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Comment Re:How about we taxpayers... (Score 1) 161

Crowd sourcing the government is now a Valid Solution. This is Slashdot.

The tax forms would fill ten 6" binders. I'm not extrapolating. Even if there were only five options to fund, this would be a bad idea. People would only give money to the things they want/think are best, which would never balance out. We don't have direct democracy for similar reasons. Also, people want to get involved with Democracy by applying ridiculously simple solutions that ignore the whole of the issue, and often create new problems.

Comment No. (Score 5, Insightful) 387

I swear to God. This is the premise for a fiction/science fiction novel. If two of the 4 were developing romantic feelings for each other the UK could be sued for copyright infringement by several publishers. I dont...I dont think I'm OK with the world right now. I need a hug. Before that's banned too.

Comment Googloid (Score 5, Funny) 177

I will be plugged into the Google at all times. I will fear no evil for Google will be with me, and will guide me to safety. The Google provides divine inspiration, and is the light of the world. The Google protects. You should be plugged in to the Google. Otherwise you are a lesser bing. All hail the Google.

Comment Re:the difference abouy space war is... (Score 1) 13

One could send up a load of ultra thin, ultra high tensile strength sand bags pack them with broken up asteroids, then strap them in an arrangement around a vessel...

Of course, the higher mass means a higher fuel cost to maneuver, and fuel is heavy and expensive. However, since mass is the main issue, and configurations dont have to be hydro/aerodynamic, spaced armor will be a huge factor. A layer of sturdy ceramic and alloy plates surrounding the vessel meters away from the hull would prevent damage from certain weapons. Assuming direct energy weapons arent used.

A ship could also gain immediate dodge maneuverability with a heavy ballast weight it could quickly pull itself up to/away from along a thin cable or structure. Imagine the main control and fuel storage vessel suspended on cables between two dumb weights containing rocket engines. An incoming energy beam leaves seconds to dodge, and the vessel can yank itself along the cables to change it's immediate position. Or perhaps a third big dumb weight can be maneuvered to block the beam...

Space

Submission + - What would REAL space combat look like? 13

c0mpliant writes: Me and two friends of mine were up until the wee hours of the morning at the weekend debating what REAL space combat would look like. I've spent the days looking it up online from a few sources and there doesn't seem to be any general concensus. So I thought I'd ask a community of peers what they think it would look like. Give our current technology and potential future technology, what shape would any future space battlefield look like? Would capital ships rule the day, cruisers, fighters and bombers or would it be a mix of all?

Comment Re:Ummmm (Score 1) 537

Thanks for a very informative post.

I do recall seeing screens here and there with high resolutions, though high DPI is harder to find. CPU power and GPU power levels have been progressing for quite some time, and it confuses me how much screen resolution seems to lag behind. Seems there was more in the background I wasn't really aware of. I'm still looking forward to higher DPI displays though. Even if tech can only support a 15.5" laptop with a resolution doubling my current 1366x768, it's still a huge improvement.

Comment Re:Finally some screen advancements? (Score 2, Insightful) 537

Well the main purely practical use I see on a tablet PC is crisp clear text for reading. One might also use a tablet like this with technical documents, diagrams, maps. It's also aesthetically pleasing to have everything displayed with seamless clarity.

But what I'm praising is the effort to make better screens in general. A move to high resolution screens on tablets means the infrastructure gets a boost for better screens in laptops and desktops and various other displays. Have you used a 16" laptop with 1080p? Even that is great, but also rare. I got my sister one for graduation, and there weren't many to choose from. I want to see the DPI of this tablet on a 22" monitor for my desktop, and I'd like a decent selection of laptops with high DPI screens.

Space

Submission + - Astronomers Find Supermassive Black Hole Gobbling (motherboard.tv)

pigrabbitbear writes: "It’s no surprise that black holes are basically celestial Cookie Monsters, gobbling anything and everything in sight. But because that appetite includes light itself, it’s incredibly rare for us to actually see a black hole suck back an interstellar treat. Astronomers using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope have found just that: a mysterious, giant gas cloud that’s rapidly been pulled into the maw of a supermassive black hole.

The researchers, led by Reinhard Genzel of the Max-Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany, discovered the cloud as part of a now 20-year ESO program tasked with tracking stars as they whirl around the supermassive black hole, known as Sgr A*, at the center of our galaxy."

Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft can remotly kill purchased apps (pcmag.com)

Meshach writes: The terms of service for Microsoft's newly launched Windows Store allows the seller to remotely kill or remove access to a user's apps for security or legal reasons. The story also notes that MS states purchases are responsible for backing up the data that you store in apps that you acquire via the Windows Store, including content you upload using those apps. If the Windows Store, an app, or any content is changed or discontinued, your data could be deleted or you may not be able to retrieve data you have stored.

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