Random News not worthy of own thread

Usenko · Post by **Usenko** » Sat, 22. Mar 14, 02:59

Usenko wrote: An Australian dollar is a tiny portion of Australia's wealth. We never really worry about that, because the wealth of Australia has been fairly consistant over the years (we haven't had any really major dramas with the dollar since the Great Depression, although we have the occasional fluctuation of its value). But the reason a dollar is able to buy goods and services from Australia's people is the tacit acceptance that it is backed by Australia.

Um . . yeah. I'd like to here acknowledge that I am completely aware that Australia didn't HAVE a dollar until 1966, and that the currency that has been stable since the Great Depression has, for much of that time been the now defunct Australian pound.

(Grateful that nobody else pointed out my lapse of intelligence)

Morkonan · Post by **Morkonan** » Tue, 25. Mar 14, 22:55

.... And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.

ABC - Facebook buys Oculus

It's as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.

Woe, woe, woe. Woe unto you, ye creatures of the Earth. Prepare for the coming of "Farmville Ultimate VR Edition!" Your doom is at hand!

(Millions of gamers should weep this day. WEEP I SAY!)

brucewarren · Post by **brucewarren** » Tue, 25. Mar 14, 23:03

All those pictures of cats in full 3d. What terrible sin have we all committed to have this particular punishment inflicted on us?

3d selfies even. <shudders>

Stars_InTheirEyes · Post by **Stars_InTheirEyes** » Tue, 25. Mar 14, 23:25

Morkonan wrote:.... And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.

ABC - Facebook buys Oculus

It's as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.

Woe, woe, woe. Woe unto you, ye creatures of the Earth. Prepare for the coming of "Farmville Ultimate VR Edition!" Your doom is at hand!

(Millions of gamers should weep this day. WEEP I SAY!)

Good news for Sony, then.

eladan · Post by **eladan** » Tue, 25. Mar 14, 23:39

Morkonan wrote:ABC - Facebook buys Oculus

Damn! Why can't these bloody ginormous companies keep their mitts off the good stuff? It invariably, inevitably, ruins the potential.

pjknibbs · Post by **pjknibbs** » Wed, 26. Mar 14, 08:20

I was never very excited about the Oculus Rift in the first place (I've been around long enough to remember all the other attempts at VR that have crashed and burned), and I can't say this news has improved the situation.

(Apparently someone thought this *was* worthy of its own thread, please address more replies there--don't want to split and merge these posts because the first one predates the first post in the linked thread and I'm not sure what will happen:

http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=364623)

eladan · Post by **eladan** » Wed, 26. Mar 14, 08:46

pjknibbs wrote:I was never very excited about the Oculus Rift in the first place (I've been around long enough to remember all the other attempts at VR that have crashed and burned), and I can't say this news has improved the situation.

Previous attempts failed because technology wasn't ready for the idea. That's no longer the case. (That's not to say, of course, that it may not be sunk by something else... like an acquisition by a clueless giant.)

burger1 · Post by **burger1** » Fri, 28. Mar 14, 00:54

Bionic Olympics to be held in 2016
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26766095

burger1 · Post by **burger1** » Fri, 4. Apr 14, 17:28

Saturns moon may have underground sea.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/ ... story.html

OmegaKnight · Post by **OmegaKnight** » Fri, 4. Apr 14, 22:56

Say Hello to a long forgotten Space Probe

burger1 · Post by **burger1** » Mon, 7. Apr 14, 04:03

far cry 4 in Himalayas and has rideable elephants ?
http://ca.ign.com/articles/2014/03/21/f ... -elephants

indegogo may have some problems with frauds - apparently they get a % of donations
http://pando.com/2014/04/03/after-pando ... guarantee/

pjknibbs · Post by **pjknibbs** » Mon, 7. Apr 14, 08:55

burger1 wrote: indegogo may have some problems with frauds - apparently they get a % of donations

"Apparently"? Of course they do, all the crowdfunding sites stay in business by taking a percentage of donations. The bit about them changing the terms and conditions on their website rather than respond to claims one of their big projects is fraudulent is certainly news, though.

