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User: awjr

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  1. Further context needed here. on UK Man Arrested For Offensive Joke Posted On Facebook · · Score: 0

    It appears he didn't post it to his status, but found the support group on Facebook set up to help those people affected by her murder and posted it there to antagonize them.

    So it's not so much that he posted the joke (which has been on sickipedia for at least 3-4 days), but that he went out of his way to upset a load of people deliberately.

  2. Here's my fix on BBC Keeps Android Flash Alive In the UK · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It's a pain but you can get around it. You need to use the xscope browser and the flash apk. Works a treat on BBC and Channel 4 OD . Video I made about how to do it on a Nexus here. Should work with other 4.1 devices.

    Personally this really sucks. The internet is playing catch-up to a forced move away from a technology. It's not that the device cannot run flash, just made it slightly annoying. Google's decision not to put it into Chrome is annoying at most :(

  3. /. could try harder... on Samsung Blames Galaxy SIII Burn On "External Energy Source" · · Score: 3, Informative

    You really really need to investigate further before posting these stories. Samsung didn't "blame" it on external sources which implies "it wasn't really us, honest, seriously". The guy that posted the initial fire report had a friend 'drop' the phone into water then attempt to dry it out using a microwave.

    "Galaxy SIII burn caused by microwaving wet phone" is what it should be.

  4. Patents for different sectors on Apple-Motorola Judge Questions Need For Software Patents · · Score: 1

    If you RTFA, you'll realise this is not just about software patents. He's going so far as to suggest that patents are suitable for certain industries (e.g. Pharmaceuticals) where the investment to create the products is immense. Software is one of those industries where patents hold back innovation. Software is more about execution.

  5. Corporate greed drives your laws in America on FCC Boss Backs Metering the Internet · · Score: 5, Interesting

    You have a very weird system over there. In the UK, one company, BT had a monopoly on the telephone system. This was recognised and legislation was put in place that the last 'mile' of the connection could be used by any company offering services many years ago allowing me to choose from multiple ISPs as long as there was space in the junction box for the hardware. Now there is concern that BT again may be able to monopolise the next 'evolution' as we move towards fibre to house, so there are calls to prevent this from happening.

    In the US there seems to be a focus on the government doing what is good for corporate greed and not what is good for society. :(

  6. Re:Honestly I think you might have this all wrong. on Ask Slashdot: Dealing With University Firewalls? · · Score: 1

    I do find that the idea that giving unlimited internet access to a bunch of hormonally challenged students to be a one-way ticket to malware hell. It would be remiss of the IT department not to operate a white listing approach to their internet with a process in place for having a site added to the list.

  7. Honestly I think you might have this all wrong.... on Ask Slashdot: Dealing With University Firewalls? · · Score: 3, Informative

    If you can go to your course lecturers and justify why you need access to Hackaday to complete your course, I am sure your lecturers have a process to unblock the sites.

    In the meantime there are 1000s of other students trying to use campus PCs without needing to find them screwed over by the previous user. What you *might* be able to persuade the University to do is to provide an unrestricted wi-fi point on campus for personal use.

  8. USA, the land I used to want to go on holiday to. on Female Passengers Say They Were Targeted For TSA Body Scanners · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I love going to the USA, but your government really isn't making this a pleasant experience.

  9. Re:But everybody does it! on Some Critics Suggest Apple Boycott Over Chinese Working Conditions · · Score: 1

    Please please please listen to the American life pod cast on this. Foxconn *know* when Apple are about to make inspections. In fact there are companies in China specifically in the business of getting companies through these inspections.

    The point is more, that Apple is making an obscene amount of money ($400k per employee) and can do so much more to improve the life of Apple "manufacturing force".

  10. But everybody does it! on Some Critics Suggest Apple Boycott Over Chinese Working Conditions · · Score: 1

    To quote:
    "Apple is not alone among electronic companies employing Foxconn and other such plants."

    However, Apple (and to a lesser extent other electronic companies) can insist on certain standards. I believe that Apple looks at the cost model (wages, part costs etc) and then dictates how much profit companies like Foxconn can make per assembly. If Apple insisted on a certain standard of welfare and provided money into their costing specifically for this ( I believe HP do this), then this issue would go away.

