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Comment: Re:Why so expensive? (Score 3, Insightful) 166

by TrentTheThief (#46395619) Attached to: NASA Forgets How To Talk To ICE/ISEE-3 Spacecraft

Since when is NASA a big daddy defense contractor? This is a task they could manage in-house with the resources they already have on hand.

The original hardware is missing, sure. But that's no big deal. RF is RF. They can use a Software Defined Radio (SDR) and throw together a program to parse the telemetry into something meaningful. After all, the only thing disposed of was the hardware. The specifications for everything else is on file.

All they need is some support instead of more snarky remarks. Sure, NASA kinda fucked up when the hardware was trashed, but hardware that's been idle for 15-20 years looks like it's only collecting dust (which it was). But who actually knew it was still needed? That is plenty long enough for the engineers who once used it to move on to other employers or to simply grow old enough to reach retirement and leave.

Comment: You babbling idiots. (Score 1) 245

by TrentTheThief (#46284583) Attached to: White House Responds To Net Neutrality Petition


And you poor sad bastards who actually believe that the whitehouse petitions are anything more than pacifiers to quiet your whining, did you actually believe that any substantive changes would come about as a result of you signing a petition? Seriously? Change doesn't happen in Washington unless someone in the government personally wants it, is bribed to change it, or is forced to as part of an attempt to cover up some other malfeasance.

The petitions are a way for the American government to stuff a cock-shaped pacifier in your mouths while the government goes ahead and does what it wants irregardless of your wishes.

Bread and circuses, people. Bread and circuses.

Comment: Super Capacitors (Score 3, Interesting) 296

by TrentTheThief (#45671999) Attached to: Six Electric Cars Can Power an Office Building

The idea to store all excess electricity is already being investigated. But they're planning to use super capacitors rather than batteries. The idea to buy it cheap at night and sell it back to the grid during the day when theoretically, your consumption is lower (not at home, etc.) is too good not to be exploited.

Comment: You cannot reason with a madman (Score 1) 1293

by TrentTheThief (#44900489) Attached to: Why Are Some Hell-Bent On Teaching Intelligent Design?

Why do you all persist in thinking that you can change the mind of a zealot? It doesn't matter whether that person is waving a bible or a Kalashnikov. As long as they think that "God" wants them to act a certain way, they are going to do so. Short of killing them there is very little you can do to stop them. Forget about convincing them not to kill all us infidels or stopping them from forcing their distorted world view upon everyone else.

There's nothing more dangerous than a religious zealot and a bomb. That fact holds true the world over and it doesn't matter where or how that person prays. Bombs are the chosen weapons of God.

+ - What to do when your Government is out of control 1

Submitted by buss_error
buss_error writes "I've been watching the NSA and related stories. All I can say is that my personal feeling is that our government is completely out of control, ignoring our rights, and doing what ever they want. I hate to say this, but it seems that no matter who we vote for, it doesn't affect the out of control cowboy moves made by the minions of Bureaucracy. Peaceful protests are ignored. Legal challenges, directives, and congressional orders are shrugged off with less effort than rain. They do what they do when they want, how they want.

No one sane wants to see a city vaporized by a terrorist's atomic bomb, but it that any worse than a society where we have no secrets from the Government? "I've got nothing to hide" is a mind set that trusts that someone won't find a rationale that something you did was harmful. Then make your life a living hell with "secret evidence" you are not able to see or refute.

To quote Ben Franklin: "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

How do we, the citizens, reign in the over broad, overzealous surveillance culture? Normally I'd say "cut off the money" but that depends on elected representatives to pass a budget to do just that. Time and again, they have failed to do so."

Comment: There's a more reliable system than lie-detectors! (Score 3, Funny) 374

by TrentTheThief (#44725113) Attached to: Feds Seek Prison For Man Who Taught How To Beat a Polygraph

Lie detectors have the inherent problem in that they can be duped by one who has been schooled to do so. But there is one science that is 100% accurate and relies solely on something that the subject cannot hide: Their skull! Using the science of Phrenology, a trained scientist, a scientist, mind you, not simply some quack wearing a tie, can measure the subject's skull in detail and provide a 100% accurate assessment of the subject's reliability, honesty, intelligence, and propensity to commit crimes or to engage in perverse behaviours, as well as many more important traits that one must consider when entrusting an employee or government official charged with protecting our families and making our nation safe!

Be safe! Rely on Phrenology!
