Recent Comments

And here I was expecting an announcement that MikeeUSA was made the new Pipedot editor-in-chief. He's certainly contributed plenty to the site. e.g.: #2V9H

Esperanto was a good idea at the start, and one that looked-like it could have had a future, for the first few decades. However, since about 1930, it has been very successfully replaced by (multiple) rigidly defined small subsets of English:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_English_%28disambiguation%29

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Basic_English_combined_wordlist

Basic English can be at least as simple as Esperanto, just as fast to learn with as few as 850 root words (Esperanto had 900), Being a defined language these have all the supposed benefits of Esperanto, too: the terms in question being static, not including slang, avoiding complex conjugation rules, etc. Plus simple English has added benefit of allowing you (basic) communication with billions of people, access to untold tomes of information, etc.

Advice from the MP who put it in. Pity this is not an April Fools joke.

When I had a yen to learn Japanese I started reading the .jp version of slashdot. This did not last long.

Lots of silly paranthesis! You bring back nightmares there son.

While it's a nice idea, the language suffers from being too Euro-centric. There are some unnecessary rules copied from European languages. For instance, modifying an adjective based on the modification of the noun. They have it in German but not in English and nothing is lost.

Gender nouns like he/she/it are also useless. Usually, the gender of the person we're talking about has no bearing on the subject but we use it anyway. How do we refer to people with undetermined sex in Esperanto? These are not uncommon, people you only know from internet comments are by default in this group.. They did get rid of this for ordinary objects (like feminine ships etc) but not for people, blah.

I also don't care for three consonants in a row, like in 'skribi' etc. There IS a wovel between 's' and 'k', just write it down, mac.

How about we open a section with a LISP-like syntax tree based on English or something?

(could we (filter-out (SETOF x (past (say someone x)))))

And the test reply, for good measure.

This is a test posted after disabling translations.

Doh! Hit the daily translation limit of the Google Translate service. Flipped the default back to English for now.

The language was created before typewriters were popular, but still someone should create a modified version that is typeable on us standard keyboards. Its really the only thing holding the language back, that and translation of Jurassic Park.

This is way better than a CSS hack. How do you say "suck it, slashdot" in esperanto?

The story appears immediately, the comments take about 10 seconds.

10 seconds? Using firebug, my worst case (even on stories with more than a hundred comments) is around 40ms to load the comments. The JavaScript version of comments is just a rather small JSON request and shouldn't take nearly that long.

However, if you are using an older computer with a weak CPU or network connection, I would highly recommend disabling the WYSIWYG editor. I've tried several other editor libraries but have currently settled on the rather bulky CKEditor. With 2 megabytes of JavaScript spread over 200 files, CKEditor is kind of a pig. I may switch to an different editor if the library gets any more bloated or if I find a lighter weight alternative.

OK, that's funny. How the hell did I grab that URL?

Article:
http://www.edn.com/design/analog/4341471/Electronics-poised-to-replace-steam-powered-aircraft-launch-system

The other article about lasers in that folder was quite interesting, Thanks!

Seems you have to enable javascript in your Pipedot preferences, not just in your browser. The major effect I immediately notice is that typing in the comment box gets a little laggy, as does initial display of the comment box itself. Also seems to impact display of comments under the story, as when I enabled JS in my settings, that got laggy too. (The story appears immediately, the comments take about 10 seconds.)

Also, now when I move the cursor with the arrow keys, it vanishes. It's fine if placed with the mouse or moved with the Home or End keys.

Yeah, I was trying to put that in the right words for a while. Nicely put. It might take some extra effort that is in short supply.

Oh hey, I just read it. Great article, thanks for the look around! ;)

You can live in a concrete dome. http://www.monolithic.org/

It'll tolerate earthquakes, tornados, and run-away 18-wheelers.

file:///tmp/Electronics-poised-to-replace-steam-powered-aircraft-launch-system.pdf

Please give us access to your computer ;-)

Yeah, all the numbers in the article seem pretty bunk. The steam catapult weighs 1300 pounds? I don't think so. 20 seconds and wikipedia:
Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System: System weight< 225,000 kg

Steam catapult: "These systems take a long time to recharge after each launch"
Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System: Cycle time 45 seconds

How long does it take to get the next jet into position?

The combination of wikipedia and file:///tmp/Electronics-poised-to-replace-steam-powered-aircraft-launch-system.pdf (from '02) add up to a much better article than the one linked.

Even russian fighters cost more than that and without stealth capability :)

Do you mean the ability to tag URLs? Metadata indicating source type? If so then that is a great idea. Could use rel in the a href.

