Comment: Coolness factor is enough (Score 1) 265
TV is full of people doing something without "any good reason to do it other than the coolness factor." That phrase might describe the whole entertainment sector of the economy.
Comment: privacy and future presidential elections (Score 1) 90
I wonder what the first presidential election will be like when candidates are from the facebook generation. Companies like google, facebook, maybe snapchat will have dirt on all the candidates. Google alone will have every search the candidates ever did. Viable candidates will be only those people who are uncommonly boring, or influential enough to squelch the dirt, or trade it for favors. Imagine the power google wields... in part because they gave away their operation system, which doubles as an information vacuum.
Comment: parallel construction already "solves" this (Score 2) 173
I guess law enforcement will just have to keep hiding their own law breaking from defense attorneys.
Comment: Re:95 years but (Score 1) 120
Bell's inequality proved quantum states are not determined before observation.
Comment: Irony (Score 1) 120
That article at slate did not address the possibility of the universe being such an isolated system. It seemed to be an angry rant by a physicist who was mad at other scientists for not sharing his views on the material world and consciousness.
Comment: Re:95 years but (Score 1) 120
My impression of the thought experiment was that it was actually asking the listener to consider questions like "if the universe is isolated, are we in superposition right now?" and "what is the relationship between consciousness and superposition?" At any rate, it has been fascinating to watch the moderation of your "simple resolution" post bounce between extremes.
Comment: Re:95 years but (Score 1) 120
At what physical size within an isolated system is the detector (be it a photon, an atom, a molecule, a geiger counter, a cat, or an experimenter opening a box) no longer allowed by physical laws be in a quantum superposition?
Comment: traffic drones (Score 1) 49
Since google maps already has a traffic layer that shows me the congestion along my route (and 2 alternate routes), why would one need or want a flying traffic drone?
Comment: Re:You can bet NSA has the keys (Score 1) 139
interesting. posting to fix moderation error.
+ - Krugman: Say no to Comcast acquisition of Time Warner->
Submitted
by
nbauman
nbauman (624611) writes "In his column, "Barons of Broadband" http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02... (easily circumventable paywall) New York Times columnist Paul Krugman says:
Comcast perfectly fits the old notion of monopolists as robber barons, so-called by analogy with medieval warlords who perched in their castles overlooking the Rhine, extracting tolls from all who passed. The Time Warner deal would in effect let Comcast strengthen its fortifications, which has to be a bad idea.
Comcast’s chief executive says not to worry: “It will not reduce competition in any relevant market because our companies do not overlap or compete with each other. In fact, we do not operate in any of the same ZIP codes.” This is, however, transparently disingenuous. The big concern about making Comcast even bigger isn’t reduced competition for customers in local markets — for one thing, there’s hardly any effective competition at that level anyway. It is that Comcast would have even more power than it already does to dictate terms to the providers of content for its digital pipes — and that its ability to drive tough deals upstream would make it even harder for potential downstream rivals to challenge its local monopolies."
Link to Original Source
Comcast perfectly fits the old notion of monopolists as robber barons, so-called by analogy with medieval warlords who perched in their castles overlooking the Rhine, extracting tolls from all who passed. The Time Warner deal would in effect let Comcast strengthen its fortifications, which has to be a bad idea.
Comcast’s chief executive says not to worry: “It will not reduce competition in any relevant market because our companies do not overlap or compete with each other. In fact, we do not operate in any of the same ZIP codes.” This is, however, transparently disingenuous. The big concern about making Comcast even bigger isn’t reduced competition for customers in local markets — for one thing, there’s hardly any effective competition at that level anyway. It is that Comcast would have even more power than it already does to dictate terms to the providers of content for its digital pipes — and that its ability to drive tough deals upstream would make it even harder for potential downstream rivals to challenge its local monopolies."
Link to Original Source
+ - YouTube to Remove Scientist's Account who Debunked AIDS Deniers Movie ->
Submitted
by
EwanPalmer
EwanPalmer (2536690) writes "YouTube is threatening to remove the account of a scientist who made a series of videos debunking claims made in an Aids denialist movie over copyright infringement disagreement.
Myles Power is claiming the producers of controversial 2009 documentary House of Numbers are attempting to censor him by submitting bogus DMCA claims against him. He says his movies do not breach copyright laws because his films are educational and therefore fair use. The 'AIDS denialist' documentary makers say they instead amounted to “propaganda”."
Link to Original Source
Myles Power is claiming the producers of controversial 2009 documentary House of Numbers are attempting to censor him by submitting bogus DMCA claims against him. He says his movies do not breach copyright laws because his films are educational and therefore fair use. The 'AIDS denialist' documentary makers say they instead amounted to “propaganda”."
Link to Original Source
Comment: Slippery slope arguments are always bad (Score 1) 186
Their premise is the current case is not bad enough for opposition, and only some hypothetical future case is bad enough for opposition. It's a form of strawman argument.
Comment: because of the put-down, I imagine... (Score 1) 413
they are going to start hacking michael hayden.
+ - Hubble spots source of short GRB->
Submitted
by
symbolset
symbolset (646467) writes "Researchers using the Hubble Space Telescope have imaged some evidence that the merger of neutron stars is responsible for producing a short-duration gamma ray burst. On June 3rd the Swift gamma-ray burst (GRB) mission detected GRB 130603B, a burst lasting only one tenth of a second nearly 4 billion lightyears away. Imaging with Hubble they located a small red dot which, over the course of the following two weeks dimmed. Cites an article in yesterday's special online edition of Nature."
Link to Original Source
Link to Original Source
Comment: About that secret proposal... (Score 1) 650
someone ought to place a reward for leaking it. Maybe we need a kickstarter for whistleblowers.