[QUOTE=ewmayer;412047]Random Amazon side-track fun find:

While looking for something (locking-ring drill depth stop) in AMZN hardware, this popped up in my search - that's some sale discount - pre-owned by Sauron the dark lord, mayhap?

[url=http://www.amazon.com/Titanium-Polish-Brush-Finish-Wedding/dp/B00CLTP0EY/ref=pd_sbs_197_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=121R8HZA5BYKQ12ZMAQQ]Men's Titanium 8MM Flat High Polish/Brush Finish Wedding Band Ring w/ FREE gift box (Sizes 7 to 13.5)[/url]

Also available in Tungsten carbide!

These remind me of the stainless steel (?) wedding band Ed Harris's character sports in [i]The Abyss[/i], the one he pulls off in a fit a pique at his ex-wife and tosses into the nearest chem-blue porta-toilet, only to regret it, retrieve the ring (which leaves his retrieving arm dyed blue up to the bicep for the rest of the movie) and have it end up saving his life later on.[/QUOTE]

I have a similar wedding band (also tungsten carbide) to replace my platinum one that I managed to crack in half at the point of some engraving. I can bang my tungsten carbide ring around all day long and never do any damage to it. Highly recommended at $30. :smile:

[QUOTE=wombatman;412351]I have a similar wedding band (also tungsten carbide) to replace my platinum one that I managed to crack in half at the point of some engraving. I can bang my tungsten carbide ring around all day long and never do any damage to it. Highly recommended at $30. :smile:[/QUOTE]

But what do you use to engrave it?

Honestly, I have no idea. But it came with an engraving done on it in the style of a Celtic knot type of thing. Goes all the around the band. My guess would be some kind of laser etching.

Fake edit: And a quick google search confirms my guess: [url]http://www.tungstenworld.com/Tungsten-Wedding-Bands/Can-Tungsten-Be-Engraved/[/url] :smile:

[QUOTE=wombatman;412357]Honestly, I have no idea. But it came with an engraving done on it in the style of a Celtic knot type of thing. Goes all the around the band. My guess would be some kind of laser etching.

Fake edit: And a quick google search confirms my guess: [URL]http://www.tungstenworld.com/Tungsten-Wedding-Bands/Can-Tungsten-Be-Engraved/[/URL] :smile:[/QUOTE]

That does make sense. Thanks!
Now excuse me whilst I go shoot up some insulin, thanks to visiting that site. :smile:

[url]http://theweek.com/speedreads/582366/va-spent-63-million-fountains-statues[/url]

[QUOTE]Congressional review of the spending habits of the embattled Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reveals the agency has spent some $6.3 million on fountains and sculptures for its facilities, primarily at two locations in California.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;412402][url]http://theweek.com/speedreads/582366/va-spent-63-million-fountains-statues[/url][/QUOTE]

$800 hammers are so last century...

Would you consider that money better or worse-spent than the [url=http://nypost.com/2015/09/18/team-obama-has-spent-500m-to-train-four-or-five-syrian-rebels/]$500 million the administration spent to train '4 or 5' "moderate" Syrian rebels[/url], who surrendered instantly at the first contact with the rather-less-moderate rebels (who happen to be supported by the US's 'allies')?

No worries though - owning the world's dominant reserve currency means we can always print more and thus effectively force our major trading partners (the ones we run persistent trade deficits with) to subsidize our excesses. Who said TANSTAAFL?

[QUOTE=ewmayer;412420]$800 hammers are so last century...
.....Who said TANSTAAFL?[/QUOTE]

[URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_ain%27t_no_such_thing_as_a_free_lunch"]The phrase[/URL] and the acronym are central to [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Heinlein"]Robert Heinlein[/URL]'s 1966 [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fiction"]science-fiction[/URL] novel [I][URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moon_Is_a_Harsh_Mistress"]The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress[/URL][/I], which helped popularize it.

[url]http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2015/1011/10-US-cities-ask-Columbus-Day-or-Indigenous-Peoples-Day[/url]

[QUOTE]For decades, Native Americans have urged states that celebrate the federal holiday to reconsider honoring a man many historians accuse of opening the Americas to enslavement, genocide, and cultural destruction – and “finding” the wrong continent, to boot.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;412458][URL]http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2015/1011/10-US-cities-ask-Columbus-Day-or-Indigenous-Peoples-Day[/URL][/QUOTE]

Political Correctness be d*mned, Columbus is more hero than villain. Perhaps, however,
putting a famous native-American woman on our dollar coinage, and a male image on
our old-style nickels, wasn't enough; we could celebrate the discovery of America as a
projection of our potential future united. Both Columbus AND Indigenous Peoples Day.
My suggestion: call October 12 "Origins Day." and let it be like Thanksgiving.
We did combine Lincoln's and Washington's birthdays into Presidents Day.

[QUOTE]Columbus is more hero than villain.[/QUOTE]

Please support this statement. There are records by Columbus himself which might belie it.

Also, explain the differences between ethical behavior and "political correctness."

[QUOTE=kladner;412503]Please support this statement. There are records by Columbus himself which might belie it.
Also, explain the differences between ethical behavior and "political correctness."[/QUOTE]

You're making me work too hard...

[quote] Who said TANSTAAFL?[/quote]

I think it's a motto of Classical Liberal economics.
And very valid as a principle.

