Comment 3rd Hand Smoke (Score 1) 490
This was new to me as well.
http://lungcancer.about.com/od/Lung-Cancer-And-Smoking/a/Third-Hand-Smoke.htm
NASA Tests Flying Airbag 118
coondoggie writes "NASA is looking to reduce the deadly impact of helicopter crashes on their pilots and passengers with what the agency calls a high-tech honeycomb airbag known as a deployable energy absorber. So in order to test out its technology NASA dropped a small helicopter from a height of 35 feet to see whether its deployable energy absorber, made up of an expandable honeycomb cushion, could handle the stress. The test crash hit the ground at about 54MPH at a 33 degree angle, what NASA called a relatively severe helicopter crash."
Comment Re:seriously? (Score 1) 550
There is an access road to each tower (dirt trail) that has to be considered, but otherwise you can farm right around them. They must be spaced apart, and there's no reason not to use the land in between as farm ground.
Depression May Provide Cognitive Advantages 512
Hugh Pickens writes "Paul W. Andrews and J. Anderson Thomson, Jr. argue in Scientific American that although depression is considered a mental disorder, depression may in fact be a mental adaptation which provides real benefits. This is not to say that depression is not a problem. Depressed people often have trouble performing everyday activities, they can't concentrate on their work, they tend to socially isolate themselves, they are lethargic, and they often lose the ability to take pleasure from such activities such as eating and sex. So what could be so useful about depression? 'Depressed people often think intensely about their problems,' write the authors. 'These thoughts are called ruminations; they are persistent and depressed people have difficulty thinking about anything else. Numerous studies have also shown that this thinking style is often highly analytical. They dwell on a complex problem, breaking it down into smaller components, which are considered one at a time.' Various studies have found that people in depressed mood states are better at solving social dilemmas and there is evidence that people who get more depressed while they are working on complex problems in an intelligence test tend to score higher on the test (PDF). 'When one considers all the evidence, depression seems less like a disorder where the brain is operating in a haphazard way, or malfunctioning. Instead, depression seems more like the vertebrate eye — an intricate, highly organized piece of machinery that performs a specific function.'"
Comment Re:Beware of namechanges (Score 1) 629
I heard a commercial on the radio a while back here in the USA that said BP stood for "Better Petroleum". Probably just a marketing spin, but I laughed.
Comment Re:Pleo? Ugobe? (Score 1) 79
I believe there are many in this community that are willing to spend $200 on a toy. If I were to purchase a new video card for ~$200 to play games on my computer, I would consider that a toy. All the current generation gaming consoles are also in that range or above. Some may not consider them toys, but I do.. and so does dictionary.com
Comment Re:great (Score 1) 257
I often said my Calc teacher in college spoke 7 languages, but not a damn one of them was english.
Comment Re:Confusion (Score 1) 334
Don't get my wrong, I love my TiVo box, but TiVo isn't prompt with keeping up with listings changes. I own 2 units and everytime my cable provider has added/removed or shuffled channels, I have to enter a ticket. It takes about a week after the ticket is entered for it to be updated.
So while I agree that this isn't going to eliminate confusion, I have no sympathy for any hardship bestowed on TiVo's update department.
Comment Re:Ex-Gateway customer. (Score 1) 137
We left Gateway 3 years ago. We felt this coming, and wanted to get out before our warranties were up. We got close.
We went to Dell for a year.. then they jacked up prices. We've been buying dc5750's for 2 years. Now are moving to dc5850's. The dc5750 has been pretty solid, so far HP has been good to us. It's been nice to have a model last so long.
Store Says DRM Causes 3 of 4 Support Calls 155
Carter writes "Ars Technica is reporting that Musicload, one of Europe's largest movie stores, has found that 75% of its customer support problems are caused by DRM. Users have frequent problems using the music that they have purchased, which has led Musicload to try selling independent label music without DRM. Artists choosing to abandon DRM in favor of good old-fashioned MP3 have seen 40% growth in sales since December. Good to see someone in the business both 'gets it' and is willing to do something about it."
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