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User: FreekyGeek

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Comments · 213

  1. Re:Burning bridges on Ask Slashdot: When Is It OK To Not Give Notice? · · Score: 1

    So true. After 25 years in my career and looking at another 20 before I can even think about retiuring, I can say to youong people: do NOT buy into the "company loyalty" thing. Anyone who talks about 'deidcation" and :loyalty to a company only wants one thing: YOUR WORK FOR FREE. No company will ever feel any loyalty for you, that's for darn sure. That doesn't mean "be a slacker" or "don't do a good job". Be professional and do your job well. But never buy into the horse shit. Avoid being promoted to management like the plague. Far better to be paid less and do honest work than become an evil toady. If anyone uses he phrase "good work ethic", ignore everything else they say. Your life is yours, and anyone who tries totake soem of it from you without fair compensation is not your friend, and they myth of "work ethic" and "loyalty" are just concepts invented by slave masters to make the slaves work more without having to share more of the profits.

  2. Re:Bologne on Ask Slashdot: When Is It OK To Not Give Notice? · · Score: 1

    Suggesting that you switch to hourly is one tactic. I think the best one is to say to your noss "so, you want me to do extra work for you on my own time, for free? Ok, then - when are you coming over to mow my lawn? What's that? You don't spend your spare time doing free work for other people? How odd!""

  3. Re:There are three kinds of lies. on Immigration Bill Passes the Senate, Includes More H-1B Visas · · Score: 1

    Yup. They make us run faster and faster on the treadmill and produictivity skyrockets, but do we see any of the extra cash? No way, Jose. We're supposed to fall down on our knees and kiss the hands of the sockholders because they deign to allow us to still have ANY jobs. Who gives a damn oif peopel spend tehir lives in feature;ess cubes with crushed hopes and dreams? Gotta hit the projections The Street is forcasting or the stock might go down a half a percent! So skip that kid's soccer game! Put aside that novel you were writing! The stiockholers need vacation homes!

  4. Re:There are three kinds of lies. on Immigration Bill Passes the Senate, Includes More H-1B Visas · · Score: 1

    This. You are exactly right. It's funny how CEOs always whine about cost-cutting measures, the cost of labor, cost of health care, and so on. But you know what cost never gets cut? CEO salaries. Anything that benefits the bigwigs and the shareholders. It's always the workers who suffer.

  5. Re:ban some stuff like on Immigration Bill Passes the Senate, Includes More H-1B Visas · · Score: 1

    And yes, rereading my post now I see I made some amusing typos. They are typographical errors, not errors in spelling, usage, or grammar. All they mean is that my fingers are klutzy and I never learned touch typing.

  6. Re:ban some stuff like on Immigration Bill Passes the Senate, Includes More H-1B Visas · · Score: 1

    Quite well, actually. A degree in English is fifty times more useful than a degree in "business". At ANY job you can make the argument that effective communication skills are important. The world is filled with little preppiebots and jockbots that got "Business" degrees because they weren't smart enough for anything else or just couldn't decide. And now tons of people with business degrees work ffor me, the English major. Why? because I know how to coimmunicate effectively anmd not make basic errors of grammar, usage and spelling.

    So mock away, dumbass. If I had kids I'd practically force them to get English degrees, or maybe philosophy or one of the sciences, economics, or sociology. Any of those things has interdisciplinary possibilities. If they metioned business degrees or MBAs I'd laugh them out of the house and say "pay for it yourself, then." The only degree more worthless than a business degree is Theatre, or possibly Art History.

  7. Re:you could steal secrets back.. and are on Book Review: The Chinese Information War · · Score: 1

    "We must do away with the absolutely specious notion that everybody has to earn a living. It is a fact today that one in ten thousand of us can make a technological breakthrough capable of supporting all the rest. The youth of today are absolutely right in recognizing this nonsense of earning a living. We keep inventing jobs because of this false idea that everybody has to be employed at some kind of drudgery because, according to Malthusian-Darwinian theory, he must justify his right to exist. So we have inspectors of inspectors and people making instruments for inspectors to inspect inspectors. The true business of people should be to go back to school and think about whatever it was they were thinking about before somebody came along and told them they had to earn a living."

        - Buckminster Fuller "The New York Magazine Environmental Teach-In" by Elizabeth Barlow in New York Magazine (30 March 1970), p. 30

  8. Re:More regulation = less choices on Amazon Delivering Groceries? It's Coming, Thanks To Sales-Tax Politics · · Score: 1

    What burns me is that the right wing gets SO up in arms about taxes when it affects rich people. Try to raise a tax that affects people making millions and they scream like children. Try to close a loophole that helps some Goldman Sachs fund managers evade taxes and you better believe there will be a filibuster in congress.

    But a tax that just affects average folks buying cameras and socks online? BIPARTISAN SUPPORT, BABY! TAX THOSE PLEBES!!! All of a sudden it's "Taxes? No problemo!"

    Fuckers.