The Real Christopher Columbus -Howard Zinn
 

[B]There was no heroic adventure, only bloodshed. [COLOR=Red][URL="https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/10/the-real-christopher-columbus/"]Columbus Day[/URL][/COLOR] should not be a celebration.[/B]



[QUOTE]Arawak men and women, naked, tawny, and full of wonder, emerged from their villages onto the island’s beaches and swam out to get a closer look at the strange big boat. When Columbus and his sailors came ashore, carrying swords, the Arawaks ran to greet them, brought them food, water, gifts. He later wrote of this in his log: [INDENT]They brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks’ bells. They willingly traded everything they owned. . . They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They would make fine servants . . . with fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.
[/INDENT][/QUOTE]
And this is only the beginning. Wait till you get to the part about chopping off the hands of indigenous people who did not bring in enough gold.

New York woman sues 12-year-old nephew over hug that broke her wrist
 

[QUOTE]A Manhattan human resources manager is [URL="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/oct/13/woman-sues-11-year-old-nephew-hug-broke-wrist"]suing her 12-year-old nephew[/URL] for leaping into her arms when he welcomed her to his eighth birthday party.[/QUOTE][QUOTE]Of the damage done, Connell testified that she did not complain at the time, but she said her life had been “very difficult” since the injury because of “how crowded it is in Manhattan”.


“I was at a party recently, and it was difficult to hold my hors d’oeuvre plate,” she reportedly said.[/QUOTE]So, four years later she is suing a twelve-year-old for something he did when he was barely eight. If she wins anything, I sure hope it makes up for her difficulty holding her hors d’oeuvre plate. She just dumped a load of guilt and confusion on a kid for being "unreasonably" excited and affectionate on his eighth birthday.

[url]http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/10/how-soviets-used-ibm-selectric-keyloggers-to-spy-on-us-diplomats/[/url]

There is a new paper out hypothesizing that the NSA has the ability to crack most current implementations of Diffie-Hellman key exchange.

[url]https://freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/haldermanheninger/how-is-nsa-breaking-so-much-crypto/[/url]

[QUOTE=Dubslow;412813]There is a new paper out hypothesizing that the NSA has the ability to crack most current implementations of Diffie-Hellman key exchange.

[url]https://freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/haldermanheninger/how-is-nsa-breaking-so-much-crypto/[/url][/QUOTE]
So at the same time that it's ok for the gummint to break encryption it is wrong for researchers to even look at unencrypted code.
[URL="http://www.wired.com/2015/09/epa-opposes-rules-couldve-exposed-vws-cheating/"]The EPA Opposes Rules That Could’ve Exposed VW’s Cheating[/URL]

[url]http://codegolf.stackexchange.com/[/url]

[QUOTE=Dubslow;412813]There is a new paper out hypothesizing that the NSA has the ability to crack most current implementations of Diffie-Hellman key exchange.

[URL]https://freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/haldermanheninger/how-is-nsa-breaking-so-much-crypto/[/URL][/QUOTE]

Some of the comments are really illuminating, as is the article. Thanks. :smile:

I don't know, Timmy, being God is a big responsibility
 

[url]http://qntm.org/responsibility[/url]

[QUOTE][their computer] could execute an infinite loop in less than ten seconds.[/QUOTE]Haha, brilliant, thanks for the link, I will put a variation of this to be my new motto.

Rockers who died at 27
 

[URL="http://ultimateclassicrock.com/rockers-who-died-at-age-27/#photogallery-1=1"]27 rockers[/URL], no less.
I dispute that Kurt Cobain's death (as stated in the blurb about same) brought this phenomenon to light. Some of us had noticed before then. :sad:

[QUOTE=kladner;412973][URL="http://ultimateclassicrock.com/rockers-who-died-at-age-27/#photogallery-1=1"]27 rockers[/URL], no less.
I dispute that Kurt Cobain's death (as stated in the blurb about same) brought this phenomenon to light. Some of us had noticed before then. :sad:[/QUOTE]

Surprised to not see any Spinal Tap drummers in the [strike]clickbait-o-rama[/strike] list. Were there at least any members of the "27 club" who died in bizarre gardening accidents, of the kind the police would prefer to 'leave unsolved'?

Was George W. Bush President On 9/11? [URL="http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2015/10/17/3713554/guide-to-whether-george-w-bush-was-president-on-911/"]An Investigation Into The Controversy Tearing The GOP Apart[/URL]

[QUOTE]On Friday, Donald Trump generated substantial controversy when he asserted that George W. Bush was president at the time of the 9/11 attacks.


“When you talk about George Bush, I mean, say what you want, the World Trade Center came down during his time,” Trump said. “[URL="http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/videos/2015-10-16/donald-trump-on-yellen-clinton-sanders-and-taxes"]He was president, O.K.?[/URL]”


Jeb Bush immediately pushed back, calling Trump’s comments “[URL="https://twitter.com/JebBush/status/655098096649707520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"]pathetic[/URL]” and insisting “my brother kept us safe.”


