Please create an account to participate in the Slashdot moderation system

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×

Comment Re:"I like turtles" (Score 1) 107

just, democratic[...] government

Ok, I'll bite...
Just AND Democratic is nigh impossible. Masses have a tendency to create their own exclusion zone. We have a few centuries of classical greek and roman histories to illustrate the point of view of Democracy. More recently the USSR and other 'democratic' countries have shown how fast a democratic government can grow sour.

  Also we live in a Republic, and not a place where "every voice counts". It's too easy to manipulate the masses in a democratic system, as the Game Theory that would allow a democratic world is unapplicable, the conditions being that all participant are fully informed AND take the most logical decision to maximise gains.

Just AND Government is also quite difficult to define, except if you consider 'Just' as meaning that the laws are applied the same to everybody, which in itself is a nice intellectual consideration.

Please remember that we do not have the BEST system, just one of the less bad...

Now a perfect democratic system is the Tyranny. One vote, that of the tyrant. All the rest are equals.
But then it might not be your preferred system ?
Privacy

Aviation Security Debate: Bruce Schneier V. Kip Hawley (Former TSA Boss) 291

Fluffeh writes "A nice summary at TechDirt brings word that Bruce Schneier has been debating Kip Hawley, former boss of the TSA, over at the Economist. Bruce has been providing facts, analysis and some amazing statistics throughout the debate, and it makes for very educational reading. Because of the format, the former TSA administrator is compelled to respond. Quoting: 'He wants us to trust that a 400-ml bottle of liquid is dangerous, but transferring it to four 100-ml bottles magically makes it safe. He wants us to trust that the butter knives given to first-class passengers are nevertheless too dangerous to be taken through a security checkpoint. He wants us to trust that there's a reason to confiscate a cupcake (Las Vegas), a 3-inch plastic toy gun (London Gatwick), a purse with an embroidered gun on it (Norfolk, VA), a T-shirt with a picture of a gun on it (London Heathrow) and a plastic lightsaber that's really a flashlight with a long cone on top (Dallas/Fort Worth).""

Comment Professionnal Programmer Available (Score 1) 1

Hello

Due to a personnal matter I recently relocated in Oymyakon, Sakha Republic, Russia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oymyakon) and would like to offer my services as a programmer

Of my many qualities I would mention a strong, renewed passion for code quality and testing.

Some nights I shiver, alone, remembering that fatefull commit ...buro
Science

Submission + - Child creates molecule that could be used for energy storage or explosives (gizmag.com)

cylonlover writes: I don't know about other people, but when I was a child, I was inventing things such as a musical instrument made out of a folded piece of cardboard and some rubber bands. Ten year-old Clara Lazen, however, has done something a little more noteworthy. The fifth-grader from Kansas City, Missouri, built a model of a molecule that is new to science. If the molecule itself were to actually be created, it could possibly be used for energy storage, or in explosives.
ISS

Submission + - Water droplets in orbit on the International Space Station (physicscentral.com)

BuzzSkyline writes: "Astronaut Don Pettit, who is aboard the International Space Station (ISS) right now, put charged water droplets into wild orbits around a knitting needle in the microgravity environment of the ISS. A video he made of the droplets is the first in a serious of freefall physics experiments that he will be posting in coming months."

Comment Look, I'm too lazy, but read the FAs hereunder (Score 0) 159

And tell me why we don't already have Gigawatt, Flying batteries Overlords ?

Darn, lazy scientists !
1 / Read /., and not your gloosy, SCIENCE magazine
2 / SPEAK TO EACH OTHER, SU****RS !!!
3 / * ? *
4 / Profit

Stanford Researchers Invent Everlasting Battery Material 180
Research Promises Drastically Increased LiOn Capacity 378
Highly Efficient Oxygen Catalyst Found 156
Researchers Demonstrate Quantum Levitation 133
Superior Anode For Lithium-Ion Batteries Developed 77
Boosting Battery Storage With Seaweed 59
Polymer Gel Shows Promise For Smaller, Cheaper Batteries 108
Transparent Lithium-Ion Battery Created 91
Aluminum-Celmet Could Increase EV Range By 300% 182
MIT Develops Fast Charging Liquid Flow Batteries 135
Integrating Capacitors Into Car Frames 189

ISS

Astronaut Photographs Perseid Meteor — From Space 61

astroengine writes "As the Perseid meteor shower begins to subside, there is one observer who was perfectly positioned to take a photograph where the skies are guaranteed to be clear from cloud. NASA astronaut Ron Garan — who is currently living aboard the International Space Station (ISS) as part of Expedition 27 — captured this stunning photograph of a Perseid out of the ISS window."

Comment Bump :Definition of terms (Score 1) 215

To paraphrase a comment I read on this :

In the mining industry there is possibly two words for those rare metal deposit : ore, and dirt.

Ore is the state where you can collect it for less than the market price and make a benefit.

Dirt is the other one, aka 5 km deep underwater where the cost of recovering it TODAY would WAY exceed the possible ore value.

N.B. : IANADSM (I Am Not A Deep Sea Miner)

Slashdot Top Deals

New York... when civilization falls apart, remember, we were way ahead of you. - David Letterman

Working...