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Comment Re:Automatically? (Score 1) 142

Not for those of us running Gentoo linux.

Then you're in luck! You get to do it the hard way, which should please you since you're using Gentoo.

Typing emerge --sync && emerge -uDNvt world is hardly what I would call "hard". The point of my post is that not all users can automatically update as the article summary suggested.

Comment Re:Gubbamints... (Score 2) 358

There's nothing unreasonable about different companies having different standards. This is none of the governments' business. It's regulation where there should be none. The state should stick to their core business of protecting people from the initiation of force.

Cellphones

EU Votes For Universal Phone Charger 358

SmartAboutThings writes "The European Union has voted in favor of a draft legislation which lists among the 'essential requirements' of electrical devices approved by the EU a compatibility with 'universal' chargers. According to a German MEP, this move will eliminate 51,000 tonnes of electronic waste. The draft law was approved by an overwhelming majority: 550 votes to 12. At the moment, according to estimates, there are around 30 different types of charger on the market, but manufacturers have two years at their disposal to get ready for the new restriction."
Government

Computing a Winner, Fusion a Loser In US Science Budget 196

sciencehabit writes "President Barack Obama has released a $3.901 trillion budget request to Congress, including proposals for a host of federal research agencies. Science Magazine has the breakdown, including a big win for advanced computing, a big cut for fusion, and status quo for astronomy. 'In the proposed budget, advanced computing would see its funding soar 13.2% to $541 million. BES, the biggest DOE program, would get a boost of 5.5% to $1.807 billion. BER would get a 3% bump to $628 million, and nuclear physics would enjoy a 4.3% increase to $594 million. In contrast, the fusion program would take a 17.6% cut to $416 million—$88 million less than it's getting this year. Although far from final, the numbers suggest another big dip for a program that has enjoyed a roller coaster ride in recent years. In its proposed 2013 budget, DOE called for slashing spending on domestic fusion research to help pay for the increasing U.S. contribution to the international fusion experiment, ITER, in Cadarache, France.'" The Association of American Universities has issued a letter disapproving of the amount of research funding. The Planetary Society has broken down the proposed NASA budget.

Comment Really? (Score 4, Insightful) 82

If using web technologies to build a native application is the answer, then we've asked the wrong question.

Javascript, DOM, CSS etc are a bastardised mish-mash of technologies that lack elegance and coherence; they've come about from the legacy need to display static pages in a browser. To gain functionality more and more features have been added like throwing crap against a wall in the hope something will stick. Using this spaghetti system to drive a text editor makes little sense from a technology point of view.

Comment Re:Units (Score 1) 69

Yes, my mistake, I falsely assumed the link took me to the authoritative source - next time I'll check! I find it difficult to visualise a foot, a mile, or a pound; metres and kg seem more natural. But that's edging ever so closely to troll territory so I'll stop now.

Comment Re:Think of the children (Score 1) 293

I do. My children don't have a cell phone and don't need one. They have iPod touches, but they aren't allowed in their rooms with them and most definitely cannot sleep with them (this is more about my paranoia of wifi signals than of privacy). All digital devices get put in a common area in the evening.

Government

U.S. Science Agencies Get Some Relief In 2014 Budget 83

sciencehabit writes "The ghost of former President George W. Bush permeates the 2014 budget that Congress released this week. His presence is good news for physical scientists, but less cheery for biomedical researchers, as Congress reserved some of the biggest spending increases for NASA and the Department of Energy. The National Institutes of Health, meanwhile, got a $1 billion increase that is drawing mixed reviews from research advocates."

Comment Re:Privatise it (Score 1) 97

You're assuming that people would only pay for services that directly benefit them

And it is not what everyone does nowadays? How many around you are screaming they do not want pay taxes to "sustain vagabonds" (aka, people who by most who try are not getting employment)?

Compulsory wealth redistribution is not a "service". I regularly pay for things (voluntarily) that do not directly benefit me. Foodbanks, local charities etc. That is how it should be done - not via state enforced extortion.

Comment Re:Privatise it (Score 1) 97

Yeah, right.... Just imagine a world where the police are private, and where they only serve the places that are profitable. Now, imagine that this private police services are expensive (after all, profit is now above the service itself), and you can not afford her services. Nightmare scenario for those who have income, but can not pay.

You're assuming that people would only pay for services that directly benefit them. That wouldn't be the case. It's in everyone's interests to see people protected from harm.

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