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Re:Poetic Justice by thePowerOfGrayskull · 2012-06-24 11:41 · Score: 1 · on Georgia Apple Store Refuses To Sell iPad To Iranian-American Teen

You're literally shocked? As in, you were zapped by lightning due to your perception of arrogance and bigotry?

Get a dictionary.

indeed.

Re:2,500? by Immerman · 2012-06-24 07:48 · Score: 1 · on More Hot Weather For Southern California, Says UCLA Study

Note they said precise (=detailed) - not accurate (=correct), the two are independent concepts. As an example imagine you have two tape measures - one is marked only at every foot, the other also has markings at every inch. The second tape is 12 times as precise as the first. If you were measuring area that precision would square, for an area measured in inches is 144 times as precise as one measured in feet.

In this case their simulation essentially has regional "pixels" covering 2-1/4 square miles - if they're 2500x as precise as in previous simulations that means previous simulations "pixels" covered 5,625 square miles. Basically the old simulation looked at regions 75 miles across, whereas the new one is only 1.5 miles across.

For reference here's what California looks like at ~1.5 mile/pixels resolution
http://maps.google.com/?ll=37.509726,-120.541992&spn=9.284811,15.007324&t=p&z=6
And here it is at ~21miles/pixel
http://maps.google.com/?ll=37.439974,-120.585937&spn=125.838497,240.117188&t=p&z=2
On my system Google maps won't actually stay zoomed out to ~80 miles/pixel, but it you replace that last =2 with an =0 you'll get a quick glimpse of it.

Hopefully it's obvious that the former will do a much better job of capturing the micro-climates in an area where weather influences are dominated by a meandering coastline and mountains that don't even show up at a 75mile resolution.

Re:2,500? by Immerman · 2012-06-24 07:48 · Score: 1 · on More Hot Weather For Southern California, Says UCLA Study

Note they said precise (=detailed) - not accurate (=correct), the two are independent concepts. As an example imagine you have two tape measures - one is marked only at every foot, the other also has markings at every inch. The second tape is 12 times as precise as the first. If you were measuring area that precision would square, for an area measured in inches is 144 times as precise as one measured in feet.

In this case their simulation essentially has regional "pixels" covering 2-1/4 square miles - if they're 2500x as precise as in previous simulations that means previous simulations "pixels" covered 5,625 square miles. Basically the old simulation looked at regions 75 miles across, whereas the new one is only 1.5 miles across.

For reference here's what California looks like at ~1.5 mile/pixels resolution
http://maps.google.com/?ll=37.509726,-120.541992&spn=9.284811,15.007324&t=p&z=6
And here it is at ~21miles/pixel
http://maps.google.com/?ll=37.439974,-120.585937&spn=125.838497,240.117188&t=p&z=2
On my system Google maps won't actually stay zoomed out to ~80 miles/pixel, but it you replace that last =2 with an =0 you'll get a quick glimpse of it.

Hopefully it's obvious that the former will do a much better job of capturing the micro-climates in an area where weather influences are dominated by a meandering coastline and mountains that don't even show up at a 75mile resolution.

Re:Ugh, this makes me mad. by hairyfeet · 2012-06-24 04:39 · Score: 5, Interesting · on Nvidia Engineer Asks How the Company Can Improve Linux Support

But whose fault is that when Torvalds flat out refuses to allow a hardware ABI that EVERYONE ELSE has? Solaris, BSD, Windows, OSX, hell even OS/2 has a fricking ABI now and the ONLY OS that doesn't is Linux. So why should Nvidia or anybody else jump through hoops to support a broken design?

You can use Win2K drivers on XP, you can use Vista drivers on win 7 and 8, that's over a decade of support for a driver. That means that in all likelihood the hardware will be long dead before you can no longer run it on your choice of Windows OS.

I'm personally using a 2008 Vista driver on my fully updated Win 7 simply because it interacts better with the software I prefer to use, yet on Linux its fully expected that driver simply won't work without a recompile or major futzing, that's just fucked up folks, and even one of the Red Hat developers says the current system simply isn't sustainable, you have too few qualified people trying to support too much and the QA and QC simply isn't there because of it.

