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User: dcooper_db9

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  1. Due Credit on Police Pull Over More Drivers For DNA Tests · · Score: 1

    The Washington Times article credits Fox News. It quotes but does not credit the Reading Eagle, which appears to have first reported on this incident:

    http://readingeagle.com/article/20131218/NEWS/312189945/1052

    The Reading Eagle quotes but does not credit CNN. CNN last reported on the issue in June when this happened in Alabama.

    http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/19/us/drug-survey-roadblocks/index.html?iref=allsearch

  2. Re:Standardised DC, eh? on Standardized Laptop Charger Approved By IEC · · Score: 1

    As noted by others, USB 3 supports up to 100 watts. It's reasonable to expect lightweight devices to charge at less than 100 watts, especially if you're willing to charge longer.

    http://www.usb.org/developers/powerdelivery/

  3. Who's an ingrate? on Canonical Targets Ubuntu Privacy Critic · · Score: 2

    Canonical sells a product that is mostly developed and supported by other people, often for free. Many of the people here have developed or supported the Linux projects that Canonical distributes as Ubuntu.

  4. Ditched over GPLv3? on Your Next Network Operating System Is Linux · · Score: 1

    Do you suppose Apple would have used it under any other open license? Writing their own is pretty normal for Apple.

  5. Re:Great way to lose customers on Grocery Store "Smart Shelves" Will Identify Customers, Show Targeted Ads · · Score: 2

    Better approach: Put a box of saltines where the Oreo's are supposed to be. Hold a bag of potatoes while standing on the weight sensor. Take stuff off the shelf, walk around the store and then put it back.

    Bad data is worse than no data.

  6. Re:The missing mineral is the one that matters on Conflict Minerals and Cell Phones · · Score: 1

    You make a valid point. In reviewing what I wrote I made a very broad statement that appears to reinforce anti-Israeli conspiracy theories. I actually regard the incident as a brilliant geopolitical manuever by the leaders of the young state of Israel. It's been many years since I studied the history of the cartel and my recollection of details isn't great. Without books on hand I'll do my best to recall what took place.

    In the early days of modern Israel, many people had expertise in working with diamonds, and they'd built a cottage jewelry industry. Israel wanted to leverage their skills into industrial polishing. DeBeers wanted to maintain control over those functions and obstructed Israel's entry into the industry. So Israel built up a large cachet of diamonds and threatened to dump them on the market. In order to prevent devaluation, DeBeers conceded and assisted Israel in building their industry.

    Absent specific details I probably should have omitted the story altogether. At the very least I should have noted DeBeers' role in WW2. What's certain is that during WW2 the US wanted to transfer diamonds to North America to supply their industry. DeBeers refused. Meanwhile, diamonds continued to flow into Nazi Germany, supplying their war industry. Some historians suggest that DeBeers actively cooperated with the Nazi's. Others claim that the Nazi's smuggled them out through third parties.

  7. The missing mineral is the one that matters on Conflict Minerals and Cell Phones · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This isn't about naturally rare minerals, it's about the one mineral that's rare by design. This is the latest in a long history of disinformation campaigns intended to keep DeBeers' control of the diamond. In fact, diamonds are so common in nature that there are beaches in Africa where they wash up on shore. You could pick them up like seashells if it weren't for the armed guards ready and willing to shoot anyone who tries. If DeBeers ever lost control of the market the value of diamonds would plumet.

    When General Electric developed the first artificial diamond DeBeers bought the company. When Israel threatened to dump their cache on the market, DeBeers practically bought the country. They spent billions buying artificial diamonds from the Soviets, just to keep them off the market. In the US, when DeBeers was investigated for antitrust violations they put every employee in their country on a plane and sent them back to Europe. In one night. The next day there was a new person in every US job, and not one of those people could testify about how DeBeers operates. If you ever want to have your life turned upside down, try buying and selling used diamonds. See just how long it takes for DeBeers to shut you down.

    DeBeers modus operandi is to back whoever controls a country, as long as they are willing to do business. If not, DeBeers will back a coup. So, if you want to control an African country, step 1 is to gain control over the diamonds. If you want to get rich, step 1 is to take over a country. THAT is why there's so much violence in Africa. The regime that labels "conflict" minerals is just one of the tools DeBeers uses to maintain control. The "conflict" countries are places where more than one group operates. Whatever group is on the outside will smuggle diamonds out, undermining price controls.

