Someone who doesn't know the difference could certainly mistake the two, but Iridium flares are MUCH slower. They last on the order of (5s-20s), and the brightness profile is a smooth fade-in, peak, fade-out rather than a meteor's quick rise and slower fade.
This site will give you a prediction for your location of when you can see them.
The proper role of the Supreme Court is to determine whether laws passsed are in line with the Constitution and general human rights.
The Supreme Court (as does any court) also has the authority to determine whether a certain law is applicable to a particular situation. It seems that many people forget this aspect.
Loss of consciousness is caused by the sudden drop in blood pressure in the brain. That happens instantaneously.
When GP said,
you don't die from oxygen deprivation for up to 5 minutes
Loss of consciousness != death.
Loss of consciousness is caused by the sudden drop in blood pressure in the brain.
Blood brings oxygen to the brain, and oxygen is what allows the brain to maintain consciousness, so the loss of blood pressure leads to oxygen deprivation. You're talking about one step farther up the chain than GP is.
Why not start a "Sane Rifles of America" / SRA then? In general, I'm not opposed to all guns, though guns like the AR-15 with extended mags do cause me heartburn. But if there's people who want to support gun rights without being absolute idiots about it, why can't you start your own group?
Why don't I start such an organization? A few reasons:
- I didn't think of it.
- I'm not much of a leader and I have no desire to venture into politics.
- The NRA is already out there defending the 2nd amendment, which would make me/my organization simultaneously redundant, and a target (no pun intended) of the criticism of an increasingly polarized populace.
- I'm too busy, and it would be a big job.
- I don't care enough (this one requires a few words of explanation). I hold conservative views on some topics and liberal views on others, but I'm somewhere in the middle on most; gun rights is one of those topics where I'm somewhat middle-of-the-road. There are other, more pressing, topics that I might be inclined to act on first.
- It would involve legalized bribery (lobbying) and I won't be a part of it. To hell with the "it's just how things work" argument.
It's not a bad idea though, for someone who has the right motivation. Are you that person?
Why do you feel there needs to be an "us / NRA" or "them / everyone else"?
You misunderstand. I very much DON'T think there needs to be an "us/them". Quite the opposite actually, which is why I chose to disassociate myself from the NRA.
You're technically true on all points, but you're missing some details:
The peering provider had upgraded to switch toward comcast with a higher bandwidth network card and asked comcast to do the same to their switch.
This, by itself, was not newsworthy because this is what they had done in the past. What was different was that Comcast refused (source 1, source 2).
Also of note is that Netflix tried to get ISPs to join their Open Connect program, where Netflix would install servers within Comcast's own network (at no cost to Comcast) so the switches wouldn't need to handle the traffic, but Comcast refused (source 1, source 2).
Netflix was trying to deal with its growing data usage as inexpensively as possible. Without the above details, though, it looks like they were trying to do so at Comcast's expense. IMO Comcast was in the wrong here because Comcast's customers were the ones paying for the network/data, but again, that's just my opinion.
Helicopter operations may be conducted below the minimum altitudes set for fixed-wing aircraft. The reason? The helicopter's unique operating characteristics, the most important of which is its ability to execute pinpoint emergency landings during power failure. Further, the helicopter's increased use by law enforcement and emergency medical service agencies requires added flexibility in the application of many FAA provisions.
Real Programmers don't write in FORTRAN. FORTRAN is for pipe stress freaks and crystallography weenies. FORTRAN is for wimp engineers who wear white socks.