The media jumped on to the burgeoning controversy. According to The New York Times the idea that Bush was president on 9/11 and failed to stop the attack is a “break from the GOP.”
[INDENT] In a break with the GOP, Donald Trump suggests George Bush failed to stop 9/11 attacks [URL]http://t.co/Y8RtgtaKBu[/URL] [URL="http://t.co/kd6m0ZoRUZ"]pic.twitter.com/kd6m0ZoRUZ[/URL]
— The New York Times (@nytimes) [URL="https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/655192776833912832"]October 17, 2015[/URL]
[/INDENT]Was George W. Bush president on September 11, 2001? It’s time to settle this once and for all.
[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=ewmayer;412976]Surprised to not see any Spinal Tap drummers in the [strike]clickbait-o-rama[/strike] list. Were there at least any members of the "27 club" who died in bizarre gardening accidents, of the kind the police would prefer to 'leave unsolved'?[/QUOTE]Or, indeed, any who drowned in someone else's vomit.

[URL="http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/10/17/yellow_bellied_sea_snake_discovered_in_california_thanks_to_el_nino.html"]"Dangerously Venomous” Yellow-Bellied Sea Snake Sighting in California[/URL]
[QUOTE]The sea snake sighting is particularly rare because yellow-bellied sea snakes typically live in warmer, tropical waters. It’s not totally clear what brought the snake to southern California, but naturalists suspect El Niño is causing ocean surface temperatures to rise in the Pacific. And voilà. Everyone out of the water. The last time one was seen in California was 30 years ago, also in an El Niño year.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]The yellow-bellied sea snake typically lives out its entire life in the ocean subsisting on small fish and eels. It can also dive and stay under water for three hours. And, fun fact, it can do this: “In order to remove foreign items from its body such as algae, barnacles, or other growths acquired by a life at sea, this snake ties a knot in its body and runs the knot from one end of the body to the other, cleaning the skin in the process.”[/QUOTE]

[URL="http://qz.com/527008/an-algorithm-can-predict-human-behavior-better-than-humans/?utm_source=YPL"]An algorithm can predict human behavior better than humans[/URL]

[QUOTE]You might presume, or at least hope, that humans are better at understanding fellow humans than machines are. But a new MIT study suggests an algorithm can predict someone’s behavior faster and more reliably than humans can.[/QUOTE]

[url]http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/10/breaking-512-bit-rsa-with-amazon-ec2-is-a-cinch-so-why-all-the-weak-keys/[/url]

[QUOTE=xilman;412998]Or, indeed, any who drowned in someone else's vomit.[/QUOTE]
Sorry if this was stated already, but I really want that cd they mentioned in the Hackers movie, of songs written and sung by people who would later drown in their own vomit.

Off-topic:It used to be that history was written by the winners, but with Amazon Kindle, anybody can write a book and publish it. You can be a winner, a loser, alien from another planet, persecuted by the FBI with mind waves, literally anything.

[QUOTE=science_man_88;413033][URL="http://qz.com/527008/an-algorithm-can-predict-human-behavior-better-than-humans/?utm_source=YPL"]An algorithm can predict human behavior better than humans[/URL][/QUOTE]
I read that book, it's a minor classic. Forget the name of the book, but Isaac Asimov wrote it.

Not to spoil it, but the algorithm was just a bunch of psychologists trying to fix societal ills.

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;413153][url]http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/10/breaking-512-bit-rsa-with-amazon-ec2-is-a-cinch-so-why-all-the-weak-keys/[/url][/QUOTE]
Sorry for the triple post, I tend to respond to a bunch of stuff all at once, but...

I only ask this question because anyone with government clearance knows I'm too poor to be able to afford to do something like this, but how hard would it be to anonymously buy a high speed connection and attach a Linux box to it for the sole purpose of donating bandwidth to the torrenting community?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
off-topic:With the addition of the x.265 standard to the online community, it's dead easy to download decent looking video on any connection. BluRays are a bad joke once you realize you need less than a dollar's worth of spindle drive space to store almost perfect looking video.(spindle drives refers to what flash drives are slowly replacing)

I'm still shocked at how Hollywood is fighting the copyright war by strongarming people with lawsuits and FBI warnings that are only seen by people who buy their stuff legally. Don't they know Americans will live up or down to any standards you set for them? If they label us as criminals, then far be it from me to prove the Almighty Hollywood wrong.

I'm still waiting for the totally online version of the BBC player with either commercials or the same fee(tax) applied to Brits. Maybe they're into name-calling too, but I haven't seen it.

[QUOTE=jasong;413364]I read that book, it's a minor classic. Forget the name of the book, but Isaac Asimov wrote it.
Not to spoil it, but the algorithm was just a bunch of psychologists trying to fix societal ills.[/QUOTE]
"The End of Eternity"? one of my favorites, ever.

[QUOTE=jasong;413367]Don't they know Americans will live up or down to any standards you set for them?[/QUOTE]
Unfortunately, not only Americans...

[QUOTE=LaurV;413414]"The End of Eternity"? one of my favorites, ever.[/QUOTE]

I think he's referring to the Foundation series, specifically psychohistory and the First Foundation. There are some similarities, though.

[url]http://arstechnica.com/science/2015/10/newly-discovered-1950s-film-shows-idaho-fish-and-games-parachuting-beavers/[/url]

Transitional forms of evolution, zombie style
 

[url]https://youtu.be/X9eunP3KpZQ?t=2m[/url]

US Congressman subpoenas NOAA climate scientists over study
 

[URL="http://arstechnica.com/science/2015/10/us-congressman-subpoenas-noaa-climate-scientists-over-study/"]Idiocy continues apace in Congress Critter Land:[/URL]

[QUOTE]In his position as Chair of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, Texas Congressman Lamar Smith has spent much of the last few years [URL="http://arstechnica.com/science/2014/05/research-funding-bill-made-less-awful-but-still-guts-social-sciences/"]pressuring[/URL] the National Science Foundation to ensure that it only funds science he thinks is worthwhile and “in the national interest.” His views on what's in the national interest may not include the earth sciences, as Smith rejects the conclusions of climate science—as we saw first hand when [URL="http://arstechnica.com/science/2015/07/i-rejoice-that-it-is-warm-ars-attends-a-climate-contrarian-conference/"]we saw him speak[/URL] at the Heartland Institute’s climate “skeptic” conference earlier this year.