    What has surprised me is that Apple have not set up their own manufacturing bases in China/Brazil. Then it dawned on me. If Apple partner with Foxconn et al, then they are able to blame their partners, even though Apple are intrinsically involved in dictating precisely what these partners are allowed to charge Apple for producing their products.

  11. US needs to look East on AT&T Caps Netflix Streaming Costs At $68K/Yr · · Score: 1

    In the UK, one company is offering a tariff plan with unlimited data (including tethering) for about $40 per month. They have been cleaning up. (In my case I think I've hit 5GB download today, but I am running a number of software updates.)

    Another company is offering an unlimited data plan for about $15, but you are not allowed to tether (which I find key).

    Seriously you need to get some decent competition over there.

  12. Cross-Platform 'Native' Development can work on The Headaches of Cross-Platform Mobile Development · · Score: 1

    I'm not particularly interested in native development, maybe I should be, but I've looked at a number of technologies, initially Flex with deploy via Air, then Phonegap and finally settling on Appcelerator.

    Particularly for slower Android phones, Phonegap HTML5 apps really suck with many reviews having the classic "really like the app, but it was just too slow to be use-able". This is a killer and this issue will go away in the first world, but will never go away in the developing markets, just look at Aakash.

    So at the moment, if you are careful with your component solution, Appcelerator offers (IMHO) the 'best' cross-platform native compile solution (it even has a webKit plugin so you can deliver HTML5 apps) for iOS/Android. Blackberry is in beta and I have no idea when WP7 will be supported.

    One downside....you need to buy a Mac.

  13. Had an interview with puzzles on Are Brain Teasers Good Hiring Criteria? · · Score: 1

    They knew I didn't have the precise skill set they were looking for and I was brutally honest about it in the interview.

    However the puzzles were fun, or I thought so, but I did my thinking aloud. I realised they probably wanted to know how I 'thought'.

    One puzzle was; you had 9 balls, one lighter than the others, a set of balance scales. Using two measurements find the lightest ball.

    I got offered the job. I did have to keep a lot of thoughts to myself though ;)

  14. Pricing for quieter times... on Why Do All Movie Tickets Cost the Same? · · Score: 1

    In the UK Picturhouse price differently depending on if you go at the weekend (expensive) or during the week (cheap). So recently, I went on an Orange Wednesday( Mobile network that offers a buy one get one free), used a Picture House member discount and two of us saw Drive for £5 (about $7). They also run Monday night student nights.

    The place even has a bar, reclining seats AND let you take drinks into the auditorium (although I do recommend that wine glasses don't stand well in the cup holder and ask them to put the wine in a pint glass).

    The film selection is slightly more eclectic and they do have directors pop in for Q&A sessions.

    I sound like a salesman, but seriously, that cinema chain really really really loves films.

  15. SLAs on Ask Slashdot: Good Metrics For a Small IT Team? · · Score: 1

    Place I currently work, each team/department have a set of Service Level Agreements that are set for a year. Each department has a different set of SLAs (Note this is not done at a individual level). Each monthly team brief, your SLAs are discussed. If you keep hitting/exceeding your SLAs then a review at a higher level in the organisation is undertaken to question if the SLAs that the team/department set are too easy or not relevant any more.

    It seams to work.

  16. Working from home makes you smelly on Does Telecommuting Make You Invisible? · · Score: 2

    Routine hygiene goes completely out the door as does the need to wear clothes.

    True Story: Office cabin in the garden; hot summers day; house on the market. Sitting naked working away, the real estate agent turns up with a bunch of people looking to buy the house. After that I always kept an emergency pair of shorts in the cabin. :)

  17. A boss from hell on Europe's Largest IT Company To Ban Internal Email · · Score: 1

    A long time ago I worked with a Boss who would say just about anything to keep his superiors happy and got extremely angry if we raised concerns about the project with him via email.

    I think the idea of not sending emails works at certain levels of a business but at the worker ant level it can realistically be the only way to protect yourself from the corporate psychopath or from just simply being burnt by an idiot work colleague, or worse, a sneaky client just trying to get work for free.

