google.com · Domains · Slashdot Mirror

Fun Facts by Anonymous Coward · 2014-01-17 12:28 · Score: 0 · on Obama Announces Surveillance Reforms

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Todd Giffen, also known as "StrStr", also known in Springfield Oregon as the Park Masturbater , as he likes to "whip it out" in a number of the public parks near his Centennial Blvd. digs... Todd will tell you (on his Twitter feed) that the NSA beams instructions into his head to "pleasure" himself...

There's something about Ohio by Anonymous Coward · 2014-01-17 09:50 · Score: 0 · on Controversial Execution In Ohio Uses New Lethal Drug Combination

Amusing search

Re:Who needs terrorists... by ScentCone · 2014-01-17 06:00 · Score: 1 · on Thousands of Gas Leaks Discovered Under Streets of Washington DC

No, I am European, and here a gas-leak is a big deal and rarely ever happens. Hence I point out the utter patheticness of the situation in your country.

You are simply wrong. Every gas system has leaks. In a large city, thousands of them. The point is that such leaks are normal and completely insignificant under most circumstances. And when the leak is serious, it's dealt with. Here, just like there. Of course, you're deliberately ignoring Europe's fine history of houses and buildings blowing up from gas leaks.

Right? Right.

Why are you ignoring it? Because doing so fits into your holier-than-thou narrative. Or, you think it does. Mostly, it just makes you sound like an uninformed, pompous idiot.

Re:The future of the human race by isorox · 2014-01-17 04:22 · Score: 1 · on Google Glass User Fights Speeding Ticket, Saying She's Defending the Future

Just look at this page:
https://plus.google.com/+CeciliaAbadie/posts

That right there is the future of the human race.
A self obsessed, attention seeking, ignorant person who thinks she can drive with a HUD. Maybe she can, but until she has trained in the army to use HUD's whilst driving, take the bloody thing off, for once, think of other people!

This single woman has basically enabled the world to drive with google glass. All those future accidents, waiting to happen, are on you Cecilia.

Forget 10,000 spoons, if she was killed by a glasshole driving a car there would have to be a song!

Re:The future of the human race by Anonymous Coward · 2014-01-17 03:11 · Score: 1 · on Google Glass User Fights Speeding Ticket, Saying She's Defending the Future

It gets better: https://plus.google.com/114375401846819599162/posts/h61cYL3rHeC

A video, mostly made up of shots from Google Glass from behind a steering wheel. Sounds like if her glasses were off, it's the exception rather than the rule.

Re:It's bad for all OS's by Anonymous Coward · 2014-01-17 02:55 · Score: 0 · on Many Mac OS Users Not Getting Security Updates

Good luck getting your hands on the right SIMMs, though.

https://www.google.com/search?q=32MB%2C+60ns%2C+72p+SIMM%2C+5v+fpm&rls=en - whew, that was hard work.

Re:Reinforcing the term by Hal_Porter · 2014-01-17 01:24 · Score: 1 · on Google Glass User Fights Speeding Ticket, Saying She's Defending the Future

If you look at her Google+(tm) site she's got screenshots of Google Glass(tm) showing message from a fitness app from the company she presumably shills for

https://plus.google.com/+CeciliaAbadie/posts/4N67WWGbEtS

One of her loathsome friends tweeted, or rather LynxFitted "I'm out here doing burpees in the middle of nowhere", and it popped up on her Google Glass(tm) display. Possibly this is self parody, and I'm not hip enough to get it.

Amusingly I used Google Chrome(tm) to view her Google+(tm) site and it's almost completely unusable. Scrolling is so slow I thought my scroll wheel had broken.

Redphone by flyingfsck · 2014-01-16 20:32 · Score: 1 · on NSA Collects 200 Million Text Messages Per Day

Time to whip out the Red Phone: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.thoughtcrime.redphone

Hypothetical questions by Okian+Warrior · 2014-01-16 18:20 · Score: 5, Interesting · on Electrical Engineering Lost 35,000 Jobs Last Year In the US

Here's some data points, and a question for the economists:

1) Productivity has been rising for decades. US productivity per capita is about $51,000 this year. That's $50,000 per person, including kids and non-working spouses.

2) Human needs follow a "priority queue"; meaning, that once a level of need is satisfied there is no further demand. Population needs will plateau and become steady - there is no "infinite demand" for more goods. If you have all the food you need, you don't consume more even if it's free &c.

