Slashdot Mirror


User: Distan

Distan's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
179
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 179

  1. I trust the Audience Scores over the "professional" Tomatometer any day. The Tomatometer is too vulnerable to outside manipulation by professional reviewers acting in coordination to "upbomb" a movie they want to promote.

    As an experiment I just thought up a handful of movies and mentally rated them on a scale of 0 to 100, then compared my rating to the TM and AS ratings at RT.com. When the TM and AS were in agreement I was generally in agreement too. When they differed greatly, oh boy, it was clear the TM rating was way out of line.

    Greatest Showman
    My=85 TM=56 AC=88

    The Prestige
    My=90 TM=75 AS=92

    Last Jedi
    My=40 TM=91 AS=44

    Ghostbusters
    My=35 TM=74 AS=51

    Laserblast
    My=10 TM=NA AS=13

    LEGO Movie 2
    My=80 TM=86 AS=75

    Happy Death Day
    My=70 TM=72 AS=66

    Remember that RT.com is now owned by Fandango (and Warner Brothers) and no longer serves the purpose of providing honest feedback on movies. Hollywood wants it to fit nicely as another gear in the movie promotion engine. Allowing honest feedback about movies from consumers will no longer be tolerated as it doesn't fit the agenda of selling more tickets no matter what. In that regard it has followed the same path as other "captive reviewers" like most car magazines or video game review websites.

  2. Re:Legitimate Kernel Developers Don't Want To Resc on Richard Stallman Says Linux Code Contributions Can't Be Rescinded (itwire.com) · · Score: 1

    The effective way to implement this isn't "rescind" but "fork and rescind". A new kernel fork is created that eschews the new CoC and perhaps defines an inclusive alternative, then the license to the code is rescinded from to-be-abandoned CoC tainted fork. In this way development of the kernel is not disrupted but the CoC is excluded.

  3. I guarantee the plastic will have somewhere to go. on China Won't Solve the World's Plastics Problem Any More (wired.com) · · Score: 3, Insightful

    > Between now and 2030, 111 million metric tons of trash -- straws, bags, water bottles -- will have nowhere to go

    Unless the laws of conservation of mass are to be repealed I guarantee that plastic will go somewhere. Therefore, by definition, it will have somewhere to go.

  4. Re:I'm shocked, shocked! on 'How We Made Starship Troopers' (theguardian.com) · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Hollywood is pathologically incapable of making a movie that conveys a conservative message. I doubt we will ever see a faithful interpretation of any golden age Heinlein novel.

  5. Re:How did Rey get on the Falcon? on Ask Slashdot: Thoughts On Star Wars: The Last Jedi One Week Later? [Spoilers] (independent.co.uk) · · Score: 1

    I wondered the same damn thing. They should have removed the entire "Rose & Finn's Excellent Adventure" sequence and added five to ten minutes of Rey fighting her way off the dreadnought. The movie would have been tighter and shorter and benefited from a new scene that advanced the plot.

  6. Why not keep using shapeshift.io? on Bank of America Wins Patent For Crypto Exchange System (coindesk.com) · · Score: 1

    It seems like BoA is trying to solve a problem that is already solved.

  7. Re:This time, I think they have a case on Disney Sues Redbox, Hoping To Block Digital Movie Sales (marketwatch.com) · · Score: 1

    > Or they could have printed the codes on the actual disk, and include terms that redistribution of the code without the disk revokes all rights to said content.

    You seem to be thinking that the law is consistent. Software falls into a somewhat unique area where "terms of use" are the norm (even if the precedent determining whether they are binding is weak).

    Most things you physically purchase at retail do not and can not have terms attached. A chair maker cannot sell rocking chairs with a disclaimer that "your right to use this chair is revoked if you remove the rockers from the legs".

    Disney is trying to have their "digital code" sales treated like they are software sales. Redbox is saying they should be treated like DVD sales. The precedent and law is different for software vs movies.

