Comment Yes, at EOL with no chance at extension. (Score 1) 70
There is no current way to service it even if NASA wanted to. It was launched and serviced by the space shuttles, which are all museum pieces at this point.
Dish Pulls Fox News, Fox Business Network As Talks Break Down 275
An anonymous reader writes Fox News and Fox Business were pulled by Dish Network over the weekend, as both continue to argue over a fee agreement. From the article: "Dish said in a statement early Sunday morning that 21st Century Fox had blocked access to the two networks after Dish balked when rates for other networks owned by the media conglomerate were made a part of the negotiations. Tim Carry, executive vice president of distribution at Fox News Channel, countered in a statement that "Dish prematurely ceased distribution of Fox News in an attempt to intimidate and sway our negotiations. It is unfortunate that the millions of Fox News viewers on Dish were used as pawns by their provider. Hopefully they will vote with their hard earned money and seek another one of our other valued distributors immediately."
Comment Interesting hypocrisy at play in Nebraska.... (Score 1) 484
So legal weed coming INTO the state constitutes a great threat, but setting up cheap liquor stores just across the state border from the Lakota reservation (with a huge alcoholism rate) is just swell...
Nebraska Complains About Colorado Weed While Enabling South Dakota Alcoholism
Comment Re:Not sure the FDA would be much better... (Score 1) 484
In the case of pot, the most logical thing would be a division of efforts, such as we currently have for our other (much more harmful and addictive) recreational drugs, alcohol and tobacco.
Surgeon general can force warning labels and release reports, but little else.
FTC/FDA/BATFE can police ingredients, labeling/packaging, production facilities, overseas shipping, etc.
Home production/non profit distribution allowed with generous limits and no more oversight than homebrewing beer or amateur winemaking is subject to now.
Comment Not sure the FDA would be much better... (Score 1) 484
If they use the standards that they use for regulating pharmaceuticals, and tried to apply them to recreational drugs.
Their risk/benefit analysis procedures would need a major realignment, as the current methods would disallow essentially ANY substance as having risks that outweigh the benefits (getting high).
Because getting high is not a medical necessity, the amount of potential risk would need to be essentially non-existent for the FDA to allow a substance on the market. Even relatively benign recreational drugs like pot or psychedelics have potential risks that would preclude them from approval according to current FDA standards.
Comment Re:On paper, sure. But in reality the DEA makes la (Score 1) 484
Well, a group of lawyers and businessmen (Congress) is about as poorly equipped as a group of prosecutors and cops (DEA) to render an impartial decision about the potential risks/benefits of various chemicals based on scientific fact, rather than political expedience or ideology.
About the ONLY thing that Congress has over the DEA is that (again, in theory) they are responsible to the will of the people that elect them. Of course, in reality, they are beholden to the needs of the corporations (Pharma, Booze, Tobacco, Corrections) who fund their campaigns, so we end up with more and more substances being made illegal every year, science be damned.
Comment On paper, sure. But in reality the DEA makes law. (Score 5, Informative) 484
Going back at least as far as the 1980s, the DEA has used their "emergency scheduling" powers to ban various substances by fiat.
Drugs like MDMA, GHB, "bath salts", and various synthetic cannabinoids were all summarily placed in Schedule I by unelected DEA bureaucrats. All they have to do is wave their pen, and any substance they want to ban is made illegal.
Yes, such actions are theoretically open to review by congress, but in reality Congress has never denied any DEA action of this nature, and simply rubber stamps whatever the DEA does.
So the DEA has the ability to CREATE drug laws, as well as ENFORCE them.
Comment Re:EIMAC Spoof Data Sheet (Score 5, Informative) 100
There were actually TWO spoof Eimac datasheets that circulated. The one the author referred to (with the melted tube) was for a type called a "Wemac 1Z2Z", and doesn't appear to be online anywhere. The other sheet describes a "Umac 606 Phantasatron", and is available here:
Comment With the price of hops these days... (Score 1) 50
adding more of them seems a strange way to increase profits...