2a) And population is stabilizing in all industrialized nations. Birth rate less than 2.0 per woman in the US, our population only grows due to immigration. Similar in other industrialized nations.

Given this data, here's a hypothetical question: Suppose efficiency grows so that the infrastructure could produce all the needs of the population using only 90% of the current workforce.

Q: What happens to the unneeded 10% workforce?

For a follow-on, consider Google's self-driving car. There are currently around 3.5 million professional truck drivers in the US, which is about 2% of the total work force. This doesn't count delivery vehicles such as FedEx, UPS, or USPS. Very soon this ~3% of the workforce will no longer be needed.

Q2: Are we already in this "10% is unneeded" situation?

Hypothetical questions by Okian+Warrior · 2014-01-16 18:20 · Score: 5, Interesting · on Electrical Engineering Lost 35,000 Jobs Last Year In the US

Here's some data points, and a question for the economists:

1) Productivity has been rising for decades. US productivity per capita is about $51,000 this year. That's $50,000 per person, including kids and non-working spouses.

2) Human needs follow a "priority queue"; meaning, that once a level of need is satisfied there is no further demand. Population needs will plateau and become steady - there is no "infinite demand" for more goods. If you have all the food you need, you don't consume more even if it's free &c.

2a) And population is stabilizing in all industrialized nations. Birth rate less than 2.0 per woman in the US, our population only grows due to immigration. Similar in other industrialized nations.

Given this data, here's a hypothetical question: Suppose efficiency grows so that the infrastructure could produce all the needs of the population using only 90% of the current workforce.

Q: What happens to the unneeded 10% workforce?

For a follow-on, consider Google's self-driving car. There are currently around 3.5 million professional truck drivers in the US, which is about 2% of the total work force. This doesn't count delivery vehicles such as FedEx, UPS, or USPS. Very soon this ~3% of the workforce will no longer be needed.

Q2: Are we already in this "10% is unneeded" situation?

The future of the human race by danknight48 · 2014-01-16 15:23 · Score: 2, Informative · on Google Glass User Fights Speeding Ticket, Saying She's Defending the Future

Just look at this page:
https://plus.google.com/+CeciliaAbadie/posts

That right there is the future of the human race.
A self obsessed, attention seeking, ignorant person who thinks she can drive with a HUD. Maybe she can, but until she has trained in the army to use HUD's whilst driving, take the bloody thing off, for once, think of other people!

This single woman has basically enabled the world to drive with google glass. All those future accidents, waiting to happen, are on you Cecilia.

Re:No, this is smart. This is to keep the customer by yuhong · 2014-01-16 14:36 · Score: 1 · on Microsoft Extends Updates For Windows XP Security Products Until July 2015

Two years happens to be how long MS continues support for a previous service pack after a new service pack release. And they do not fix the renderer directly, rather they use https://code.google.com/p/ots/ which validates the fonts before passing them to the kernel.

Re:I throw this out there often by Anonymous Coward · 2014-01-16 13:53 · Score: 0 · on 95% of ATMs Worldwide Are Still Using Windows XP

From what I can tell the first Diebold ATM was used in September 1978.

It probably used QBasic. I'm not really sure, I was using a VIC-20 around that time, IBM clones were too expensive.

Re:25%?? by MochaMan · 2014-01-16 12:03 · Score: 5, Informative · on Google Releases Dart 1.1

Dart team member here. The Dart project, like Chromium, is being run as a fully open source project accepting patches from Googlers and non-Googlers alike. We've also begun the ECMA Standardization process, meaning that like JavaScript we'll have a open standard that anyone can implement to. In terms of Dart users, here's a list of some. Hope that answers your questions!

Non-nullable types yet? by csumpi · 2014-01-16 11:39 · Score: 1 · on Google Releases Dart 1.1

Issue #22 solved yet?

Re: UMS by Kielistic · 2014-01-16 11:18 · Score: 1 · on Ask Slashdot: Suggestions For a Simple Media Server?

You keep telling me I don't understand things while continuously proving that it is you that does not. I'll try to lay things out as simply as possible for you.

even though there is a lot of visual information removed from the 1080p video, the 720p video started with less visual information, and they end up around the same quality.

