Posts by TimeMaster T 480 publicly visible posts • joined 6 Jul 2009
Never underestimate the lengths that stupidity will go to to protect and defend its own stupidity.
The prosecution will try to nail this guy to the wall using every tactic, dirty and otherwise, so that they and the police don't look like total idiots. Which will of course confirm it but that won't help this guy much.
Kudos to this guy for not just rolling over, and good luck to him as well.
I can't help chuckling at this, I wonder how long its going to be before someone cracks the activation scheme?
On a side note, how many buyers are going to want to provide registration info that identifies the specific machine this software is installed on knowing how easy that would be to track down?
Think of how much fun Interpol would have if they ever got that list.
But you have to admit this is a good first step.
First create something that can carry the dead weight of the energy weapon THEN add the energy weapon. They have probably had the gene splices for the Laser for the last ten years, but the fish wasn't strong enough to do more than sit on the bottom of the pool. Expect another anouncment soon.
Now if you'll excuse me I must see about getting my pre-order in for the next version to stock my moat.
Mines the one with the keys to the secret lair in a volcano and the copy of "How to be an Evil super villain"
You have a valid point, only if they had any kind of "life hostile" outlook wouldn't they just nail the planet with some big asteroids and not bother putting the machines in the Larange points in the first place.
And if they just wanted to keep intelligence from arising then could just set it up so the Earth got nailed by a big rock every 65 million years or so to wipe out almost everything but not destroy the planet.
Hang on ...
Current thinking in cosmology is that for the cosmic background radiation to be as uniform as it is the early univese had to have expanded faster than light propogates. Its called "Inflation".
Einsteins equations allow for the fabric of space to expand faster than light, just not for objects to move faster than light relative to their local frame of reference. And Einstein's numbers also allow for an object to travel faster than light IF it isn't moving relative to its space-time location, that is instead of moving the ship you move the bubble of space-time AROUND the ship by expanding space on one side and collapsing it on the other. Look up " Alcubierre drive" for the details.
So, FTL drives are not possible using current tech, but in a thousand years, who knows.
Also, your comment makes the classic assumption that Einstein is 100% correct, which he isn't, since his theory's can't account for gravity at the quantum scale, or things like singularities without some fancy number dancing.
Your right in the following, IF interstellar travel is impractical then the 'Fermi Paradox' ceases to be a paradox. After that you start making assumptions that are just as suspicious as those you criticize.
I can't help but admire the subtle genius of the media companies and governments. As I understand it, if a treaty is put into effect it can require signatories to implement new regulations or even impose binding legal restrictions and behaviors on the treaty signatories, "laws" for all intent and purpose, passed without the public having a chance voice opposition.
So, a population votes down all attempts to make singing opera to pigs illegal. Government secretly gets a "no singing opera to pigs" mandate in a trade treaty and ratifies the treaty. Suddenly it is illegal for the people to sing opera to pigs irregardless of how they voted in the elections because treaties trump national laws.
And all the elected representatives can say "I had nothing to do with it!" when its time for re-election.
Brilliant!!
This is a great way to strip rights and freedoms from people without giving them any kind of opportunity to fight it.
My understanding or treaties may be flawed, and I really hope it is.
Big Bro', cause this is how he's making it happen.
Sorry, I don't rate these people as professionals.
A true pro hit would have been one, two at the most, person(s).
Go in, pattern the target if theres time/need, neutralize target, get out and disappear into the masses with the authorities left clueless.
These pleebs have sparked an international firestorm that has called a great deal of attention on governments and organizations that would rather not have to deal with this kind of scrutiny.
As much as I hate the closed source nature of Flash, not to mention the bandwidth hogging over use of it + all the security holes, Adobe scores major points with me for providing 64 bit Linux versions of the player as part of their regular releases and not as some "oh yeah, we'll get to that" release that lags a version or more behind .
64bit version + NoFlash == happy camper.
Now, I've got to go update Flash on both my 64bit systems :)
How soon do you think it will be before someone starts selling some sort of adapter sleeve thingy that will allow a microSIM to fit properly in a full sized SIM slot?
This is MY idea and if used I must be credited to me, so there! Though a check would be nice too ...
Tux just because I hate MS
Thermite will create a stream of molten iron that would melt its way though a planes guts, like right down into the fuel tank that is in the mid section of a 747. Remember a few years back where a 747 blew up because (officially) of a spark in the middle fuel tank?
