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Comment Re:Picking up pennies in front of bulldozers (Score 4, Interesting) 561

by Wite_Noiz (#27050397) Attached to: The Formula That Killed Wall Street
As someone who works with traders, I'd say that the randomness/unpredictability of the markets is part of the reason *why* traders are so reliant on their models.
Otherwise, it's all just blind gambling (which it isn't far off, anyway).
The advent of full on algo trading means that random events in the market have the ability to wipe out tons of capital because the models predict (e.g.) a global crash when it's just a blip. (Extreme example)

The other part of the problem is that traders are nowadays just glorified clerks in that all (well, 90%+) of the actual calculation and predictive work is done by complex platforms (or Excel), so they don't really care or have exposure to the real risks behind their trading.
Coupled with the huge bonuses they used to get (I'm in London where bonuses are being denied; is it the same elsewhere?) as long as they showed *quantity* of trades, it was always a recipe for disaster.
NASA

Phoenix Mars Lander To Begin Rasping Ice Shavings 80

Posted by CmdrTaco from the can't-wait-to-sand-it dept.
Rob writes with an excerpt from an article at spacefellowship.com: "A powered rasp on the back of the robotic arm scoop of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander is being tested for the first time on Mars in gathering sample shavings of ice. The lander has used its arm in recent days to clear away loose soil from a subsurface layer of hard-frozen material and create a large enough area to use the motorized rasp in a trench informally named 'Snow White.' The Phoenix team prepared commands early Tuesday for beginning a series of tests with the rasp later in the day. Engineers and scientists designed the tests to lead up to, in coming days, delivering a sample of icy soil into one of the lander's laboratory ovens. 'While Phoenix was in development, we added the rasp to the robotic arm design specifically to grind into very hard surface ice,' said Barry Goldstein, Phoenix project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 'This is the exactly the situation we find we are facing on Mars, so we believe we have the right tool for the job. Honeybee Robotics in New York City did a heroic job of designing and delivering the rasp on a very short schedule.'" I still can't get enough of pictures of a little hunk of metal on Mars.
Caldera

SCO's Lawsuit Gets Even Crazier 179

Posted by kdawson from the if-such-were-possible dept.
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "With SCO in Chapter 11 bankruptcy and there being little to read other than status reports and the boring financial details of how the company is wasting its last few dollars, one could be excused for thinking the SCO lawsuits had lost their zip. But things just got a bit more interesting. Jonathan Lee Riches has asked the court to take over. Yes, the man also known as inmate #40948-018 is now bringing his legal experience to the table, having previously filed pro se lawsuits against such entities as Michael Vick, Michael Jordan, Mickey Mantle, the Lincoln Memorial, the Thirteen Tribes of Israel, 'Various Buddhist Monks,' Mein Kampf, Denny's, George W. Bush, the Soviet Gulag Archipelago, Bellevue Hospital, Iran's Evin Prison, Auschwitz, and Plato. In his hand-written pro se motion (PDF), he asks to intervene as Plaintiff pursuant to FRCP 24(a)(2). As best anyone can read the motion, it appears that he offered Novell some 'royalty payments' and they refused them, so he wants to protect his UnixWare rights. He also claims to have proof of SCO's claims, but he wants take over part of the case via FRCP 24 because SCO isn't competent, and allegedly he could do a better job. To be fair, between him and Darl, it's something of a toss-up."

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