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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).

Comment Re:Several reasons (Score 1) 1004

Never mind the bad translations. What about the sterile sound quality of the dub and how it totally obliterates the emotional content of the actor's performance? Why does it have to sound like it is spoken by some bored dude sitting in a studio?! Oh, wait. Right. And then there's the disconnect between the visual and auditory sensory perception, i.e. the words are not synced to lip movements.

Comment Same composition my ass. (Score 1) 657

The original has the bus in the middle slightly to the left, whereas the so-called copy has it in the lower right corner. Also the original appears to be shot with a 50mm equivalent lens, but the so-called copy uses a wide angle. Then the steps to the bridge which are dominating the lower part of the original photograph are completely missing from the so-called copy as is the river. Finally, the lighting appears to be different. The shadows in the so-called copy are more distinct, because it was shot on a sunny day whereas the original sky was probably overcast.

Regarding the treatment -- so putting a bright red object on a monochrome background is forbidden now? I now it's cliché and overused, but that's no reason to ban the technique. (Which was used by Steven Spielberg in Schindler's List for great effect. There you have your prior art.)

Never mind the fact that artists have been copying each other since forever. It's how you learn and how art works.

Gawd, I hate copyright law.

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