Comment Re:Qyatt Earp (Score 1) 13
There have been border skirmishes in 2020 involving dozens of deaths on both side. That might be one reason for it.
Comment Re:Fuck India (Score 0) 23
You don't have a FUCKING clue but still feel the need to mouth off, eh?
India has the third highest Muslim population in the world. Leave the nut jobs aside and, by and large, Indian Muslims will tell you they live better and are safer than they'd be in many Islamic republics.
Muslims in India are allowed to practice their own civil law cos the more extremist elements don't want any part of the national common code: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Muslims in many states (though decidedly not on a national level) have reserved seats for college admissions, jobs AND promotions. Note that they don't have to opt for only the reserved seats. They are welcome to join the general pool as well.: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
At the time of partition, Kashmir was ruled by a Hindu king. Kashmir was NEVER an exclusive Muslim region historically. There was, historically, a sizeable Hindu population in Kashmir, colloquially called Kashmiri Pandits. Some estimates peg the number at 600000 and that has been either wiped out in its entirety or forced into exile by Pakistan-sponsored terror: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
And you think India mistreats its Muslim citizens? Are you just a troll or are you one of those simpletons that buys all this FUD about concentration camps for Muslims? Kashmir has been allowed to boil since Indian Independence because it was convenient for the Indian National Congress party and its policy of 'votebank politics' - basically pandering to Muslim religious heads who clamour for Muslim exclusivity and exceptionalism. It was about time something was done because the state had no economy and was, quite literally, bleeding.
Thankfully some sane action was taken and there is now light at the end of the tunnel.
India has the third highest Muslim population in the world. Leave the nut jobs aside and, by and large, Indian Muslims will tell you they live better and are safer than they'd be in many Islamic republics.
Muslims in India are allowed to practice their own civil law cos the more extremist elements don't want any part of the national common code: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Muslims in many states (though decidedly not on a national level) have reserved seats for college admissions, jobs AND promotions. Note that they don't have to opt for only the reserved seats. They are welcome to join the general pool as well.: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
At the time of partition, Kashmir was ruled by a Hindu king. Kashmir was NEVER an exclusive Muslim region historically. There was, historically, a sizeable Hindu population in Kashmir, colloquially called Kashmiri Pandits. Some estimates peg the number at 600000 and that has been either wiped out in its entirety or forced into exile by Pakistan-sponsored terror: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
And you think India mistreats its Muslim citizens? Are you just a troll or are you one of those simpletons that buys all this FUD about concentration camps for Muslims? Kashmir has been allowed to boil since Indian Independence because it was convenient for the Indian National Congress party and its policy of 'votebank politics' - basically pandering to Muslim religious heads who clamour for Muslim exclusivity and exceptionalism. It was about time something was done because the state had no economy and was, quite literally, bleeding.
Thankfully some sane action was taken and there is now light at the end of the tunnel.
Comment Android One for updates (Score 1) 40
For those of you struggling with a lack of patches/updates, have you considered getting yourselves an Android One phone? That's assuming you are in a position to buy unlocked phones. You are guaranteed updates for two full years and get a relatively bloatware-free experience (except that shoved upon you by Google itself).
Got myself a Nokia 6.1 a couple of years ago which updated itself monthly and to Android 10 right after release. Just bought a Motorola One Action for a relative. Came loaded with Android Pie and it too promptly allowed updation to Android 10 with a minimum of fuss
Got myself a Nokia 6.1 a couple of years ago which updated itself monthly and to Android 10 right after release. Just bought a Motorola One Action for a relative. Came loaded with Android Pie and it too promptly allowed updation to Android 10 with a minimum of fuss
Comment They sound confused (Score 1) 46
ebook reader != Kindle
I've only bought ebooks from Amazon on two occasions. Both times, I tried getting rid of the DRM - calibre+a plugin that I will not name here - failed and returned said books to Amazon (specifying DRM as the reason) for a full refund. Sue me if you think my actions are illegal. I will never buy a Kindle, no matter how shiny those devices get.
My Kobo Clara HD does have an SD card that I have swapped out. There isn't a super-accessible slot but it isn't hard to get to the SD card. I can also upload DRM-free epubs via the USB cable to my heart's content.
So, yeah, I'm struggling to buy into this sell.
I've only bought ebooks from Amazon on two occasions. Both times, I tried getting rid of the DRM - calibre+a plugin that I will not name here - failed and returned said books to Amazon (specifying DRM as the reason) for a full refund. Sue me if you think my actions are illegal. I will never buy a Kindle, no matter how shiny those devices get.
My Kobo Clara HD does have an SD card that I have swapped out. There isn't a super-accessible slot but it isn't hard to get to the SD card. I can also upload DRM-free epubs via the USB cable to my heart's content.
So, yeah, I'm struggling to buy into this sell.
Submission + - Chandrayaan 2, Indian Spacecraft, Enters Moon's Orbit (ctvnews.ca)
William Robinson writes: An unmanned spacecraft, Chandrayaan 2, India launched last month has begun orbiting the moon before it lands on the far side to search for water. The spacecraft is in orbit of 114 km x 18072 km and will continue circling the moon in a tighter orbit until reaching a distance of about 100 km x 30 km from the moon's surface. The lander will then separate from the orbiter and use rocket fuel to brake as it attempts to land in the south polar region of the moon on Sept. 7. The mission is carrying a total of 14 payloads—13 Indian and one passive payload from Nasa—with special focus of the orbiter on mapping craters in the polar region, besides checking for water again.
