Comment Re:Spoiled much? (Score 1, Troll) 291
I bet you still have 640K memory in your computer and use floppy drives.
Because no one will ever need more than 640K and 128K storage media.
Submission + - Tom Coburn slams International Space Station, other NASA programs as wasteful (examiner.com)
MarkWhittington writes: Sen. Tom Coburn, a Republican from Oklahoma, has released his 2014 “Wastebook” of what he regards as wasteful spending. Tucked inside the examples of monkey gambling studies and Swedish massages for rabbits, are several NASA programs the senator finds off-putting.
One example is a full-throated attack against the International Space Station, a facility that was started by President Ronald Reagan and has been in full operation for the past several years. “ISS is one of the greatest achievements in manned spaceflight. It is also the ‘single most expensive object ever created.’ And some scientists question if the space station’s out of this world costs can continue to be justified.” Coburn strongly implies that the ISS be immediately scrapped, and the money spent on what he regards as more productive research.
One example is a full-throated attack against the International Space Station, a facility that was started by President Ronald Reagan and has been in full operation for the past several years. “ISS is one of the greatest achievements in manned spaceflight. It is also the ‘single most expensive object ever created.’ And some scientists question if the space station’s out of this world costs can continue to be justified.” Coburn strongly implies that the ISS be immediately scrapped, and the money spent on what he regards as more productive research.
Submission + - 6,000 Year Old Temple Unearthed in Ukraine
An anonymous reader writes: A massive archaeological dig of an ancient Ukrainian village first begun in 2009 has yielded a discovery that I sort of hope ends up inspiring a video game: a massive, scary-sounding temple. From the article: "Inside the temple, archaeologists found the remains of eight clay platforms, which may have been used as altars, the finds suggested. A platform on the upper floor contains "numerous burnt bones of lamb, associated with sacrifice," write Burdo and Videiko, of the Institute of Archaeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. The floors and walls of all five rooms on the upper floor were "decorated by red paint, which created [a] ceremonial atmosphere."
Maybe this is what Putin has been after.
Maybe this is what Putin has been after.
Hungary To Tax Internet Traffic 324
An anonymous reader writes: The Hungarian government has announced a new tax on internet traffic: 150 HUF ($0.62 USD) per gigabyte. In Hungary, a monthly internet subscription costs around 4,000-10,000 HUF ($17-$41), so it could really put a constraint on different service providers, especially for streaming media. This kind of tax could set back the country's technological development by some 20 years — to the pre-internet age. As a side note, the Hungarian government's budget is running at a serious deficit. The internet tax is officially expected to bring in about 20 billion HUF in income, though a quick look at the BIX (Budapest Internet Exchange) and a bit of math suggests a better estimate of the income would probably be an order of magnitude higher.
Comment Re: Easily done: (Score 1) 331
How about a a whole fucking book of citations?
Comment Re:Compelling, but a mix still better... (Score 1) 399
It's a different grade of fighting, tho. Males fight until everyone settles out where they are in the social hierarchy, then it stops; this stable endpoint is disrupted when the goal is always promotion. Kinda like always adding a new male to the mix.
But the root difference is that males fight to secure their own status, while females fight to kill anyone they see as competition. Males beat each other up, then go have a beer. But when females see another female as a rival, it never ends til one is dead. Can't quite get away with murder in the office, but the virtual hairpulling just goes on and on.
Comment Re:Compelling, but a mix still better... (Score 1) 399
Depends if the job requires physical strength.
My concern would be more along the lines of what I've observed in all-female offices. The social environment is a lot more likely to get ugly for those of lower status than when there's even one male present.
Incidentally this is nothing unique to humans; in most animals, an all-female group fights a lot, but add even one male and things calm down. All-male groups may fight at first but soon find equilibrium. All-female groups never give it up until all the "targets" are dead.
Comment Re:Mohammed is the #1 boys name in England (Score 1) 489
He's just teasing Chris Grayling.
Comment Re:Ahhhh.... (Score 1) 489
"absolution"
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Comment Re:Regulation or Legislation? (Score 2) 59
Anyway, since when was it necessary to study brain patterns to establish if someone is a compulsive gambler?
If you have to ask that question, you've not understood what the study was about. It's not about trying to find out if people are compulsive gamblers, it's about why they are.
If you have to ask that question, you've not understood what the study was about. It's not about trying to find out if people are compulsive gamblers, it's about why they are.
Comment Re: a quick search (Score 1) 334
But...Bolt Action??
Why the preference for bolt action? Is there some unique requirement that rules out Automatics?
Comment Re:Prison population (Score 1) 407
I note an amazing correlation between the rise in prison population and the 'war on drugs'. I wonder what the graph would look like minus all drug-related sentences.
About half the prisons in California, land of three strikes and tough-on-crime, are private for-profit entities. Draw your own conclusions.
Comment Re:Good job, India! (Score 0) 86
It is not Islam-specific. The equivocal attitude the US displayed during the Kargil conflict — when India was clearly the injured party — is not entirely unlike the attitude displayed this year towards Ukraine (where what few Muslims reside, all strongly resent the invader).
Though Obama (as Clinton back in 1999) talks the talk of supporting the invaded victim, the US would only help with "non-lethal" supplies — and only after a significant delay.
Comment Not at all accurate (Score 5, Insightful) 39
My connection is on a dynamic IP address. The best any of those services can do is tell you what city my ISP's router is in, and one of the three services tested by iplocation.net (the service pointed to by TFA) managed to get it wrong. And, I'm not the least bit impressed by the claim that the author's location was correct withing 5 miles, as that still leaves anybody looking for you with just over 78.5 square miles to search.
Comment Re:Why Cold Fusion (or something like it) Is Real (Score -1, Troll) 350
So the Mona Lisa doesn't exist because you aren't able to paint it?
