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User: mikein08

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  1. You don't get what you deserve in life, you get what you settle for. Ipso facto, the women are settling for lower rates of pay. The women need to learn to negotiate more effectively.

  2. My goto method back in the day on Ask Slashdot: Are Accurate Software Development Time Predictions a Myth? (medium.com) · · Score: 1

    Make you best estimate of the time required, say 1 week. Raise to the next higher unit of time, in this case a month. Double that. Thus, 1 week becomes 2 months. Do not tell this to management, of course. When management says you can do it in 1 month, then you don't have to whine and bitch too much.

  3. The NYT is not a reliable source of news on How is The New York Times Really Doing? (om.co) · · Score: 1

    Neither is the WaPo. The sooner they both fail, the better.

  4. Re:like what? on Ask Slashdot: Why Aren't Techies Improving The World? · · Score: 0

    Wiping out smallpox serves to increase the world's population, which imho is definitely not desirable. The root cause of virtually all the world's major problems is increasing population.

  5. I keep saying this over and over and over on Homeland Security Border Agents Can Seize Your Phone (cnn.com) · · Score: 1

    When you leave the country and intend to return, do NOT take with you any computerized device which has on it any confidential or irreplaceable information. This includes phones, tablets, laptops. If you just cannot live without these devices while out of the country, buy and take with you ones which you do not care about losing. I know, I know, how are you going to amuse yourself without your phone. You could try reading a printed book.

  6. Kids don't need to start coding in 4th grade. It would be far better to start teaching them how to think logically and stepwise; then start teaching them algorithm construction, then data structures, then some of the classic programming problems, like youngest uncle, shortest route, recursion, and suchlike. Once the sticky little darlings have been thru this regimen satisfactorily, then maybe you can teach them to code. Of course, there is the problem of which language do you teach them to code in, and how long will that language be au courant before the next-big-thing language comes along.

  7. I don't read much sci fi on Ask Slashdot: How Could You Statistically Identify The Best Sci-Fi Books? · · Score: 1

    When I do I try to read the supposed good stuff - The Forever War, Canticle for Leibowitz, and suchlike. Somehow I became convinced that Stranger in a Strange Land was good sci fi. It wasn't. Not even close. It's simply a vehicle for Heinlein to preach.

  8. Here's a newsflash, people on Female Computer Programmers Make $0.72 For Every Dollar Made By Male: Study (siliconbeat.com) · · Score: 1

    You get what you settle for. Not what you're worth, not what someone else thinks you're worth. What you settle for. In my day - I'm retired - the women in IT made at least as much as the men, if not more. Why? They demanded it - and were worth it.

  9. An academic is pessimistic about public education? on Personalized Learning: the Best Education Or the Worst? · · Score: 1

    Maybe this gentleman should look at the current state of public education in this country today. It's broken. It's unfixable. The parents don't care if their children get a decent education; the school boards and districts do not care about educating the kids - they care about preserving their jobs; the teachers unions do not care about educating the children - they care only about making life easier for their membership. And the federal and state level bureaucracies don't care either - for the usual and obvious reasons. As for the Gates's and the Zuckerbergs, let them put their charity dollars where they want, but try real hard not to believe that they are experts about anything and don't give any heed to their pontificating. If you want your child to have a good education, send him or her to a quality PRIVATE school. Sending your child to public school qualifies as serious child abuse IMNSHO. As Robert Heinlein wrote decades ago, "Do not handicap your children by making their lives easy".

  10. If a truly competent singer, on David Bowie Dies At Age 69 (bbc.co.uk) · · Score: -1, Troll

    such as Cassandra Wilson, were to die, would Slashdot have a feature article about it?

  11. What he should have done ... on DHS Detains Mayor of Stockton, CA, Forces Him To Hand Over His Passwords · · Score: 5, Interesting

    was politely decline to give passwords without a warrant. Then, if he was not released in a timely manner, make life as difficult as possible for the bureaucrats in question. And if his devices are not returned in a timely manner, make life even more difficult for them. There are devious and not so devious ways to do this, and mostly it isn't difficult. Bureaucrats rely on cooperation from the sheep, and the sheep need to stop being cooperative.

  12. Ever heard of, or read ... on Why Do So Many Tech Workers Dislike Their Jobs? · · Score: 1

    The Tao of Programming?