Submission + - Scientists Are Almost Positive They've Detected a Black Hole Eating Neutron Star (vice.com)
An anonymous reader writes: On Wednesday, a gravitational wave called S190814bv was detected by the U.S.-based Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and its Italian counterpart Virgo. Based on its known properties, scientists think there is a 99% probability that the source of the wave is a black hole that ate a neutron star. In contrast to black hole mergers, neutron star collisions do produce a lot of light. When a gravitational wave from a neutron star crash was detected in 2017, scientists were able to pinpoint bright emissions from the event—called an optical counterpart—in the days that followed the wave detection. This marked the dawn of a technique called “multi-messenger astronomy,” in which scientists use multiple types of signals from space to examine astronomical objects.
Ryan Foley, an astronomer at UC Santa Cruz, was part of the team that tracked down that first optical counterpart, a feat that has not yet been repeated. He and his colleagues are currently scanning the skies with telescopes, searching for any light that might have been radiated by the new suspected merger of a black hole and neutron star. If the team were to pick up light from the event within the coming weeks, they would be witnessing the fallout of a black hole spilling a neutron star’s guts while devouring it. This would provide a rare glimpse of the exotic properties of these extreme astronomical objects and could shed light on everything from subatomic physics to the expansion rate of the universe.
Ryan Foley, an astronomer at UC Santa Cruz, was part of the team that tracked down that first optical counterpart, a feat that has not yet been repeated. He and his colleagues are currently scanning the skies with telescopes, searching for any light that might have been radiated by the new suspected merger of a black hole and neutron star. If the team were to pick up light from the event within the coming weeks, they would be witnessing the fallout of a black hole spilling a neutron star’s guts while devouring it. This would provide a rare glimpse of the exotic properties of these extreme astronomical objects and could shed light on everything from subatomic physics to the expansion rate of the universe.
Comment More ambitious follow-up to 2008 mission (Score 5, Informative) 153
Let me get my 2p in before the inevitable daft clamour for focus on toilets makes its appearance.
Chandrayaan-1, launched, in 2008 was just an orbiter and did its job and did its job well.
The just launched Chandrayaan-2 includes an orbiter, a lander, and a rover.
Well done, India. Will be following this story.
Chandrayaan-1, launched, in 2008 was just an orbiter and did its job and did its job well.
The just launched Chandrayaan-2 includes an orbiter, a lander, and a rover.
Well done, India. Will be following this story.
Comment Re:Oh good... (Score 1) 48
Oh good, India's Nationalists are not only bribing voters but doing so in a way that they can keep can keep an eye on them.
Heaven help their minorities with this kind of nationalist bullshit.
Can the 'Oh the poor Muslim "minorities" are targeted' crap.
This is nothing more than yet another foolish, wasteful election time bribe. This has been going on a long time in Indian politics and is anything but healthy for the country, but I'll thank you not to use that as an excuse to push your silly agenda. Doesn't fit the narrative one bit.
Just search for 'india election freebies' and you'll find that this isn't anything new.
Plenty of jokes going around on this topic too including one where a well known minister gets canned because he continued the usual practice of plastering his supremo's photo on all freebies but didn't think to stop short of doing the same for his free toilets scheme.
Comment Status changed to 'Assigned (Reopened)' (Score 4, Informative) 79
I don't think it's quite panic time yet. While it's true that this was marked 'Won't fix' at one point, the issue has now officially been reopened.
Comment Re:It's working fine here... (Score 4, Informative) 172
Staying in southern India now and haven't had any problems getting to Slashdot. Have tried getting to the site using both Airtel and an ISP called Pioneer which leases bandwidth from all kinds of sources from what I understand.
So either this bit about government censorship is FUD or the government is unbelievably incompetent at the same. I'm thinking the former.
So either this bit about government censorship is FUD or the government is unbelievably incompetent at the same. I'm thinking the former.
Comment Indian pushing nuclear power (Score 1) 335
Interestingly enough, the cabinet cleared a proposal for 10 new nuclear plants just yesterday.
Comment Ghost in the Shell (1995) (Score 2) 1222
Not the recent silly Hollywood version but the original 1995 Mamoru Oshii anime:
GitS
The sequel is pretty darn good too as are the follow up series.
GitS
The sequel is pretty darn good too as are the follow up series.
Comment The world is laughing (Score 0) 2837
At the risk of sounding incredibly trite and pompous, people get the government they deserve
This vote isn't much of a surprise to me coming from the land that voted Dubya in ... twice
This vote isn't much of a surprise to me coming from the land that voted Dubya in
Submission + - EFF Asks FTC To Demand 'Truth In Labeling' For DRM (techdirt.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Interesting move by Cory Doctorow and the EFF in sending some letters to the FTC making a strong case that DRM requires some "truth in labeling" details in order to make sure people know what they're buying. The argument is pretty straightforward (PDF): "The legal force behind DRM makes the issue of advance notice especially pressing. It’s bad enough to when a product is designed to prevent its owner from engaging in lawful, legitimate, desirable conduct — but when the owner is legally prohibited from reconfiguring the product to enable that conduct, it’s vital that they be informed of this restriction before they make a purchase, so that they might make an informed decision. Though many companies sell products with DRM encumbrances, few provide notice of these encumbrances. Of those that do, fewer still enumerate the restrictions in plain, prominent language. Of the few who do so, none mention the ability of the manufacturer to change the rules of the game after the fact, by updating the DRM through non-negotiable updates that remove functionality that was present at the time of purchase." In a separate letter (PDF) from EFF, along with a number of other consumer interest groups, but also content creators like Baen Books, Humble Bundle and McSweeney's, they suggest some ways that a labeling notice might work.
Comment I don't get it (Score 1) 185
Not trivializing the achievement but what's the news here?
The fact that it's the 47th anniversary or the fact that Buzz Aldrin is tweeting about it? I don't see how either is newsworthy.
The fact that it's the 47th anniversary or the fact that Buzz Aldrin is tweeting about it? I don't see how either is newsworthy.
