Why put a supercomputer up there? Is the bandwidth available not enough to send a dataset to Earth, process it, and send it back? Or are the calculations needed to keep the ISS running that complex?

Freight hauling seems to be going back to the concept of a train. A train of containers, moving on a fixed route, with limited human control. The reason it's appealing is because it's efficient, and the simplest way to move large amounts of goods from one place to another.

The reasons why hauling freight by train has been slowly been replaced by trucks over the last 50 years are many, but the most significant reason is the cost of maintaining the network of roads/rails on which the trains and trucks run. It is much cheaper to run a truck over a road because the costs of the road itself are heavily subsidized by state and federal taxes. The trucking company doesn't have to worry about the cost of construction or maintenance. The railroads have to maintain the rails, bridges, and have to pay taxes on the property the rails run on. That railroads are still in operation now, when their costs are so much higher than trucking, is a testament to just how efficient they are.

So it's not surprising that any type of long haul freight on highways would resemble a train, it's just a more efficient way of moving things.

How about trains? They're remarkably efficient at transporting lots of people long distances in short periods of time. Seriously.

I understand the obsession people Americans with cars, but there's a lot of extra materials required for a car that used just to allow people to keep their own personal bubble. It's really a waste of space and materials.

I've always used tables. I know exactly what I'm getting every time, and how to fix it if it doesn't look right. There's too much relativism is css... I find it easier to design a webpage with concrete layout.

I'm sure css layout is useful, and developers are able to do amazing things with it. But for me, tables are simple and make sense.

Wikileaks is a highly political organization. They're not an equal opportunity leaker. The timing and subjects of their leaks is definitely geared toward specific political goals.

I would agree... except for the salary part. I didn't list a salary anywhere and still had no applicants from the US.

Also, we hire research assistants en masse at $30k/yr. We have no problem filling those positions.

The salary is mandated by the NIH for funded projects and built into the budget. I also did not post the salary and I got no applicants from the US. So I can assume the salary was not a factor. Was the work too boring? The hospital has a bad rep? The geographical area sucks? Maybe yes to all.

I'm serious when I say I don't know why I couldn't find anyone. And why no one local even applied?

No matter the issue, Trump doesn't understand anything other ratings and popularity. He gets a certain segment of the population riled up with really simple ideas 1) we're bringing jobs back 2) every problem you have is the fault of this group of people 3) if the jobs don't come back, it the fault of another group of people

He sets the stage for other people to fight it out and get attention for himself. He has absolutely no interest in solving problems, no ability to understand what his actions do, and no empathy for the people he affects.

This shit will continue.

I work with dozens of H1B visa holders. I scoured the lands of the US for 1.5 years to fill a vacant position and I couldn't find anyone in the US to do it. I work in NIH funded research and needed a programmer at $45k/yr. I was fine with a new college grad, and I still couldn't find anyone. Eventually I get an email from someone in Turkey, and we hired her. She's amazing. However if this shit with the H1B's goes through, we can't pay her and she'll have to go back. I won't be able to fill the position. We'll have to let go 6 employees whom we can't replace. If just this H4E spousal visa shit happens, then my employee's husband will have to leave. The spouses of 3 of our employees would have to leave.

Why can't we find the right people here? I honestly don't know. I went to every college in the area and said "If you have taken a programming class, I want you. I'll pay you. I'll train you in the languages we use" and no responses. Why??

That's why the sciences have "lab fees" of $35/semester.

But in reality, all disciplines should be charged the same. Charging different rates depending on department would create worse infighting between departments than already exists. Plus you can generally take any class outside of your major if you have the prerequisites, which is great.

This would probably make me obsess over my own demise for the remainder of my 80% accurate lifespan. Not something I'd want to know with such accuracy.

How is this flamebait? I'm just expressing a different opinion, and one that many people outside of slashdot share.

I must be one of the few people in world who likes the Ribbon UI. It actually makes a lot of sense. You have a top level menu, and clicking on each item gives you all the available commands for that menu item. Its cleaner and more consistent than adding all of the older style toolbars you need or using the drop down menus, which are often inconsistent in their ordering or placement.

The only reason I consistently read from people who dislike the Ribbon is basically "It's not what I'm used to"

I'm excited to see it in Libreoffice. And I'm glad they chose to make it optional.

I'm curious how this story is technology or science related?

Trucking is massively tax-payer subsidized. Railroads own the land their rails run on, pay taxes on that land, and pay 100% of maintenance cost of the rail infrastructure (tracks, bridges, etc). Trucks pay a gas tax... which goes toward that massively subsidized interstate highway system and network of state and local highways. That gas tax does not cover the entire cost of the infrastructure that they use. If tolls were high enough to actually cover the cost of highway construction and maintenance, or if railroads were given the subsidies that highways were given, then rail would be more economical than trucking.

Rail is inherently more efficient and has less environmental impact. Think of a train of 50 cars. Each car can have 2 intermodal trailers on it. That's 100 containers being transported from one location to another using a crew of two engineers. Transporting 100 containers by truck would need 100 trucks and 100 drivers. A truck at max weight (40 tons) gets ~5mpg. That means that 100 trucks would use 20000 gallons of fuel to go 400 miles. A train would use 1 gallon/ton, or 4000 gallons to move that same load 400 miles.

A 4 lane highway occupies a minimum of 80 feet of ROW (right of way). A single rail line requires only 17ft of ROW. Double track would require 30ft. The environment footprint of rail is way less than highways. Then think of the highway interchanges... those sprawling multi-acre parks of concrete. A rail interchange requires a lot less land.

Rail really is better, especially for transporting large volumes of goods. You may say "Yay, but all these places that ship/receive goods are all spread out" ... well, they weren't always. Until the 60s, rail was the primary shipping method, and if you had a plant, factory, or warehouse, you were next to a rail-line. The separation of those businesses from rail physically happened in conjunction with the cost of truck transport becoming so much less than rail as the interstate highway system was built.

It works for me. I don't see any reason not to verify the electronic systems.