So when National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists published an update to the agency’s global surface temperature dataset that slightly increased the short-term warming trend since 1998, Rep. Smith was suspicious. The armada of contrarian blog posts that quickly alleged fraud may have stoked these suspicions. But since, again, he's the chair of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, Rep. Smith was able to take action. He's sent a series of requests to NOAA, which [URL="http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/rep_smith_noaa_letters.pdf"]Ars obtained from Committee staff[/URL].
[/QUOTE]

[url]https://www.cs.drexel.edu/~bls96/museum/cardiac.html[/url]

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;413956][URL]https://www.cs.drexel.edu/~bls96/museum/cardiac.html[/URL][/QUOTE]

This jogs a memory. In the middle 60's my dad got us a Christmas present called the [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digi-Comp_I"]Digicomp[/URL]. I admit I found it somewhat confusing. It was the first version, which was programmable with plastic straw segments, which you put on different pegs.

[url]https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/3qkaoy/what_do_prime_numbers_and_stoners_have_in_common[/url]

[QUOTE=ixfd64;414108][url]https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/3qkaoy/what_do_prime_numbers_and_stoners_have_in_common[/url][/QUOTE]
I knew someone that was, once, local max in multiple bases simultaneously.

[url]https://twitter.com/stephenjudkins/status/608497149047771137[/url]

Laser strike said to give ferry pilot 3rd degree burns on his eyelid
 

[B][URL="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/10/laser-strike-said-to-give-ferry-pilot-3rd-degree-burns-on-his-eyelid/"][SIZE=3]Suspect "said it was a new toy" and he was aiming at the water, not the vessel.[/SIZE][/URL][/B]

Does anyone have an idea of the power level such a laser would have?

[QUOTE]

"Laser strikes" have been a known hazard for airline and helicopter pilots [URL="http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/10/laser-strikes-against-airplanes-now-an-epidemic-says-fbi/"]for years now[/URL], and errant users of high-powered laser pointers are increasingly being [URL="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/03/california-man-who-lasered-two-helicopters-to-face-14-years-behind-bars/"]prosecuted[/URL].


The newest pilots to be hit by such a laser were not in the air but at sea. Washington State Ferry officials [URL="http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Two-Washington-State-Ferry-captains-injured-by-laser-strike-338134192.html"]told Seattle's KOMO TV station[/URL] that two men in their twenties pointed a blue laser at the Tokitae ferry as it approached the Clinton Ferry Terminal on Whidbey Island, about 30 miles north of Seattle.


The two captains were in separate wheelhouses, at opposite ends of the 350-foot ship, when they were hit. The chief mate, who was piloting the vessel at the time, was struck first.
[/QUOTE]

Mr. Awesome sits in the office next to me
 

[url]http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/meet-saskatchewans-mr-and-mrs-awesome-and-yes-that-is-legally-their-last-name[/url]

[QUOTE=petrw1;414244][URL]http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/meet-saskatchewans-mr-and-mrs-awesome-and-yes-that-is-legally-their-last-name[/URL][/QUOTE]

Is awesomeness detectable as intense luminance, radiance, etc.? Do co-workers have to put welding shields in the hallway? :razz:

At least 27 people thought to have died with another 180 injured
 

It keeps on happening:[URL="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/30/dozens-killed-explosion-bucharest-nightclub"] Pyrotechnics Set Nightclub on Fire[/URL]

This time it is in Bucharest.

[QUOTE=kladner;414386]This time it is in Bucharest.[/QUOTE]
Grrr...
Playing the devil advocate, "they are too many, some need to die"...
Or "the mother of all the idiots is always pregnant"...
We say also "a wonderful country; pity, is populated".

Feeling sorry for the people there, and wondering what consequences this will have, for the owners, and for the "industry". One door only? No fire safety? What was going on there? Most probably, nothing will happen to the owners, probably some high officials already, or some mafia guys (it may be intentional!) and some negative consequences for the industry (like some absurd requirements which may push some competition out of business, it happened in the past).

Just to remember, it happens all over-
[QUOTE]Several major nightclub fires have been blamed on pyrotechnics igniting foam used for soundproofing, including The Station nightclub fire in the US that killed 100 people in West Warwick, Rhode Island, in 2003 and the [URL="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jan/27/brazil-nightclub-blaze-high-death-toll"]Kiss nightclub fire in Brazil[/URL], which killed 242 people in the university town of Santa Maria in 2013.[/QUOTE]

It also reminds me of a Chicago columnist writing about people being trampled to death at rock concerts, and at open air papal masses. Royko's headline was something like "The Who, 16; Pope, 76." (Numbers are pulled out of air, but the pope scored much higher in a South American debacle.)

Then, there was [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocoanut_Grove_fire"]Coconut Grove[/URL]. :sad: "...killing 492 people (which was 32 more than the building's authorized capacity) and injuring hundreds more."

