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Crime

How Apple's Story Is Like Breaking Bad 288

Posted by samzenpus from the holiday-news-cycle dept.
theodp writes "Over at CNN, Omar L. Gallaga explains how Apple's story is like Breaking Bad, the TV drama whose protagonist — high school chemistry teacher Walter White — decides to use his science skills to cook methamphetamine to provide for his family after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. Walter takes shocking, out-of-character risks but reinvents himself as a brilliant, feared meth chemist who grows more ambitious, ruthless and cocky with each victory. 'Like Steve Jobs,' writes Gallaga, 'Walter White's cancer awakens a panic in him to hurry up and leave a legacy through his work.' Gallaga continues: 'Like Walter White, it [Apple] has mixed the proper elements at just the right amounts to create highly pure, addictive products. The products have been made within secretive working conditions. The skill employed to design and manufacture them tends to make what competitors put out seem like cheaper, cloudier, less effective imitations.'"

Comment Low-Tech Way (Score 1) 165

by FSWKU (#41196987) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Keeping Personal Tech Cool In Extreme Heat?
If you can, park the car so your windshield will be facing the sun most of the time. Then take one of those reflective sun shades, affix some decent (but not terribly strong) magnets to it, and put that on the OUTSIDE of the windshield. This way, the heat that would go into the windshield is reflected before it even enters the car. I would also crack the windows a bit, and maybe try one (or several) of those solar powered fans that go in the window. You obviously want to keep your goodies locked in the glovebox as well. This lessens the chance of someone busting a window to steal them, but also keeps them out of the direct sunlight, which is your biggest concern where heat is involved.

Alternatively (if you can afford it), get a car that has a solar panel on the roof to run the exhaust fans even when the key isn't in the ignition.

Comment Re:What would you be buying? (Score 1) 196

by FSWKU (#41041519) Attached to: Electronic Arts Up For Sale?

EA still has some good development studios; they're not a pure publisher. For example, EA Tiburon develops the quite profitable Madden series...

By "develops" you mean "changes the roster, tweaks the icons, and releases a 'new game' every year", correct?

Comment Re:Enterprise not space worthy (Score 1) 63

by FSWKU (#40706515) Attached to: Up Close With the Enterprise Shuttle At the Intrepid Museum

Not that it detracts from viewing it, but lets be clear. Enterprise was NEVER intended to go into space without retrofitting it which after costs was considered prohibitive. It was cheaper to build Atlantis than to retrofit Enterprise which tells you something about how "space" worthy it really was.

Enterprise was critical for flight testing in the atmosphere before Columbia launched.

Actually, it was Challenger that was built instead of converting Enterprise. Challenger was a structural test vehicle already, so most of the build work was complete. And since the testing had a HUGE safety margin, there was no damage, and it was decided to convert it from a test vehicle into a full orbiter.

Then there was Endeavour, built from spares leftover from Discovery and Atlantis...

Comment Cool pictures but... (Score 5, Informative) 63

by FSWKU (#40693569) Attached to: Up Close With the Enterprise Shuttle At the Intrepid Museum
FTFA:

"Some interesting points to note include the painted-over windows (the gray circles near the nose), the amazing intricacy and build quality of the landing gear mechanism, and the tail piece. The Enterprise was never fitted with engines so it has that specially designed part in the back."

Umm, hate to be "that guy" but there is so much fail in that one snippet I can't stand it.

  • The "gray circles near the nose" are not windows that were painted over. They're inserts to block the nozzles for the RCS system (and thereby reduce drag for glide tests).
  • The Enterprise may not have had real engines, but it DID have mockups for handling tests at KSC (as seen here.
  • That "specially designed part in the back" is an aerodynamic faring used to reduce drag on the ferry flights and thus reduce fuel consumption in an already heavily burdened 747 carrier aircraft. They ALL have one of those that could have been fitted when called for.

Normally I wouldn't get this worked up, but from a site supposedly aimed at geeks, I expected more...
Android

Apple Tells Retailers To Stop Selling Certain Samsung Devices 308

Posted by Soulskill from the getting-a-bit-ahead-of-ourselves dept.
walterbyrd writes with news that Apple has been sending out letters to carriers and retailers who sell the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Galaxy Nexus, informing them of a court-mandated ban on sales and warning them against continuing to market the devices. The court order for the patent case on the Galaxy Tab says Samsung and "those acting in concert" with them are enjoined from selling the devices, and Apple has used the letters to point this out. Samsung, of course, disagrees: "Apple’s menacing letters greatly overreach, incorrectly claiming that third-party retailers are subject to the prohibitions of the preliminary injunction, which they clearly are not."

Comment Re:What are the odds?... (Score 1) 107

by FSWKU (#40543077) Attached to: Charles Carreon Drops Case Against the Oatmeal

...that a guy who's last name is suspiciously close to the descriptor for animals who feed on decomposing flesh decided to become a lawyer?

The decomposing animal itself is what carrion refers to, the creatures who feed on it. [/pedantic]

Although somehow this might make it a MORE apt description of the guy's character...
Biotech

Injected Proteins Protect Mice From Lethal Radiation Dose 59

Posted by Soulskill from the if-only-spock-knew-about-this dept.
ananyo writes "Two anti-clotting compounds already approved for use in humans may have a surprising role in treating radiation sickness. Last year's nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan renewed anxiety over the lack of treatments for radiation poisoning. It was long thought that the effects of exposure to high doses of radiation were instantaneous and irreversible, leading to destruction of the gut and loss of bone marrow cells, which damages blood-cell production and the immune system. The two compounds are thrombomodulin (Solulin/Recomodulin), currently approved in Japan to prevent thrombosis, and activated protein C (Xigris). Treating mice with either drug post-exposure led to an eightfold increase in key bone marrow cells needed for the production of white blood cells, and improved the survival rates of mice receiving lethal radiation doses by 40–80% (abstract). And yes, the lead author's name really is Geiger."
Intel

Intel To Launch TV Service With Facial Recognition By End of the Year 175

Posted by timothy from the nielsen-with-a-ray-gun dept.
MojoKid writes "Despite television being a rather tough nut to crack, Intel is apparently hoping that its upcoming set-top box and subscription service will be its golden ticket to delivering more Intel processors to the living room. The service would be a sort of specialized virtual cable subscription that would combine a bundle of channels with on demand content. So what's Intel's killer feature that distinguishes it from the vast and powerful competition? Granular ratings that result in targeted ads. Intel is promising technology in a set-top box that can distinguish who is watching, potentially allowing Intel to target advertising. The technology could potentially identify if the viewer is an adult or a child, male or female, and so on, through interactive features and face recognition technology."

Comment Re:Brick and Mortar won't last (Score 1) 398

by FSWKU (#40186845) Attached to: Worst Design Ever? Plastic Clamshell Packaging

If you are getting your receipt checked at the door, you are shopping somewhere whose main claim is that they are cheap.

Ever been forced to purchase something at Best Buy recently? They check receipts all the time and sure as hell can't claim their prices are cheap, which is why more and more people are avoiding the hell out of them (to say nothing of the rampant ignorance of their employees).

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