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Comment Re:What can be done about this? (Score 1) 109

aside from artificial gravity, nothing. No amount of exercise bike pedaling will save your optic nerves from being in zero G too long.

There isn't really any good reason to put people in orbit for 6 months+. Rotate them out every couple of months. Yes we needed data on long-term microgravity effects on the human body. We have them now, zero G does bad things to your body. So don't do it for extended periods.

Fly in the ointment is the expected trip to Mars, which will take 9 months to a year. Fortunately people like Zubrin have developed advanced technologies to deal with this. It's called a rope. Attach the Mars spacecraft to a ballast via a rope (they call it tether) and spin it until you get 1/3rd G. Problem solved.

How do you know that 1/3G will solve the problem without testing it on human subjects?

Comment America not responsible for NSA. (Score 1) 170

The Speigel article states that the person responsible for making the call recordings of Clinton/Kerry and Kofi Annan was the same person the BND now believes to be a double-agent working for the US. The headline here makes it seem like the German government ordered the BND to do it, but it doesn't seem to be the case here.

Oh come on! That's like saying: "The Germans made it seem like the Americans are excited about the NSA's actions. In reality, the NSA is really a triple agent for Germany through Russia, so it really isn't America's fault that the NSA was spying on other countries, right?"

Germany, despite all their protestations about spying, had the infrastructure in place to record calls by other political officials. If they did it accidentally (which sounds like BS), they they are automatically collecting ALL calls and they are hypocrites. If they did it intentionally, they are also hypocrites for targeting allies.

It isn't surprising that they are doing it despite their prior protestations. What is satisfying, however, is that the US will now get to rub their noses in it.

Comment Re:So there is a problem... (Score 1) 174

Assuming you have an insulated garage door, and an attached garage, it's likely your home will add 20-30 degrees to a -22F (outside) temperature environment in your garage. Homes leak a lot of heat, and all the walls/doors to your garage leak it into your garage. There is also no wind chill in your garage.

I invite you to put a thermometer in your garage and track it. I don't think you will exceed the Tesla specifications unless you leave the garage door open 24x7x365.

You are making the assumption that his garage is connected to his house and that he has an insulated garage door.

I have lived in houses that had neither of these features.

Also, I think his point was that he doesn't want to pay $80K for a car and more problems to worry about than if he spent $30K.

Comment Re:Yes and no (Score 1) 164

It is a requirement leaving primary school to be able to do a division. it is not a requirement to know what feet or yard or stones or furlong are. When you have an international audience, it is polite to use the international measurement methods that about 95% of the world use maybe put it in parenthesis near the medieval unit. like say 500 yards (about 450 meters).

This has an ecological impact by the way, because if thousand of people google "500 yards to meter" the electricity and time lost, would have been better spent on something else. If one person the submitter does it it is maybe 5 second lost to him and no big deal. If say 10000 persons do it, guessestimate international audience slashdot, that's 50000 seconds lost, electricity, bandwidth usage and so forth. Not a lot but cumulated over the years ? And jsut because the submitter does not want to make 1 step, he forces those loss on everybody else

A true historian would use both SI units and units that were contemporary of when the tomb was created.

Comment Re:partly as a result, work culture is also haphaz (Score 1) 135

That's because here in Sweden at least, we learned from childhood to work in groups, including presentations etc, though that has changed a lot now that we've adopted more international methods. Aka, downgraded our education...

For example, when I was a kid, we had student councils in school, from age 10, where each class has 1 or 2 representatives, who then report to the rest of the class at the weekly class meetings etc. It was also a good way to teach students about democracy.

As for the difference between US and nordic culture in regards to meetings, time keeping etc, I do notice that a lot in my freelancing. US clients are more likely to call at completely idiotic times(like calling at 19:00 their local time, meaning it's middle of the night/really early morning for me), and as you say, less coordinated with materials at meetings etc.

The US has 30 times the population of Sweden, so please don't assume that all Americans are the same in terms of education or courtesy.

Comment Re:Thanks for the pointless scaremongering (Score 1) 409

Let's bring all the diseases here. What could go wrong?

In all likelihood, nothing. The CDC handles copies of pretty much every known pathogen on the planet. It is the premier pathogen research institution on the planet. They've already seen ebola. The only thing novel about this is that they are bringing in a live patient with the disease to a top tier hospital so they can bring the best tools to bear on researching the disease and hopefully treating this guy.

That's not really the point though!

They are bringing an infected patient into the US when he could just as easily be treated elsewhere. Transporting a live patient is a lot messier and has more room for error than transporting blood samples in a crashproof, airtight box.

