Leemeng - Slashdot User

Ig Nobel prize winner wins real Nobel Prize-> 0

Submitted by Leemeng on Tuesday October 05 2010, @10:38AM

Leemeng writes "Andrei Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, both at Manchester University, UK, took this year's Nobel Prize for Physics for their research on graphene. Geim was one of the recipients of 2000 Ig Nobel Prize in physics, which he earned for magnetically levitating frogs. This makes Geim the first person to have won both the Ig Nobel and the Nobel Prizes."
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Kentucky pastor says bring guns to church-> 0

Submitted by

Lee Meng

on Sunday June 07 2009, @02:28AM

Lee Meng writes "In America, where gun rights are almost a religion, one should not be too surprised to read this report:

Gun-loving pastor to his flock: Piece be with you

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Kentucky pastor is inviting his flock to bring guns to church to celebrate the Fourth of July and the Second Amendment.

New Bethel Church is welcoming "responsible handgun owners" to wear their firearms inside the church June 27, a Saturday. An ad says there will be a handgun raffle, patriotic music and information on gun safety."
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Don't waste your money on "premium" gas-> 0

Submitted by

Leemeng

on Friday June 27 2008, @05:02AM

Leemeng writes "Now that gas prices are skyrocketing, many vehicle owners have reduced or stopped using "premium" gas. But does premium gas provide any benefits in the first place, and is regular gas "low grade"? In both cases, the answer is no. Unless your car manual specifically mentions it, there is no need to use premium gas. And regular car engines do not benefit from it.

Cecil Adams, who writes "The Straight Dope" column, tackled this issue as far back as 2004: What's the difference between premium and regular gas? A USA Today article from 2003 also covered this ground. The writer quoted oil company engineers and technical experts from car companies: Why use premium gas when regular will do?

More recently, a Scientific American article from Jan 2007 provides the last word on this topic:
Fact or Fiction? Premium Gasoline Delivers Premium Benefits to Your Car
The sub-heading is: Exploding the myth that premium gasoline delivers better performance in the average automobile. The writer quoted a mechanical engineer at the California Institute of Technology, and a chemist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Here are the best quotes from these three articles: "Using high-octane gas in a car designed for regular accomplishes little except more rapid combustion of your money." — Cecil Adams There is "no way of taking advantage of premium in a regular-grade car," — Bob Furey, chemist and fuels specialist at General Motors. ... for standard cars on the road today, purchasing premium gasoline is simply paying a premium for a fuel that delivers no added benefits. "If you think you need it," Green (MIT chemist) says, "you're being very eccentric."

In a related issue, higher octane gas requires more processing at the refinery, and thus, is worse for the environment. Brendan I. Koerner covered this angle in Slate:
The Premium Premium: Is high-octane gas bad for the environment? "
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F/OSS flat-file database 1

Submitted by

Leemeng

on Monday May 19 2008, @03:03AM

Leemeng writes "I'm looking for a simple, free and preferably OSS flat-file database program.

Basically, I'm just storing info about Wifi APs that I come across. Maybe 8-9 fields per entry. I've since outgrown Notepad, and figured this info should be stored in a database. This info is for my own reference only; it is not going on a web server.

Googling was unhelpful, with results skewed towards SQL, Access (MS), and Oracle, all of which would be overkill for my purposes.

My criteria is, it must be simple, F/OSS, must work in Windows Vista, preferably use a portable format, must _not_ be an online app, and does not require Java.

Does such a beast exist?"

Linus Torvalds hates cellphones, doesn't carry one-> 0

Submitted by

Leemeng

on Friday February 01 2008, @01:53PM

Leemeng writes "Computerworld recently caught up with Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux kernel, at Linux.conf.au, an annual Free and Open Source Software conference held in Australia.
Other than the usual "what's next for Linux" type of questions, writer Andrew Hendry uncovered this gem: Linus Torvalds hates cellphones, and doesn't carry one.
Hendry was probably stunned when he found out, because what he had actually asked was:
" Do you have Linux on your mobile phone?"
To which Torvalds replied:
" I don't even have a mobile phone! I hate phones in general because I'm the kind of person that when I work I want to concentrate on my work and if somebody calls me that completely destroys my concentration. I hate phones because they just disturb you, and mobile phones are even worse because you have them with you all the time, so I don't do mobile phones at all.""
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Block Ads in Windows Live Messenger-> 0

Submitted by

Leemeng

on Tuesday January 29 2008, @08:27AM

Leemeng writes "A simple way to block ads in WLM (MSN Messenger), and also remove some of its UI clutter. Plus, a brief comparison between Pigdin and WLM."
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Heading off Skycar hype-> 0

Submitted by

Leemeng

on Sunday August 05 2007, @01:44AM

Leemeng writes "We're starting to hear from Moller International again about its skycar, which is variously billed as a flying saucer, flying car, or flying vehicle.

This time around, there seem to be photos and videos of the product, plus you get the inevitable Jetsons references. Now this kind of story always gets writers and editors excited; just search Google News for "skycar" and you'll get a bunch of stories, with more probably on the way.

The problem is, Moller Int'l has tried to sell this concept before and was later revealed to be quite a dodgy company.

So much so that the SEC (The Securities and Exchange Commission, a U.S. regulatory body) filed a lawsuit against Moller Int and Paul Moller in 2003. The details are available on the SEC website at: http://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/comp17987 .htm

In fact, just google "Moller International" and the SEC page is the third link, just below Moller's own website.

In the introduction to the suit, the SEC said:

"This matter involves a fraudulent, unregistered offering and the filing of a fraudulent Form 10-SB by Moller International, Inc. ("MI" or "the company"), a California company engaged in the development of a personal aircraft known as "the Skycar."

Under the heading, "False and Misleading Statements and Omissions", the SEC said:

>>19. The promotional material used in this solicitation campaign contained materially false and misleading information.

20. For example, the Skycar, according to Moller, would allow any person to travel at speeds over 400 miles-per-hour in the uncluttered airspace above the roadways for about the same price as a luxury automobile. In MI investor newsletters, Moller projected that 10,000 Skycars would be sold by the end of 2002.

21. In reality, the Skycar was and still is a very early developmental-stage prototype that has no meaningful flight testing, proof of aeronautical feasibility, or proven commercial viability.

Maybe things have changed since then, but I feel this is really a case of caveat emptor, and the media should not get overly excited over this "flying saucer" until more tests are conducted."
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World's first Quantum Computer to be demoed

Submitted by

Leemeng

on Sunday February 11 2007, @01:43PM

Leemeng writes "EE Times reports that D-Wave will demonstrate the world's first commercial quantum computer on Tuesday (Feb 13) at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif. If it works, that means it can solve some of the most difficult problems, called NP-complete problems, thousands of times faster than current supercomputers. Initially, D-Wave (Vancouver, B.C.) will lease time on its quantum computer, which will be accessed over a secure Internet connection. Eventually, the company plans to sell quantum computer systems.

Being able to quickly solve NP-complete problems has enormous consequences. A fairly well-known NP-complete problem is the travelling salesman problem, which has real-world implications for logistics. NP-complete problems are present in such diverse fields as medicine, biology, computing, mathematics, and finance. Of immediate concern is quantum computers' potential for cryptanalysis (codebreaking). Specifically, a quantum computer could factor very large numbers in a fraction of the time needed by current computers. That BTW, is just what you need for cracking the RSA cipher and other widely-used ciphers that depend on one-way mathematical functions. Perhaps this will light a fire under quantum cryptography efforts."