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User: patjhal

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Comments · 52

  1. Re:The News Is Not Reality on Ask Slashdot: Advice For Budding Scientist? · · Score: 2

    Hi Samantha. You answer one side, but I am curious what you are really looking at. The way people seem or their work under duress. In undergrad do you think classmates might have created data especially when their experimental data did not look so good and they wanted a good grade? Did you possibly see activity like that in graduate work? If so does it make you wonder if that type of thing will continue? Work that looked pretty but did not make sense? Would your current position allow you to raise a family on its paycheck alone? If yes at what age could your compensation do that?

    My major was microbiology and I do systems administration now. I make enough to support my wife who has medical issues. Kids might have happened if I did not lose a decade of income generation to science. End of of undergrad saw incredible cut throat competition for grades and an increase in rote study. In some graduate work I redid a study that went into a paper. The first study by a student was pretty by inconclusive. It was pretty because the time intervals where always the same in a procedure where that was quite frankly impossible.

    As for the original poster it did seem to me that physics and math tend to have less of that than chem and biology. Biology was to crammed with people who thought they where going to be doctors and a over-crowed phd and masters market. If your a bachelors your real screwed as there are also allot of lab tech degrees. Essentially places can get phd's to do masters jobs and masters to do bachelors level. Anything left is cheapest to do with the lab techs. Also its hard to have to much rote study in math. My guess is physics and math might be alright. If you can pick up a CS minor or Secondary ed (not that this one would pay allot but there would be food on the table) onto your major, it would make a nice fallback position. Everyone who goes into science should have a fallback position.

  2. Re:What is the amount burnt to build coal plants? on The Myth of Renewable Energy · · Score: 1

    Actually I think the point is that nothing will save us except population control.

  3. Re:Renewable or infinite? on The Myth of Renewable Energy · · Score: 1

    I hope your joking. Most of the things you consume keep you alive. Very little extra is needed to ride a bike. You eat basically the same amount bike commuting or sitting your ass in a car. If you did need to eat more everyone would bike commute and gorge on high calorie food.

  4. Re:So both and get it done! on Debt Reduction Super Committee Fails To Agree · · Score: 1

    What gets me about any of these tax raise issues is most of the tax raising talked about just brings it back to mid 90's levels. I was around way back then and taxes where not a problem for me or for people I knew who where small businessmen. As a matter of fact is the best time period economically in my lifetime. What is wrong to going back to that tax rate when lowering them has seemed to lead to nothing but grief for our society.

  5. Re:Incentives, not challenge on Why Do So Many College Science Majors Drop Out? · · Score: 1

    And how. My brother always warned me about how little biology majors made, but it was not until I was out in the field before I found the need to switch careers. My comment to him later was. I knew I would not be rich, but I thought I would make enough to support a family modestly. Not so. Two science majors can support a family modestly assuming neither is ever out of work (at least years ago [97], I can only assume the wage situation is worse now). Rather than make it easier for people to get through the program which would be a real bad idea. Allow people who can make it through a program in stem to go tuition free. People would stay in the major then I guarantee and might even be able to handle the low wages without coming out of school in debt.

  6. Let the kids decide. on Ask Slashdot: What To Do With Old Webcams? · · Score: 1

    The most useful thing that could be done with any tech equipment at a school, would be for a club of students to come up with projects to do with it and implement it themselves.

  7. I will miss him. on Rob "CmdrTaco" Malda Resigns From Slashdot · · Score: 1

    I always considered him like a younger, more successful version of myself. Wait. Why do I miss him? That little good for nothing punk. (this is certainly to be taken in jest for those who may not understand).

  8. NASA hates the midwest. on NASA Announces Final Homes of Shuttle Fleet · · Score: 1

    Or does not understand there are things between New York and L.A. I mean come on! Three on the east coast and one on the west coast. I am so conflicted since I am so enthused about Cady Coleman, but so annoyed that Chicago was given the raspberries on this.

  9. Re:Text version of the code on FBI Wants You To Solve Encrypted Notes From Murder · · Score: 1

    This is obviously the language used by Elroy which was mistakenly sent in to that song contest. Eep. Oop. Ork. Ah. Ah.

  10. I've said it before and I'll say it again. on Chicago's Willis Tower To Become Vertical Solar Farm · · Score: 1

    What you talkin bout Willis?

  11. Doodle would work kinda on Ask Slashdot: Setting Up Wireless Voting For Students? · · Score: 1

    Doodle http://www.doodle.com/ would work. It has to sortof be on the honor system and you would have to designate times as votes. 12pm for yes and 1am for no with clicking both or not clicking both for abstentia. You can set it to secret and only count votes for a set name (tell them they have to vote with such and such a name and people can object if their name was used by someone else). Still it is ripe for abuse and not a secure system. But it is free and will tally votes so if you can work on the honor system it is great.

