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User: thepainguy

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Comments · 175

  1. What about automated drink pouring machines? on Automation Coming To Restaurants, But Not Because of Minimum Wage Hikes · · Score: 1

    Those were clearly put in place because it's cheaper to "pay" a machine to do a job like that than to pay (an increasingly expensive) person.

    I know that some/many people have a problem regarding people and their labor as a product, but it's a simple fact of life that, in general, when the price of something goes up, people use less of it.

  2. Re:WHY are men trying to scare women away from gam on Why the Trolls Will Always Win · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Because to be beaten by a woman would utterly destroy them.

    If they can scare the women away, they can preserve their illusion of superiority (in a mythical competition in a mythical world).

  3. ...in the short term on States That Raised Minimum Wage See No Slow-Down In Job Growth · · Score: 1

    As with an increase in the price of gas, most of the effects of raising the minimum wage (and thus the price of labor) will have their impact felt over the course of years, as employers have time to implement programs that will replace more expensive people with less expensive machines.

  4. Read the Article and it Contradicts the Headline on Climate Change Prompts Emperor Penguins To Find New Breeding Grounds · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They thought decreasing numbers were due to birds dying, but they were actually due to birds changing breeding locations (for unknown reasons).

    Basically, and contrary to the headline, the article says they don't know enough about penguin breeding behavior to draw any conclusions.

    "Over five years in the late 1970s, the Southern Ocean warmed and at the same time the penguin colony at Pointe Géologie, declined by half (6,000 breeding pairs to 3,000 breeding pairs). The decline was thought to be due to decreased survival rates. In other words, researchers thought that the warming temperatures were negatively impacting the survival of the species...'It’s possible that birds have moved away from Pointe Géologie to these other spots and that means that maybe those banded birds didn’t die,' LaRue said. 'If we want to accurately conserve the species, we really need to know the basics. We’ve just learned something unexpected, and we should rethink how we interpret colony fluctuations.'”

    P.S. Want to know why people are skeptical about climate change "science" and advocacy? It's because of blurbs like this one that say one thing in the headline and something else in the linked-to article.

  5. There's more to the world than California on Meat Makes Our Planet Thirsty · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Just because raising cattle in CA doesn't make sense, it doesn't mean it doesn't make sense to raise cattle anywhere else.

    I LOL when I hear my kids get lectured about the need for water conservation in books that act like California and the midwest are equivalent biomes.

  6. Re:Eventually people will look up... on US Customs Destroys Virtuoso's Flutes Because They Were "Agricultural Items" · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Beware of people whose only marketable skills are their loyalty and their ability to follow rules to the letter.

  7. Re:And what was the driving factor before 1900? on Sun Not a Significant Driver of Climate Change · · Score: 2, Interesting

    And the Medieval Warm Period...? And do you honestly believe that the sun is a totally static object that hasn't changed over time?

  8. And what was the driving factor before 1900? on Sun Not a Significant Driver of Climate Change · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How did the world warm up and cool down before then? Perhaps that is relevant?

  9. The police have no ability to control motorcycles? on Boston Police Stop Scanning Registration Plates, For Now · · Score: 1

    I could have told you that based on how they handle, or don't, the guys who go racing up and down the highway at 100+MPH and who obstruct highway traffic to do their tricks.

    It's pathetic, not to mention a menace.

  10. If he'd plugged in a boom box for 30 minutes... on EV Owner Arrested Over 5 Cents Worth of Electricity From School's Outlet · · Score: 1

    ...would it have been as big of a deal?

  11. Re:Tried to Sign Up, Already Frustrated on Officials Say HealthCare.gov Site Now Performing Well · · Score: 1

    You are out of touch with reality. It's awesome that your company is so enlightened, but I've worked as a consultant at many many places and I know what things look like in the trenches.

  12. Re:Tried to Sign Up, Already Frustrated on Officials Say HealthCare.gov Site Now Performing Well · · Score: 1

    Oh, and I'm not dispensing security advice. I'm telling you what's going on in the real world. Whether you listen or not is your choice, but it doesn't change anything.

  13. Re:Tried to Sign Up, Already Frustrated on Officials Say HealthCare.gov Site Now Performing Well · · Score: 1

    When in doubt, blame the user and not the system.

    Pretty standard.

  14. Re:Tried to Sign Up, Already Frustrated on Officials Say HealthCare.gov Site Now Performing Well · · Score: 1

    Because I am a normal human being, not a programmer, and I can only remember so many username and password combinations.

    P.S. I am trying to distribute insight into how ordinary people think and work. Based on comments like yours, that is something that seems to be sorely needed.

