Comment Thanks Rob (Score 1) 1521
I've been a mostly daily reader since '98-99 or so. I don't post or comment much, but I've been with you most of the time. Just want to say thanks.
Submission + - Thunderstorms proven to create antimatter 1
radioweather writes: Scientists using NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have detected beams of antimatter from thunderstorms in the form of positrons hurled into space. Scientists think the antimatter particles were formed in a terrestrial gamma-ray flash (TGF), a brief burst produced inside thunderstorms and shown to be associated with lightning. "These signals are the first direct evidence that thunderstorms make antimatter particle beams," said Michael Briggs, a member of Fermi's Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) team. He presented the findings at a news briefing at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle. As the late, great, Johnny Carson of the Tonight Show used to say, “That is some weird, wild, stuff“.
Submission + - AMD CEO Dirk Meyer resigns (goodgearguide.com.au)
angry tapir writes: "Advanced Micro Devices has announced that Dirk Meyer has resigned from the post of CEO, and that the company is beginning to search for a new chief executive. Meyer resigned in a mutual agreement with the board of directors, and the company has appointed Thomas Seifert, the company's chief financial officer, as the interim CEO. Meyer was installed as CEO in 2008 as a replacement to Hector Ruiz, just as the company was making its way out of rough financial times. In October, AMD posted a third-quarter net loss of US$118 million."
Comment Apple is a business, behaving badly (Score 2) 338
This "Apple is a business" argument is stupid. That's like saying, "The mafia is a business". Yes, it's true. But the argument doesn't address the behavior. As a society, we don't allow mafia type businesses with their murder and extortion. We don't have to allow Apple's closed garden. Business so often means "amoral amassing of profit". Where it could, and to my mind should be, an engine for providing the financing to do good works. Why people think that because an organization is a "business" that they should be free from moral constraints, is beyond me.
Comment Re:Sure you can wear it, but why would you want to (Score 2, Informative) 93
Actually, the material takes dyes very easily. Suzanne's work is dyed and protected from microbial degradation by Kakishiburi which is aged, fermented juice of green persimmons, and a traditional Japanese process.
Comment Re:Screw Skype.. (Score 1) 108
My mom uses Skype to video chat with my aunt in Ecuador, and I'd really like to get her an open source/open protocol alternative. I have my own Linode VPS I could use for SIP, Jingle, or XMPP server, but I don't know a) what server b) what cross platform win/linux/mac clients are skype equivalents in ease of use and video quality. Can someone recommend the awesomest open source Skype alternative? I'd have thought video chat would be built into pidgin and empathy by now, and on every Ubuntu desktop. Also, where are y'all finding these awesome cheap SIP providers?