Here you seem confused. You are basically agreeing with me- you just worded it very poorly. You are stating that reducing the bitrate of a 1080p video will remove visual information (which results in loss of quality) whereas a 720p video has less visual information and therefore does not need as high of a bitrate.

So by your own logic, 2 videos with the same bitrate, a 720p and a 1080p, have the same visual information, so why would one look like crap?

This is the crux of the issue. They don't have the same visual information. The 1080 resolution is a bigger space to fill (it has more pixels remember?) If you down scale that to 720 you can get away with reducing the bitrate because you are removing information by downscaling. If you keep it at 1080 you will want a higher bitrate than you would at 720.

When someone says "I want 1080p" they do not mean they want to see what looks like a 640×360 video upresed to 1920x1080. They want to see a crisp "HD" picture.

I don't even know why you are trying to disagree. It's just common sense that higher res will normally require a higher bitrate. Shall we see what youtube has to say on the subject? Citation! What do we notice here? As resolution goes up so does bitrate!

TextSecure by Charliemopps · 2014-01-16 08:12 · Score: 1 · on NSA Collects 200 Million Text Messages Per Day

TextSecure:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.thoughtcrime.securesms&hl=en

Written by Moxie Marlinspike

Try UPLINK by digitaltraveller · 2014-01-16 06:32 · Score: 1 · on Google Removes "Search Nearby" Function From Updated Google Maps

UPLINK
Swipe left in the main app to get the search by map feature.

Also please give any feedback about the app. We expect the experience to be progressively enhanced.

Re:When will companies be held liable? by Jason+Levine · 2014-01-16 05:43 · Score: 3, Informative · on Starbucks Phone App Stores Password Unencrypted

I can't speak to the iOS installations, but Google Play reports that the Starbucks app has between 1 million and 5 million installs: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.starbucks.mobilecard

If iOS has a similar installation base, we're talking somewhere between 1 million and 10 million affected users.

Done Already by the+monolith · 2014-01-16 01:04 · Score: 1 · on DNA Detectives Count Thousands of Fish Using a Glass of Water

Almost every day I dive past one of the Smithsonian biomass accretion modules in Aqaba Marine Park, Jordan. You can see one of the collection modules here.

If only academic departments/institutions collaborated or communicated a little bit more, maybe the research dollar would go a little further?

Cheers.

G

PADI instructor 636522

Re:Can't directly compare PC and phone sales ... by dwater · 2014-01-15 19:56 · Score: 3, Insightful · on Apple Devices To Reach Parity With Windows PCs In 2014

batteries expire and many 'common' (ie iPhone) phones batteries and also many uncommon (eg Nokia Windows Phones) aren't easily replaced - having said that, Steve managed to do it, so I guess I could :

http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/features/item/14377_Sealed_vs_user-replaceable_bat.php
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CD4QFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fstevesrantsnraves.blogspot.com%2F&ei=J4vXUtnEAave7AaZsoDQBQ&usg=AFQjCNGCaxTH0h7jTf_VYeudTXpOmvPEIA&sig2=JVa_3FpkZfUqnzKj-aPYMg&bvm=bv.59568121,d.ZGU&cad=rja

I recall him saying he is 'coming around' to the mindset of sealed batteries in a recent Phones Show too :

http://www.youtube.com/user/stevelitchfield

Re:They should require refund window by Plumpaquatsch · 2014-01-15 15:14 · Score: 1 · on Apple Will Refund $32.5M To Settle In-App Purchase Complaints With FTC

When I buy an app and discover it is a steaming turd, I should be able to click to remove it and get a refund within 15 minutes.

You mean like on Google Play? Oh, no, wait - There is no 15-minute refund period [for In-app purchases] - all refunds are at the discretion of the developer

Re:More garbage by CronoCloud · 2014-01-15 14:50 · Score: 1 · on Programmer Privilege

Well, we respectfully disagree with you too. Now please, shave your beard and trim your hair. No one wants to have a hobo-looking person on their team,

Ha ha ha ha.

