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Comment: Bullying vs. Satire (Score 1) 775

by kaliann (#39026155) Attached to: Is Santorum's "Google Problem" a Google Problem?

There is a difference between being mean to a public figure (especially a politician) and harassing just-some-kid. Rick "man-on-dog" Santorum deserves some ridicule for his absurd, and offensive, speech.

Yes, that is the definition of "satire".

Bullying, by definition, targets someone of less power or status. Satire is the mockery of a political or social figure with the intent to portray them as ridiculous.

Comment: Re:Remember kids (Score 1) 604

by kaliann (#39015605) Attached to: Journalist Arrested For Tweet Deported to Saudi Arabia

Umm, Massachusetts Bay Colony executed Quakers for their religious beliefs. Feel free to read up on the Boston Martyrs Boston Martyrs.

The Salem witch trials were no picnic either, but those were pretty much hysterical purges where no one was being punished for their actual beliefs: they were being killed for having the bad luck to be accused of witchcraft, a crime which is only relevant from a religious perspective.

Comment: Re:A second just Justice.... Please (Score 1) 604

by kaliann (#39015471) Attached to: Journalist Arrested For Tweet Deported to Saudi Arabia

On average, black defendants are assigned more severe punishments than whites for the same crimes. This includes capital crimes, where black defendants are much more likely to be sentenced to death.

There is plenty of research available on this topic, and I encourage you to look into it. It's something worth knowing as a citizen, as the justice system is - in a way - representing you, a member of The People.

Comment: Re:A second just Justice.... Please (Score 4, Informative) 604

by kaliann (#39015389) Attached to: Journalist Arrested For Tweet Deported to Saudi Arabia

Tweet said: "I have loved things about you and I have hated things about you and there is a lot I don't understand about you. I will not pray for you"

The tweets were put out on Mohammed's birthday (a BIG holy day) and were assumed to reference the prophet. I'm guessing that both the hate and the not praying are considered no-nos.

He is reported to have apologized, which may have confirmed his guilt for those in Saudi Arabia looking to convict him of blasphemy/apostasy, which is a capital offense in Saudi Arabia.

Books

Remembering Sealab-> 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "“Some people remember Sealab as being a classified program, but it was trying not to be,” says Ben Hellwarth, author of the new book Sealab: America’s Forgotten Quest to Live and Work on the Ocean Floor, which aims to “bring some long overdue attention to the marine version of the space program.” In the 1960s, the media largely ignored the efforts of America’s aquanauts, who revolutionized deep-sea diving and paved the way for the underwater construction work being done today on offshore oil platforms. It didn’t help that the public didn’t understand the challenges of saturation diving; in this comical exchange a telephone operator initially refuses to connect a call between President Johnson and Aquanaut Scott Carpenter, (who sounded like a cartoon character, thanks to the helium atmosphere in his pressurized living quarters). But in spite of being remembered as a failure, the final incarnation of Sealab did provide cover for a very successful Cold War spy program."
Link to Original Source

Two-dimensional glass, three atoms thick, now free-standing->

Submitted by G3ckoG33k
G3ckoG33k writes "'Researchers have created the world's thinnest pane of glass—and it looks oddly familiar. The glass, made of silicon and oxygen, formed accidentally when the scientists were making graphene, an atom-thick sheet of carbon, on copper-covered quartz. They believe an air leak caused the copper to react with the quartz, which is also made of silicon and oxygen, producing a glass layer with the graphene.' This shows how 'accidents' are important for improving technology."
Link to Original Source
Government

GNU/Linux Petition Featured on WhiteHouse.gov-> 3

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "I started a petition requesting that the U.S. government broaden their use of Free Software and Open Source software to save money. I deeply believe that this one step is PART of the solution to the problem of the crushing national debt that the United States is currently facing. There are of course many other reasons to support this initiative. From ethics to keeping the market competitive. Please take a moment to sign the petition. We only need 25,000 signatures to get the whitehouse to respond and there are millions of free software supporters out there."
Link to Original Source
Math

Are Football Coaches Mathematically Irrational? 1

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes "Joseph Stromberg writes in the Smithsonian that economist David Romer used data from more than 700 NFL games to study a choice frequently encountered by football coaches on fourth down: kick a field goal or try for a touchdown? Romer calculated the average chance of winning generated by each choice at different positions on the field and compared the data to the actual choices made by NFL coaches and concluded that most coaches avoid risk to an irrational extent (PDF), often opting to kick a field goal when going for a touchdown would provide a better chance of winning. Soon after the Romer study, Chuck Bower drew upon many of the principles used in building computer models for other games and built ZEUS: a powerful computer program that can analyze in-game situations on the fly and provide high-volume data analysis to coaches in real time. No football coach has ever admitted to using Zeus but there is evidence that one coach in particular might be utilizing the cutting-edge program: New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, set to coach in his 5th Super Bowl on Sunday. The evidence? Belichick seems to be better than average at making optimal choices in critical play-calling situations and is famous for his unconventional decision-making, often opting to go for an aggressive play on fourth down when most coaches would punt or kick a field goal. When ZEUS was used to analyze a particularly controversial fourth down call made by Belichick—at the end of a crucial 2010 game against the Indianapolis Colts, he opted to go for it on his own 28-yard line, an unusually aggressive choice. ZEUS surprised many by saying Belichick had, statistically, made the right call. "Of course, statistical projections are not guarantees. In that case, the decision didn’t work out, and the Patriots lost the game," writes Stromberg. "But if Belichick does have ZEUS on his sideline, it might give him that much better odds of being the winning coach on Sunday.""

Comment: Re:Remote control tools (Score 1) 83

by kaliann (#38899443) Attached to: Crab Robot Helps Remove Stomach Cancer

Not jumping in to the semantics pool, but this device is attached to the endoscope and has pincers and cautery. It doesn't go wandering off on its own. Doc directs endoscope with camera, sees tumor, and - with the joystick - extends a go-go-gadget cancer-clipper which snips and cauterizes the site and (ideally) retrieves the excised portion for biopsy.

Sounds like it's most consistent with what you are describing as telemanipulation. This thing has no ability to react to input other than what the driver gives it in real time.

PURGE COMPLETE.