I can tell you that as a retailer that is why I'll sell a system with XP despite XP being creaky as hell now, simply because I can't even take a 4 year old Linux and upgrade it to current without shit breaking. The entire driver subsystem in Linux is a God awful mess and if this finally gets people to talk about it, instead of just accepting fixes and forum hunts as par for the course? let me be the first to say i'm ALL for it. there is no damned reason why companies like Nvidia and AMD should have to keep releasing drivers for old hardware simply because Torvalds ego won't let him see the current system doesn't work. And PLEASE don't say it would encourage binary blobs because in case you ain't notice? they ALREADY DO THAT NOW, you just have shittier support.

So don't sweep it under the rug folks, this is simply a symptom of a MUCH larger problem, and that is the current driver model simply isn't sustainable. You can get by with it in server and embedded because hardware changes there are practically non existent and positively glacial, hell many servers still use Rage II for GPUs for the love of Pete, but to gain in the consumer market you need to be able to keep up with the constantly changing hardware and the current model simply doesn't work. Its always behind the curve, always way behind, hell by the time things are properly supported they usually aren't being sold in retail anymore. this really needs to change folks, and the only way it'll happen is if enough people get fed up with the status quo and complain. You can and DO deserve better fellas.

Well, here's what happens in those cases... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-06-24 04:11 · Score: -1 · on Microsoft Blocks FSF Donation Website As a 'Gambling Site'

"the most amusing thing here, from my point of view, is that only last week I pulled the corporate edition of the AV suite from 'Macdubhsith' from a client's machine as it had allowed 20 different Trojans to infect it (Infections spotted by the four other virus scanners I have, mbam and spybot, and confirmed by submitting a sample infected file to virustotal)." - by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 24, @11:45AM (#40429631)

Glad YOU found it "amusing" - I'll tell you 1 thing, point-blank, from being on the "receiving end" of such false accusations... it's NOT fun!

(Pissed me off royally to be quite honest, especially considering I am giving of my OWN FREE TIME & EFFORT creating a FREEWARE that benefits the end user of it in more than just security, but also for better speed they pay for (saving them those monies)).

---

"Somehow, the fact that their software flags a non-trojan application as a Trojan does not surprise me in the least." - by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 24, @11:45AM (#40429631)

Well, since I mentioned Nir Sofer earlier, since it has happened to he MANY times more than it has myself (& he does a LOT of really NEAT "powertoys" type apps in both 32-bit + 64-bit form as I do)?

Again - feel FREE to write him about it (he won't lie or deny what I noted here, & in fact, will probably tell you more)!

Yes... it happens, a LOT - & once more:

Even to Dr. Mark Russinovich of Microsoft!

(Whom I noted as well, & on his pstools more than a FEW times no less).

It happened to me YEARS AGO with Computer Associates, & I passed ALL 21 OF THEIR QUESTIONS FOR REMOVAL!

For an app that launched other apps invisibly - a puny 3 lines @ most of API calls which I did for a user to launch OLD Apache webservers that didn't run as trayiconized apps as modern apps do, & it bugged him it was in his startbar ALL THE TIME, so I asked him:

"Can you script it to run the way you like automatically on startup w/out having to use the GUI interface first?"

He said YES, so I wrote the app up for him to eliminate the issue!

After - CA got hold of it, via a Thor Schrock (idiot with NO CSC degree even), & classified it as a malware... I confronted them, they lowered it to a ZERO THREAT LEVEL, but should have removed it period...

They got sold off in the end, lol, & CA's no "reputable" company anyhow & are in fact, CONVICTED CRIMINALS - couldn't happen to a "NICER BUNCH OF GUYS"... why?

I called a Mr. Jensen there, directly, who heads that project in the former CA security suite... he told me first nicely he'd look into it. I called him days later directly & he told me "do not call me again" (to which I told him to go FUCK himself).

(In the end? LOL, HE GOT HIS... See here on THAT account -> http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Computer+Associates%22+and+%22scandal%22&hl=en&gbv=1&prmd=imvns&ei=PTjnT9_lNYKf6QHk0bTgDg&start=10&sa=N ))

"WHAT GOES AROUND, COMES AROUND!" It's ALL karma...

