Slashdot Mirror


User: Drethon

Drethon's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
1,939
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 1,939

  1. Re:This sounds dangerous - DO NOT WANT on Sony Promises Better Face Identification Through Depth-Sensing Lasers (theverge.com) · · Score: 2

    I do not want my phone emitting laser pulses. This has the potential to be dangerous, albeit not lethal with the typical power levels found in a modern phone. It sounds like it also could be hijacked and used to sense a user's immediate surroundings if it works out to 15 feet. It probably could generate a 3D map of the inside of your house as you walked through it. With this type of information, you quickly lose superiority over a burglar or invader, especially given the superior firepower and element of surprise they are likely to have.

    Also best not to allow the phone to sense light and construct a 2D image that a good computer program could convert into 3D provided enough light from different angles. I hear electric tape is pretty good for preventing light from coming or going out, tin foil works pretty well too and has other benefits to blocking incoming EM signals that can be used to determine the location or send out sound picked up by said phone.

  2. If you have good useful hardware you will survive and beat the big tech companies. The problem is that these gadgets are just junk and rely on fads. Eventually you run out of people to sell to and your market is saturated. Only a small percentage of people want a drone, or a fitbit, an action camera, or a $60k+ electric vehicle (like Tesla found out), or a $1000+ phone (as Apple is finding out). There isn't an infinite market of consumers out there with excess money. Once the fad is over you have saturated your market.

    Things like smartwatches have great ideas that can be very useful. But for $400, I've got plenty of alternatives to what the smartwatch would do for a lower price. Plus a purchase that high for me needs to be something particularly special, or something I will use just about daily. My use of a smartwatch would happen a couple times a month perhaps.

    So yeah, cost much higher than value makes it a fad to me. And this is what seems like the most useful smart device (other than a phone) to me.

  3. Re:The big question on Why the West Coast Is Suddenly Beating the East Coast on Transportation (nytimes.com) · · Score: 1

    Back in the 50s, when the interstate highway system was planned and construction began, did anyone budget for future maintenance? Does anyone consider the long term cost of maintenance when they build roads, bridges, and other infrastructure like subways?

    Those folks in Seattle are happy because the system is new and working fine. I'll bet people in NYC were happy with their system when it was new. Let's see how people in Seattle feel about the system when it is as old as the NYC subway system.

    I bet they did originally, then people wanted tax breaks and pension funding and all the planned money went elsewhere. Kind of like most of my work projects.

  4. Re:We have to expand our networks on Why the West Coast Is Suddenly Beating the East Coast on Transportation (nytimes.com) · · Score: 2

    Suburban sprawl happens because Americans have been conditioned to exercise their "freedom" to spend countless hours of their lives trapped in little wheeled boxes travelling at the breakneck speed of 5 MPH down long strips of asphalt.

    Or because I don't care much to live in the noisy city when a large country property is available a 20 minute drive from work. Also the freeway here might slow down to 55 a few times when congested. If I wanted an hour long commute, there is a job 50 miles away that I used to contract for. I wouldn't want to live somewhere that took an hour to drive just ten or twenty miles.

  5. Re:Face It. Star Wars Sucked! on Sphero Discontinues Its BB-8, R2-D2, and Other Licensed Disney Products (theverge.com) · · Score: 1

    I still think the old Star Wars special effects are a TON better than the new ones. Probably because they were carefully built and filmed models and not just CGI effects thrown together overseas in an animation factory.

    The motions of the original X-Wings were a bit off putting to me, but the other effects (particularly interior ones) were pretty good.

  6. Re:I had to click on a button on CenturyLink Blocked Its Customers' Internet Access in Order To Show an Ad (arstechnica.com) · · Score: 2

    That is NOT OK.

    We're in the phase of a civilization where people get ridiculous, right before the collapse.

    Lets talk about what happens when the button fails to render properly and getting your internet connection back is impossible. Or when this happens with mobile internet and you have to tap a confirm button on your screen, and all you have is a flip phone...

  7. Net Neutrality Is Bad on CenturyLink Blocked Its Customers' Internet Access in Order To Show an Ad (arstechnica.com) · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Just remember that when providers find new and innovative ways provide services that make them more money.

  8. Re:Why? What problem are they trying to solve? on Louisiana Adopts Digital Driver's Licenses (ieee.org) · · Score: 1

    How is this better than a physical document? This looks more like an attempt at showing off how cutting edge they are.

