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Comment One small issue with USB-C (Score 1) 209

The one quibble I have with USB-C is the pin doesn't seat far enough into a device. It's one thing if the connection is vertical. The pin is sitting in the port. However, when plugged in sidewarys, that itsy bitsy pin now has to bear all the weight of the cable pulling it down.

To me, that seems like stress which doesn't need to be there.

Comment What USB-A precisely? (Score 1) 209

I'm happy that the USB-A is being phased out. Mainly because there are still too many fancy over-beautified USB-A plugs that are (a) large and (b) block neighboring USB ports.

So far, this wasn't a problem with USB-C, since it's too small to be f*cked up by the marketing.

P.S. But I guess it's only matter of time before they find a way to screw over USB-C too. "Progress."

P.P.S. Let's not forget that some companies still insist on using "USB 2.0 Mini" connector. In the past we had to stack Serial<->PS2<->USB adapters for the mice and the keyboards. In future we might need to stack adapters to connect those few remaining USB-Whatever oddballs.

Comment Re:Hmmmm (Score 1) 7

We should also consider the non-zero chance that he was shot by someone not for being too far to the right but rather for not being far enough to the right. Remember there are a lot of MAGA folks who are tripping over each other to see who can be the most extreme; years ago the GOP passed a point where they would have thrown out Reagan for being too far left and now the MAGA party is even further yet to the right.

Comment Strange. (Score 5, Informative) 42

It just so happens that I'm writing a paper on Equatorial Guinea and upon being freed from Spanish rule, some ass declared himself president for life and about 10 years later another ass took over in a coup and guess what replaced the dictator? It was an authoritarian government lead by the ass that took over as a "president" (only the rich and loyal get to vote, not the poors). Equatorial Guinea is one of the largest oil producers in Sub-Saharan Africa and all the money goes to the "president" and his family. Only half the people have access to clean drinking water. It's rated one of the worst countries for freedom, getting a 5 out of 100. For reference, Afghanistan got a 6 out of 100 and North Korea got a 3 out of 100. See also: https://freedomhouse.org/count...

This is actually the same island that they tried to get a deal with Britain to store toxic waste on. The only reason it didn't go through is because Britain's got upset and their government suddenly decided against it. However, the people on the island were merely going to be casualties when the waste invariably leaked into the streams, aquifers, and ocean.

I honestly do not know why they expected anything different from this guy. He basically thinks they are ants to be stepped on.

Comment I think they missed the mark. (Score 4, Insightful) 31

While this is good, the concessions missed the mark because it doesn't enforce any API stability or mandate that the public API be the one that Microsoft uses. As a result, Microsoft's pledge has been made entirely in bad faith. Some things they will likely do is put out a half-assed public API that is technically compatible but keeps out the "Microsoft Exclusive" features that make it useful. Furthermore, they may "update" the API and break everyone's client that isn't use the Microsoft API every six months.

Let's hope this EU commission roasts them when they (invariably) act in bad faith.

Comment You should know better. (Score 4, Interesting) 68

However, in human scales this is unreachable. We need drastic extension of life, or suspended animation, or new physics that would allow for FTL travel.

This is incorrect. The passengers on a spaceship traveling at relativistic velocity will experience time differently. From inside the spaceship, it will seem like everything outside is speeding up but time is relative and compared to the outside, they are slowing down. Therefore, space travel under constant acceleration could enable someone to travel beyond the observable universe in a human lifetime while (depending on your rate of acceleration) billions of years have passed outside the spaceship.

Naturally, an amazing energy source to provide the thrust will be required. Antimatter/matter reactions look like a possible method for at least some distances. I'm not saying it's a solved problem, I'm saying it's not impossible to accomplish in a human lifetime.

Comment Something to aspire to. (Score 1) 68

While it may seem foolish to bother observing far away planets like this due to our lack of ability to reach them, one should remember that humanity has always had seemingly unobtainable goals that we have always dreamed of reaching. Despite the distant nature of our goals, things like this inspire us to expand our capabilities and strive to "reach for the stars".

Despite being mere fantasy for millennia, humanity has made amazing progress to reaching the goals of humanity which seem to be fundamental to human nature as they occur in stories from every culture and society: immortality, building an artificial person, traveling to alien lands. We have made progress toward these goals: our understanding of biology is improving, our technology has progressed to the point where AGI isn't an impossibility, and we've made it to the Moon and sent probes to the edge of our star system.

Humanity will not reach the new planets we find in our lifetimes (we're still working on Mars!) but unless humans are drastically altered or go extinct, we will continue to chip away at "the impossible" until we've actually managed to accomplished it.

Comment Re:Don't be so doomsday (Score 1) 7

Just stand back and watch 'em take each other out.

There is a long list of times during this - and the previous - Trump Administration when it seemed clear that would happen. We thought they finally got to the point where they wouldn't be able to stand each other and they would annihilate their own. Never before did it happen; indeed they only rallied harder each time and came out stronger.

Now they have a new martyr. Any time anyone doesn't toe the MAGA line they will be accused of leading towards "another Charlie Kirk". In fact they could have hardly asked for a better event, as they can use it to also brush any other gun violence crime under the rug as well.

Say goodbye to democracy. Charlie Kirk managed to do exactly what he wanted - he killed it. He wasn't wise enough to realize it would take his own blood to take it down, but it is dead and buried now. The new Single Party State rises up now, and by the end of next month it will be illegal to be a democrat.

Right now is a good time to invest in your exit strategy if you don't align yourself 110% with the MAGA party.

Comment Re:Non sequitur. (Score 1) 201

then that needs to start now and with enthusiasm.

I'm glad you acknowledge that it's entirely possible. However, the cart does not go before the horse.

Then enlighten me. Show some sources.

I listed exactly what you need to look up. Do you expect to be spoon fed as well?

I'm finding it difficult to believe that getting off fossil fuels is taken seriously so long as...

The point is to reduce emissions as much as possible. This isn't an all or nothing proposition. To that end, it doesn't matter if BEVs are all charged on 100% coal, the result is still less pollution than ICEVs. You may find it hard to believe but it was right here on Slashdot. As long as we switch to BEV then the amount of pollution they generate can always be reduced by replacing polluting electrical generation. BEVs simply pollute less and that's the idea, to pollute less. There is no reason that we must solve the entire problem all at once when it can be broken down into smaller pieces.

You clearly need to learn that perfect is the enemy of good.

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