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Comment Re:Beneficial use of the EM spectrum (Score 5, Interesting) 137

Dude!! Think about what happened in February - that has to be the most inconsequential and incomplete state of the union speech I can possibly imagine. Within days he attacks Iran and just destroys everything of substance a real state of the union would've covered. All the low fuel prices, great economy, poof. Gone. I'm not very old, but I can't remember a bigger waste of time SotU speech than this one in 2026.
Anyways back on topic I agree w/ sibling AC, nothing Trump/MAGA idiots can say has merit as long as right wing AM talk radio is the most biased ridiculous thing to possibly exist soaking up the "public" air waves. And further, the main stream media IS NOT something of or from the left at all. It's maybe centrist and maybe right wing/corporate. But it's not left.
I realized I wasn't a Republican when I'd listen to right wing talk radio and just get fuming mad at the utter stupidity I'd hear during the Bush and early Obama years. I moved on and listened to NPR. They're dumb too and say stupid things, but I would get less angry at the radio. And there were less advertisements. I'm still not a Democrat yet, but man, Trump is sure pushing me closer. Where's the fiscal conservatives at? Where's the I-hate-Hunter-Biden anti corruption Republicans at? It's dire.

Comment Re:Yes drag the financial system into the AI madne (Score 1) 45

When, or perhaps if, AI "falters" do you think Republicans will have an ounce of self reflection after all the screaming they've just "performed" about Socialism and Communism? Trump has already taken public ownership of companies and would surely use it as an excuse to take more when he bails them out. I'm sure he'll frame it as the only rational thing to do and a good deal. We should all hope and pray it crumbles in 2028 before the election so it'll feel like 2008 again.
Operating Systems

Ask Slashdot: What are the Costs of Switching Between Windows, MacOS, and Chrome? 66

UI changes, lost productivity, untransferrable knowledge... Long-time Slashdot reader theodp notes the folly of switching to an unfamiliar new environment to be "more productive"... Champions of the switch often insist workers will be able to hit the ground running and get the same or even more work done from the get-go in the new unfamiliar environment because it's 'more productive', a conclusion often shaped by conventional wisdom or their 'gut' feeling. Decision makers may also mistake their own 'light-user experience' for universal experience and believe all platforms are fungible.

And while it's one thing for a business to delay their delivery dates and increase costs of by introducing a switch in computing environments that's of unquantified and possibly dubious value, how about when a switch in computing environments is made that affects schoolchildren's ability to learn for a period of time?

While a MacBook Neo is indeed cute, what might be the possible consequences of a decision to move 25,000 students off Windows and onto MacBook Neos...? Or even the impact on a single kid who moves from a MacBook school to a Windows or Chrome school (or whose home computing environment isn't aligned with their school). Or students whose teachers decide learning in their classrooms should now additionally require an understanding of the Minecraft computing platform/UI (used in over 40,000 school systems.). Learning Management Systems and now various AI Edtech tools used by schoolkids are also subject to change.

"Even if students and schools eventually benefit from a new platform, one wonders how much learning is lost during the switch," theodp asks, "and what the financial and educational ROI and payback period look like." Are there bigger problems than we realize? Share your own thoughts and experiences in the comments.

What are the costs of switching between Windows, MacOS, and Chrome?
Medicine

Non-Invasive Stimulation of the Brain Ended Opioid Addiction, Cigarette Craving (jpost.com) 37

The Jerusalem Post reports that doctors at Haifa's Rambam Health Care Campus "have successfully treated their first Israeli opioid addiction patient using an experimental noninvasive brain technology, easing him through withdrawal in just 20 minutes..." [T]he team of specialists at the Haifa medical center intervened in the electrical activity of an area of the patient's brain called the nucleus accumbens, the core of the brain system responsible for feelings of satisfaction, pleasure, and reward. The treatment, based on technology from the Israeli company Insightec, is similar to the one used to treat symptoms of essential tremor and Parkinsonian tremor, under MRI control. In this case, the treatment was carried out with the help of a new technology that performs noninvasive neuromodulation, without heating or burning tissue, and allows stimulation in the same area of the brain to increase or suppress activity...

"Tests carried out a week later produced negative results for opioids and other substances," [said Dr. Lior Lev-Tov, director of the functional neurosurgery unit in Rambam's neurosurgery division and the one leading the new study at the medical center.] "The patient himself reported a craving score of zero out of 10 for using the drug, and even another side effect, a drastic drop in the desire for cigarettes, from three packs a day to just a few cigarettes, and with no urge to use alcohol. In other words, in a treatment that lasted about 20 minutes net, our patient was completely freed from an extreme dependence that had accompanied him every day for years. This is nothing less than a medical and therapeutic revolution."

Dr. Lev-Tov added that "This experience opens doors for us to treat a wide range of very serious illnesses such as PTSD, OCD, eating disorders, other addictions, severe depression, severe pain disorders, and I hope we will also be able to reach cognitive areas and treat attention deficit disorders, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and more."

Thanks to Slashdot reader Bruce66423 for sharing the article.
Space

Blue Origin Rocket Exploded Thursday Night During Hot-Fire Test (cbsnews.com) 73

Spaceflight Now shared their video of the explosion, which the Orlando Sentinel describes as showing Blue Origin's rocket "become engulfed in flames. The fireball expands out and covers the entire launch pad as the fuselage of the rocket can be seen crumbling into the flames."

Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos said on X.com "It's too early to know the root cause but we're already working to find it. Very rough day, but we'll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It's worth it." (SpaceX founder Elon Musk posted "Sorry to see this, I hope you recover quickly.")

It's unclear how this will impact future launches. "The rocket was destroyed," reports CBS News, "and as the smoke cleared, there was no sign of the erector-gantry used to move the New Glenn from its hangar to the pad and to raise it from horizontal to vertical. Likewise, one of two tall lightning towers was no longer visible." It was the first such on-pad explosion at the Cape since a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blew up on nearby pad 40 on Sept. 1, 2016... Blue Origin only has one New Glenn pad, the one that was damaged in the Thursday test. The New Glenn, which has launched three times, is a heavy lift rocket designed to compete head-to-head with SpaceX Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. During New Glenn's most recent flight in April, an upper stage malfunction prevented a commercial internet satellite from reaching its planned orbit...

The New Glenn destroyed Thursday was to send 48 Leo internet satellites owned by Amazon into space [which were not on board for the hot-fire test]

Blue Origin posted on X.com that "Debris from our recent hotfire anomaly may wash ashore in the coming days/weeks. If you encounter any debris, do not touch or approach it for your safety."

"Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult..." NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman posted on X.com. "âWe will provide information on any impacts to the Artemis and Moon Base programs as it becomes available."

Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader symbolset for sharing the news.

Comment Re:Polymarket, Kalshi whitewashing (Score 1) 71

The real problem is that given his rank, he would be in a position to hear things sooner than others further down the food chain. Anyone paying attention to who is doing any betting could have (or should have) asked what they might now that would cause them to place the bet they did. In this case, it boils down to an OPSEC violation, and that's illegal under any circumstance, punishable by UCMJ if not actual civilian law. The fact that the FBI are involved tells me that this guy will probably be facing UCMJ violations too (if he's lucky, court martial if he's not), and may not be a Sergeant Major any longer when the dust settles.

Comment Re:Guilty of not being rich already (Score 0) 71

Curious, then, that if such a law was already passed that recently that the likes of Pelosi (and surely other members of both parties) still managed to get around it.
Congress (as a whole) acts as if their shit doesn't stink. It's high time they get reminded that it most certainly does.
User Journal

Journal Journal: Well, That's been a thing. 2

Worked at a company for 15 years. Company was bought and sold a couple times. Most recent owner decided my position (and that of several others) was to be eliminated. Such is life in the world of Mergers and Acquisitions.

Now I'm looking for another job. The tools at my disposal are better, the resources are better, and the personal networks I have built over the years is better. Hopefully I'll be back to work soon.

Comment The real reasons viewership has dropped (Score 1) 152

I can think of four reasons ticket sales have dropped.
  1. Much of what Hollywood has been putting out is crap.
  2. Politicians increase taxes constantly, resulting in less disposable income for potential movie-goers.
  3. Ticket costs increasing - Not much can be done there, theaters do it to compensate for the loss in sales.
  4. Streaming is a thing. Why go to a theater to sit in a sticky, uncomfortable seat when one can wait a little while for the movie to hit $STREAMING_SERVICE and watch it from the comfort of one's own home?

Comment Yea but... (Score 1) 91

will it run off after a rabbit and give you an hour of exercise? Get a real dog people! They clean up all the food you drop. Help you remember countless things, like, what food they can and cannot eat. How much you should feed them. They get you out for walks, see nature, keep your vitamin D dosage up. They help you socialize with other people that have dogs and give you something to talk about instead of awkwardly avoiding politics and just talking about the weather. For bonus points you can get a proper hunting dog and really have fun.

Comment free alternatives do exist (Score 1) 59

Such as freetaxusa. Search around. Turbotax is so lame and overpriced. Rant: we should just have some basic withholding percentage, tariffs, and then a similar basic flat percentage from all corporate revenue. No funny deductions, no net profit games, just revenue almost like a federal sales tax. IMHO if these were some reasonable level it'd be fine, we could then fund the rest on deficit spending (like we're so prone to do anyways.)

Comment Endgame (Score 2) 116

I look forward to the end game where we have no taxes. No corporate taxes. After all they just pass it on to consumers. No income taxes. Just pay for it on import tariffs. Skip that too, why not? We already run a large deficit. All the spending sits on the ever expanding national debt. Now no one has a say except those who sit on massive piles of cash that faces risks of devaluation. Sounds awesome. Even foreign holders of cash/debt. They matter more than the citizens after all. Power to the powerful!! After all, they're already in charge.
Science

Scientists Found a Way To Cool Quantum Computers Using Noise (sciencedaily.com) 7

Slashdot reader alternative_right writes: Quantum computers need extreme cold to work, but the very systems that keep them cold also create noise that can destroy fragile quantum information. Scientists in Sweden have now flipped that problem on its head by building a tiny quantum refrigerator that actually uses noise to drive cooling instead of fighting it. By carefully steering heat at unimaginably small scales, the device can act as a refrigerator, heat engine, or energy amplifier inside quantum circuits.

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