Comment Re:Crime it's not in Houston (Score 1) 87
Sure. It's always easier to criticize, than do.
Comment Timing (Score 1) 190
Is suspiciously suspicious. It's almost like.....it's election time, or something...
Comment Many Many options (Score 4, Informative) 1244
Black Easter by James Blish
A Canticle for Liebowitz by Miller
Non Robot/Foundation Asimov
Dueling Machine Ben Bova
Any of the earlier Pern books
Friday by Heinlein - still one of my favorites
Morgaine books by Cherryh
John Campbell
The collections put together in the 60's and 50's are outstanding - and you can usually pick them up for a quarter at a book store.
A Canticle for Liebowitz by Miller
Non Robot/Foundation Asimov
Dueling Machine Ben Bova
Any of the earlier Pern books
Friday by Heinlein - still one of my favorites
Morgaine books by Cherryh
John Campbell
The collections put together in the 60's and 50's are outstanding - and you can usually pick them up for a quarter at a book store.
Submission + - FTC attorney joins Microsoft (wsj.com) 1
inode_buddha writes: This Wall Street Journal blurb notes that a senior attorney who led several antitrust investigations against Google has been hired by Microsoft. The article is behind a paywall but it does say that his new job will be the same at Microsoft, namely, he will continue fighting on Microsoft's behalf in front of the FTC.
I find it interesting how this was published in a very quiet way, buried behind a paywall right before a weekend.
I find it interesting how this was published in a very quiet way, buried behind a paywall right before a weekend.
Submission + - No, asteroid 2012 DA14 will not hit us next February (discovermagazine.com)
The Bad Astronomer writes: "News is starting to spread about a small 45-meter-wide asteroid called 2012 DA14 that will make a close pass to Earth on February 15, 2013. However, some of these articles are claiming it has "a good chance" of impacting the Earth. This is simply incorrect; the odds of an impact next year are essentially zero. Farther in the future the odds are unclear; another near pass may occur in 2020, but right now the uncertainties in the asteroid's orbit are too large to know much about that. More observations of DA14 are being made, and we should have better information about future encounters soon."
Submission + - Have we lost our Privacy to the Internet? (guardian.co.uk)
An anonymous reader writes: An article in the Guardian, penned by Joss Wright and Tom Chatfield, discusses whether we — as in Internet users in general — are, or indeed are not, giving away way too much information about ourselves to large Corporations that profit handsomely from mining the info. The article talks about how contemporary internet companies — perhaps predictably — are run with a "privacy is dead" motto. It considers what implications having all your private data out on the internet — where it can be seen, searched, shared, retransmitted, perhaps archived forever without your consent — has for the "future of our society" (by which the authors presumably mean the society of the UK). The (rather long) article ends by mentioning that Gmail scans your email, that Facebook apps frequently send your private data right to the app developer, that iPhones are known to log your geographic location, and that some smartphone apps read your address book and messages, then dial home to transmit this info to the company that developed the app.
Submission + - Ralph McQuarrie dies at 82 (digitalspy.com) 1
puddingebola writes: "From the Article on Digital Spy:
"Stars Wars artist Ralph McQuarrie has died aged 82, it has been announced.
The conceptual designer created the look of characters such as Darth Vader, Chewbacca and R2-D2, and helped design sets and scenes for George Lucas.""
"Stars Wars artist Ralph McQuarrie has died aged 82, it has been announced.
The conceptual designer created the look of characters such as Darth Vader, Chewbacca and R2-D2, and helped design sets and scenes for George Lucas.""
Comment If you don't like it, don't buy one (Score 1) 605
I have two, and although they are less sophisticated than the model mentioned in the press release, I will dispose of them because of the lack of thought put into this.
If you don't like it, let them know and specifically, let them know if the marketplace. That will be the only way that they will respond.
Engaging in actuarial quibble will solve nothing.
Comment Re:Simple solution...no more Russian taxis to ISS (Score 1) 451
And throw away a big piece of revenue? Doubtful.............
Submission + - The Scientization of Yucca Mountain (thebulletin.org)
__aaqpaq9254 writes: This is a nice piece by Dawn Stover on how science has had little to do with the choice, and blockage, of Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste repository. This article doesn't go where you think it will; it isn't too long but is a thorough exploration of the process. Here's a quote: "Government officials are often guilty of politicizing science. Egged on by business or religious interests, they cast doubt on the scientific evidence for a connection between tobacco and lung cancer, or between fossil fuels and climate change, or even between humans and our primate ancestors. Some scientific findings are suppressed, while others are manipulated or distorted beyond recognition. But in the case of Yucca Mountain, the reverse happened: Government officials "scientized" politics. They made decisions that were largely political but cloaked them in the garb of science."
Comment Re:I love Slashdot . . . (Score 1) 178
Wow.....I don't even know how to process that. If the Japanese government had invested a hundredth of the energy expended in this thread, we'd all have fusion reactors in our basements......
Comment Re:Crappy, crappy film (Score 1) 225
Yeah, and I truly believe that there are a crowd of people who really really want Harrison Ford to do something that doesn't suck. We keep buying tickets, and it's a surprise when we get oatmeal instead of steak.
Out the last twenty-ish movies, three have been tolerable, none have been great. Before the early 90's, then it was 50/50.....
Cowboys & Aliens
Morning Glory
Extraordinary Measures
Crossing Over
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Firewall
Hollywood Homicide
K-19: The Widowmaker
What Lies Beneath
Random Hearts
Six Days Seven Nights
Air Force One
The Devil's Own
Sabrina
Clear and Present Danger
The Fugitive
Patriot Games
Regarding Henry
Presumed Innocent
and
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Working Girl
Frantic
The Mosquito Coast
Witness
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
Blade Runner
Comment with technology like that..... (Score 2) 185
They might actually hide the location of Osama Bin Laden....oh, wait.....
Submission + - Computer to Marry Texas Couple (nbcdfw.com) 1
cultiv8 writes: "When Miguel Hanson and his fiancee, Diana Wesley, get married on Saturday, a computer program Hanson wrote will serve as the minister. During the wedding, to be held in the Houston home of Hanson's parents, the couple will stand before a 30-inch monitor in the backyard. In a robotic voice, the computer will greet the guests, say how the couple met and go through the ceremony."
Submission + - WD's Terabyte Scorpio Notebook Drive Tested (hothardware.com)
MojoKid writes: "Recently, Western Digital stepped out and announced their new
1TB 9.5mm Scorpio Blue 2.5-inch notebook drive. The announcement was significant in that it's the first drive of this capacity to squeeze that many bits into an industry standard 9.5mm, 2.5" SATA form-factor. To do this, WD drove areal density per platter in their 2.5" platform to 500GB. The Scorpio Blue 1TB drive spins at only 5400RPM but its performance is actually surprising. Since areal density per platter has increased significantly, the drive actually bests some 7200RPM drives."
1TB 9.5mm Scorpio Blue 2.5-inch notebook drive. The announcement was significant in that it's the first drive of this capacity to squeeze that many bits into an industry standard 9.5mm, 2.5" SATA form-factor. To do this, WD drove areal density per platter in their 2.5" platform to 500GB. The Scorpio Blue 1TB drive spins at only 5400RPM but its performance is actually surprising. Since areal density per platter has increased significantly, the drive actually bests some 7200RPM drives."
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