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Shark

Finally, a Shark With a Laser Attached To Its Head 139

Freshly Exhumed writes in with a Wired story about a nerd/super-villian dream come true. "Marine biologist-cum-TV personality Luke Tipple attached a 50-milliwatt green laser to a lemon shark off the coast of the Bahamas in late April. The escapade was sponsored by Wicked Lasers, a consumer-focused laser manufacturer based in Hong Kong that produces some of the most brilliant — and potentially dangerous — handheld lasers in the world. 'This was definitely a world first,' Tipple told Wired. 'Initially, I told them no. I thought it was a frivolous stunt. But then I considered that it would give us an opportunity to test our clips and attachments, and whatever is attached to that clip, I really don't care. It was a low-powered laser that couldn't be dangerous to anyone, and there's actually useful applications in having a laser attached to the animal.'"

Comment Re:It's not Entrapment. (Score 1) 573

Nope this is just another case of something the government is damned good at, and that is the appearance of doing SOMETHING even if that something actually is as useless as moving a rock from the left side of a field only to move it back to the right the next day.

Actually that would be good for some exercise. What the FBI is doing here seems like it would be better left not done.

Comment Re:Next they'll turn off the power (Score 1) 149

You know, I'm no fun of poor public decision-making but honestly turning off the data in underground public transportation seriously does not seem like that big of a deal to me.

I'm sorry, I just don't see what possible "event" could warrant making the populace unable to communicate with each other, unless said "event" was created by the people who are turning off communications.

Comment Re:Of course. (Score 1) 1174

Way to be purposefully obtuse.

Uh, no, it was "way to be challenged on the spot". I really wanted to be on that jury, actually, not because of the issue but because I am interested in learning our civic processes. (I'm also slightly afflicted with Asperger's so do not always function correctly, socially.) And, no, I didn't think, when I was on-the-spot, that the question was related to evidence-less claims, I took the question at face value and attempted to answer it as best I could. Next time I will ask for clarification.

Oracle

Oracle and the End of Programming As We Know It 577

An anonymous reader writes "An article at Dr. Dobb's looks into the consequences of a dangerous idea from Oracle during their legal battle with Google: 'that Google had violated Oracle's Java copyrights by reimplementing Java APIs in Android.' The issue is very much unsettled in the courts, but the judge in this case instructed the jury to assume the APIs were copyrightable. 'In a nutshell, if the jury sides with Oracle that the copyrights in the headers of every file of the Java source base apply specifically to the syntax of the APIs, then Oracle can extract payment and penalties from Google for having implemented those APIs without Oracle's blessing (or, in more specific terms, without a license). Should this come to pass, numerous products will suddenly find themselves on an uncertain legal standing in which the previously benign but now newly empowered copyright holders might assert punitive copyright claims. Chief among these would be any re-implementation of an existing language. So, Jython, IronPython, and PyPy for Python; JRuby, IronRuby, and Rubinius for Ruby; Mono for C# and VB; possibly C++ for C, GCC for C and C++ and Objective-C; and so forth. And of course, all the various browsers that use JavaScript might owe royalties to the acquirers of Netscape's intellectual property.'"

Comment Re:Of course. (Score 1) 1174

They've always removed me from the jury pool, by asking a question designed to show whether I was intelligent or not. Last time it was, "How believable is a police officer compared to a member of the public?" My response included that the officer had training in observation and recollection, so would likely be a slightly better recording device than a common human, so perhaps 55%, or 60%, instead of 50/50? The judge said, and I quote, "Next."

Comment Re:My 2 cents (Score 1) 1174

Reading comprehension much? I realize there's only one letter difference, but he wasn't talking about which administration created it; he was talking about the terrorists, and how they're winning. We are now less free than we were last millennium. But still, project your rage.

Comment Re:Of course. (Score 1) 1174

Tyrants use media to brainwash and spread propaganda so we should throw out or TVs and unplug the internet.

Many of us are witness to what the mainstream media has been doing and continues to do regarding the Ron Paul campaign. He just won at least half the delegates in both Iowa and Missouri; the only way I know about this is from reading the comments in "hit piece" articles about Ron Paul's "failing campaign".

During these past few months, my relationship with the television has been changing as well. I'm no longer really interested in the stories that it has to tell me; reality is much more interesting (like that Chinese curse).

Comment Re:Of course. (Score 1) 1174

I think the pat downs are insane and disrespectful and completely worthless, but no jury would accept that they are equivalent to rape or physical harm [...]

Put me on that jury, and I will accept exactly that. Touching someone in their "private" area uninvited is definitely close to rape, and is physical harm. I agree with the rest of what you wrote.

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