Slashdot Mirror


User: PraiseBob

PraiseBob's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
493
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 493

  1. Re: News for Nerds? on Engineers: Traffic Studies Use Simulation Software, Not Lane Closings · · Score: 1

    So a Democractic Governor reduced the size of government (which republicans are nominally for), but because it reduced the services the govt could provide... it's political sabotage?

    Virginia has 133 political districts of which it appears that about 20 of them tend to reliably vote democrat. So roughly 84% of districts lean republican.
    10 of the 12 offices closed were in republican districts. So roughly 83% of the offices were in republican districts.

    Those are some shocking statistics.

  2. Vaguely possible scientific explanation on Searching the Internet For Evidence of Time Travelers · · Score: 1

    While it doesn't directly correspond to your story, it seems that people near an earthquake have sometimes reported unusual lights: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=mysterious-light-associated-earthquakes

    I thought you might be interested in the article.

  3. Re:Time to sell List of CEOs home addresses on Data Broker Medbase200 Sold Lists of Rape & Domestic Violence Victims · · Score: 2, Funny

    Welcome to the global elite. Don't worry, thanks to geography and luck, you don't even have to be good at math.

  4. Re:The irony is that. . . on Getting Evolution In Science Textbooks For Texas Schools · · Score: 1

    Here is a link to a scientific debunking of the work you posted: http://www.skepticalscience.com/salby_correlation_conundrum.html

    The great thing about science is that neither you, nor I, have to believe it for it to be true. Results of actual science can simply be reproduced.

  5. Re:Daniel Tosh was right on Soylent: No Food For 30 Days · · Score: 1

    Ignorance plays a big role, but also the low-income job structure. Many, if not most, people on the low income scale don't work a fixed schedule. They may work a double-shift one day, or pick up a shift unexpectedly when they thought they would have the day off.

    This in turn means they have a higher than expected paycheck for the week, and less energy for the rest of their day. The easy option in that scenario is to purchase a pre-prepared meal rather than spending the time & energy to fix their own.

    Now throw in other options like working the late shift one day, the early shift another, and you run into scenarios where it is difficult to maintain a standard time of day to prepare food, since your day to day routine and schedule isn't consistent.

    Even when cooking, it is easier to find the pre-processed meals in a box, since they take less time to prepare than cutting vegetables up, and for a large percentage of people, taste better than what they can make on their own.

  6. Re:Time for a different business model on Amazon Gets Blow-Back Over Plan To Sell Kindles At Small Bookshops · · Score: 1

    I like how you conveniently ignore both the Nook, and the fact that they DO offer ebooks which kindles can purchase, download, and read easily. You could support them financially, you just choose to take advantage of their perks for free.

    I don't understand how your statement is different from this: "I really like the local coffeeshop, and love using their free wifi and sitting around there all day. But they don't sell coffee inside Starbucks cups, so I don't buy anything from them."

  7. Re:clemency? on Feinstein and Rogers: No Clemency For Snowden · · Score: 1

    Except he didn't give the info to Wikileaks ?

  8. Re:And no one at experian will ever be charged. on Experian Sold Social Security Numbers To ID Theft Service · · Score: 4, Insightful

    an argument exists that Experian would not have had any way of realizing the nature of who they were selling it to

    Excuse me? You are saying there is a valid argument that they have no way of knowing whom they are doing business with?

    They have permanently compromised a system that hundreds of millions of people use every single day. They have made every single citizen subject to fraud, and have no ability to fix it, except conveniently through their business model. This breach will STILL be an issue ruining people's lives 20 years from now, and we will have to beg Experian to correct the problems they caused, and even pay them for the privilege. The economic damage could reach well into the trillions of dollars, there is virtually no cap, since it undermines the entire credit system of every citizen currently alive, for their entire lifetime. Every executive at the company should be put to a firing squad.

  9. Re:What's the big deal on Are Cable Subscribers Subsidizing Internet-Only TV Viewers? · · Score: 4, Informative

    Even HBO GO requires a cable subscription ($80 + 15 for hbo), while you can buy episodes ala cart for $3, which is roughly an hours worth of entertainment. So if you watch more than 1 hour of it every single night then it could work out cheaper to subscribe.

  10. Re:Runnin' on Empty... on HP CEO Meg Whitman To Employees: No More Telecommuting For You · · Score: 1

    My objection to this technique has always been that by doing this, you essentially lose the people that have skills and can get jobs, and keep the people who don't have skills and can't get jobs, weakening your company.

