Comment Re:Tell me again why we're not focused on thorium? (Score 1) 232
Because nuclear fission is SCARY! (Even though modern designs for thorium based plants passively deal with many of the potential issues.)
Comment I live outside of Boston. I have FIOS. (Score 3, Interesting) 202
The greater Boston marketing area includes areas other than the City of Boston itself. For example, they also show Red Lobster ads and the closest one's in Connecticut.
Slow news day, huh?
Comment Pretty weak. (Score 2) 1191
As dozens of others have said - too much whitespace, too much crap on the side, and the comments section is better implemented on this version, or the even older formats.
The comments section is the single most important thing here.
Comment Re:The rest of the world plays the same video game (Score 1) 1168
Switzerland issues fully automatic assault rifles (real assault rifles, not just "scary looking semi-autos") to every mentally competent male of military-eligible age.
Switzerland also requires that said mentally competent males of military-eligible age go through military boot camp and be part of their National Guard Reserve equivalent. Once their term of service is over, the automatic capability of the rifles is disabled.
Comment MA - Incredibly smooth. (Score 1) 821
As usual. Walk up, tell them my name and address. It gets crossed off and a paper ballot is handed to me. I fill in some dots with a marker, then stick it into a machine that reads it and I get a shiny "I voted today" sticker as they mark me off in a second set of books.
It took at most five minutes. I have no idea how other states can mess such a simple process up so badly.
Comment Re:Steve Jobs wouldn't apologize (Score 1) 451
And then he'd throw money at the problem to make the towns match the maps.
Comment Re:Throwing the Nuclear Baby Out with the Heavy Wa (Score 1) 657
People are good at overreacting. The zeppelin industry didn't last much after May 6, 1937 except as novelties, despite nearly two thirds of the people surviving the accident. Most airlines would love those kinds of numbers in a crash. On average in 2010, more people died every seven hours from car accidents in the US.
Pointing out that there are Gen IV reactor plans incapable of having accidents like this is impossible when people are in full panic mode.
Comment Re:Que the... (Score 1) 570
You don't like the time it takes for security, take a train/boat.
Don't worry, they're working on that too.
Schumer proposes no ride list for train travelers.
"Land of the free, and home of the brave." Remember that? It used to apply..
Comment Re:Best Summary Ever (Score 1) 326
I think this really is the best story summary I've ever read on Slashdot.
Doctor Marries Doctor's Daughter, TARDIS Explodes 326
techmuse writes "In a veritable Who's Who of Doctor Who, 10th Doctor David Tennant is marrying Georgia Moffett, the daughter of 5th Doctor Peter Davison, who played the Doctor's daughter in an episode of Doctor Who. Except that the Doctor's daughter was a clone of the Doctor, which meant that she really was Who. So a newer Doctor is marrying an older Doctor's daughter, who is a clone of the newer doctor, but only has half the DNA of the older Doctor."
Meg Whitman Campaign Shows How Not To Use Twitter 147
tsamsoniw writes "California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman's campaign team attempted to share with her Twitter followers an endorsement from a police association. Unfortunately, the campaign press secretary entered an incorrect or incomplete Bit.ly URL in the Tweet, which took clickers to a YouTube video featuring a bespectacled, long-haired Japanese man in a tutu and leggings rocking out on a bass guitar. And for whatever reason, the Tweet, which went out on the 18th, has remained active through today."
Solar-Powered Shrub Car 47
sparksfly writes "The Terrestrial Shrub Rover is a solar-powered vehicle that looks, as you may have guessed, exactly like a large shrub. According to designer Justin Shull, 'In the spirit of NASA and its forthcoming 2020 lunar expeditions in preparation for colonizing the moon, the Terrestrial Shrub Rover presents the opportunity to explore terrestrial and social environments back on Earth from within a manned, foliage bedecked, solar electric powered rover.'
1st International Longest Tweet Results 44
Dr_Evil6_6_6 writes "Slashdot had a story about the 1st International Longest Tweet Contest last month, and the winners have just been announced." The winner is impressive.
Warner Bros. Acquires Turbine 57
NNUfergs writes with news that Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group has acquired Turbine Inc., creators of Lord of the Rings Online, Asheron's Call, and Dungeons & Dragons Online. Terms were not disclosed, but the Boston Globe claims the price was somewhere around $160 million.
"Warner Bros. Interactive has bought a number of game development houses in recent years, in a bid to become a major power in video gaming. In 2007, the company purchased TT Games, a British firm that develops family-friendly products like Lego Star Wars and Lego Batman. In 2009, Warner Bros. bought the assets of bankrupt Chicago game company Midway, maker of the popular Mortal Kombat games. And earlier this year, it acquired a majority stake in Rocksteady Studios, another British developer, which created the hit game Batman: Arkham Asylum. ... Acquiring Turbine will give Warner Bros. total control over all future video games based on author J.R.R. Tolkien's beloved Lord of the Rings novels. Turbine holds an exclusive license to make an Internet-based game based on the books, while last year, Warner Bros. won a license to make non-Internet-based Tolkien video games."
Iceland Volcano's Ash Grounds European Air Travel 283
Ch_Omega writes "From the article at CBSNews: 'An ash-spewing volcano in Iceland emptied the skies of aircraft across much of northern Europe on Thursday, grounding planes on a scale unseen since the 9/11 terror attacks. British air space shut down, silencing the trans-Atlantic hub of Heathrow and stranding tens of thousands of passengers around the world. Aviation officials said it was not clear when it would be safe enough to fly again and said it was the first time in living memory that an ash cloud had brought one of the world's most congested airspaces to a standstill.'"
The BBC says "Safety group Eurocontrol said the problem could persist for 48 hours," and the Deccan Herald describes some of the effects on the ground in the volcano's home turf: "In Iceland, hundreds of people are fleeing rising floodwaters as the volcano under the glacier Eyjafjallajokull erupted yesterday again, for a second time in less than a month."
