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User: Larry_Dillon

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  1. I think you're on to something here. on Florida Man Faces $48k Fine For Jamming Drivers' Cellphones · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I've been seeing too many vehicles with flashing lights lately that didn't used to have them, from school buses and garbage trucks to mall cops. It's making true emergency vehicles, such as police/fire/ambulance not stand out as much as then used to.

  2. Re:You know ... on Florida Man Faces $48k Fine For Jamming Drivers' Cellphones · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Your second sentence is correct, but part of the social contract wherein citizens forgo taking the law into their own hands is effective law enforcement. Nearly every time you see citizens resort to vigilante justice, it's due to a lack of effective law enforcement.

  3. Re:Families come first on Age Discrimination In the Tech Industry · · Score: 1

    The problem I've seen is that no one want to train anymore. Every company thinks they can get the perfect employee off the shelf. That a big part of ageism. Companies want young grads that have just been trained in the new technologies. But the flavor of the week will change again. Some will argue that it's up to the employee to learn new technologies, and that's true to an extent, especially if the company you work for says, "We're switching to technology X in two years," but that seldom happens. It doesn't make a ton of sense, from an employee's point of view, to learn some random new think hoping the current company or the next job will want it. If you don't use the new thing you just learned everyday, you'll just forget it anyway.

  4. old timer here... on Intel To Offer Custom Xeons With Embedded FPGAs For the Data Center · · Score: 1

    Image a Beowulf cluster of these!

  5. Re:And another on the ban pile on Kingston and PNY Caught Bait-and-Switching Cheaper Components After Good Reviews · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'm not trying to defend Kingston or PNY but it may be that they had supply problems or other issues with the original part. It seems that Joel Hruska is assuming intentional deception/malice where none has been proven. I do think that companies should be required to change the model number when they change critical internal parts.

    WiFi cards used to be horrible about this. Companies would change the WiFi chipset, requiring a totally different driver, and nothing on the outside of the box would give any indication. Somewhere on the card it would usually say rev b, etc.

  6. Electricity usage on Comcast Converting 50,000 Houston Home Routers Into Public WiFi Hotspots · · Score: 1

    It will consume more electricity when someone else is using it. A trivial amount, perhaps, but none the less, more. Al mot of these things have overheating problems in the first place.

  7. traceroute... on Netflix Trash-Talks Verizon's Network; Verizon Threatens To Sue · · Score: 1

    Wouldn't it be a fairly simple thing to pinpoint the congestion and only shame Verizon if it's in their network or at an under-sized interconnect? Netflix might know (or care) more about Verizon congestion than Verizon does.

  8. Product of success on Interviews: Forrest Mims Answers Your Questions · · Score: 1

    Evolution may have failed to produce advanced life forms, or any life at all, on a million worlds. Only the successful random mutations exist to contemplate it.

  9. Follow the money. on Bill Blunden's Rejected DEF CON Presentation Posted Online · · Score: 1

    What you're saying may be true in regard to it being accepted to DefCon, but on the whole his analysis sounds about right. I don't know if civilians have the information to prove what he says, one way or another, but the economic motivations sure line up nicely.

  10. Smart business move. on Microsoft Won't Bring Back the Start Menu Until 2015 · · Score: 1

    What a great way to make sure Windows 9 sells like hotcakes!

    1. Remove a well-loved feature from a system with sufficient vendor-lock in.
    2. Only provide the feature in a paid upgrade
    3. Profit!

    Is this a patentable business model?

  11. Re:Proposal - on Gun Rights Groups Say They Don't Oppose Smart Guns, Just Mandates · · Score: 1

    A few firearms/accessories companies have written letters to law enforcement in various states telling them that they will no longer provide them with any weapons or accessories that are not legal for civilians in their state.

  12. Prediction on Driverless Cars Could Cripple Law Enforcement Budgets · · Score: 1

    I predict a overall decrease in traffic accidents as we start seeing the average speed on roads reflect the speed limit versus the average of 5 to 10mph or more that is common now.