    I'm not sure on that point. It is the logical assumption, but the real world is more complicated. You are simply assuming that HR depts can universally identify & hire talent. There are many examples where highly qualified intelligent people can't find jobs, and underqualified people pick up jobs easily. Interviewing is a skill, resume-building is a skill, networking is a skill, even finding where to apply for a job is a skill. Being good at your job doesn't automatically mean you are good at any of those job-finding skills. It skews towards talented people having an easier time locating a job, but it is by no means a foregone conclusion. I'd wager that just about every interviewer here has found and hired "the perfect candidate" for a job, who was not, in fact, the best choice.

    As another response indicated, companies have trouble evaluating their own employees, much less people that walk in off the street based on a few hours of conversations, and words written on a sheet of paper.

  11. Re:Credible, unfortunately. on Maryland Indictment Says Silk Road Founder Tried To Arrange Murder of Employee · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So somebody takes a loaded gun, points it at your head, and pulls the trigger trying to kill you. But it turns out the gun was loaded with blanks, so you survive. Was that attempted murder? It wasn't a "real" bullet, so there must not be a crime by your logic. I can assure you that the legal system considers trying to hire a hitman who is secretly an undercover agent, a crime. I know a person who is still alive because the "hitman" hired to kill him was a cop. The person who was trying to kill him was convicted and is currently in prison for attempted murder.

  12. Re:Credible, unfortunately. on Maryland Indictment Says Silk Road Founder Tried To Arrange Murder of Employee · · Score: 1

    Execpt the only crime that appearently has actually taken place(1st "murder" was a scam against DPR? 2nd "murder" was the FBI?) is providing a service for consenting adults that enables them to relatively safely exchange goods for payment.

    Hiring a hitman is illegal, it falls into the same category as attempted murder.

  13. Re:Just in case you think of using Tor. on John McAfee's Latest Project: Shielding Against Surveillance · · Score: 2

    So if I'm concerned about security, I should switch over to an OS that I know even less about, and will probably blindly follow guides on the internet about how to configure it and get it working for what I want.

    That's a good way to start. Obviously when learning a new OS, you won't be an expert right away.
    I'm not convinced that a lack of complete mastery in a subject is a good reason to avoid gaining any experience whatsoever.

    Telling people to not use Windows.... ever, doesn't really tell us the reasons why we should never use windows,

    Well, here are two reasons-
    Proven: The NSA operates a botnet called Genie that runs on Windows, mostly on machines overseas. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-spy-agencies-mounted-231-offensive-cyber-operations-in-2011-documents-show/2013/08/30/d090a6ae-119e-11e3-b4cb-fd7ce041d814_story.html

    Somewhat more speculative: The German govt believes the NSA has backdoors in the trusted computing modules in Windows 8. http://techrights.org/2013/08/22/nsa-back-doors-blowback/

  14. Re:bootloader still locked? on Amazon Launches Kindle Fire HDX Tablets · · Score: 1

    Just for the record, there is a checkbox in the settings for "Allow 3rd party software", and you can download and install any reasonably compatible android program you want. I've done it many times, there is no need to root the device, etc.

    You can also play almost all types of media with the free players available on the amazon marketplace. It is trivial to download/copy whatever media files you want onto the device, and watch or play it. I really don't understand where this perception of it being "locked down" comes from.

  15. Re:When you pay over $900 for a smartphone on Apple Sells Nine Million iPhones Over Weekend · · Score: 1

    who pays $900 for a smartphone?

    The majority of people using smartphones in the USA...
    $199 iPhone 5S
    Contract Subsidy of ~$30/month, for 24 months = $720
    $919 total

    Of course if you sign up for Edge or Next with AT&T or Verizon you can pay slightly less:
    $30 contract subsidy + $27/mo for Next = 57 * 12 months, 684+199 = $883

    And as you point out, the standalone price of the smartphone is less, so buying the phone seperately and getting a no contract service is usually the best financial option.

  16. Re:Can You Blame Them? on Secret Court Upholds Phone Data Collection · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Yes, and that is exactly the problem. The government has so many laws on the books that they can choose one to punish a CEO with one of those laws arbitrarily. Do you think he is the only telecom CEO who has broken laws? Why do they enforce laws against him, and not others?

    In addition, knowing that standing up to the government will leads to cancellation of govt contracts means those other companies have a fiduciary responsbility to their shareholders to keep those contracts in place. They have no such responsibilty to protect their customers privacy.

