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User: spiffmastercow

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  1. Re:Not so sure about that on Autism Traits Prove Valuable for Software Testing · · Score: 1

    I would say, as an Aspie, that it is absolutely the degree. When I am focused on something, it is near impossible to get me sidetracked. When I am having trouble focusing on something, it doesn't get done.

    Again, this applies to many, many people. In fact, I'd say it applies to almost any knowledge worker. You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake.

  2. Re:Not so sure about that on Autism Traits Prove Valuable for Software Testing · · Score: 1

    There's more to Asperger's than just a degree of obsession and a lack of social skills. If that's all you have, you're not autistic, you're just a nerd. I don't know your situation, but if you have not yet been diagnosed, do not claim AS. Having met people that actually have AS, and having met tons of people who claim to have AS because they think it helps explain why they're socially awkward and obsessed with computers, I can tell you the difference is night and day.

  3. Re:Fixed that for you.. on Autism Traits Prove Valuable for Software Testing · · Score: 1

    That kind of thinking is how we got the ether theory of the 1800s. By investigating every possibility, you inherently assume you have enumerated every possibility, which is not a valid assumption to make outside of a purely mathematical model.

  4. Re:Not so sure about that on Autism Traits Prove Valuable for Software Testing · · Score: 1

    I often wonder what it's like to be "normal" and to be able to get stuff done while only being half focused (not in the zone).

    What you just described in your lengthy reply is that it is like to be "normal". Nobody gets anything done while being only half focused.

    Yep. Paying more attention to things you're interested in is neuro-typical behavior.

  5. Re:Train? on Autism Traits Prove Valuable for Software Testing · · Score: 1

    When were you diagnosed? I learned C when I was 11, wrote video games in C at 12, hacked assembly at 14, and got a life at 15. My point is that, if your basis for belief in your "aspie-ness" is self diagnosed attention to detail and social awkwardness, then you might just be socially awkward and have a lot of attention for detail.

  6. Re:sure.. dismiss the uniqueness of aspergers on Autism Traits Prove Valuable for Software Testing · · Score: 1

    How old were you when you were diagnosed?

  7. Re:Holy crap! on Microsoft Security Products Flag Google Chrome As a Virus · · Score: 1

    Protip: if you are angry and start responding to things the other guy never said, you're going to look and feel like an idiot.

    Okay, let's look back at what was said:

    If you like putting up with that go ahead. I prefer knowing I can i.e. edit a document without being distracted, advertised to, nagged, reminded of things that should be automated, etc.

    That's a pretty strong implication that you (or whichever AC originally posted) does not "put up" with Windows, as well as a veiled insult towards those who do. I merely pointed out that there are legitimate reasons for using Windows, and that the product in TFA improves on the experience of using said OS.

    I said "I prefer". It is a preference. That puts it firmly in the realm of opinion. How did you handle that? You felt insulted and felt a need to point out obvious things like the existence of a reason to use Windows or the fact an optional utility can improve Windows. I am sorry you are such an insecure man that you must react this way when you see someone else who has a preference different from yours. I guess if I tell you a flavor of ice cream I like you'll have to point out that not everybody likes it as much as I do.

    Man, people sure do suck a lot of dick when they eat $YOUR_FLAVOR. If you want to suck dick, go on eating $YOUR_FLAVOR, but I'm going to eat $OTHER_FLAVOR.

  8. Re:Holy crap! on Microsoft Security Products Flag Google Chrome As a Virus · · Score: 1

    Protip: if you are angry and start responding to things the other guy never said, you're going to look and feel like an idiot.

    Okay, let's look back at what was said:

    If you like putting up with that go ahead. I prefer knowing I can i.e. edit a document without being distracted, advertised to, nagged, reminded of things that should be automated, etc.

    That's a pretty strong implication that you (or whichever AC originally posted) does not "put up" with Windows, as well as a veiled insult towards those who do. I merely pointed out that there are legitimate reasons for using Windows, and that the product in TFA improves on the experience of using said OS.

  9. Re:Holy crap! on Microsoft Security Products Flag Google Chrome As a Virus · · Score: 2

    Actually, it works quite a bit better. And since it isn't an income source, it doesn't nag you constantly.

