S_Daedalus

Hopefully there's a better outcome than just lowering prices per unit though.

You're going backwards. We already did the "per capita" thing, now you're pretending that you didn't understand what "large" meant in the first place?

I see that you have some kind of problem with what's been said about the production of great mathematical minds in Russia, so why don't you offer something contrary to the assertions made so far? Rhetorical gaming is really not an effective tool to make your point.

Well, that title was a little misleading, but it's still not an encouraging tale. What's the fix here?

In what way does that relate to the original point? Russia doesn't have the record of producing mathematicians at a rate of a much smaller country like Germany.

That... is a good point. I forgot that it's taxpayers suing ourselves.

Goddamn it.

More than 140 million is pretty huge, and that's modern Russia, not what it used to be with all of its empire, and later satellite states.

They're generally sued actually, and when they really fucked up they pay a LOT as a result.

It's a lot easier to get rid of a cop or a sheriff, than a judge too; no shock that the rot really sets in on the bench. Then, there's the reality that many judges are political appointees.

Under Peter, Russia imported a lot of great minds, who then fled when things started to get horrible. They've produced some greats, but shockingly few when you consider how large the country their working with is.

Thank goodness, now it's just a bunch of "local conflicts" and "police actions".

But no "war".

Safe! /s

It's just, "How business is done" and it's rarely if ever questioned.

What the radio connection does to the pacemaker probably does.

For the same reason that we end up hearing about virtually everything, eventually; people really stink at keeping secrets.

I wonder how long it will be before our infrastructure really starts to go south before people will wake up to what this country is becoming? I think a few bridges need to collapse before people get the idea that this is about "pump and dump" now, not investment in the future.

None of this is new, and yet as far as anyone knows no one has ever yet met at the intersection of hacking and murder.

Like space, fiber is hard.

I'm not sure how much I believe in any counter-surveillance methods anymore that involve a phone. Then again, I'm happy that my life doesn't include the need for that level of secrecy.

I think it would be sad if humanity is the best we have to offer.

As an avid fencer, I couldn't agree more! My first instinct, trained into me for years with fencing has to do with scoring points on specific areas, in specific ways, not killing or surviving. It might look a little similar to the uninitiated, but it's basically night and day. Never mind that I've trained with little metal foils, sabers and epees, that probably weigh a fraction of a proper steel blade, I just wouldn't know what to do with it to literally save my life.

That's my impression too. Gouges and the rest can create opening, and they're an edge if you're evenly matched with someone, but in the same way that sharpshooting might. It's a skill, an interesting one, but how often does a fight with pistols come down to really precise aim, rather than hitting the head or center of mass?

I think it's similar in physical combat, although some elements like the dropped elbows and kicking a downed opponent would definitely end a match faster, you have to drop them first.

I used to think that too, but to be honest, how many good MMA fighters leave those kind of openings?

This is a pretty old concern, and I'll worry about it when it looks like computers are going to be taking over their own design. Right now, it's a trick just to get them to learn unsupervised.