Also would be handy to distinguish original source and possibly original research papers the report is based on (if applicable). Yea, I know, you can't add something good without requests for more, but my compliments to you for helping us cut through the clutter.

Termites are fairly sensitive to a variety of pesticides (also to cold and dehydration). The problem is that the core of the nest, along with the queen, is usually well underground, therefore safe from the usual pesticides.

The solution is to treat the area with "Termidor" which they'll take home to mama, and eventually this kills the entire nest.

But the problem with the desert is that there are always more termites, so killing 'em off one colony at a time is an exercise in futility.

What kills them then? Sulphur?

The info is good to have. Myself, I could not be assed looking it up, so appreciate the effort from those who do.

A better alternative in termite country is the metal-framed, metal-covered house, which is both flexible like wood, and rather more fireproof as well as pestproof. Unfortunately as of the last time I checked, metal houses were not yet insurable!

In the SoCal desert where I lived for 28 years, you don't need super-termites; the native ground termites will eat everything just fine. Any cellulose (including lawn clippings, cardboard, dead weeds, and flour) they can get to will be eaten. Lay a 2x4 on the ground and it will be infested within a week (literally). Termite control is a way of life.

You are thinking of grasshoppers

California is 1/8th of the entire USA, both population-wise and economically. If it were a country, California would be the 8th or 9th largest economy in the world. That's not a market that anybody is going to overlook.

Chocolate covered perhaps? :)

Some of them cost $40. Get one, enable storage encryption. Worry less.

We all can google. ;-)

Little bit of nitpicking: Mushrooms are no plants :-D

I am sure the myriad Chinese/Shenzhen Android phones will be quick on implementing that feature just for the sake of California.

Corporate like it as the feature controls are extensive and easy to enforce. IE11 is another level of terrible over IE10.

Concrete block structures don't fare well during earthquakes... They require extensive retrofitting and typically need a massive steel support structure before they are allowed to be re-occupied. Wood structures survive far better, without nearly so much extra effort. HurriQuake nails are one very inexpensive upgrade that can help wood structures, substantially.

With California's many extensive wooded forests, most of the firefighters will remain employed, no matter what materials homes are built from.

Nearly all homes in Florida are concrete block. Of the remainder, all the newer ones are **poured** concrete. Yeah, you can slam a big truck into the house and it won't matter. Maybe 1% is wood frame.

California is all wood frame. It keeps the firefighters employed I suppose. California will love these new termites.

IE is mandatory at work, which means that (A) a lots of good sites/tools are totally unusable on the corporate machine (trello.com is one of them. Love Trello and need it at work), and (B) I am stuck with its absolutely awful UI choices. We're using 9 or 10 (can't be arsed to look it up) and it's clear that was a version that was desperately chasing the sleekness of Chrome, but with a development team of not-awfully talented individuals. It really is terrible to use. Simple things like showing bookmarks are not easy, and it has huge rendering errors. I'm glad they are giving up on it - it's the software equivalent of 'design by committee.'

Yes, of course. Termites are terrible. I dealt with just the normal kind and it took a lot of effort to keep them from destroying the few wooden window frames in a concrete house. And yes, I did try eating a few. Not the tastiest to my western palate. Maybe they need to be processed into a more conventional looking food product or maybe even just cooked and served with ketchup.

In a highly monitored, locked, metal / concrete farming facility, yes. :) I would not be opposed to eating them either. However, they sound like they would be quite the pest if accidentally spread across country alive.

Ya, I'm not sold on the food application. Is it safe? You know that stuff will leach into your food to some extent. Once you consume enough of it, I bet you have THE WORST laxative issues EVAR!

Aperture Labs wants their orange goo back, please. :)

Alternatively, Termites are a great source of sustainable protein that was utilized by our ancestors for thousands of years. This fast growing breed might be perfect for domesticating.

Any chance Florida will be underwater before the termites make it off the peninsula? I don;t think underwater termites are an issue in most cases.

My favorite car theft deterrent is still the trunk monkey:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geynA-JYDHE

kthxbye

Closer to the monitor?

Won't that worsen the eye-strain?

Oh, man, that would be great. A box of spinach in the freezer isle "Made from edible materials! Like Plants!". I'm really tempted to make those stickers and visit a couple grocery stores. Criminal mischief is still a misdemeanor right?

Hey, please give me an infusion of that conium maculatum, Socrates. Oh, and some of those pretty white berries of convallaria majalis. And some omphalotus olearius would be tasty.

Everything that has a sufficiently strong influence on a blast shock wave should be strong enough to make minced meat out of human flesh itself. So instead of a normal car alarm.... What you touched my car? *SPLATTER*

Cars for crowd control will be another, and a much more probable use case for this technique.