    See that's what I love about Linux. I never see a nag screen. I also have a real package manager too, so I don't have an icon tray full of little annoying pop-ups telling me that such-and-such has an update and that i really need to separately update each individual program one at a time... If you like putting up with that go ahead. I prefer knowing I can i.e. edit a document without being distracted, advertised to, nagged, reminded of things that should be automated, etc.

    Looks like we're under a smug alert.. I always find it interesting when Linux fanboys assume that because someone uses Windows, it means they only use Windows.

    Looks like we're under a defensive dumbass alert... I always find it interesting when thoughtless persons assume that because someone uses multiple operating systems, it makes your comments about a particular one of those operating systems somehow less true. What I said about Windows applies to you when you are using Windows. This doesn't change just because you aren't always using Windows. Logic fail. You might as well say that because swans are birds, therefore all birds must be swans. But please keep accusing me of smugness because I don't like Windows, you seem so competent to assess this.

    Looks like we're under a myopic moron alert. I always find it interesting when someone can't see any circumstance where someone would use a piece of software other than his preferred piece of software. What I said about the Security Essentials is true when I'm using Windows. What's also true when I'm using windows is that I'm a.) able to play games without spending 2 days looking for workarounds to get the game to run 5 minutes in Wine before it crashes, and b.) able to make money writing windows apps. That, combined with the fact that I don't have to put up with the nagging and such because I use SE, don't install malware, etc. makes for a fine case for using Windows when it suits my needs.

  10. Re:Holy crap! on Microsoft Security Products Flag Google Chrome As a Virus · · Score: 1

    Actually, it works quite a bit better. And since it isn't an income source, it doesn't nag you constantly.

    See that's what I love about Linux. I never see a nag screen. I also have a real package manager too, so I don't have an icon tray full of little annoying pop-ups telling me that such-and-such has an update and that i really need to separately update each individual program one at a time... If you like putting up with that go ahead. I prefer knowing I can i.e. edit a document without being distracted, advertised to, nagged, reminded of things that should be automated, etc.

    Looks like we're under a smug alert.. I always find it interesting when Linux fanboys assume that because someone uses Windows, it means they only use Windows.

  11. Re:Holy crap! on Microsoft Security Products Flag Google Chrome As a Virus · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Actually, it works quite a bit better. And since it isn't an income source, it doesn't nag you constantly.

  12. Re:Sure on Outlining a World Where Software Makers Are Liable For Flaws · · Score: 1

    Most are EE's, with a few Computer Engineers mixed in. The title "Software Engineer" is really just an inflated version of "Programmer" most of the time -- software engineering and CS degree programs are almost interchangeable, and AFAIK there's no widely recognized certification system for software engineers.

  13. Re:Sure on Outlining a World Where Software Makers Are Liable For Flaws · · Score: 1

    Have you seen Engineer code? There's a reason the engineering group I work with hired a bunch of CS guys like me -- they can't code, and they know they can't code. That's not to say they're inept -- far from it. But they want maintainable code written by professionals, not the Fortran mess they'd create. And this way they can focus on real engineering problems instead of learning how to build a large-scale application.

  14. Re:This just makes sense on Science and Religion Can and Do Mix, Mostly · · Score: 1

    And it happened to blacks to a greater extent because poverty was more prevalent in the black community. To a middle-class person living on welfare is a huge step down from what they're used to. If you grew up in poverty, however, living in poverty for free beats the crap out of working your ass off to live in poverty.

  15. Re:This just makes sense on Science and Religion Can and Do Mix, Mostly · · Score: 1

    Interesting that you mention that, as that has little to do with lingering effects of slavery, and more to do with the design of the welfare system which back in the 1960's-1980's helped destroy the basic family unit in black communities when families could get more from welfare for a single mom with children than they could if dad was home too. Thus divorce rates went up so that the family could get more entitlements from the state.

    So why didn't that happen to the white community? I mean, aside from the impoverished portion of the white community to which it did happen.