How would you feel about the US transporting nuclear IEDs from Iraq to Georgia to defuse them more safely? Because that is pretty much what is going on here. It will probably be fine, but it could be a colossal disaster that didn't need to happen.

It's a waste too, because there isn't much that they can do for Ebola infections other than keeping the victims hydrated and giving them transfusions. None of those treatments require particularly advanced medical facilities.

Comment Re:Five Israeli Talking Points on Gaza - Debunked (Score 0) 868

Your post is very long.

Let me summarize the situation more succinctly and pragmatically:
It's might makes right. The Israelis have the upper hand militarily, yet the Palestinians keep poking them and asking for more.

As far as I can figure it, anyone in Gaza who hasn't been trying to get asylum elsewhere for the past 20 years must actually want to die. Israeli made its military prowess and willingness to fight to the death clear in 1967.

From a natural selection point of view, the only intelligent thing for the Palestinians to do at this point is to admit defeat and immigrate to another Muslim (or Christian) country. There are lots of other Muslim countries, but only one Jewish state, which has made it clear that they will go nuclear before they get pushed out of their own country or get slaughtered again.

Comment Re:Customer service? (Score 2) 928

That's all good reason for boarding them last - so they don't slow down those who can board quickly.

I promise the plane won't take off without you. What, are you in a hurry to cram yourself into an airline seat instead of enjoying the comfort of the airport lounge for another 10 minutes or so? Entitled much?

Yaz

What are you smoking? Have you never been late for a connecting flight?

The plane actually WILL take of without you.

Comment Re:Customer service? (Score 1) 928

That's all good reason for boarding them last - so they don't slow down those who can board quickly.

Any parent with kids knows that you develop the ability to do everything twice as fast as a normal person. You need to do this to survive.

There are two main issues that I see slowing down the boarding process on SWA:
1. People who cannot put their bags in the overhead bins efficiently. They either can't lift their bag rapidly (or at all) or the bag will not fit.
2. People who run out of overhead bin space and want to put their bag further down the aisle than where they will sit.

Comment To Brianna (Score 1) 962

Brianna,

Not all people in the world are respectful.

When you are in a command position or publicly declaring your opinion (online posting), you will make decisions/comments that other people disagree with.

The disrespectful ones will attempt to cut you down by making crude comments intended to hurt you as much as possible, especially if they can do it anonymously. Often, they will pursue what sets you apart from the average population because bullies innately know that most people are self-consciousness about standing out.

If you are a minority, they will come after your race. If you are a woman, they will come after your gender. If you are gay, they will come after your sexuality. If you have a family, they will threaten your children. If you are handicapped, they will come after your disability. If you are attractive, they will insult your beauty. If you are ugly, they will insult your beauty. If you are obese, they will insult your weight. If you are thin, they will insult your weight. If you are a man, they will insult your genitalia. If you are a woman, they will insult your genitalia.

This is the way that the world works. No amount of whining online will change it; it just lets them know that they have hit home. It is not fair. Life is not fair. However, effective individuals accept this harassment as the cost of being a manager or public figure. They learn to absorb it, ignore it or thrive on it. Then they continue to move forward towards their goals.

If you cannot learn to deal with the harassment associated with leadership or public positions, consider less visible paths forward in life.

Sincerely,
cyn1c77

Comment Re:a few hundred years earlier than that (Score 1) 1330

As a legal person, the corporation could be sued, rather than filing 100 law suits against each of the individual investors, none of which could pay the judgement.

It's gone too far. I am sick of seeing "investors" hide behind the corporation shield.

I want to go back to being able to sue each investor to the point of bankruptcy.

I don't think that it will stifle innovation, because greedy people always want to make money. But I do think that it will make them think twice about legal ramifications that they normally would flaunt under a corporation.

Comment Re:Terror in the minds (Score 2) 55

Yes, the terror is in the minds of many beach goers, but not in reality. By putting this in place they're validating that fear. Of course this doesn't surprise me as Australia is currently in the middle of a shark cull. Sometimes I forget that the US doesn't have a monopoly on acting on unsubstantiated (and often dis-proven) fears; it's part of the human condition.

That was typed like someone who has never been sliding off the side of their surfboard and noticed a shark directly on the other side of it. Or who has never had their surfboard "bumped" as the shark decides if it is worthy of eating.

Shark attacks are infrequent, but they leave lifelong crippling injuries. If we can get a buoy to give us a heads up, I would be all for it.

"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you.”

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