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User: walterbyrd

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  1. Re:US workers have themselves to blame on IT Workers Training Their Foreign Replacements 'Troubling,' Says White House · · Score: 1

    Bend over and grease yourself up.

    Essentially money buys votes. The politico that can raise the most money wins, time after time.

    The politicos get their money from the big corporations, and foreign interests. Politicos essentially work for those corporations, and foreign interests.

    Repubs, or dems, do not represent you, or I. Most people do not understand this. Repubs and dems ineffectually shake their fists at one another, both thinking the other party is to blame; while corporations, foreign interests, and their lackey politicians do whatever they want.

    US workers could stop the abuse, but they won't. US workers could organize and bring about change, but they would rather shake their fists at the other party.

  2. US workers have themselves to blame on IT Workers Training Their Foreign Replacements 'Troubling,' Says White House · · Score: 1

    The Real Solution to the Visa Worker Scam
    http://www.techtoil.org/2015/07/what-stem-workers-need-to-do-but.html

    About 99% of US politicians want to increase the visa workers. You cannot vote the problem away, and you certainly cannot petition the problem away.

    There is only one solution, workers need to organize, raise money, and lobby congress. In DC, money talks and bullshit walks.

  3. I hope Neil Young will remember . . . on Neil Young Says His Music Is Too Good For Streaming Services · · Score: 1

    The streaming services don't need him around anyhow.

  4. Cost is not the issue with public transportation on Ask Slashdot: If Public Transport Was Free, Would You Leave Your Car At Home? · · Score: 1

    It's more about whether you want to sit next to somebody covered in his own puke, or maybe somebody who pisses himself and just sits in it. Or maybe you want to be crammed against Mr. Tuberculosis hacking his lungs out, right in your face.

    Always fun to stand out in the freezing rain while the bus is an hour late.

    And for women especially, there are issues of being physically attacked while waiting in the dark.

    I could go on.

  5. Re: It's pretty simple on What the GNOME Desktop Gets Right and KDE Gets Wrong · · Score: 1

    MATE is what I use. Does what I need, not hugely bloated.

    I was very happy with Ubuntu before Gnome 3.

    I stopped using Ubuntu when Gnome 3 came out. I could never understand why they insisted on a far less functional DE.

    I have hated Gnome 3 ever since, and refuse to use it.

  6. I don't think the masses "want" Windows on What the GNOME Desktop Gets Right and KDE Gets Wrong · · Score: 3, Informative

    It is just a matter of vendor lock-in, and network effect.

    Office desktops are like office copying machines. Nobody is really passionate about them.

    Windows is just a standard issue office tool. It would be more trouble than it's worth to try to move away from Windows, so we stay with it.

  7. Maybe Devuan? on Speed-Ups, Small Fixes Earn Good Marks From Ars For Mint 17.2 · · Score: 1

    If they ever get a completed distro.

    https://devuan.org/

  8. Systemd optional in 17.2 - will be required later on Speed-Ups, Small Fixes Earn Good Marks From Ars For Mint 17.2 · · Score: 1

    That is my understanding.

    You will be assimilated - just like with Microsoft.

  9. Re:Who gives a fuck on J.J. Abrams On "Star Wars" Cast's Racial and Sexual Diversity · · Score: 2, Insightful

    > Because being an anti-social prick is so very superior.

    No because enough already. PC mush heads are making BFDs out of nothing. They are straining as hard as they can to find something victimizing in every innocent thing people do. And it really is insanely annoying, and people get along less, not more.

  10. Re:It largely depends.... on Are Certifications Worth the Time and Money? · · Score: 1

    > The problem with certifications is that brain dumps are a big business.

    That was a real issue, about 15 years ago.

    There was a huge scandal, I think the company was Troy Tech. They had actual questions, and actual answers.

    The industry went ballistic. Law suits were filed. And steps were taken to prevent that happening again.

    Yes, there are companies out there that promise to sell you the real Q&A, but they don't. The are probably selling you the Q&A from 15 years ago.

  11. Re:Certifications are useless on Are Certifications Worth the Time and Money? · · Score: 1

    College doesn't prove you know shit. You can put almost anything on resume to "prove" you have experience.

    Interview tech questions are even worse than certifications.

  12. Re:Just like any other formal credential on Are Certifications Worth the Time and Money? · · Score: 1

    > A drivers license, or even the drivers test, doesn't prove that you are a good driver. But it does prove that you know the rules of the road, something that most wouldn't study unless they were forced to. I'd rather have people driving knowing the rules of the road even if they aren't the best of drivers.

    Exactly, it is a minimal amount of assurance that somebody has some idea of what they doing.

