Slashdot Mirror


User: dotbot

dotbot's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
68
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 68

  1. Re:Type 2 Spaces, Let the Computer Sort it Out on Are Two Spaces After a Period Better Than One? (arstechnica.com) · · Score: 1

    Exactly. It's markdown. Those of us who do it are future-proofing our text.

  2. Blistering performance, apparently.

  3. Re:The fines are a pittance on FCC Fines Another Large Firm For Blocking WiFi · · Score: 1

    As commented above, see paragraph 39 in the report:

    39. First, to ensure that a proposed forfeiture is not treated as simply a cost of doing business, ...

  4. Re:Don't blame the FCC - fine fine they fined on FCC Fines Another Large Firm For Blocking WiFi · · Score: 1

    As you'll see from paragraph 39 in the report, the FCC adjusted the base forfeiture of $182,000 after considering, amongst other things, the annual sales of M.C.Dean:

    39. First, to ensure that a proposed forfeiture is not treated as simply a cost of doing business, the Commission has determined that large or highly profitable companies should be subject to proposed forfeitures that are substantially above the base forfeiture amount.116 Industry publications state that M.C. Dean had over $700 million in sales in 2013 and list M.C. Dean as one of the largest electrical contractors in the county.117 Thus, to ensure that the forfeiture is an effective deterrent for M.C. Dean as well as to protect the interests of consumers, an upward forfeiture adjustment based on M.C. Dean’s relative ability to pay is justified.

  5. Re:Fine then on UK's Legalization of CD Ripping Is Unlawful, Court Rules · · Score: 1

    This was roughly my thinking. From the article:

    “The High Court agreed with us that Government acted unlawfully. It is vitally important that fairness for songwriters, composers and performers is written into the law,” UK Music CEO Jo Dipple commented on the ruling.

    The moral argument being made here is fairness for the artists/composers/authors. They can't benefit after their death so such an argument does raise the question of why the copyright term extends so far beyond their death: 70 or 90 years is excessive. Extending a single generation - 25 years - after death seems sufficiently respectful recognition of the work done.

  6. Staring us in the face? on The Search For Starivores, Intelligent Life That Could Eat the Sun · · Score: 1

    FTA

    It might well be that extraterrestrial intelligence is already somewhere in our data. Re-interpreting certain star systems as macroscopic living things is one example.

    I'd be interested to hear arguments that stars are not intelligent life forms.

  7. Holy... Standard ML! on The Site That Teaches You To Code Well Enough To Get a Job · · Score: 1

    The screenshot in that first link (http://www.wired.com/2014/09/exercism/) appears to be a screenful of SML... Respect to whoever sourced that picture!

  8. As the saying goes, no news is good news on Google's Experimental Newsroom Avoids Negative Headlines · · Score: 1

    Now, thanks to Google, bad news is no news! But, as no news is good news, we could conclude that bad news is good news. Is this good, bad or newsworthy?

  9. I believe... on Ask Slashdot: What Software Can You Not Live Without? · · Score: 1

    That loo paper is also classed as software.

  10. Re:though... on Your Next Car's Electronics Will Likely Be Connected By Ethernet · · Score: 1

    It's inevitable that the vehicle intranet will have a connection to the internet. Time to regulate the use of electronic systems for critical vehicle functions.

  11. Sounds a bit commie to me on Arizona Approves Grid-Connection Fees For Solar Rooftops · · Score: 1

    FTA:

    Arizona Public is required to buy solar power from customers with rooftop panels, and the commission agreed with its argument that the policy unfairly shifts some of the utility’s costs to people without panels.

    Come on, comrades, everyone should be supporting one power generation collective. What Arizona Public needs is some solidarity and loyalty from you people of the state. We don't want any individuals breaking away and spending money on fancy solar panels to make their own electricity.

    I find it ironic that an American company is wheeling out communist-like arguments to protect their business.

