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Comment The US is actively destroying it's Plutonium (Score 2) 122

by SampleFish (#42138265) Attached to: New Small Fission Reactor For Deep-space Missions Demonstrated
I found it odd that this little blip state that Plutonium is in short supply. The reason we don't have a lot of it is because the US is actively destroying it's Plutonium reserves. There are countless patents for machines that destroy Plutonium. Here is an article about how the DOE is considering alternatives to destroying Plutonium, like using it for something constructive instead of making bombs. http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/ENF_Alternative_route_for_plutonium_destruction_1507091.html

Comment Re:Somebody should sue Microsoft anyway (Score 3, Insightful) 179

by SampleFish (#42063941) Attached to: The Linux Foundation's UEFI Secure Boot Pre-Bootloader Delayed
Why is MS the one signing the bootloader in the first place? Shouldn't there be a neutral root authority like there is for any other certificate in the world? To make Linux developers ask Microsoft to sign their bootloaders sounds like a very clear conflict of interest.
The Military

Submission + - Naval Seals Disciplined for Revealing Secrets As Consultants on Video Game

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "CBS reports that seven active duty members of SEAL Team Six, best known for killing Osama bin Laden, have been disciplined for revealing secrets working as paid consultants on a video game, "Medal of Honor: Warfighter." The game does not recreate the bin Laden raid, but it does portray realistic missions, such as an attack on a pirates' den in Somalia. Electronic Arts boasts that real commandos, both active duty and retired, help make its games as realistic as possible. EA says "Medal of Honor Warfighter" was "written by actual U.S. Tier 1 Operators while deployed overseas," and that it "features a dotted line to real world events and provides players a view into globally recognized threats and situations letting them experience the action as it might have unfolded." It is unclear what secrets members of SEAL Team Six gave away, but while serving as consultants for the game, they used classified material which had been given to them by the Navy and also violated the unwritten code that SEALs are silent warriors who shun the spotlight. "We do not tolerate deviations from the policies that govern who we are and what we do as Sailors in the United States Navy," says Deputy Commander of Naval Special Warfare, Rear Admiral Garry Bonelli. "The non-judicial punishment decisions made today send a clear message throughout our Force that we are and will be held to a high standard of accountability.""

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Which virtual machine software for a beginner 3

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: I am getting ready to start trying out / learning the use of virtual machines. This is for personal use.

It would be good to run both Windows vms and linux vms. Early use would be maintaining multiple Windows installs using only one desktop computer with plenty of cores and memory. I would be starting with a Windows host, but probably later switching to a linux host after i learn more about linux.

Free is good, but reliability and ease of use are better.

What is the current Slashdot choice for a vm beginner:
vmware, zen, virtual box, etc. ???
Linux

Submission + - Turn Ubuntu into a highperformance workstation. (paradoxuncreated.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: John Carmack Quakecon 2012: "Doom 3 is still taxing on a modern PC".
He talks about only being able to run it at 30 fps on consoles. And simplified the engine for Rage, to be able to do 60 fps.

Doom 3 does 3 passes to OpenGL, and is very sensitive to jitter.

However on a LOW-JITTER linux kernel + config, you can run it gliding and silky smooth at 72 FPS, showing no taxation at all.

And it does not need to be the latest hardware. A core2duo + gtx280 will do.

For more info: http://paradoxuncreated.com/Blog/wordpress/?p=2268

A windows approximation can be found here: http://paradoxuncreated.com/Blog/wordpress/?p=1783

Windows will not run doom 3 aswell, and still drop frames, but it will help "microstutter".

Peace Be With You.

Submission + - Collapse of Mayans Associated with Climate Change (businessweek.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The collapse of the Mayan civilization within decades after 1000 CE was probably triggered by climate change
in the form of centuries-long droughts that resulted in mass starvation and destruction of the king's ritual authority, according to researchers from Pennsylvania State University attempting to assemble the historical climate record by examining stalagmites in a cave in Belize. While this earlier climate change would have been produced by natural, cyclic causes, the study notes that the effects on the Mayas (a civilization that flourished from c. 2000 BCE to 900 CE) were exacerbated by overpopulation and intensive farming. Lead author Douglas Kennett notes possible parallels with the effects of today's climate change on regions such as Africa and Europe. Meanwhile, Dec 21, 2012 is only a few weeks away.

Submission + - "Why the hell does this mouse need to connect to the Internet?" (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by
jbrodkin
jbrodkin writes: "In this hyper-connected, networked world, many more of our devices are getting linked to the cloud, whether we want them to or not. That's sometimes good, and sometimes bad, so when a basic device like a mouse requires a user to go online and set up an account to activate all of its functionality, people are understandably going to ask why? The latest entry in the saga of "Why the hell does this thing need to connect to the Internet?" comes from Razer, which has caused an uproar by asking users to register gaming mice on the Internet. While it's mainly for syncing settings across devices, gamers are complaining that certain functionality might not be available unless you create an online account for your mouse. Razer has responded to the controversy, but its answers aren't entirely satisfactory."
Government

Submission + - Romney Campain Accidentally Launches Transition Web Site (yahoo.com)

Submitted by stevegee58
stevegee58 writes: The Mitt Romney presidential campain accidentally launched a transition web site the day after the election. Sporting a "President Elect" seal and a catchy new tagline ("Smaller, Simpler, Smarter") , the site was up briefly before the gaffe was discovered and the site taken down.

Fortunately an alert blogger, Taegan Goddard, found the errant site and published some screen shots.

Comment It seems so simple to me. (Score 1) 475

by SampleFish (#41915813) Attached to: On Daylight Savings Time:
If you want to get up one hour earlier then set your alarm one hour earlier. Don't change time itself so that your alarm can stay at the same value. It seems so simple to me. If there are businesses that want to go along with the DST madness they just need to tell their employees to come in at 8am instead of 9am. Then the rest of the world can go about it's business without being bothered by some arbitrary time-shifting mandate. If you are a farmer then you can get up at sunrise and go home at sunset; you don't even need a bloody clock! Time may change me but I can't change time.

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