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Comment Re:I'm wondering if it degrades. (Score 1) 632

It's called Uncyclopedia.

http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Barack_Obama/old

"Blaraka Hussein Obama bin Laden (pronounced Bárockus Obomus) (born Baruch Seamus O'Bama to an Irish Catholic family in County Cork) won the 2008 presidential election in a historical milestone becoming the 44th half-white man elected to office. He is a well known terrorist who claims his god "Oprah" is commanding him to destroy America. He started out as the young shiningly optimistic upstart United States Senator from Illinois that went out to shake up Washington and change the system and the world for a brighter and better tomorrow. He is also not a Muslim (But even if he was a Muslim, speaking hypothetically of course, it would be just fine) . In 2008, Obama became the first African American (his dad was from Africa and his dad's baby mama came from America) to be president of the NRA and not be lynched by an angry mob in white robes holding torches, so you know he's one of the good ones. He brings hope and change and you know we can do it. By taking down the man, Barack will set the lower class working people free from economic oppression."

Comment So keep your claims of "it's finished, dummies" (Score 1) 632

When the Chinese writer wants to contribute about Heilongjiang, I'll be right there supporting them. But it's not going to be anyone who's been with Wikipedia all this time. Those people have already written everything they know. The original post is about the current editors leaving. It's finished for them.

Now figure out a way to get Jing Gu to write about Heilongjiang.

Comment Big News is already dead. (Score 1) 468

Last week my subway stop was closed. All around it were reporters desperately trying to get the story, but no one knew anything. A Brooklyn forum posted a thread about the death of two people and the subway outage. The forum had the news at least 4-8 hours before it was reported by a news agency (and they were getting it wrong.)

So the lesson is clear. People write better news than "The News" does. Murdoch wants to delist. He's already delisted. I don't read news from his sources. Blogs and Forums have much better news and are way better fact checked by the masses who have access to call BS when something is wrong.

I don't use Corporate News anymore because I don't want to know about what they think will get ratings. I want to know about the things that impact my life.

Comment Appeal (Score 1) 411

This is not ignorance of the law.

You are not the person listed on the ticket. You are not the person suspended. That person is fictional and does not exist as listed by the officer.

It's erroneous to have to assume there are judgement pending against you and that it's your responsibility to periodically check with city hall to see if there are.

(Imagine if everyone started to do this, city hall would come to a crawling halt... hey, wait a minute.)

On the other hand, if you didn't pay the ticket because the address was wrong on the ticket, you should have appealed immediately and you are at fault.

IANAL IAAS

Comment Apple is a hardware company. (Score 1) 1012

Apple does not make software unless that software drives hardware in some way. Apple has always been a hardware company, that is how they make their money. The software is there to entice you to an experience on their hardware.

You will never see Apple sell just their software because that would ruin their market. It would also cripple their support system which relies heavily on standardized hardware to streamline technical issues. Customer support is easier on Apple products precisely because they know their hardware inside and out.

Get this point through your heads people... Apple will never shoot themselves in the foot and stop linking their software directly to their hardware. The hardware IS the Macintosh. The software drives the hardware but will never, ever get uncoupled from it (again).

Patents

Apple Seeks Patent On Operating System Advertising 342

patentpundit writes "On April 18, 2008, Apple Computer applied for a patent relating to an 'invention' that allows for showing advertisements within an operating system. The first named inventor on the patent application is none other than Steve Jobs. The patent application published and became available for public inspection on October 22, 2009. If implemented, the invention would make it possible for advertisements to be displayed on a variety of devices, including desktop computers, cell phones, PDAs, and more. In one alarming aspect, the device could be disabled while the advertisements run, thereby forcing users to let the advertisement run its course before the system would unlock and allow further use. In an even more invasive scenario, explained in the patent application, the user could be required to do something, such as click to continue, in order to verify that they are actively watching the advertisement and haven't simply walked away while the ad runs. Whether Apple would implement such an invention is unknown, but it is possible that they think there are others out there who might want to implement such invasive advertising. It is possible Apple wanted to get ahead of the curve and file this patent so that if any company is silly enough to engage in Big Brother advertising, then Apple will get a royalty. I sure hope this is not the future of advertising."

Comment Re:Heard about this... (Score 1) 36

MMA has much fewer concussions than boxing due to it's lighter weight gloves with allow for knock-outs faster and because many matches end by submission. Boxing matches can last for up to 15 rounds with fighters being repeatedly struck to the head. This repeated beating of the brain is much worse than the relatively small amount that happens in MMA.

Chess, on the other hand, makes you angry from repeated beatings by higher level players. The scars, while much less obvious, are none the less debilitating. I suggest playing Chess960 *(or Chess480) as the MMA equivalent to chess.

Comment As I've said before. (Score 5, Insightful) 455

It's not property and you, sir, are not an intellectual.

The very idea that something infinitely reproducible could be considered to have value is preposterous and flies in the face of call macro economic theory. Infinite supply results in infinitesimal value.

Eventually people will realize that what is being called intellectual property is actually the result of a service, then we will all be happier.

I want to pay the person who provided the service, but pretending that something ethereal is property is not the way to do it.

It is simple to create copies, people will continue to do it and the companies who fight it will lose potential customers.

Wake up.

We are willing to pay for the services rendered, but your prices are ridiculous.

Comment Military application. (Score 1) 244

This could easily be the next smoke rounds. Imagine being able to block light past specific points on a battlefield. You could effectively blind the enemy in darkness, or create soft cover for your movements. It would also absorb laser tracking and targeting devices, leaving many modern weapons systems moot.

Make no mistake about it, this is a very important technology for the battle field.

Science

First Black Hole For Light Created On Earth 244

An anonymous reader writes "An electromagnetic 'black hole' that sucks in surrounding light has been built for the first time. The device, which works at microwave frequencies, may soon be extended to trap visible light, leading to an entirely new way of harvesting solar energy to generate electricity. A theoretical design for a table-top black hole to trap light was proposed in a paper published earlier this year by Evgenii Narimanov and Alexander Kildishev of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Their idea was to mimic the properties of a cosmological black hole, whose intense gravity bends the surrounding space-time, causing any nearby matter or radiation to follow the warped space-time and spiral inwards."
Windows

Michael Dell Says Windows 7 Will Make You Love PCs 627

ruphus13 writes "In a recent talk at the Churchill Club, Michael Dell addressed several topics, including the fact that Windows 7 is poised to take advantage of the upgrade cycle. Dell has always been a strong MS OEM ally and it is now hoping to cash in again from the impending upgrades. From the post: 'Dell made plain several times that he sees the installed base of technology as very old, and sees a coming "refresh cycle" for which he has high hopes. "The latest generation of chips from Intel is strong, particularly Nehalem," he said, adding, "and Windows 7 is on its way." (The operating system arrives Oct. 22nd, although Microsoft's large-volume licensees are already getting it.) He pointed out that many business are running Windows XP, which is eight years old. "I've been using Windows 7 for a long time now," he said, "and if you get the latest processor technology and Office 2010 with it, you will love your PC again. It's a dramatic improvement."'"

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