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User: Platinumrat

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  1. Re:Don't journals provide value? on Universities Spend Millions on Accessing Results of Publicly Funded Research (theconversation.com) · · Score: 1

    or everyone could just publish to https://arxiv.org/

  2. Ah yes! If you were to go by content available on the web as a metric. Or how about search engine results?

  3. Re:here we go again on Three Women Suing Microsoft for Bias Want To Add 8,630 Peers (bloomberg.com) · · Score: 3, Insightful

    That the problem exists and is pervasive, I have no doubts on that score. However, I don't think it's just against women, ethnic or age groups. In short, I think the problem is mainly about cronyism and the boys club. Even talented white males suffer from discrimination there, but that's deem ok because they are white and male. People joke about the pointy haired boss, but it's actually a sign of cronyism.

  4. Re:Berkley didn't do this to be jerks on 20,000 Worldclass University Lectures Made Illegal, So We Irrevocably Mirrored Them (lbry.io) · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The issue I see with this, is not so much that the existing lectures were removed, because they've been saved elsewhere. It's that there will now be no new content released in this fashion. So everyone loses out on future changes to course content.

  5. Re:In game purchases are gross on 'Second Life' Creators Develop A VR Social World Named 'Sansar' (technologyreview.com) · · Score: 1

    [sic] I would rather pay a good sum for a quality game [...]

    And there's your problem right there. Your assumption that SL is a game. It's not, although you can play games there. It's a place to meet/build/whatever is your kink. In fact kink seems to be the most popular thing in SL. That or Gor sims, which seem to be mainly populated by misogynistic assholes and grandmothers who want to RP the whole warrior sex/slave thing, Having said that, you can have fun in SL in the BDSM community and even in Gor if the role playing is good.

    As to the purchasing of in game content. It's not the same as in games. You're not buying from Linden Labs, but from other content creators, some of whom are brilliant.

  6. Re:Young engineers ... == Age discrimination. on Dyson Will Spend $1.4 Billion, Enlist 3,000 Engineers To Build a Better Battery (digitaltrends.com) · · Score: 1

    I suppose it depends on the employment laws, but wouldn't excluding a demographic (or conversely preferentially selecting the opposite demographic) be illegal. It would come under age discrimination, in most jurisdictions that I know of.

  7. Re:Godwinned in just 17 minutes. on Systemd Rolls Out Its Own Mount Tool (phoronix.com) · · Score: 1

    Don't be ridiculous. The holocaust never happened, SystemD certainly is happening.

    Don't worry. Systemd will take over the functions of a version control system, GIT/SVN/SCCS/... and all records of it happening will be erased.

  8. Re:It's wildly unlikely we should exist on Are We Alone In the Universe? Not Likely, According To Math (cnet.com) · · Score: 1

    There are some pretty unique conditions that allowed life to evolve here. Time and being in the right place (ie. the habital zone) are not the only prerequisites. The Universe is a dangerous place and it's out to kill us or any other life. In planetary science, there is a theory with a lot of support, that says the moon had a significant role to play in allowing life to develop on Earth. For one thing, it creates significant tides, which stirred up the materials needed to form life in the oceans. Another thing, is that without the moon, the earths axis of rotation would not be stable and thus at some times, the poles would likely to be pointing at (or away from) the Sun. That would be bad for life, especially complex life.

  9. Re:Running a nuclear plant on Windows? on German Nuclear Plant Infected With Computer Virus (reuters.com) · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I was developing a Train Control System for OS-9, then Apple came out with there similarity named operating system for the Mac. Suddenly the newsgroups became unusable and you could no longer get rely on support for driver development, as they became flooded with Apple fanbois posting how they couldn't install this or that or some stupid thing. Way to kill a reasonably good OS, Apple.

