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Comment Re:Fail..... (Score 1) 201

I realize you're joking, but I'm pretty sure if ancient vikings (and other smiths throughout the world) had access to propane forges, mass produced steel (not iron they had to smelt and then add carbon to make into steel themselves) and power hammers - they would have used them. As it was, they had apprentices to wield heavy sledges to do much of the drawing out.

It's the end result that matters most.

Now, if he was at a Viking times re-enactment camp for tourists, then sure... hand hammer away!
Having done some hours at the forge myself, I can tell you when you switch from a 3 lb hand hammer to a power hammer, it's amazingly relieving and time-saving.

Cheers!

Comment Re:Clarification??? (Score 2) 208

In keeping with our Common Sense, bringing 5000 cases to court against an individual would be pretty obvious to the court, and time consuming for the company suing. I'm guessing our Judges would not like to see that, considering how congested our courts are already. Not to mention circumventing the spirit of the law in this case.
And the 5000 dollar sum is on the outside of the award - considering the guidelines for judges and the government FAQ on the matter (range from 100-5000 dollars) it is unlikely that 5k will be the norm.
Would it be worth it to the company suing?

Power

Submission + - Spinning Solar Cells Generate 20X More Power Than Flat Photovoltaics (v3solar.com)

An anonymous reader writes: If there’s one constant among the vast majority of solar panel designs, it’s flatness; while solar panels can be equipped to tilt to follow the sun’s path through the course of the day, there are still significant efficiency limitations to this basic design. V3Solar’s rather elegant photovoltaic Spin Cell cones aim to address that, and their current prototype was recently third-party verified as capable of generating “over 20 times more electricity than a static flat panel with the same area of photovoltaic cells.”
Apple

Submission + - Apple tries to ban all Galaxy phones and tablets in the Netherlands (webwereld.nl) 1

An anonymous reader writes: Apple is trying to ban all Samsung Galaxy products, phones and tablets, in the Netherlands. As reactions to this news show, people in Holland are turning away from Apple because of its behaviour. Apple should fight the competition with innovation, not lawsuits. Apple is doing more harm to itself than to Samsung

Comment Re:Meh. (Score 1) 237

I'll probably do what I did with Skyrim. Buy a legit copy and never open it... and download the pirate version that allows me to not have to be online to play it.

I am only interested in the single player experience. I was on dial-up through 95% of my time during Diablo 1 and 2, and I have never had the urge to play online with people in those games. The few times I tried was ridiculous... people had crazy obviously illegitimate equipment who constantly offered to give me a "dupe" of their cool shit. Meh...
So I played single player with "Players X 8" enabled to have a good time.

I'll give it a few days and then get the pirate version that has the stupid DRM stripped from it like Skyrim (and Steam requirements). Maybe it'll be available a day early on the torrent sites like Skyrim was! :)

Comment "Inaccuracies Happen" - Elections Canada (Score 2) 401

Of course... not much will happen. The link below from an article about a Waterloo phone call problem, which also mentions the Guelph robocall problems listed in TFA above.

"Under the Elections Act, an election in a specific riding can be overturned if a "competent court" finds "there were irregularities, fraud or corrupt or illegal practices that affected the result of the election."

However any application to the court to contest the election must be made within 30 days of the election results being published in the Canada Gazette. A complaint can also be made the same day the applicant "knew or should have known of the occurrence of the alleged irregularity, fraud, corrupt practice or illegal practice."

Moreover, the Commissioner of Canada Elections would have to investigate and refer the matter to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, which would in turn decide whether charges were warranted. All of which means it is premature even to suggest any election results could conceivably be overturned."

http://www.citytv.com/toronto/citynews/news/national/article/189607--inaccuracies-happen-elections-canada-says-after-misleading-phone-call

Submission + - Iron Sky also goes dark (ironsky.net)

arnodf writes: Iron Sky, the new film from the creators of Star Wreck, has also gone dark with a message on their website. they rely heavily on torrents to distribute their free films and might therefore be affected by these laws; FTA:

Corporations should not be allowed to have this kind of power, especially when it serves only their own interest. Both SOPA and PIPA pose a grave threat to the freedom of expression, which is something we, as filmmakers and as private citizens, hold very dear. We urge you to sign the petition against both these legislations right here: sopastrike


Government

Submission + - US Supreme Court Rules that Congress can take work (scotusblog.com)

slew writes: Ironically, today of all days, the US Supreme court decided that congress was within its authority to grant new and/or restored copyright protection to preexisting works to comply with copyright treaties. This effectively takes works mainly authored between 1923 and 1989 that had been in the public domain, out of the public domain. This is in a majority opinion written by Justice Ginsburg which can be read here

In a disenting opinion authored by Justices Breyer and Alito voices the view that this "does not serve copyright's traditional public ends, namely the creation of monetary awards that motivate the create activity of authors", but only grants its restored copyrights only to works already produced.

The original suite was that the way that congress complied with the copyright treaty was overbroad (e.g., the Berne convention allowed restricted terms for works of restored copyrights to account for the disruption it might cause, but congress gave blanket restoration for all works)

Interesting, if disappointing, reading...

Submission + - SOPA Talks To Resume In February (techdirt.com)

walterbyrd writes: "For all the talk from some that SOPA was "dead," it appears it's alive and well and getting ready for its big re-entrance. Lamar Smith has just sent out a press release saying that he intends to resume the markup in February:"

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