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Italy Plans to Send Anti-Migrant Military Mission to Niger

Posted by takyon on Thursday December 28 2017, @09:42PM (#2894)
30 Comments

Stray thoughts on physics and the next paradigm

Posted by Yog-Yogguth on Thursday December 28 2017, @10:17AM (#2893)
6 Comments
/dev/random

I am not a physicist, but I'll throw this one out there because:
1. It seems fairly reasonable, maybe if anything it's too obvious (I'm bad at telling).
2. I think physicists would agree (I would be biased :D).
3. It might be interesting to think about. If not it's short.
4. I've got nowhere else to put it/it didn't really fit with a comment I wrote :D

I'll apologize in advance for missing replies to replies and any discussions. I get bogged down on a daily basis and then time evaporates and later I often discover that I need to think more about what people say and I get bogged down again and suddenly it's months or maybe even years... (anyone who is "young" this is how cruel it is to become "old" although I'm not ancient: live, do, and think, as much as you can while time seems infinite!).

Anyway here it is:
Science is not dogma, science is imperfection striving to be less imperfect. That something is good enough for practical application including awesomely impressive feats like detecting gravitational waves —a feat which was considered impossible/unachievable by Einstein— does not truly give any qualitative or relative measure of how correct the current science is compared to better future science. What we can surmise is that there are at least some large questions left unsolved (grand unified theory stuff) and those indicate that there will be a future paradigmatic shift in physics that is at least on the scale of the one from Newtonian to "Einsteinian".

TV shows you like

Posted by Gaaark on Sunday December 24 2017, @05:41PM (#2888)
17 Comments
Soylent

Just looking for good shows to watch that are a little different and off the scope:

My wife found us a good british comedy called 'Man Down' that turned out to be 'brill', funny as hell.

I've been actually enjoying ST Discovery (although, definitely not canon), Superstore, ...

Anyone have a must watch show i may have missed? I don't care: throw whatever my way.

Welcome to Your Future: An Inspiring Holiday Message

Posted by takyon on Sunday December 24 2017, @01:17AM (#2887)
11 Comments
Career & Education

Mood music for post.

⛄🎅🎄🎁👼

INITIATING...

Out of boredom, I did a Google News search for "arcology". This was the lone result:

Paolo Soleri accused of sexual abuse by daughter

No serious arcologies have been built despite decades of research/advocacy. Various projects have been proposed but not realized:

Crystal Island
Shimizu Mega-City Pyramid
Dubai City Tower
Sky City 1000
X-Seed 4000

But the dead stiff Paolo Soleri is now just another #MeToo rapist. Is disinterment on the table?

In the future, there will be no arcologies. Soleri's ideas have been celebrated and studied, and others have proposed arcologies, but there will always be pesky obstacles like a global financial crisis, lack of lengthy carbon nanotubes, or the threat of terrorism. If you put one million people in a single building, the incentive to find the one or handful of weak spots becomes that much greater. Because more kills = higher score. Instead of arcologies, expect more apps and socially-conscious VR.

If we don't see nukes flying in every direction, we'll get to experience new and exciting wars soon. Perhaps right here on American soil. They'll be fought with bioweapons, maybe some directed energy weapons, and Hackaday-chique explosives powered by 3D printing and Raspberry Pis. American ingenuity is not dead: it has to kill America first.

A select few elites may be able to escape the carnage. The Musky One will soon have four spaceports from which to launch his escape vehicle to Mars. Why else would he plan for 2024 when everyone else is talking about 2035? He saw the writing on the wall and wants to print his "Get Out of Judgment Day Free" card ASAP. Assuming Muskman survives the journey, he will live in a cave on the side of a cliff as the free market's chosen God-Emperor of the Red Planet. The ratio of women to men will be around 10 to 1, if not 50 to 1. You can guess what comes next. Homo sapiens sapiens erectus muskii.

So as you celebrate Christmas, Kwanzaa, or New Year's this season, take a look at the people around you. Look for the pressure points, the joints, and any visible signs of weakness that could be exploited. Do so reflexively. Make a higher level of paranoia your new normal. Become more ascerbically cynical and distrustful than you already were as a SoylentNews reader. Get ready for mankind's final adventure, a global battle royale with no winners.

Miss America on Life Support

Posted by takyon on Saturday December 23 2017, @06:06PM (#2885)
4 Comments
/dev/random

The Miss America Emails: How The Pageant’s CEO Really Talks About The Winners

In late August 2014, the CEO of the Miss America Organization, Sam Haskell, sent an email to the lead writer of the Miss America pageant telecast, Lewis Friedman, informing him of a change he wanted to make in the script: “I have decided that when referring to a woman who was once Miss America, we are no longer going to call them Forever Miss Americas....please change all script copy to reflect that they are Former Miss Americas!” Friedman replied, “I’d already changed “Forevers” to “Cunts.” Does that work for you?” Haskell’s short reply came quickly: “Perfect...bahahaha.”

[...] In December 2014, Friedman emailed Haskell to offer his condolences on the death of former Miss America Mary Ann Mobley, writing, “So sorry to hear about Mary Ann Mobley” The subject line of Friedman’s email read: “It should have been Kate Shindle.” Haskell replied, “Thanks so much Coach...even in my sadness you can make me laugh...how was the Kennedy Center Honors? Love you and appreciate you! Sam.”

