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User: TemperedAlchemist

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  1. Re:Isn't delivery still a problem? on Genomic Medicine, Finally · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Gene therapy is performed through vectors, notably viral vectors.

  2. Re:Tired... on Microsoft's Attempt To Convert Users From Windows XP Backfires · · Score: 2

    Windows 7 was just a service pack for Vista. The renaming was a PR move to move away from the stigma.

    Give them enough time and they'll iron out all of the flaws. Of course the Metro interface was inherently flawed from the beginning, but I think they've learned their lesson and supposedly Windows 8.2 which may be named Windows 9 is their solution to this whole mess.

    But the GP does have a point, I see people still complaining about features of Windows 8 that were fixed in 8.1.

  3. Re:Incentive to not carry data as well on Killing Net Neutrality Could Be Good For You · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Yeah as soon as I read this I had propaganda bullshit sirens going off in my head.

  4. No on Killing Net Neutrality Could Be Good For You · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    TLDR: I have no idea how the internet works, but here's my opinion on it.

    Obligatory: killing beta could be good for /.

  5. Re:Are we gonna compare every service pack to vist on Windows 8.1 Passes Windows Vista In Market Share · · Score: 1

    Windows 8.1 features an update that allows bypassing the metro screen (the bit everyone complains about). In simple terms, It's the "fixed" version of Windows 8.

  6. Well You Know... on The Moderately Enthusiastic Programmer · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What management actually means by, "We want people who are passionate!" means that they live in a fantasy world where truly passionate people will come work for them for meager pay, lousy benefits, and an average work environment. It's the ultimate delusion of entitlement. Because why should talented people settle for them?

    There is good management. But most of the time you see poor management who blame their own inadequate and incompetent leadership abilities on their employees. Many seem to look at subordinates as nothing more than a monkey there to churn out code -- like it's such an inconvenience that they have to deal with actual humans who have like, squishy innards that need nourishment and rest.

    Add it to the list...
    "Fast paced work environment!" We're understaffed.
    "Opportunity for advancement." We have a high turnover rate.
    "Flexible hours!" You'll never be able to predict the next week's schedule.

  7. Re:Exciting on Blizzard Releases In-House Design Tools To Starcraft Modders · · Score: 2

    It's not the future.

    I know because I actively participated in Starcraft mod/map making for over a decade.

    Blizzard is hoping to pull another DotA on the custom designers. That is, steal our work and try to monetize it if the opportunity arises. They wanted to generate a lot of fun custom map stuff for SC2, but with a map distribution system that's bordering on complete useless, an editor that varies from feeling like programming with a fisherprice keyboard to feeling like using a keyboard to play on a fisherprice computer (seriously, there is no cow button on my daskeyboard), and no documentation to be found anywhere.

    I dare say MOAR TOOLZ isn't exactly the answer here. Back in SC1 we managed pretty well without tools. We made our own and even managed to force Blizzard to patch the game because we figured out how to create executable programs in their maps.

    I still do SC1 stuff, and until Blizzard really offers something substantial for SC2 mappers (not some stupid map payment system), the majority of the most brilliant designers aren't going to be doing anything for them.

  8. Re:Simple enough... on The "Triple Package" Explains Why Some Cultural Groups Are More Successful · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The middle one is an easy trip to mental illness.

    This all seems like a bunch pseudoscience BS, it's not worth any serious consideration.

  9. If You Can't Beat Them... on K-12 CS Education Funding: Taxes, H-1B Fees, Donations? · · Score: 5, Funny

    I agree completely. I think we should start by replacing expensive American senior executives with foreigners. You know, we don't want to lose our competitive edge.

  10. Re:But it is horribly wrong anyway. on Stephen Hawking: 'There Are No Black Holes' · · Score: 1

    That would make sense since there are infinities all over the place.

  11. Re:Government! on Hacker Says He Could Access 70,000 Healthcare.Gov Records In 4 Minutes · · Score: 4, Informative

    The private sector did build the website.

  12. Re:2 wrongs... on 200 Dolphins Await Slaughter In Japan's Taiji Cove · · Score: 1

    I guess we can't infringe on tradition, especially if there's money involved. Better go tell those plantation owners they can have their slaves back.

  13. Re:I don't get it. on 200 Dolphins Await Slaughter In Japan's Taiji Cove · · Score: 1

    The same could be said of humans.

  14. Re:Cute and friendly animals on 200 Dolphins Await Slaughter In Japan's Taiji Cove · · Score: 1

    Yeah that's not true, there's quite a campaign going for sharks. Gordon Ramsay is one name that comes to mind who has actually done work on it.

  15. Re:Is this a cuteness thing? on 200 Dolphins Await Slaughter In Japan's Taiji Cove · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    Dolphins make pigs look like drooling idiots. They're more than just an intelligent animal the same way someone talks about their dog being able to learn tricks. They're the second most intelligent species on the planet, fully capable of empathy, incredible memory, and self awareness.

