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User: thirdender

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  1. Very old news... on Researchers Develop Remote-Controlled Cyber-Roaches · · Score: 1

    This is a very old news item. I remember reading about this several years ago. There are even how-to instructions published in 2012.

  2. Re: Of course a tool like Holden would say that... on Obama Administration Argues For Backdoors In Personal Electronics · · Score: 1

    "Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act requires the routers in USA to have ability to intercept and log network traffic." http://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/... ISPs are actually required by law to provide wiretap access into the network traffic. This is done by storing all network packets on an extra CALEA server on the network. While it would be reprehensible for an ISP to do this for data mining, it's required that the ISP do this for the government. Failure to comply means facing some hefty fines.

  3. EFF info on "browsewrap" agreements on Click Like? You May Have Given Up the Right To Sue · · Score: 1

    The EFF has actually published a document comparing the different ways users can agree to TOS online. A "clickwrap" requires the user to engage in a "I have read and agree" type checkbox, and is generally accepted in courts as binding. A "browsewrap" is more along the lines of "by continuing to use this site, you agree". These have been held under tighter scrutiny by courts.

    The Clicks That Bind: Ways Users "Agree" to Online Terms of Service

  4. Re:Do you need a database? on Ask Slashdot: Which NoSQL Database For New Project? · · Score: 1

    I recently posed the following question in #mysql:

    Wordpress stores posts (pages) in one table, and individual fields of data in another table. As more fields are added, the field table grows geometrically.

    Drupal stores entities (often, but not always, pages) in one table, and each field in separate tables. JOINs are used to query the data.

    So which is more optimal? One large table with all field data, or separate tables and JOINs? The response was that both CMSs use MySQL "wrong". How I understood that was, MySQL is built for large tables of data. Each table should have a defined structure where each field is given it's own column. This is in fact how some CMS systems manage their database (afaik, Expression Engine uses this structure). However, this is less flexible in terms of multi-value fields and, eventually, modifying the table structure will become slow as the amount of data in the system grows.

    Given that programmers have no foreknowledge of the fields that will be created by CMS users, there needs to be a level of flexibility that's not immediately possible with a relational database. Does NoSQL not fill that need?

  5. Re:Separation of Concerns on Toward Better Programming · · Score: 1

    It's mostly because Javascript is closer to LISP than it is to C, even though the use of braces would lead the casual observer to conclude otherwise. Closures are a central concept in Javascript programming. If you don't define a variable as being specific to your scope, the parser will use the next scope outwards. Technically you never create global variables... the highest scope in which you can create variables is as a property of the `window` object. Of course, it's very easy to clutter that object, but it's also easy to create new scopes (define a function, declare your variables).

    Variable scope is a strange concept to get used to at first. It seems cluttered if you're used to explicitly defining your variables, then having those variables only available in that function. Having variables available to scopes nested in your scope is very flexible and lends itself to writing some beautiful code.

  6. Re:Jenny McCarthy on Survey Finds Nearly 50% In US Believe In Medical Conspiracy Theories · · Score: 1

    You're probably one of the people who believe curing depression is as simple as thinking happier thoughts. Newsflash: The brain is a complicated mechanism, and we don't fully understand how it works yet. We do know that certain chemical balances can result in certain behavior patterns. There are certainly mental exercises that can help, but don't be insulting to people who suffer very real mental struggles on a daily basis.

  7. Re:Liberal strategy on Slashdot Asks: How Does the US Gov't Budget Crunch Affect You? · · Score: 2

    Thank you :-p I was beginning to think no one else in this thread saw through the mudslinging to realize both parties are at fault. I recently read Thomas Sowell's opinion piece on the shutdown (copy at http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2013/oct/06/thomas-sowell-who-shut-down-the-federal/ and elsewhere). He points out that the Republican controlled House passed the budget for everything but the health care legislation, and Democrat controlled Senate denied the entire budget because it didn't include health care funding. Everyone who says the blame lies with one party or another is perpetuating the deeper problem... A "stand on the sideline, cheer your team" tribalism. I don't know why the American people aren't calling out everyone involved. I like what the Australians and Canadians do, now that I've heard it. Dissolve both the House and Senate and hold a general election? Seems the only sensibly democratic thing to do at this juncture :-p

  8. Re:So untrue on The Canadian Government's War On Science · · Score: 1
    In terms of right-left being hardcoded biologically, there is a new study suggesting a link between upper body strength and political opinions on economic redistribution.

    “Despite the fact that the United States, Denmark and Argentina have very different welfare systems, we still see that — at the psychological level — individuals reason about welfare redistribution in the same way,” says Petersen. “In all three countries, physically strong males consistently pursue the self-interested position on redistribution.”

    However, I think there is a third rational option that eludes our current left-right political spectrum in the US. The Founding Fathers were philosophers, thinkers. They worked hard to examine the historical basis for the every choice they made, disagreed often, and concluded on a system that granted individuals rights and refused the government power. I think the psychological make-up of individuals makes it difficult to see the third option, but I believe that makes a reasoned approach to politics invaluable.

  9. Re:Uhhhh.... on Adobe's Strange Software Giveaway: Goof, Or Clever Marketing? · · Score: 5, Informative

    +1 VMs. Also, Wine has pretty decent support for Photoshop CS2.

  10. Re:Seriously on Feds Ban 'Buckyballs' Magnets · · Score: 1
  11. Look for work at a private school on Ask Slashdot: What To Do With a Math Degree? · · Score: 1

    I've heard many of the problems with the public school administration aren't problems at private schools. The claim is that "at will employment" makes for a better relationship with the administration. I don't know how true that is, and I wish I could think of where I saw the original discussion I would ask some private school teachers their feelings on the matter and see what kinds of response you're able to get.