    Same is true of tech certifications, if you have a Network+, chances are you have some idea of what an IP address is.

    Same is true of every formal credential. They do not absolutely prove that you are an expert. They usually just provide some minimal evidence that you understand the terminology and so on.

  13. Just like any other formal credential on Are Certifications Worth the Time and Money? · · Score: 2

    Maybe we should get rid of *all* formal credentials? Get rid of all licenses, and degrees, along with certs.

    A drivers license does not prove you know how to drive. A teaching credential does not prove you are a competent teacher. Does a college degree prove you even know how to read?

    And so on, right down the line.

    Or, maybe a more intelligent way to look at is: a credential is what it is. It prove you know enough about something to pass the test. No test is ever perfect.

    Tech credentials leave a lot to be desired. But, from my experience they are far superior to interview test questions. I have had interview tests from interviewers who were dead wrong. I have had interviewers ask questions that were insane. Besides, what if the interviewing does not like you? Maybe the interviewer does not like your race, gender, nationality, or age - in that case you would be sure to fail. At least certs have a certain objectivity.

  14. Yet MS keeps on "shortage shouting" on Microsoft To Cut 7,800 More Jobs, Take $7.6 Billion Writedown On Nokia · · Score: 1

    The 7800 that MS is laying off now is in addition to the 18,000 MS decided to lay off last year.

    Yet MS continues to lobby congress for more visa worker because of desperate shortages of workers.

    Microsoft's hypocrisy could not be more brazen, but congress will look the other way.

  15. It's a trap! on Microsoft Brings Office To Android Smartphones For Free · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Microsoft is just trying to get everybody locked in to their proprietary format.

  16. Re:Thanks but no thanks on Microsoft Brings Office To Android Smartphones For Free · · Score: 1

    I'm not buying it.

    Our patent system is broken, and msft is exploiting it, simple as that.

    If somebody stole a real invention that would be one thing. But we both know that msft patents have almost nothing to do with real inventions.

    What did Microsoft really invent? What did Apple really invent? Yet they have patents by the thousands.

  17. Why do I need the vendor lock-in? on Microsoft Brings Office To Android Smartphones For Free · · Score: 2

    I do not develop big complicated documents on my phone.

    For my phone, a standard text editor is more than enough.

    If somebody emails a .docx file, I'll wait until I am on a computer with LibreOffice.

  18. Why the hate? on DOJ Vs. Google: How Google Fights On Behalf of Its Users · · Score: 2

    Seems that, for some people, Google cannot possibly do anything right.

    No matter matter Google does, or does not do, some people have to find some reason to hate Google anyway.

  19. What? Mono still exists? on Reasons To Use Mono For Linux Development · · Score: 1

    I thought that was gone five years ago.

  20. Why single out Disney? on After Uproar, Disney Cancels Tech Worker Layoffs · · Score: 1

    Don't get me wrong, I am happy to see Disney criticized.

    But tech companies like: IBM, Microsoft, and Facebook, are *far* worse H1B abusers than Disney.

    And Indian contracting firms are probably a bigger H1B scammer than the US companies combined.

    I guess everybody will figure that the problem has been solved now.

  21. Also water cannot be reclaimed from fracking fluid on As Drought Worsens, California Orders Record Water Cuts · · Score: 1

    That is what I understand. Water used for fracking cannot be recycled, you cannot get the fracking chemicals out.

    Trillions of gallons of fresh water are gone for good.

  22. Why just Google? Why not Bing or Yahoo? on France Claims Right To Censor Search Results Globally · · Score: 1

    Seems like they are singling out one search engine to be treated differently than others. Hard for me to see how that is fair. Just because Google has been successful, is no reason that the law should not be applied evenly. I guess that is how Europe "thinks."

  23. And people called GWB "the emperor" on Trade Bill Fails In the House · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I don't know if any US president has ever over-stepped his authority as constantly as Obama.

  24. Re:Not computer science, basic skills maybe? on San Francisco Public Schools To Require Computer Science For Preschoolers · · Score: 1

    > Millenials are often touted as "technology gurus" and "digital natives" because of the fact that they grew up from birth with modern computers

    IMO: knowing how to use Facebook, and how to take selfies, is not my idea of a technology guru.

  25. IMO: the term "computer science" is misused on San Francisco Public Schools To Require Computer Science For Preschoolers · · Score: 1

    Learning MS-Office is not learning "computer science" anymore than learning to use the copy machine is electrical engineering.

    Maybe we should "computer usage skills" or something?

    A course in algorithms is computer science, not learning to use MS-Windows.