+ - Transporting a 15-m, 600-ton Magnet Cross Country
Comment: Re:Why not just 0? (Score 4, Insightful) 985
But you're right, we do think so little of mass shootings that we refuse to regulate the access to firearms. And we are absolutely correct to do so. 100 deaths per year in a country of 300 million is negligable.
Although mass shootings get all the headlines, controlling access to firearms will save a whole lot more than 100 lives per year. Most of the savings will come from reduced accidental deaths and suicides.
There is a widespread belief that having a gun in the house makes you safer: this is not true.
In the 1990s, a team headed by Arthur Kellermann of Emory University looked at all injuries involving guns kept in the home in Memphis, Seattle and Galveston, Tex. They found that these weapons were fired far more often in accidents, criminal assaults, homicides or suicide attempts than in self-defense. For every instance in which a gun in the home was shot in self-defense, there were seven criminal assaults or homicides, four accidental shootings, and 11 attempted or successful suicides. source
(other sources along those lines)
There is also a widespread belief a person who dies from suicide would have done so no matter what method: this also is not true. Most suicide attempts are impulsive acts, and most are unsuccessful. An impulse act with pills or slit wrists is unlikely to succeed: it takes time, the person may have second thoughts, and usually recovers through medical and psychological treatment. A suicide attempt by a gun is much, much more likely to succeed. If that suicidal person did not have ready access to a gun, and had to resort to a different method, the changes are good that most (i.e., more than 50%) of those people would still be with us today.
Comment: Re:Moronic (Score 1) 339
My time is important to me, and I'd rather spend it enjoying my meal, making leisurely use of my lunch break, or making productive use of that time, rather than waiting in line in the cafeteria or a food truck. The notion that my time is important to me extends to the kitchen, too: I enjoy the time I spend cooking for myself and my family, it is time that is valuable to me, not a chore that I begrudge. My money is important to me, too, and bringing lunch costs me about 1/4 what it would to buy it each day.
Comment: Re:Lolzers. (Score 1) 193
Steganography works quite well when you have access to the actual file, preferably in its entirety. This technique might even work under controlled conditions. But I seriously doubt that one could make it work robustly in the real world. (If you want to consider that a challenge and prove me wrong by making it work, by all means.)
Comment: Re: Not to mention... (Score 2) 455
A decent amplifier with powered USB fed DAC and a way to provide various horizontal docks for a variety of handheld devices would be cool. I don't really need much beyond that. A tablet with 64 gb or 128 gb solid state storage makes for a decent mobile AV system
Soooooo, you're looking for an iPad and about $50 of accessories to patch it into your car? You could wander down to a big box store and get yourself outfitted today for less than the cost of a typical OEM car stereo.
Comment: Re:Not to mention... (Score 1) 455
Take a consumer SSD and put it in a deep freeze to -50C look it still works!
When the 2013 model year cars were being designed 4-5 years ago, consumer SSDs barely existed.
Comment: Re:Orbital pickup truck (Score 2) 204
"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe....All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die."
Comment: Re:SD Freeway isn't the problem (Score 1) 431
Comment: Re:If he has the money and is willing to spend it. (Score 1) 431
Comment: Re:Figures they'd do the liver first (Score 1) 62
Comment: Re:Wait a minute (Score 2) 62
Comment: Re:Answer not in summary (Score 1) 308
Comment: Re:But i like to dim my lights (Score 1) 308
the main problem with household LED lighting is they are made as stupid cheap as possible
Simple solution: don't buy cheap shit. There is good, quality consumer LED products out there; it isn't hard to find them. Stick to products from reputable vendors, have extensive reviews, test results, and certifications. Yes, you'll pay perhaps 2x per bulb. But those bulbs will be far more efficient and will last much longer. Spend the money, then stop worrying for the next decade or two.
Comment: Re:multiply (Score 1) 308
Yeah, they say that like everyone knows what a "1 GW power plant" is
Everyone who gives a damn about energy - where it comes from, how much it costs, how we use it and how we can use less - damn well better know how much 1 GW, and how large a 1 GW power plant is. On slashdot, it should be assumed that everyone knows the answer to that question. I would even expect a lot of the general, unwashed masses to know the answer to that, just as I would expect them to know what mileage their car gets, what the cost of a gasoline/diesel is, how many kWh of electricity their home consumed last month, and what they paid for that.
I'm not being a snob or an elitist: I just expect people to know stuff.