Comment Many of you missed and fed the point (Score 0) 376
Most comments totally missed the point - while at the same time feeding it.
Comment Re:Not all regulation is created equal (Score 1) 191
I too get frustrated. I think the thing that seperates people seems to be their level of trust in government and regulatory agencies. Certainly it has been a while since we've seen a good reason to trust them...
It's easy to become paranoid and follow that path to its logical conclusion that all government is bad.
It's also easy for people to be naive and trust that people in government will "do the right thing" (and their thinking for them).
Unfortunately, neither of these is the case...
We're witnessing entropy in its societal form.
Comment Not all regulation is created equal (Score 1) 191
Yes - all the government has is a hammer (regulation).
No - not all hammers are the same.
You're just stating the obvious in a twisted metaphor. Obviously not all regulation is good. It's not all bad/necessary/evil/* either. The debate is (or at least should be) on how to solve the problem, not whether or not to drop the hammer. In keeping with your metaphor - which kind of hammer do you use?
Comment Re:Maybe some help for Asthmatics (Score 1) 223
Why would I buy shares of a company that I "...don't like making money off the hard working backs of all those poor people..."?
I'd buy shares of their competitors if they weren't just as bad...
Do you think that the company who makes Singulair cares about you beyond keeping you alive long enough to extract the maximum amount of money from you that they can?
All they need, is for you to believe their drug is helping and continue buying it. Wether it actually is helping or not offers different pro's and con's for them either way.
Darth Vader Robs Long Island Bank 190
Apparently the destruction of the second Death Star has stretched the Galactic Empire's coffers so thin that Lord Vader himself is robbing banks. From the article: "Impotent Rebel Alliance security forces tell Newsday (paywall) that Vader marched into a Chase bank in Setauket around 11:30 a.m. today. Brandishing a completely unnecessary handgun — as he had the power to choke the oxygen out every teller's throat — the fallen Jedi demanded cash."
Brain Training Games Don't Train Your Brain 151
Stoobalou writes with this excerpt from Thinq.co.uk: "A new study has shown that brain training games do little to exercise the grey matter. Millions of people who have been prodding away at their Nintendo DS portable consoles, smug in the knowledge that they are giving their brains a proper work-out, might have to rethink how they are going to stop the contents of their skulls turning into mush."
Woman Tells State Judiciary Committee, "DoD Implanted A Microchip Inside Me" 222
The Georgia House Judiciary Committee took up a bill that would "prohibit requiring a person to be implanted with a microchip," and would make violating the ban a misdemeanor. Things started to get weird at the hearing when a woman who described herself as a resident of DeKalb County told the committee, "I'm also one of the people in Georgia who has a microchip." Not sure of what she was trying to say, she was allowed to continue and added, "Microchips are like little beepers. Just imagine, if you will, having a beeper in your rectum or genital area, the most sensitive area of your body. And your beeper numbers displayed on billboards throughout the city. All done without your permission." Further prodding revealed that the woman's co-workers would torture her by activating the chips with their cell phones and that the chips were implanted by "researchers with the federal government." The committee thanked the woman for her input, and later approved the bill.
Final Fantasy I and II Are Coming To the iPhone and iPod Touch 142
jonasvdc tips an announcement by Square Enix that Final Fantasy I and Final Fantasy II are being developed for the iPhone and the iPod touch. The graphics and UI have been modified to look and run better on the touchscreen devices, but everything from Cecil to the classic Black Mage is clearly recognizable. The announcement did not include any information on a price or release date.
Minnesota Introduces World's First Carbon Tariff 303
hollywoodb writes "The first carbon tax to reduce the greenhouse gases from imports comes not between two nations, but between two states. Minnesota has passed a measure to stop carbon at its border with North Dakota. To encourage the switch to clean, renewable energy, Minnesota plans to add a carbon fee of between $4 and $34 per ton of carbon dioxide emissions to the cost of coal-fired electricity, to begin in 2012 ... Minnesota has been generally pushing for cleaner power within its borders, but the utility companies that operate in MN have, over the past decades, sited a lot of coal power plants on the relatively cheap and open land of North Dakota, which is preparing a legal battle against Minnesota over the tariff."
PhD Candidate Talks About the Physics of Space Battles 361
darthvader100 writes "Gizmodo has run an article with some predictions on what future space battles will be like. The author brings up several theories on propulsion (and orbits), weapons (explosives, kinetic and laser), and design. Sounds like the ideal shape for spaceships will be spherical, like the one in the Hitchhiker's Guide movie."
Canadian Blood Services Promotes Pseudoscience 219
trianglecat writes "The not-for-profit agency Canadian Blood Services has a section of their website based on the Japanese cultural belief of ketsueki-gata, which claims that a person's blood group determines or predicts their personality type. Disappointing for a self-proclaimed 'science-based' organization. The Ottawa Skeptics, based in the nation's capital, appear to be taking some action."
Slashdot Top Deals
"Falling in love makes smoking pot all day look like the ultimate in restraint." -- Dave Sim, author of Cerebrus.