  8. Re:This was already sued and lost on Disney Sues Redbox, Hoping To Block Digital Movie Sales (marketwatch.com) · · Score: 1

    It was MP3.com (not CDBaby) that lost that lawsuit.

    Anyway, that precedent doesn't apply at all. The current Redbox case is completely different.

    MP3.com was making this argument: Since you have the CD you already have the right to listen to a ripped copy. The ripped copy that MP3.com already has on its servers is identical to the copy you would you make yourself. Therefore you have the right to listen to MP3.com's copy instead of having to make your own personal copy.

    The court didn't buy that theory. Just because *you* have the right to make a copy to listen to doesn't mean mp3.com could share their copy with you. And even if the copies are digitally identical they are still separate copies that came from separate first sales.

    Redbox isn't trying to do anything like this. All they are doing is saying "hey, we bought this package that contained two widgets (a disk and a piece of paper) and we are going to sell or rent those two widgets in separate transactions.

  9. Re:First Sale Doctrine? on Disney Sues Redbox, Hoping To Block Digital Movie Sales (marketwatch.com) · · Score: 1

    Sorry, but you have the facts wrong on ProCD, Inc. v. Zeidenberg. That case never made it to the Supreme Court. The summary you are linking to was written after the district court ruled but before the final appeal. The lower court was overturned.

    The precedent in that case doesn't directly seem to apply to the matter at hand however.

  10. Re:Data trail on Kaspersky Admits To Reaping Hacking Tools From NSA Employee PC (zdnet.com) · · Score: 1

    If Kaspersky isn't working with the Russian govt, how did their Lab data end up with the Russian govt?

    We don't know that the data ended up with the government.

    Here is what is claimed:

    Reports published in the United States are that Israeli government hackers broke into Kaspersky and saw the NSA data. While the Israelis were there they witnessed Russian government hackers also break into Kaspersky and access the NSA data. Kaspersky claims the only people who hacked them were the Israelis and they were never hacked by the Russians.

    So if the Israelis are wrong the Russian government doesn't have the data. If the Israelis are right the Russian government only has the data because they hacked in from Kaspersky.

    I don't understand where any evidence comes from that Kaspersky colluded with the Russian government. Maybe I'm just missing that.

  11. KSN should be illegal on Kaspersky Admits To Reaping Hacking Tools From NSA Employee PC (zdnet.com) · · Score: 0

    KSN and all similar technologies, including the Microsoft malware submission tool, should be made illegal.

    Rationale:

    * All software is protected by copyright.
    * Only the copyright holder has the legal authority to authorized copying the software.
    * Transferring malware from the infected user to researchers therefore violates the rights of the copyright holder.

    To what extent the above is sarcasm is left as an exercise for the reader.

  12. Does anyone have a list of devices? on FBI Couldn't Access Nearly 7,000 Devices Because of Encryption (foxbusiness.com) · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Does anyone have a list of devices the FBI can't decrypt? I'd like to make sure my next phone is one on the list, but I'm not sure which Android devices pass that test.

  13. Could easily be innocent.

    Assume malware is discovered that is searching for "top secret". Kaspersky detectes that malware for looking for things searching for "top secret".

    Start with what we know...

    NSA contractor takes home secret NSA malware tools and installs them on his own computer which is running Kaspersky AV. Kaspersky AV detects malware running on a protected system and uploads the malware to Kaspersky for further analysis. Israeli SIGINT National Unit hacks into Kaspersky, find secret NSA malware there, notifies the NSA that Kaspersky is in possession of NSA secrets.

    From there it seems like all speculation...

  14. Anti-virus software detects various forms of malware.

    The surveillance software used by the NSA and other government agencies is effectively malware. To serve the purpose intended by the NSA this malware needs to go undetected and unreported by anti-virus software. Kaspersky wouldn't play along with this whitelisting, then they found themselves the target of blacklisting.

  15. I would pastebin it all. on Equifax Breach is Very Possibly the Worst Leak of Personal Info Ever (arstechnica.com) · · Score: 1

    Social Security numbers were intended for one purpose only, to identify the Social Security retirement account of individual citizens.

