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Comment Re:Conservation of momentum (Score 1) 480

The EmDrive uses a sealed cavity. There's nowhere for any propellant to come out, even if there were any!

sure, the only thing it could do if it remained sealed would be emit black body radiation, and the whole reason this report is interesting is that it's apparently moving a lot more than you'd get from such a result. well, perhaps it could offgas, that's been mentioned elsewhere.

Comment Re:Conservation of momentum (Score 1) 480

I totally understand what you're saying, and I agree entirely, except when it comes to conservation of momentum. It's a simple concept that is necessary for this Universe to make any sense and be stable in any way.

Not really. There may be well-defined circumstances in which it can be violated, which rarely occur in the "natural" order of things. In theory, planets can make their own functional electronic circuits through ordinary volcanic and geologic processes, in practice... 42, I guess. It has long been observed that the laws of physics seem to break down at very high and very low energy states. If they behave themselves at most other times, then most things will behave in a way that is highly predictable at most times.

Comment Re:Facebook is G+'s best advertising (Score 1) 51

An honest question - what is different about G+'s interface or paradigm (compared to Facebook) that gets people to post content that makes you like them more?

I'm not really sure. Somehow G+ seems more oriented towards seeing stuff from disparate sources. I just find more stuff to reshare.

Comment Re:The 30 and 40-somethings wrote the code... (Score 1) 553

I find it most ironic when I watch people chase technology like phones. They have a smartphone. It has X features and does Y things. They only use it for 10%X and 15%Y, but immediately upgrade to the new phone that has 150%X and 140%Y capabilities when they're still only going to use ten to fifteen percent of the capabilities.

So? I might be a shitty photographer, but I'm going to be less terrible with a better camera and smarter auto modes. I'm sure there's many ways I haven't taken full advantage of my computer, I've still upgraded it every so often. Phones advance at a fairly rapid pace even if users don't.

Comment Re:Sort of dumb. (Score 5, Insightful) 553

Not only that... I'm 43 and I consider myself a "Digital Native". At the beginning of my IT career - 1996, I was using workstation virtualization products like Virtual PC and building Intranet applications. Things have changed since then, but I was part of it all and I know it at least as well as any kid whose claim to "Digital Native" is that he used Tumblr and YouTube in high school.

Comment Re:EEO bullshit (Score 3, Insightful) 553

2015:

This is one of the biggest bullshit laws I've ever seen. Let's say I don't want to hire you because you're old. EEO laws simply mean that I can't say it in your face that you're old. Instead, i send you the standard HR rejection e-mail and we're all good. Sight, I hate seeing my tax $$ going to waste drafting these stupid laws.

1965:

This is one of the biggest bullshit laws I've ever seen. Let's say I don't want to hire you because you're [black]. EEO laws simply mean that I can't say it in your face that you're [black]. Instead, i send you the standard HR rejection e-mail and we're all good. Sight, I hate seeing my tax $$ going to waste drafting these stupid laws.

You're right, certain bits hasn't changed much...

Comment Fluff piece (Score 1) 65

GNU/Linux distributions provide great advantages over proprietary alternatives for people with disabilities. All the accessibility tools included in Linux are open source, meaning their code is readily available if you want to examine or improve it, and cost nothing.

Because disabled people are so looking for a DIY solution. I'll give you the one about cost, but aids for the disabled are usually sold or given away far under their actual cost due to ideal organizations, corporate PR, government aid and so on unless you're making a business specifically for the disabled.

Developers who do not depend on assistive technologies tend to forget - or don't know - that a disabled person might want to use their application, read their web page, and so on. ... The problem is not necessarily that developers do not care.

Oh please, the open source community is 95% driven by scratching your own itch. Very few do any real effort to make it easier for other people to use in general, disabled or not. Which of course doesn't mean that we're heartless bastards, we do care that there are children starving in Africa and a blind guy who can't use your app. Just not enough to ever get around to it.

Rather, it's is that accessibility is highly specialized and requires someone with knowledge in the area, regardless of platform.

Yes, but it's usually not rocket surgery if you care enough to explore it. The few times I've dabbled in it I've found that often takes a lot of effort that doesn't benefit anyone but the disabled, the way a wheelchair user needs a ramp where a step works fine for everybody else. Or in other words, even if you know what you're doing it still takes time, that I certainly wouldn't want to spend on a hobby project.

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