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Comment Re:Musk is upset he can't stop Ukraine (Score 1) 44

Musk has directed Starlink to prevent the Ukrainian military from using Starlink to guide Ukrainian drones on reconnaisance and spotting missions. Once Amazon launches its satellite service, Ukraine will be able to use its service instead, and that infuriates Musk.

So you honestly believe that Amazon will have a functioning constellation before the Russia/Ukraine war ends? They don't even have a functioning launch vehicle yet.

Comment Re:This vaccine existed since March! Hurry up! (Score 2) 129

This vaccine development effort has already been far faster than any in history. It's understandable that to further accelerate it would meet some resistance. There's already some backlash from people who feel that these "rushed" are unsafe and are reluctant to take them.

Comment Main problem is with the design of the program (Score 1) 100

Face it, companies (and people) will take advantage of whatever free opportunities are made available. To assume that a company will take the high road and say "I'll leave this for someone who needs it more" is unrealistic. Don't get me wrong, some companies will, but there will always be enough that won't to suck up all available monies.

The program should have been designed to prevent these types of businesses from getting the money. I understand that there was an urgency to get *something* out there quickly, but this is too much money to have such a loosely administered program.

In other words, I blame Congress more than I blame Domio (or Ruth's Chris).

Comment In middle school I tried to collect every Asimov (Score 3, Informative) 145

I loved both his science fiction and his popular science articles. But the guy was just so prolific! By the time he published Opus 200, I was almost half-way there, but he was publishing as fast as my limited budget would let me purchase. And I shamefully admit shoplifting The Sensuous Dirty Old Man from a local bookstore as I was too young (and too embarrassed) to purchase it.

A personal favorite is Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. It was Wikipedia (in a very narrow genre) before the web existed. I would pick it up to check on a specific scientist only to disappear down a chain of linked articles and not emerge until hours later.

A brilliant man.

Comment Re:The inevitable result of "ready, fire, aim" (Score 4, Insightful) 155

The fact that they took half a year to deliver this cluster**** could be an indicator that no true "fix" is possible or that the performance losses of a true fix would have a far worse overall impact than just accepting random reboots.

You're assuming they spent half a year working on a fix. I think it's far more likely that:

2 months were wasted by engineers trying to convince management that the problem really was potentially very serious

2 months waiting for management to try to figure out who to blame and how to make sure it wouldn't reflect negatively on them or impact their departmental budget or personal performance bonuses

1.5 months for PR to come up with the best possible language to make sure they could paint the entire industry as being equally affected, while simultaneously the lawyers tried to find the largest possible scraps of TP to cover their corporate *sses

.5 months working on a fix

Comment Since when has Apple been about bang/buck? (Score 5, Interesting) 535

Depending on which side of the religious divide you occupy, people buy Apple because:

  1. It offers an unparalleled user experience.
  2. They're sheeple/fanboys and have to have it.

You've always been able to get more performance for less money, and yet they still sell. So what's the news here?

Space

Study: Earthlings Not Ready For Alien Encounters, Yet 453

astroengine (1577233) writes "The people of planet Earth would be wise to raise their cosmic consciousness prior to contact with an extraterrestrial civilization, a new study shows. 'The scientific community now accepts to some degree that this contact may occur in the next 50 to 100 years,' said Gabriel De la Torre, a clinical neuropsychologist and human factors specialist at the University of Cádiz in Spain. 'Consequently, we are becoming more concerned about this possibility and its aftermath Certainly the topic of contact with extraterrestrial civilizations raises a number of questions that are not easy to answer. We estimate that this type of event will have not only a social effect, but also on both consciousness and biology as well.' Although we may not have the necessary social skill set to deal with an encounter of the third kind, scientists or astronauts might make the best candidates for the first alien conversation."
Transportation

Nissan Develops a Self-Cleaning Car 94

Hugh Pickens DOT Com (2995471) writes "Nicole Arce reports at Tech Times that engineers at Nissan are using a 'super-hydrophobic' and 'oleophobic' paint finish called Ultra-Ever Dry on the new Nissan Note supermini that can repel water and oils, as well as dirt, dust, mud and grit. The paint uses nanotechnology to create a thin air shield above the surface of the car that makes rain, road spray, frost, sleet and standing water roll off the car without tainting its surface at all. 'By creating a protective layer of air between the paint and environment, it effectively stops standing water and road spray from creating dirty marks on the car's surface,' says Nissan's press release. Nissan says it has no plans of making the special paint job a standard on factory models but it will consider offering the self-cleaning paint as an aftermarket option. Nissan is now attempting to determine if the material is durable for long-term use on vehicles — and if it will hold up in different weather conditions around the globe. The Japanese automaker plans to test its custom technology this summer in Europe, with researchers based in its England technical facility using a Versa Note for testing."

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