* So, on what Nir Sofer suspected, & what the parent poster here noted:

"Antivirus vendors classifying the competition as malware" - by Arancaytar (966377) on Sunday June 24, @09:51AM (#40428751) Homepage

About major companies attempting to "shit on the competition"?

In fact - Nir Sofer AND MYSELF also BOTH suspected they do it MORE to the "little guys" (like myself & he) than they do to their MAJOR larger competitors...

(Why? Easy - we're a LOT simpler to "crap on", & we're smaller/more nimble, & can produce patches FASTER & THEY KNOW IT, and we have less overheads... BUT, those same large companies have fleets of atto

Re:Maybe by TubeSteak · 2012-06-23 17:00 · Score: 2 · on U.S. Gas Prices Continue To Fall

The price drops have much more to do with demand destruction - less money, less gas. No speculator conspiracy, no Wall Street conspiracy, no oil company conspiracy.

[Citation needed]
Even a cursory google search will give you two basic facts
1. Saudi Arabia is pumping the most oil in decades (~10 million bbl/day), over the protests of other OPEC members, in order to keep oil prices down.
2. Some refinery shutdowns/closures from the last year have been resolved, thus increasing capacity and lowering gasoline prices.

The real chokepoint these days is refining capacity and it's nearly impossible for them to make money with oil >$100/bbl.

Re:This proves science is bad by tbird81 · 2012-06-23 10:56 · Score: 2 · on Cyanide-Producing GM Grass Linked To Texas Cattle Deaths

It's as if producing cyanide has some sort of adaptive advantage to the grass. Why would Gaia do this? It's those evil scientists.

Here's some propaganda from HowStuffWorks, pretending that clover does the same thing:

"Some species of clover developed a mutation that caused the poison cyanide to form in the plant's cells. This gave the clover a bitter taste, making it less likely to be eaten. However, when the temperature drops below freezing, some cells ruptur, releasing the cyanide into the plant's tissues and killing the plant. In warm climates, natural selection acted in favor of the cyanide-producing clover, but where the winters are cold, non-cyanide clover was favored. Each kind exists almost exclusively in each climate area."

They're even teaching this stuff in public schools!.

Re:Ok, now THAT is a cool sci-fi story by JWSmythe · 2012-06-23 10:42 · Score: 2, Insightful · on Cyanide-Producing GM Grass Linked To Texas Cattle Deaths

Well, knowing how plants do spread over time, this could be catastrophic unless it is quarantined. We've already seen what happens with an invasive plant species.

This could be an ecological disaster. The grass isn't "new", and this wasn't a test case. It's been sold to farmers since 1991. https://www.google.com/#hl=en&safe=off&sclient=psy-ab&q=Tifton+85+bermudagrass

It's clearly for farming, but I wonder how much has ended up around residences also. In any case, this could be really bad. Looking around, it's most likely in too many areas, so it cannot be quarantined and destroyed. ... and I'm not a anti-GM nut.

Re:Not necessarily weaponizable.... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-06-23 06:50 · Score: 0 · on Laser Treatment For Earth-Bound Asteroids

https://www.google.com/search?q=lasers+on+battleships+20+feet+per+second&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

The other stuff is privileged and fucking amazing.

Google has real crowdsourcing too by Anonymous Coward · 2012-06-23 02:25 · Score: 2, Informative · on How Satnav Maps Are Made

The article implies that the only ability to modify the data on Google Maps is using the Report a Problem link, but many countries in the world, including the US and Canada, allow everything to be edited directly by anyone using Map Maker. Edits are reviewed by both a team of over 500 trusted users worldwide and by Google employees. As trust is built up by making good edits and reviewing the edits of others, more things can be changed without requiring approvals. It's like an MMORPG for map geeks, except that it produces actual useful results in the real world. More info in the Getting Started Guide.

//disclaimer I am one of the trusted reviewers, but am not employed by Google.

Google has real crowdsourcing too by Anonymous Coward · 2012-06-23 02:25 · Score: 2, Informative · on How Satnav Maps Are Made

The article implies that the only ability to modify the data on Google Maps is using the Report a Problem link, but many countries in the world, including the US and Canada, allow everything to be edited directly by anyone using Map Maker. Edits are reviewed by both a team of over 500 trusted users worldwide and by Google employees. As trust is built up by making good edits and reviewing the edits of others, more things can be changed without requiring approvals. It's like an MMORPG for map geeks, except that it produces actual useful results in the real world. More info in the Getting Started Guide.