  16. Re:This just makes sense on Science and Religion Can and Do Mix, Mostly · · Score: 1

    The problem with this way of seeing it is that if cause/effect works completely on scientific grounds and god doesn't interfere, then god becomes completely irrelevant and miracles don't happen. If miracles don't happen then the bible (or any other holy text) is full of lies, how do we even know that god exists if he just set the universe up and left it to it's own devices?

    On the other hand, if the bible tells the truth and god interferes, miracles happen, then science isn't really all that useful since we can't trust it.

    I'm by no means a believer, but I think a rational argument could be made that extremely improbable fortuitous events could be construed as miracles. If you accept the notion that an all-powerful, all-knowing being created the universe, you could easily argue that said being built it in such a way that it did not need to go outside the system in order to do such things.

  17. Re:This just makes sense on Science and Religion Can and Do Mix, Mostly · · Score: 1

    It's not so much about the past slavery, segregation, etc., but rather the institutionalized poverty that came with it that still lingers. Unfortunately it has become a feedback loop, which doesn't help anyone.

  18. Re:Single thread performance on Oracle Demos New SPARC T4 Processor · · Score: 1

    Unless you happen to have a massively parallel application that needs to serve a huge number of concurrent users. Like, say, a database. Or a web app.

    In almost any relational database your bottleneck is going to be storage -- you might be able to process things 32 times as fast, but you're still going to have to wait for that save op to complete before doing anything else. As for web apps, well.. it depends.

  19. Re:Single thread performance on Oracle Demos New SPARC T4 Processor · · Score: 1

    Well, it is still 64 threads per socket, or 256 threads per box that that run parallelly. Is that not vast enough? With the 5x signlethread performance compared to the T3?

    It may be "vast" enough, but given that 4-8 cores is the most that will typically get used, it may not be *fast* enough, and may be a big waste.

  20. Re:I did think of it. on A Few Million Virtual Monkeys Randomly Recreate Shakespeare · · Score: 1

    So I can ask you directly then -- what's with the 9 character blocks? Not to offend, but my impression is that you did this to hopefully get your name out to a non-tech-savvy executive who will promptly hand you a cushy job, not understanding why it wasn't as grand an accomplishment as it sounded like. Alternatively, perhaps you were just trying to find a fun project with which to learn Hadoop? Which is fine, except your claim still seems exagerated.

  21. Re:Programmer?? on A Few Million Virtual Monkeys Randomly Recreate Shakespeare · · Score: 1

    Here's a simpler example:

    while(1) {

    int x = rand() % 10;

    if (x==666) printf("Yes, everything!\n"); }

    You do know that x will never be greater or equal to 10, right? Thus x can never equal 666. FAIL.

    *whoosh*

  22. Re:I did think of it. on A Few Million Virtual Monkeys Randomly Recreate Shakespeare · · Score: 1

    arg.. bad link to project euler.. this should work

  23. Re:I did think of it. on A Few Million Virtual Monkeys Randomly Recreate Shakespeare · · Score: 1

    Ideas are mostly worthless.

    Executing on good ideas is what makes the world go 'round.

    I don't know, a populist-appeal idea to do something like this using a completely flawed model will more than likely land this guy a nice job as a CTO somewhere. My hours puzzling out answers on project euler, however, will win me nothing more than my own amusement, despite the difficulty of the problems being significantly higher.

  24. Safe(r) from corporate espionage on Is Apple Moving iPad Production to Brazil? · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Producing stuff in Brazil might be a bit more expensive in the short term, but they're a lot less likely to steal all of your R&D and sell it to your competitor.

  25. What's an "actual" CS job? on Ask Slashdot: CS Grads Taking IT Jobs? · · Score: 1

    I'm not sure what you mean by an actual CS job, unless perhaps you mean working as a researcher. My title right now is "Computer Scientist", but what I actually spend my days doing is programming and going to meetings, not trying to devise new algorithms. I've been in this line of work for about 7 years, and ultimately all you end up doing is gluing one piece of software to another, with here and there a rare moment where you get to really create something new. I will say, however, that once you take a support job, you'll never be a developer again, so weigh those choices carefully.