    The fundamental security model of Equifax and the other credit agencies has always been broken. In my opinion the very best thing that could happen would be if a complete database of the names, addresses, birthdates, and social security numbers of every single US citizen was published and updated quarterly. The clowns at these credit agencies need to stop building an identification model on government retirement accounts.

    In short, if I was in possession of the Equifax leaked data, I would paste it all over the internet just to purposely screw Equifax's model.

  16. Count the bumper stickers on Google Cancels Town Hall To Discuss Diversity In Its Ranks (nbcnews.com) · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You want to measure diversity at google? Count the political bumper stickers on the cars that park there. You'll have no problem finding Hillary and Sanders stickers, but Trump stickers are rarer than hen's teeth.

    They built this absolutely toxic environment for conservatives under the cover of "diversity". Why should anyone believe they are going to do anything except continue to make conservatives feel like pariahs?

  17. Google is still missing the point on Google May Be In Trouble For Firing James Damore (inc.com) · · Score: 0

    I'm still not seeing Google take any action towards the real problem here. What are they going to do about the hostile environment they have made for conservative employees?

  18. What is google going to do to fix this? on Google Grapples With Fallout After Employee Slams Diversity Efforts (npr.org) · · Score: 1

    Google and the valley are increasingly hostile towards conservative values. I don't want to read rebuttals from google executives, I want to know what exactly they are going to do to make sure google is a safe workspace for conservatives and that conservative viewpoints can be openly expressed by those who work there.

  19. Re:Telling on Imzy, the Kinder and Gentler Reddit By Ex Employee, Is Shutting Down (imzy.com) · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Reddit is already being killed by the spread of this "social justice" variant of political correctness. These Imzy people actually thought the solution was more social justice? That's hilarious. I hope they drained a lot of money out of the pockets of like-thinking VCs on their way down.

  20. Re:I'm all for it, but.. on Fired Reddit Exec Launches Competing Site (thenextweb.com) · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It looks to me just to be "take what is killing reddit and amplify it", not an attempt to build a healthy reddit.

  21. Re:Reliability? on There's No End In Sight For Data Storage Capacity (computerworld.com) · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The big purchasers of storage want the opposite. They prefer cheap capacity over reliability. All their data is replicated multiple time so losing a storage device is nothing to them, the data just auto-replicates to other devices.

  22. Forget global warming on Mars Colonies and Class Warfare (examiner.com) · · Score: 1

    Forget about "escaping global warming". Earth at its worst will be better than Mars at its best.

    The real benefit of moving to Mars would be to get away from earthbound governments and their desire to control everything in sight: encryption, bitcoin, guns, speech, genetics, what you drink, what you smoke, what you eat, the internet, the DMCA, the Patriot Act, and so on, and so on. Being able to jettison all the governments on earth and live self-sufficient on Mars would be highly tempting to me.

  23. Re:As a wise man once said on Hackers Publish Cheating Site's Stolen Data · · Score: 1

    I'm guessing you don't seek any medical attention or do any kind of banking as that kind of information is also stored in computers now.

    You guess wrong. I do indeed seek medical care and carry out banking. However, I do so under the assumption that everything I do could easily become public. Consequentially, I am circumspect about what I tell my Doctors. I would never reveal anything to a physician that I didn't want on the front page of the newspaper. Similarly, I don't carry out any financial transactions that I wouldn't want disclosed.

    Fortunately it is still possible to pay cash for many things, including limited medical services provided under an false name.

  24. As a wise man once said on Hackers Publish Cheating Site's Stolen Data · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "Information wants to be free".

    The idea that AshleyMadison (or any other entity) would keep registration information private forever was laughable. My rule of thumb is that if I don't want what I do to be published all over the internet, then don't do it.

  25. Monkey Models on New Russian Fighter Not Up To Western Standards · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The Russians have a very long history of selling inferior versions of weaponry to their allies. They call these inferior versions the "monkey models". That's all that is going on here.