To be honest, I don't trust Indiegogo as much as I do Kickstarter for one simple reason: Indiegogo projects will get what's donated even if the project doesn't meet its funding target, whereas Kickstarter will only allow that if the project *does* meet the target. Seems a lot cleaner and takes a little bit of the risk out of crowdfunding to me, although, as we've discussed before, you should never crowdfund something without being fully aware of the risks.

burger1 · Post by **burger1** » Wed, 9. Apr 14, 18:19

next borderlands in space - can play as claptrap
http://www.pcgamer.com/2014/04/09/borde ... ampaign=uk

burger1 · Post by **burger1** » Sat, 12. Apr 14, 08:35

Russia to build permanent moonbase by 2040
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -base.html

Morkonan · Post by **Morkonan** » Sun, 20. Apr 14, 22:41

LOCH NESS MONSTER SPOTTED IN SATELLITE IMAGE!

http://abcnews.go.com/International/loc ... d=23394714

Loch Ness Monster Reportings on the Rise After Sighting on Apple Maps

Images of what is reportedly the infamous monster of Scotland's Loch Ness has spawned a spate of copycat sightings since the mythical creature was supposedly captured on Apple Maps by amateur Loch Ness Monster spotters last year.

Photos of what appears to be a creature roughly 100 feet in length floating under the surface of the North End of Loch Ness, a large freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands, has recently gone viral in media reports and online forums.

Glen Campbell, 49, the founder and president of The Official Loch Ness Monster Fan Club, which has been studying the images for months, told ABC News he's received at least two more reports of similar sightings of the elusive plesiosaur known as "Nessie," since they went public.

The pictures taken on satellite imagery by Apple for its smartphone maps were first flagged by two people late last year. Andrew Dixon and Peter Thain both separately sent images in to the Nessie Fan Club, which contains a register for every Loch Ness Monster sighting since 565 A.D., according to Campbell. ...

Ah, nevermind... It's "Apple Maps", so it's probably a pic of a puddle outside of some London bar or something.

(Still, it is an intriguing image. Probably a wake of some kind, but the source for that is currently unknown.)

clakclak · Post by **clakclak** » Sun, 20. Apr 14, 23:29

burger1 wrote:Russia to build permanent moonbase by 2040
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -base.html

First crimea now the moon, when will they stop?

(This comment is intended as a joke, and not meant to start the crimea debat, we have a topic for that.)

brucewarren · Post by **brucewarren** » Mon, 21. Apr 14, 00:14

If they want to do it let them.

I don't subscribe to the whole Cold War "How dare the Evil Ruskies poach our moon

" philosophy that seemed to be prevalent in the '60s.

clakclak · Post by **clakclak** » Mon, 21. Apr 14, 20:50

brucewarren wrote:If they want to do it let them.

I don't subscribe to the whole Cold War "How dare the Evil Ruskies poach our moon " philosophy that seemed to be prevalent in the '60s.

Who said that he did not want them on the moon.

Morkonan · Post by **Morkonan** » Wed, 23. Apr 14, 22:09

brucewarren wrote:If they want to do it let them.

I don't subscribe to the whole Cold War "How dare the Evil Ruskies poach our moon " philosophy that seemed to be prevalent in the '60s.

Just a note: According to the Outer Space Treaty, the Moon is off-limits in regards to any country claiming sovereignty over any part of it.

http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/Space ... erspt.html

But, Russia is free to build a habitat there, if they wish. The interior of the habitat would be "Russian" and ,under the sovereignty of Russia, IIRC. But, the ground it stood on would belong to no country and would be managed by the UN for "the greater good of all mankind."

Chobittsu · Post by **Chobittsu** » Wed, 23. Apr 14, 22:59

Can we just leave Russia alone? Yeah, they annexed Crimea. That's between Russia and Ukraine, not the rest of us. (Like seriously USA? You're dropping all cooperative projects between NASA and Roscosmos over this? Enjoy not going to the ISS anymore, or having to ask the Chinese for a lift. Oh wait, you can't, you still give them the cold-war-shoulder too.)

SO ANYWAYS. Speaking of parts of countries seceding~
http://blogs.mprnews.org/newscut/2014/0 ... ssor-says/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/0 ... 04462.html
http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/noquar ... 67281.html

INB4 CANADA ANNEXES IT.