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  1. Fur sucks on 50 Years of Domesticating Foxes For Science · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Fur sucks. The animals spend their entire lives in cages and are then killed in very pain full ways. Nobody needs fur.

  2. Ubuntu Gets Defaults Right on Gnome Switches Nautilus Back To Browser Mode · · Score: 1

    I've been using Linux at home for 10 years. Ubuntu is the first distro to get the choice of defaults right, something close to what is useful and what end users actually want.

  3. Re:It's not the fines.... on Fines Fail To Curb Cell Phone Usage While Driving · · Score: 1

    In the U.S. many municipalities pick some areas or time slot with which to hyper-enforce traffic laws as a means supplementing the municipal revenues.

    It is too bad they don't do that by targeting cell phone use.

  4. Re:From the police report on Sci-Fi Author Peter Watts Beaten, Charged During Border Crossing · · Score: 1

    Police do lie. OTOH many people cross the border without incident, so there is there question of why did they pick on him?

  5. The bubble is there, but not from Climate Change on The Science Credibility Bubble · · Score: 1

    The bubble is there, but it didn't start with the emails from the British Climate Change scientists.

    In the U.S. the extreme fundamentalist Christians opening up natural history museums claiming that the Earth is only 5000 years old and that people coexisted with dinosaurs preceded the email leaks.

    Then there is the example of otherwise intelligent and educated parents being anti-vaccine despite NIH (as well as other ) studies showing that vaccines are safe, are not linked to autism etc.

    My personal opinion is that poor science education, especially education in the scientific method, education in how to think and encouragement to be *thinkers* - not memorizes is at the root of it.

    Regardless, it did not start with the Climate Scientist scandal.

  6. -OR- avoid being unemployed by on Saying No To Promotions Away From Tech? · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Or, avoid being unemployed by telling them that you _strongly_ prefer your current job, but that you care about the company and want to do what is best for the company, even if it means doing another job.

    If they decide to make you a manager anyway, at least you will be drawing a paycheck, instead of unemployment, while you look for a new job.

  7. It was a nasty statement, but on Google CEO Says Privacy Worries Are For Wrongdoers · · Score: 1

    it had truth in it. Privacy in America is mostly an illusion.

    Orgs and people only pretend not to know everything about you / not have access to everything about you.

    The best you can do is accept yourself as you are and avoid being a dick to people so that will not use your information against you.

  8. The Linux Community: Best Of Times, Worst Of Time on Is Linux Documentation Lacking? · · Score: 1

    I can't say anything about the (sucky) state of Linux documentation that hasn't already been said.

    I think the Linux community makes it worse than it has to be with their attitudes.

    There are a lot of helpful and knowledgeable people.

    There are also a lot of knowledgeable people who are also cranky who RTFM people. There are also people who don't know that much, but who are looking to RTFM people anyway.

    It goes without saying that both groups of people don't help the retention of converts and they aren't getting the most joy out of their time that they could be. Watch a fun movie, go on a date or slam some helpless geek.....hmmm what is more fun?

    Interestingly, I've noticed that in the Mac and FreeBSD communities that if people don't know the answer to a question or don't want to answer it for whatever reason ( the person didn't provide good info with their question, read the docs, etc ) they will simply not respond.

    Imagine that.

    Both platforms have better documentation too.

  9. *NOT* "denialists on Scientists Step Down After CRU Hack Fallout · · Score: 1

    A number of people making comments on slashdot are under the mistaken impression that the denialists are denying climate change. They are not. Even they know they can't with what is being seen. Instead, they are denying that climate change is the result of human activity. Very
    convenient. It absolves them from changing their behavior and/or spending money to fix the issue.

  10. Re:28% isn't tiny on Where the Global Warming Data Is · · Score: 1

    The right wing is no longer denying climate change. They are denying artificial ( made by human activity ) climate change. Since they believe human activity isn't part of the problem they don't see a need to make changes.

  11. 28% isn't tiny on Where the Global Warming Data Is · · Score: 1
    From http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/24/AR2009112402989.html

    The percentage of Americans who believe global warming is happening has dipped from 80 to 72 percent in the past year, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll,

    28% is a minority, but I wouldn't dismiss it as tiny. Especially since low voter turnout in the US can has influenced elections & laws.

  12. Don't Underestimate This Incident on Where the Global Warming Data Is · · Score: 1

    I wouldn't underestimate this incident.

    It comes at a very bad time. A recent USA Today poll showed larger numbers of Americans not believing that man made global climate change is a reality.

    Frightened people who feel overwhelmed don't want to believe it.

    Powerful people with significant financial interests against change don't want other people to believe it.

    These people will use this incident to foster disbelief. Most people do not look at details. Unfortunately, since it is a highly politicized issue now, positive change requires that many people, including the ones that don't look at details, be onboard.