  12. Re:No need to break what isn't broken on Supreme Court Rules On Corporate Privacy · · Score: 1

    What the hell are you talking about. I have never known corporations to be charged with crimes. They get fined and sued, but I do not remember one being put in jail (lets say the equivalent would be not allowing it to do business of any type for some period of time) or executed (being taken apart and sold, the closest thing I can think of for that is committing the ultimate American sin of not making a profit and going bankrupt). The problem with corporate person-hood is they are given rights without the risk of real punishment. I can't believe people are arguing corporations being treated like people as a good thing.

  13. Re:Wrong but right on Army Psy Ops Units Targeted American Senators · · Score: 0

    "Getting the mission done with as few deaths as possible is the morally right thing for a commander to do."

    Yes but that is not accomplished by manipulating senators. That is accomplished by the commander no deploying his troops.

    "If there is a choice to be made between manipulating senators, and getting your people killed, I'd choose manipulating congressmen any time."

    That is just a ridiculous statement. Manipulation is the worst kind of crime. It is the manipulators who got those people in a position to be killed in the first place and now they want to manipulate their way out. More will die that way.

  14. Re:Starship Troopers on Army Psy Ops Units Targeted American Senators · · Score: 2

    Isn't that robocop not SST?

  15. Re:What a shitbag... on Teenager Tries To Hire Hitman Via Facebook · · Score: 1

    I remember wasting an hour a day for like twelve years in something called P.E.

  16. Re:Uh... on How Your Username May Betray You · · Score: 1

    Agreed. Did you know know allot of retailers track you through your given name? Duh. I don't want to use different names on every net thing. I do like to lie on my profiles. The trick is to remember the lies so that you can keep some consistency and mess up their records. So consistently use the same wrong birthday and such.

  17. I have seen better. on The World's Largest Touchscreen · · Score: 3, Informative

    This has resolution equivalent to two 4k screens and is LCD technology where that looks like projectors. http://www.evl.uic.edu/core.php?mod=4&type=4&indi=727

  18. Re:whatwhatwhat on Are Flickr Images Abused By Foreign Businesses? · · Score: 1

    Exactly which is why the photographer is the one who should be able to be sued if a picture is taken of you without expressed written consent. No implied oral consent allowed.

  19. Re:do they even RESEARCH? on Court Rules Dungeons and Dragons Threatens Prison Security · · Score: 1

    Hear. Hear.

  20. ssl on Google vs. Bing — a Quasi-Empirical Study · · Score: 1

    So far I do not see an https://www.bing.com/

  21. Notion Ink Adam on When Should I Buy an Android Tablet? · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Seems like the best I have seen and they made it a point to improve the interface with their own homegrown, yet still allow you to install ubuntu if you like. Tegra2, pixelQI, hdmi out, good battery, weight, and size. I have seen nothing else beat it. Of course it is still only in preorder.

  22. Re:how about no on Obama Eyeing Internet ID For Americans · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I do not normally criticize but your comment is dumb. It specifically says this is to simplify and make more secure important transactions like using the bank. Too many people use 4 or 6 character passwords on their banking that they share with other sites because of password overload. This is supposed to give them something more secure like an ssh key for that type of thing. You can still post anonymously to slashdot or make some temp facebook account or whatever. Now I understand the slippery slope argument that in future laws could be passed requiring this id, much like people say with the social security number. I feel something like this is needed and it is our responsibility as the electorate to make sure it goes no further than securing transactions that need securing. Fact is if they required it for too many things then it becomes increasingly easy to get plucked in an identity theft type of way and it looses its power (like the way SSN's are so important now that you never really give it to anyone except in the most important occasions like bank accounts, national security clearance, after you are offered a job, etc.)

  23. Separately $0.01 cheaper on Star Wars Coming To Blu-ray In September · · Score: 1

    So this is one of those oh so often times when buying the two separately is slightly cheaper. Can't they nock down the price of all six to $129.99

  24. Buffer bloat or inadequate bandwith on Bufferbloat — the Submarine That's Sinking the Net · · Score: 1

    After reading the explanation the real problem seems to be in the US 10Mbps is fast whereas in Korea 1000Mbps is fast. Korea will not have trouble with bufferbloat but the US will. I do not see the buffer as being the problem here.

  25. Re:Yes it does. on Why Published Research Findings Are Often False · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I agree. I was a science major and saw quite a willingness to fudge/manipulate data and I believe it has worked its way into general research. During a breif PhD stint I redid some experiments showed the opposite of what other students had done. Mine showed some significance why theirs had not. Funny thing was my data was ugly, while theirs was pretty. This was from an experiment where organisms where growing in media and had to be counted via microscope and measured with a spectrograph at set time periods. My guess is their data was pretty because they fudged it by saying they took the samples at exactly a particular time ratio. Since I recorded the actual elapsed time (the procedure was complicated and there was variability on how long it took me to complete the tasks sometimes being more than the next check point). I also guess that the student wanted pretty looking data because he thought that would look better to his boss (the professor who ran the lab). Even if the scientists are not doing this from pressure to go higher then their underlings might be doing it to be "impressive". Part of the problem is science is no longer something people do because they love it. It is too commoditized and has become just a job at the low end and a vicious battle for survival at the high end.