Catch up on stories from the past week (and beyond) at the Slashdot story archive

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×

Comment Re:Hydrogen is a nice alternative (Score 1) 194

Actually, most all of the big car makers have been working on hydrogen fuel cell cars for over a decade now. The problem isn't the tech, although the cost of the technology is an issue. In fact GM has been putting them in the real world since 2007, I think. I doubt they are alone, as that is with minimal searching and knowledge in the area. Do not think Toyota is first or ahead simply because they have a good PR department.

Comment Re:US dollar (Score 1) 192

...why can airlines require credit card payment and refuse my cash if I wanted to pay for their overpriced stuff in the air?

Well, technically, and since this is \. I can be technical, the airlines are not refusing to take Dollars. They are just unable to process paper and coin transactions. Just like they could say you can't use American Express to pay, if they found that the business cost of doing so is more than the business benefit of being able to access those cards.

Comment Critical Thinking would be better (Score 1) 313

Programming shouldn't be required; but teaching the ability to organize your thoughts, find references, documents and articles on the web (or library), separate facts from opinions, communicate those well, now THAT is a class I would like to see. Some of the best programmers I've known actually didn't learn a language in their first course; instead they learned how to look at problems in a programmatic way first. Then the language just becomes a tool to be use to realize the design.

Comment Need for a Stretch Goal for Google (Score 3, Funny) 172

If Google really wanted to prove out fiber, they would look to a less densely populated area. Consider what putting fiber successfully and profitably in a more rural area would do: pretty much kill the "It's too expensive" arguments for pretty much anywhere. Google needs to be put their weight and minds in trying to solve the last mile problem for all of America, not just the easy parts.

Comment Homomorphic encryption helps? (Score 2) 78

I am not a cryptography expert, but I have been supporting genomic medicine for 10 years. For Homomorphic encryption to be of any use in research, or diagnostics, it is necessary to know that each genetic sequence is encrypted to the same results. That is XYZ for person 1 has to be the same genetic sequence as XYZ for person 2. Otherwise we are comparing apples to wood and the results are gibberish. So if XYZ is XYZ is XYZ, how is that any more secure, from a genetic profiling, etc. POV than the raw genetic sequence? It's like saying your SSN is safe, no one will know it is 123-45-6789, we "secured" it as abc-de-fghi but otherwise is just as unique in identifying you. Am I missing something here?

Comment Re:How does press freedom drop because of leaks? (Score 1) 357

I don't think "freedom of speech" provides any cover for arrest or legal action from the results of that speech. It only guarantees that the government cannot prevent you from being able to speak freely, or anyone else in public places. In private properties, physical and logical, "freedom of speech" as an amendment to the US Constitution is not in force. E.G. I can tell you to leave my house if I don't like what you are saying, you have absolutely no right to speech in that context. (And thank goodness for that or we'd be overrun with door to door advertisers forcing their way into our homes, oh wait...)

Comment Re:Movies (Score 2) 322

I agree with the SG team feeling like a cliff hanger would save the show, and they didn't. But I would argue the the SG: Universe team didn't fully fall into that trap. Yes, the end could be considered a cliff hanger, but I saw it more as a solid ending point. They did need to leave a spot to continue from, in case, but I have no problems leaving the show as they did.

Slashdot Top Deals

In any formula, constants (especially those obtained from handbooks) are to be treated as variables.

Working...