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User: Verloc

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Comments · 48

  1. Has nobody thought this through? What's a reef going to do with 379 million dollars? At least give it to somebody who could do some good with it; the reef has zero fiscal responsibility.

  2. This isn't really an article on The Science and Politics Behind Colony Collapse Disorder; Is the Crisis Over? · · Score: 3, Informative

    I would have a hard time calling anything written by Margaret Wente 'an article'; she writes for clicks and shock value. We'd be better off calling it an editorial.

  3. Did I call it or did I call it? on How Much Python Do You Need To Know To Be Useful? · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Comment: Ahh Dice (Score 4, Funny)
    by Verloc on Thursday June 04, 2015 @10:08PM (#49844935) Attached to: How Much JavaScript Do You Need To Know For an Entry-Level Job?

    Last week it was "How much C++ do you need to know for an entry level job"

    next week it'll be "How much Python do you need for an entry level job"

    Must be nice crowd sourcing your job requirements from Slashdot.
    ---

    It was even Python. Amazing. I predict next week: Ruby.

  4. Ahh Dice on How Much JavaScript Do You Need To Know For an Entry-Level Job? · · Score: 4, Funny

    Last week it was "How much C++ do you need to know for an entry level job"

    next week it'll be "How much Python do you need for an entry level job"

    Must be nice crowd sourcing your job requirements from Slashdot.

  5. Translation: on China's Foreign Ministry: China Did Not Attack Github, We Are the Major Victims · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "We are not hacking because we get hacked a lot"

    The 'logic' here is... not good.

  6. Re:The quality of a lot of that feedback is suspec on Microsoft Has Received 1 Million Pieces of Feedback For Windows 10 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I think it was more of a PR stunt for Microsoft to be able to say "there are enough people interested in Windows 10 to contribute 1 million pieces of feedback" and "we're listening to you, the computer-using community" than it is about responding properly to any particular piece of feedback.

  7. I can see the code now on Facebook Launches Advanced AI Effort To Find Meaning In Your Posts · · Score: 5, Funny

    if len(post) > 0:
            meaning = "I think too much of myself"

    Shit, I could code this thing.

  8. Lapham's Quarterly on Ask Slashdot: What Magazines Do You Still Read? · · Score: 1

    It only comes out 4 times a year, no ads whatsoever; each issue is filled with super interesting excepts from history alongside artwork regarding one subject. Lewis Lapham is a former editor for Harpers, which I would read on occasion. It's the only magazine that I buy regularly, and have for several years.

  9. Re:New World Odor on Monsanto Takes Home $23m From Small Farmers According To Report · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why is it that today almost every story on Slashdot is about our frog-in-slowly-heated-water society.

    Because every once in a while the temperature rises a little more than usual and the frog notices.

  10. Re:paywalled? on Crowdsourced Coders Take On Immunology Big Data · · Score: 3, Informative
  11. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry on Ask Slashdot: Best Science-Fiction/Fantasy For Kids? · · Score: 1

    The Little Prince is a fantasy/sci-fi novel that is extremely multidimensional (you can read it on many levels). It's something that one can read at 8 and enjoyed, then read again at 12, 16 and enjoyed for entirely different reasons. I cannot recommend this book enough for young readers.

  12. This is cool but on Watch How the Moon Was Formed · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It is not "How the moon was formed", it is "Why the moon looks like it does". Still a very cool video.

  13. Nationalist Culture on Outgoing CRTC Head Says Technology Is Eroding Canadian Culture · · Score: 3, Informative

    All the posts I'm reading are "Canada has no culture". Seriously?

    Of course Canada has a culture; Quebec has a more unique example, but for English Canada there are a lot of cultural similarities between their culture and the United States' culture, so most of those characteristics are subsumed under the US cultural umbrella. Canada's resulting perceived culture is more fragmented, less in your face than other cultures. We could easily lose these fragments and become more 'international' (though most English speaking Canadians get information from english speaking countries, so that means the US and UK mostly). All nationalist cultures will face this in the coming years.

    The question, really, is does this constitute a problem? It's a question of identity: 'what cultural groups do you identify with?'. Nationalism has a very real hold on our identity. We need that feeling of belonging to something, and everybody is born into a nation. However, online experience has already show us that 'virtual reality' provides that feeling of belonging and the groups with which we identify and to which we belong have changed drastically. This is a fragmentation of previous groups, and of course the previously established cultural groups are going to fight back.

    Of course, the results of this fragmentation remain to be seen. Maybe it's better to belong to a group that all your neighbours belong to so that we share something in common with them, and some weak nationalism has a greater value then we currently understand. Maybe the explosion of smaller groups will allow a stronger connection within the group while a weaker without. I personally think that both are useful, and that Canadians should want to understand their culture, just as all other nations should want to understand their own culture. Having to legislate it in fear of losing it shows mistrust on one side and disinterest on the other, an ugly combination.

  14. Re:And it's fucking irritating on Apple Deemed Top of Movie Product Placement Charts · · Score: 2

    What are movies if not advertisements for the entertainment industry? It's ALL advertising, movies included, as McLuhan would say.