    The history of the DeBeers cartel is the most fascinating and disturbing story that's rarely told. If you haven't read it I strongly recommend a trip to the local library. Don't wait for Hollywood to tell the story. They're too busy writing a sequel to "Blood Diamonds". On contract of course. The sad truth is that EVERY diamond is a blood diamond.

  8. Unfinished code is valuable on How To Turn Your Pile of Code Into an Open Source Project · · Score: 1

    The headline talks about a pile of code but the article is about assembling a project. They're not necessarily the same thing and I find great value in unfinished code. Yesterday I spent four hours trying to figure out why a simple mysql stored procedure had stopped working. This morning after reading slashdot I realized I was going about it backwards. The stored procedure was open-source. A quick google code search came up with four projects using the function. One of them had been updated. A quick read of the updated version and I understood what had changed. Copy, paste, done. The reference code was not documented or released, but it was open-source.

  9. Converted to electronic systems? on NASDAQ Trading Halted Due To "Technical Issue" · · Score: 1

    Towards the end of the article it says that this is the latest in a string of technology-related mishaps affecting exchanges and brokers as markets over the past two decades have migrated to electronic systems. That's an absurd statement considering two decades is a very long time. Besides, computers were first used in trading in the 1960's. What's happened in recent years that's made market systems more vulnerable?

  10. Focus on solving the problem on How the UN Might Have Inadvertently Started a Cholera Epidemic In Haiti · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It's a mistake to point the finger at the United Nations. As the original editorial noted, Haiti does not have a system to deliver clean water. Any time you have 90 percent of a population drinking from the sewer it's only a matter of time before you have an outbreak. Past efforts to build a modern clean-water delivery system have been thwarted by civil war, endemic corruption and general ineptitude

    Haiti doesn't need another failed aid project. What Haiti needs is a bureaucracy to construct and manage their own infrastructure. Haiti also needs to build a judicial infrastructure that's capable of rooting out corruption.

  11. Re:nature and consumers on GMO Oranges? Altering a Fruit's DNA To Save It · · Score: 1

    I am talking about monoculture and it has everything to do with genetic modification. The banana, the orange and the potatoe all have one thing in common. They are all assexually propagated. The Cavendish banana was threatened by Panama disease. New varieties were developed that were resistant but now they're threatened by Black Sigatoka fungus. Most varieties outside of the Cavendish strain are resistant to both diseases. Now scientists are working to isolate the resistance gene and reinsert it into the Cavendish banana varieties. Sexually propagation ensures that strains that aren't resistant to disease don't survive to reproduce. By manipulating DNA we're creating huge monocultures and exposing our seed crops to the types of problems we used to see only in assexually propagated plants.

  12. Re:nature and consumers on GMO Oranges? Altering a Fruit's DNA To Save It · · Score: 1, Informative

    Tomatoes were introduced to Europe when the Spanish brought them back from Mexico, so it's hard to know how many hundreds or thousands of years they've been cultivated. Pre-industrial revolution tomatoes could be grown with minimal cultivation and were much tastier than modern supermarket varieties. Until recently new varieties were developed through sexual reproduction and took many years. Sexual reproduction corrects for deficiencies that would make a plant vulnerable to disease. If you're developing a new variety for tougher skin or larger size the plant has to _also_ survive year to year.

    DNA technology allows scientists to take a shortcut that has already had consequences. About five years ago a new disease called Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus was introduced here in North Carolina, as well as other states. The first year the entire crop of tomatoes rotted on the vine. Within a few years scientist at the University of NC introduced TSWV resistant varieties. These new varieties still get the disease but they survive it. I now pay ~$5 per plant rather than paying ~$5 for a flat. So what did the scientists do to develop these resistant tomatoes? It turns out that almost every heirloom variety already had the resistance. It was just the new, genetically modified varieties that had lost their resistance. So the scientists isolated the resistance gene and spliced it back into other varieties. The result is a tomatoe that's smaller, a little tougher, but resilient. And also a lot more expensive.

    If we keep going down this DNA modification path we're going to eventually kill off a critical crop. If we wipe out one year's corn or wheat we're going to experience starvation on a scale larger than the potatoe famine.

