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Comment The logic is solid as the idea is simplifying (Score 1) 120

Historical notions were forced to brute force through the 2 main barriers, air resistance and friction. What is being focused on now is purely about removing those barriers, a vacuum eliminating air resistance and magnetic levitation eliminating friction. For the first time ever material science is starting to make the idea look viable. Maybe not yet, but soon hopefully.

Comment Huge deal. (Score 1) 467

This is a BIG deal! It gives the currency liquidity; it can now readily be transferred back into other currency forms by washing it through gold or oil in the two examples provided. That also increases how desirable it is to intercept and steal people's bitcoins though. I hope the servers hosting the coins are as secure as they need to be.

Submission + - Primes cycle around 42n? I need answers.

Cogent91 writes: "For all it's curiosity, the number 42 remains an honest mystery. From ancient Buddhists to Douglas Adams, it's held a significant place for ages. But why?

Some years ago I came across a pattern in that 42n plus individually the primes from 1 to 41 and also 25 creates a list of all possible primes. It's seemingly simple, but I've never found a single academic reference to this pattern. I've also checked it with scripts to several million primes, no exceptions.

What is it that makes that limited range hold true for all prime numbers? And is there an academic significance for this? I've been asking for years, but I'd love Slashdot's help in finally getting this answered!

After n=0, the relevant base is 1,5,11,13,17,19,23,25,29,31,37,41. 2,3, & 7 never repeat. Also, pushed into binaries it makes a great way to compress arbitrarily large primes! The programmer in me wonders about that trait's usefulness to cryptography..."

Comment Monetizing the Copyright Screening (Score 1) 353

I bet they're banking on monetizing the "copyright" screening tools that are going to cost us all an absurd amount, making entry into the internet damned near impossible for those of us without thousands to invest. Shameful Godaddy.com. I hope consumer confidence is shattered in their business because of this poor decision, placing profiteering over protecting basic freedoms. They should know better.

Comment Yes! This is not just possible, but inevitable! (Score 1) 594

I'm currently working with the site OccupyTownHall.Org to set up a voting system for Public Figures. The model is to empower the public to set up public profiles for their public officials. These public profiles can then be easily voted upon. Each public profile is either raised up to OccupyHallofHonor.Org to highlight those who have been warmly received by the public, or lowered to OccupyWallofShame.Org to show those who have earned public disapproval. Through this, our objective is to better empower people to have their voices and opinions matter to their politicians. This project is early on and we are in pressing need of those capable of assisting with the technical aspects. If anyone would like to participate in this effort, please email us at SpecialProjects@OccupySociety.Org. Thanks!

Comment Sea-Change (Score 1) 104

WOW. A stamp sized solar array accompanying a processor provides an indefinite power source?? If so, combine that with pico-electic power from a watch and you might be able to get a wristwatch sized processor to have suffecient power to do simple things like communicate with wi-fi and render simple apps. I think this potential is going to be a sea-change; I can hardly wait.

Comment Disposable surveillance (Score 1) 232

Is it just me or does it look like it doesn't cost a million bucks? Which would be a nice change for substantial UAVs. I suspect its an early generation cheap surveillance drone. Fully mission capable as it is; its not like slapping a camera on a remote control plane is really that hard in this day and age.

Comment I'd say he's right. (Score 1) 312

Its not a question of AI's "making" geniuses, the point is optimizing the return on invested time the students gain. An AI could moderate the pedagogy methods used on each particular student to allow the most ideal combination of learning activities. This could be anything from orchestrating peer groups inside of simulated spaces to simply choosing the dominant coursework as aligning with dispositions. Imagine if you had spent K through 12 studying subject matter you loved while being persistently pushed to better understanding by a mentor who could answer directly or put you quickly in touch with those who can answer even the boldest of questions you might have. The outcome of such an optimized learning environment really would be the "super-intelligent" students Alex Peakes speaks of.

Comment They could be fined... (Score 1) 230

They should be fined, HTC that is, for the cost of the current-day expense of doing their own R & D to implement those key factors in their technology under the presumption no groundwork was laid for them. $13 a unit or other such numbers are patent extortion however. Considering the level of triviality the patents in contention have now reached, those development costs should not be all that substantial. ... the novelty wore of quickly.

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