[QUOTE=kladner;414397]Just to remember, it happens all over- [...][/QUOTE]
It happened here in NL too, nearly 15 years ago, [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volendam_New_Year's_fire"]in Volendam[/URL]. What's happened in Bucharest seems quite similar to that disaster. It's a terrible tragedy.

[QUOTE=kladner;414242][B][URL="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/10/laser-strike-said-to-give-ferry-pilot-3rd-degree-burns-on-his-eyelid/"][SIZE=3]Suspect "said it was a new toy" and he was aiming at the water, not the vessel.[/SIZE][/URL][/B]

Does anyone have an idea of the power level such a laser would have?[/QUOTE]According to an article linked in the main article, it was one of [URL="http://www.dhgate.com/product/wholesale-focusable-high-power-blue-laser/160946337.html"]these[/URL]. Definitely not something someone should be waving around at random!


---
[SPOILER]10000mw[/SPOILER] is the power mentioned. As someone said in the comments, Holy tapdancing Jesus Christ!

[QUOTE=schickel;414518]According to an article linked in the main article, it was one of [URL="http://www.dhgate.com/product/wholesale-focusable-high-power-blue-laser/160946337.html"]these[/URL]. Definitely not something someone should be waving around at random!


---
[SPOILER]10000mw[/SPOILER] is the power mentioned. As someone said in the comments, Holy tapdancing Jesus Christ![/QUOTE]

Thanks! That is scary powerful.

[QUOTE=schickel;414518][SPOILER]10000mw[/SPOILER] is the power mentioned.[/QUOTE]I remember discussions of a planetarium type show with lasers. Someone realised that if an audience member had stood up, during the show, they would have caught a multi-Watt laser in the face.
Nice thing is that no one has CO[SUB]2[/SUB] laser pointers (their beams are not visible.) In the hands of these morons those would cause a lot of damage.

(googling for co2 lasers now: what they are? what they do? do their parents know? how can we get one? etc)
:razz:

More dirt on VW
 

From the Beeb:
[URL="http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34705604"]It is now alleged[/URL] that Porsches and Audis with 3.0 litre diesels also have test-dodging software.

[url]http://finance.yahoo.com/news/world-first-gene-editing-leukemia-180553708.html[/url]

AMD is being sued about it's definition of "core" vis à vis its Bulldozer architecture, with 8 integer units and 4 FP units.

[url]http://hothardware.com/news/amd-slapped-with-class-action-lawsuit-over-deceptive-core-count-in-bulldozer-cpus[/url]

[QUOTE=Dubslow;415432]AMD is being sued about it's definition of "core" vis à vis its Bulldozer architecture, with 8 integer units and 4 FP units.

[URL]http://hothardware.com/news/amd-slapped-with-class-action-lawsuit-over-deceptive-core-count-in-bulldozer-cpus[/URL][/QUOTE]

Interesting. I tend to agree that AMD used non-standard definitions, which were misleading. However, I knew what I was getting when I got an FX-8350. At the time, I was having problems with a 1090T, and the FX would run on the same board.

[url=thebiglead.com/2015/11/10/oakland-raiders-player-may-face-felony-charge-for-barking-at-a-police-dog-before-steelers-game/]Oakland Raiders Player May Face Felony Charge For Barking at a Police Dog Before Steelers Game[/url] | The Big Lead

The phrase "man bites dog - film at 11" comes to mind.

Dutch police to those firing lasers at planes: We’re onto you
 

[B][SIZE=2][URL="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/11/dutch-police-amsterdam-airport-is-a-hotspot-for-laser-strikes/"]Between July and October, there were roughly 100 reported cases at Schiphol.[/URL][/SIZE]
[/B]

[QUOTE]After an appeal to Dutch television viewers, the [URL="https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politie.nl%2Fnieuws%2F2015%2Fnovember%2F10%2F11-aanschijnen-vliegtuigen-met-laserpen.html&edit-text=&search_plus_one=form"]national police said[/URL] Wednesday (Google Translate) that they have received 70 tips regarding laser strikes at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Europe's fifth-busiest airport.

Authorities say that between July and October 2015, [URL="http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2015/11/100-pilots-report-laser-incidents-near-schiphol/"]there have been about 100 reported incidents[/URL]. The sale of high-powered laser pointers is banned in the Netherlands.


Since 2012, shining a laser at aircraft has become a criminal offense in the Netherlands and carries a maximum prison term of 15 years. Earlier this year, two males were arrested for two laser incidents in the country.
[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=kladner;415852][B][SIZE=2][URL="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/11/dutch-police-amsterdam-airport-is-a-hotspot-for-laser-strikes/"]Between July and October, there were roughly 100 reported cases at Schiphol.[/URL][/SIZE]
[/B][/QUOTE]
I may have been the victim of whoever is doing this myself about a year ago. I drive buses in the area, including in Hoofddorp where the perpertrator is thought to be operating from. In Hoofddorp one late evening I was suddenly dazzled by a laser light which was clearly being targeted at me, and this continued for about a minute on the lengthy straight street on which I was driving. I reported the incident at the time, but I didn't hear anything more about it or hear of any colleagues having any similar experience.

If it's the same person now, they've since upped the stakes to the airport runways, possibly having got hold of a more powerful laser pen.

I can only hope for such people to be found and stopped from endangering the transportation system and its users.

