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Comment: QNX and BB10 (Score 2) 90

by frank249 (#42752997) Attached to: Yes, PlayBook Does Get BlackBerry 10 Update

BB10 and the Playbook OS are both based on QNX which is also in 60% of all car infotainment units. Rock solid micro kernal OS that is also used in nuclear plants and medical devices. I have used my Playbook for over two years now and it has new crashed. Apps install without having to reboot. I think many people will be pleasantly surprised with how well BB10 and QNX just works. It also sets the stage for more integration between smartphones, tablets, and car systems.

As for the update to the Playbook, Crackberry.com says that a new version of the Bridge program is in Appworld now which means that the Playbook update to BB10 could be any day now.

Comment: Gas Prices (Score 1) 1387

I am convinced that the real reason Trudeau brought the metric system to Canada was that it would be easier to add taxes to the price of gas. Prime Minister Joe Clark was defeated in part based on the fact that he proposed a 17 cent a gallon tax on gas. Trudeau came in and imposed a tax of 10 cents a litre and no body said anything. Even today the price of gas can go up 10 cents over night. I can just imagine the uproar in the US if gas rose 40 cent/gallon over night.

While Canada has been officialy metric for 40 years most people I meet still think in imperial units and I have to explain to my wife what it means when 10 cm of snow is forecast.

Comment: The US military already has almost everything (Score 1) 184

by frank249 (#42245441) Attached to: US Nuclear Industry Plans "Rescue Wagon" To Avert Meltdowns

In the case of a Fukishima type nuclear emergency, the US military already has the most of the equipment need for a quick response such as generators, armoured vehicles, radiation monitors, airlift etc. Under 18 U.S.C. 831, the Attorney General may request that the Secretary of Defense provide emergency assistance if civilian law enforcement is inadequate to address certain types of threats involving the release of nuclear materials. Such assistance may be by any personnel under the authority of the Department of Defense, provided such assistance does not adversely affect U.S. military preparedness.

Comment: Intelligence (Score 1) 221

by frank249 (#40882039) Attached to: Bilingual Kids Show More Creativity

I found something similar when I was doing my psychology thesis in 1990. I found that my bilingual participants, when compared to uni-lingual participants, had a statistically significant difference in their high school leaving grades, first year university grades and on a test of general mental ability (g). At the time I thought it made sense as the same abilities you use to learn a second language (memory, language skills, cognition) are also measures that an individual needs to learn academic subjects. I did not look at creativity but problem solving is a related ability and is considered a component of g. I think Schmidt and Hunter were right when they said every measure of success is related to g.

Comment: Re:That's an easy one (Score 1) 683

by frank249 (#40555705) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: What Are the Implications of Finding the Higgs Boson?

Expect the next Star Trek series to explain warp drive as "an artifical inhibition of the Higgs field, allowing conventional matter to transition past light speed."

Star Trek incorrectly explained that by referring to 'inertia dampers' when they should have said 'inertia negation'. Inertia dampers are real devices but they have a completely different purpose.

In Star Trek, Inertia damping/negation is used to counter the effects of sudden acceleration that would impart structural stresses on star ships when suddenly accelerating to or decelerating with the impulse drive, and which would cause passengers to be thrown against walls and crushed by the inertial effects of the vehicle suddenly accelerating or slowing.

Such a device does not need to negate or alter inertia – a similar effect can be achieved by creating a gravitational field opposing the acceleration of the vessel. Such technology, while still nonexistent at the present time and considered unlikely to be achieved in the foreseeable future, is by far more realistic than manipulating inertial mass however maybe they will decide to capitalise on the Higgs discovery and refer to some form of Higgs shielding.

Comment: A 7" Tablet is a better solution (Score 4, Informative) 339

by frank249 (#40353179) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Instead of a Laptop, a Tiny Computer and Projector?

I used to lug a laptop on business trips but now I can get by with just my Blackberry and Playbook. The Playbook has HDMI out so I can use a big screen TV at the other end to show my presentations and videos using my blackberry as a remote. The Playbook fits in my inside jacket pocket so it is ideal for these kind of trips.

Science

+ - Discovery offers hope for cancer,heart disease and stroke miricle drugs->

Submitted by
frank249
frank249 writes "A team of University of Ottawa researchers has solved the mystery of how our bodies adapt to low-oxygen environments, raising the prospect that life-threatening conditions such as cancer, stroke and heart disease could someday be successfully treated using a simple, antibiotic-like drug.

The team’s findings were published Sunday in Nature, the world’s leading scientific journal. “It’s a tremendously important discovery in understanding how life without oxygen works,” said Dr. Stephen Lee, a professor in the university’s Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, whose laboratory did the groundbreaking research.
“These are very basic processes of life,” Lee said. “It’s kind of strange that we discovered this in the 21st century. That tells you there are still basic processes that we just don’t know exist.”"

Link to Original Source

Comment: Re:In case you missed it (Score 1) 1046

by frank249 (#39547443) Attached to: Forensic Experts Say Screams Were Not Zimmerman's

This was 35 minutes after Martin was shot. In that time Zimmerman was 'treated' and then transported in handcuffs. What kind of invisible treatment could they do and how could he take off the bandage while wearing handcuffs? And EMTs put dressings over hair all the time. So far there has not been any due process as the killer is still free with his gun.

Comment: Re:In case you missed it (Score 5, Insightful) 1046

by frank249 (#39543677) Attached to: Forensic Experts Say Screams Were Not Zimmerman's

If the EMTs treated Zimmerman, then they would have put a dressing over any break in the skin to prevent infection. The back of his head does not even have a band aid on it. If he had a broken nose there would have been blood on his shirt and jacket and you would likely see nose plugs to stop the bleeding. There also would have been swelling. No evidence of this either.

Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish. -- Euripides

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