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User: sjames

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Comments · 34,276

  1. Re:Miserable? on Time Warner Cable Owes $229,500 To Woman It Would Not Stop Calling · · Score: 1

    I believe the AC wrote that between the lines.

  2. Re:Miserable? on Time Warner Cable Owes $229,500 To Woman It Would Not Stop Calling · · Score: 1

    They did make her life miserable. The $229,500 is supposed to compensate that, or in legal terminology, make her whole again. Ideally, the net result is that whatever they did is more or less undone, so that would be about right.

    Assuming they ever pay up, that is.

  3. Re:It's expected on Most Doctors Work While Sick, Despite Knowing It's Bad For Patients · · Score: 1

    It goes even further. Half the crap people see doctors for is stuff they could take care of at home. Sometimes enforced by silly managers that demand a doctor's note if you're out with the flu for a couple days.

  4. Re:As a physician... on Most Doctors Work While Sick, Despite Knowing It's Bad For Patients · · Score: 1

    Honestly, knowingly going in to work sick should be considered assault. It's no different than doping the food in the break room.

    That would mean that a manager that somehow pressures employees to work sick would be guilty of a crime as well.

  5. Re:Coincidentally... on Most Doctors Work While Sick, Despite Knowing It's Bad For Patients · · Score: 2

    Not all modern medicine is the same and IMHO, it is in decline in the U.S.

    In the U.S. we have the most expensive healthcare by far, but the result is among the worst in the 1st world. It's rapidly approaching the point where we could replace doctors entirely with an expert system that walks the diagnostic tests then prescribes the most expensive drug at the end of the tree. Clinical diagnosis is dead.

  6. Re:They are trying to get off... on The Mob's IT Department · · Score: 1

    The vast majority of the police are underpaid public servants who willingly risk their lives out of a sense of duty. Some do it for ego, but even these would jump at the chance to help you, if for no other reason than to notch their belts again. So that just leaves the vanishing few that *might* be corrupted by the organization you are trying to flee. Your odds are really good you won't have an issue.

    Alas, the decision of if and when to assign resources to protection is above their pay grade. It doesn't matter how much a cop wants to protect you and your family if his superior says stop.

  7. Re:Give me battery or give me death on Two-Pounder From Lenovo Might Be Too Light For Comfort · · Score: 1

    Agreed. I already have a knife for chopping onions.

  8. Re:Give me battery or give me death on Two-Pounder From Lenovo Might Be Too Light For Comfort · · Score: 1

    I suspect the big pricetag was the problem. Nobody is going to cough up 6 grand for a thin laptop and then make it a thick laptop. OTOH, if it's a moderate price, someone might.

  9. Re:Bad sportmanship, or lawyers? on Siemens Sends Do-Not-Fly Order For Pipistrel's All-Electric Channel Crossing · · Score: 1

    They had been flying for a while, including flights to get certified for a flight over the channel.

  10. Re:They are trying to get off... on The Mob's IT Department · · Score: 1

    If 'authorities' everywhere had a better reputation for protecting people who need protecting and for understanding when people only find out after the fact that they are involved in a crime, perhaps your argument would make sense.

  11. Re:Bad sportmanship, or lawyers? on Siemens Sends Do-Not-Fly Order For Pipistrel's All-Electric Channel Crossing · · Score: 4, Informative

    Except that they already had an agreement with Siemens and their plan to fly over water has been known for over a year. The timing is suspicious to say the least.

  12. Re:Austerity fails again on Greece Rejects EU Terms · · Score: 1

    When the article starts off with stuff like "elites all across the western world were gripped by austerity fever, a strange malady that combined extravagant fear with blithe optimism", you know you're not going to be getting an objective analysis.

    Actually that's a pretty fair summary of the irrational behavior of the austerity fans.

    You should have a look at the graph showing the degree of austerity (using a generally accepted metric) and the rate of recovery.

    Note that austerity goes beyond cutting fat, it cuts to the bone and it does it without allowing time to adjust. It's a bad idea the same way it's a bad idea to unload a large stock holding all at once.

    Greece has been cutting it's public sector quickly. So quickly that it has damaged recovery.

  13. Re:Austerity fails again on Greece Rejects EU Terms · · Score: 1

    Look at the Guardian link I provided. Many of your comments and questions are answered there. It looks at how the degree of austerity measures has affected the rate of recovery for various countries.