  13. Viable career path? on US College Students Still Aren't All That Interested In Computer Science · · Score: 2

    With people like Zuckerberg saying that he only wants people under 30 and the reports of ageism in CS and IT fields, I can see why people aren't going into CS and IT. Some are going to do well but many are going to drop by the wayside. Why not go into a career where you are still valued are 50 or 60?

  14. Commercial Internet on The Internet's Broken. Who's Going To Invent a New One? · · Score: 0

    Back when they started to allow commercial content on the Internet, they should have made a few more rules:

    1. Require a business license to get a .com
    2. Require 501 non-profit status to get a .org
    3. Require a /24 network to get a .net
    4. Make a new TLD for everything else.

    Look at how well this worked for .edu. (must be an accredited, four year, degree-granting organization).

  15. You need someone with a liberal arts degree on Ask Slashdot: How Do You Tell a Compelling Story About IT Infrastructure? · · Score: 1

    Engineers are great at math but you need someone who excels with language.

  16. Makes some sense. on DARPA Develops Stealth Motorcycle For US Special Forces · · Score: 1

    Battery powered motorcycles make a lot of sense for general consumers, if the price is right. Most of the disadvantages that keep people from buying all-electric cars don't come into play with motorcycles, especially when they are a 2d vehicle.

  17. Fashion accessory on Japanese and Swiss Watchmakers Scoff At Smartwatches · · Score: 1

    Watches stopped being about telling time a while ago. Devices that tell time are ubiquitous; from phones to microwaves. Watches, especially high-end watches, are fashion accessories. Many are hard to read but it doesn't matter because they aren't really used as time pieces. Calling the new devices "watches" simple because they are designed to be worn on the wrist is a mistake. Telling time is the least of their functionality but so easy to include; why not?

  18. Hate to ruin the party... on $42,000 Prosthetic Hand Outperformed By $50 3D Printed Hand · · Score: 1

    While the expensive commercial hand seems overpriced, it also reflects costs like R & D, field testing and marketing that a printed hand may not have incurred. It seems as though the designers of the 3d printed hand probably looked at different commercial models and copied the best features from them, making this something of an apples/oranges comparison and it may infringe on (so called) intellectual property, if offered commercially. Could the printed hand exist without resting on the shoulders of the commercial products?

  19. DEC on Ask Slashdot: What Tech Products Were Built To Last? · · Score: 1

    Most things made by Digital Equipment Corp.

  20. Re:ACLU on Retired SCOTUS Justice Wants To 'Fix' the Second Amendment · · Score: 1

    Part of the reason the ACLU doesn't spent much effort on 2d amendment issues is that the NRA is much better funded and defends only one amendment. No 2d amendment case with merit has failed to make it to court for lack of backing. Tons of 1st and 4th amendment cases don't get off the ground because of the much more limited resources available to the ACLU.

  21. Re:Spectrum Frequency on FCC Boosts Spectrum Available To Wi-Fi · · Score: 1

    "...requires 3dB better SNR, which in turn means doubling the transmit power..."

    Or using better antennas.

  22. Removing viruses with an infected machine on Interview: Ask John McAfee What You Will · · Score: 1

    Didn't you write a long time ago that it was wrong to try to use an infected machine to remove viruses because it couldn't be trusted -- and then go on to found a company that did just that? Care to comment?

  23. Still a toy for most people on 3D Printing: Have You Taken the Plunge Yet? Planning To? · · Score: 1

    While I can see where they would be occasionally useful, mostly for making replacements for small, hand-to-find parts, I'm not ready to buy yet. I thought about it last summer but for the money, I got an oxy-actylene set up instead. I figure in 10 or even 20 years, the gas welding setup will be worth about what I paid for it whereas the 3d printer will be worth approximately nothing, like a 10 year old computer.

    I'm not trying to say that these are equivalent goods with equivalent capabilities, just that I will get more use for more years out of a welder.

  24. The Luxottica Group on Google Glass Signs Deal With Ray Ban's Parent Company · · Score: 2

    The Luxottica Group is the recognized leader in over priced eye-ware.

  25. LinkedIn... on Inside NSA's Efforts To Hunt Sysadmins · · Score: 1

    So they're basically running through LinkedIn and targeting anyone who says they're a SysAdmin, a VP, or anyone else who looks like they might have elevated privileges?