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User: Illogical+Spock

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Comments · 81

  1. Obligatory on Malaysia Releases Genetically Modified Mosquitoes · · Score: 1

    I, for one, welcome our mosquitoes overlords!

  2. Re:How do you hit the cockpit? on Laser Incidents With Aircraft On the Rise · · Score: 5, Funny

    You happen to live in Sydney?

  3. Oh, what a great idea! Now they just need... on Facebook Images To Get Expiration Date · · Score: 1

    ... to turn impossible to capture the screen, to copy/paste the content in some photo edition program, to make every single system to cope with that, and to get a brain.

  4. Re:O_EXCL Microphone. on Soundminder Android Trojan Hears Credit Cards · · Score: 1

    You could want to run an app to (for example) record the conversation. What would be nice was some type of warning (for example a "recording" message). Even if the typical luser could not understand, they probably would ask someone about that strange voice in every call he make. :-)

  5. Re:cell scanners? on Soundminder Android Trojan Hears Credit Cards · · Score: 1

    Well, my wife think Im a weirdo because the two or three times that I absolutely needed to tell her our bank account password by the phone (she forgot it twice) I gave her 1/3 of the numbers at a cell-to-cell call, 1/3 in another fixed-to-fixed call and the last bit by e-mail. Today she is a little more concerned about security, but we slashdot nerds are not the rule. Everyday I see people typing their bank passwords in the open without worrying if someone is seeing, or givint out credit card information out loud.

    About this specific trojan, this is not a surprise. We have the same problem in every OS we run - and iOS is not different, even with the draconian way Apple runs the store - and, lets face it, they do it not for our security, but for pure profit.

    I have an Android phone and feel as safe as I feel in every other device (mobile or not): as safe as the softwares I run and the steps I take to prevent trojans, virus and such - but never 100% safe.

  6. Re:You may be surprised on Catholic Bishops Support Net Neutrality · · Score: 1

    What people sometimes miss is that not ALL the Christians are catholics or protestants or believe in Adam, Eve, heaven and hell. Im a Christian because the moral part of what Jesus taught us, but I firmly believe in Big Bang and evolution, and I firmly believe that the bible is a collection of literal facts with figurative ones, and, yes, some lies too - this is why we have a brain, to read, interpret and choose whats the real meaning of things. Intelligent design, for me, would mean that God (I.E., the "something" that I believe existed before the Big Bang happened) drafted all the natural laws that regulate the universe, including that ones one just dont know yet.

    But the fact is that at this point we just CANNOT prove or disprove Gods existence. Anyone that firmly states that God exists or dont exist is just guessing (or believing). And guess is easy. Prove is the problem. :-) When people start to say that the man was created from mud 30 thousand years ago, and that Caim leave the paradise to marry someone else that should not exist, well, its just delusional because science PROVED this is impossible. But on the other hand nobody can guarantee that God dont exist either, because science DIDNT prove it. People can BELIEVE they dont, but to guarantee we would need to prove it too.

  7. Re:Crusade? on Catholic Bishops Support Net Neutrality · · Score: 2

    I understand your point and agree with you mostly, because today science and religion (people) normally fight each other. But I believe that FAITH (not religion) and science could and should help each other in questions where we still need to learn. Im not talking about irrational blind faith here - I believe in God, but I cant understand how someone can believe in Adam and Eve or that we were literally created from mud - but about the inner beliefs that we all have. And lets face it: EVERY theory starts as observation and then hypothesis - and every hypothesis is a belief before it is proved.

    We are in times where all the obvious things were already discovered and explained, and starting to approach questions beyond the most fertile imagination. IF religion could stop SABOTAGING research just because it goes against what they (blindly) believes and start to CONTRIBUTE with research to prove (or disprove) things, without an agenda, it would be great - and at the same time (some) scientists would need to really TEST theories, and not just search for ways to DISPROVE them. The real problem is that the economical and political interests of the stablished religions dont allow it to happen in the religion side, and the proudness and ego dont allow it in (SOME) scientists either.

