Submission + - Have a Tau Day
Nehmo writes: If you're not yet acquainted with Vi Hart's campaign to replace 2 Pi with Tau, today is the day.
In Sweden the rules that define rape are...than a call to the UK.
You don't need to be distracted by the (possible) details of the case. The timing blatantly exposes the Swedish prosecution as fake.
To keep the data indefinitely, you could easily put the storage medium in a stable orbit around the sun or something. It would survive, but I'm not sure if anybody would ever read it.
When... Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize for doing
I can't and won't get over that either. (BTW, I supported O's election considering the opposition.) Every time I hear "Nobel," I think tainted. And if O had any dignity, he would have declined accepting it.
...the problem is so much stuff gets sent by truck when rail would be cheaper and faster.
What makes you say that? Have you done any comparisons? What type of cargo are you referring to?
It would seem that using a steel wheel on a steel rail would be the most friction-less means of transportation and thus the cheapest, but the realities of shipping make the air-filled tire on the asphalt road to be preferable.
There are exceptions, though. I would suppose shipping by rail is most efficient when the cargo is comparatively heavy and the tracks go directly to the destination. Coal shipped from a mine to a power plant is my best example.
But for discrete manufactured items that need to go to a particular address, rail isn't efficient because tracks don't go to most places. This necessitates the cargo needing to be transferred from one transportation means to another for "the final mile".
Thus, because the cargo item needs to go through expensive transfers before it reaches its destination, rail comes out to be more expensive than truck.
Implementing autonomous vehicles AVs on the roadways will reduce the cost of transportation - not increase it. Computer technology is already cheap enough to tackle the routines needed by an autonomous vehicle, and the sensors, even the lidar systems, are rapidly coming down in price.
Many modern new cars, particularly the high-end ones, already have many of the necessary systems: Vehicle tracking; adaptive braking; self-parking. Mass production will make these available and affordable on every new car or truck.
But it doesn't matter much what your opinion is on this issue. It has already been decided by economics and technological evolution. Autonomous vehicles are coming to your town soon.
Mexico has, er, "had" a satelite?? I found that surprising.
It refused to learn English and insisted on listening to accordion polkas.
... the vast majority of accidents involving trucks are caused by car drivers misbehaving around truck...
We're sorry to have offended your "brother", but the problem you cite is easy to deal with in this context. Just make the cars autonomous too.
Is she worth tracking? I mean... Is she cute? Let's face it, why would any guy want to track an un-cute chick?
In my lifetime the number of incarcerated Americans has risen about 300%.
You must be young.
I would argue that, "sign this or your fired", qualifies as duress.
It would be duress in the common sense, but it's debatable if it's legally considered illegal duress. Every day people have to agree to things to keep their jobs. If they don't like the deal, they can turn it down.
However, don't misunderstand me. I don't see how a company can claim it has rights over an employee's private activities.
Every "charity" that I've looked into was actually a money-making enterprise disguised as a benevolent one. Some of them have exposed publically, like Easter Seals, Boy's Home, and the Clinton Foundation. In these organizations, a small proportion of the collected money actually goes to the advertised cause, but that's just for show.
To add to the list, a guy was staying at my house for a while who previously worked for Make A Wish Foundation. He talked like almost 100% of the money went to those who collect it. In fact, while he was at the house, he was collecting for the Fire Department's book on fire safety for children. In reality, there was no such book.
Thus, anytime I hear the word "charity", I think "rip-off".
If you want to give money, find the recipient yourself and give directly. If you must use a big organization to move your funds, make sure it's ran by someone you trust.
Regarding the charity the article is about, I don't know anything. But, to me, it smells funny.
Seriously - Leonard Nimoy's Mr. Spock probably inspired more people to enter science, engineering, and intellectualism in general than any other figure in pop culture. He turned anti-intellectualism on its ear by making being a "nerd" not just cool, but even sexy.
...
Maybe, but Nimoy was not a scientist; it was Spock who was the scientist. Indeed, Nimoy himself exclaimed this by titling his biography I Am Not Spock 1975. {But later when Nimoy realized he misjudged public reaction, titled the next volume I Am Spock(1995).}
After Star Trek, Nimoy MCed In Search of..., a show no real scientist would support. In the show, scientific explanations for witchcraft, alien abductions, or whatever, were given only footnote attention.
In terms of promoting science, the writers of Star Trek deserve more credit than the actors.
"May your future be limited only by your dreams." -- Christa McAuliffe
