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User: CanadianMacFan

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  1. Re:Good god. on Missing Files Blamed For Deadly A400M Crash · · Score: 1

    I'm thinking that if they build these decisions into the software then they should also build a couple of test scenarios into the flight simulator and have a pilot fly them a bunch of times to see what happens. Especially the ones where you decide to have them kick in at 120m.

  2. Re:A Similar Question on How Much Python Do You Need To Know To Be Useful? · · Score: 1

    Or: How much of the title do you need to read in order to guess it's an article from dice?

  3. Re:Actually the key issue is China couldn't do it on Microsoft Manufacturing Surface Hub In the US · · Score: 1

    The components are coming from Asia and it's just being assembled in the US.

    As for shipping it really isn't that expensive when you fill a shipping container. If you were to ship everything one part at a time via a courier then it would be expensive but they aren't going to do that. Basically there isn't much difference in cost if they are going to fill a container of parts and ship it over or ship over a container of finished products. There's an excellent book called The Box by Marc Levinson that outlines the history of the shipping container.

  4. Re:Right arm on Man With the "Golden Arm" Has Saved Lives of 2 Million Babies · · Score: 1

    Geez, I was just joking. I just thought it was weird for them to emphasize what arm they used in the summary. Why would they recommend taking it from your non-primary arm? I haven't donated blood but have had blood tests and have had IV fluids given to me and it didn't matter what arm was used.

  5. Right arm on Man With the "Golden Arm" Has Saved Lives of 2 Million Babies · · Score: 0

    It says he's donated from his right arm for the past 60 years. Does it only work from his right arm? Do the antibodies stay in if they take blood from his left?

  6. Re:You mean those millions of iPads didn't work? on San Francisco Public Schools To Require Computer Science For Preschoolers · · Score: 1

    The problem a few years ago with giving every child an iPad, and now teaching everyone computer science, is that people are thinking it's a silver bullet and that it's going to solve the problem. The issue is that they are going to throw a bunch of money at this (and the next silver bullet idea, and the next) and it won't solve the problem.

    Children, and adults too, are all unique and require different ways to motivate them. So if you give everyone an iPad there will be a certain percentage that will thrive but they will probably be the ones that will have thrived if you gave them a bunch of books and let them learn on their own. No matter what silver bullet you implement you are most likely going to catch some people and help them out (unless it's really bad).

    What's really needed is more of those special individuals who seem to be able to motivate their students and engage them. We need to find out what style of learning best suits each student and provide that environment for them. Students need to learn at their own pace so that they aren't bored or struggling to keep up. Technology can be used to implement this but it's a huge change in how we view education so it probably won't get done. Silver bullets are easy to implement and look like you are doing something even if they don't address the core problem.

  7. Re: intuitively I would think steam would be bette on Watch the US Navy Test Its Electromagnetic Jet Fighter Catapult · · Score: 1

    The UK carriers don't have a catapult. They were designed for jump jets like the Harrier (which they used to have) and a variant of the F-35 which they are getting.

    Of course while the UK is building two carriers only the first one is being put into service. The second one is being built and basically mothballed right away because the contract was set up so that it was cheaper to do this than to cancel building it. And to make matters even worse while they have the first carrier now (it could be undergoing sea trials and may not be in service but it is built) they won't have the F-35s for it until around 2020. Plus they've already sold their Harriers so they're going to have an aircraft carrier for about five years without any aircraft.

  8. Are they taking their customer service lessons from Uber?

  9. Re:Cops.... on Why Is It a Crime For Dennis Hastert To Evade Government Scrutiny? · · Score: 1

    No, always talk to the cops or FBI. Just say, "I want my/a lawyer." And then don't say a word.

  10. While I was still with my ex-wife her father was building a small observatory in his back yard. Just big enough for him, a desk for a computer, and his 8" or 10" telescope. He lived in the suburbs so he had to get a filter for the type of street lighting the city used. Too bad I never got to see it because I broke up with my ex before it was done but it was fun planning how to build it with him.

  11. Re:Web developers know they'll be attacked on Typing 'http://:' Into a Skype Message Trashes the Installation Beyond Repair · · Score: 1

    That's funny because the vast majority of web developers that I've come across have thought that they just needed to validate the input using JavaScript in the browser and leave it at that.

  12. Re:Pain during the winter on China Unveils World's First Facial Recognition ATM · · Score: 1

    This may be a difficult concept for you to grasp but you go outside to travel to your bank, walk inside and use the ATM in there. It's not actually worth taking everything off for the minute or two that you are in there before having to go outside again. We're getting indoor plumbing in a few years too!