Or if could cut through critical electrical/hydraulic lines, or start a fire in the luggage compartment.
What makes thermite grenades so dangerous isn't the bang they make but what the iron stream does on its way down. One grenade, in the right spot, can destroy or disable some really big machines.
All that would bee needed is to know WHERE to ignite it on a plan to do the most damage, at the very least it would likely cause a depressurization of the cabin and might even cause the plan to disintegrate mid air. I know of a few mid air break ups that were caused by failures of the pressure cabin.
Flame, because thermite is HOT!!
this tech will only work on car engines that rely on continuous electronic control of the ignition. Diesel engines don't need any kind of spark/ignition control to operate. Hit a diesel truck with an EMP and you kill the ABS, radio, GPS, airbags, driver's cell phone, etc. but the engine will just keep going as long as it has fuel.
This is an expensive, effectively useless "Star Wars" type toy. Military electronics are hardened to survive EMPs from nukes so this is worthless against that kind of target and once word of its limitations gets out older cars, diesels and surplus military vehicles will become the choice of criminals/terrorists everywhere.
Cheaper to just go with a .50cal, even a shot gun with a good AP sabot round, and a little training where to put the bullet.
If the USA doesn't want the ISS anymore how about they just give the damn thing to the ESA or the UN? That way they don't have to pay for its operation or the cost to decommission it.
I'm only half joking, the USA knows the ISS is a money pit, not that there hasn't been some good science done on it, but because of all the politics, mismanagement, budget cuts and cost over runs it has become a huge white elephant that nobody wants to pay for.
Maybe we should just stuff it full of supplies and fuel for the VASIMR engines that are due to be fitted to the station and send the thing to Mars on a low power orbit. Then when we finally send a mission they won't need to carry as much.
I think some .50 cals or other weapons suitable to an urban fire fight are guaranteed, and probably some others that are overkill for urban conflicts. Like the Israelis really care about non-Israeli casualties.
Good tech though, and I'm glad to see its being developed into something usable.
The Federation in the reboot got its arse handed to it by ONE, count it, ONE Romulan ship from the 24th century and would have done the same to Kirk and the Enterprise had it not been for Nero halting the attack.
And we know from the ST:TNG and "First Contact" that a single Borg cube can turn a fleet of dozens of 24th century Federation ships into scrap without much effort.
Unless they really water down the Borg to a bunch of wimps there is no way they could write a script that I could believe the original Enterprise, crew and Federation could stand up to the Borg. And if they do that the backlash from fans is going to be huge.
How an image is generated is irrelevant to how the viewer perceives an image.
How many males (and females) where sexually excited as teenagers by photos of topless native woman in National Geographic? The photos in NG are not sexual in nature nor where they meant to be sexually exciting but some viewers still considered them sexually exciting. Remember "Porky's"?
Or the Page 3 Girl, those are not sexual in content or context, just a topless buxom baby against a plain background and yet look at how exciting they are to some.
Its =>perception<= of an image, not the context of its creation that matters.
nor is background radiation, a small fraction yes but not much.
All radiation is =>potentially<= harmful, it depends on the amount and type. I would have no issues with working in an area high in beta radiation wearing a basic dust bunny coverall and a face shield because most beta particles can't penetrate a sheet of paper much less my skin. However I would have second thoughts about working in an environment with the same rad levels but of a penetrating radiation like x-rays.
And its pretty lame to insult someone while hiding behind the AC tag. Whats the matter? Afraid they might come after you? Isn't that a little paranoid?
So, your saying its alright for them to arrest a by-stander with a video camera and charge them with a felony? Instead of the officer walking up to aforementioned by-stander with a video camera and saying something to the effect of "I'm sorry, I'm going to have to ask you to stop recording and erase the video you have already recorded to protect the presumed innocence of the person we just arrested. Thank you for your co-operation."
The whole motivation of an Islamic extremist committing a suicide attack is to die a Martyrs Death in a Jihad, that is to die protecting his/her religion. Thats the only way they will go directly to Paradise and get the 72 virgins (or become on if its a she).
In Christianity suicide is the an "unforgivable" sin. Do it and you go straight to Hell, do not pass Go, do not collect 72 Virgins.
Murder is forbidden by the Quran, as it is by the Torah and Bible and just about every other religious text out there. In the case of the Torah, Bible and Quran its spelled out pretty clear by the 4th commandment, you know the one "Thou shalt not kill."