    Our K-12 schools are shite but we issue digital driver's license.

    Should be good when someone is killed in a car accident and the need to identify the driver. Another excuse to make it easier for law enforcement to be able to unlock your phone?

  9. Re: When surveyed, people lie! on What Student Developers Want in a Job (techrepublic.com) · · Score: 1

    Do you care to describe a code monkey specific duties in such a way as they could be easily replicated by a software engineer?

    For a more concrete example. I had one job where I was writing tests for software where the requirements were literally a logic diagram written out so it could be fed to a model to create code. I could have written a separate program to parse the requirements and write the tests. Would have just needed a reviewer of each test to pass certification i believe.

  10. Re: When surveyed, people lie! on What Student Developers Want in a Job (techrepublic.com) · · Score: 1

    Do you care to describe a code monkey specific duties in such a way as they could be easily replicated by a software engineer?

    I've had quite a few jobs I was sorely tempted to automate, but the schedule was too tight to spend the time setting up the automation and the customer would have refused to pay extra money up front, even though they would save a lot in the long run. One customer specifically refused automation of the software testing as it would take away jobs.

  11. Re:When surveyed, people lie! on What Student Developers Want in a Job (techrepublic.com) · · Score: 1

    Also it is a good thing they don't want pay or perks. Well the pay is good if you work enough hours (if you get paid hourly) but I haven't seen perks in my jobs.

  12. Re:When surveyed, people lie! on What Student Developers Want in a Job (techrepublic.com) · · Score: 1

    The three most important criteria students look for in job opportunities are

    I think you will find that this is "interview bullshit". It is the sort of answer that people think the ask-er wants to hear.

    The reality is that is you offer a candidate a lower than expected "nice to have" salary, say: 50% less, they'll walk to the next employer who is offering more.

    Besides, in my experience jobs give you. Just enough professional growth to churn out the code that makes them money, the company doesn't want a great software engineer, they want a code monkey that does what they are told and asks no questions. Work/life balance means you can have all the outside of work balance you want when nothing important is going on but we better not hear anything about you leaving work when a deadline comes up. For interesting work, see the code monkey part.

  13. Re:Salute the innovators on Evelyn Berezin, Who Built the First True Word Processor, Has Died at 93 (nytimes.com) · · Score: 1

    We stand on the shoulders of giants.

    And some of those giants look like every day people.

  14. Re: Salute the innovators on Evelyn Berezin, Who Built the First True Word Processor, Has Died at 93 (nytimes.com) · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This is a silly article. what the hell do you want me to do with this information besides forget about it because I don't know what the hell you want me to do with it. It's not relevant to anything I need to do

    Some people are interested in why computers work, which helps with how to make them work better.

  15. Salute the innovators on Evelyn Berezin, Who Built the First True Word Processor, Has Died at 93 (nytimes.com) · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Everything we have is an improvement of existing technologies going back thousands of years. We wouldn't be where we are today if someone didn't come up with a way to improve on what we had. The innovators will live on forever in the new technologies, whether or not we remember who made the improvement.

  16. Re:no more 2-way conversations on Microsoft Adds Real-Time Captions and Subtitles To Skype -- PowerPoint To Follow (betanews.com) · · Score: 1

    Big Brother is truly here now. Better to ditch Skype, if you haven't already done that 3 years ago.

    Where I work they ditched the exiting (very stable) chat software for Skype due to security reasons...

  17. >> Skype is getting real-time captions and subtitles, and PowerPoint will have these features

    Hilarity ensues. Can't wait for the first international conflict caused or massive business deal lost by a printed misinterpretation of garbled speech.

    I'm pretty sure the software is better than it used to be, but this still kind of sums up my thoughts on the matter: http://ars.userfriendly.org/ca...

  18. Re:I would on Who'd Go To University Today? (spiked-online.com) · · Score: 1

    Totally agree. I did say "best" though, not "easiest". For me college wasn't the "best" time in my life, because I was no good with women and I was struggling to complete my engineering education and working.

    Yeah, I was particular about wording it as easiest as the best times of my life looking back were a royal pain in the ass, but I prefer accomplishing things to having fun.

