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User: mmcxii

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Comments · 218

  1. Re:Stolen? Steam? on Urban Terror Code Stolen · · Score: 1

    Again, it means to take without permission. It doesn't imply to deprive another of ownership. And the idea of "stealing one's ideas" has existed before any of your fancy digital copies and it meant the same thing then. It is a possible case of what it meant and it has been going on, again, for generations.

  2. Re:Stolen? Steam? on Urban Terror Code Stolen · · Score: 1, Informative

    Stolen does not mean to deprive another of ownership, it means to take without permission. That's what it has meant for generations.

  3. Re:Hysterical Quote from Legislator on Members of Parliament Demand Explanation For Detention of David Miranda · · Score: 1

    Choke, now, on your own lack of foresight.

    Choke on your own lack of foresight. Any "rage" coming from establish political entities is nothing more than pandering with absolutely no intentions of righting these wrongs. Just like how the left in the US howled with anger at the Patriot Act who are now tight lipped since it has become a tool of the Obama administration. The right will be no different if they take power in the next election. They'll cry foul today and abuse the law tomorrow.

    We will be bogged down in this quagmire for as long as people keep believing in the concept of the lesser of two evils and the evils can keep pointing the finger at the other saying "but they did it first." Not to even mention the idiocy of the sheep when they feel that presidents don't veto laws that they're "against" to try to maintain some balance in power. Total garbage.

  4. Re:lolwut? on Why Weather Control Conspiracy Theories Are Scientifically Ludicrous · · Score: 1

    There's a difference between being a troll and being funny. This is just another thing that Jeff Bezos understands that most Slashmods don't.

  5. Re:Perhaps Pirate of Silicon Valley is better? on Early Apple Employees Talk Memories of Steve Jobs, Thoughts On New Movie · · Score: 0

    Metacritic and Rotten don't seem to be encouraging this movie.

    It's that good? I might just go see it.

  6. Re:What should I use to see into my neighbors bedr on Amateur Astronomer Bruce Berger Talks About Telescopes, Part II (Video) · · Score: 1

    That depends. Do they keep the lights on?

  7. Really? on Twitter Buzz As an Election Predictor · · Score: 2

    How's that Twitter thing working out for Anthony Weiner?

  8. Re:Check out these on Amateur Astronomer Bruce Berger Talks About Meteors and Telescopes (Video) · · Score: 1

    I hate to put it this way but most would-be astronomy buffs would be seriously turned off by a Dob. Most people expect much more out of a scope to begin with without all the pains of being a Dob owner. I say this as the proud owner of a 12 inch Meade Lightbridge.

  9. Re:After buying iPad, how do you afford a PC? on Larry Ellison Believes Apple Is Doomed · · Score: 1

    The vast majority of the world doesn't care about "a device for creating." In your case this is saying "coding" but you felt the need to skirt the term for an unknown reason.

    Most people who "create" content with their computers aren't coding with them. They're working on writings, videos, photos and music. Tablets are doing this today. This will continue to be the case.

    even if it weren't true? Yes, the vast majority of those who own tablets today are very happy simply consuming content.

  10. Re:He's right - Android is eating iOS's lunch on Larry Ellison Believes Apple Is Doomed · · Score: 1

    So you are confirming for the fanbois that Jobs was indeed the second coming of Christ? Otherwise, why would chances be slim that the next "innovator" won't be working for Apple? If there is innovation to be made it seems reasonable that it is just as likely to come from Apple as anywhere else.

  11. Kind of like TVBeGone... on Hacking Lightbulbs To Cause a Sustained Blackout · · Score: 1

    I need one of these for when my group has star parties. One that covers about 50 miles in all directions.

  12. Re:The Idle Cycles Fallacy on Cell Phones For Science: BOINC Now Available For Android · · Score: 1

    It is an act of donating a few bucks a year to scientific research.

    Not to bust anyone's bubbles but I think that just donating the money instead of thinking you're a swell guy for letting them use your hardware would be a better gesture.

