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Comment Re:If 39% is "good science" (Score 1) 174

There's no grant money available from government for that. It's only available (in huge quantities) for supporting the paradigm. Strange but true.

I rather thought that energy companies had a few extra dollars running around. Exxon's 2014 revenue was over 400 billion. Surely they could fund a few studies all by themselves.

Comment Re:Uh, only doubled? (Score 5, Insightful) 160

So how does a 40 year old computer system get replaced and only doubles the number of flights capable of being tracked?

How about this concept: Maybe that is all that they set it up for. The rate limiting step of the Airway Traffic Control system just might be somewhere else so there would be no need to do anything else.

I do find it concerning that the system comprises of 'two million lines of code'. Last time I heard that metric was "Jurassic Park". And we know how well that turned out.

Comment Re:big dropoff in new tech over age 70 (Score 1) 67

You don't need to be very 'tech savvy' to use an iPad. When they first came out, I gave one to my now 84 year old mother. She's still using the iPad 1, still doing email (it's for old people after all), her calendar, Flickr and a couple of simple apps and games.

It's pretty much perfect for her.

If IBM doesn't screw up the software (doubtful) this could well be useful. And, of course, IBM could easily port the software to Android or even Windows Phone - we're just talking about a fairly simple hardware platform.

Comment Re:What is the obsession with tattoos... (Score 1) 403

I wonder if there is a UID / age divider between Slashdotters who think positively vs. negatively about tattoos. It's been fun reading about the rather disparate views here. Personally, I would agree with you (in contrast to my usual disagreements about your politics) - it's a nice concept that rarely comes across as a net gain for the individual. I've seen a few tattoos that actually look good on the person, mostly it is a complete fail.

Comment Re:Who could have guessed ? (Score 1) 403

Ha. New Orleans must be losing it. Up here in unHipster Alaska you see quite a number of heavily tattooed folk carting around iPhones, iPads and various other iAccoutraments. These are typically working class folk - fisherman, lumberjacks (yes, we have them), cannery workers and such who happen to make a lot money (at least at times) and think that shinys are worthwhile expenditures. Yeah, it looks a bit, shall we say, different, to see some heavily muscled guy in beat up work clothes sipping a grande quadruple shot mocha and daintily tapping away at his MacBook Air. It is a very strange world at times.

Now, it isn't obvious that this guy and his cute friends are the prototypical iWatch purchasers but I'll wager there is going to be some overlap here.

Comment Re:Lesson for workers : Keep skills sharp (Score 5, Insightful) 636

The issue really isn't the fact that the H1Bs are taking over 'native' STEM positions, it is that Disney et. al. is flat out lying about it.

Remember, the H1B program is an immigration loophole set up by the government for certain purposes (allowing non citizens to work in the US when there are no qualified citizens). It was not designed to be a welfare program for big companies. Even for 'easily replaced' employees.

Comment Re:The all-or-nothing fallacy (Score 5, Interesting) 355

Because this is a transparent attempt to rein in the EPA on the grounds of 'science'. Seems OK as a sound bite, doesn't quite work well in the ugly real world. As noted in TFA, there are two major, practical objections:

- The EPA doesn't get enough funding to do all of the studies by themselves. And there seems to be no mechanism in the proposed legislation to fix that little oversight. So it becomes an issue of perfect rather than practical. Sure, it would be best if everything were publicly funded and every bit of data published on the Internet, but it is arguably better if some 'imperfect' data is used rather than the very limited amount of data that is openly published.
- Longitudinal data, by definition, isn't 'repeatable'. You don't get to rewind the tape (if you are unfamiliar with this analogy, look up 'VCR' and similar ancient technology).

The way this bill is crafted makes it perfectly clear that good science is not the goal. Emasculating the EPA is.

Comment Re:NASA Prob and Possible Ice Caps (Score 2) 60

Always take your medications prior to posting.

How about this scary thought: Water is really turning out to be the Universal Solvent. It is everywhere we look. That has profound implications for the possibility, no probability, of life throughout the galaxy and beyond.

It also strongly suggests that future planetary missions should be sure to stock some WD-40.

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