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User: rnturn

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  1. Doesn't matter... on Steve Jobs's Big Miss: TV · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The big Internet suppliers have done a bang up job of turning the Internet into TV anyway. Even better than TV from the perspective of the advertisers; you only see one advertisement at a time when watching TV. On the Internet they are able -- with the cooperation of the web page designer -- to have you seeing as many advertisements that can be fit on the screen. Content? Heck... that stuff just gets in the way of -- and takes away space for -- more advertisments. (More and more web sites seem to have used http://websitesfromhell.net/ as a design manual; especially some of the advertisement-heavy examples.)

    The pathetic thing is that I don't know of a single person who clicks on ads -- except by accident.

  2. Well... flat CO2 levels, sadly, aren't enough. on In Historic Turn, CO2 Emissions Flatline In 2014, Even As Global Economy Grows · · Score: 1

    We've managed to raise the global temperature enough to thaw the Arctic areas that are holding huge amounts of methane and have now allowed that to escape into the atmosphere. Unless somebody figures out how to stop further releases of that greenhouse gas, as David Letterman said on his show a year or so ago, "We're screwed."

  3. Re:Muzak on Musician Releases Album of Music To Code By · · Score: 1

    I used to like tuning in the long-time radio show "Music From The Heart Of Space". When I could find it on a local radio station, that is.

  4. Re:Japanese Music on Musician Releases Album of Music To Code By · · Score: 2

    I've done the same thing streaming French or German sites. The music is way better than anything I can get on local radio stations and the ads are innocuous because I can't understand 99.9% of what they're saying.

  5. Re:Uhhh what on Musician Releases Album of Music To Code By · · Score: 1

    I don't know about that but the music samples tell me that I'd be bored to tears listening to that all day. I have some favorite CDs that I've found I can put on and play in repeat mode all day if necessary: Porcupine Tree's "The Sky Moves Sideways", Chapterhouse's "Blood Music", Eno's ambient recordings, most any Swervedriver or Ned's Atomic Dustbin, just about anything by J.S. Bach -- I've got a few hour's worth of Bach organ music that I find enjoyable to have playing while I'm writing code, documentation, etc. I'm sure everyone's got their own favorites.

  6. I'm glad Microsoft doesn't want to ... on Microsoft's Goals For Their New Web Rendering Engine · · Score: 1

    ... contribute to a monoculture by avoiding WebKit. Just so long as this isn't just going to be another form of developer lock-in. (Which I suspect it will be.)

  7. Re:#1 slashdot article submitters on 5 White Collar Jobs Robots Already Have Taken · · Score: 1

    And this food the people in the park are going to be selling? How did they get that? They are unemployed after all. Food ain't free for the taking. Or selling.

  8. I thought he was the "smart" Bush on Jeb Bush Publishes Thousands of Citizens' Email Addresses · · Score: 1

    First he hires a communications director with a history of sending out ugly tweets (that are, apparently, being deleted in an attempt to keep Bush's potential campaign from imploding before it even begins). Then he publishes constituents' email addresses. Doesn't seem all that smart to me.

  9. Re:Idiots... on What Happened To the Photography Industry In 2014? · · Score: 1

    You ever been to the zoo or an aquarium? How many people turn off the flash when taking a picture of something through glass?

    I do.

    You're certainly in the minority. Most of those people probably haven't figured out where that big white blob in the photos came from. Speaking of flash... how many people come home after the Super Bowl -- or some other giant arena event -- and are disappointed with the photos they took while they were there saying "But I used the flash..." We're talking about flash guide number folks and there's no way anyone sitting in the upper deck has a flash capable of illuminating the playing field and getting that one of a kind snapshot of Beyonce. Just one of those things that people don't know any more since everything has been automated and reduced down to merely pushing a button.

  10. Re:Image quality isn't everything on What Happened To the Photography Industry In 2014? · · Score: 1

    It's still tons easier to control camera shake with a small point-n-shoot than it'll ever be with a smartphone. Maybe it's just years worth of muscle memory that allow me to shoot shake free with a point-n-shoot. I've never been able to get a smartphone camera to get a really sharp photo unless the subject is in bright sunlight.

  11. Re:What happened? on What Happened To the Photography Industry In 2014? · · Score: 2

    The low-light performance is the killer feature for me and DSLR. I'd never give that up. The low-light photos that I've taken with my smartphone look like someone push processed Tri-X to about 3200ASA. (And in color it looks even worse.) Plus the camera in the phone takes forever to focus. My phone's camera is my camera of last resort. Only used when I have nothing else available.

  12. Now if only companies that are hiring ... on Using Machine Learning To Find a Better Job · · Score: 1

    ... would employ this software in their HR departments to better match prospective employees who've sent their resumes into the company to job openings that would actually be appropriate. I can't remember how many times I've received an email from a company that has my resume on file about a job that would be a "great match" only to read on and discover that the Venn diagram of the position's "gotta have" requirements, previous experiences, and technologies and those listed on my resume don't intersect. At all. I'm sure those companies eventually find someone to fill those roles but they'd find their ideal candidate a lot faster if they were doing a better job with their keyword searches. (Serious... is it really that difficult to set up an ATS?) Maybe MIT's work will help solve this problem for those companies. Or HR departments could stop trying to insulate the hiring managers from the hiring process so that boneheaded notices like the ones I received aren't being sent out. And making the company look completely clueless.

