Its also my understanding that the "futuristic sickbay" is also genuine. The only sci-fi elements were the transformation and the VTOL.

While you can game it like that, that's really the way to do it. Think of it this way - before reCAPTCHA got popular, captchas were impossibly fuzzy, ugly, hard to read things. Since they've become so popular, its nice having a semi-standard captcha that isn't impossible. You get two words - one's usually a no…

That was my impression of the 4S camera when I saw it side-by-side with a 4. It was clear they were going for a warmer feel, but it looked a bit exaggerated.

Replying to my self here - I do see where they clearly state the plans are fully embedded in the QR, but that still seems a stretch. Shame they seem to take efforts to obfuscate the code in the photos.

It's gotta be a link. It is a very dense QR but nowhere near the density to store some autocad files. For a sense of scale, check this example image from Wikipedia - they don't name the exact contents, but say that depending on the level of error correction QR codes of this density can store 1,852-4,296 characters.…

My first thought. Don't think I could handle any other treatment of Turing - I've read the definitive (in entertainment value) version.

Your usage certainly has something to do with the battery life, but the first rule you give is absolutely wrong for lithium based batteries - it was only true back in the NiCd days. Lithium batteries prefer to be in a state of partial charge - best battery longevity is gotten form cycling between 50-80% charge. The…

I picked this up reading the USB Spec on Wikipedia. I never noticed from my real-world observation because I seem to get cables from the wrong people - All my cables are either real cheap generic ones with about 50/50 odds of having the logo in the right place or branded ones that came with a device - Blackberry,…

In the Boy Scouts we used to use this trick to start the fire for evening events, particularly when family was with us for a ceremony - build up a good bonfire with a center of steel wool and kindling doused in some kerosene. Bury a pair of wires to someone hiding behind a tree with a car battery. On cue, the fire…

I don't really see that. He looks like the comic character, to me - round face, simple round cartoon style nose, the stereotypical hair and not many other features. Overall I'm fairly impressed at how they've blended environmental realism with the comics' style.

It was oddly random getting a reply on this thread after so long. :) Definitely sounds like there was something going on with that client you had. If I had to guess, since you say it was a very large client — folks calling in directly got bounced around to different call centers depending on volume but your transfer…

Theoretically, retrorockets provide a much softer landing than a parachute could. Look at the SRBs - reusable, but they require parachute + water for a safe landing. Fine for the empty shell of a solid booster, but I doubt a liquid rocket would work for too many trips getting dipped in salt water every reentry.

@Rav Gar Yes, but the apple skin analogy still applies - the bulk of the atmosphere is in the first 7 miles. The radius of the earth is 4000 miles. Very thin.

This is a shiny example of the pain DRM is. My DirecTV DVR already does DLNA, but the files are DRMed. If I had to guess, they couldn't get a mobile license for whatever DRM tech the DVR uses, and the DVRs don't have enough horsepower to transcode. So we have to buy another stinking box that probably just transcodes…

Compressing air takes much more effort than it produces. Compressed air cars are an engineering curiosity. Only useful application I've seen for them would be in hazardous environments, where there was risk of fire from sparks.

I think you misinterpret the xkcd comic a bit. They're making a joke of the fact that frequently scientific announcements like you describe above get turned into huge breakthroughs because the news media and general public don't fully understand the scientific process. The protagonist is making his bets because he…

If clothing smells moldy after a wash/dry then you either let them sit too long before drying, or your washer needs a cleaning. Pour in a cup or two of bleach and run a few empty cycles - clears the crud out. Also, I've noticed my towels get a tad ripe if I use too much detergent for a few cycles. Towels should get a…

I'm not sure why that last email is being called out - its the only example, in this article, of regular police business being done in a sensible manner. A member of the public made a vague complaint that an officer was sleeping with his wife *and* abusing his power. They researched the 2nd claim as well as they could…

Oh hell yes, it would be awesome. Here's my concern though — Do capacitive touch screens work properly in wet conditions? I know I've had a lucky water drop or two on my SGS (lucky that it was pure glass, not on the earpiece hole) and the phone picked it up as a touch. If we can get around that, I'm all for it.

As everyone else said, Sunday Ticket is DirecTV. That's OK though — You just picked the wrong portable unit. Here's what you want: [www.directv.com]