RMS:

https://www.google.com/search?q=rms+stallman&client=firefox-a&hs=zHz&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=PkjXUq64JIS3qgGmlIGAAQ&ved=0CLYBEIke&biw=1920&bih=970

John Maddog Hall:

https://www.google.com/search?q=rms+stallman&client=firefox-a&hs=zHz&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=PkjXUq64JIS3qgGmlIGAAQ&ved=0CLYBEIke&biw=1920&bih=970#q=john+maddog+hall&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch

Alan Cox:

https://www.google.com/search?q=rms+stallman&client=firefox-a&hs=zHz&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=PkjXUq64JIS3qgGmlIGAAQ&ved=0CLYBEIke&biw=1920&bih=970#q=alan+cox&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch

Eric S. Raymond:

https://www.google.com/search?q=rms+stallman&client=firefox-a&hs=zHz&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=PkjXUq64JIS3qgGmlIGAAQ&ved=0CLYBEIke&biw=1920&bih=970#q=eric+s+raymond&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch

Re:More garbage by CronoCloud · 2014-01-15 14:50 · Score: 1 · on Programmer Privilege

Well, we respectfully disagree with you too. Now please, shave your beard and trim your hair. No one wants to have a hobo-looking person on their team,

Ha ha ha ha.

RMS:

https://www.google.com/search?q=rms+stallman&client=firefox-a&hs=zHz&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=PkjXUq64JIS3qgGmlIGAAQ&ved=0CLYBEIke&biw=1920&bih=970

John Maddog Hall:

https://www.google.com/search?q=rms+stallman&client=firefox-a&hs=zHz&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=PkjXUq64JIS3qgGmlIGAAQ&ved=0CLYBEIke&biw=1920&bih=970#q=john+maddog+hall&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch

Alan Cox:

https://www.google.com/search?q=rms+stallman&client=firefox-a&hs=zHz&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=PkjXUq64JIS3qgGmlIGAAQ&ved=0CLYBEIke&biw=1920&bih=970#q=alan+cox&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch

Eric S. Raymond:

https://www.google.com/search?q=rms+stallman&client=firefox-a&hs=zHz&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=PkjXUq64JIS3qgGmlIGAAQ&ved=0CLYBEIke&biw=1920&bih=970#q=eric+s+raymond&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch

Re:More garbage by CronoCloud · 2014-01-15 14:50 · Score: 1 · on Programmer Privilege

Well, we respectfully disagree with you too. Now please, shave your beard and trim your hair. No one wants to have a hobo-looking person on their team,

Ha ha ha ha.

RMS:

https://www.google.com/search?q=rms+stallman&client=firefox-a&hs=zHz&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=PkjXUq64JIS3qgGmlIGAAQ&ved=0CLYBEIke&biw=1920&bih=970

John Maddog Hall:

https://www.google.com/search?q=rms+stallman&client=firefox-a&hs=zHz&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=PkjXUq64JIS3qgGmlIGAAQ&ved=0CLYBEIke&biw=1920&bih=970#q=john+maddog+hall&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch

Alan Cox:

https://www.google.com/search?q=rms+stallman&client=firefox-a&hs=zHz&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=PkjXUq64JIS3qgGmlIGAAQ&ved=0CLYBEIke&biw=1920&bih=970#q=alan+cox&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch

Eric S. Raymond:

https://www.google.com/search?q=rms+stallman&client=firefox-a&hs=zHz&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=PkjXUq64JIS3qgGmlIGAAQ&ved=0CLYBEIke&biw=1920&bih=970#q=eric+s+raymond&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch

Re:More garbage by CronoCloud · 2014-01-15 14:50 · Score: 1 · on Programmer Privilege

Well, we respectfully disagree with you too. Now please, shave your beard and trim your hair. No one wants to have a hobo-looking person on their team,

Ha ha ha ha.

RMS:

https://www.google.com/search?q=rms+stallman&client=firefox-a&hs=zHz&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=PkjXUq64JIS3qgGmlIGAAQ&ved=0CLYBEIke&biw=1920&bih=970

John Maddog Hall:

https://www.google.com/search?q=rms+stallman&client=firefox-a&hs=zHz&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=PkjXUq64JIS3qgGmlIGAAQ&ved=0CLYBEIke&biw=1920&bih=970#q=john+maddog+hall&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch

Alan Cox:

https://www.google.com/search?q=rms+stallman&client=firefox-a&hs=zHz&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=PkjXUq64JIS3qgGmlIGAAQ&ved=0CLYBEIke&biw=1920&bih=970#q=alan+cox&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch

Eric S. Raymond:

https://www.google.com/search?q=rms+stallman&client=firefox-a&hs=zHz&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=PkjXUq64JIS3qgGmlIGAAQ&ved=0CLYBEIke&biw=1920&bih=970#q=eric+s+raymond&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch

Re:It's rigged by Anonymous Coward · 2014-01-15 14:15 · Score: 0 · on FISA Judges Oppose Intelligence Reform Proposals Aimed At Court

At this point, it's common knowlege.

