compounds have almost equal numbers to the right of the decimal point in their molecular masses.
The researchers tested their technique on 32 herbal products with names like "Mr. Nice Guy" and "Hot Hawaiian." They found that every product contained one or more synthetic cannabinoid; all told, they identified nine different compounds in them — two illegal ones and seven that are not regulated.
The news story appears in Chemical & Engineering News and the original paper is (behind a paywall) in Analytical Chemistry.