//disclaimer I am one of the trusted reviewers, but am not employed by Google.

Same with EU/ACTA by QuasiSteve · 2012-06-23 00:45 · Score: 5, Interesting · on SOPA Protests 'Poisoned the Well,' Says Congressional Staffer

EC member Anders Jessen, Trade, suggested that the negotiations surrounding ACTA were unfair; not because of all the shrouded-in-secrecy/hidden-agenda stuff, but because of 'threats' against governments (hacks on government websites, threats to release data if governments voted in favor of ACTA) and the focus on the 'digital' section.
He suggested that if that section had not been there, ACTA would have been accepted, and that would have been a good thing with regard to fake physical articles such as clothes and parts (specifically pointing out aircraft parts).

Yet it doesn't dawn on him that maybe they should remove the 'digital' section and re-submit. Or, more likely, it does - but he knows as well as anybody else that the 'digital' part is actually the meat and the 'physical' is just to get major manufacturers and their lobbying prowess on board.

Some of that shines through in his statement that Google's revenue is now bigger than that of all newspaper publishers together, noting that in this era you can make copies much, much faster and that 'online users have cannibalized offline users'.

He does admit to some mistakes and that this is a time for self-reflection for the EC as the EP critized him and suggested that next time something is put forth to which a yes-or-no vote is to be cast, they should better coordinate and cooperate with the EP.

Source:
http://www.nu.nl/tech/2841489/europese-commissie-vreest-gevolgen-bij-afwijzen-acta.html

Translated (horribly):
http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=nl&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nu.nl%2Ftech%2F2841489%2Feuropese-commissie-vreest-gevolgen-bij-afwijzen-acta.html

Re:crazy stuff by catmistake · 2012-06-22 17:13 · Score: 1 · on Ubuntu Lays Plans For Getting Past UEFI SecureBoot

Not all native applications. The company I work for still has a few. The organisation I worked for before had a few ActiveX only solutions.

Fair enough.

Everywhere I've worked has used Outlook.

Outlook Web App

World of Warcraft doesn't run in a browser

I'm afraid it does

and only has official clients for Windows or a much more expensive alternative.

If you are referring to OS X, you are gravely mistaken:

Windows 7 for $72 - $239

OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard for $29,
OS X 10.7 Lion usb drive installer for $69,
OS X 10.7 Lion App Store download for $29.99, and
OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion for $19.99

Photoshop doesn't run in a browser.

Photoshop in a browser. and here's 9 more alternatives of varying complexity and ability.

AutoDesk doesn't run in a browser and: "Note: The Autodesk Design Review Browser Add-in does not support scripting or automation in the browser because Firefox and Chrome do not support COM controls." - Windows only restrictions on their browser plugin.

Autodesk in a browser. Of the particular plugin of which you speak, that is true. But since you last looked, they have made a new, different, web based CAD application that indeed allows you to create, edit and use the familiar tools of the native application.

Hardware drivers don't run in a browser and again the alternatives don't always support hardware as well as Windows does - look at the criticism of both NVidia and AMD this week for worse support for Linux than Windows.

I don't see how this matters, but you got me! I can't find any browser based hardware drivers.

Face it. You and your hysterical friend below are wrong. Windows is entrenched. It's the 21st century mainframe. It might go away eventually but we're stuck with it for now and for a long time to come. There is no realistic alternative to it. That's realistic, not just another OS with a GUI and an slightly worse office suite, but an OS that can run whatever people want and need it to. That is Windows largely.

I think you might be a little out of touch... stuck in 2002 perhaps.

These days, that Windows is still most popular among commercial installations is, again, incidental. All it takes is a progressive CIO or CTO to unseat Windows from any particular installation. It is a desktop... it is not essential. Any desktop will do.

Mac OS X is great but the devices it runs on are far more expensive than Windows machines. No corporation will be spending twice as much on computers that won't run all their software and Mac home users tend to have a Windows machine/partition as well.