  15. Re:Tried to Sign Up, Already Frustrated on Officials Say HealthCare.gov Site Now Performing Well · · Score: 1

    Welcome to the real world where people can't remember different username and password combinations for different sites.
    Deal with it.

  16. Re:Tried to Sign Up, Already Frustrated on Officials Say HealthCare.gov Site Now Performing Well · · Score: 1

    Sites that rule standards characters in or out are driving down security because all of the standards vary. Maybe that is by design, to prevent standard passwords, but the end result for 99% of the population isn't something that is more secure.

    In terms of standard passwords, I'd like to introduce you to the ordinary person who can't handle a different password for every site. I can't for sites that I don't regularly visit, like healthcare.gov.

  17. Re:Tried to Sign Up, Already Frustrated on Officials Say HealthCare.gov Site Now Performing Well · · Score: 1

    I've NEVER seen a site require a number in the username. How 1997 is that?

  18. Re:Tried to Sign Up, Already Frustrated on Officials Say HealthCare.gov Site Now Performing Well · · Score: 1

    The password requirements state...

    "It can't contain your username or any of these characters = ? ( ) ‘ " / \ &"

    It just so happens that I use one of those characters in my standard secure password. I've never had a problem with that character before except for one site (which ironically is my bank, and which forces me to use a password that is less secure than my standard password due to its banning special characters.

    Seriously, all of these different password standards are a huge cause of security problems.

  19. Tried to Sign Up, Already Frustrated on Officials Say HealthCare.gov Site Now Performing Well · · Score: 4, Informative

    So I'm in the process of trying to sign up for healthcare.gov. I'm already having problems, because it won't accept my e-mail address as my username, even though it would appear to fit the criteria.

    "The username is case sensitive. Choose a username that is 6-74 characters long and must contain a lowercase or capital letter, a number, or one of these symbols _.@/-"

    If they are having problems explaining the most basic things, I'm not hopeful.

    The site is also less secure for me because none of my standard, extremely secure, never before had a problem with them passwords will work for it. That will force me to write it down, making the site inherently less secure.

    5 Minutes later...

    LOL. What an absolute piece of garbage of a web site. I tried to change my username to just the username of my email address and the site says it's invalid. It should be valid based on the instructions, but no joy. If they actually want the username to contain a number, then that's a joke; it's something I've never seen before on ANY website EVER.

    WHO LAID OUT THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THIS SITE? JOE BIDEN? HAVE THEY NEVER EVEN USED THE INTERNET?

    When sites come up with new, unusual standards for usernames and passwords (e.g. must contain a %, *, or ^), then they are making the site less secure because they are increasing the odds that people will have to write down their usernames and passwords.

  20. What college did you go to? on How MOOC Faculty Exploit People's Desire To Learn · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "...successful completion of courses are sometimes held hostage in exchange for mandatory participation in research, as in this case study of a Coursera MOOC. Such behavior is not tolerated in 'real' college courses..."

    Signing up for one or more experiments was a requirement of every undergrad psych class I took.

  21. How about improving the Linux user experience? on The 'Linux Inside' Stigma · · Score: 1

    Or the install/distribution model? There are valid reasons why people don't want to mess with Linux. many don't want to get all into the technology. They just want something that works, works well, and works easily.

    Look at the Mac. It's UNIX, but people don't know or care. It's about the experience and the value they receive.

  22. Classical music on Ask Slashdot: Best Way To Block Noise In a Dorm? · · Score: 1

    I used classical music as a white noise generator. I can't concentrate when listening to music with lyrics, but I needed something to overwhelm the noise. The nice thing is that you get cultured in the process. You can get the 100 best works of ___ for relatively cheap.

  23. Re:Car analogy on Apple's Lightning-to-HDMI Dongle Secretly Packed With ARM, Airplay · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's like a car company offering a stabilized phonograph in your car, for your ultra-high fidelity analog listening pleasure, and then not being able to make the interface between the phonograph and the stereo work and bailing and having the phonograph input through an FM band transmitter that plays through the radio.

  24. Yes on Is It Worth Paying Extra For Fast SD Cards? · · Score: 1

    I have a Canon T3i and have tried to shoot 720P 60FPS video with cheap class 10 cards and the camera pukes after a second or so.

    It only works well with a Sandisk class 10 card.

  25. In-Flight Footage Definitely Shows an RC Plane on Iran Unveils Its Own Stealth Fighter Jet, the Qaher F-313 · · Score: 1

    Engine sounds like a ducted fan.

    Look at how thick the rear wing is (look at where the wing and body meet). Definitely not supersonic. Also, major directional stability issues.