  13. Re: Market forces at work... on GMO Wheat Found Growing Wild In Oregon, Japan Suspends Import From U.S. · · Score: 1

    Economists use the term to mean forces of the market (supply and demand) as opposed to forces applied to the market.

  14. Re:Only when on Larry Page's Vocal Cords Are Partially Paralyzed · · Score: 1

    In many cases the money to develop pharmaceutical treatments is readily available but people cannot afford them. I have a disease, Polyarteritis Nodosa, that paralyzed my vocal chord, my left arm and my right shoulder. I've since recovered my vocal chord and use of my left arm. I also have Crohn's disease. I'm tired most of the time and limited in my ability to work. My disease is entirely controllable with a range of biologic drugs (Remicade, Humira, etc). Unfortunately, even though I now have heath insurance I cannot afford the drugs. I've spent about $200K of my own money just to survive, now I don't have the money to live.

  15. Re:Yup... on Larry Page's Vocal Cords Are Partially Paralyzed · · Score: 2

    Your story is remarkable in similarity to my own. One of my vocal chords was paralyzed as a result of Polyarteritis Nodosa, an autoimmune disease that affects the vascular system. A few months after the paralysis I got bronchitis. My vocal chord recovered two days after I started taking antibiotics. I'd have to dig through my records to see if they bumped up my prednisone before or after the recovery. Maybe the medicine caused the recovery, or maybe the bronchitis somehow triggered my body to repair the cells. I don't know but I'm grateful to have my voice back. At the time my left arm was fully paralyzed and my right arm was at risk (and it hurt to use it). I pretty much couldn't type, write or speak. I'm not sure that Mr. Page's condition is worse than yours or mine. Most people suffer full paralysis of one chord or the other. He evidently has partial paralysis of both. Perhaps his was caused by an injury.

  16. Re:Linux just works... on Ask Slashdot: Mac To Linux Return Flow? · · Score: 2

    Where are my mod points when I need them. My kubuntu machine's even automatically rebooting after installing security updates. Please mod parent up.

  17. Re:Political stunt on White House Urges Reversal of Ban On Cell-Phone Unlocking · · Score: 1

    I don't think I used a tautology there. As I understand it, executive officers are by definition answerable to the executive branch. It doesn't matter who creates them. The power to execute is defined in the constitution, and that power belongs to the president. Cabinet members are, as defined in Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the Constitution, "principal officers of the executive departments". Principal officers answer directly to the President and his power to appoint and dismiss is clearly defined.

    Heads of other agencies are secondary officers and the power to dismiss them is a bit more complex. Congress has enacted legislation that limited the Presiden'ts power to remove appointee's from office, and been upheld to an extent. In Humphrey's Executor vs. United States the court ruled that the FTC was an "administrative body [that] cannot in any proper sense be characterized as an arm or eye of the executive."
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_Two_of_the_United_States_Constitution
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_officer

    This apparently defined the general rule. The basis of Congress's ability to prevent firing is that the agency isn't executing, therefore Congress can limit the President's power. The Library of Congress can interpret the law but it it tries to enforce the law it's exercising executive power. An officer of the government that executes power is answerable to the President.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_agencies_of_the_United_States_government

  18. Re:Political stunt on White House Urges Reversal of Ban On Cell-Phone Unlocking · · Score: 1

    Congress creates all executive offices except those designated in the Consitution. They're still Executive offices and subject to the Presiden'ts consitutionally designated power to appoint and remove.

  19. Re:Political stunt on White House Urges Reversal of Ban On Cell-Phone Unlocking · · Score: 1

    As I understand, the Constitution gives Congress the power to create executive offices, the President the power to appoint, Congress the power to confirm, and the Judiciary the power to review. The power to appoint and to remove go hand-in-hand, so the president can fire an appointee almost at will. Congress could slow down removal through forced testimony but couldn't actually block it. Congress could also dissolve the office itself except those designated by the Constitution. The only power they have to remove an individual officer would be through impeachment. I was surprised to learn that Congress could theoretically impeach any executive officer. Some useful info here: http://nationalparalegal.edu/conlawcrimproc_public/federalism/presidentialpowers.asp

  20. Re:Slashvertisement? on 0install Reaches 2.0 · · Score: 2

    The best kind of ad, in my opinion. One of the reasons I follow slashdot is to learn about new developments in IT.