  18. Re:Simply lie on How Does a Self-Taught Computer Geek Get Hired? · · Score: 1

    From my own experience, contract interviews are 1 hour technical interviews where you go over some of your work history discussing technical aspects of each development.

    In my very distant past, I 'broke' into a new language by stating the previous bankrupt company I had worked at for 3 months, used this technology. In my own time I'd put together a very complex application in that language as a 1 month coding exercise. I had already been developing applications for 5+ years by then.

    Seriously, if you know your stuff, are intelligent and have decent development time under your belt, this type of 'deceit' is successful. Turn up to a place and not being able to deliver....that's when you deserve everything you get.

  19. Simply lie on How Does a Self-Taught Computer Geek Get Hired? · · Score: 1

    If you are going for contract work, the last thing people actually do is check your degree or to a certain extent, your work history. Be warned, the agent will call old work places to find new contract leads.

    They just want to know if you can do the job, that you can do it next week, and you can hit the ground running. If you can tick those boxes, everything else is irrelevant. If you are sh*t, expect to be out of your job pretty quickly. Never lie about skills you have no experience with ;)

    If you did work for a company that has now collapsed, even better. They can't verify your work experience.

    If you see a skill being mentioned with Drupal, e.g. Agile, then read up on it and understand it. Even go so far as to use it.

    A CV is not about being honest in your past. It's about selling yourself, the skills you currently have and making people believe you are a solution to their problems.

    Oh one other thing, you need a website of your own.

  20. When Groupon actually works.... on Baker Has to Make 102,000 Cupcakes For Grouponers · · Score: 4, Informative

    I've known a number of businesses that got burnt by Groupon. One of the pubs we used regularly did a groupon deal and we went in and bought a lot of drinks with the meal. Most other people just asked for a glass of water and never came back.

    There are two situations where Groupon works:
    1) There is no cost to you (Gym membership) and there is a chance to up sell.
    2) You have sourced an item at a ridiculously cheap price and even with Groupon taking 50% you are going to make a profit.

    On (2), I knew somebody who sourced suits for $30, created a web site for the sales ploy, sold a 1000 units through Groupon at $250 and made a fortune.

    Groupon can be extremely destructive to your business.

  21. Either way... on Occupy Flash? · · Score: 2

    So what we're really discussing is which Adobe product we will be buying/using, their Flash IDE or their HTML5 IDE.

  22. Re:AFL-CIO WTF? on SOPA Hearings Stacked In Favor of Pro-SOPA Lobby · · Score: 1

    Pfizer are part of this because Canada and 20 other smaller countries' IP block comes under the SOPA regulation. They can simply close down the legal online Pharmacists in Canada causing untold damage to the poor in the US.

  23. Corporate Sponsor on Adobe To Donate Flex SDK To Open Source Community · · Score: 1

    Flex was getting recognized as a way to deliver enterprise level solutions across businesses that were unable/unwilling to change, particularly financial institutions (where IE 7 can be the defacto standard). Technologies like this need a corporate sponsor to get buy in and when the Adobe makes this type of statement: "In the long-term, we believe HTML5 will be the best technology for enterprise application development." you really really really have to get very concerned. The whole reason people used Flex is because offered a platform agnostic solution that was not dependent upon the current version of your browser and provided a good feature set.

    Flex will carry on, but without the corporate sponsor, it's not going to continue as a 'enterprise solution'.

    They'll be dropping AIR next.

  24. Re:As a ex-subscriber as of this month... on World of Warcraft Finally Loses Subscribers · · Score: 1

    They removed the ability to fail.

  25. As a ex-subscriber as of this month... on World of Warcraft Finally Loses Subscribers · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The real problem is that the low level content has been invalidated by Bind on account equipment items that scale better than any other items you can get in dungeons/quests for your level and boost the amount of xp you get as well. Basically the only interesting content is the end-game raiding content.

    I play with a group of friends that get together once a fortnight to play WoW and we level new characters over the space of a couple of months. However we are dumping WoW in favour of Lord of the Rings. You can no longer fail at playing WoW.