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Comment Re:Hand wringing of the BAS (Score 1) 379

by Chreo (#47506395) Attached to: A Skeptical View of Israel's Iron Dome Rocket Defense System

To be fair, it makes about as much sense to group all Israeli together as just saying "Palestinians". PLO mostly "became" Fatah (the political branch) and "they" "ended" their fight when they accepted Israels right to exist (something Hamas does not do). The fact that Palestinians on the Gaza strip does not have much to loose, but their lives, makes any real neartime prospects for lasting peace bleak, at best. Unless they have something to gain or something real to loose then the fighting wont stop. One cannot deny the Israeli their right to self-defense. As you say Hamas should take a reality check and assess the prospects that we ever allow Israel to parish as they desire. The Palestinian children have only to gain from them making peace with the past.

Rabbin was murdered to stop the peace process and that has indeed been the result. Most other people would act to make sure that such deeds never pay off.
Businesses

Apple Devices To Reach Parity With Windows PCs In 2014 511

Posted by samzenpus from the all-grown-up dept.
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "Horace Dediu writes at Aymco that in 2013 there were 18.8 times more Windows PCs sold than Macs, a reduction in the Windows advantage from about 19.8x in 2012. But the bigger story is how Apple's mobile platform including iOS devices has nearly reached the sales volume of Windows. In 2013 there were only 1.18 more Windows PCs than Apple devices sold. Odds are that in 2014 Apple and Windows will be at parity. Dediu says that the Windows advantage itself came from the way computing was purchased in the period of its ascent in the 1980s and 1990s 'when computing platform decisions were made first by companies then by developers and later by individuals who took their cues from what standards were already established. As these decisions created network effects, the cycle repeated and the majority platform strengthened.' There was concentration in decision making in the 80s so a platform could win by convincing 500 individuals who had the authority (as CIOs) to impose through fiat a standard on the centers of gravity of purchasing power. Today, with mobile products there are billions of decision makers. and the decision making process for buying computers, which began with large companies IT departments making decisions with multi-year horizons, has changed to billions of individuals making decisions with no horizons. Companies have become the laggards and individuals the early adopters of technology. 'Ultimately, it was the removal of the intermediary between buyer and beneficiary which dissolved Microsoft's power over the purchase decision,' concludes Dediu. 'The computer has become personal not just in the sense of how it's used but in the sense of how it's owned.' Finally, all the above is almost moot, given the rise of Android, something that is beating both Cupertino and Redmond alike."
Science

Submission + - Short but sweet meteor shower arrives Jan. 4 (summitcountyvoice.com)

Submitted by PolygamousRanchKid
PolygamousRanchKid writes: Sky watchers are in for their first treat of 2012, as the short but intense Quadrantid meteor shower will light up the northern sky in the early morning of Jan. 4. According to a NASA web page on the Quadrantids, there could be as many as 200 meteors per hour, though the average rate is about 60 to 100 per hour. According to NASA, the shower originates from an asteroid, that may be a piece of a comet which broke apart several centuries ago, and that the meteors you will see before dawn on Jan. 4 are the small debris from this fragmentation. The Quadrantids have not been studied as extensively as some of the better-known meteor showers like the Perseids and Geminids, possibly because it's best visible in far northern latitudes, where its appearance coincides with cold weather. Another factor may be the short peak of the shower, which means some observers may miss it if they're not watching at just the right time if they're not in the right spot. According to meteorshowersonline.com, the shower can be hard to see because some of the meteors are faint, requiring exceptional observation conditions.

Comment Re:Neither. (Score 1) 2044

by Chreo (#31535968) Attached to: Health Care Reform

As an outsider with a whole bunch of relatives in the US it all seems to me like the big insurance companies are the one who's playing the pipe here.

Sure, we have higher taxes. However, every time I've had that discussion with a US citizen their jaw drop, once I let them know what those taxmoney buys "me". Free healthcare and university studies, to just name two of the more costly ones. And in the US, even if you have a good healthcare insurance, which pays for, for example vital heart suregery, the insurance (usually) does not cover the actual cost of stying at the hospital and that will quickly become massive (at least this is how it used to be "before").

Don't get me wrong, US is great place and I'll go there on many more visits, but this reform will help you become quite a bit more independent as citizens and that can only be a good thing, right? (if you are in debt you are not free)
Hardware

Submission + - Ultra-Efficient Gas Engine Passes Test (technologyreview.com)

Submitted by chudnall
chudnall writes: Technology review has a story on a new gas engine injection system that promises increased efficiency of up to 50%.

The key is heating and pressurizing gasoline before injecting it into the combustion chamber, says Mike Rocke, Transonic's vice president of business development. This puts it into a supercritical state that allows for very fast and clean combustion, which in turn decreases the amount of fuel needed to propel a vehicle. The company also treats the gasoline with a catalyst that "activates" it, partially oxidizing it to enhance combustion.

Comment Re:ULE (Score 1) 131

by Chreo (#25893267) Attached to: Benchmarks For Ubuntu vs. OpenSolaris vs. FreeBSD

No ULE in 7.1 is not a complete rewrite. It was written by Jeff Robertson and he did not vanish, he just took a break. He also fixed some issues that was present in ULE before 7 branched and prevented it from being the default scheduler. It, AFAIK, still use the same basic ideas, which sofar in my opinion is the best scheduler for any OSS-desktop with unmatched interactivity. It is, in the current incarnation, rock solid

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