  10. correct. "I laugh at bigger than Texas" and politely point out to Texans, that I come from a country where only two states are smaller than Texas

  11. Actually, they didn't learn anything new. on MIT Physicists Have Finally Cracked Overhand Knots · · Score: 1

    The researches just couldn't be arsed to look up The Ashley Book of Knots. I used to teach Abseiling, and we had to know the strengths and attributes of various knots.

  12. Re:No PHP? on Exploring the Relationships Between Tech Skills (Visualization) · · Score: 1

    What technical skills? Maybe web 2.0, but definitely not TECH. Technical is the hard engineering, CompSci / Physical / Simulations.

  13. Re:Why live there then? on Scientist Union's Talks Stall Over Pay · · Score: 1

    no wonder you're struggling. Above the boiling point of water. Ohh, you're using that archaic F-thingy, which is ironic when talking about scientists, who would almost exclusively be dealing in metric.

  14. Re:something is wrong on Ask Slashdot: Are Post-Install Windows Slowdowns Inevitable? · · Score: 1

    Most large shops, won't even let you run "Task Manager" with all applications visible. It requires local admin rights and that's locked down.

  15. Re:Illogical on Wi-Fi Router's 'Pregnant Women' Setting Sparks Vendor Rivalry In China · · Score: 1

    It's actually a brick, tastefully wrapped in gold foil.

  16. Re:But this is a new low... on Emails Show How Industry Lobbyists Basically Wrote The Trans-Pacific Partnership · · Score: 1

    Emperor!

  17. Re:supporting technology? on World-First Remote Air Traffic Control System Lands In Sweden · · Score: 2

    They do have local equipment and streaming cameras. I've seen Demonstrations of RTS at the last few Internation Air Shows, that I've been to. It's more like a VR system for ATC.

  18. Re:Bill Gates is a benevolent philanthropist on Think Tanks: How a Bill [Gates Agenda] Becomes a Law · · Score: 1

    Remember, Bill wasn't one of those Engineers, having dropped out of Harvard. So was probably snubbed by them early on. This is Pay-Back!!!

  19. Re:Legal, just morally dubious on Google, Apple and Microsoft Squirm As Global Tax Schemes Scrutinized · · Score: 1

    But what they are doing is exaggerating, the cost of use of Trademarks and IP licenses, to those offshore entities that exist in low tax havens. So, they sell $1 billion worth of product, but claim that it cost them $900 million in costs, of which $100 million is physical goods and 800 million is licenses, trademarks and administrative overheads to the foreign entity. While legal, does that seem ethical?

  20. Re:Read the Damn Articles on Boeing Patents Star Wars Style Force Field Technology · · Score: 1

    This isn't a force field it's a point defense system.

    The system can sense when a shock wave generating explosion occurs near a target. An arc generator then determines the small area where protection is needed from the shock waves.It then springs into action by by emitting laser pulses that ionize the air, providing a laser-induced plasma field of protection from the shock waves.

    So it won't work in space then. Not much of a force field.

  21. Re:My first SSD died on Endurance Experiment Kills Six SSDs Over 18 Months, 2.4 Petabytes · · Score: 1

    There is a fix for that. It's to update the firmware. I had that problem as well. Flashing the firmware worked a treat

  22. Re:Fridge door handle on Should a Service Robot Bring an Alcoholic a Drink? · · Score: 1

    When I was working in Taiwan, you could get beer from Vending machines on the station platforms.

  23. Re:Obligatory reminder that an alternative exists on OpenSSL 1.0.2 Released · · Score: 1

    And in Back to the Future, wasn't Marty's communications with Snake monitored by his Corporate Overload?

  24. And this concept is standard in Aviation on A Toolbox That Helps Keep You From Losing Tools (Video) · · Score: 1

    Nothing new here, except the Open Source part. In Aviation, worse than losing the tools, is leaving one somewhere it shouldn't be and potentially downing an aircraft.

  25. But does it come in White? on Scientists Have Developed a Material So Dark That You Can't See It · · Score: 1

    Or orange, blue, green. They'll never be able to market it unless they figure out what users want.