Comment Re:National Geographic's 7 Billion Series (Score 1) 219
You can also compare the predictions of TFA with that of the famous "limits to growth" report and updates.
Book Review: Sams Teach Yourself Node.js In 24 Hours
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Michael Ross writes "Since its introduction in 1994, JavaScript has largely been utilized within web browsers, which limited JavaScript programmers to client-side development. Yet with the recent introduction of Node.js, those programmers can leverage their skills and experience for server-side efforts. Node.js is an event-based framework for creating network applications — particularly those for the Web. Anyone interested in learning this relatively new technology can begin with one of numerous resources, including Sams Teach Yourself Node.js in 24 Hours." Keep reading for the rest of Michael's review.
Comment Greed (Score 1) 212
'We're past the mitigation [emissions cuts] and adaptation eras. We're now right into the era of loss and damage. What's next after that? Destruction?'
Obviously, the ultimate answer to this question is the same as for the Fermi paradox: greed.
Journal Journal: Project Death Star
I'm not american, but I'd love to see the US build a Death Star by 2016 (which ultimately uncovers the true evil nature of this country -- just kidding). I'm pretty sure there are enough nerds out there to have the government think about it, so stand up american geeks and
Comment Predictions? (Score 2) 412
Given that the article is pay-walled, is there any prediction about ice loss? What are the most recent predictions that have given accurate result in the past?
Comment Re:Microsoft Office (Score 5, Insightful) 951
Then what format should one use for "important documents" that are intended to be editable?
(La)TeX
This should not be moded funny but insightful. If you ever work in the scientific academic domain, every important document is formatted in Latex, and they are all still editable whatever the bazillion versions of Office came in between.
Comment Re:Summary: (Score 1) 227
We're fucked because we are too stupid to choose the right decision, however evident it is.
Some say humans are the smartest animals out there, but the reality (and soon history) is humans are as dumbfuck as every other species of the little muddy rock, they grow until they overshoot and then disappear.
Comment This Poll (Score 4, Informative) 211
Isn't it obvious?
Comment TV (Score 1) 572
Assuming the Internet stays in place, I would un-invent TV. TV is a passive activity that induces passive behaviors, with only negative consequences.
Comment Why would you work 80+hrs? (Score 1) 454
Let's get it straight, if you do it for the hypothetical job of your dream you might get in return, you're doing it wrong. If you're not enjoying what you do, no matter it's only 40hrs a week or 72 (6 days at 12hrs), you're not doing the right thing.
Back when I was doing my M.Sc and PhD, we all used to work around 70 hrs a week, sometimes more (conferences deadlines for instance), sometimes less. It wasn't bad or unhealthy at all, because all of those who did this enjoyed what they did. Indeed, sometimes it wasn't the heavy workload, it was that you just could not stop doing something related to the field. Now that I'm associate professor, it still happens a lot that I get weeks of more than 70hrs of work at the lab. I still enjoy it. I still grab a recent paper to read and annotate on Sunday evening. Is that work too?
Ask yourself the question, how many hour do professional musicians work? Probably more than 80. Science is not so different from art, in the sense that you do something that truly brings you pleasure. What is the point of doing it less, when you can do it more?
Sometimes I'm saying this to the students who complain there is too much work. I'm available from 8 in the morning till 8 in the evening, and I answer email until 11, so if you have a problem, I'd be happy to take an hour or 2 to re-explain something or to try to solve your problem. If you're not willing to spend these 2 hours, then you're probably not doing the right studies. There is no secrecy, if you want to learn something, you have to spend a lot of time on it. So you'd better enjoy it.
Comment Well... (Score 2, Interesting) 1113
If you don't like evolution, embryology and the Big Bang theory, and believe it's all lies, then just don't bother with it. Leave alone the poor guys believing such insanities. Let them do as they want, if it's not true, they should not achieve anything dangerous, right?
In the end, we will see who was right...
Comment Re:all gone (Score 1) 658
Yeah, that was my first tought also. I'm very curious about the far future. Not from the technological point of view, but from the social one. Will there be people still beliving in god? Will humanity have reach a kind of social utopia where nobody is the slave from another (whatever the kind of slavery)? Will there be no more war or anything keeping mankind off global hapiness?
But yeah, more probably in 10k years all I should discover is that humanity wipe itself out of the universe in a thirst of blood frenzy. Or maybe it's just not the good day to think about it, and I'm going too poessimistic. But hey, checking the records for the past 10k years doesn't make one very optimistic about this 10k to the future trip.
Comment Re:What about the radiation burst? (Score 1) 867
Does this theory at all reduce the chance that when the Warp Drive ship arrives at its destination that it will emit a huge gamma ray burst? This planet destroying side effect would sure put a damper on any kind of arrival party for the warp drive ship.
Hoho! It's going to get money from the DoD then...
Comment What if? (Score 1) 75
What if the test consists in building an AI that can pass the test?
Comment No really big news... (Score 2) 133
You might want to check the PhD of this guy in 1998 entitled "Ant Colony Optimization and its application to adaptive routing in telecommunication networks".
There are plenty of other ant like heuristics to network routing even older than this. Ant behavior modelization dates as far as 1989 (from J-L. Deneubourg), and routing was the first practical application for the derivative algorithms.