  13. Re:Woah, wait a minute... on Obama Praises Amazon At One of Its Controversial Warehouses · · Score: 2

    You don't understand. It's easier to make up a new definition to fit the conditions than it is to have the conditions fit the current definition.

    And in this way if they do raise the minimum wage they can have all kinds of nifty headlines that show that the middle class has been bolstered to higher numbers than we've since the 70s.

  14. Re:If it's cheaper it's still good on "Slingatron" To Hurl Payloads Into Orbit · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "One true solution" arguments (it doesn't replace every use so it's useless!) don't help solve problems.

    True but pointing out how a solution doesn't solve every aspect of every problem is what gets a post modded up around here. This reinforcement of short-sightedness keeps rearing it's ugly head with nearly every article. Thus even people who know better are still prone to postings such as this just because they know it'll be modded up. The cycle continues and we help to breed a new generation of cynics who don't think that things getting a little better today is a worthwhile goal if it's not the future promised to them by the most optimistic sci-fi stories.

    Welcome to Slashdot.

  15. Re:pretty broad on Massachusetts Enacts 6.25% Sales Tax On "Prewritten" Software Consulting · · Score: 2

    if they need money they should just put a small tax on all services

    Don't worry, it'll come to that. While I do agree that the slippery slope scheme doesn't work in every situation, the government has it down to an art. What's worse off is that this tax has nothing to do with anything in this system of business that is causing an undue burden on the government. They're doing it as just another money grab.

    As a person gets fatter they need to take in more calories to maintain their fatness. As the government becomes fatter they need to suck off the production of the (for now) free people to maintain their overreach. In the long run, both lead to decreased quality of life and an early death.

  16. Re:Declined to Respond on CNET: Feds Put Heat On Web Firms For Master Encryption Keys · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Don't think that they're the only ones. Given the current climate I think it is reasonable to assume that you're being monitored regardless of your method of communication.

  17. Something that gets me... on New Shrew Has Spine of Steel · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Here's the thing I don't like about how evolution is presented...

    researchers also have a new guess about why the spine evolved: They suggest that the creatures might wedge themselves between the trunk of a palm tree and the base of its leaves, then use the strength and flexion of their muscular spine to force open this crevice, revealing insect larvae

    Um, no. The spine did not evolve to meet the needs of the animal, the animal is alive because it had the traits needed to live. This would make much more sense if the statement was that "researchers also have a new guess about why the species thrived while others died."

    The way evolution is presented by most media makes it seem like after a species goes for a few generations it gains some ability like how one can gain a power up in a video game; "Ok... humans make it to the next level... they can either run faster, see further or have faster reflexes.... what will it be?"

    If this animal didn't have the ability to do what it does then it would have probably failed and we would know it now as a collection of bones in some natural history museum instead of a living creature. Now, this is also to say that those with mutations that gave them a stronger spine would be more likely to survive but it's not as if the species had control over the evolution of the spine itself.

  18. Re:Cynic...? on Apple Profit Falls 22% But iPhone Sales Are Up · · Score: 5, Insightful

    While this article was brought to Slashdot for flame war fodder there is another reason this is news elsewhere. What it comes down to is that businesses, regardless of actual profit, are largely looked on as weak by investors if they're not showing growth.

    I'm not one of these people who beat on the idea of capitalism but I do see it as a failing of the perception in that endless growth just isn't possible in the long term. Sadly it's endless growth that drives a majority of today's investors. Most of today's investors don't see their dollars as a building block to better companies with long term goals and good public relations, they see their dollars are something they need to "flip" fast to make it worth their time. That's been a failing of the Wall Street economy for several decades and it only gets worse as time trods on.

    Apple will take a hit because of this. It's not because they're technology is weak but because there is enough competition in their field that push investment dollars to the short term gains. And this isn't to say other players in the field aren't really offering anything but their long term outlook is secondary to what they'll offer up in the next quarter or two. Apple hasn't planted itself well enough as a long term solutions company to keep the market interested like IBM, Oracle and Microsoft did. They'll survive and maybe make a bigger comeback some day but they will have to suffer through this lull like every other market leader has to from time to time.

