Slashdot Mirror


User: derfla8

derfla8's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
82
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 82

  1. Re:"Safety Requirements"? on California Regulators Tell Ride-Shares No Airport Runs · · Score: 2

    How is this any less safe than my mom or dad giving me a ride to the airport?

  2. Sounds like Nazi Germany on Yahoo CEO Says It Would Be Treason To Decline To Cooperate With the NSA · · Score: 1

    I'm sure that's what German soldiers thought as they marched people into concentration camps. It would be treason to go against Hitler's instructions.

  3. Working effectively together trumps a "rock star" on Ask Slashdot: Are 'Rock Star' Developers a Necessity? · · Score: 1
  4. Re:As usual. on Measles Outbreak Tied To Texas Megachurch · · Score: 1

    Great point, on top of this the traveller I will assume is a US citizen, meaning you wouldn't send them back. You'd quarantine them.

    The whole point here is that if they just listened to their doctors and got vaccinated for measles in the first place this entire conversation would be irrelevant.

  5. Redundant middlemen in the age of information on Death of the Car Salesman? BMW Makes AI App To Sell Electric Cars · · Score: 2

    The majority of "sales people" these days are redundant middlemen who provide negative value to the customer. Anyone who wants to, can be armed with way more information than a salesperson these days and would make a much more informed decision on their own, versus the bias from sales people towards whatever incentives and inventory they are keeping in mind.

    Tesla is an example that breaks the mold, their sales people are very informed and are not there to push you into a particular model/options/upsells. In my interactions with Tesla salespeople, they are there to help you determine whether the vehicle is the right fit for your needs. If only all salesperson experiences were like this (including Realtors who are more interested in self-promotion than actually selling your home) then these middlemen would be less redundant.

  6. Another attack vector on Students, Start-Up Team To Create Android 'Master Key' Patch App · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Looks like a great way for someone to create a fake update and publicize it as a third-party patch. Google needs to make good on do no evil by proactively doing good.

  7. Worklife balance restorer on Most Companies Will Require You To Bring Your Own Mobile Device By 2017 · · Score: 1

    This is also a fantastic opportunity for people to restore their worklife balance. Why should you connect your personal device for corporate benefit of permanently tethering you to work? This whole BYOD thing was made up by and industry trying to sell their solutions to an imaginary problem. CxOs have been suckered into thinking this is a huge money saver. It is not. When you consider the total sum of the risks or losses in productivity it does not make sense as a holistic consideration. For industries like professional services organizations, the cost of the device is negligible compared with the risk you're signing up for. And if your concern is what happens when you buy an employee a phone and they leave a month later...this is a pretty expensive solution. In all circumstances I have been in, when an employer purchases a device that is the property of the company. What's Gartner smoking?

    Does anyone call Gartner on their predictions and whether they are wrong? Revisit their VDI prediction: http://blog.simonbramfitt.com/2009/04/gartner-predicts-657-billion-in-vdi-revenue-and-49-million-users-in-2013/ Does anyone see 40% running off VDI in 2013? Nope.

  8. Build your own OS on Microsoft Blocks 3d-Party Browsers In Windows RT, Says Mozilla Counsel · · Score: 1

    You don't like it, build your own OS.

  9. Re:Autism on Lack of Vaccination Sends Babies In Oregon To the Hospital · · Score: 1

    I am a parent, and you know what? Parents should stick to parenting. Doctors are trained professionals. Would you argue with your doctor about the course of treatment as you're in cardiac arrest? No? That's right, they are the ones who went through years of medical schooling not you, so stop pretending that Google and Wikipedia makes you qualified to make these judgements. Sure question and be informed, but don't think that you know better.

  10. Time Machine - it just works on Ask Slashdot: It's World Backup Day; How Do You Back Up? · · Score: 1

    Time Machine to a 4 TB drive on my main computer. For my wife's machine and my laptops, Time Machine to a 2TB Time Capsule. Haters can hate, it just works.

  11. Minimum wage in North America on Ask Slashdot: Any Smart Phones Made Under Worker-Friendly Conditions? · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I find it a crazy FWP that people are so fixated on workers rights in countries where the work they are getting in factories are much better than the alternative. Yet we ignore the plight of minimum wage workers in North America. In major metropolitan areas where housing is unaffordable and public transit is sadly there, why don't we fix things for our own before aiding those who haven't really ask you for your opinion?

  12. IT professional starts with Sunday Classifieds? on Ask Slashdot: Where Are the Open Source Jobs? · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I have some serious reservations about responding to this, but so many red lights go off:
    -What employer would hire someone who makes rash decisions based on emotion? You're not Steve Jobs.
    -Considering the number of Fortune 500 companies that use Microsoft technology, I can tell you the decision upper management has taken is not just on FUD. Just as a way to put a check on your assumptions, revisit the company you have left in five years. Are they still in business? Did they grow? My guess is that moving to Microsoft was a business decision as much as a technology decision. There are pros and cons to all these vendors and ideologies. You want to stake your paycheque on it, don't blame the industry or others.
    -The biggest error I see here is, regardless of why you wanted to leave...you were getting a paycheque. Storming off without securing your next employment hurts nobody but yourself. Unless you are in a position where you are being abused, taken advantage of, subjected to unsafe working conditions...why would you leave first? Being unemployed makes you that much more undesirable to any potential employer.
    -Sunday classifieds? What are you, some sort of dinosaur? Even my non-technology friends do not "start" with the classifieds.

    I'll just end with my personal feeling that perhaps you are the one who is under the influence of FUD. I've worked in Linux shops, shops with various Unix flavours HPUX/AIX/Solaris (even SCO back in the day when they weren't just patent trolls,) Apple and Microsoft shops. As technologists, we're pretty adaptable. I'd never take my personal preferences on vendors as the limiting factor on choice of employment.

