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Comment Re:Not a diet, but a lifestyle change (Score 1) 496

by jones_supa (#49328481) Attached to: Hacking Weight Loss: What I Learned Losing 30 Pounds

About fifteen years ago I was starting to struggle with sciatic nerve pain due to years spent driving a car with a heavy racing clutch in traffic, and a lack of exercise.

Wow, nice to hear someone in a similar situation. I also have sciatic pain (thankly no slipped discs or serious stuff like that) due to too much sitting on my ass. However it's now getting better thanks to increased exercise.

I surely have walked and bicycled aplenty, but my abs and back muscles are garbage.

Submission + - Neo-Nazism Surprisingly Popular in Sweden

Submitted by jones_supa
jones_supa writes: Despite the fall in numbers of neo-Nazi organizations in current world, Sweden seems to have a growing trend of neo-Nazi activities. This information comes from the anti-racist Expo Foundation. The foundation has determined that the neo-Nazi activities in the country have risen by almost two times over the past three years. In 2014, which was an election year, the number of propaganda campaigns rose by 23% compared with the previous year. Most activities include the distribution of propaganda material and flyers, organization of agitation campaigns and putting up stickers. Sweden's capital Stockholm ranked first among the country's cities in terms of neo-Nazi activities in 2014. Last year, neo-Nazi groups organized multiple campaigns, leading to mass disorders and dozens of arrests.

Comment Pages that get stuck (Score 2) 60

by jones_supa (#49326631) Attached to: Facebook Engineering Tool Mimics Dodgy Network Connectivity

Web pages have always been a bit unreliable technology. Who doesn't occasionally meet a page that is almost loaded, but hangs there waiting for one element to be downloaded? At I meet a few times a week a page that gets "stuck". Then you refresh the page and it's fine. Why does this problem still exist? Can't the browser at least quickly try reloading that element?

Imagine if desktop GUI apps were like that. That some GUI element would just randomly not show up. That would be unacceptable.

Submission + - 'No Survivors' Expected In France Plane Crash

Submitted by johnsnails
johnsnails writes: A passenger plane has crashed in France, with all 148 people on board thought to have died.

The Airbus A320, operated by Lufthansa's Germanwings budget airline, came down in the southern French Alps between Barcelonnette and Digne.

Flight 4U 9525 sent out a distress signal at 10.45am (9.45am UK time) on its route from Barcelona to Dusseldorf.

Comment Re:Why? (Score 2) 198

by jones_supa (#49325755) Attached to: Pixar Releases Free Version of RenderMan

Why is it released for "non commercial use", why does it matter to Pixar if it gets used in "perrsonal projects that do not generate commercial profits"? Does it stop RenderMan working for Pixar if a human or a commercial entity makes money from using it?

It requires a big team of senior engineers in mathematics and computer science to create and support something like RenderMan, so it's not unreasonable that they ask money for it.

The idea is probably that hobbyists (many of whom wouldn't have enough spare money to buy it anyway) can get familiar with the software, and then Pixar can sell the software to commercial use where the actual bucks are made. For a fully commercial tool I see this being a pretty nice deal.

Even then the real license costs just $495 per seat, which is cheap. You can easily recoup that investment.

Submission + - Pixar Releases Free Version of RenderMan

Submitted by jones_supa
jones_supa writes: A year ago the animation studio Pixar promised its RenderMan animation and rendering suite to eventually become free for non-commercial use. This was originally scheduled to happen in the SIGGRAPH 2014 computer graphics conference, but things got delayed. Nevertheless, today Pixar is releasing the free version into wild. Free non-commercial RenderMan can be used for research, education, evaluation, plug-in development, and any personal projects that do not generate commercial profits. This version is fully featured, without a watermark or any kind of artificial limits. Featuring Pixar's new RIS technology, RenderMan delivers extremely fast global illumination and interactive shading and lighting for artists. The software is available for Mac, Linux and Windows. In conjunction with the release, Pixar has also launched a new RenderMan Community site where users can exchange knowledge and resources, showcase their own work, share assets such as shaders and scripts, and learn about RenderMan from tutorials.

Submission + - Finland To Fly "Open Skies" Surveillance Flight Over Russia (sputniknews.com)

Submitted by jones_supa
jones_supa writes: Inspectors from Finland will conduct an observation flight on March 23-27 over the Russian territory within the framework of the Treaty on Open Skies. During the flight that will be conducted along the mutually agreed route, Russian specialists on board of the aircraft will ensure strict compliance with the agreed flight schedule and monitor the use of the equipment stipulated by the treaty. The flight will be conducted on a Swedish SAAB 340 observation aircraft that is not equipped with any weaponry. Both the plane and the equipment installed in it have been examined by the international inspection, including Russian specialists. The treaty on Open Skies is designed to enhance mutual understanding by allowing unarmed aerial surveillance flights over the territories of its 34 current member states.

Submission + - Finland's Education System Supersedes "Subjects" With "Topics" (independent.co.uk)

Submitted by jones_supa
jones_supa writes: Finland is about to embark on one of the most radical education reform programmes ever undertaken by a nation state – scrapping traditional "teaching by subject" in favour of "teaching by topic". The motivation to do this is to prepare people better for working life. For instance, a teenager studying a vocational course might take "cafeteria services" lessons, which would include elements of maths, languages, writing skills and communication skills. More academic pupils would be taught cross-subject topics such as the European Union — which would merge elements of economics, history, languages and geography. There will also be a more collaborative teaching approach, with pupils working in smaller groups to solve problems while improving their communication skills.

Submission + - Chinese Vice Premier Says Rapid Growth Isn't What Economy Needs (bloomberg.com)

Submitted by jones_supa
jones_supa writes: China doesn't need the rapid economic growth of the past and will instead focus on tasks including returning the blue to Beijing's skies, said Zhang Gaoli, a member of the seven-man Politburo Standing Committee, the nation’s top decision-making body. "It is both impossible and unnecessary to maintain the very high growth of the past. We've paid the price for that. It's not sustainable." China's growth has cooled as officials rein in local-government debt, crack down on graft and strengthen environmental laws after economic expansion averaged about 10% annually over 30 years. Premier Li Keqiang's targeted gain of about 7% in gross domestic product this year would be the smallest increase since 1990, and the growth rate is bound to slow even further. President Xi Jinping and other leaders describe the slowdown as a new normal and a higher quality of expansion. China's advantages have also weakened because labor costs have increased, Zhang reminded.

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