  9. Re:You forgot to mention... on How the Smartphone Killed the Three-day Weekend · · Score: 1

    When a boss asks me to work extra hours I say "As long as you're asking me to spend my presonal time working for you for free, will you come over and mow my lawn? No? So you want me to spend my free time working for you for nothing, but you aren't willing to do the same? That doesn't sound very fair to me."

  10. Re:Crap. on How the Smartphone Killed the Three-day Weekend · · Score: 1

    Non-US readers should note that in the US there arte rarely actrual contracts between employer and employee. i sure wish there were! but for most employees there are no written agreements other than the companys "policy handbook" - i.e., The Book Of Rules. So we don't get to specify things like overtime pay (no salaried employees get it, by and large), on-call hours, or anything else. They give you a paycheck, and if you still want it, you do what they say. The company dictatates all the conditions, the employees just have to suck it up. "It's not a negotiaion."

    Naturally there are some exceptions as you go up the ladder or in certain carreers, but for the vast majority that's how it is.

  11. Re:at least they're trying... on Spain's New S-80 Class Submarines Sink, But Won't Float · · Score: 1

    Military spending creates jobs. It's one of the few and most direct ways governments can do it. So they do it a lot. As I recall Spain is having an enemployment problem. Building submarines takes a lot of guys, form the guys who make the pipes to the guys who draw the blueprints, a nice spread of jobs from blue collar to high tech.

  12. Re:Florida on Florida Teen Expelled and Arrested For Science Experiment · · Score: 1

    I was about to mod you up for at least showing a different side of a story, but then I read your last paragraph and decided you don't deserve it. Next time leave out the attacks.

  13. Re: Don't all games do this? on EVE Online Getting TV, Comic Book Adaptations · · Score: 1

    You supposed problems are easily solved. First, if you don't like poring over spreadsheets, then DON'T. Only idiot mix/maxers do that who give a shit whether their missisles do an extra 1.5342% damage or an extra 1.5368% damage. If you want to play the game, then play the game, and fuck spreadsheets. You don't need spreadsheets. You don't need fancy fitting programs, either. I've been having a blast playing the game forever (about 80 million skill points now) and I never, ever, even once, have used a spreadsheet. One only needs spreadhseets if one is has OCD. I can't express to you how little the super-high-end skills and weapons matter in the end. What matters is skill at PLAYING THE GAME. Someone good at startegy and tactics will win every time over someone who has .00032% extra damage or whatever. Being smart matters way more than massive skills or super-rare weapon drops. I've seen skilled players flying frigates with dead standard fittings decimate n00bs in tricked-out battle cruisers. In short, it's not your leets skills or your expensive equipment that matters, it's how well you play. Concentrate on that, not spreadsheets. Delete your spreadsheets and just PLAY. You'll have lots more fun.

    If outfitting a battlecruiser for PvP is your goal and you haven't done it in six months, then you aren't allocating your training time right. You're probably trying to Max skills out so you can use the Sooper Dooper Navy Version Extra FooBar Cannon instead of the regular Foobar Cannon. Don't listen to the idiots who seem to imply that if you don't fly a ship into PvP with six billion ISK worth of gear that you're bound to lose. It's FAR smarter to fit a ship with everyday run of the mill gear and use it wisely. Plus, when (not if) you get it blown out from under you, no big deal, just get another cheap one.

    And finally, if you fear that you're missing the "big stuff" because you're not in a big corp/alliance, then... JOIN a big corp/alliance. Pretty simple! It's lots of fun!

  14. The only honest cable company on Google Fiber: Why Traditional ISPs Are Officially On Notice · · Score: 1

    It sure reminds me of this:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ilMx7k7mso

    Extra points for the phrase "oligobble our balls".

  15. Re:But who watches the watchers? on Microsoft, NYC Marketing Vast Surveillance System To Other Cities · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Tough shit for the police. They have to deal with the same shit everyone else does, poor things. Guess what - we ALL would like to be able to act "without worrying about adverse consequences" - that sure would be nice! Golly, I know I'd like it if my employer promised not to monitor me. I'm apprehensive about being videotaped, too, but I can't do anything about it.

    If you're a cop and can't do your job without worrying that you'll violate someone's rights on camera and get caught, well - QUIT NOW, thanks.

    I'm not saying cops should have to get permission in triplicate before taking any action, but their actions should be recorded just like citizens are recorded, those recordings should be accessible to the puiblic, and police should be held accountable for their actions. What Jim Pasco seems to think is that it's OK for police to record citizens in case they are breaking the law, but not OK for police to be recorded in case *they* are breaking the law.

  16. But who watches the watchers? on Microsoft, NYC Marketing Vast Surveillance System To Other Cities · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As usual, no information about oversight, abuse detection, or anything similar. It's the same old "just trust us, we won't use our powerful new toy for anything bad, we promise." Puh-lease. The same people who claim that law abiding citizens with nothing to hide shouldn't care about privacy-invading constant surveillance are also the peopel who do their utmost to make darn sure no one can oobserve *their* activities or punish *them* for any infractions. "We don't trust you at all, but we expect you to just trust us." I'm so filled with confidence.