I don't know why this myth keeps getting perpetuated. Feature for feature, Apple's hardware is always proven to cost within 10% of the competition or less. This is

Re:Huh? by thegarbz · 2012-06-22 12:28 · Score: 5, Insightful · on Google Touts Worker Tracking As Own CEO Goes MIA

Wait you're right!

We never considered this in the past. We will completely rethink our strategy from this point forward.

From now on we will not track a single person, everyone's browsing habits will be anonymous.
Here's our new pricing policy:
- $0.10 per google search.
- $0.30 per click on a search result.
- $10 per month for Gmail.
- $0.50 per sqkm of map downloaded on maps.

This new pricing structure offers people exactly what they want. A completely ad free and untracked Google experience. If you do not wish to pay this pricing scheme or wish to keep using Google services for free, you can sign up for a free google experience by sending an email to please_track_me@google.com

Kind Regards
Larry Page

Google - Giving the customers the choice they always wanted.

Re:UEFI SecureBoot is a catastrophy by Anonymous Coward · 2012-06-22 10:35 · Score: 0 · on Ubuntu Lays Plans For Getting Past UEFI SecureBoot

Just for your edification... there is no word spelled noone. noone

If you want to go out on a limb, then take the stand as at Wiktionary noone and see that almost everyone (500 to 1) think you're fucking wrong, and in the UK 12 to 1 think you're bloody fucking wrong.

I'm sure you ment "no one" as in two words. noone might also be noon time "quicky" as in 'quick sex at noon". Or, maybe, you're just too fucking stupid to know any better...

Re:WTF? by IorDMUX · 2012-06-22 07:54 · Score: 2 · on Google Touts Worker Tracking As Own CEO Goes MIA

I can't believe people would be willing to do this.

I can think of plenty of industries where this is already done to some degree -- a Google maps integration would likely only help things. A few examples:

National Park Service rangers (often using radios, at the moment) The trucking/shipping industry (OmniTRACS and the like) Utility work (dunno... GPS?) Large scale mining/quarry/construction work (again, radios) Medical, security, and service at amusement parks (again, radios -- I've done this, it's pretty important to be able to know where person X or the guy with Y equipment is at any time)

And plenty more, I'm sure. In many cases, these employees are already given a work radio or phone to keep in contact. I doubt that most of these employees take their radios home, why would they take home their company phones?

I know people are worried about scope creep and big brother and the like, but this isn't as groundbreaking as it seems. Employers have had the ability to call you at home for a long time, now, and company vehicles are often very well tracked, yet most of us don't worry about our boss watching us sleep.

Did you actually look at the product description? It is an excellent example of Google organizing, compiling, and putting in one easy to use place information that most businesses already use to operate day-to-day. The groundbreaking feature is Google's ability to process the data... ... just take a look.

Re:I know the open drivers may not be as good by hairyfeet · 2012-06-22 07:28 · Score: 1, Flamebait · on XBMC Developers Criticize AMD's Linux Driver

They can't give away what they don't own, both HDMI and protected path video aren't owned by AMD so they have no choice but remove any traces from the specs.

Sigh...look in the damned mirror people! Its been 20 fricking years already, the damned drivers STILL don't work, they have NEVER worked great, the thing is a mess. Even one of the Red Hat devs says the current system isn't working and isn't sustainable, so its time folks. Time to take a good look in the mirror, cut through the dogma and bullshit, tell Torvalds he's had 20 years and couldn't fix the problems so STFU and give Linux a stable driver ABI already, and start working your way down the list of problems and making Linux a true third way.

Look as a retailer I WANT Linux to succeed, i really do. I do NOT like cutting a check to MSFT with every new build but right now things are a total clusterfuck. Companies having to continue to write drivers for stuff they don't even sell anymore because Linus' kernel fiddling breaks the old drivers, everything from the kernel to the DEs are in a giant state of constant flux and chaos, things that work in foo not working in foo+1, as it is now the driver situation alone would cost me more than a copy of Win HP simply because of all the time I'd have to spend on forum hunts and CLI fiddling and fixes just to get everything back to functional after an update.