    We're not talking about cattle which can't even remember which patch of grass they were munching on one minute previous. These are creatures that are fully capable of experiencing the psychological trauma being inflicted upon them.

    But never mind that. If we're going to justify this to animals, I can only begin to imagine what intelligent aliens might do to us -- or perhaps worse, think of us. And we're so presumptuous to say we come in peace.

  16. Raise Taxes! on U.S. Science Agencies Get Some Relief In 2014 Budget · · Score: 3, Insightful

    And give it all to NASA, pls.

  17. Re:Tiger nuts? Not meat? on Extinct Species of Early Human Survived On Grass Bulbs, Not Meat · · Score: 4, Informative

    The paleo movement is frustrating for anthropologists. Humans ate pretty much whatever they could get their grubby little hands on: meat, nuts, edible leaves, roots, fruit, etc. We did eat quite a bit of plants, though. Mostly because they didn't run away.

    Vegans who insist we're herbivores are equally frustrating, however.

  18. Re:Well Then on MIT Begins Offering For-Pay MOOC In Big Data · · Score: 1

    Let me be clear on my position.

    Open courses which require a tuition to cover costs is acceptable. Professors and faculty have to be paid and so do we have to pay for the server hosting and etc.

    Open courses which are created for profit is unacceptable. This is doubly true when all you receive from the course is a piece of paper that's worthless (oh and knowledge that you learned mostly on your own from reading a book!). It's a dirty scheme.

    People who think hospitals, schools, etc. should be run like a business should be slapped silly. They're not businesses, they're basic humanitarian services. Cover costs, yes, by all means; but you have got to be kidding me if you honestly support some guy is getting a big fat check from it. Once you put some CEO at the top with a mantra of, "cut costs and increase profits", everything is going to fall to shit. Yes; ugly, terrible shit.

    That's why you see things like people being kicked off of healthcare for pre-existing conditions. Could you imagine if schools were run that way? Sorry your kid requires too much extra help, so we're kicking him out of the whole system. And even if they can't get away with that the business is going to find some other way to screw it over for quick buck.

  19. Re:Well Then on MIT Begins Offering For-Pay MOOC In Big Data · · Score: 1

    $495 for a certificate of accomplishment?

    Come now... I'm not going to pay $500 to read a textbook and get a piece of paper that means nothing.

  20. Re:Well Then on MIT Begins Offering For-Pay MOOC In Big Data · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Prestige, mostly. I don't deny it. It's the only reason to go there, really. That and research opportunities. A degree from MIT is worth more than the same degree from my state university. I could know the exact same things, have done the exact same research, and published the exact same papers. All things being equal it still comes out that way.

    Cost has nothing to do with it (although going to school for free is a sweet deal). If I truly wish to accomplish something I'll find a way, regardless of cost.

  21. Well Then on MIT Begins Offering For-Pay MOOC In Big Data · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I have wanted to go to MIT for a long time. They made their content open and seemed quite progressive in actually caring about education.

    After all is said is done they've learned nothing from Aaron Swartz? This is a disgrace. I now want nothing to do with him.

    Education is not a business.

  22. Re:barking up wrong tree on Ask Slashdot: Working With Others, As a Schizophrenic Developer? · · Score: 1

    Once they're hired into a position the employee can document their illness (they don't have to tell the employer ahead of time) with the employer, then the employer is required to make reasonable concessions. There is an exemption in the case of undue hardship (this is the employer's responsibility to prove to the court) and the employee must still be able to perform his essential duties.

    Firing someone because their mental illness is interfering with their ability to perform their essential duties isn't protected under the ADA because it isn't discrimination. If any one employee doesn't do their job, then they would also be fired: the person isn't being terminated because they have a mental illness, but because they can't do their job.

    For instance, a stock boy with social anxiety may request reasonable concessions to not perform cashier or clerking duties on the front end. He is still perfectly able to stock the shelves.

  23. Re:barking up wrong tree on Ask Slashdot: Working With Others, As a Schizophrenic Developer? · · Score: 1

    America has the same law, it's called the Americans with Disabilities Act.

  24. Re:barking up wrong tree on Ask Slashdot: Working With Others, As a Schizophrenic Developer? · · Score: 5, Informative

    Schizophrenia isn't psychopathy. Not that psychopathy is a condition that would affect the quality of code.

    You should educate yourself about mental illness. You clearly do not understand it.

    Further, it's illegal to discriminate against the mentally ill.

  25. Re:Take the Manifest Destiny approach on How To Avoid a Scramble For the Moon and Its Resources · · Score: 1

    I think you mean whoever gets there and brutally murders anyone who was there before them wins the rights.

    Yeah, that sounds more like manifest destiny.