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User: taustin

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Comments · 2,322

  1. As usual, the wrong question on California DMV Told Google Cars Still Need Steering Wheels · · Score: 4, Interesting

    That Google thinks their self driving cars are ready for the open road isn't the issue. The issue is that they think they are ready to go straight from traditional cars to cars with no ability for the human passenger to take control if the new, unproven technology fails. That, by itself, convinces me that Google's judgment is flawed, and cannot be trusted. Were I making this decision, I wouldn't let Google's cars on public roads at all until they show some evidence that they understand why this is a bad idea.

  2. You're not the customer, you're the product on Dropbox Caught Between Warring Giants Amazon and Google · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Free is, indeed, a fine business model when the real purpose of providing cloud storage is to data mine it for targeted advertising, which has always been Google's business model, and is increasingly Amazon's, as well. 95% of Google's revenue is from advertising, and getting you, and me and everyone else, to store all their documents in Google Drive is well worth the cost to increase ad rates. Amazon's business model is a little different, but is getting more and more like Google's lately, with their announcement that they're working on their own ad network to replace Google's.

    Everything that both companies have done lately - and that Google has ever done, has been to stuff that profile database as full as possible on everyone human being on the planet.

  3. Re: good on "MythBusters" Drops Kari Byron, Grant Imahara, Tory Belleci · · Score: 1

    If you think you can go better, you should contact the show's producers. It's a very time consuming show to produce.

  4. Re:My wife will miss Grant. on "MythBusters" Drops Kari Byron, Grant Imahara, Tory Belleci · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Grant is an engineer were did you come up with "scientist"? I used to watch the show however it became unbearable when they add the other three.

    That'd be season one (Kari Byron), season two (Tory Belleci) and season three (Grant Imahara). There were maybe two episodes without at least one of the three (and one of the ones you especially dislike) in season one.

    Grant is creative when it came to robotics but so is Jamie. I makes no sense to have 5 hosts for a show when two Kari and Tory are dip shits.

    They wanted an hour long show. The five of them have been spending 48 weeks out of every year filming to get ten episodes per season. With 60% less on-screen talent, it will be a completely different show. Perhaps better, perhaps worse, but not at all the same.

  5. Re: good on "MythBusters" Drops Kari Byron, Grant Imahara, Tory Belleci · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Except, of course, the show's been on for 11 years, not seven. The newest of the B team is Imahara, who joined in 2005, nine years ago. They've already renegotiated contracts at least once.

    Either they demanded more money, the ratings are down enough to want to cut costs, or they've got something else planned - they may get their own show.

    Or, of course, they may all just be tired of filming 48 weeks out of every year, to get ten episodes.

  6. Re:The real crime here on 33 Months In Prison For Recording a Movie In a Theater · · Score: 1

    Now is a 33 month prison sentence fair for gross stupidity? /shrug I've heard of worse . . .

    Fair? Put fair aside a moment. What will the result of putting him in prison be? Will it improve society in any way? Odds are sharply against it.

    Depends on whether or not you consider a deterrent to criminal copyright infringement an improvement. This being Slashdot, discouraging crime that let's them get free stuff is, of course, evil, bad, and totally unacceptable. But normal people might not agree.

  7. Re:The real crime here on 33 Months In Prison For Recording a Movie In a Theater · · Score: 1

    Or someone who no longer has a legitimate bank account or job decides to take up crime as a career instead of a hobby.

  8. Re:Not my kind of person. on 33 Months In Prison For Recording a Movie In a Theater · · Score: 0

    The financial advisor isn't a geek ---

    and the geek should never have to serve hard time.

    That is the argument as it usually plays out on Slashdot.

    Close. It's really more like "No crime that I'd like to commit myself if only I had the balls should have any form of punishment at all, especially crimes that let me get free stuff."

  9. Simply not possible on Ask Slashdot: Would You Pay For Websites Without Trolls? · · Score: 1

    What is being called trolling here is inherent to web based discussions, and pretty much all moderated discussions. The reason it is inherent is that there cannot be an objective definition of trolling (or, to use web forum terminology, offensive posts) that is meaningful. It is inherently subjective, and to be enforced, there must be enforcers, i.e., moderators. And moderators are a biased as anybody - and everybody is - and the moment there is more than one moderator, the "trolls" will play them off against each other.

    What you end up with, and I've seen this every single time in every single forum, no matter how lightly or heavily it is supposed to be moderated, is that people the moderators like - those who suck up to the mods - are allowed to do things that people the mods don't like. Every. Single. Time..

    I saw a guy in one forum banned for refusing to say something that would have gotten him banned - the mod acknowledged this in the post announcing the ban. I've gotten an account suspended for reporting offensive behavior (by one of the mod's bootlickers) in exactly the say that mod had told me to do.

    This isn't a problem with web forums, though. It's a problem with human nature. You get a group of people over a certain size, it will fragment in to cliques, and they will come in to conflict with each other. That's how people are. So any attempt to create an online forum with no trolls is either a pie-in-the-sky fantasy by someone without a clue, or it's pure snake oil. Either way, it's doom to fail, fail, fail, and then fail some more.

  10. Re:You cannot win on Web Trolls Winning As Incivility Increases · · Score: 1

    A good troll is subtle. A great troll will start with "I am a troll, and you're going to argue with me anyway." And be correct.

    Been there, done that. Come visit Usenet some time.