  19. Re:There's finally more money in the cure.... on 'Boston Patients' Still HIV Free After Quitting Antiretroviral Meds · · Score: 1

    Merck Darmstadt and Bayer don't do R&D? That's news to me!

  20. Re:Sadly on Former Valve Hardware Designer Recounts Management Difficulties · · Score: 1

    I thought the same thing when T3 came out but in the end it was a pretty enjoyable game. Hopefully this will be of at least that quality. I'll have to check out the videos when I get a minute. Thanks for the heads up.

  21. Minecraft on Deus Ex Creator On How a Video-Game Academy Could Fix the Industry · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    Minecraft is a bit more of a Lego construction game. I don't know how he pitched his idea but if someone came to me and told me they had a Lego game and presented Minecraft to me I'd have told them their description is a bit lacking.

    And the other side of this is that Notch didn't wait for someone to give him the greenlight. Granted the culture and technology is much different but waiting for the approval of others is probably holding many back from bringing a software product to market for lack of skills or lack of resources. Sometimes you need to just throw yourself out there and hope that you can work it out to become successful.

  22. Re:Sadly on Former Valve Hardware Designer Recounts Management Difficulties · · Score: 1

    Wasn't there suppose to be a third installment to HL2 first? It's been a while since I've looked into any of this but that would be a hot item for me to play. I'm pretty much out of the gaming scene but I would like to finish the HL series and would play Thief again if T4 ever came out.

  23. Re:This slowly drives me nuts on Who Will Teach U.S. Kids To Code? Rupert Murdoch · · Score: 1

    The Tour de France is a long way from being "GOOD" at something. You're talking about a few out of a couple tens of thousands of professional bike racers who will ever win a Tour de France. There may only be a dozen or so FIDE champions in your lifetime but you best believe the FIDE also have about ten thousand of grandmasters (if not more) in the same span of time. And if you've ever sat and talked to a FIDE grandmaster (I have) you'll realize that it's not about some unknown ability, it's about an investment in time and sometimes wealth that is plainly out of reach for anyone who has to hold a traditional 9 to 5. They invest much more of themselves in that grandmaster title then most programmers will ever invest in their skill set.

    So the question is where are you placing the bar? Things like being a FIDE grandmaster and a winner of the Tour de France have a metric associated with them that is pretty black and white. It's much harder to measure the skill of a programmer.

    So disagree all you want but until you can put a meaningful metric to it the whole conversation is still pointless. I will continue to hold to my original assertion that skills are better if cultivated early and that anyone who doesn't have a mental disability can be a great programmer beyond just knowing syntax.

    Oh, and if you honestly believe that the people who are "GOOD" at something at that way because It is nothing to do with upbringing, just the way we are. then I urge you to go read Outliers by Malcom Gladwell. It will be an introduction of how elements come together in the proverbial perfect storm to create extraordinary circumstances and sometimes extraordinary people. And it most certainly touches on how being "GOOD" at something does have to do with upbringing even if some of these elements are outside of the control of those doing the upbringing.

  24. No on Man Campaigns For Addition of 'Th' Key To Keyboard · · Score: 5, Funny

    What teh hell is his problem? We don't need anotehr key on out keyboards.

  25. Re:This slowly drives me nuts on Who Will Teach U.S. Kids To Code? Rupert Murdoch · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Perhaps but the sooner you give a young mind a chance to work with these concepts the earlier you'll find people with "natural" talent and the sooner it will be cultivated.

    BTW, as I'm sure you can tell I'm not 100% convinced that this is "inbuilt." I really think it is a matter of upbringing. Whatever kids are introduced to at an early age and whatever they find positive reinforcement in (and negative reinforcement for that matter) will create the kinds of adults that they grow into. They'll simply grow to be dependent if you just fix every problem a child has instead of giving them the tools and knowledge to fix it themselves.