  17. The simple answer on Nuclear Power Prevents More Deaths Than It Causes · · Score: 1

    How about this for a LONG TERM plan?

    1) Start phasing out fossil fuels as much as possible and replacing them with renewables like solar and wind etc.
    2) Build nuclear plants that produce Hyrdorgen at the plant
    3) Run everything else (cars, power plants, industry, etc) on Hydrogen.
    4) Once the Hydrogen economy is built, start phsaing out nuclear and replacing it with a wide mix of renewables.

    People always say that the problem with Hydrogen is that it takes enegry to produce and there is no delivery infrastructure. But nuclear can generate tons of electricity on-site to make the Hydrogen, and the infrastructure can be built slowly - start with large industrys (aviation, factories, heavy equipment) and gradually expand the network to towns (fueling/"gas" stations) and finally homes. Hydrogen is the cleanest fukle in the universe and the most abundant element, and they are constantly discovering new ways to separate it. It also doesn't stop on cloudy/windless days.

  18. It only makes sense on Silicon Valley Presses Obama, Congress On Immigration Reform · · Score: 1

    It only makes sense - corporations have found out that while outsourcing to the developing world results in cheap labor that's easy to abuse, there are all kinds of nasty side effects. Instead of going to all those poor countries full of brown people, why not *bring the slaves to the US*? That way, you can still pay them next to nothing and abuse them as much as you want, but you don't have to deal with flying to some remote part of the world! You can keep them in line by danging their visas just out of reach. That way you can have a nice breakfast, abuse your slaves all day, and get in a nice round of golf! And all it costs is some really minor payments to congresspeople. It's win/woin, really. Well, except for the slaves. But who cares about them? It's their fault for being born poor and in the wrong country.

  19. Re:Another quality SXSW Slashvertisement by Roblim on Point and Shoot 3D Modeling (Video) · · Score: 1

    I don't mind if you or anyone else at Slashdot posts stuff like this when it's relevant and interesting, which this one is. I don't evenm care if you get money for it, though it should be labeled as such if so. As long as it's relevant and ionteresting to me, that's what I care about. It Slashdot makes a few bucks in the process, then fine - win/win.

    I do mind when the quality of the material is poor and it's not relevant or interesting. Then I feel like my time is being wasted.

    I don't know for a fact if Slashdot got money for this or any other posting, and I don't care if you do. But remember that I come to Slashdot for that "geek mentality", for thing that are interesting to genuine geeks. Don't dilute your brand. If my non-geek friends would have any idea what a posting here is about, then it shouldn't be here.

  20. "Extraordinary claims requier extraordinary evidence." You can't just make a wild claim like that and then shine it on with "oh, it;'s everywhere, YOU go find it."

    Provide evidence or I call bullshit and go on my way assuming that you're just another internet crank. If it's so easy, YOU provide the evidence. It's like saying "the moon is made of green cheese" and then when I say "prove it" you say "go find out for yourself." Or, closer to homer, saying "an all-powewerful superbeing naed god exists." "Really? Prove it." "No, you DISprove it!"

  21. Re:He never said that. on Orson Scott Card's Superman Story Shelved After Homophobia Controversy · · Score: 1

    Are you denying that he's on the board of directors of an organization whose purpose is to oppose gay marriage?

  22. Re:Who decides where to draw the line? on Orson Scott Card's Superman Story Shelved After Homophobia Controversy · · Score: 1

    Hey, it wasn't Wagner's fault that Hitler liked his music. Get your facts straight.

  23. Re:Less offended by Card's opinions... on Orson Scott Card's Superman Story Shelved After Homophobia Controversy · · Score: 1

    Ender's Game is not as "terrible written" as your post. He uses articles - and adverbs, too! Plus, he knows how to not overuse commas. Pardon me if I ignore your penetrating literary criticism.

  24. Re:Freedom of speech on Orson Scott Card's Superman Story Shelved After Homophobia Controversy · · Score: 1

    I can disagree with Card and give him freedom of speech at the same time. I'm saying "I disagree with him", not "I think he should be prevented from expressing his opinions."

    He chooses to be on the board of an organization I feel is hateful. That's his right.

    And it's my right to stop buying his stuff, which I will now do.

  25. Re:Escape the hive mind. on Orson Scott Card's Superman Story Shelved After Homophobia Controversy · · Score: 1

    When you say that "history shows" that this "hove mind" is "usually wrong, can you give some examples? And remember, you said "usually", so I expect quite a lot of examples, and good ones. Sure, you can say the obvious things like "nazis" and "slavery", but you didn't say "it can be wrong' or "it's sometimes wrong", you said *usually*, which I take to mean "more often than not". If the grup opinion is so wrong so often, how have we even achieved society?