CardiganKiller - Slashdot User

Comment: Re:If this is true... (Score 1) 328

by CardiganKiller on Wednesday January 28 2009, @07:08PM (#26646375) Attached to: Athletes' Brains Reveal Concussion Damage

Brutality to one's opponent and damage to their own body are not mutually bound. I think the psychology of aggression is what causes the damage to the practitioner, but being brutal does not require aggression. A true professional who immerses him or herself into violent situations in order to make a living should reach a point where they do only what's necessary to get the job done and go home. Joint, nerve, and brain damage arise from improper practices. Why hit the skull with one's knuckles, damaging them, when the neck is only a few inches away? Why become overexcited and adrenally charged when the situation requires calm and decisive action? Why spar with a person who wants to kill you? Martial arts that enforce mandatory aggression (Krav Maga for example) in order to be effective are just as terrible as the ineffective arts that make non-aggression mandatory. One damages your body and psyche through training, while the other leaves your body and psyche unprepared for high-stress encounters.

Comment: Re:This is disturbing... (Score 1) 235

by CardiganKiller on Friday January 23 2009, @11:53AM (#26575125) Attached to: White House Exempts YouTube From Web Privacy Rules

That's not true. The cookie is retrieved on visiting the site--no clicks required. "In multiple tests by this blogger with both Internet Explorer and Firefox, merely visiting pages on the White House blog causes YouTube to set a long-term tracking cookie in the browser--even if the user does not press the play button to start the video." RTFA

The Science and Physics of Back To the Future 436

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday January 19 2009, @04:26PM
from the how-many-giga-which? dept.

overthinkingit writes "A scientist has tried to apply serious math and physics, including the Law of Cosines, to analyze how the DeLorean in Back to the Future travels through both Time AND Space: 'in order to pull off the kind of time travel we see in the Back To The Future trilogy — the kind where the traveler is transposed in time, but remains stationary in the same relative position to where he/she left — the DeLorean would have to be an outstanding space ship, in addition to its already laudable work as a time-ship. According to Doc Brown's stopwatch, Einstein the dog travels precisely one minute into the future on this first jump, arriving, relative to their frame of reference, at the same location he left. But how far has this reference frame itself traveled during that one minute?'"

Beginning iPhone Development 216

Posted by samzenpus on Monday January 19 2009, @03:35PM
from the read-all-about-it dept.

Cory Foy writes "When my wife got a Touch several months back, the first thing I wanted to do was build some applications for it. Who wouldn't want to play with a device that has accelerometers, position sensors and multi-touch gestures? But being new to the Mac world, I needed something to help guide me along. Beginning iPhone Development aims to be that guide. But does it live up to the challenge of teaching a newbie Mac and iPhone developer?" Read below for the rest of Cory's review.

Tech-Related Volunteer Gigs 252

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday January 19 2009, @02:41PM
from the open-source-hacking-counts dept.

jeffomatic writes "Here's a question for Service Day: what kind of volunteer opportunities are available out there for the technologically-inclined? I'm a software developer and I'm wondering if there's anyone in the field engaged in pro-bono work, like IT or teaching or web design or whatnot. I'm not at all above rolling my sleeves up and working at shelters or the local park, but it occurs to me that my professional skills might be usefully applied in the service context as well. I'd like to hear about what other people are doing, in terms of projects, time commitments, organizations, etc." Or just commit a patch to your favorite project.

Review: Lord of the Rings: Conquest 68

Posted by Soulskill on Monday January 19 2009, @01:52PM
from the not-so-precioussss dept.

Pandemic Studios, having enjoyed some success with their release of Star Wars: Battlefront II, sought to bring their style of action game to the Lord of the Rings universe as well. Since both Star Wars and LotR are widely regarded as classics in their respective genres, and both have a rich, deep fan base, the task would appear to be similar in scope. Many were expecting Lord of the Rings: Conquest to be, if nothing else, a playground for Tolkien fans to revel in the environments so vividly brought to life by the movies. Unfortunately, between the short, simplistic campaign and the shallow, uninspired combat, LotR: Conquest merely relies on its name for success, failing to bring the innovation or cleverness that the franchise deserves. Read on for the rest of my thoughts.

US CTO Choice Down To a Two-Horse Race 284

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday January 19 2009, @01:05PM
from the i-swear-i'm-qualified dept.

theodp writes "Barack Obama apparently didn't return CmdrTaco's call. BusinessWeek reports that the choices for the first US CTO have narrowed, and it's now a two-horse race between Padmasree Warrior, Cisco's CTO, and Vivek Kundra, who holds the same title for the Government of the District of Columbia. Two very different resumes — which would you advise Obama to pick?" I just know I was #3 on the list.

Dutch Study Says Filesharing Has Positive Economic Effects 336

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday January 19 2009, @12:18PM
from the like-helping-kids-save-money-for-college dept.

An anonymous reader writes "In a study conducted by TNO for the Dutch government the economic effects of filesharing are found to be positive. According to the 146 page report (available for download, but in Dutch) filesharing is good for the prosperity of the Dutch: with filesharing more media are available, even though this costs the media industry some profit. One of the most noticeable conclusions is that downloading and buying are not mutually exclusive: downloaders on average buy just as much music as non-downloaders, but they buy more DVDs and games then people who don't download. They also tend to visit more concerts and buy more merchandise."

Mars Desert Research Station Simulates Mars Base 122

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday January 19 2009, @11:31AM
from the simulate-having-internet-access dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Placing humans on Mars will be an extraordinary feat in itself, not to mention even living in such a harsh environment. To help train future astronauts to sustain life on Mars, the Mars Society has created the Mars Desert Research Station. The Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) is one of four planned simulated Mars habitats (or Mars Analogue Research Station Programme) maintained by the Mars Society. Crews sign up for two week shifts during the winter months (it's too hot in the summer for pleasant simulation). Crews are not paid during their time at the station, but do get valuable experience."

Single Drive Wipe Protects Data 625

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday January 19 2009, @10:40AM
from the two-wipes-are-better-than-one dept.

ALF-nl writes "A forensics expert claims that wiping your hard drives with just one pass already makes it next to impossible to recover the data with an electron microscope." But that's not accounting for the super secret machines that the government has, man.