Comment Why not November 13th? (Score 1) 575
National Felix Unger day.
Comment Re:The proper role of government (Score 0) 475
Unfortunately, the government has a near perfect rate of failure on such endeavors, from an economic perspective. Government subsidies are based on arbitrary, ideological and wishful thinking. OTOH, venture capitalists generally have a 5-10% success rate. They assume the risks, they reap the benefits of successes, and they drop failures when it's clear they will fail.
If you think this is an example of the proper role of government, I'd like to hear some examples of what you think the government should NOT be directly involved in.
Comment What's Next?!! (Score 1) 1017
What's Next? BACON?!!
=:-O
Comment Most People Are Just Cheap Bastards (Score 1) 618
Like me.
Comment Re:Verizon is correct (Score 1) 275
Agreed. I don't see where the FCC gets off trying to regulate any kind of closed-circuit transmission, as long as it doesn't interfere with over-the-air transmission.
Comment MA-DEUCE (Score 2) 645
Why are we talking about non-lethal defensive measures? These people aren't peaceful protesters who are getting a little out of hand. They are predatory, blood-thirsty profiteers.
What's wrong with
Comment Surprised it *DIDN'T* Happen (Score 4, Insightful) 191
While I don't agree with some of the scenarios in the article (a bit simplistic), I have always been astonished at the laissez-faire approach the Federal Government has always had toward the internet and the WWW. I can only explain it by their ineptitude. Not their libertarian philosophy. As a whole, the Government really never "got it" nor understood the potential until it was too late. Now that it's too late, their hoping that it's not too late. Typical.
Comment Re:A linear induction motor is not a railgun. (Score 1) 314
No details provided but I'd assume you can vary the current with a high degree of [computer] control. Increasing the inertia gradually, rather than an instantaneous kinetic release of steam.
Comment Re:Morons. (Score 1) 305
This is just step 1.
Step 2 is blocking foreign (and domestic) IP addresses they arbitrarily deem related to illegal or threatening activities. They got the idea from China.
Comment Re:Liberty Office Suite (Score 1) 648
No speaka de inglish.
Comment QUESTION? (Dumb or Obvious) (Score 1) 646
How would this be enforced on FOSS? What's to stop me from removing this from the code and recompiling (like I would even have to do that).
Comment Smith Charts (Score 4, Funny) 373
I start writing on the outside, spiraling inward. When I reach the center, I've written enough.
I still have about 500 pre-printed on velum from my school days.
Comment Re:Don't give up so easily (Score 1) 790
BINGO!! That's where the authority belongs. Not with the Federal Government or ((shudder)) the U.N.
Comment Re:Golf balls? Ropes? Parachutes?! (Score 1) 770
If I were a pirate, the risk from these devices would not deter me. What have I got to lose? However, the risk of being blown in to a fine pink mist might deter me. And the act of being blown in to a fine pink mist certainly would.
Plasma Device Kills Bacteria On Skin In Seconds 237
Ponca City, We love you writes "In medicine, plasma, the fourth state of matter, is already used for sterilizing surgical instruments; plasma works at the atomic level and is able to reach all surfaces, even the interior of hollow needle ends. Now the BBC reports that researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics have demonstrated a plasma device that can rid hands, feet, or even underarms of bacteria, including the hospital superbug MRSA, by creating cold atmospheric plasma that produces a cocktail of chemicals that kills bacteria but is harmless to skin. 'The plasma produces a series of over 200 chemical reactions that involve the oxygen and nitrogen in air plus water vapor — there is a whole concoction of chemical species that can be lethal to bacteria,' says Gregor Morfill. 'It's actually similar to what our own immune system does.' The team says that an exposure to the plasma of only about 12 seconds reduces the incidence of bacteria, viruses, and fungi on hands by a factor of a million — a number that stands in sharp contrast to the several minutes hospital staff can take to wash using traditional soap and water. Morfill says that the approach can be used to kill the bacteria that lead to everything from gum disease to body odor and that the prototype is scalable to any size and can be produced in any shape."