[URL="http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2015/1112/Twenty-aircraft-hit-with-lasers-overnight.-What-s-the-FBI-doing"]Twenty aircraft hit with lasers overnight. What's the FBI doing?[/URL]
[QUOTE]The FAA said laser strikes were reported overnight by other aircraft in New York, Salt Lake City, Detroit, Los Angeles, Albuquerque, Sacramento, Newark, New Jersey; Jamestown, New York; Oakland, California; Covington, Kentucky; Danville, Kentucky; Palm Springs, California; Ontario, California; St. Petersburg, Florida; Springfield, Illinois and San Juan, Puerto Rico.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=kladner;415940]I can only hope for such people to be found and stopped from endangering the transportation system and its users.[/QUOTE]
I can only hope for such individuals that someone catch them and tie then bottom-up, hands to ankles, and point a not-very-powerful (i.e. it should not burn instantly, but only after many minutes) laser on their ass, and keep it long enough to go beyond the pleasant sensation of itching that could appear in the beginning... (I am only guessing :blush:)

[url]http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/11/failed-windows-3-1-system-blamed-for-taking-out-paris-airport[/url]

[url]http://www.mersenneforum.org/showpost.php?p=416131&postcount=1686[/url] :razz:

[QUOTE=ixfd64;416134][url]http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/11/failed-windows-3-1-system-blamed-for-taking-out-paris-airport[/url][/QUOTE]
The more essential the system, the more essential it becomes to use Linux.

I'd be on Linux myself if I didn't have this weird notion that I'll become a serious gamer someday. If it hasn't happened by age 41, it's probably never going to happen.

[URL]http://www.zdnet.com/article/unsw-unlocks-key-to-quantum-computing-in-silicon/#ftag=YHFb1d24ec[/URL]

[QUOTE]
According to the university, a quantum version of computer code can be written and manipulated using two quantum bits in a silicon microchip. UNSW said that in achieving this breakthrough, the team has removed lingering doubts that such operations can be made reliably enough to allow powerful quantum computers to become a reality.[/QUOTE]

hmmmm....

[URL="http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/11/police-body-cams-found-pre-installed-with-notorious-conficker-worm/"]Police body cams found pre-installed with notorious Conficker worm[/URL]
[QUOTE]According to a blog post published last week by security firm iPower, multiple police cams manufactured by Martel Electronics came pre-installed with Win32/Conficker.B!inf. When one such camera was attached to a computer in the iPower lab, it immediately triggered the PC's antivirus program. When company researchers allowed the worm to infect the computer, the computer then attempted to spread the infection to other machines on the network.

"iPower initiated a call and multiple emails to the camera manufacturer, Martel, on November 11th 2015," the researchers wrote in the blog post. "Martel staff has yet to provide iPower with an official acknowledgement of the security vulnerability. iPower President, Jarrett Pavao, decided to take the story public due to the huge security implications of these cameras being shipped to government agencies and police departments all over the country."
/.../
A report that police cameras are shipping with Conficker.B preinstalled is testament to the worm's relentlessness. It's also troubling because the cameras can be crucial in criminal trials. If an attorney can prove that a camera is infected with malware, it's plausible that the vulnerability could be grounds for the video it generated to be thrown out of court, or at least to create reasonable doubt in the minds of jurors. Infected cameras can also infect and badly bog down the networks of police forces, some of which still use outdated computers and ineffective security measures.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=only_human;416401][URL="http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/11/police-body-cams-found-pre-installed-with-notorious-conficker-worm/"]Police body cams found pre-installed with notorious Conficker worm[/URL][/QUOTE]

O. M. G.

[QUOTE=only_human;416401][URL="http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/11/police-body-cams-found-pre-installed-with-notorious-conficker-worm/"]Police body cams found pre-installed with notorious Conficker worm[/URL][/QUOTE]
Went to read the actual article after almost posting a question, but the question still isn't answered by the article, not directly anyway.

I'm guessing, though I'm not certain, that this is a case of a virus doing random virus things. But it still makes the company that built the things look pretty damn bad.

Also, if a computer is expected to be secure for the sake of the public, rather than, say, a family, it should be a requirement to use Linux. Windows and Apple OSes should not be government OSes, especially for sensitive records. I can imagine using a special Apple computer for processing the video, but that computer needs to be majorly firewalled and only used for police stuff, no installing Call of Duty or visiting pornhub while using it.

[url]http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/liberty-university-president-urges-students-arm-35596543[/url]


Liberty University hell-bent on becoming test ground to prove Darwin's Theories. Film at 11.

[QUOTE=chappy;418430][URL]http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/liberty-university-president-urges-students-arm-35596543[/URL]


Liberty University hell-bent on becoming test ground to prove Darwin's Theories. Film at 11.[/QUOTE]

+3! :picard:

[QUOTE=chappy;418430][URL]http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/liberty-university-president-urges-students-arm-35596543[/URL]


Liberty University hell-bent on becoming test ground to prove Darwin's Theories. Film at 11.[/QUOTE]
This part intrigues me:
[QUOTE]Following the San Bernardino shootings, which left 14 dead, [Liberty University President Jerry] Falwell said he began carrying a .25-caliber handgun in his back pocket. He said he's had a permit for more than year.
During his address Friday, Falwell mentioned the weapon and reached around seemingly to fetch it.
"Is it illegal to pull it out? I don't know," he said, laughing, drawing some hoots from the audience.
[/QUOTE]
Apart from the obvious retort: "Why don't you know? If you consider yourself safe with firearms in public settings, shouldn't you acquaint yourself with the legal issues?", I also wonder if he considered whether it was legal for his audience members to respond to this "humour" by grabbing their own guns and shooting him dead for the perceived threat to their lives.