    Alternatively, you could always look for work in Finland :-p

  12. Scientists are not always right⦠on Debate Over Evolution Will Soon Be History, Says Leakey · · Score: 1

    Just want to point out that the theory of evolution is constantly evolving itself, or should be: Scientists Late to Recognize Human and Giant Mammal Coexistence

  13. Re:They skipped IE support on their ADMIN pages on Startup Skips IE Support, Claims $100,000 Savings · · Score: 2

    80% will work fine if you:

    • Support only IE9+, or
    • Ignore CSS3 linear-gradients (the MS filters are too buggy and slow to be used in IE)
    • Rely on jQuery or some other Javascript library for all your DOM manipulation needs
    • Use a Javascript library or custom code for your JavaScript 1.6+ needs (did you realize Array.indexOf wasn't in JS until 1.6?)
    • Don't try to use display: inline-block; without IE specific hacks
    • Don't use :before or :after psuedo-elements, or :(first|last)-child selectors without ie7-js
    • Don't use display: table-cell; (even though some developers still do, and for the life of me I haven't found a suitable analog or shim)

    If you're skipping out on all that, then yeah, sure, 80% of what you do will work fine in IE, no problem. If you try to do more than that, you will be fighting an uphill battle to make your site work properly in IE.

  14. Re:I don't think so... on Animating From Markup Code To Rendered Result · · Score: 1

    I recently added LiveReload to my coding process (guard-livereload, LiveReload for Chrome), and it eliminates the second keystroke :-p It also has the added benefit of keeping any element styles you applied in the DOM inspector while reloading CSS or JS (which is kind of nifty).

  15. Obama's term... on Bipartisan Internet Sales Tax Bill Introduced · · Score: 1

    The thing that concerns me is what I've seen happening to Obama the last few years... He played the social network to ride the election, and promised many things he should have been able to deliver. Instead, it seems that the relentless political tides have worn him down, and I see him reneging on his core values. I wish it weren’t so, but it seems to me that the only way to fix the system is by replacing much more of our government with political leaders in touch with their constituents needs.

  16. Re:Makes sense on What Scientists Really Think About Religion · · Score: 1

    I was having this "people are inherently good/bad" argument with a friend of mine... I took him to a casino. Despite the fact that the casinos are obviously making money (which means most of the people pulling handles on the machines are saps, and even willing dupes), enough people buy into it to make the casinos work.

    If you want to follow Tit-for-Tat in the Prisoner's Dilemma that is our society, best of luck. I think people are inherently evil, and I know religion doesn't help (it's just more rules). The only solution I see is some kind of outside intervention (Jesus and His sacrificial death on the cross, and His resurrection from the dead).

  17. Re:Makes sense on What Scientists Really Think About Religion · · Score: 1

    Not all religions are meant to be opiates. The idea of the gospel of Christ is that you and your interests come last, after the interests of God and love for your fellow man. There's a reason they hung Him on a tree :-p

  18. Re:Javascript is actually a great language on Trying To Bust JavaScript Out of the Browser · · Score: 1

    http://www.jslint.com/ or http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/compressor/ (with -v set) will pick up these types of bugs (in lieu of a compiler).

  19. Re:Javascript is actually a great language on Trying To Bust JavaScript Out of the Browser · · Score: 1
    • You'll only have a problem with global variables conflicting if you treat Javascript as a procedural language. Variables created outside of any closure are created in the context of the global window object. However, in your example code, var "b" is never a global because it only exists inside function "a", and would never conflict with any other "b" variable in your code.
    • No, but usually you can get away with a Javascript object just fine. Yes, it will be global, but you give it your unique name (just like you'd have to do for a namespace, except most languages that support namespaces will throw an error if some other code tries to write over an existing namespace). For example, all of the jQuery library functions are under the window.jQuery object. The variables and function names are all accessed from that object, e.g. "jQuery.map(...)".
    • That's because you're not using a closure. Putting braces around something in Javascript does nothing, so essentially your example code just does "var b = ..." twice in a row. If you defined a function "c" inside function "a", and defined a separate value for variable "b" inside of that function, it would have a unique value. The cool thing is that Javascript does LISP-like passing down of the variables to called functions. If you defined function "c" inside of function "a", then called function "c", it would have access to read and modify the value of the variable "b". However, if you then define a new variable "b" inside of function "c", it becomes a different variable, which is then destroyed when function "c" ends. Just play with it man, it makes sense and allows for all manner of awesome things when you really, truly understand how it works.
  20. Geocities Japan is still up on Yahoo Pulls the Plug On GeoCities · · Score: 1

    http://geocities.yahoo.co.jp/ For some odd reason, Japanese Geocities sites are still up and running. I think it might have something to do with the Harajuku generation...

  21. Re:No thank you on Adobe Pushing For Flash TVs · · Score: 1

    Actually, he's probably just running Firefox. I've noticed some weird delays when Flash video is downloading in Firefox. My current running theory is that it's the delay as Firefox caches the data to hard drive. The delay isn't there in Chrome... the video loads and plays smoothly.

  22. Bacon: The reason we don't need one more format on Silverlight On the Way To Linux · · Score: 2, Interesting

    http://acko.net/files/bacon/animation-demo.html
    This demo works in Firefox, Safari, Opera, and Chrome. What's more, the animations are smooth and beautiful in Chrome thanks to it's v8 Javascript engine. Now we just need to get people weaned from IE6.