Its a mess folks, and the sooner you accept there is a problem the sooner you can start to work to change it. Remember folks CLI fixes and forum hunts should NEVER be par for the course, you should and do deserve better!

Re:Seriously? by steelfood · 2012-06-22 04:38 · Score: 1 · on Microsoft's Surface Caught Windows OEMs By Surprise

Would a Kinect interface in a laptop be interesting?

Yeah, it would finally enable this. That would be cool.

Apple is more profitable by sjbe · 2012-06-22 03:42 · Score: 4, Informative · on Microsoft's Surface Caught Windows OEMs By Surprise

MS have much fatter profit margins then Apple...

No they don't. Both companies have net profit margins around 29.5% with Apple slightly higher in the most recent quarter than Microsoft.

Apple is more profitable by sjbe · 2012-06-22 03:42 · Score: 4, Informative · on Microsoft's Surface Caught Windows OEMs By Surprise

MS have much fatter profit margins then Apple...

No they don't. Both companies have net profit margins around 29.5% with Apple slightly higher in the most recent quarter than Microsoft.

Re:How long until Google notices? by RivenAleem · 2012-06-21 22:30 · Score: 3, Interesting · on Interview With Mozilla's Ryan Merkley: Tracking the Trackers

And if Google withdraw their funding over this Collusion addon, how do you think that will look?

As far as I know, Google have been very upfrontabout what they have on me and what they use that information for. Collusion doesn't change anything for Google, especially if they respect the DNT option. I think Google would be quite alright with this, as what it really does is reveal how much OTHER people are tracking about you, and not telling you about it. Especially if OTHER people are ignoring DNT.

Like it is said, if you have nothing to hide from Collusion, then you have nothing to fear.

Re:On the dangers of voting machines by Khith · 2012-06-21 18:02 · Score: 3, Insightful · on Bev Harris of Black Box Voting Releases Accenture's Voting Software

If you're willing to wade through a ton of charts and statistics (well, this IS Slashdot) then check out this longer version.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0ByJAC-sfXwumdkE4d0Y2eWtURTZ2eDM5RmlLc3ZhQQ/edit?pli=1

There's been major election fraud to prop up Romney and reduce the vote counts of others (but usually Ron Paul), and this is one of the things that the RNC is being sued over. This is also why Ron Paul has won several caucuses when the primaries (with the rigged machines) said he didn't win. It's much harder to falsify a bunch of people actually showing up to elect delegates.

Updated Price Predictions by CopaceticOpus · 2012-06-21 16:36 · Score: 5, Interesting · on SSD Prices Down 46% Since 2011

I created some back-of-the-envelope predictions in July 2009 about the cost for 10TB of storage using either type of drive technology. Unfortunately, neither technology has kept pace with my predictions, but SSDs are making much better progress.

Actual July 2009 Prices for 10TB: Platter = $750, Flash = $28,125
Actual June 2012 Prices: Platter = $567, Flash = $8200

Previous Prediction for July 2010: Platter = $528, Flash = $9,868
Previous Prediction for July 2012: Platter = $262, Flash = $1,215
Previous Prediction for July 2014: Platter= $130, Flash = $150
Previous Prediction for July 2019: Platter= $23, Flash = $0.80

It's a shame to see that after three years, the prices are closer to where I hoped to see them in a single year. I think it's time to update my predictions based on what has happened over the previous 35 months. (Yes, I know this in unscientific and silly!)

New Prediction for July 2012: Platter = $562, Flash = $7916
New Prediction for July 2013: Platter = $511, Flash = $5188
New Prediction for July 2014: Platter = $464, Flash = $3400
New Prediction for July 2015: Platter = $422, Flash = $2228
New Prediction for July 2019: Platter = $287, Flash = $411
New Prediction for July 2024: Platter = $178, Flash = $50

These predictions seem much more achievable than last time. In fact, I expect that platter drives will exceed this pace as the industry recovers. I can't believe that platter drives will only see around a 50% price reduction per TB over the next seven years. However, that's been the pace of improvement from July 2009 until now.

The most interesting date will be when the technologies reach price equivalence. This would be August 2020 according to my model, at the price of $260 for 10 TB. My gut feeling is that equivalence will be reached a couple of years earlier than that, but who knows? We'll just have to watch and see!