Either the government is very good at making its case, or the court has become a rubber stamp: that secret FISA court approved all 1,789 requests submitted to it in 2012.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-van-buren/10-nsa-myths-debunked_b_4586495.html

See also: Google News

Re:No by Sigma+7 · 2014-01-15 05:11 · Score: 2 · on Notorious Patent Troll Sues Federal Trade Commission

The real answer is to not allow patents for things that are "obvious" to people knowledgeable in the relevant field.

Obvious is a vague term that could be applied retroactivly (in case everyone suddenly learns how to do something from said patent.)

It might be better to require an invention instead. For example, A method and system for providing online records doesn't appear to be much of an invention (both abstract and claim 1 seem to describe any database), and more like attempting to comply with a new standard or industry requirement. Even if there is something novel in that patent, it appears to be buried among the description on something handled by existing technology.

Re:Ranking choices consistently by CanHasDIY · 2014-01-15 04:34 · Score: 1 · on Why Transitivity Violations Can Be Rational

Relating to my previous response:

http://books.google.com/books/about/Bad_Science.html?id=znCisNI4c8MC

Links on the subject by satch89450 · 2014-01-15 03:41 · Score: 4, Informative · on Notorious Patent Troll Sues Federal Trade Commission

The patent: http://www.google.com/patents/US7986426

Another view: http://stop-project-paperless.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Patent-US7986426.pdf

Analysis of the patent: http://www.patentbuddy.com/Patent/7986426

The dispute of the patent: http://www.ricoh-usa.com/news/news_release.aspx?prid=1052&alnv=pr

Dispute filing: http://www.sutherland.com/portalresource/Ricoh_institution_decision.pdf

Possible prior art:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_DocuShare

http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/xerox/xns/XNSG058504_XNS_Introduction.pdf (1985)

OpenELEC front end, SMB/CIFS/NFS server back-end by chill · 2014-01-15 01:33 · Score: 1 · on Ask Slashdot: Suggestions For a Simple Media Server?

I have a set-up where all my media files are stored on a generic Linux file server running Samba for CIFS/SMB and exporting NFS shares. This can be any old box you have laying around, and yes, the Raspberry Pi can do this fine.

My televisions have small boxes mounted via VESA-mount adapters on the back of them. 2 are Raspberry Pis, 1 is a Zotac Z-Box. Two are wired, one is wireless, all have power and HDMI cables. All run OpenELEC as a front end and I use Yatse on my Android phone as a remote.

The downsides are you can't integrate Netflix into OpenELEC (which is really just a skinned, slimmed XBMC) because of lack of DRM support on Linux. I haven't checked on Amazon Prime video or Hulu Plus video support lately. I know it was working before with the BlueCop repository of add-ons.

Re:I found him. by Guy+Harris · 2014-01-14 19:23 · Score: 1 · on The Mystery/Myth of the $3 Million Google Engineer

He's on Google+,

That's not him; he doesn't work for Google.

heard he has heart trouble too.

Had heart trouble. They fixed that.

Some people deserve that by hcs_$reboot · 2014-01-14 18:30 · Score: 4, Interesting · on The Mystery/Myth of the $3 Million Google Engineer

I don't know his salary, but clearly someone like Petr, currently working at Google, deserves such an allowance (Petr is known for his genius talent in algorithmics). $3 million is 30 times what makes a good engineer - is it worth it? Or, should Google replace Petr with 30 engineers, for the same price? The thing is that at the level of Petr, none of the 30 engineers are likely to solve the complex problems that require complex algorithms. To be convinced, try to practice (or ask your best programmer friend) some of the Google Code Jam finale problems, or from topcoder...

I found him. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-01-14 17:16 · Score: 0 · on The Mystery/Myth of the $3 Million Google Engineer

He's on Google+, heard he has heart trouble too.

