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User: philljcool

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Comments · 13

  1. Re:Maybe, but.. on Users Want Matte LCDs While Glossy Screens Dominate · · Score: 2
    StikyPad:

    1) PC Pro readers probably don't represent the general population.

    blair1q:

    1) and /. readers do! FTW!

    Difference: the PC Pro article is being used to say what consumers in general want and what proportion of them want that. This /. post and discussion is analysis of the PC Pro article. /. doesn't need to be representative for the analysis to be sound (or unsound). PC Pro does need to be representative for this use of its survey to be sound.

  2. Re:Going out on a limb here... on Ask Slashdot: What To Do When the Rapture Comes? · · Score: 1

    To be fair, most people who are sure that tomorrow ISN'T the rapture have exactly the same amount of evidence behind them as those who think it IS.

    This may be true, but the burden of proof is on those arguing that it is the rapture. Just like aliens or crazy 9/11 conspiracies, I'm not going to entertain the thought of the rapture without some good evidence.

  3. Re:Been here a while... on Bin Laden Hideout Recreated In Counter-Strike · · Score: 5, Informative

    Osama would be dead if he was put on trial in any country on earth.

    Where any country on earth = Belarus; China; Ecuador; Egypt; India; Iran; Iraq; Israel; Japan; Malaysia; Mongolia; North Korea; Pakistan; Saudi Arabia; Singapore; South Korea; Taiwan; Tonga; United States.
    Here in Australia as well as most of the world he would not be put to death.

  4. Re:evidence? on The 'Net Generation' Isn't · · Score: 1

    "The one thing that does not change is that at any and every time it appears that there have been ‘great changes’."

    There is evidence, and there is a discussion happening in the research community. It's just that hacks like Mark Prensky get the attention instead. For a discussion of the evidence, I recommend:

    Bennett, S., Maton, K., & Kervin, L. (2008). The 'digital natives' debate: A critical review of the evidence. British Journal of Educational Technology, 39(5), 775-786.

  5. Re:Ranking system on "Cumulative Voting" Method Gaining Attention · · Score: 1

    I agree that it is a marketing problem. Technically it is Rudd vs Abbot vs Brown vs ... but we all know that it isn't. Even if we switched to proportional representation I doubt we would get anything other than generic centre-left/centre-right parties winning the election.

  6. Re:Ranking system on "Cumulative Voting" Method Gaining Attention · · Score: 1

    In Australia we use a similar system: preferential voting.

  7. Cognitive Load on Music While Programming? · · Score: 1

    You may find it interesting to read about cognitive load theory. I think there is a case to be argued that music without lyrics will have little impact on primarily linguistic tasks such as programming.

  8. Re:Oh, come on... on New Hitchhiker's Guide Book "Not Very Funny" · · Score: 1

    I believe Slashdot has an entire type of story dedicated to this: reviews. I agree that multiple data points would be better, but there is a bit of a tradition around this "review" thing.

  9. Re:meh on New Hitchhiker's Guide Book "Not Very Funny" · · Score: 1

    It is a strange, slightly pretentious way to write Ian. I think it is from Gaelic.

  10. Re:Even if unlocked still breaking and entering on Australian Police Database Lacked Root Password · · Score: 1

    Thanks for the information about the US legal system. The Australian system is quite different. Maybe an Australian lawyer (or law student) could give us help with this too?

  11. Re:The right way to measure the filter on Australian Net Filter Gets One Step Closer · · Score: 1

    I agree with you that we need to measure the success of the filter in terms of some positive social benefit. I think there is an assumption that successfully blocking content has some inherent social benefit; I think this is debatable as it depends on one's beliefs. As an Australian who voted for the current government (after preferencing others - we use preferential voting here) I think Australia is divided in its attitudes towards censorship. Filtering should not be the outcome we measure; it should be some positive social gain eg a decrease in some crime.

  12. Games as art on Konami Cuts and Runs From Iraq War Game · · Score: 1

    As the tools of content creation become more accessible, I worry that we'll miss out on a lot of great art because it is about modern wars, drugs, crime or sex. If we sanitized the rest of art like this then we'd lose a lot of great movies, books, documentaries and paintings.

  13. Re:no encryption that YOU didn't write is safe on Is Hushmail Still Safe? · · Score: 1

    Implementing an encryption algorithm is one thing; a whole secure system is another. Any competent programmer can use an RSA or 3DES library, but implementing an entire system securely is another thing. One of the scary things is that people hear an algorithm is being used but forget about things like remote buffer overrun vulnerabilities caused by poor programming.

    No fancy algorithm, even one written by Bruce, can make up for insecure code.