  12. Re:World speed record ? Lol, the French have it si on Japan's L-Zero Maglev Train Reaches 310 mph In Trials · · Score: 1

    The article is slightly confusing because, in some places, it cites the maximum speed in testing during development (where the world records are set) but appears to be ranking in order of maximum speed in service. In some cases the significance of the cited speed is not clear, e.g. "TGV Réseau 236 mph capability".

    World record speeds are interesting but not particularly useful for passengers. The TGV that holds the world speed record for a conventional (wheeled) train operated under conditions that do not occur in normal use: it had larger wheels fitted and the overhead catenary had a higher voltage and a higher tension (to ensure that waves resulting from displacement due to the pantograph travelled faster than the train). An impressive feat, all the same.

  13. Re:$565+ million on Invalidation of Eolas's Web Patent Claims Upheld · · Score: 1

    FTFY:

    Actually, the University of California is 'owed' money.

  14. Re:Tough ship on Container Ship Breaks In Two, Sinks · · Score: 1

    No, just a batch of replacement batteries.

  15. Re: Get a letter from your original client on Ask Slashdot: What To Do When Another Dev Steals Your Work and Adds Their Name? · · Score: 1

    Ned Ryerson?

  16. Re:in soviet russia we bacteria you on Russians Find "New Bacteria" In Lake Vostok · · Score: 1

    Well, it was entertaining to see Darwinism in action.

  17. Re:Stupid Law on Michigan Makes It Illegal To Ask For Employees' Facebook Logins · · Score: 1

    There is no constitutional right to privacy, nor to work.

    If you say so.

    Therefore employers, including the government, have a right to know what you post on Facebook.

    This is not a valid inference from the previous statement.

  18. Re:Expect lawsuits... on UK Takes Huge Step Forward On Open Standards · · Score: 2

    Expect lawsuits...? How can a company sue a prospective customer because the customer is not asking for what they want to sell?

  19. Re:IDIOT. on A Conversation with Rob Malda - Part One of Three (Video) · · Score: 1

    The GP already made it CLEAR that the == operator is not a statement of equivalence.

    The particular choice of operator for equality in a predicate cannot influence whether the predicate is being logically asserted, i.e. holds for all valuations, or is just a free-standing formula. To make it clear that it was an assertion, it should have been written with a turnstile in front:

    |- RTFA == WTFV

  20. Re:Maybe because... on Why Ultra-Efficient 4,000 mph Vacuum-Tube Trains Aren't Being Built · · Score: 1

    1999 South Dakota Learjet crash
    Helios Airways Flight 522
    Those headlines have done nothing to stop people flying, and they didn't even arrive into an airport.

  21. Re:COLOMBIAN....not "Columbian" on Web Exploit Found That Customizes Attack For Windows, Mac, and Linux · · Score: 1

    Apparently travel is expensive as those Coulombians are always charged...

  22. metres != miles on Scientists Solve Mystery of Ireland's Moving Boulders · · Score: 1

    FTFA (first line):

    How did a 78-ton boulder travel 17 miles above high water, 130 meters inland?

    This is the start of an entirely different news article that I can complete in two words: it didn't.

  23. Re:What a load of muddled energy unit drivel. on Swiss Solar Powered Catamaran Finishes 'Round the World Tour · · Score: 1

    500 kw/h per day is even more nonsensical. Energy over time cubed?

    As a watt is a joule per second, isn't 500kW/h actually energy over time squared?

    Maybe they meant kWh per day. That would almost make sense, but come on...

    ...just use (suitably scaled) kW!

  24. WORLDCOMP anyone? on Studies Suggest Massive Increase In Scientific Fraud · · Score: 1

    You may want to start with http://sites.google.com/site/worlddump1/ and generally search for 'WORLDCOMP'. At least some people have been taking a scientific approach to address potential fraud...

  25. Re:Combat record on F-18 Fighter Jet Crashes Into Virginia Apartment Complex · · Score: 1

    (I only joke because there were no fatalities!)

    How do you know? I cannot find an article saying all residents have been accounted for.