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Comment "Inhabited" or "Inhabitable?" (Score 4, Insightful) 114

FTA:

He said that the ultimate goal for exoplanet researchers was to find habitable Earth-like and Mars-like planets.
(emphasis added)

While we all crack wise about the bizarro planet of our science fiction dreams, it bears pointing out that the point of the program is ostensibly to find other inhabitable planets--that is, potential sites for future human expansion, rather than other inhabited planets. The difference between the two is not insignificant, and is a nod to the somewhat conservative view that while it may prove impossible to find another planet like the Earth where life has evolved concurrently with our own, it is nevertheless very realistic to search for another planet like the Earth where life could thrive.

Comment Re:Continue to Oppose? (Score 0) 598

The major problem with pesticides, you see, is that they were designed to kill things.

And you make the assumption that every single piece of meat on shelves will be the clone of just one animal. Even if one cow provides 1,000 clones, it is unlikely that you or anybody could be eating the same cow over and over.

Also, nowhere in the summary or in the full article does it say that labelling the meat as being cloned or not would be prohibited, just that it would not be required. So... no fascism here. That was a pretty quick enactment of Godwin's, though.
Security

Time to End Microsoft's Patch Tuesday? 256

buzzardsbay writes "Techtarget's resident security curmudgeon, Dennis Fisher, is calling for an end to Microsoft's monthly security patching cycle. Fisher points out that 'a hacker only needs one unpatched system, one little crack in the fence in order to launch a major attack on a given network. The sheer volume of the patches Microsoft releases each month makes it quite difficult for even the most conscientious IT department to get every patch out to all of the affected systems in a reasonable amount of time.'"
AMD

Submission + - AMD cuts Personal Internet Communicator

DaGiants writes: AMD has killed the Personal Internet Communicator (PIC), one of the first major efforts at designing ultra low-cost PCs for the third world. Ars Technica reports that AMD decided to pull the plug, taking a loss on the project. AMD can't be too dissapointed though, as the OLPC uses AMD's Geode x86 processor, and delivers a lot more for much less. While OLPC gets most of the attention these days, AMD's role in spurring interest in low-cost PCs for developing nations can't be overlooked.

Feed Now We'll Find the WMD (wired.com)

Robert Gates, the president's choice for a new defense secretary, thinks computer viruses are weapons of mass destruction, and could be worse than nuclear and biological weapons. Who do we invade over this? In 27B Stroke 6.


Microsoft

Submission + - Windows Chief Suggests Vista Won't Need Antivirus

LadyDarth writes: "During a telephone conference with reporters yesterday, outgoing Microsoft co-president Jim Allchin, while touting the new security features of Windows Vista, which was released to manufacturing yesterday, told a reporter that the system's new lockdown features are so capable and thorough that he was comfortable with his own seven-year-old son using Vista without antivirus software installed."
Games

Submission + - EarthBound fans take matters into their own hands

Reid Young writes: "EarthBound fans have waited 11 years for Nintendo to release the game's sequel, "Mother 3", which came out in Japan in April 2006. However, following a recent announcement by a Nintendo employee that it almost certainly won't happen, the fans are taking it upon themselves to get the job done by organizing a fan translation with some of the finest names in ROM hacking. Is it ethical? Does Nintendo even care?"
Portables (Apple)

Submission + - Ipod owners not as loyal to brand as Mac owners

Virtual_Raider writes: A survey indicates that iPod owners may not be as loyal to their devices as Mac owners are to their computers, thus opening the possibility for Microsoft's Zune to enter the market. Surveyed people also indicated a high likelyness of buying the much maligned brown device. But that doesn't mean that the market is now at Microsoft's mercy. RTFA for a change!

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