  13. Re:The Parent Isn't a Troll on Where the Global Warming Data Is · · Score: 1

    The Deniers aren't denying Climate Change anymore, they are denying human activity as a cause. This allows them to not look like idiots while news footage shows polar bears drowning and it absolves them of the financial cost of change.

  14. Why not Linux on OpenSolaris Or FreeBSD? · · Score: 0, Troll

    I don't want to start a religious war, but why not Linux?

  15. Re:Performance boost? on OpenSolaris Or FreeBSD? · · Score: 1

    I don't know if it is still true, but generic compilations for distributions used to be behind the latest chips. If you had a better chip than the older one the distro was compiled for, you wouldn't be getting all of the performance you could get.

  16. Wow on Chevy Volt Rated At 230 mpg In the City · · Score: 1

    I want to hate his car since I will not be able to afford something like it for a number of years if it succees...BUT WOW.....230 mpg....for CITY driving? Gadzooks.

  17. Re:If you want more, adopt on Earth's Period of Habitability Is Nearly Over · · Score: 1

    JSBIFF;

    First, thanks for the non-snarky reply. I am expecting a few of those.

    The religion issue will always be there, but in the US, Canada & Europe there are plenty of people who are religious and who live in the real world in a responsible way. Many are happy to make informed decisions, but many people simply don't know the issues.

    I think 80% of the battle is informing people.

    Nobody wants to take a piss on the world their children will live in.

    My sister tried to adopt. I can tell you that it is ex

  18. You can do something on Earth's Period of Habitability Is Nearly Over · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Most global problems are exacerbated by over population.

    According to the United Nations, the global population could be as high as 11 billion in 2050 or as low as 8 billion, if the right programs are put in place now.

    Source: PopulationConnection.org

    You can something positive about this without feeling guilty or giving up having children of your own:

    Taken globally, the total fertility rate at replacement is 2.33 children per woman. 2.33 children per woman includes 2 children to replace the parents, with a third of a child extra to make up for the different sex ratio at birth and early mortality prior to the end of their fertile life.

    Source: Wikipedia

    That means if most people limit themselves to just 2 children the global population will stabilize if not slightly shrink. You can also help by telling other people these facts so when it comes time to plan their families they can make a decision that will contribute to a better world for their children.

  19. Should this be done then on Dogs As Intelligent As Average Two-Year-Old Children · · Score: 1

    If dogs are intellectually equivalent to human 2 year olds should these types of things be done to dogs? Hunington Life Sciences is still in operation in the US and the UK

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCef3FCv1U8

  20. Re:I've suspected this for a while on Dogs As Intelligent As Average Two-Year-Old Children · · Score: 1

    Yah, but there are still places like Huntingdon Life Sciences that to do painful experiments dogs

    http://www.shac.net/science/vivi_intro.html

  21. Stop Huntingdon From Experimenting On Dogs? on Dogs As Intelligent As Average Two-Year-Old Children · · Score: 1

    If dogs are as intelligent as human 2 year olds is it right for Huntingdon Life Sciences to do painful experiments on them?

    http://www.shac.net/science/vivi_intro.html

  22. Re:Documentation on What Questions Should a Prospective Employee Ask? · · Score: 1

    An excellent point, but not realistic. My company is terrible with documentation and communication in general. The department head and some old timers even seem to have a hostile attitude towards it. Despite all of that they would have no problem about producing some nicely documented code sample that one of them did at one time.

  23. Re:breaking my heart on Times Are Tough For Nigerian Scammers · · Score: 1

    I only wish the reason was because our education was getting the job done.

    How much education do you need to refuse a total stranger access to your bank account?

  24. Avoiding Programming Jobs Where You Don't Program on What Questions Should a Prospective Employee Ask? · · Score: 1

    An HR friend of mine told me that coming off as too suspicious about a job can make you look high maintenance and undesirable.

    However, I think when I go looking again I will ask many detailed questions.

    Too many employers advertise for programmers, but really want general IT janitors and stick you in a job where you are doing everything but coding for long stretches of time. It is my hope that by asking specifics ( when do I start building the code after I am hire? etc ) and watching their responses could help you avoid accepting one of these jobs .

    I would be interested in reading other programmers thoughts about how to avoid these situations.

    I've also see companies that lie about the technologies they use to sound more interesting as well as modern. I would say ask them some questions about those technologies as well to see if they ever actually used them, took them out of the box etc.

  25. Re:Are there a lot of people with kids here? on What Questions Should a Prospective Employee Ask? · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I work in a family centric place, I am single, and I rarely work late. Everyone is GONE by 5:30pm.

    In regards to your second question I think it would be better to ask how often you would be expected to interface with customers as what the boss does may not have anything to do with you. It could be his job to insulate the rest of the staff from clients.