  8. Re:The list on The Companies Who Support Censoring the Internet · · Score: 1

    The communication will be more free and open if you use Monster Cables, because we use gold connectors and state-of-the-art components to allow your communication pass without interference or any noise. This is why the cable costs 250 times more that other one.

  9. Re:I'm not sure I like this... on California Spam Law Upheld By Appeals Court · · Score: 1

    But with a bigger p3n15 and herbal v14gr4 he will get more chicks and therefore have a venerable vulnerability to venereal diseases.

  10. External view on Texas Schools Board Rewriting US History · · Score: 0, Troll

    I know I'm putting my Karma at stake here, but believe me, I'm trying to be constructive.

    I'm brazilian and live in Brazil. But as someone that for 15 years is in contact with americans - through places like slashdot, several news sources (no, not Fox ;-) ), my local newspapers and TV news, colleagues from my last job (american multinational), etc It's impossible not to say that it amazes me how USA seems to be two different countries: one with reasonable, open-minded, modern-thinking people, that tries to reach the rest of the world and knows that international cooperation, climate, civil rights, REAL liberty, some level of state control over companies and things like that are important; and other with radical, close-minded, beliccose people that live in the 18th century, believe in creation exactly as the Bible describes it, thinks the USA have the right to rule every other nation in the planet using force and that each foreign person is a potential enemy and needs to be subjugated.

    Please, please don't take me wrong! I'm not some anti-american idiot, and I'm not saying my society is better than yours - we are plenty of horrible people and structural problems in areas where the USA are examples to be followed. I'm just trying to understand why this is like this - or, maybe, if I't's not and I'm just wrong. Yes, I know a bit about the civil war, the Texas being "another country", etc, but sometimes I feel obligated to compare the lack of progress of these people with the lack of progress of other cultures that still live in the past - and are criticized by the same people - like arabs for example.

    For example, I don't understand why someone need to choose between believing in "God" (in any way you can interpret this word) AND in creation EXACTLY as described in the Bible; OR not believing in God at all. I believe in God. I have a Christian religion. But, come on, any 10 year-old can explain to you that you were not created from mud, nor the earth created in seven days. I know the universe is fucking enormous and that Mary could not be a virgin. The science PROVES it - along with several other things. So, I need to put my brain in the trash bin to have a religion? Or maybe, just maybe I could think: "hey, maybe this is not a literal description!". Science and religion are not enemies, than can be allies, as Einstein pointed out. But to allow his to happen, one need at least to THINK about other points of view - and these people don't.

    Maybe if that crazy russian analyst that predicted the USA would be divided in the future is right, things would be better. We don't even need 6 parts, just two: the morons to one side, and the thinking persons to the other. And then the world as a whole could just let the morons live their miserable lives, ignoring the reality, and go on.

    Sorry for the rant...

  11. Driving using a touchwindshield... on Google Android Interface For the Chevy Volt · · Score: 1

    It will be fantastic! Imagine the curves you can do just with your fingertip in the windshield... And the moutitouch feature will allow you to zoom in and out the view of the road!

    I can't wait!

  12. Re:Well that was obnoxious on Avatars Used For Australian Online Sex Appeal Study · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Rating females, the only real differences I could spot was the proportion between waist and hip and the overall chubiness in each model. I couldn't spot any breast size differences, nor any other detail that could led me to prefer this or that model.

    I could rate them in a logical way, but based only in these two characteristics. But, in the real world, I can say that sometimes I see women that would be rated +3 if they were just a grey body in my screen, but due to her face, lack of charm, etc, In fact don't arouse me at all. And, in the other hand, I can remember some slightly-to-moderate chubby girls that drove me crazy for being beauties, or very sexy, or just plain sexual.