And yes, the Commandments are part of the Quran and Torah as well as the Bible. In fact Islam, Judaism and Christianity share >90% at their foundations, its the ->interpretation<- of the 90% that causes people to think the rest is worth killing/dying for.
I agree with you completely about how explosives should be treated but unless there was already a bomb in this guys luggage the risk was next to nil.
A primary explosive, like dynamite, will go with just a flame/heat/shock.
RDX is a secondary explosive, it needs a primary explosive to create the high velocity detonation wave for it to do anything but burn. You can shoot bullets through C-4 and at most it >might< catch on fire and burn.
Pure RDX is also stable though it is sensive to friction, so if the guys bag had been run over by a steam roller there could have been a problem.
To use your analogy think of RDX as the gun itself, its safe as long as you don't load it.
C-4 is stable, and usable from -57C to +77C. I'm guessing thats what they used since its the most common form of RDX based "plastic explosives" currently in use.
RDX is not a "plastic" explosive in and of itself, it is a white crystalline solid and not at all flexible in its pure forms. It is mixed with various plastisizers to make a "plastic explosive" that can be molded like putty. On its own its very stable to shock and heat but is a little touchy to friction. I would be more worried about a spark detonating the fuel/air mix in the planes fuel tanks than the RDX in a suitcase detonating due to rough handling.
RDX is one of the most stable explosives known, touch a match to it and it burns, no boom. To get it to detonate requires a compound blasting cap, you might get away with a standard cap but big uncertainty if it will work.
Grunts used to take a little glob of C-4 (RDX + plasticizer) and use it as fuel for the field stoves, burned hot and clean. Great for heating up a quick cup of joe.
You would be amazed at how fast management will say that paying for software is "too expensive", no mater how much they charge an hour.
My last boss didn't want to pay a cent to replace the bootlegged copies of MS Office '03 that where on almost every machine in the office, I don't think there was even ONE paid version of Office in the place, and don't get me going on the CAD software. I was trying to do my job as IT manager and get the place compliant and legel but every time I tried it was "too expensive" and there was "no reason too".
The funny thing is while he was saying this they where installing a US$400,000 CNC milling machine in the shop.
The interstate in OK are long and straight, cars tend to be moving at well over the posted limit because they are "quite".
By putting a STATIONARY obstacle in the path of oncoming traffic he put other peoples lives at risk, very careless.
While I agree with other posters that he is should continue, and I would encourage him to do so. But he needs to remember that if he screws up someone else could die if he is not careful, even the Wrights tested in an empty field.
1 High voltage super capacitor, check
1 Van Degraf generator or Tesla coil to charge super cap., check
2 high intensity UV lasers to create ionized pathways in the air, check
1 targeting system, check
THICK wire to put it all together, check
Yep, the tech exists.
Tesla laid out the basics, what he could have done if he had had lasers...
I think its the University of Florida, but I know there is some research being done using modest sized model rockets trailing wire being launched into a cloud. 7 out of 10 times they can bring a bolt down right where they want it. Used to test/evaluate lightning safety ideas.
This raises an excellent point.
If a child is put through one of these scanners the resulting image could be considered child pornorgraphy, and likely would be if a lawsuit was brought by someone. Or if someone had a few of those images on their bedside table along with lube during a police search.
You seriously think a jury would blow a chance to stop the TSA from taking pictures of THEM when they traveled?
And if the Feds say that children would not be scanned then you can bet that they would become the new "mules" to carry stuff past security.
"GPL or other open-source code and commercial software just don't mix."
They can work together very well, as long as the proprietary code is kept separate from the GPL code and they have not made changes to the GPL code.
I can sell a widget that uses Linux for the base OS but has a custom closed app as a binary that makes the widget do something cool. As long as I put a link pointing at kernel.org on the home page for the widget that says "go here for the OS source code, the application itself is not GPLed" I would be in compliance. Not rocket science.
Even commercial closed source embedded OSs keep the app separate from the kernel. You could even have the OS closed but the application code released under the GPL and there would be no problems unless the OS maker is the sort to freak out about people knowing that you use some routine called "taskStart" to start your applications.
IANAL so there may be a little more to it than that , but my point is still valid. You can mix GPL and closed code as long as you follow the rules laid out in the GPL, others have managed to do it so its not impossible.
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