  13. Pain during the winter on China Unveils World's First Facial Recognition ATM · · Score: 2

    When it's especially cold it would be a pain to undo the bundling just so the ATM can see your face. There's a fine art in layering your clothes (balaclava tucks inside the coat collar, scarf on the outside, etc) to keep the wind out on those -30C days.

  14. No different on How Elon Musk's Growing Empire is Fueled By Government Subsidies · · Score: 1

    It's no different than what the other car companies are doing. They get tax breaks and investments from various levels of governments to build factories, retool a line, or even just keep a shift. I think that the money would be better invested in giving the employees training and loans for starting their own companies instead of giving the money to the Big 3 auto makers.

    But I think the biggest offenders are the sports teams that threaten to leave to another city unless they get a new stadium or arena built for them. I say let them leave. Spend the money on programs that will help people that are starving instead of a game.

  15. Performance Art on Uber Revises Privacy Policy, Wants More Data From Users · · Score: 1

    I'm beginning to think that Uber is just a performance art project to see just how big of arseholes a company can become before people leave it.

  16. The problem on Russian Space Agency Misused $1.8 Billion, May Be Replaced · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Was probably that they were bribing the wrong people, not the corruption itself.

  17. Re:Karma is a bitch on D.C. Police Detonate Man's 'Suspicious' Pressure Cooker · · Score: 1

    The owner has no license... could have had a friend drive him to do some shopping. Or the owner lent the car to a friend since he couldn't drive it. More likely than a stolen car.

    As for the smell of gasoline well one thing that pressure cookers are really good at are keeping a seal. So even if it was an improvised bomb and there was gasoline in it chances are that you wouldn't smell it. Pressure cookers and chilli go together like ham and cheese. The most obvious thing was that the driver was taking something cooked to a gathering.

    For some reason the police like to blow up anything out of the ordinary. Vary rarely is it anything harmful.

  18. Re:You don't say! on D.C. Police Detonate Man's 'Suspicious' Pressure Cooker · · Score: 1

    Yes, it would get my attention since it's an electric stove.

  19. Re:Amazons profits trivial compared to their reven on Amazon Decides To Start Paying Tax In the UK · · Score: 1

    Actually aren't they paying Luxemburg or Ireland the money and leaving it outside of the US hoping for a tax holiday in order to bring it back to the States much like Apple? The problem right now is that it is hard to put a value on what the license fees should be. What should the price put on the value of the Amazon (or Apple or Starbucks) name be? With my proposal you could show the exact expenses (buildings, HR, etc). Mind you they have way smarter accountants than me and it's got to be a lot more complicated than this.

  20. Especially with the referendum coming up. It's their job to try and be prepared for events. You don't want them to be making up policies on the fly the day after the vote. I'm sure that the Bank of Canada has a plan that they dust off every so often in case Quebec leaves Canada (which I hope they never do).

  21. Re:Amazons profits trivial compared to their reven on Amazon Decides To Start Paying Tax In the UK · · Score: 1

    Amazon in the US tends to do the investment in R&D. How much does it do in the UK? From the sounds of it not much. It doesn't matter how much R&D it does in the US Amazon UK can't write it off. Maybe there's some way they could "offshore" those expenses and send the money to the US. So if Amazon wants to do project X then they would get Amazon UK to fund it and they could expense it even though the work could be done in the US.

  22. Tiles? on Ads Based On Browsing History Are Coming To All Firefox Users · · Score: 1

    Never really found a use for them. I have every new tab and window show up as a blank page so this won't bother me at all though I'm sad to see them take this approach. It appears that they are trying to do everything in their power to alienate what users they have remaining. Might have to start looking into a good alternative browser for the Mac.

  23. Miles? on The Brainteaser Elon Musk Asks New SpaceX Engineers · · Score: 2

    I'd thank him for his time and take my leave telling him that metric was the way to Mars, not that imperial crap.

  24. The real reason for the drop on Canadian Piracy Rates Plummet As Industry Points To New Copyright Notice System · · Score: 1

    Sorry folks but the hockey playoffs are on and we are busy watching that. Once they are over we'll be busy with the short summer and be outdoors. Once the fall rolls around then the torrent rate will spike back up as we catch up on the TV shows and movies we've missed.

  25. Re:The basics on Ask Slashdot: What Tech Skills Do HS Students Need To Know Now? · · Score: 1

    To be fair I hated working with Microsoft Word when the formatting got screwed up. I lost so much time trying to figure out where it went wrong. I loved WordPerfect because whenever the formatting got messed up you just revealed the codes and you could see where the problem was.