Become a fan of Slashdot on Facebook

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror

Comment Re:duh (Score 1) 70

How would such a door even work... I mean you've got a huge heatsink on one side of the die and the PCB on the other. Such a door would have no room to open and even if you could open it -- the inside of the die isn't hollow -- there'd be nowhere to go even once the door was open.

This all sounds like scifi to me.

[/sarc]

Comment Re:Really cool, application to rockets not so much (Score 3, Interesting) 67

But would it really be non-polluting?

In fracturing its atomic bonds, N6 will likely release most of its energy as heat and we all know that if you heat N2 and O2 enough you end up with all types of oxides including a nasty pollutant called NItric Oxide (NO). I can't see N6 simply disassembling itself neatly into 3(N2) in an oxidative environment such as the earth's atmosphere.

Comment The AI promise? (Score 2) 198

Is this because companies are trying to leverage as much AI as they can these days?

We're told that AI will improve everyone's life and give us all more leisure time -- but I'm getting the impression that "leisure" is equated with "unemployed" by those making the predictions. With AI taking over so many roles that often required a degree I think it will only serve to make the rich richer and the poor poorer, with no trickle-down or benefit to those who can't use it to their own advantage.

Only time will tell I guess.

Comment The two big earners for Fiver... (Score 2) 59

I suspect the two biggest earners for Fiver were app coding and voice actors. Sadly, these are also the two categories on which AI is having the biggest impact.

Why would you hire a voice actor from Fiver when you can use AI to give you an adequately good result for much less?

Likewise app coding.

I suspect that we'll see far more "prompt engineers" offering their vibe-coding and AI-voiceover expertise on Fiver but the prices will have to fall.

Comment Re:Most cities really need this (Score 1) 107

You really need to drive here.

Like most of the US, the population density simply isn't enough for mass transit to be practical.

Buses run every 15-30 minutes on the main grid streets, nominally a mile apart. Most aren't particularly full, and there aren't enough transit police to enforce basic civility, such as the blaring music from multiple speakerphones.

A planned light rail has been replaced with an expansion of the bus line on Maryland parkway.

There are more bike lanes with spacing than there used to be, but there is *no* way I am going back on to the roads with the drivers around here.

Underground tunnels with regular small automated cars would seem to be a possibility, but only if monitored well enough. I have no idea whether it would be financially viable, though.

Comment Re:Most cities really need this (Score 1) 107

oh, no.

It doesn't even *compare* to the uselessness of the Las Vegas monorail and its multiple bankruptcy.

It goes to something like five resorts and the convention center.

Due to the juice that the taxi companies used to have, it was blocked from going anywhere useful, such as the airport.

And the fair for those short hops is something like $9, although only a dollar for locals.

I haven't heard of any extensions of the boring loop in at least a couple of years, though. It will *supposedly* reach the airport and downtown, but I'll believe it when I see it.

And I'm not sure that there's any point in the current form in which it needs drivers in passenger cars. But next to the monorail, it's downright brilliant! [insert eyeball here]

Comment Self-inflicted pain? (Score 4, Interesting) 220

I have several computers in my office but the only one running windows is the one I use for video editing. Everything else runs Linux and has done for over 15 years.

The only reason my video editing rig still runs Windows is because it's just easier than battling a bunch of limitations tied to using Davinci Resolve under Linux. If BlackMagic Design could provide identical capabilities on Linux that Windows machine would be reformatted in the blink of an eye.

To be honest, I hate having to fire up the Windows machine because I'm constantly interrupted by all manner of ridiculous things I don't want or need and I'm constantly nagged to upgrade. If I step away for more than a few minutes I can sometimes come back to find that Windows has decided to download updates or do something else without being asked to do so. With Linux I am in *full* control of my computers -- with Windows, not so much.

Right now I'm considering altering my video editing workflow so that I can finally get rid of the evil that is Windows. Hopefully this will happen sooner rather than later.

Those who still use Windows for stuff like websurfing, word processing, spreadsheets and other day-to-day tasks are suffering a self-inflicted pain. Freedom and relief is just a download away. Do it!

Comment Re:Soon in britain... (Score 4, Insightful) 96

Yep, along with the slogan "Only terrorists and CSAM pervs use VPNs".

Sadly, the UK is just one of the first-world countries using "won't someone think of the children" as an excuse for usurping free access to the internet and freedom of speech. Australia's eSafety commissioner has already set the wheels in motion for very similar legislation there and even New Zealand is now seriously considering following along.

Nothing gets a government more excited than the prospect of suppressing dissent and opposition to their narratives. Censoring and restricting access to the internet is the ultimate tool for doing this. When the government gets to dictate what constitutes "harmful material" and has the ability to suppress that information we then live in a totalitarian state.

Only those with something to hide have anything to fear from freedom of information and freedom of speech. How strange therefore, that so many Western governments are now rushing to implement these restrictions on our freedoms and our privacy.

In the UK they've even set up a special police squad to monitor social media for anyone who might be challenging the government narrative and as we've already seen, they're prepared to let violent offenders out of prison early so as to make room for those who have said "hurty words" on the internet.

The world is going to hell in a handbasket and as an old hippy from the 1970s it appalls me that so many of those who will be so badly affected by this are simply doing nothing to push back. Perhaps governments are buoyed by the way so many so passively accepted the diktats of the pandemic and they've realized that the general population has no fight in them and are simply looking for more shorts on YouTube, more Reels on Facebook and some Marvell movies.

We deserve the government we get I suppose :-(

Comment Re:They were neat, but doomed (Score 1) 40

>Big announcements were made for sub-10kg laptops (22lbs).

I had a backlit Macintosh Portable (actually, I still have it, but it needs recapping). In its carrying case, and with power supply and spare battery, it came to 26 pounds.

Which was the same weight as the desktop Macs of the time.

I actually hurt my shoulder lugging it through an airport once.

I think it was the powerbook 180 that replaced it on which I had a problem with airport security--they wanted to see a C: prompt. I think it was finally a manager that told him to let me through.

Slashdot Top Deals

Them as has, gets.

Working...