@Brian-E: We can only hope Mr. Falwell ends up shooting himself in the ass, either metaphorically or literally.

[This topic brings to mind the hilarious Siskel/Ebert-esque "Sneakin' in the Movies" faux-movie reviews in Robert Townsend's [i]Hollywood Shuffle[/i], specifically the one mocking Clint Eastwood/Dirty-Harry-part-17 (or whichever installment it was)'s "make my day" tough-guy line. In the Townsend mock-version, the 'stereotypical black thug character' replies "Make my day? Do 50 bullets in your ass make your day?" before shooting the white tough guy full of holes before he has time to pull his oversized handgun out of his underarm holster.]

[url]http://www.engadget.com/2015/12/16/large-hadron-collider-hints-at-new-particle/[/url]

[url]http://www.engadget.com/2015/12/18/log-into-most-any-linux-system-by-hitting-backspace-28-times/[/url][QUOTE]Security researchers have discovered a ludicrously simple way to hack into a number of Linux distributions: Just tap the backspace key 28 times in a row.
/.../
Ubuntu, Red Hat, and Debian all have released patches.
[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=science_man_88;419481][url]http://www.engadget.com/2015/12/16/large-hadron-collider-hints-at-new-particle/[/url][/QUOTE]
The article says that there's a 1 in 93 chance that it's just random noise.

I like those odds. People have bet their lives on worse odds than that.

[QUOTE=jasong;419696]I like those odds. People have bet their lives on worse odds than that.[/QUOTE][YOUTUBE]KX5jNnDMfxA[/YOUTUBE]

[url]http://www.vox.com/2015/12/19/10626248/cox-internet-disconnect-ruling[/url] well good bye internet for normal people I guess.

[url]http://pyx-1.pretendyoure.xyz/zy/[/url]

Seems suspicious.

[url]http://gkoberger.github.io/stacksort[/url]

[url=www.nytimes.com/2016/01/26/nyregion/traffic-comes-to-a-halt-and-a-kitten-is-saved.html]Traffic Comes to a Halt, and a Kitten Is Saved[/url] - NYT
[quote]Fortunately for the kitten, the officers were from the Police Department’s Strategic Response Group, trained, the police said, in counterterrorism tactics and “advanced disorder control.”[/quote]
We've all heard the phrase 'herding cats' in reference to the non-order-followingness of the feline character, but claiming training in 'counterterrorism tactics' was useful here seems a tad of a stretch.

Also note a possible feel-good tie-in here with Black Lives Matter - "even if they're cat lives!"

[QUOTE=ewmayer;424365][url=www.nytimes.com/2016/01/26/nyregion/traffic-comes-to-a-halt-and-a-kitten-is-saved.html]Traffic Comes to a Halt, and a Kitten Is Saved[/url] - NYT

We've all heard the phrase 'herding cats' in reference to the non-order-followingness of the feline character, but claiming training in 'counterterrorism tactics' was useful here seems a tad of a stretch.

Also note a possible feel-good tie-in here with Black Lives Matter - "even if they're cat lives!"[/QUOTE]Herding cats is not that difficult IME. You just have to think of the action from the cat's point of view.

Certainly no harder than herding chucks.

[QUOTE=xilman;424392]Herding cats is not that difficult IME. You just have to think of the action from the cat's point of view.

Certainly no harder than herding chucks.[/QUOTE]

Y'all should try herding pigs. They are smart. They always try to duck around you. You have to make them think you don't want them to go where you really do want them to go.

Police investigating 'screaming' find a man singing opera
 

"Police in the Netherlands kicked in a door in response to an emergency call - only to realise the [URL="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35427923"]"terrifying screams"[/URL] that had been reported were actually the sound of a man singing along to opera."
:faf:

this may be better off in the science news thread but:

[url]http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/news/a19177/the-superconductor-of-the-future-may-be-this-self-assembling-plastic/[/url]

[QUOTE=science_man_88;424731]this may be better off in the science news thread but:

[url]http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/news/a19177/the-superconductor-of-the-future-may-be-this-self-assembling-plastic/[/url][/QUOTE]

I recently brought up the word "plastic" in the devil's dictionary thread.

This article I read today also equates polymers with plastics, which I don't always think are equivalent:
[URL="http://www.sciencecodex.com/breakthrough_enables_ultrafast_transport_of_electrical_charges_in_polymers-174310"]Breakthrough enables ultra-fast transport of electrical charges in polymers[/URL]
[QUOTE]"The transport of electric charge is greatly enhanced solely by controlled chain and crystallite orientation inside the film. The mobility measured was approximately one thousand times higher than previously reported in the same organic semiconductor," says David Barbero.

In what way will these results affect the field of organic electronics?