Re:For all google's "evil" doings by LordLimecat · 2014-01-14 12:41 · Score: 5, Informative · on Google Chrome 32 Is Out: Noisy Tabs Indicators, Supervised Users

I just did some research; No, they do not submit it to Google. From their docs:
https://developers.google.com/safe-browsing/

The Safe Browsing API is an experimental API that enables applications to download an encrypted table for local, client-side lookups of URLs that you would like to check. ...
The Safe Browsing API v2 has the following advantages:
* Better privacy: API users exchange data with the server using hashed URLs so the server never knows the actual URLs queried by the clients.

And of course, you can actually see said database tables under your profile as files beginning,..
"C:\Users\[USER]\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Safe Browsing*"
And if you were truly paranoid and / or wanted to stop spreading FUD, you could wireshark your connections to confirm that they do not, in fact, send those URLs to google to block malware.

Re:Efficiency. by Zynder · 2014-01-14 12:38 · Score: 1 · on Who Is Liable When a Self-Driving Car Crashes?

I was living in Okinawa Japan back in 1997. Street racing was all the rage at the time and being you and dumb, I succumbed to it as well. That was the popular birth of drifting before anyone in the US had even thought about making Fast and the Furious. Counter to the drifter's there was a group of folks who did stupendously hideous custom body packages and whatnot to their vans and they fit the image you mentioned. Comfort and speed all in one. Check out this GIS and check out the first 3 hits. Those are just the tip of the iceberg regarding insane carnival ride style monstrosities.

Scroll bar steppers are gone from Chrome by Megawatt-hour · 2014-01-14 12:09 · Score: 4, Interesting · on Google Chrome 32 Is Out: Noisy Tabs Indicators, Supervised Users

You know those little arrow buttons at each end of the scroll bar? The ones that scroll the content one line at a time? Gone as of Chrome 32. Anyone else think this is a terrible idea? Bug report here.

Re:Studying art is not for me by unrtst · 2014-01-14 10:10 · Score: 1 · on Ask Slashdot: How Can I Improve My Memory For Study?

I can sketch, but I do not have the fine motor skills or natural ability to replicate real world (or imagined) people, places, or things on paper. If I were to go to a university to study art, I too would take 2-3 times as long as anyone else, and produce work which was noticably less accurate/detailed than my peers. I could study harder, retake many classes, try all sorts of learning tricks, but it would always be an uphill battle.

Do you have any idea how many hours those others have already invested in those skills? You'd be playing catch up, but not because of talent! (note: I went to college for fine arts... there's a LOT of people that struggled to replicated real world imagery, even if they could make nice looking art)

Here's one of my favorite (real) stories (it's slightly on topic):
A friend, Tom, was selling some ceramic pieces at the art fair.
A lady wanted one of the pieces, and was a little shocked at the price - $85.
She asked how long it took him to make it, that it was priced so high (which, btw, was only high in the "student art sale" realm).
His reply: "22 years - my entire life."
He then briefly explained that it would be impossible for him to make that piece if it weren't for everything that came before it... the hundreds of others that never made it off the wheel; the learning of the fundamentals of color, line, and form; etc etc. So no, it's not worth $85, but I need the money for school, so I'm selling it at a loss.

It is easy for those of us in knowledge positions to think that success in technical classes is simply a function of hard work. That, while partially true, is not the sole criteria for success. A friend (and music notable) has said that nearly everyone can sing, and with practice anyone who can sing, can sing well. While that's true, it's only true in the sense that you could dedicate your entire life to singing and get good - good enough to enjoy it. But you would never have thevoice of Mariah Carey or Luciano Pavoratti or any of a number of naturally gifted people who also worked very hard.

Those are exceptions, not the norm, even for professional singers. Do you have any idea how many people are paid to sing? Dedicate your life to it, and there's a REALLY REALLY good chance you can be one of them.

Choosing to become an artist out of desire, and finding that you cannot - with instruction - replicate basic actions is a prime indicator that art may not be the path which provides the greatest reward.

If you enjoy it and have the desire, you already have the reward if you are actively doing it. ...and have you seen any artwork... ever!?! The "replicate basic actions" are the easy part, and often not required. (ex. https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1392&bih=1047&q=Willem+de+Kooning&oq=Willem+de+Kooning&gs_l=img.12..0l10.11723.11723.0.12785.1.1.0.0.0.0.87.87.1.1.0....0...1ac..32.img..0.1.86.yf1nF7wnQGY)

Another Curtis Reeves? by orgelspieler · 2014-01-14 07:58 · Score: 1 · on Man Shot To Death For Texting During Movie

Another Florida officer named Curtis Reeves shot and killed a teenager for looting. But it couldn't be the same guy because the ages don't add up. This guy was 33 in '82, making him 64 now. By 1982 he already had two dozen complaints against him, including 8 write-ups. You'd think after the first few, he would have had some sort of actual punishment. Not exactly a squeaky clean record. Who knows, maybe it is the same guy, just a wrong age in one article or the other?

