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Comment What is juggling? (Score 1) 111

One of the problems with the discussion about the number of objects is the definition of what can be considered as "juggling". The International Juggler's Association, when they split apart from the International Brotherhood of Magicians, took care to not define exactly what kind of object manipulation would qualify. Now, if the experts in the field were willing to accept rope spinning, diablos, and hat manipulation under the juggling umbrella, it seems a mistake to not allow a "one object" poll choice.

Comment Re:the danger of abstracted combat (Score 5, Insightful) 297

A glitch on the program makes the drone think that anyone carrying a cylinder 2ft long and 1 inch diameter a combatant? (Looks like a gun barrel!) Well, all those poor fuckers carrying brooms and sweeping their patios had it coming! Nevermind those uppity pool boys with dipnets! Can't make an omlette without breaking some eggs, right?!

So you're for robots and drones, right? Because right now the glitch in programming is when human soldiers in a combat area see someone with something that might be a weapon, they tend to shoot them. Why? Because the ones going "Is that a weapon or is it a broom" don't tend to last when it is actually is a weapon. A drone operator, on the other hand, can take the time to evaluate the situation since they aren't in harm's way.

Comment Re:Meanwhile, in the US, media all sounds the same (Score 2) 156

I think it's no coincidence that all the major media players use exactly the same words to describe events. Case in point? The description of the election was "razor tight" was repeated everywhere. Now if this were a commonly used expression, I wouldn't have noticed.

According to Google, there are about 16,400,000 results for "razor thin" and about 10,300,000 results for "razor tight". So "razor tight" doesn't appear to be all that obscure.

But this is a ridiculous and meaningless expression. what is "tight" about a razor? Nothing. Razors are sharp. Razors are thin. Razors are not "tight."

Now, you're right, razors are not "tight". But in this context, tight isn't modifying razor, razor is modifying tight.It's a tight race. How tight? So tight that the margin is a razor-blade's thickness. (Here's a hint: try dropping one of the words and see what happens.)

But that the media repeated this across the board says a lot to me.

Now, did it say "people pick up phrases from each other" or did it say "it's time to up my medications again'?

Comment Re:Fears of Self-Driving Cars (Score 3, Insightful) 171

...a sensible human who is capable of responding to anything unexpected.

It must be nice wher you live, 'cause around here the typical driver's response to anything unexpected seems to be to crash. Actually, for a lot of drivers, the response to expected things seems to be to crash as well.

Acceptance testing with your life is just not, well, acceptable.

You do realize you're doing acceptance testing of every driver around you all the time, right?

Comment Re:DHS.. They need more money! (Score 2) 178

She was testifying exactly how you would expect anyone to behave in front of the bosses. She was...asking for more money, saying her job was more important than ever, and she's doing a great job. It's true in government, it's true in business, it's true in academia, it's true just about everywhere...damn few people try to talk their bosses into reducing their importance.

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