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User: pspahn

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Comments · 1,746

  1. eCommerce on Ask Slashdot: Best Approach To Reenergize an Old Programmer? · · Score: 1

    Don't look at languages, look where jobs are in the eCommerce world. There's a ton of money exchanging hands and it's still fairly untapped. Find an eCommerce niche and develop your skills around that.

  2. Re:Reasons to be hesitant around Kurzweil on Kurzweil: The Cloud Will Expand Human Brain Capacity · · Score: 1

    Longevity vitamins.

    What other types of vitamins are there? I mean, isn't that why people take vitamins, to live longer?

    I've had plenty of clients selling worse crap than this.

  3. If you're a crack dealer on UK Broadband Plan Set To Clear EU Approval · · Score: 1

    Let's say you live on a block. You have crack. You would like to sell this crack to people who really want to buy crack. If nobody is selling crack, and you have crack willing to sell, why would this be a problem?

  4. Re:Coding is a skill, not a profession on The Case For the Blue Collar Coder · · Score: 1

    I'm wondering if everyone is on the same page with with TFA is suggesting. There is a difference between "coding" and "programming".

    Of course you still need programmers who got CS degrees and studies all sorts of math and number theory. These are not the people being replaced by the blue-collar coder.

    The blue-collar coder exists already, and plenty of development shops employ them. They work within given frameworks where a majority of the programming has already been done and you are left to simply code with the classes and functions provided.

    You have a certain group of people that take concepts and form tools around those concepts. You have another group of people who use those tools to implement real-world entities. Programmers are architects, coders are contractors.

  5. Re:I just don't understand.. on Stolen Maple Syrup Found and Returned To Strategic Reserve · · Score: 1

    I was thinking more along the lines of how this exporter didn't expect that his "usual supplier" suddenly had an amazing deal on a larger shipment.

    If he's in the maple syrup exporting business, he must have known about the heist, which means he either had some suspicion that his supplier had "hot" syrup ( *teehee* ), or he flat out knew where it came from and couldn't pass up a great opportunity to make a loon...

    Loon, right? That's what they call a buck?

  6. Re:Remember the old addage on TypeScript: Microsoft's Replacement For JavaScript · · Score: 2

    Rather, it seems MS is trying desperately to become more relevant and trustworthy in the open source space. So much so that they will toss their hat in the ring any chance they get.

    Javascript seems like a good opportunity, if you're looking at it from their perspective.

  7. Re:And the motorcycles .... on Ask Slashdot: Hacking Urban Noise? · · Score: 2

    rrobbbbllleee rrrrobbbblllleee rrrroobbbbllleeee

  8. Re:This is what historians will call . . . on Global Bacon Shortage 'Unavoidable' · · Score: 1

    Bacotastrophe.

  9. Re:Relax, we've already covered the solution today on Global Bacon Shortage 'Unavoidable' · · Score: 1

    So, this must mean that if we have more Muslims, we will have more bacon. Amirite?

    Sigh... let me... yadda yadda... first one... yadda yadda... new overlords... yadda yadda....

  10. Re:stupid inaccurate title as usual on Microsoft Pollutes To Avoid Fines · · Score: 1

    Well of course you can. But what happens when you budget the water going through the turbine to generate X in exchange for $Y, and you find out some time later that you were sending too much water through since someone was under-using?

    Do you just try and tell either the water rights owner downstream or the ocean that you want the water back and they need to deliver it to you?

    Doesn't this energy get metered out into the grid based on what is budgeted? ie what is agreed upon in the contract? What happens to it? It's a big ocean where you basically can't get it back.

    The only solution here is storage, or a drastically remodeled financial model so that it gets paid for by... oh yeah.

  11. Re:Incidentally... on Beer Is Cheaper In the US Than Anywhere Else In the World · · Score: 1
    • Avery
    • Odell's
    • Stone
    • Anchor Steam
    • Lagunitas
    • Dale's
    • Deschutes

      The list just keeps going and going.

  12. Re:20 x 100 W bulbs?!?!?!? on Light Bulb Ban Produces Hoarding In EU, FUD In U.S. · · Score: 1

    Nah, Metal Halide (and High Pressure Sodium for flowering phase) is the only way to go.

    Or, you know, that giant orb in the sky that does it for free.

  13. Re:All Edison's fault on Light Bulb Ban Produces Hoarding In EU, FUD In U.S. · · Score: 1

    It's not him that deserves it, it's the birds that deserve it.

    You know, that whole "respect for all things large and small"?

