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Comment: genres and trends (Score 1) 243

by Battal Boy (#36632698) Attached to: Is There a Formula For a Hit Song?
'What if we knew, for example, that 80% of the Billboard Hot 100 number one singles from 1960-2010 are sung in a major key with an average of 135 beats per minute, that they all follow a I-III-IV chord progression in 4/4 time signature, and that they all follow a "verse-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus" sequence structure?'

We will have discovered the existence of 'artistic genres' and 'trends', which as they already have names I'm sure must have been discovered before...

Comment: No imagination... (Score 2) 156

by Battal Boy (#36248258) Attached to: "Space Archeology" Uncovers Lost Pyramids
'Indiana Jones is old school, we've moved on from Indy, sorry Harrison Ford.'

I'm calling bullshit on this. Once the sites have been pinpointed from space someone still has to go in and do the dirty work. If fact, it sounds like the ideal sequel:

'Dr Jones, you probably heard we've located a previously unknown ancient settlement using satellite technology. However, what you probably haven't heard is that this settlement displays a very unusual feature that has completely flummoxed our scientists...'

Adobe to Acquire Day Software Holding AG->

Submitted by Battal Boy
Battal Boy writes "The Register reports: "Adobe Systems has agreed to buy Switzerland-based Day Software Holding AG for around $240m in a clear move to bump up the Flash and Photoshop company's Web2.0 portfolio. It said Day shareholders would get 139 Swiss francs per share (£81.80) in a deal valued at around 255m Swiss francs or £154.6m." I found this piece of news particularly interesting as the company I work for has just purchased Day CQ5 for our 200+ English and multi-language websites. The whole company is abuzz with the news, with approximately half saying that this is a bad development and the other half saying it's good, claiming we will get better support and documentation and faster bug-fixes. Adobe's website has the same story here..."
Link to Original Source

Comment: The meaning of PR (Score 3, Insightful) 560

by Battal Boy (#32975422) Attached to: BP Caught Photoshopping Disaster Response Photos
This is what PR means today: putting up the appearance of doing something seems to be more important than actually doing it. This doesn't necessarily mean that they are doing nothing but such manipulation (under the name of PR) means that there is a large disconnect between image and content that can only raise questions...
Image

US Officials Flunk Test On Civic Knowledge 334

Posted by samzenpus
from the you-are-what-you-elect dept.
A test on civic knowledge given to elected officials proved that they are slightly less knowledgeable than the uninformed people who voted them into office. Elected officials scored a 44 percent while ordinary citizens managed an amazing 49 percent on the 33 questions compiled by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. "It is disturbing enough that the general public failed ISI's civic literacy test, but when you consider the even more dismal scores of elected officials, you have to be concerned," said Josiah Bunting, chairman of the National Civic Literacy Board at ISI. The three branches of government aren't the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria?
Announcements

'Kryptonite' Discovered in Serbian Mine

Submitted by Rubinstien
Rubinstien writes "A mineralogist at London's Natural History Museum was contracted to help identify an unknown mineral found in a Serbian mine. After its crystal structure was analyzed and identified, the researcher was shocked to find the material already referenced in literature. Says Dr. Chris Stanley, "Towards the end of my research I searched the web using the mineral's chemical formula — sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide — and was amazed to discover that same scientific name, written on a case of rock containing kryptonite stolen by Lex Luther from a museum in the film Superman Returns." "I'm afraid it's not green and it doesn't glow either — although it will react to ultraviolet light by fluorescing a pinkish-orange," he told BBC News. More details can be found in the BBC News article."
Data Storage

hard drives that are used often, last longer?

Submitted by tora201
tora201 writes "The BBC reports that Google engineers have surprisingly discovered that the impact of heavy use and high temperatures on hard disk drive failure may be overstated. From the article: "Google employs its own file system to organise the storage of data, using inexpensive commercially available hard drives rather than bespoke systems. Hard drives less than three years old and used a lot are less likely to fail than similarly aged hard drives that are used infrequently, according to the report.""

Questions are never indiscreet, answers sometimes are. -- Oscar Wilde