Comment Psychohistory? (Score 2, Insightful) 93
Is this an early experiment in the development of psychohistory?
Hari Seldon would be proud.
Comment Fingerprints (Score 4, Funny) 94
Excellent! Now I can print my epidermal cells in the pattern of a new set of fingerprints, transplant that skin to my fingers, and leave traces of CmdrTaco at crime scenes across the world!
Comment What about the genitals? (Score 2, Funny) 115
Come on, TSA!
You've already got the millimeter body scanners rolling out across the US and rest of the world. Kick it up a notch! Go straight for the biometric genital scanning!
Pfft, privacy. You don't need privacy. You need safety. Now drop your drawers!
Future Ubisoft Games To Require Constant Internet Access 497
Following up on our discussion yesterday of annoying game distribution platforms, Ubisoft has announced the details of their Online Services Platform, which they will use to distribute and administer future PC game releases. The platform will require internet access in order to play installed games, saved games will be stored remotely, and the game you're playing will even pause and try to reconnect if your connection is lost during play. Quoting Rock, Paper, Shotgun:
"This seems like such a bizarre, bewildering backward step. Of course we haven't experienced it yet, but based on Ubi’s own description of the system so many concerns arise. Yes, certainly, most people have the internet all the time on their PCs. But not all people. So already a percentage of the audience is lost. Then comes those who own gaming laptops, who now will not be able to play games on trains, buses, in the park, or anywhere they may not be able to find a WiFi connection (something that’s rarely free in the UK, of course – fancy paying the £10/hour in the airport to play your Ubisoft game?). Then there's the day your internet is down, and the engineers can’t come out to fix it until tomorrow. No game for you. Or any of the dozens of other situations when the internet is not available to a player. But further, there are people who do not wish to let a publisher know their private gaming habits. People who do not wish to report in to a company they’ve no affiliation with, nor accountability to, whenever they play a game they’ve legally bought. People who don’t want their save data stored remotely. This new system renders all customers beholden to Ubisoft in perpetuity whenever they buy their games."
Comment Re:You can't. (Score 1) 88
Parent is correct, and grandparent is ignorant.
The vast majority of funding in this field goes to equipment and consumables and not salary.
During my PhD research, I looked at progenitor cells in the spinal cord as well. Some of my experiments were only feasible if I could analyze the results using a $500k confocal microscope. If I used a "cheapo" $50k fluorescence microscope I was unable to analyze my results. Even a single experiment could cost thousands of dollars just to run, not counting time spent.
By contrast, my yearly stipend was $25k (in NYC).
Comment Slightly Offtopic: Not Genotype (Score 3, Informative) 68
As a trained biologist, I take exception to the failure to analogize properly. A genotype is the genetic description of an organism. This has nothing to do with a system that learns from experience.
Those who create software: Please, if you are going to use a word from a different field to name or describe your program, try to pick a word that creates some sort of sensible analogy rather than choosing one that sounds cool and is unused. Otherwise, you risk sounding like an idiot.
Comment This will be... (Score 1) 366
...all too easy to mock. I'm not sure why, but I get the distinct impression that it will be easy to shoot...
Submission + - Twitter valued at $1 Billion (wsj.com)
drunken_boxer777 writes: "The Wall Street Journal is reporting this morning that a proposed $100 million investment puts the value of Twitter at $1 billion. Despite the fact that Twitter has "yet to generate more than a trickle of revenue", this investment will allow the company "more time to figure out its business model". Given that many users are one-tweet wonders, does Twitter stand a chance at an actual revenue stream, ala Facebook, or without a coherent business plan will it go the way of MySpace?"
Comment Ralph (Score 1, Funny) 459
As Ralph Wiggum would say:
That's unpossible!
Comment Oblig. (Score 2, Interesting) 186
Where are the obligatory "beowulfcluster" tags and jokes already?
Sheesh, the standards around here sure are slipping.
Comment Re:Enough is enough - Time to amend the Constituti (Score 1) 463
Congress is made of men.
[Emphasis mine.]
Genius!
We need to hire prostitutes to sleep with these Congressmen. The sex workers will whisper the sweet nothings of copyright reform into the ears of those who thought they were getting a free ride (in more ways than one).
If the Congressmen aren't seduced into carrying out our will, then we'll also have dirt to use against them!
Comment Re:Viruses don't live (Score 1) 321
They're basically just packets of proteins containing genetic material.
Fixed that for you. Not all viruses use DNA as their genetic material; some use RNA.
You are correct in that they do not have a metabolism and need a host to reproduce. This experiment could be conducted on an enzyme for the same effect: Will the enzyme be functional before/during/after the experiment? Obviously a virus is more complicated than an enzyme, but as long as nothing is structurally damaged it will still "work" (or, as these scientists would like to say, "live").
Would the same be true for a bacterium?
Submission + - How a Team of Geeks Cracked the Spy Trade (wsj.com)
drunken_boxer777 writes: The Wall Street Journal has a fairly lengthy and interesting article on a small tech company that is making the CIA, Pentagon, and FBI take notice:
One of the latest entrants into the government spy-services marketplace, Palantir Technologies has designed what many intelligence analysts say is the most effective tool to date to investigate terrorist networks. The software's main advance is a user-friendly search tool that can scan multiple data sources at once, something previous search tools couldn't do. That means an analyst who is following a tip about a planned terror attack, for example, can more quickly and easily unearth connections among suspects, money transfers, phone calls and previous attacks around the globe.
And yes, their company name is a reference to what you think it is.
Comment Units to sell at a loss (Score 1) 364
Are you surprised given that Sony has acknowledged it will sell the PS3 slim at a loss?
So yes, they've changed their strategy to boost sales of the new PS3 by selling at a loss and intending to make up the money on game sales. How many people will buy several of these and never play games on them? Probably not too many, but where do you draw the line?
Stop acting like a kid who can't get what he wants.
Comment First, learn to spell and write properly. (Score 5, Insightful) 286
This sounds like a load of trouble to me. I will certainly teach my children to spell and write properly before allowing them to own any texting-enabled device. Imagine a generation of people who learned texting before proper spelling and grammar. The horrors!