    That said, I really believe this experiment will only work if they have ther phases where we can rate complete models, not just outlines. And where breats sizes and ass sizes change. ;-)

  13. Bad news... on How To Behave At a Software Company? · · Score: 1

    I have bad news for you... Workplaces (any workplace) have people inside. :-) And each person is different from the others.

    Your workplace will be the sum of everyone involved. Of course it's not an arithmetic mean - it's a weighted one, where your boss, your boss' bosses and some other people have a higher rank, but where you still need the input of everyone else to succeed.

    Yes, for sure there are a lot of things that are similar in every place. It's not that simple to me, as a brazilian, to tell you what these things are, because our cultures are similar, but still very different. Our values, things that are socially accepted, are just not the same. But I saw a lot of good advices up there: be a nice person without being dumb or used, avoid gossips at all cost, be careful to not reveal things you could regret later, learn to know people well before saying too much. Respect everyone - from the cleaning guy to the president / general manager / whatever. And remember that you are in a workplace, not in college anymore - so you need to work more and play less, and depending of the company climate, don't play at all.

    Another question is the size of the company... I've worked for a big, big american multinational here in Brazil - I just changed jobs for a stable, long-term public job because I'm approaching the 40's and it's time to be sure I'll have a job until my retirement - and a good retirement too. But in the years I was at that company I've learned a lot, because my previous jobs were in small companies, where you can be yourself all the time and you know everyone. But in bigger (or enormous) companies, you must settle down first. Know the people around you, know your manager (this is a keypoint!!! ) and try to please him/her, but NOT by getting your nose brown in the process, but by just learning to work like he thinks you should. Remember, HE is your "real", immediate boss, he will be the one who will give your evaluations. So, if he wants to be informed more often about the project, inform him; if he want you to document the project better, do that. It's simple when you just try, and it makes sense - after all, you work for him. But, at the same time, if he seems to be open for that, express your opinions in a respectful way. Suggest things, ask him what he thinks of this or that idea, and learn to show your potential. As I said, it depends on the people around you, and you need to know them first.

    And as a no-no, I can point you some weird advices I saw in some previous posts, and one in particular. Do NOT avoid contact, do NOT avoid socialization, do NOT try to screw someone. You will be seen as a smart-ass, no-teamplayer, social-impaired person in the first cases, and as a dangerous, vinditive person in the later. Anyhow, people will soon try to get you booted becuase you add nothing and poses a threat to them. And your manager, too, will see you as a liability to the team's integrity.

    But, as you will see, in the end you will not follow any advices here, because you, too, is a person. And as such you will act as your personality tells you to, because it's impossible to be someone else all the time. :-) With the time you will change, adapt, grow and be a more mature professional. This is how things work, or at least as they worked for me.

    Good luck!

  14. Re:PREDICTIONS ARE IN on FCC Allows Blocking of Set-Top Box Outputs · · Score: 1

    We can propose one. It would be called "MicroAA". It would be like that: "Man, this guy is sooo bad! He is like 200AA bad!

    It would be like Kelvin for temperature, but instead of the absolute zero we would have the absolute one, that would be the MPAA or RIAA level - phisically impossible in the known nature laws, and where all the goodness would cease to exist if reached.

  15. Re:Old fashioned... on Google Acquires BumpTop Desktop · · Score: 1

    No question about it. But the Tablets as we know them today (and speciallt the iPad) were developed, marketed and viewed as a "touch-screen only" device. No phisical support to turn the tablet on a screen, no keyboard and mouse option (yes, you can use bluetooth ones in some devices, you can use bluetooth ones in anything that have bluetooth :-) ), etc. The makers sells them as a big touch-screen device, nothing less, nothing more.

    We have some cases like you're talking about in the market, but they are mainly notebooks. Maybe we will see someday a notebook that detach the screen and can therefore be used in the couch (or in the bathroom ;-) to read the news or surf the net. This would be a product that (when the price goes down to something reasonable) I would buy. But this is not the "tablet" we know today, this is another product.

