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Comment Not necessarily because of Trump (Score 1) 54

This, in my opinion, has less to do with a Trump Presidency and more to do with both houses of Congress being held by the same majority. Where there previously was gridlock, there now is a hope for legislation actually passing at a decent volume. Why spend money on a locked congress getting next to nothing done, wait until there is some ability for action.

That being said, I do also think the content of legislation comes into play as well (tax code, H1-B).

Comment The language isn't the issue (Score 5, Interesting) 300

From what I've seen, the issue in finding developers for these codebases isn't in the language knowledge (i.e. COBOL), it's in the knowledge of the poorly-documented legacy software. Sure, you can get a developer to learn COBOL fairly easily, but when the software is full of dead ends, spaghetti code, and unknown business logic and workflow logic, their knowledge of COBOL won't help. Instead you need to hire someone who knows the system, and was probably complicit in creating this mess, to do anything. Either that or bite the bullet and start a huge replacement project that costs several magnitudes more than exorbitant hourly rates.

Comment How is this currently legal? (Score 4, Insightful) 128

I don't understand how this isn't currently the law. By seizing and searching my cellphone and social media accounts, law enforcement officers are basically searching my property on a server somewhere in the world, and using that to determine whether I have or will commit a crime. Can law enforcement agents go through my home without a warrant if I am trying to pass the borders? What is the difference between my digital and physical property? Regardless, it is doubtful that this bill will pass any time soon given the current state of congress.

Comment Would take a big PR strategy to take off (Score 2) 331

I think lab meat would have a hard time being marketed except to a select amount of people for a very long time. A large portion of people are against GMO food, regardless of it's benefit to the environment or society, regardless of the lack of scientific proof to negative claims. People will gladly, ignorantly, eat things that are "natural" even though they've been bred and scientifically modified over hundreds of years to be something that shouldn't exist naturally on earth. That's pretty much everything in the produce department. Put a labcoat on and make something though, and then you've become some mad scientist bent on ruining the world with your hubris. insert mad scientist laugh here.

Comment Scary stuff (Score 2, Insightful) 279

I have some future oceanfront property in Kansas if anyone is looking. One question I have is: At what point does global warming become so evident that there is no more argument as to whether it is occurring, and the argument becomes what do we do about it? I'm pretty sure we should already be there, but we aren't.

Comment The truth of the accusation... (Score 5, Insightful) 519

As long as Trump's statements build a platform to justify his future actions, whether true or not, he is happy. It doesn't matter if illegal immigrants are actually criminals or not, it only matters that saying it provides Trump with the justification of building a gigantic wall. It doesn't matter whether Obama wiretapped Trump Tower, it only matters that saying it provides Trump with the ability to deflect conversation about Russian ties. This is how an authoritarian government works. They care less about the truth, and more about justifying their actions with a painted visage of half-truths and lies.

Comment Way to early to make assumptions (Score 1) 199

So has there been any research done outside of this JH Jenkins guy and his crew at Purdue? Has this hypothesis been tested and proven elsewhere in this world? I can't find any other publishers: http://tinyurl.com/d4bjfbx (A link to a search of published papers using "Solar Radioactive Decay" as the search criteria. All on-topic papers come from JH Jenkins and crew)
Science

Immaculate Conception In a Boa Constrictor 478

crudmonkey writes "Researchers have discovered a biological shocker: female boa constrictors are capable of giving birth asexually. But the surprise doesn't end there. The study in Biology Letters found that boa babies produced through this asexual reproduction — also known as parthenogenesis — sport a chromosomal oddity that researchers thought was impossible in reptiles. While researchers admit that the female in the study may have been a genetic freak, they say the findings should press researchers to re-think reptile reproduction. Virgin birth among reptiles, especially primitive ones like boas, they argue may be far commoner than ever expected."
PC Games (Games)

EA Shutting Down Video Game Servers Prematurely 341

Spacezilla writes "EA is dropping the bomb on a number of their video game servers, shutting down the online fun for many of their Xbox 360, PC and PlayStation 3 games. Not only is the inclusion of PS3 and Xbox 360 titles odd, the date the games were released is even more surprising. Yes, Madden 07 and 08 are included in the shutdown... but Madden 09 on all consoles as well?"
Mars

Mars Images Reveal Evidence of Ancient Lakes 128

Matt_dk writes "Spectacular satellite images suggest that Mars was warm enough to sustain lakes three billion years ago, a period that was previously thought to be too cold and arid to sustain water on the surface, according to research published today in the journal Geology. Earlier research had suggested that Mars had a warm and wet early history but that between 4 billion and 3.8 billion years ago, before the Hesperian Epoch, the planet lost most of its atmosphere and became cold and dry. In the new study, the researchers analysed detailed images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which is currently circling the red planet, and concluded that there were later episodes where Mars experienced warm and wet periods."

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Is it possible that software is not like anything else, that it is meant to be discarded: that the whole point is to always see it as a soap bubble?

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