[...] Haskell and Haddad also appeared to dislike Gretchen Carlson, who won the Miss America title in 1989 and was on the organization’s board of directors for many years. The root cause of their disdain, according to three sources, was Carlson’s push to modernize the organization and her refusal to attack former Miss Americas.

Haskell told Carlson not to have Hagan on her program, according to three sources familiar with the conversation. Carlson refused.

On Aug. 15, 2014, Weidner sent an email to a group of former Miss Americas, including Carlson, about Shindle’s book, saying, “Is it possible for each of you to speak out in defense of Sam and the organization?” Carlson replied, “It’s one thing to talk about your own personal experience as Miss America … but totally different to attack people individually.” Haskell forwarded Carlson’s response to Haddad, who replied to Haskell, “Snake but now u have not doubts as to her loyalty. Makes it easy not to respond. Right?”

Just before Shindle’s book came out, Haddad emailed Haskell and said, “Why don’t u read susan POWELL’s [former Miss America] email on the board call and say it’s a shame that only one miss america who has come forward to offer help in any way.” Haddad was referring to an email Powell had written that was supportive of Haskell. Haskell replied, “Brilliant…..fucking Brilliant!!!! That will drive Gretchen INFUCKINGSANE.” After the email exchange, Haskell did not feature Carlson in the next Miss America broadcast ― an unusual decision given her prominence.

[...] Adams recalled an encounter with Haskell at his home in which Haskell attempted to convince Adams to break up with Hagan and instead date his daughter. Haskell stretched out his arms and told Adams, “All of this can be yours,” ostensibly referring to his Oxford mansion and the family’s money. “You don’t need a piece of trash like Mallory. You need someone with class and money like my daughter,” he said, according to Adams.

[...] In August 2014, Haskell received an email from someone he knew, who said Hagan’s hairdresser in New York had been commenting on Hagan’s sex life while Hagan was living in Los Angeles, as well as her recent weight gain.

Haskell forwarded the email to Friedman saying, “Not a single day passes that I am not told some horrible story about Mallory.” Friedman replied, “Mallory’s preparing for her new career … as a blimp in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade As she continues to destroy her own credibility, her voice will attract less and less notice while she continues her descent to an unhappy pathetic footnote.” Friedman ended the email with, “Ps. Are we four the only ones not to have fucked Mallory?” Haskell replied and said, “It appears we are the only ones!”

Miss America CEO suspended over leaked emails revealed in story he calls 'unkind and untrue'

The End of Miss America

rDT summoned.

Holiday Recipes

Posted by takyon on Friday December 22 2017, @08:10PM (#2884)
1 Comment

Humanoid Robot Can Exercise and Break a "Sweat"

Posted by takyon on Friday December 22 2017, @12:58AM (#2883)
2 Comments
Hardware

[Put here because it isn't substantially different than when the story ran last year.]

A robot designed to resemble the anatomy of a human boy can perform actions such as push-ups and sit-ups, and uses "sweat" to cool its motors:

The design of a new life-size bot named Kengoro closely resembles the anatomy of a teenage boy in body proportion, skeletal and muscular structure, and joint flexibility, researchers report online December 20 in Science Robotics. Compared with previous humanoid robots with more rigid, bulky bodies, Kengoro's anatomically inspired design [open, DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.aaq0899] [DX] gives the bot a wide range of motion to perform humanlike, full-body exercises.

Video (37s).

Also at Motherboard.

Previously: "Sweating" Robot can do More Push-Ups

Who will be remembered 1000 years from now

Posted by Gaaark on Thursday December 21 2017, @04:34PM (#2882)
27 Comments
/dev/random

From the I-must-remember-to-start-a-major-war-and-mass-genocide dept.

Here's an interesting thought: who will be remembered 1000 years from now?

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20171220-how-to-be-remembered-in-1000-years/

I'd say Adolf Hitler, for one. But not Donald Trump or Hillary.
Churchill (Adolf's arch enemy)? Maybe by the British, but.....

Elon Musk?
Carrot Top?

Kim Kardashian for frell's sake???

Sexual Harassment in Indonesia's Cosplay Scene

Posted by takyon on Tuesday December 19 2017, @10:32PM (#2878)
5 Comments

Using A Cheap Audio Amplifier For Motor Control, Part 2

Posted by cafebabe on Tuesday December 19 2017, @09:50PM (#2877)
4 Comments
/dev/random

A terrible event has happened. The person who inspired me to use audio amplifiers as cheap motor controllers is very likely to be dead. He may be younger than 40 and it may be suicide. All of his family live in another country and they may have missed his funeral. If he is not dead then it is possible that he is stuck in a mental asylum for an extended period. At best, he may get out of this situation with no pets, no possessions and no home.

Either way, I blame his girlfriend for the situation. He considered their relationship to be very exclusive but she treated their relationship in much more casual manner. I believe that she was unfaithful before I met either of them. She may think that her boyfriend was unfaithful when he was just doing geek things with other people. That includes the time we spent together making minimal progress with robots.

She had easy access to drugs and she may have chemically messed with his sanity. Apparently, the police concluded their investigation without suspicion and gave his phone to her. This would be consistent with gaining all of his possessions from a will or gaining power of attorney.