  13. I don't understand on Wired: IBM's School Could Fix Education and Tech's Diversity Gap · · Score: 1

    all this constant hand wringing about diversity and lack of minorities, etc., etc., ad nauseam, in IT. We should be concerned about (1) getting the brightest AMERICAN CITIZENS (regardless of sex, age, ethnicity, etc., into IT jobs, and (2) keeping the H1B visa quota as low as possible (India et. al. need skilled people working in their home countries not over here). Further, in my day (I'm 68 years of age) the women in IT where I worked outnumbered the men. And most of them were brighter and better than the men. And as I was usually on the interview committees for hiring, the female candidates were usually better qualified and motivated than the males, as so got hired. What happened???

  14. The secret service is a government bureaucracy on Secret Service Agents Stake Out the Ugliest Corners of the Internet · · Score: 1

    As such it will not be all that effective at its assigned task. Just as no other government bureaucracy is effective at ITS assigned task. And just because there's been no attempts on POTUS' life does not mean no one has been trying ... Secondly, a truly serious individual or group attempting to kill the president will NOT be using the internet for communications in connection therewith. Amateur individuals and groups will, of course, use whatever means is convenient, including the internet.

  15. Why is this even of any interest? on J.J. Abrams On "Star Wars" Cast's Racial and Sexual Diversity · · Score: 1

    Slashdot - stop publishing nonsense like this. It's irrelevant to anything.

  16. Let us consider for a moment on Report: Russia and China Crack Encrypted Snowden Files · · Score: 1

    If Russia and China had actually cracked the encryption around Snowden's files, would the Brits be publicising it to the world? I don't think so. The Brits would not want to let the Russians/Chinese to know they (the Brits) know. And once Snowden's exploits were known to the Brits (several years ago), why would the Brits not have taken precautionary measures to prevent problems like this from occuring, unless the Brits are just exceedingly stupid (which I doubt). How can we verify the truth, or lack thereof, of this report? I doubt we can, short of having our own agents inside MI6. Why would the Russians/Chinese give the first hint of a sniff of a clue that they have decrypted these files? I don't think they would, as it would be beyond stupid to do so. Let the Brits keep their agents in place and feed them bad info. This whole thing smells quite fishy to me.

  17. Has anyone ever heard of a one-time pad? on NSA Director Wants Legal Right To Snoop On Encrypted Data · · Score: 1

    If not, you can google it. Suffice to say, a message thus encrypted cannot be deciphered. Not even by NSA.

  18. Are women being excluded from CS courses? on WA Pushes Back On Microsoft and Code.org's Call For Girls-First CS Education · · Score: 1

    So far as I know, women can take CS courses if they so desire. They are not restrained or prevented from so doing. Similarly, men can enroll in nursing courses/degree programs, but not many do. So, perhaps we need an equal amount of money to be spent to convince men to become nurses?

  19. The sky is falling!! on Twitter Bug Locks Out Many Users · · Score: 1

    OMG!! The sky is falling! (" 'Tis better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt" - A. Lincoln)

  20. What rubbish! on Hackers' Shutdown of 'The Interview' Confirms Coding Is a Superpower · · Score: 0

    Coding is not a superpower, as simple coding can be taught to any moron who can think semi-logically. Ask the average teenage coder to write a program to run a bank of elevators efficiently, or solve the youngest uncle problem, or solve the shortest distance problem. Or ask the average teenage coder to explain how i/o systems work. I'm betting the average "coder" has no clue about any of these things.

  21. What could possibly go wrong??? on In Iowa, a Phone App Could Serve As Driver's License · · Score: 1

    Other than everything ...

  22. Yet another reason never to marry on Technology Heats Up the Adultery Arms Race · · Score: 1

    As if you needed one ...

  23. What could possibly go wrong? on Department of Defense May Give Private Cloud Vendors Access To Top Secret Data · · Score: 1

    Surely no one would try to hack, much less succeed at hacking, this data. Would they?

  24. The NSA guy should have known better on Where Whistleblowers End Up Working · · Score: 1

    If you're going to be a whistleblower, do it anonymously. Very anonymously. And be sure you have your facts straight and that they cannot be disputed or disproved. And be very sure that you have a nice cache of damning documents very securely stashed that can be released to the press should your employer attempt retaliation.

  25. Well, isn't this wonderful on Hundreds of Thousands Turn Out For People's Climate March In New York City · · Score: 1

    400,000 people oppose climate change. Well, what changes is anyone willing to make to prevent climate change? Stop using electricity (coal and natural gas are bad, hydroelectric harms fish/streams/etc, wind power kills birds)? Stop using petroleum products (imagine the economic effects of that)? Live in much smaller houses? Stop having children? Stop all medical treatment designed to prolong or save lives? The primary problem is overpopulation. Reduce the world's population by about 95% and our climate change problem will go away.