"We believe these results will impact the fields of polymer solar cells and organic photodiodes, where the charges are transported vertically in the device. Organic-based devices have traditionally been slower and less efficient than inorganic ones (e.g. made of silicon), in part due to the low mobility of organic (plastic) semiconductors. Typically, plastic semiconductors, which are only semi-crystalline, have hole mobilities about 10,000 times lower than doped silicon, which is used in many electronic devices. Now we show it is possible to obtain much higher mobility, and much closer to that of silicon, by controlled vertical chain alignment, and without doping," says David Barbero.[/QUOTE]

Blow a trumpet at trump (with confetti)
[url]http://trumpdonald.org/[/url]

[QUOTE=firejuggler;425195]Blow a trumpet at trump (with confetti)
[URL]http://trumpdonald.org/[/URL][/QUOTE]
That's pretty funny! :smile:

A boondoggle wrapped in a hornswoggle -F35
 

[URL="http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35494003"]The F35[/URL] is a bottomless pit of corporate welfare.

[QUOTE]The F-35's ejector seat "failed to meet neck-injury criteria" and the jet had a "limited ability to respond to threats", the US defence department [URL="http://aviationweek.com/site-files/aviationweek.com/files/uploads/2016/01/DOT&E%202015%20F-35%20Annual%20Report.pdf"]has said[/URL].
The jet's development, by Lockheed Martin, has already cost $1 trillion (£0.7tn), partly funded by the UK.


Previously, its UK planned deployment date was put back from 2012 to 2023.
The F-35's ejector seat "failed to meet neck-injury criteria" and the jet had a "limited ability to respond to threats", the US defence department [URL="http://aviationweek.com/site-files/aviationweek.com/files/uploads/2016/01/DOT&E%202015%20F-35%20Annual%20Report.pdf"]has said[/URL].
The jet's development, by Lockheed Martin, has already cost $1 trillion (£0.7tn), partly funded by the UK.


Previously, its UK planned deployment date was put back from 2012 to 2023.
[/QUOTE]

But, it gets worse:
[QUOTE]Mr Bronk said that while the aircraft could be deployed in its current state, pilots would not be able to fly with as much freedom as planned because of the many technical limitations.


But he added: "They will make this thing work [U][B]because they have no choice[/B][/U], there's no alternative.

[B][U]"They will chuck whatever money they need to at it."[/U][/B]
[/QUOTE]

No choice, eh? So we have to throw good money after bad? :furious::censored::bangheadonwall:

[QUOTE=kladner;425288]
No choice, eh? So we have to throw good money after bad? :furious::censored::bangheadonwall:[/QUOTE]
If only they had to physically throw money at it. Then the spilled paper could at least be used for something. While I am on that, recently I posted this:
[QUOTE=only_human;419090][URL="http://www.thenation.com/article/20-people-now-own-as-much-wealth-as-half-of-all-americans/"]20 People Now Own As Much Wealth as Half of All Americans[/URL][/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]
According to “Billionaire Bonanza: The Forbes 400 and the Rest of Us,” just the twenty individuals at the top of the pile—a group that could fit into a Gulfstream G650 luxury jet, according to the study’s authors—now control more wealth than the bottom half of the population.[/QUOTE]
These people should be put on a nofly list to make sure that they can only visit their money nearby and to protect the economy from catastrophic financial provenance disruptions.

[QUOTE=only_human;425347]..... While I am on that, recently I posted this: .[/QUOTE]
From the linked article:
[QUOTE] A 2009 [URL="http://www.bmj.com/content/339/bmj.b4471"]study[/URL] published in the [I]British Medical Journal [/I]compared income inequality (which is less extreme than wealth inequality) in the United States and 14 other wealthy countries, and found that our skewed income levels corresponded with 893,914 avoidable deaths per year compared with those other economies. That’s more unnecessary deaths than are associated with tobacco use, car accidents, and gun deaths [I]combined[/I]. [/QUOTE]....

[url]http://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/massive-speedy-robots-ready-to-build-composite-wings-for-boeing-777x/[/url]

An article about the manufacturing of the new composite wings for Boeing's 777X -- the wings are completely 3D-printed, as a whole -- not pieces joined together.

[URL="https://thc.org/root/phun/unmaintain.html"]How to write obfuscated code[/URL]

[QUOTE=rogue;425695][URL="https://thc.org/root/phun/unmaintain.html"]How to write obfuscated code[/URL][/QUOTE]
For some strange reason, all our firewalls block that page :smile:

Indeed, same here. That's how obfuscated they are! ;-/
If you disregard the blockers' recommendations and go there, there is some food for thought there. But not very new.

I once disassembled (then hacked and assembled again) some java jar; it was a game client. Some light obfuscation (along the Mark's website's lines) was set out on the code, apparently by an obfuscating code mangler program. All classes had names from 'a' through 'z', and then from 'aa' through 'zz'; all methods in them, and all variables - same thing. All text constants were encoded with a simple 5-byte rotating coder (with random 5 chars in each class; then the text strings were reconstituted first thing of business during runtime). However, this whole bunch of hooey didn't deter me because they [I]couldn't [/I]obfuscate standard language constructs: for example by checking which of the ~500 classes were declared with "[URL="http://stackoverflow.com/questions/541487/implements-runnable-vs-extends-thread"]extends Thread[/URL]" (and of them which called those that did "extends Socket"), I fairly quickly located the 3-4 classes that I needed to hack first (the communication threads). Then I proceeded reading the code of the couple classes that were calling methods from these classes - essentially scanning the input comm thread, and another printing into the outgoing comm thread. After a few evenings, Bob was your uncle. So, most of that web page was not new to me.

[url]https://reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/45m1zl/whats_the_coolest_mathematical_fact_you_know_of[/url]