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User: ChilyWily

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  1. Re:Sometimes it takes embarrasement to effect chan on Indian Gov't Wants Worldwide Ban On Rape Documentary, Including Online · · Score: 1

    Embarrassing perhaps... in my humble opinion, this is PR pure and simple. The real question is why focus on PR instead of actually fixing the cultural issues that make rape okay in India? Rape is rape - embarrassment or not.

  2. Re:Error: They did not use LaTeX on What Happens When Nobody Proofreads an Academic Paper · · Score: 1

    Statistics on how well read the average article is are hard to come by.

    That is why I simply say "insert statistical method here" and continue on.

    Here is a fine example of usage. [link]

  3. Sounds Legit! on NSA Director Says Agency Shares Most, But Not All, Bugs It Finds · · Score: 1

    Ok, so what part of that* are you now not sharing with us?

    * the answer to this question, vulnerabilities contained therein etc.

  4. Skunk weed! on Marijuana Legalized In Oregon, Alaska, and Washington DC · · Score: 1

    So what happens when my neighbor and his "friends" all start smoking weed and stinkin' up my home?

    Legalization sure... I don't really care what people do in their own homes, but when the stinky effects start impacting me and my neighbors respond to friendly, "hey would you do something about ..." with a FU reply... what recourse do I have?

    I'm still undecided whether now I'll have to contend with stoned people on the road

  5. Re:Singapore Airport on Austin Airport Tracks Cell Phones To Measure Security Line Wait · · Score: 1

    True about showing ID and tickets, but as far as I know, they don't record that information, they just inspect it. (I could be wrong on that one too).

    Until we have randomized MAC addresses, the MAC is one common denominator.

    Perhaps I wasn't explicit enough, its not where you are going, it is where you have been, that is equally or more important to a Police State.

  6. Singapore Airport on Austin Airport Tracks Cell Phones To Measure Security Line Wait · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Me thinks the transit time is the plausible excuse here. They really want to know who is going where so that if they nab you for some 'offense' then they have a history of all the places you were at and security footage as well. 'Free' wifi that really isn't free if you consider the implications.

    Of course, there are other instances where Governments have been rather crass about it:

    A few years ago I was transiting at Singapore's Changi Airport. They had free WiFi, but subject to me giving them the MAC address of all my devices, the flight I had arrived on and they wanted to record my Passport number as well. The girl behind the counter said, with a big smile and fluttering eyes, everyone gives us those details and the WiFi is really good.

  7. Re:Use a headhunter and resume writer on Ask Slashdot: Finding a Job After Completing Computer Science Ph.D? · · Score: 2

    Any recommendations for a good professional company who does both Resumes and LinkedIn Profiles?

  8. Re:No Leaders anywhere today... on When Scientists Give Up · · Score: 1

    Government not acting in the interests of the people? Give 'em the boot!

    I'll enlist! Where do we start? Here is one guy in Iceland who did just that and won...

    http://www.pri.org/stories/201...

    I have seen him talk and he is funny and very sensible. I wish he'd have left some sort of legacy so a pattern of change and good candidates could appear. Perhaps wishful thinking but its a start.

  9. No Leaders anywhere today... on When Scientists Give Up · · Score: 2

    The lack of Leadership, and I mean true forward looking people who take risks to move the Nation forward are no where to be found. The mantra of becoming rich is gospel and quick monetization, quarterly Wall Street figures reign supreme.

    The Leaders of the past few generations, those who would see a public interest and use the immense power and resources of the Government to enable it, are long gone.

    So the question isn't really one of giving up... the question is one of choice and priority. If you have no vision and no real sense of purpose beyond enriching yourself when you occupy a position of influence, then the rot will spread and not just Scientists but many others will wither away as well.

    We can spend on un-ending and meaningless Wars, enriching the military-industrial-political complex through war mongering, developing our sense of uber individuality where our selfish needs are supreme above any common good or we can choose to go after bettering the lives of our fellow humans by challenging ourselves to bigger better goals and being a good/reasonable neighbor.

  10. Re:When I was in China on L.A. Times National Security Reporter Cleared Stories With CIA Before Publishing · · Score: 1

    Cmdr Taco, My story is similar to yours... and it is a slow fish rot from the head down. But the question is, what can be done now? Most of the American population is too stuck in other issues (partially fueled and maintained as 'unsolved' by the Government) - they are too disconnected or care not for what is happening because a hyper individualistic creed has emerged in which the common good simply doesn't work.

  11. No one wants a DRM'd weapon on Could Tech Have Stopped ISIS From Using Our Own Heavy Weapons Against Us? · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Would you want a weapon that would only work if someone else said it was okay to use? It's been tried before but it does not work. BTW, did Thatcher herself figure the codes out? and disable them? I think that credit goes to good British Engineers and not to some politician.

  12. Re:Great on Post-Microsoft Nokia Offering Mapping Services To Samsung · · Score: 1

    Same here... they used to have it and then took it off when iOS 7 was released due to "...iOS7 harm[s] the User Experience". Not exactly sure what Nokia meant with that statement. Ref: Article here

  13. Partially (as I understand it)... the front runner seems to be some Neocotinoid Pesticides. See full story here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03... Other references to diesel fumes causing issues: http://www.sciencedaily.com/re...