    Remember, not all public servants are equal. Privatization will cut the count of "public servants", but can actually increase the cost of the service for a net loss to the economy.

  14. Re:Austerity fails again on Greece Rejects EU Terms · · Score: 1

    Actually, once they have once and for all ceased even trying to pay back the loans, they will be running at a surplus. A bit of currency devaluation will be a boon to their significant tourist trade.

    I'm not claiming it is the best possible solution, but since the IMF et. al. won't quit flogging the dead horse that is austerity, it may be the only option open to Greece.

  15. Re:Unchanging UIs? Not just for old people on How Bad User Interfaces Can Ruin Lives · · Score: 1

    THIS! Mod up!

  16. Re:pardon my french, but "duh" on How Bad User Interfaces Can Ruin Lives · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Don't forget visual impairment. They may be depending on the splat looking thing next to the red thing being the send button. Move it and good luck.

  17. Re:Austerity fails again on Greece Rejects EU Terms · · Score: 1

    Sure, and then Greece will default and exit the Euro. That is probably the best outcome for Greece in the long run anyway. Of course, it will mean no more pay back on the debts at all and it will damage the Euro.

    Remember, there are several other countries in a similar (but not as severe) condition as Greece. They are, no doubt, watching very carefully to see how this works out.

  18. Re:Austerity fails again on Greece Rejects EU Terms · · Score: 1

    There's balancing the budget and then there's selling every productivbe tool and resource you have to balance the budget.

    The first is sustainable. The latter works for about a month and then the next payment comes due and you don't even have the means to bring in money to pay it. The 'deal' being pushed on them was the latter.

    The rest of Europe really doesn't want Greece to default and pull out of the Euro. Notice how once the referendum passed, the people rattling that particular saber started backpedaling. Greece going back to the Drachma could do Europe more harm than it does Greece.

    The deeper you dig, the more it looks like the current situation was orchestrated to some degree. But the crooks in the banks that did the orchestrating don't get their payoff if Greece won't play along.

  19. Re:Harbingers? or just early adopters? on Researchers Study "Harbingers of Failure," Consumers Who Habitually Pick Losers · · Score: 1

    I'm just the messenger. I didn't perform the study.

    But yes, early adopters will sometimes pick losers inevitably. I don't see why it would be so surprising that some would pick the losers more often than others.

  20. Re:Citation needed on Greece Rejects EU Terms · · Score: 1

    No, I already offered a citation just as you requested. It's not my problem if you refuse to read it.

  21. Re:Harbingers? or just early adopters? on Researchers Study "Harbingers of Failure," Consumers Who Habitually Pick Losers · · Score: 1

    According to the study's authors (as quotyed by the Chicago Tribune) "Certain customers systematically purchase new products that prove unsuccessful,". Also: "Our findings challenge the conventional wisdom that positive customer feedback is always a signal of future success."

    So they are saying that this sub-group's purchases of new products is indeed predictive of failure.

  22. Re:Austerity fails again on Greece Rejects EU Terms · · Score: 1

    When you owe the bank a little money, you have a problem. When you owe the bank a lot of money, the bank has a problem. Guess which applies!

  23. Re:Austerity fails again on Greece Rejects EU Terms · · Score: 2

    Carpenter sells hammer to make loan payment, income goes away and loan payment still due next month.

    Clearly, do nothing isn't the answer but quit your job isn't the answer either.

  24. Re:Austerity fails again on Greece Rejects EU Terms · · Score: 1

    There are cost cutting measures that may make sense, but that's not what is meant by austerity (perhaps it should be capitalized). Austerity (capital A) would mean cutting everything from roads to healthcare, pensions (not just future, but immediate, leaving people in the lurch), everything. The net result is mass unemployment and people moving from gainful employment to the dole. That, in turn leads to less taxable income and so deeper austerity measures to compensate. In other words, a death spiral.

    On the other hand, shifting things around like making do with older military hardware in order to finance stimulus can make plenty of sense. Slowly raising the retirement age can make sense even though the payoff isn't immediate.

  25. Re:Austerity fails again on Greece Rejects EU Terms · · Score: 1

    Sure, but the central bankers have been demanding full-on austerity.