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Comment: What is the point of a driverless car? (Score 1) 215

by Ashbory (#39923433) Attached to: Google Gets Driverless License For Nevada Roads
I am all for automating stuff that can help you while driving, but what is the point of a driver-less car? If it is for safety, I don't see it working. What does the car do when it doesn't know what to do? Just stop? - that might be the worst choice. You would have to change the road infrastructure completely, and at that point it would probably be safer to not allow human drivers.
Space

NASA says diplomatic ties with Muslims his role

Submitted by unode
unode writes "NASA Administrator Charles Bolden says building bridges with the Muslim world was his primary agenda as the head of the space agency raising questions about the scope of NASA's operations. Bolden's galactic diplomacy has fuelled reactions from conservatives and has left space enthusiasts wondering as to whether diplomacy falls under NASA's ambit at all."
Businesses

Google Acquires BumpTop, a 3D Desktop Developer | ->

Submitted by
WhiteDragon
WhiteDragon writes "Google has acquired Bump Technologies Inc., better known as the creators of BumpTop--a freeware application that transforms one's generic, two-dimensional desktop into a walled, three-dimensional, navigable display. In addition, the software is fully compatible with multi-touch gesturing as well, provided one's hardware supports such technology."
Link to Original Source

Comment: Re:Labelling. (Score 2, Interesting) 423

by Fallingcow (#30131680) Attached to: What's Coming In KDE 4.4

What does Gnome not do that you want it to?

People always complain about this, but what are these awesome features I should be using that Gnome won't allow? I'd honestly love to know, 'cuz there must be all kinds of great workflow-enhancing, appearance-improving shit out there that I just don't know about and that Gnome won't permit me to use.

The only time I've run in to this was the spatial folder view crap, but that was trivial to turn off even then and IIRC they saw the light very soon after and made it a checkbox in an options dialogue.

Comment: Summary of article... (Score 2, Informative) 103

Browser             OS                              Version Tested        Javascript Benchmark  Acid3 Result  Flash
-------             --                              --------------        --------------------  ------------  -----
Skyfire             Windows Mobile and Symbian S60  1.1.0.12052 on WinMo  14,659 ms              52/100        Yes
Opera Mobile        Windows Mobile and Symbian S60  9.7 beta              40,249.20 ms          100/100        No
Fennec              Windows Mobile or Maemo         1.0a3 on WinMo        11,391.20 ms           93/100        No
Safari              iPhone                          OS version 3.1.2      15,499.20 ms          100/100        No
Internet Explorer   Windows Mobile                  7                     74,537.60 ms            5/100        Yes
BlackBerry browser  BlackBerry                      OS version 4.6.1.199  Did not finish         13/100        No

[Skyfire]: Uses server to render pages. Web sites looked accurate but heavily compressed. Flash videos jerky, out of sync and will not open in full screen.
[Opera Mobile]: Can easily open multiple pages and switch between them.
[Fennec] (a.k.a Firefox Mobile): Slick interface. Fastest at loading complex pages. Clearly a pre-release product.
[Safari]: Multiple pages won't load simultaneously. User interface is serene and easy to use.
[Internet Explorer]: Slowest overall browser. Handled Flash the best of those tested. Flash videos can be opened full screen but become jerky and out of sync.
[BlackBerry browser]: Browser doesn't come close to a full Web experience. Slowest at loading complex pages.

Comment: Re:hah.. (Score 1) 375

by sabt-pestnu (#30131470) Attached to: Become Your Own Heir After Being Frozen

I already read this in a short story...

Tomb robbers will break into my cryogenic storage facility, see the pretty lights, and break the machinery.

My semiaware body, badly in need of intensive care after having been hauled out of my cryo-capsule after an incomplete revivification sequence, will be shoved aside while the neobarbarians rip out the pretty wires as their Just Rewards for their efforts.

Comment: Re:I mention this (Score 1) 581

by Kartoffel (#30131284) Attached to: CERN Physicist Warns About Uranium Shortage

That's a very interesting point. If you look at how various countries have developed nuclear power, most went for plutonium-burning breeder reactors. The cold war superpowers, the UK, France and Israel all went with fast breeder reactors for "research" purposes. Only later did commercial thermal reactors for power generation come online.

Nowadays with the IAEA keeping an eye on things, any developing country pretty much has to target a traditional HEU-burning thermal reactor design.

Microsoft

Microsoft Disconnects Xbox Owners->

Submitted by Shrike82
Shrike82 writes "The BBC are reporting that around 600,000 XBox owners have been banned from using Microsoft's XBox Live service for modifying their consoles to "play pirated games". The article mentions Terms of Use violations as the reason for disconnections, and cites game piracy as the main reason behind this move. The bans will only affect online services, so anyone banned from XBox Live can still use their consoles for offline gaming."
Link to Original Source
Cellphones

Why the Google Phone Isn't Taking Off 2

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes "Farhad Manjoo writes in Slate that while the iPhone commands nearly 14 percent of smartphone sales and BlackBerry about 21 percent. Android has only 3 percent and that even though it's far friendlier to developers, Android has failed to attract anywhere near the number of apps now clogging the iPhone. Manjoo writes that Google went wrong by giving handset manufacturers and carriers a great deal of control over the design and marketing of Android phones so there is no idealized "Google phone"--instead, Android devices get names like the T-Mobile G1 or the myTouch 3G, and each is marketed separately and comes with its own distinct capabilities and shortcomings. "Outside handset manufacturers lack ambition--none of them even seems to be trying to match the capabilities of the iPhone, let alone to knock us down with features that far surpass those of Apple's device," writes Manjoo. "A smart handset manufacturer could build a top-of-the-line Android device that outshines Apple's phone in at least a few areas--better battery life, a much better Web browser, a brighter or bigger screen, faster or more functional controls ... something that might help Android inspire gadget lust. But so far, that's not happening." John Gruber adds that the goal should be to make a phone that is better than the iPhone. "Carefully select a handful of areas where you can beat the iPhone, and then promote the hell out of these features," writes Gruber. "If your hope is to gain a strong foothold in the market with a sub-par device, you are mistaken. If Apple is BMW, you can be Porsche.""

Comment: Re:Standardization (Score 1) 289

by Ashbory (#27817101) Attached to: Can the New Digital Readers Save the Newspapers?

Quote: The browser makes a crappy newspaper.

  Is that because:
  - it can't be crumpled into a ball to start a fire?
  - it is awkward to place in the bottom of a birdcage?
  - fish and chips cannot be wrapped in it?

  If a dedicated hardware reader has advantages that make it easier to read and more portable what is to stop equivalent technology from showing up in laptops?

United States

New Flu strain appears in the US and Mexico H1N1->

Submitted by
Combat Wombat
Combat Wombat writes "The Mexican government says a strain of the influenza virus has killed at least 45 people and infected hundreds of others. Seven non-fatal cases have also been confirmed in the United States. Mexico's health ministry says the new virus has reached epidemic levels. It was originally described as a form of swine flu, which had mutated and been passed to humans. The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says closer analysis showed it is a never-before-seen mixture of swine, human and avian viruses. Humans can occasionally catch swine flu from pigs but rarely have they been known to pass it on to other people. Most of the cases so far recorded have been in or near Mexico City and have largely affected men between the ages of 25 and 44. As well as ordering the closure of all schools in the capital and neighbouring Mexico states, the ministry is advising the population to avoid crowded areas and not to shake hands or kiss one another. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the virus has the same genetic structure as a new strain of swine flu, designated H1N1, seen in seven people in California and Texas."
Link to Original Source

Pyros of the world... IGNITE !!!