  14. Re:A virtuous Perl programmer on An Army Medal For Coding In Perl · · Score: 2

    I completely agree with this comment. I'm currently on a project where the Architect is super impressed that there is an excel style chart I coded up in Java solely because he understands the excel-style table and chart and can speak to it in front of his boss. But a ton of work I did writing some machine learning to detect and display faults in a heat map flew him into a rage of criticism and anger... because to him heat maps are only used for financial data and "not applicable here". He even argued about the color red and green! In my experience, people only appreciate what they understand. And so I have resorted to finding communities where my work is appreciated. No use trying to impress the wrong (uninformed) person. What boggles my mind is how this guy became a Senior Architect in the organization when his appreciation for creativity and considering an alternate point of view is so low.

  15. Re:great. now lets remove the ban on on Federal Judge Rules US No-fly List Violates Constitution · · Score: 1

    Some airline food I've eaten already falls under that category.

  16. The System is Corrupt on $57,000 Payout For Woman Charged With Wiretapping After Filming Cops · · Score: 1
    If the government can claim that it's okay to record people in "public" (pun intended) without any concern for their privacy, so why is it not okay for this woman to record a cop? Such refusal to be video taped insinuates that something fishy was going on. If that cop didn't have anything to hide what's the problem with recording the incident.

    Last month, the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals said citizens may videotape police officers performing their duties unless an officer orders them to disperse or stop recording for legitimate safety reasons. In its unanimous ruling, the court rejected arguments by Weare officers that they should be immune from liability, under a theory that allows government officials to make reasonable mistakes that do not violate clearly established constitutional rights or state laws.

    So if I claimed a made a reasonable mistake, would the same immunity be granted to me (an unwashed, private citizen)?

  17. I'd like to know how many people challenged this.. on How Open Government Data Saved New Yorkers Thousands On Parking Tickets · · Score: 1

    ... and lost. That data would expose how many citizens are indifferent or simply don't speak up and how many in government (courts, cops etc.) never actually listen to the complaint and just pass summary justice. Great story!

  18. As November approaches... on White House Pressures Legislators Into Gutting USA FREEDOM Act · · Score: 1

    Everything will be done by shrewd politicians to distance themselves from Obama/Obamacare etc. to appease or confuse voters (in the short and perhaps long term?) that Obama is at fault here... Meanwhile, all of them secretly never wanted to do this...

  19. Re:House != White House on White House Pressures Legislators Into Gutting USA FREEDOM Act · · Score: 1

    I read it the same way.

  20. First an endorsement for a watered down bill... on EFF: Amazon, AT&T, and Snapchat Most Likely To Rat On You To the Gov't · · Score: 2

    (see Slashdot discussion here)
    and now this. What the effin' happened to the EFF?

  21. Re:180 nests gone, at 6 nests/monkey/day? really? on China Using Troop of Trained Monkeys To Guard Air Base · · Score: 1

    Yes, and don't forget the Legal and Compliance Dept either!

  22. Re:Any slap on the wrist for the CIA? on Polio Causes Global Health Emergency · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Sure... but when you have an enemy that calls innocent people dying as "collateral damage" and when they show no restraint with drone attacks and midnight raids, it is quite fearful for the local population to be very afraid of getting vaccinated because are you getting a real Doctor/Health care worker or are you getting into a CIA database where one day you will be killed? It doesn't help that one the other side you have the Taliban who now target *all* health care workers as working for the enemy... to the detriment of the poor people.

    The CIA has the big brains, the big budget and they may have gotten the 1 person they wanted, but the misery they brought to many people, many children at that, does not justify the means. They did much evil in that case and it will cause hurt to many.

    Is even a slap on the wrist not warranted for the CIA?
    I don't even want to start with the other things the US Government has done in the "homeland" such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments on African-Americans.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

  23. Any slap on the wrist for the CIA? on Polio Causes Global Health Emergency · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It did not help that the CIA had a DNA collection, excuse me, "Intelligence gathering" operative working as a Doctor in one of the countries where the problem is the worst. Now health workers are getting assaulted and the poor who could get vaccinated, are without.

  24. Re:so... on F.C.C., In Net Neutrality Turnaround, Plans To Allow Fast Lane · · Score: 1

    Your example is good... The other thing I've been running into (since switching to a VoIP phone for the last 2-3 years) is that I run into conference call numbers all the time where my VoIP provider gives me a warning message about "Traffic Pumpers". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... As usual, I think we'll see costs of these "premium" services passed onto the customers' bill for no real gain in service (speed or quality).

  25. Progressive is Evil - do not buy insurance from th on How Nest and FitBit Might Spy On You For Cash · · Score: 1

    No matter how cute the 'Flo' ads are, here is what drove me to never consider them: http://mattfisher.tumblr.com/p... I do understand what you said about insurance but I think the reality of what happens behind the curtains is more revealing... and disturbing.