  19. Re:Top 5 school, $8,000. Ferrari isn't the only ca on Who'd Go To University Today? (spiked-online.com) · · Score: 1

    I advise you to slow down and relax a bit, particularly in your last year. 20 years later, I look back at this and wish I had taken more time. I had reasons, and perhaps you do too but take time and examine them. If one of them is a hot new job paying big bucks, think harder. Either that job will still be there next year, or, and this is important, you really didn't want it anyway. This is particularly troublesome in technology.

    Personally I was glad I completed a 5 year degree in 4 years as I really started learning programming the most after I left college.

  20. Re:I would on Who'd Go To University Today? (spiked-online.com) · · Score: 1

    I went to University for the same reason as everyone else: the women. There is a reason it is called "the best time of your life".

    The easiest time of my life was just after I graduated. Good paycheck, a place of my own, only having to work 40 hours a week, not 70+, no family to deal with yet. But good things don't come easy, lying around doing nothing on weekends is fun but doesn't get you anywhere.

  21. Re:$60,000? on Who'd Go To University Today? (spiked-online.com) · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Please, tell me where University still costs only $60,000...

    I got a degree for $20k in the early y2k at the local state college. The cost is a bit more than double that now but worth it for a job that paid $55k starting out of college in software development, and has gone up from there. The degree also included a full year of internship that paid $15 an hour which helps a lot with costs. This doesn't include housing costs as I lived from home and commuted so YMMV.

  22. Re:Another bubble on Who'd Go To University Today? (spiked-online.com) · · Score: 4, Informative

    Yeah, I'd like to see a link on the trades with entry level $80K

    He didn't say entry level, so I'm assuming he is talking high end for both jobs with or without degree. Some numbers for good paying jobs without a degree: https://careers.workopolis.com...

  23. Re:I'm guilty of it, but it's not good on China's Cashless Economy Threatens To Leave Its Elderly -- and Their Money -- Behind (qz.com) · · Score: 1

    CASHLESS, means EVERYTHING you purchase, EVERYTHING you earn is noted by "the government".
    Once this globe falls into the one world order, with EVERYTHING controlled by the imperial United Nations
    (or whatever they call it), ANYTHING you attempt to purchase, will be approved or denied by the global
    rulers.
    Hard currency, be it gold, barter or whatever, keep the governments nose OUT of your business.
    Cashless is touted now as "secure & convenient" which is just a ruse to get you to give up more of
    your privacy.

    There also might be a simpler explanation, which is cheaper for banks and governments, cash or cashless?

  24. Re:A non-story on The F-35's Greatest Vulnerability Isn't Enemy Weapons. It's Being Hacked. (popularmechanics.com) · · Score: 3, Interesting

    TFA reads like FUD. If I were trying to sell my services as a cybersecurity contractor, this is the kind of crap I'd write. Essentially, it boils down to "complexity is bad", and "wireless is scary".

    I've worked defense contracts. They're always trying to "shore up vulnerabilities", and always making a big deal about every tiny detail that isn't perfectly in compliance with a rule written for an entirely-different scenario. Exceptions are the norm. That doesn't mean the system is actually vulnerable to any attack, or even that a possible attack would be successful.

    Now, I'm not suggesting that anyone stop looking at security, especially in such important systems... I'm just saying that shouting about generic insecurity doesn't improve anything, and in fact makes things worse by encouraging a checklist-based approach to compliance.

    I don't know how the F-35 handles network security, but I found this a fascinating read for network security for a military UAV prototype helicopter: https://journals.plos.org/plos...

  25. "...it's still a rational decision to make Americans use Android. Android is the dominant operating system in many regions outside of the U.S., including South America, Europe, Russia, South Asia, and parts of the Middle East."

    I'm not here to get the iNerds and 'Droid Dorks all fired up, I merely question how the hell OS dominance equates to a rational decision to make Americans use a particular smartphone OS. Smartphones have become black box devices that run apps (go ahead, ask an smartphone user to find the "operating system" on their phone), and all smartphones pretty much do the same damn thing. The OS that the consumer can hardly touch is damn near irrelevant.

    And where it works outside the U.S. is becoming more and more irrelevant for Americans too. They spent all their travel money on a $1000+ fashion accessory and an unlimited everything plan. They can hardly afford to change their mind, let alone their location.

    The last time I tried an iOS device I found no access to the file system so I could easily move files between applications. Due to this (and lower costs) I've stuck to Android. There may have been a work around or this may no longer be an iOS issue but I've just gotten comfortable with Android (and Android is cheaper... see any pattern?) since then. For the average smartphone user, they probably could care less about this.