    Aside from from small-scale farmers, there are still all the pet reptile owners that use these bulbs for terrarium heating.

    I can't imagine that these uses will be banned, though, the price is sure to increase.

  14. Re:Just pass the course and move on on Ask Slashdot: How To Ask College To Change Intro To Computing? · · Score: 2

    I beg to differ.

    I got my A+ back in '98, was grandfathered into the lifetime cert (suckers =), and it does merit special attention simply because it shows a competency of actually managing your own machine leading to less load for the admin (and the ability to help out when he's backed up or dealing with a complex launch or something).

    For those in a large barcode based environment... I'm not talking about your job.

  15. Re:When I was in high school on Ask Slashdot: How To Ask College To Change Intro To Computing? · · Score: 2

    Well of course you do. The paper only really means something once you do have the skills to compete with those who chose to forego school and just start piling on the skills, experience, and ladder climbing.

    If you're right out of school, it's going to be tough to compete with some of the others who have loads of experience. Of course, these two types of individuals seem less likely to be competing for the same positions.

    Back to the submitter's question, you're going to find a difficult time adjusting to the intro stuff. I certainly did and it ultimately led me to drop going back to school. I really felt it was a waste of time, money, and the fact that there were no options for replacing mundane credits with something more interesting was a total turn off.

    I would suggest choosing the school wisely, and having a chat with an academic counselor to see if there are any alternative lab type credits where you can do your thing, submit a final (which more than adequately fulfills requirements), and hopefully you may get a chance to actually learn something.

  16. Re:amazing on The Man Who Hacked the Bank of France · · Score: 0

    But what if it a "slide-to-open" type of latch?

    If the mechanism is patented, does this mean there is no analog?

  17. Re:And how will this on Huge Diamond Deposits Revealed In Russia · · Score: 1

    The poor bastards that marry these women...

    Yes, I have my fears of commitment just like any other guy, but at least I can rest easy knowing the current lady being given consideration could care less about all this stuff.

    She'll only turn into a shallow bitch if you let her.

  18. Re:"Rote" XXXX on Why America's School "Lag" Has Never Mattered · · Score: 1

    I cannot predict the trajectory of a missile if I cannot apply Newton. I cannot build a car either.

    When does your product release and what will it cost?

  19. Re:Another nail for XP on Google Kills Apps Support For Internet Explorer 8 · · Score: 2

    Yeah, but what is support anymore? In a world where your device is not much more than a dumb | smart client (browser as OS, essentially), the device is replaceable. Simply. No more worrying about an entire hardware stack, all you care about is the browser and the web.

    I think it has been highly insightful of Googoo to develop the apps they have. I use them fairly often, and mostly because of the convenience. And hey, if it enlightens some M$ drone to the benefits of an alternative back office, the all the better.

  20. Re:Sounds like a good idea ... on Easy Fix For Software Patents Found In US Patent Act · · Score: 1

    I'm still unsure about this one and would love to know what is allowed and what isn't.

    Can the patent be circumvented by including an additional click to confirm the order? Isn't that what B&N did?

  21. Re:Jokes on them! on Is iPhone Battery Usefulness On the Decline? · · Score: 0

    a heavy and slow iPod touch (phone without a sim).

    Which is exactly where you have the real difference between iThing and Droidbot.

    With Droidbot, you can always purchase an "mp3" player similar to the iThing Shush. Couple this with GoogooYak and any modern connection, and you officially have no reason to pay anyone except the web dealer.

    The biggest web dealers know this.

    Of course, it will be another 50 years before we realize that access to the "communication core" is a basic civil right. [@futurespecies looking back on ancient records - ha! I totally called that one!]

  22. Re:He also added... on Wozniak On the Samsung Patent Verdict · · Score: 1

    The list really should simply include beer. Free shout to friends at Denver Beer Co..

  23. Re:Nope, Apple did not start it on Wozniak On the Samsung Patent Verdict · · Score: 1

    I don't think he was trying to argue anything, he was just saying it "gets him"... as in it is annoying, is bewildering, etc.

    Stop polarizing the issue.

  24. Re:Fun vs Happy on Ask Slashdot: How Much Is a Fun Job Worth? · · Score: 1

    So then get some pet children. You can see where this happiness trail ultimately leads, correct?

  25. Re:No Loseless support? on Opus — the Codec To End All Codecs · · Score: 0

    And I'm sure they would simply love to re-encode the iToons library to support the new codec.

    I'm guessing that this codec fails simply because Apple didn't write it and will, therefore, refuse to support it.