Re:Linux sorely needs a decent media player by Qzukk · 2014-01-14 07:29 · Score: 1 · on Media Player Nightingale Reaches 1.12.1; First Release Since Songbird

an equivalent to foobar2000 in Linux

I used foobar2000 in windows before switching to Linux (years ago), and I use QuodLibet now. I don't know what foobar2000 does now, but it seemed to me at the time that QuodLibet did everything I did with foobar2000 back then (not that I was a foobar2000 power user back then).

Myth by Theaetetus · 2014-01-14 04:51 · Score: 1 · on Supreme Court Refuses To Hear Newegg Patent Case

Furniture, fashion, and a significant portion of industrial design (such as car bodies) don't even have copyright or design patent protection. Yet those industries thrive.

I have no idea why this myth keeps getting spread. Of course, furniture, fashion, and car bodies have patent protection. Ten seconds on Google refutes your post, and yet this myth keeps getting spread over and over.

Myth by Theaetetus · 2014-01-14 04:51 · Score: 1 · on Supreme Court Refuses To Hear Newegg Patent Case

Furniture, fashion, and a significant portion of industrial design (such as car bodies) don't even have copyright or design patent protection. Yet those industries thrive.

I have no idea why this myth keeps getting spread. Of course, furniture, fashion, and car bodies have patent protection. Ten seconds on Google refutes your post, and yet this myth keeps getting spread over and over.

Myth by Theaetetus · 2014-01-14 04:51 · Score: 1 · on Supreme Court Refuses To Hear Newegg Patent Case

Furniture, fashion, and a significant portion of industrial design (such as car bodies) don't even have copyright or design patent protection. Yet those industries thrive.

I have no idea why this myth keeps getting spread. Of course, furniture, fashion, and car bodies have patent protection. Ten seconds on Google refutes your post, and yet this myth keeps getting spread over and over.

Re:Not the first time they've done it by ThePhilips · 2014-01-14 04:29 · Score: 1 · on Bennett Haselton: Google+ To Gmail Controversy Missing the Point

I can confirm this. My Google Talk also started showing "Nick First Last" names instead of just the Nick.

Luckily I had purged my real name from there long time ago - when I noticed that it was exposed via my blog hosted on the blogger.com . Still the junk I used showed up in other people's GTalks.

Still, it took me quite sometime to figure out what to put there: it turned out that the last name field is optional, and if you fill in the first name with the nick, then it works as before.

And no, my gmail account never ever touched anything of the Google, the Social.

Here is the page. It is whyever not accessible from my GMail, but clicking "Account Settings.." in GTalk brought it up.

Re:Shocking by ausekilis · 2014-01-14 02:16 · Score: 4, Informative · on Lawsuit: Oracle Called $50K 'Good Money For an Indian'

If proven true in court, this justifies a boycott of Oracle products.

It wasn't the public shaming and mudslinging between Oracle and Google, or the dozens of lawsuits Oracle has brought on with various companies, like those providing Solaris support "illegally", or even the controversies surrounding the company and it's business tactics. No, one racial comment and termination in an at-will state is what's going to cause the boycott.

Re:Say... by PC_THE_GREAT · 2014-01-13 18:28 · Score: 1 · on Using Nanotechnology To Build Thinner, Stronger Condoms

Let's hope you don't end up having to do a ctrl alt del on that :p.
http://www.google.com/patents/US20100086488

Re:Where to begin ... by chinhxulk · 2014-01-13 17:03 · Score: -1, Offtopic · on New Home Automation?

Re:Where to begin ... by chinhxulk · 2014-01-13 17:03 · Score: -1, Offtopic · on New Home Automation?

Re:Where to begin ... by chinhxulk · 2014-01-13 17:03 · Score: -1, Offtopic · on New Home Automation?

Re:Where to begin ... by chinhxulk · 2014-01-13 17:03 · Score: -1, Offtopic · on New Home Automation?

Slashdot Mirror

Domain: google.com

Comments · 95,278