Comment The website states exactly what yeast (Score 4, Informative) 50
strains they use to brew each beer:
Short Circuit Stout--Wyeast 1084 (Irish Ale)
Flip Switch APA--Wyeast 1272 (American Ale II)
Wheatstone Bridge--Wyeast 1010 (American Wheat)
Ampere Amber--Wyeast 2112 (California Lager)
Schottky Pumpkin--Wyeast 2035 (American Lager)
All commercially available to anyone who wants them:
Former HP CEO Carly Fiorina Considering US Presidential Run 433
McGruber writes: Fired HP CEO and failed Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina is "actively exploring a 2016 presidential run." Fiorina has been "talking privately with potential donors, recruiting campaign staffers, courting grass-roots activists in early caucus and primary states, and planning trips to Iowa and New Hampshire starting next week."
US School Installs 'Shooter Detection' System 698
An anonymous reader writes: A school in Methuen, Massachusetts has demonstrated the first installation of an automated detection system for active gunmen. Sensors placed throughout the building are activated by the sounds of gunfire. The sensors relay data on the shooter's real-time location directly to police, who can then track and subdue their target. The system was developed for the military to detect the location of enemy fire. It will cost school districts between $20,000 and $100,000 to equip each school with the gunfire-detecting sensors. Methuen's police chief said, "It's amazing, the short, split-second amount of time from identification of the shot to transmission of the message. It changes the whole game. Without that shot detection system, we wouldn't know what was going on in the school ... Valuable, valuable time can be lost. Unfortunately, with school crisis situations, it's about mitigating loss."
Comment Mine had a small vial of iodine crystals, too... (Score 1) 260
Get you a meth lab charge nowadays. Used to buy potassium nitrate and permanganate in pound canisters from the local druggist too.
KMn04 and glycerin are hypergolic, BTW.
Comment Put it in a Pelican case for starters... (Score 1) 202
I put together a system a few years ago for use doing offshore surveying in the surf zone. The system is carried on the back of a jet-ski type PWC, and has to withstand constant salt water spray and splash, as well as occasional immersion. It consists of a PC, a monitor, an ultrasonic depth gauge, a GPS receiver, and a custom keyboard, all mounted on the jet-ski.
The case is an off the shelf Pelican waterproof travel case, with all connections in and out of the box through Seacon waterproof bulkhead connectors and plugs. Because this thing is in a sealed black plastic box used outdoors in full sunlight, cooling was an issue. It was solved by using a seawater cooling loop supplied by a tap off of the propulsion jet on the jet-ski pump. The monitor is a 9" TFT mounted in a smaller pelican case with a viewing window up on the handlebars, with the UI handled via a custom 12-key "keyboard" constructed from industrial watertight switches in an IP68 enclosure.
System is still in regular use, with the only repairs being damaged cables when the driver flipped the jet-ski in harsh surf and ripped things physically apart.
Facebook To DEA: Stop Using Phony Profiles To Nab Criminals 239
HughPickens.com writes: CNNMoney reports that Facebook has sent a letter to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration demanding that agents stop impersonating users on the social network. "The DEA's deceptive actions... threaten the integrity of our community," Facebook chief security officer Joe Sullivan wrote to DEA head Michele Leonhart. "Using Facebook to impersonate others abuses that trust and makes people feel less safe and secure when using our service." Facebook's letter comes on the heels of reports that the DEA impersonated a young woman on Facebook to communicate with suspected criminals, and the Department of Justice argued that they had the right to do so. Facebook contends that their terms and Community Standards — which the DEA agent had to acknowledge and agree to when registering for a Facebook account — expressly prohibit the creation and use of fake accounts. "Isn't this the definition of identity theft?" says privacy researcher Runa Sandvik. The DEA has declined to comment and referred all questions to the Justice Department, which has not returned CNNMoney's calls.
