D_Alex

57 ms·

571.
by D_Alex 14y ago
What, I wonder, is the chance of a passenger airliner being shot down by such missiles...? To what extent does this - small - chance counter the also small risk of airplanes being used by the terrorists? I agree with C. Stross that this is
572.
by D_Alex 15y ago
You underestimate the power of well designed production, and how good people can get at a repetitive task they do all day. I count about 20 components, about 40 solders. Allowing 5 seconds per bend (using jigs), 5 seconds per solder, one mi
573.
by D_Alex 15y ago
Very bad title. Should be "How some scientists failed...".
574.
by D_Alex 15y ago
My first computer was a C64 also. It cost A$699, plus $99 for the tape drive. In 1982 money. My father's salary was about $40,000 per year then. Can't think of money better spent.
575.
by D_Alex 15y ago
"world proven oil reserves are at an all time high"...etc. Unfortunately - even if this is correct, and opinions do vary - this does not counter the fact that oil is a diminishing resource. Furthermore, the quality of current reserves, in t
576.
by D_Alex 15y ago
How to acquire masses of medical data from patients' records for use in medical research without causing concerns over privacy issues.
577.
by D_Alex 15y ago
I thought getting poached was the whole point of LinkedIn as well...
578.
by D_Alex 15y ago
The starting elevation of the Kola Superdeep Borehole is reported as 350 m asl, though on the map in one of the papers I have it looks closer to 320 m.
579.
by D_Alex 15y ago
No, that 12,345 meters for Sakhalin-I is not depth. It is the total length of the well, and 80%+ of that is horizontal deviation. The deepest oil well that I know of is BP's Tiber well: http://www.bp.com/genericarticle.do?categoryId=201296
580.
by D_Alex 15y ago
"I googled for James Cameron's website and couldn't find anything. Could you please provide a link?" The info is scattered throughout the site. http://deepseachallenge.com/the-sub/sub-facts/ states:"The pilot is descending about 36,000 fe
581.
by D_Alex 15y ago
Well... I admit to being surprised that you found anything at all in support of that claim. But one post, one reply on a forum filled with misinformation does not constitute "generally believed".
582.
by D_Alex 15y ago
"it's generally believed that a large leak in a sub would create a wall of flame." What complete and utter rubbish. Please provide a single reference for this "general belief". Or better still, apologise for posting crap. Air, and gases gen
583.
by D_Alex 15y ago
This is far more accurate than the parent comment, no idea why it was downvoted.
584.
by D_Alex 15y ago
Ugh... this can hardly be more wrong. Decompression sickness only occurs when a person is under elevated pressure for a period of time, and then the pressure is released. Pressurizing the sub could in fact cause the decompression sickness,
585.
by D_Alex 15y ago
Surely not, the "watermark" is more easily added using methods suitable to mass production. Possibly it could be used to produce counterfeit watermarks though...!
586.
by D_Alex 15y ago
So I'm guessing that "Bioconservatives" are those in "opposition to the technologies that make life longer, healthier, and happier"? Go, go Bioprogressives!
587.
by D_Alex 15y ago
Also, take a look at this: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3623912 We are now living in the age of biopolitics, claims University of Pennsylvania bioethicist Jonathan Moreno in his new book The Body Politic: The Battle Over Science in
588.
by D_Alex 15y ago
Sheesh... come on, think about what you are saying. Firstly you say that "if something exists, it cannot be judged to be bad"...? Second, death is necessary for new thought patterns...? Sorry, it is YOU who needs to accept the current rea
589.
by D_Alex 15y ago
With a little bit of investigation, and intellectual honesty, you will quickly see that death (and its parent - aging) is in fact a very bad thing.
590.
by D_Alex 15y ago
Well.... in the end, the underlying cause is the fact that the "social contract" in Greece - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_contract - was pretty much screwed up. And so they will be you-know-what, either way, until THAT is fixed up.
591.
by D_Alex 15y ago
This is based on a wrong premise, that 900 watts is needed to keep the thing from losing charge, derived from vague anecdotal evidence and not supported in any way by technical fundamentals. If it was true, the 85 kwhr battery pack would la
592.
by D_Alex 15y ago
Er, no, this is probably wrong. The voltage drop is due to resistive losses in the long (and skinny) cable, and the resistive losses depend on current flowing. So, unless there are some weird effects due to the car's electronics, you cannot
593.
by D_Alex 15y ago
Poe's Law - an axiom suggesting that it's difficult to distinguish between parodies of religious fundamentalism and its genuine proponents, since they both seem equally insane - seems to apply here.
594.
by D_Alex 15y ago
It is not much like a typical drilling process. The article includes a pretty decent infographic abt 2/3 way down, which shows the drilling principle on the last slide. Worth a look.
595.
by D_Alex 15y ago
I would go even further than this... If you are given an opportunity to state a number first, go for the ridiculously high, especially in the context on "we simply must have a number to get the ball rolling". Patrick suggests that you say
596.
by D_Alex 15y ago
Near the very end, Rick Cotton, claims that SOPA would not be restrictive on US businesses and states that "the only thing that can happen is that a search engine or a credit card company has to respond with respect to a specific [foreign]
597.
by D_Alex 15y ago
I second that... also pollution is far lower.
598.
by D_Alex 15y ago
Sooo... what happens if the returns are negative? Does the fund manager cop 20% of the loss? What happens if the gross return is 2.5%? Does the fund manager still get everything (2% fee plus 20% of the 2.5% gross)...? Clearly if the returns
599.
by D_Alex 15y ago
Something a bit different: I got a real boost in learning English and later French by reading Tintin and Asterix comics!
600.
by D_Alex 15y ago
Think what you like, by all means. I think your comment is shallow, and a disservice to humanity in general.

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