  15. Re:The Mythbusters should try to win this! on X Prize $30 Million Robot Race To the Moon Is On · · Score: 3, Informative

    Masters of cinematic effects != rocket scientists.

  16. Re:Yes, you are right on Should Colleges Ban Classroom Laptop Use? · · Score: 1

    Actually you are 100% wrong.

    How can somebody say this and claim to be educated? Is it part of those "conflict resolution skills" you're talking about?

    I'm glad you've had success, but there are simply too many people to ask each one nicely. And sure, some might say yes, but some will not. And dragging the whole class to a halt and assuming that the class as a whole will agree on ANYTHING is both an unproductive use of class time and naive.

  17. Re:Yes, you are right on Should Colleges Ban Classroom Laptop Use? · · Score: 1

    Afraid of what? Do you think that by "respectfully" asking somebody to stop using their computer they are going to do it? Preposterous. As equals in the classroom we hold exactly no leverage and they have no incentive to comply. People feel entitled to use whatever they see fit, and they will continue to do so unless the school as an organization takes a stand.

    My program (not CS) has a no-laptop policy in the classroom. In other classes that are small enough, the prof can walk around the class and check to see what students are doing with their computer. But in large lectures of 40+ people, the amount of things happening on computer screens from the student's perspective is shocking. It is NOT just a "handful of bozos".

  18. Re:Easy question, easy answer on The Uncertain Future of Global Population Numbers · · Score: 1

    Sure, and then when the developing world reaches our resource level we'll just be using the equivalent of 6 earths in resources. We need to redefine civilization and industrialization if we are to industrialize the globe.

  19. Seems reasonable to me on Smash Bros. Online Mode Confirmed · · Score: 1

    The Wii is a family platform, and parents aren't going to want to have their kids exposed to online predators through it. If the player still wants to meet people, they obviously have internet access. The only drawback is that online play with strangers may be random; you fight against somebody great then you get some real stinkers. Since they don't keep score of the stranger fights, they probably won't have any form of ranking you can use as a yardstick.

  20. Re:One step beyond on Lawrence Lessig to Leave Copyright Sphere · · Score: 1

    And the reason that people are willing to 'lend' to the US? It's amazing buying power. Once the next superpower takes over, the US will get quite an awakening.

  21. Re:Bravo on University Professor Chastised For Using Tor · · Score: 1

    I can follow your logic, but only to a certain point. I can certainly see how I could educate my children better then the education system.

    But then I think about it bit more; as an urban dweller, how could I devote the time required to my kids? I would probably be working full time, my partner as well.

    Can you assume everybody else is that competent though? Education isn't equal, live isn't equal; some people are going to be more able to raise children because of their history. Those people will find it very hard to survive in this state. I can't imagine a worse thing then being responsible for that.

    Ultimately you have to deal with the system you have, change it where you can and hope for the best. The state plays an active role, we must work within that system.

  22. Re:Let's let the private sector explore space. on NASA Weighs Moon Plans · · Score: 2, Insightful

    At this stage in development, the risks for private industry in actual space exploration are incredible. Why would any sane business want to take that risk when there are plenty of defense contracts for perfectly good weapons of mass destruction?

    No, Nationalism will carry the day in the exploration of space; Capitalism takes the easiest route to profit while Nationalism appeals to group notions of one-upmanship and achievement: witness China, who's 'Communist' ideology is strongly nationalist. They are putting people into space to show how fantastic they are, and don't care much less about the bottom line. The threshold where capitalism will begin to be effective hasn't come yet.

    I personally feel that whatever works best we need to do and do soon; what kind of world would my grandkids live in if we are unable to stem our consumption? At that point, they will need everything we've developed so far to colonize other worlds.

    Ultimately we're all prisoners of our ideologies. The best we can do is understand all of them and make the best choices.

  23. Re:Interesting points on Computer Security, The Next 50 Years · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Some advanced users would probaly not need/want the security by default.

    I think that advanced users will be able to change their settings until they find a sweet-spot. Default protection protects against my mother, who may not look dangerous but is involved in multiple DDOS attacks across the eastern united states.

    I personally think the solution is some sort of PSA before opening the file of the horrors of viruses. You know, hospital equipment going down, people going crazy, real 'reefer madness' here.

    Or maybe not.

  24. Increase in the number of grids on New Ion Engine Being Tested · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This innovation came from the addition of another grid (from TFA) used in the process of accelerating the ions. Is there any reason that they couldn't just keep adding grids with varying voltages? And why are the last two voltages both low? Wouldn't it make sense to alternate them?

  25. Re:sure "the best" on The World of Competitive Gaming · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I refute that. I agree that it's a different game than a casual player would play, but to watch a duel between two of the best players out there (q3 is what I know) is an exercise of instinct and grace. I've seen 1v1 games between players like ZeRo4 and Cooller and been marvelled at the kind of shots, jumps and movement they can pull. It is a skill and it can be stunning. If one person is using the rocket launcher to spawn kill, the other ususally made a mistake to get into that position. There are 4v4 team games/ctf that are amazing examples of co-ordinated teamwork. Pro gaming is playing a game to win and if everybody's playing the same way (which is usually the case in the upper echelon) the playing field is quite level. To call it 'lamer' just shows you don't understand it. You don't have to play them if you don't want to.