  13. Not planning on watching it ... on The NFL Wants You To Think These Things Are Illegal · · Score: 1

    ... start to finish. I'll flip over to it from time to time to check on the score. If it turns out that Seattle is beating the tar out of New England, I may keep watching just because I really can't stand the Patriots.

  14. Dang. I just got broadband... on FCC Officially Approves Change In the Definition of Broadband · · Score: 1

    ... a few months ago. Now, all of a sudden, I'm without broadband again.

  15. Nice of Corporate Media to... on Americans Support Mandatory Labeling of Food That Contains DNA · · Score: 1

    ... provide an excuse for their buddies in the chemical, pesticide, and GMO industries that allows them to ridicule the American consumer as a bunch of no-nothings. "See... these rubes^Wpeople don't even know what they're talking about so why should we have to label food that contains man-modified genetic material or household chemicals that contain chemicals that nobody's been able to prove with 100% certainty cause cancer?"

    Perhaps the paper was trying to indict the educational system but, more likely, that's not how this poll's result are going to be used.

  16. Re:What, you can't remap mouse buttons on the G600 on Ask Slashdot: Where Can You Get a Good 3-Button Mouse Today? · · Score: 1

    I've heard of Winmodems. Today I learned about the Winmouse. Ugh.

  17. Re:Thumb on Ask Slashdot: Where Can You Get a Good 3-Button Mouse Today? · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    I've been using a Kensington Expert Mouse trackball for years and left-click with my thumb, right-click with my pinky, and manipulate the large track ball with the other three fingers. I got it after my index finger started to develop signs of arthritis after having used a regular mouse for so many years. (Anyone remember the Logitech 3-button bus mouse and the Point text editor? (Yeah that long.) I want to find another one of those trackballs.

  18. Re:What, you can't remap mouse buttons on the G600 on Ask Slashdot: Where Can You Get a Good 3-Button Mouse Today? · · Score: 1

    Why wouldn't xmodmap work for the OP? It's not portable but, if you're the type that carries their personal mouse around with them, the configuration commands could easily be stashed on a USB drive and loaded onto any (UNIX/Linux) computer you're going to attach your mouse to.

  19. Other than the obligatory security theatre... on Bomb Threats Via Twitter Partly Shut Down Atlanta's Hartsfield Airport · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ... just what would the fighter escort hope to accomplish? Are we really ready to order fighter pilots to shoot down airliners over a phoned-in threat? I guess all it'll take now to spook passengers and completely disrupt air travel in the U.S. is a few bozos with bunch of pre-paid or stolen cellphones.

  20. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... on Fake Engine Noise Is the Auto Industry's Dirty Little Secret · · Score: 2

    ``We even instruct children to 'stop, look, and listen'.''

    So the govt. puts out PSAs that urge people to `stop, look, and look again' when crossing the street. It's a good practice, anyway. Cyclists don't make much noise -- most of the noise made by a car is from the tires and the road surface and a bike's skinny tires make the cyclist much more stealthy -- and a bike/pedestrian collision can be nearly as deadly as one involving cars. Of course, the govt. could always mandate that cyclists clamp something to the fork that is used to hold baseball cards in the spokes. (As a kid, I actually preferred using plastic-coated playing cards as they were louder than baseball cards.) I actually expect something like that to be making its way through local legislatures instead of teaching pedestrians to be more alert when crossing the street.

  21. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... on Fake Engine Noise Is the Auto Industry's Dirty Little Secret · · Score: 5, Funny

    My hope is that there'll be a way to define your own fake car noise. I'll want my silent electric car to emit a sound like George Jetson's "car".

  22. Re:Real reasons for the layoffs on The Tech Industry's Legacy: Creating Disposable Employees · · Score: 2

    ``IBM simply moves the job to a cheaper foreign country where they have an office...''

    Indeed. I recall reading a story about IBMers being told that the internal posting for a job was not intended for U.S.-based employees. Recent news tells us that IBM is laying off N people but hiring the same number. So it's all good, of course. Wanna bet on how many of those new hires are going to be based in the U.S.?

  23. I doubt that... on Facebook Will Let You Flag Content As 'False' · · Score: 1

    ... will stop my tin-foil-hat-wearing friends from going overboard whenever one of their conspiracy-obsessed friends posts a comment about chemtrails or whatever government-is-out-to-get-you theory of the day is making the rounds.

  24. I would never have been able to... on Parents Investigated For Neglect For Letting Kids Walk Home Alone · · Score: 1

    ...participate in any childhood activities if a**holes like these cops and bureaucrats had been around when I was that age. Our Little League practices were over a mile away and we rode to/from the field -- sometimes as a group but often alone -- without anyone calling the cops. We rode bikes to the public pool -- well over a mile a way -- all summer long, crossing all kinds of busy streets along the way. Even at night. Again nobody called the cops.

    Of course, this was a time before pins started showing up in Halloween candy and the kindly old lady down the block could still hand out homemade popcorn balls in your trick/treat bag without risking spending the rest of her life in the big house or on some predator list. I can't quite pin down the time frame when it began but, apparently, some disease began afflicting adults that caused them to hate children. And the unafflicted adults began overreacting to the sight of a child unaccompanied by a cordon of security guards by calling the police whenever they catch a glimpse of one.

  25. Re:Awesome on Adobe Patches Nine Vulnerabilities In Flash · · Score: 1

    Heh. I couldn't get FF to even download it. A portion of the download "form" was obscured and inaccessible under FF. I had to fire up Opera to see the complete form and do the download.