  16. Old fashioned... on Google Acquires BumpTop Desktop · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Maybe I'm getting old (in fact, I AM getting old :-) ) but, seriously, I think all that touch interfaces are great... for very specific uses.

          Yes, to organize "piles" or to zoom in/out photos, maybe it's ok... But to everything else, my good old mouse is still my choice. Please note that I'm NOT talking about smartphones or othes small pocket devices, where touchscreen is a real improvement (althought the phisical keyboard in my Android phone is essential). But for the so-called "tablets"? To read a magazine or newspaper; to see some pictures, OK. But for everything else, please give me my full keyboard and my mouse and I'll be happy. What makes me see two very different products: the living-room-reading-and-playing-appliance; and the computer. Two different entities that will live together for a long time.

  17. Re:PREDICTIONS ARE IN on FCC Allows Blocking of Set-Top Box Outputs · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You can't compare these things. [ ( Satan + Hitler + Cartman + Wicked Witch of the West ) ^ 10 year total execs bonuses ] are better than **AA . It's like comparing light years with yards.

    But, still, Apple is trying very hard, what makes them second place...

  18. Re:Ah-Ha! on State Senator Caught Looking At Porn On Senate Floor · · Score: 1

    In fact, a few months ago we had a similar case here in Brazil. In our case it was slightly different - I don't know if worse or better :-). It was a high court judge that was playing chess (in a laptop) during a very important session of the court, while his colleagues were presenting the case.

    Anyway, both cases are the same: "authorities" (the quotes are deliberate) being paid a large sum of money (and receiving a free state-of-the-art laptop) to spend the time as they please.

    So, funny comments apart, I agree with you and completely understand you being angry.

  19. Re:Ah-Ha! on State Senator Caught Looking At Porn On Senate Floor · · Score: 1

    If at least he was reading Slashdot as we are... ;-)

  20. Politicians on State Senator Caught Looking At Porn On Senate Floor · · Score: 1

    Politicians think in sex all the time. this is why they screw us so often...

  21. I'll be rich! on Black Market May Develop For IPv4 Addresses · · Score: 5, Funny

    1) Connect to my dynamic IP address ISP
    2) Post ad on eBay for the IP
    3) Sell it
    4) Disconnect
    5) Repeat from 1 to 5
    6) Profit!

  22. Re:Stop preaching Linux on Win7 Can Delete All System Restore Points On Reboot · · Score: 3, Funny

    Please stop preaching Linux like a religion.

    You sinner!!! I hope that when you are done in Earth you get a Job(s) as the doorman in hell's Gates!

    (All right, all right, this one was awful!)

  23. Re:How prevalent? on Win7 Can Delete All System Restore Points On Reboot · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It can be the problem. But is this the default for Win7? If so, it's Microsoft's fault anyway, as if a single restore point eats up 550Mb the default total limit could never be set to 700Mb.

    Another question is why the restore point uses half a gig, when XPs restore points are a lot smaller than that...

  24. Re:How prevalent? on Win7 Can Delete All System Restore Points On Reboot · · Score: 1

    You are right about the times when the system is crippled and can't even boot. But when the system is OK but something starts to behave not that well just after you install a driver, a software or something like that, the System Restore can help you most of the time, specially when some computer illiterate friend calls you asking for help. 9 out of 10 times someone called me JUST AFTER the problem appeared (again, problems caused by the installation of something, not viruses of things like that) the System Restore solved the case. Some examples are the USB ports don't recognizing anything after a driver install (and no, uninstalling the driver and reinstalling the original one didn't help) or a very, very old version of something installed on top of a newer system that have affected some DLLs.

     

  25. Re:The bottom line on Steve Jobs Hints At Theora Lawsuit · · Score: 3, Funny

    What if dirty hippies are stealing your apples?

    This explains the missing part of the Apple's apple. Jobs saw him stealing the apples and shot with his rock salt iShotgun.