    A succesful project needs to attract enough developers to keep it going, and that means promotion of one kind or another. The commercial world can buy advertising. Slashdot is providing a valuable service by helping non-profit projects reach out to potential contributors and consumers.

    This project is interesting to me because it tackles a problem I'd been considering recently. I use Canonical's repositories to update my software. In many cases Canonical does not include the most recent version of an application in their stable repositories. For example, I found that the stable repositories were a full two releases behind the stable release of KDE. That meant it was not just missing new features, but also missing important bug fixes. The repositories also have Samba 4 Alpha 18 aproximately three months after Samba 4.0 was released. Sometimes I can get the updates from backports, other times I have to go looking for a PPA. Sometimes the newest release isn't even available from a PPA or it's impossible to determine if the PPA is trustworthy.

    I'm not knocking Canonical for this. They provide an important and valuable service by reviewing each project and (hopefully) addressing problems before including them in the stable repositories. Many smaller projects have limited resources for testing and while I trust their intentions they might miss something Canonical would catch. But in the case of KDE and Samba, I trust that both organizations have done a reasonable job of testing before they release a stable version. I'd prefer to bypass the central repositories and download new versions directly. It appears that with Zero Access installed I could do that (for supported projects) easily and with minimal risk to my system.

  21. Re:Could this article be more misleading? on Got a Cell Phone Booster? FCC Says You Have To Turn It Off · · Score: 1

    Providers have not given blanket consent for any device that meets regulations. Instead the FCC has allowed the providers to create their own licensing system. Why do I have to get permission from my service provider, but not from a competing company that uses the same spectrum? Why should xyz company have to negotiate contracts with each provider rather than simply proving that their equipment meets regulatory specifications?
    The FCC should license hardware as they have in the past. Specify what frequencies can be used, at what strength, and certify that the equipment behaves as intended. They shouldn't hand over authority to a third party that has vested interests in constraining competition.
    Three years ago Verizon's towers couldn't provide reliable service in my home town. Their solution was for me to buy a device that would allow me to connect through my high speed internet connection. That device would cost $500 plus the cost of internet access and would only provide service in and around my home. I wouldn't be surprised if the "allowed" signal boosters became much more expensive as a result of this rule change.

  22. Re:1st step. on Microsoft Embraces Git For Development Tools · · Score: 1

    You have to read the whole article :-) "In addition to including Git with TFS, Microsoft is also linking Git with its Visual Studio IDE. The company has released a plug-in that will allow users to commit finished code directly to any Git repository. "

  23. Selective logic on Better Tools For Programming Literacy · · Score: 1

    The author is focusing on the obstacles that exist in certain tools, but those tools were designed for established programmers rather than students. The first comment on the linked article gave a list of appropriate learning platforms: Scratch, Alice, Greenfoot and AppInventor. I used MIT's Scratch to teach my then 8 year old niece the basics. By the end of the first afternoon she'd created a short animated and interactive movie that she was able to share with her family. In the process she learned about simple logic, loops and responding to events.

  24. Go up the chain on Retrieving a Stolen Laptop By IP Address Alone? · · Score: 1

    Forget the high-tech hi-jinks. Obviously the cops aren't going to get your laptop back if you give them directions to the thief's house. The local police and the university police don't want to do their job. That might cut into their part time job running security at the local Walmart. You need to remind them that you, the taxpayer, pay their salary. You do that by going to where you have power, and that's your state legislature. Call your delegate and state senator. Most likely they'll call the local sergeant and ask him to get you off their ass. Suddenly your $1000 laptop is that sergeants first priority. Trust me, I spend a lot of time in my state's capital and I see this all the time. Power belongs to those who speak loudest.

  25. Re:I don't have anything really smart to say on Doctors Baffled, Intrigued By Girl Who Doesn't Age · · Score: 1

    I have a variation on a rare disease called Polyarteritis Nodosa. My disease presented with paralysis of the vocal chords which hadn't been seen before. My Rheumatologist is working on a paper in collaboration with the doctors at the Johns Hopkins Vasculitis Center. If and when that's published they will be naming the (sub) disease after me. I don't know if that's how it always works. Maybe it depends on what the patient wants. http://vasculitis.med.jhu.edu/typesof/polyarteritis.html