    Best of luck to you.

  13. Nice troll: Read the actual study? on iPhone 4S's Siri Is a Bandwidth Guzzler · · Score: 2

    Did anyone even bother reading the study before responding to this obvious troll? All the study does is correlate or trend higher data consumption to iPhone 4S devices. Any guesses as to the reason why, are just speculation and are unrelated to the actual study. There is nothing in this study related to Siri. The Washington Post piece is just really really bad reporting. Paul Farhi should go take some classes in journalism and learn to cite sources that actually support his wild accusations.

  14. But isn't this true for everything politics? on Why Politicians Should Never Make Laws About Technology · · Score: 1

    Isn't this true for most decisions and legislations passed by politicians nowadays? What do politicians know about the environment? Did they study environmental science? What do they know about health? Were they trained in health care? What do they know about education? Were they study and practice as educators? I think you get the hint. Sure they could employ and rely upon experts in the field, but in reality what do they do? Sell their votes to the highest bidder....oh I mean lobbyist.

    Funny how people freak out about China and communism, but if you think about it...democracy in it's current form doesn't really work. Does your elected official know your name? Know what you need? Hmm..then how do they "represent" you?

  15. No security is 100% on The Problem With Windows 8's Picture Password · · Score: 1

    Security risks are never 100% prevented, it is all about risk mitigation. This is better as a user experience than password complexity rules that cause a user to right down his password on a sheet of paper. For the majority of regular users, nobody is going to go through the expense and trouble of these paranoid scenarios that security solutions companies try to convince you are an imminent threat. The more likely threat is what I call the 'gun to the head attack'. In all instances it is cheaper and easier to use the threat of physical violence to gain access. And nothing protects against that really. Moral of the story, do not keep sensitive data on an end point device.

  16. Paranoia or real requirement? on Do Slashdotters Encrypt Their Email? · · Score: 1

    Do you encrypt your home phone conversations? Do you encrypt you SMS text messages? Are your Facebook messages encrypted? Do people use email still?

    So here's the general question. Why would I go through the trouble of encrypting a mail to my wife asking her, "Do I need to pickup milk?" The problem with PGP is that it requires the users to do something that normal users (non-techies) have no idea why and how to do it. For secure communications between companies that need to ensure their communications is private, securing communications between servers is usually good enough: http://www.windowsitpro.com/article/smtp/securing-smtp-email-traffic

  17. Re:Why roll their own distro? on Munich's Move To Linux Exceeds Target · · Score: 1

    Job security!

  18. Re:Cost saving? on Munich's Move To Linux Exceeds Target · · Score: 1

    Right...because "40 people that actually know what they are doing" will want to work for the government.

  19. TV = Traditional cable on TV Isn't Broken, So Why Fix It? · · Score: 2

    I cancelled my cable subscription 10 years ago, and have never reconsidered. The TV I own, is really just a big monitor for displaying content from my computer and AppleTV box (the latter being quite rare too.) The cable subscription model is what is broken because at least in Canada:
    1 - I would have to pay for basic content that I do not want
    2 - Most premium channels are only available as a subscription bundled with other channels I don't want
    3 - There are really only three or so shows per season I actually have time to watch. Why do I have to pay for the rest of the garbage?
    4 - I want to pay for the content. I don't want the advertisements, or the restrictions. I would rather and do actually pay for the DVD box set or even the iTunes subscription to content.
    5 - I want my money to go to those who produced and made the show, I don't care about the distribution system. I don't care about the broadcaster or the cable company. Why anyone would want any dollar to go to them beats the hell out of me.

    I love watching movies by the way and have no problems paying for the experience. I also stopped going to movies, because the theatre experience sucks. I didn't pay a sizeable sum to be: ripped off for crappy food/beverages, to watch 30 minutes of advertisements, to be reminded again and again about anti-piracy.

    Could corporations stop screwing their customers?

  20. Hello, are people ignoring the Carrier IQ story? on Are There Any Smartphones That Respect Privacy? · · Score: 1

    People, I am amazed that when Apple makes a fumble on location services there is huge media attention on Apple "spying" on people. Where is the noise on Carrier IQ? A real root kit installed on all devices (not confirmed on iOS though) http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/11/rootkit-brouhaha/

  21. Don't playa hate on Apple's New Patent Weapon — Location Services · · Score: 2

    Quit hating on the playa, hate the game.

    It is the system that is broken, not the fact that organizations use the system for their commercial gain.

  22. Terrorism evolves... on Tennessee Bill Helps Teachers Challenge Evolution · · Score: 1

    Terrorists no longer need to use violence: they just need to stir the pot by funding trade unions and Christian extremist groups. Hey wait a second...

  23. Plenty waiting for such an opportunity offshore on Are 10-11 Hour Programming Days Feasible? · · Score: 1

    There are plenty of programmers offshore waiting for such an opportunity.

  24. BYOC: What is the real objective here? on Should Employees Buy Their Own Computers? · · Score: 1

    The argument for this is a crock. There are plenty of ways to make this work for IT, but at the end of the day please please please don't pretend that it's the employee that wants this. Most employees come to work wanting all the tools they need provided to them. In Germany, this is the law in fact. At the end of the day, business is trying to save another buck and wants to offload it to their employees. And for big business trying to save another buck, you really want your employees spending time troubleshooting issues on their own PCs rather than doing their jobs?

  25. Re:Nah on Should Employees Buy Their Own Computers? · · Score: 1

    I don't think you brother's painters fork $2000 for enough paint brushes for three years all in one go.