    If you started off a troll with that line and actually got somebody to engage with you,

    I have, many times.

    then I can only say that I am in utter awe of your trolling prowess! Are you a demigod by any chance? Can you do the jedi mind trick thing?

    In fact, I have been referred to as a troll god more than once. I've also been referred to as being like the polio vaccine, only with more asshole.

  11. Re:You cannot win on Web Trolls Winning As Incivility Increases · · Score: 1

    A good troll is subtle. A great troll will start with "I am a troll, and you're going to argue with me anyway." And be correct.

    Been there, done that. Come visit Usenet some time.

  12. Re:Devil's advocate view on Web Trolls Winning As Incivility Increases · · Score: 1

    For example, Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is a trolling organization, but almost everyone here would agree that what they do can be categorized as "greater good".

    Nice troll, dude.

  13. Re:Define Troll on Web Trolls Winning As Incivility Increases · · Score: 1

    Redefining the word "troll" is, itself, a troll, and you bit. Hook, line and sinker.

    Of course, whining about people redefining the word "troll" is also a troll, and dude, the worm on your hook is tasty!

  14. You cannot win on Web Trolls Winning As Incivility Increases · · Score: 2

    The only way to not lose is to not play.

    And that's the mistake the people make: they think (and I use the term loosely - there's no actual thinking involved) the trolls matter. They think they can educate people who know full well what crap they'll shoveling. They think they can teach a lesson to someone who knows exactly how much the internet doesn't matter. They think they can somehow win.

    And other people try to make a living advising them on how to do it. This entire article is, itself, nothing more than a subtle troll, trying to get people worked up over something that somebody is selling a "solution" to.

    Eventually, the internet will teach people to stop being so overly sensitive about shit that doesn't matter. If nothing else, those who can't learn that lesson will all have strokes and die.

  15. Some questions are their own answers on Ask Slashdot: Should You Invest In Documentation, Or UX? · · Score: 1

    That you would even ask the question "do we really need documentation" demonstrates that you desperately need documentation. You have no idea how users interact with your software (and all software).

  16. Nothing new here on The Benefits of Inequality · · Score: 0

    Egalitarian is for people below average. Elitism is for people above average. Nearly everyone believes they're above average.

    This is also why conspiracy theories abound. If you are above average, but cannot excel, it must be the fault of some dark conspiracy that oppresses you.

  17. The only thing out of bounds on California May Waive Environmental Rules For Tesla · · Score: 3, Insightful

    is that they're talking about exceptions, and not simply getting rid of the massive regulations that have killed businesses for years.

    We now have state inspectors go through out trash cans looking for light bulbs. We will not, ever, be in a position to negotiate an exemption.

    It would be amusing to see someone file a lawsuit - at the federal level - for equal protection violations. A class action lawsuit, with the class being everyone who is not eligible for the exemption. Or maybe a RICO lawsuit, since this is certainly affecting interstate commerce.

    It wouldn't be the first time a government agency in California has been sued for RICO violations. And certainly won't be the last.

  18. Re:Must Google stick with US satellites ? on Google's Satellites Could Soon See Your Face From Space · · Score: 1

    I am not a

    Google, however, is.

  19. Re:Never let the truth on Is "Scorpion" Really a Genius? · · Score: 1

    IQ tests measure one's ability to take IQ tests. That is the only thing they measure.

  20. Re:What about Oregon and Washington? on Comcast Drops Spurious Fees When Customer Reveals Recording · · Score: 2

    It's all about expectations of privacy, and when they reserve the right to record, they have none.

  21. Re:Avoid the Asus RT-N66U .. overpriced on Ask Slashdot: Life Beyond the WRT54G Series? · · Score: 2

    The RT-N66U is the only one I'll use at work these days. Has about 1/3 more range than anything else I've tried, and it connects far, far better to some very old (802.11b) portable printers we use than anything else.. Factory firmware can be cranky, but there are other options, as you note.

    It is, however, rather more expensive.

  22. Another excuse to reduce care levels, and costs on The Doctor Will Skype You Now · · Score: 3, Insightful

    While continuing to raise premiums.

    I have never, ever, ever been to a doctor's appointment, and not had my blood pressure, pulse and temperature taken, even for the most routine visit. Nor should I, ever, in the future. Yes, I could, in theory, do those things myself and tell him, but none of the home kits can hold a candle to the gear they use, even if used correctly by the patient.

    If I go in for something specific, physical contact becomes more specific. How can a doctor palpitate my chest, or listen to my lungs, over Skype? Some doctors will favor this because it will let them spend even less time with each patient, and insurance companies will push it because it will cost them less, but I won't put up with it. And neither, I think, will my doctor, who is very good.

  23. Re:Considering my doctor... on The Doctor Will Skype You Now · · Score: 1

    Maybe he's only asking for/demanding prescriptions for narcotic painkillers. After all, people tend to see in others what they see in themselves, and what he sees in doctors is a desire to commit crimes for profit (though dead patients don't pay well, but hey, never expect logic from an addict).

  24. Re:Considering my doctor... on The Doctor Will Skype You Now · · Score: 1

    That's a requirement under either ACA or a previous law. Not all doctors are up to date on it, but they are supposed to be. Most insurance companies insist, too.

  25. Re:It's almost sane(really) on Judge: US Search Warrants Apply To Overseas Computers · · Score: 1

    If the accused is in Russia, and can access the data from there, then why would the US have a problem with it? The warrant applies to Microsoft, not the data.