Sorry, but, "... hominims..." is wrong.

However, "hominin" (or at a stretch "hominid") would be correct. See the diagram at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... and see the original article that uses "hominin" liberally: http://science.sciencemag.org/...

> Facebook's chief information security officer, Alex Stamos, will leave the company after internal disagreements over how the social network should deal with its role in spreading disinformation.

Let's hope that Facebook can weather the storm of seeming growth-spurt induced moral troubles; Russian meddling, data mining, etc.

The moral compass like a magnetic compass has to be checked for angular deviation, due to the near presence of great attractors nearby.

Similarly, the lines of the Earth's magnetism are misalligned with true north; an underlying social/societal moral misallignment may have a similar effect on an organisation.

aka ANON comments....

> ... would a quiz-for-commenting-privileges be a good addition to Slashdot?

YES.

I also Moderate SlashDot, and I seriously thin that a quiz would be a good way to weed out the "dottard", "dullard" and "dolt" comments.

It need not weed out autonomous commenting. Sometimes, we need the blow-ins, sleepers, surprisers, and leakers.

;-)

I agree with your 'alone' point.

For all practical purposes, this is the case. Even if 'they' were at the nearest star (and they are not), any conversation by electromagnetic means is a round trip of around 9 years.

There is no tolling bell; at least, not yet. And, we as a collective civilisation have travelled just beyond the Moon, and as electromagnetic beings have radiated, very weakly, for only around 120 years so our bubble of influence is small in stellar distances. As John Donne said....

"No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor of thy friends or of thine owne were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Have a read of the story, that is WRONG AS WRITTEN.

> While the Meteor-M launched last month from the Vostochny cosmodrome in the Far East, it was reportedly programmed with take-off coordinates for the Baikonur cosmodrome, which is located in southern Kazakhstan.

No, no, no... NO! The word "it" refers to the Meteor-M satellite. The satellite was NOT programmed incorrectly; it was the launcher that was mis-programmed, as the following sentence clarifies.

> "The rocket was really programmed as if it was taking off from Baikonur," ....

I agree. I've been seeing young-up-and-comers near me totally deferring to the older-and-cunning people (and maybe I am one) because there is corporate knowledge and "executive function" being exercised.

I have attended three long-form talks by Dr Neil Gordon, and some others involved. He is always the most compelling speaker. I have followed up in one-on-one discussions, at least twice. This effort has been a hugely consuming effort for most, and there is an 'answer' to where MH370 is: It is MOST likely to be in the next-most-probable statistical area, currently to the north-east of the last-most-likely area. Read the 'Full' report and get the picture. https://www.atsb.gov.au/public...

I organised the 10 year party in Canberra, Australia, at the "Uni Pub". I organised a plasticised "attendance card" for those who came. I still carry my card in my wallet. So, I can be called a "card-carrying Slashdoter".