  17. Re:Why are they using LED lights? on Space Food From Space Farms · · Score: 1

    As AC says, ISS rotates around the earth every 90 minutes. However, the orbit it maintains in relation to the sun is variable: "For the next few days, the International Space Station (ISS) will be orbiting Earth in constant sunlight, as its orbit lines up with Earth’s day-night terminator." Taken from: http://www.universetoday.com/67280/iss-will-be-in-constant-sunlight-the-next-few-days/

    Sometimes it has 24/7 sunlight, but it normally does not. Plants like conditions to simulate day and night from their region. In a sense, they have sleep cycles, similar to animals. When they have 16 hours of sunlight a day, they believe it is summer, and grow. When they have 14 hours they think it is autumn and produce veggies. During some orbits you could use window shades, and timing everything perfectly to open and shut them. If you are in an orbit that switches between sunlight and darkness for 45 minutes at a time, then your plants can probably survive. But, if you expect to feed people, then you need optimal growth conditions.

  18. Re:Free Market? LoL on How Car Dealership Lobbyists Successfully Banned Tesla Motors From Texas · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Neither party wants a free market. The difference is one of those parties makes a lot of speeches about wanting a free market.

  19. Re:The deeper motive on Man Killed By His Own Radio-Controlled Helicopter In Brooklyn · · Score: 1

    They do have a motive, web traffic & ad sales. Accidents do happen every day, but grandma falling down the stairs doesn't draw traffic. Guy accidentally cuts off half of his own head, im sorry to say, but it draws attention. Its the old adage, if it bleeds it leads. Look at the number of slashdot posts on it, where this article will be one of the most commented articles of the day, and most hits, but essentially has the very least amount of comments needed.

  20. Assumptions on NSA Foils Much Internet Encryption · · Score: 1

    Using that number 22,000 assumes two things:

    A) The NSA reports ALL privacy breeches using their internal procedures.

    B) The NSA is aware of all privacy breeches using their systems.

    We know for a fact the NSA hasn't been reporting information properly to the oversight committees in congress or the court system. Indeed they have gone to some lengths to avoid oversight and intentionally lie under oath. This misinformation has been carried out at the very highest leadership levels for years, which nearly always breeds a pervasive culture of the same across the organization. This certainly calls into question point A.

    Apparantly Snowden got around their internal security to the point that they don't even know what files he took. Out of tens of thousands of employees that specialize in computer security, is he the only one who knows how to skirt their security systems? That throws B into question.

  21. Somebody sure has amnesia on US and Israel Test Missile As Syria War Tensions Rise · · Score: 1

    Maybe it is you who are forgetting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protests_against_the_Iraq_War

    Feb 15th specifically is regarded by record books as the largest protest ever, in the entire history of the human race. I'm not sure how you can classify the largest protest in the history of the world as "barely anyone".

  22. Re:What are we paying them for? on Prankster Calls NSA To Restore Deleted E-mail · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Is every phone number you call stored in a big database, to be used against you later?
    Is every word you type into the internet carefully saved, to be used against you later?
    Is your participation at a religious worship service documented, to be used agaisnt you later?
    Do citizens get a free dronestrike for talking to the wrong people, saying the wrong thing, and going to the wrong church?

    Thank you tax dollars!

  23. Re:Yes, but what about banking? on Obama Admin Says It Won't Fight Looser Marijuana Laws, With Conditions · · Score: 5, Informative

    Also relevant: DEA bans Armored car services from picking up Pot Shop cash

    Step 1) Prevent credit cards from being used
    Step 2) Prevent armored car services from being used
    Step 3) Complain about the high number of robberies and crime that type of business "attracts" and use that as justification for more regulation / bans

  24. Re:Out of jobs? on Technologies Like Google's Self-Driving Car: Destroying Jobs? · · Score: 4, Interesting

    How is that different than standing in front of a cab with a human driver?

    The difference is that currently, most people avoid running into the streets, because there is considerable danger even if the closest car is far enough away to stop. When a large percentage of the cars on the road can auto-detect humans in the road and stop themselves, a pedestrian jaywalking problem seems inevitable. Rude people in large cities are already willing to just walk into traffic if it is slow enough. Another 20 years and there might not be much deterrent to taking a leisurely stroll across a highway as well.

    In theory, a couple dozen people spread out along a highway could cause large slowdowns with little risk to themselves or the passengers, but I'm betting those artificial traffic jams will still be quicker to resolve than current ones since you can just send in the hoverdrones to stun & arrest the roadblockers.

  25. Re:Here's what holds ME back. on How Human Psychology Holds Back Climate Change Action · · Score: 1

    What's holding you back is laziness, not cost.

    That's only partially true. There is a lot of laziness involved, but it takes roughly 3 hours to cycle that far for a well conditioned rider, and perhaps much longer since in most cities you'll have to skip the highways and take a less direct route, and encounter many more red lights. Now factor in the opportunity costs involved with spending more time commuting, such as seeing less of your family, and you lose the ability to pick up groceries on the way home, etc etc. My office doesn't have a shower, and I wouldn't keep my job if I'm covered in stink and sweat every day. I applaud & respect your efforts, but there is a cost involved.