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Comment Re:So? (Score 1) 599

That is simply not true. You can drop buoys directly into a moving water and generate electricity without first damming of the river. These buoys can be equipped with features that make them save for the fish and other river life. Google "hydro power without a dam" to find out more.

Comment Re:They ARE the memo (Score 1) 628

NK also has a powerful neighbor in the north who would object to further encroachment by US troops so close to its borders as it did in the past and who is the only reason why there is a NK in the first place.

If the US intervenes in NK without the (tacit) acknowledgement of China things will get really ugly really fast.

Comment Re:What? (Score 1) 450

Basically, the test in question was a bribery test. People from cultures more attuned to bribery (euphemistically referred to as "gift-giving" in the study) turned out to be faster to use it and more generous with their offers. Big surprise. The more developed your country is, the less likely you are to try to openly bribe a stranger with cash.

You missed the crucial part that the recipient of a large gift (more than a 50-50 split) also turned these gifts down more often than not. It is explained later on in the article by the mindset the generous offers lead to unwelcome burdens. None of this matches your bribery analogy.

Comment Re:Space program vs Welfare (Score 1) 421

And what was so special about the moon to create that brand value?

That's easy to answer. The moon has had a special place in the human imagination since time immemorial. It's been raised to the status of a deity by many cultures. Thus, it does not surprise me that the moon landing, i.e., the first instance of "man touching the moon" is such a significant cultural event. Conversely, I venture that even most educated people have a problem picturing the emptiness of deep space. This vagueness in understanding translates to putting somebody up there.

Comment Re:Just use Postgresql (Score 4, Informative) 336

There are one-click installers available for Windows and OS X. On Linux, you would obviously the package management version.

You also don't have to run PostgreSQL as root at all. I develop on OS X and typically run an installation from my home directory. (I also compile my own version, but you don't have to do that.)

Comment Re:Now see, it's hyperbole like this (Score 1) 462

even as the U.S. endures its warmest year on record (the 13 warmest years for the entire planet have all occurred since 1998)

on record: since 1850 (thermometers), or for the last 2000 years (tree rings, ice cores), or for the last 800.000 years (ice cores), according to Wikipedia. Doesn't really say which, but the Mesozoic era ended 65 million years ago, so it's not covered.

warmest years for the entire planet: if one considers global temperature averages. Note that local climate is not a good indicator.

But I've grown more than a little sick of Chicken Little, crazy-eyed alarmists preaching apocalyptic sermons with utterly ridiculous language that makes it sound like the fucking end is nigh if mankind doesn't abolish all industry NOW NOW NOW RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!

Straw man. Actually, the total opposite of what the article is about.

And spouting off laughably ridiculous "facts" like "the 13 warmest years for the entire planet have all occurred since 1998" only makes them sound even more like a bunch of religious zealots than they already do.

Pot, meet kettle.

Comment Step away from the computer please (Score 1) 285

Oh god, this is such a horrible idea. So they fixed the VBA problem where code developed for the German version of Excel fails to run anywhere else. Good for them. But then they claim that you can mix and match French and Spanish code. This is good how? As a German native speaker I was exposed a Java program written in German. For example, getters and setters were prefixed with "nimm" and "gib". My eyes start to bleed just thinking about it.

If you learn programming you have to deal with complex abstract problems. Learning the arbitrary names of a few keywords doesn't really impose such a cost, compared to the gymnastics you have to make to wrap your head around, say, pointer arithmetic. Okay, so nobody uses that anymore, but what about the difference between a value and a reference (e.g. in a linked list)? Or even simpler: how about the basic concept of extracting common code into a function?

Comment Re:Lame 3D tech is a once per generation fad. (Score 1) 261

A more reasonable request is more standardized 3D glasses and better quality. There are many people who wear glasses all the time in order to be able to see anything at all. Glasses made for that are more comfortable to wear. Let's have 3D glasses that are as comfortable to wear as ordinary glasses. And let's have 3D glasses suitable for people who need glasses, such that those people don't have to wear two pair of glasses on top of each other in order to watch a 3D move. Fix those two things, and 3D technology will become more popular.

Not gonna happen. There is a huge market for real glasses because people actually need them and thus they chose the pair they like and which fits them comfortably. There is no such market for 3D glasses because, wait for it, people don't actually need glasses to see in 3D.

3D is a fad that has been around since there have been moving images, i.e. for over a hundred years. It comes and goes. The cinemas jump on it because it allows them to milk their patrons. It's a brilliant artistic choice for very few movies und completely useless the rest. BTW, I wear eye correction, i.e. contacts during the day and glasses in the evening when I'm at home. I have no problems with 3D glasses in movies because they don't interfere with my lenses and I'm so used to wearing glasses that it doesn't bother me. It's just that the experience of the vast majority of 3D movies is underwhelming.

So, I'm with the GP. Wake me up when they have invented the holodeck. Until then, spare me the faux 3D shit.

Comment Re:Now what? (Score 1) 652

As far as practical uses, well few thought General Relativity would have practical application, and now it's use is a common everyday thing because GPS depends on it.

Huh? As I understand it, GPS depends on triangulation of multiple signals. It has to correct for relativistic effects, but would still work in a world without relativity.

Comment Re:Evidence? (Score 1) 697

Now, if you want more members of the second group to be hired, then you need to look at the causes and address them. For example, do they encounter the relevant skills later? Are there hidden prejudices against them in hiring? Are they excluded or discouraged from participating in some relevant educational prerequisites?

If you answer yes to the questions I have bolded the argument at the beginning of your post loses a lot of its strength. I.e. if there is are systemic prejudices against people in group B then the chance that one of them is hired without a quota is closer to 0% and not 20%. Now you have to decide what is more important for society. That always the best people are hired (no quotas) or that discrimination against a group of people is reduced (quotas).

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