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User: whizzard

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Comments · 60

  1. questionable logic on Why Airlines Make Flights Longer On Purpose (bbc.com) · · Score: 5, Insightful

    From the summary, at least, it sure doesn't seem like this guy knows what he's talking about:

    Padding drives higher costs in fuel burn, noise and CO2

    Padding the schedule, alone, clearly can't change the amount of fuel that is used to get from point A to point B.

  2. I don't think this is new... on Amazon Tests Two-Hour Booze Delivery In 12 US Cities (foodandwine.com) · · Score: 1

    I know the twin cities have had Prime Now alcohol delivery for over a year now. I wonder how many of the other markets are actually new?

  3. Recall he put in the names of friends with false details. Those are not FACTS, they are FICTION and therefore under copyright, which Google is now violating on a massive scale.

    Well, unfortunately this didn't work for Fred Worth with a fake trivia question/answer that was copied by Trivial Pursuit:

    One of the questions in Trivial Pursuit was "What was Columbo's first name?" with the answer "Philip". That information had been fabricated to catch anyone who might try to violate his copyright. The inventors of Trivial Pursuit acknowledged that Worth's books were among their sources, but argued that this was not improper and that facts are not protected by copyright. The district court judge agreed, ruling in favor of the Trivial Pursuit inventors.

  4. three weeks since no internet connectivity on Why Has Cameroon Blocked the Internet? (bbc.com) · · Score: 2

    It has been over three weeks since English-speaking parts of Cameroon [...] has had no internet connectivity.

    So it's working then?

  5. Re:bad driving on Tesla Owner In China Blames Autopilot For Crash (usatoday.com) · · Score: 1

    Something which controls heading and speed but which does not take complete responsibility for the vehicle. And do you know what we call a device like that? We call it an autopilot. [...] Buy a fucking dictionary, and spend some time with it.

    I will if you will. Let's try Merriam-Webster:

    a device that steers a ship, aircraft, or spacecraft in place of a person

    Or, we could look at Wiktionary:

    A mechanical, electrical, or hydraulic system used to guide a vehicle without assistance from a human being.

  6. It's Comcastic!

  7. Re:Law of large numbers on The Fastest-Growing Tech State Is... Minnesota · · Score: 1

    Obligatory xkcd.

  8. Re:Good luck with that. on Rite Aid and CVS Block Apple Pay and Google Wallet · · Score: 1
    Your post seemed pretty insightful until:

    It's why Apple Pay gets charged out at Card-Present rates, while Google Wallet only gets Card Not Present

    However, the information I can find online seems to contradict this statement. For example, this FAQ:

    Do merchants pay card-present or card-not-present rates for transactions made via Google Wallet?
    Merchants pay card-present rates.

  9. Re:It has been seen before on Google Pulls Plug On Programming For the Masses · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Whenever I see something submitted by theodp, I make a bet with myself about

    Do you usually win?

  10. Re:Nice to have them with 13.1 14-15 and 17" scree on Surveying the Challenges of Linux On Cortex A9-Based Laptops · · Score: 3, Informative

    Not in Economy on any of the international flights I've been on.

    A number of airlines actually do have limited in-flight power in economy these days, such as Delta and Continental. A good website for finding out which airlines have this feature on which equipment is SeatGuru.

  11. Re:currently in practice on Cutting Umbilical Cord Early Eliminates Stem Cells · · Score: 2, Informative

    United states has one of the highest infant mortality rate in the world

    You may want to check some actual facts. As of 2009, the US was 46th out of 224. This definitely isn't something to brag about, but it's nowhere near the "highest". It's not even 3x the lowest...

  12. Re:Forgot your meds, did you? on Slashdot Discussions Now Include Roulette Video Chat · · Score: 3, Informative

    AND I see no way to turn it off.

    If you have adblock plus installed (and you should, really), this filter will take care of the problem:

    slashdot.org##div.chatter

  13. Re:Deliberately bad? on Offset Bad Code, With Bad Code Offsets · · Score: 1

    Let me get this right-- you purchase this offset so that you can deliberately write bad code?

    This model has worked well for cheat offsets, too.

  14. video source? on Sony Prototype Sends Electricity Through the Air · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If you still need a cable to connect your video sources, what's the point?

  15. Re:Bad Math on Switching To Solar Power, One Year Later · · Score: 1

    Or he'll pump the surplus electricity into the grid, and get paid for it.

    False. According to his one-month update:

    In California, you cannot sell excess power to the local utility. In other words, you can't do better than a zero dollar bill--if you're a consumer. I can sell power to the utility, but only if the net result over a year is zero.

  16. Re:Errr on Work Progresses On 10,000 Year Clock · · Score: 4, Interesting

    As opposed to a non-binary computer?

    Also, yes.

  17. Re:Linux is great, but... on Linux On Brazilian Voting Machines, the Video · · Score: 1

    My main question is who can modify the source of the software they're using, and how are they verifying that the binaries are unmodified.

    I realize this is slashdot, so I shouldn't have read the article, but...

    All political parties have access to the source code, and digitally sign the executable code, and thus can confirm, at any individual machine, that the running software is the official one.

  18. note to Ford's lawyers... on Ford Claims Ownership Of Your Pictures · · Score: 1

    Here's a good list of people to start sending C&D's to. There's almost 150,000 images there, so that ought to keep you busy for a while.

  19. time only stops for California... on AT&T Stops 'Time', Ends An Era · · Score: 1
    Looks like only California is out of time, for now. From the article:

    Indeed, time already has stopped in 48 other states, he said. California and Nevada are the two remaining holdouts. [...]
    Time's up statewide Sept. 19. Britton said Nevada service would live on borrowed time for an unspecified period, until the equipment in that state similarly starts breaking down.
  20. Re:Data? on Zune Sales Continue to Weaken · · Score: 2, Funny
    after a period of say, six months to a fiscal year

    So, is a fiscal year a different period of time than a "regular" year?
  21. antivirus for food? on UK's Biggest Supermarket Challenges Microsoft · · Score: 2, Funny
    or Tesco Antivirus (£10), which is designed to keep your PC free of malware.


    Now they can get to work on an antivirus for the food they sell!
  22. Re:(registration or bugmenot required)? on ID Thieves Target Smaller Businesses · · Score: 1
    Well, any merchant knows that it is the merchant that pays for fraudulent and otherwise disputed charges.

    To lump all merchants together oversimplifies the situation. Retailers who wish to accept credit cards must open a merchant account with a bank, and it is the terms of that merchant account which dictate what happens in cases of fraud and chargebacks. These terms can and do vary from merchant to merchant, which is why some places (Starbucks, Chipotle, etc) can accept credit charges under a given value with no signature at all.
  23. Re:(registration or bugmenot required)? on ID Thieves Target Smaller Businesses · · Score: 1
    with a checking account that has a Visa/MC debit card linked to it

    My personal favorite is to use a virtual credit card number provided by my bank (but which still bills to my existing account). I can set a dollar and/or time limit on the validity of the number, and the number can only ever be used by a single merchant account. If the number is ever compromised, the thief could only ever use it at the same merchant, and only if I set the maximum value significantly higher than my purchase price.
  24. Re:Lack of integration with ebay will kill it on Another Google Tool To Take On PayPal? · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'd have to imagine the market for other person-to-person micropayments outside of online auctions isn't very large.

    And that's why Google will unveil gbay next!
  25. Re:Fishy on D-Link Firmware Abuses Open NTP Servers · · Score: 1


    Either this is a very weak attempt at a troll, or an incredible demonstration of ignorance.


    Here at slashdot, we just call this phenomenon a comment.