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User: LordNicholas

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  1. Nothing good on commercial radio anyway on Despite FCC's Promise To Take Aggressive Action To Stamp Out Radio Pirates, Illegal Stations Are Flourishing (newyorker.com) · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm sure I'd care a lot more about this if I Heart Media didn't own half the spectrum, playing the same garbage across all of it. My wife and I have a game we play in the car, where we try to guess how many stations are playing the latest top 40 hit simultaneously. Highest we've seen is four. Four different stations all playing the same goddamn song at the same time. With internet and satellite radio ubiquitous, we really need to start reevaluating how we prioritize the spectrum.

  2. Re:The real question: on Google Assistant Will Call Businesses For You Via 'Duplex' (qz.com) · · Score: 1

    Almost certainly Google Voice is one source. They have 9 years worth of transcribed voicemails and call recordings to pull from, and I remember them stating things like voice recognition and natural language processing research as uses for such data when you signed up.

    100% they're using data from Google Assistant as well.

    Google has plenty of sources for this kind of data that people have opted in to.

  3. First strike? on Facebook May Have Secret Plans To Build a Satellite-Based Internet (ieee.org) · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Is there any way they can be shot down without exacerbating Kessler Syndrome? Even if not, if the alternative is Facebook becoming the defacto owner of internet access, a few centuries without spaceflight might be worth it...

  4. Plus my homemade popcorn recipe is cheaper and tastes better than theater popcorn.

    Okay well don't leave us hanging, are you willing to share it?

  5. Cute idea, but they misunderstand the data on Activist Starts a Campaign To Buy and Publish Browsing Histories of Politicians Who Passed Anti-Privacy Law (searchinternethistory.com) · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is a cute idea, but I don't think much will come of it. ISPs won't be selling individual browsing histories- despite whatever changes to the laws happen, the liability would be staggering and most buyers would be looking for data in a bulk, automated way that scales. As an advertiser, one individual's complete browsing history is completely useless to me; there's no market for that data that ISN'T to publicly shame people or otherwise spy on people. While I suppose private investigators and law enforcement might be a niche market for this sort of thing, I just don't it happening in a significant way.

    What you'd actually be buying are audience segments against IP addresses and possibly device IDs, which could then in turn be matched up to other data sets. Ie, if I'm Coscto, I might be trying to identify "Devices that have recently shopped at Walmart.com". Once I have that, I might be able to match some percentage (maybe 10-40%) of those devices to some other kind of data set (for example, to add demographic data). That's just two data points- not nearly enough to identify anyone- and I've already likely narrowed my starting set of devices down to 10-20% of what the ISP provided me.

    It IS possible to ultimately drill down into this kind of data far enough that you can be pretty sure you've found the history for an individual person- in theory anyway. But the amount of time/effort/luck involved to get there makes this impractical to do at scale (i.e., for all the Congress-critters) or to keep up to date manually as cookies expire/are deleted, IP addresses change, people upgrade their phones every 1-2 years... it takes full time teams of people to do this at a very basic level.

    Plus there's the whole "That wasn't me, damn neighbors stealing my wifi" defense for anything nefarious.

    Source: I work in programmatic audience targeting for a Fortune 100. (I promise we're not evil, we just want to sell you stuff you might actually want)

  6. Trying to build up an endowment on Wikipedia Exceeds Fundraising Target, But Continues Asking For More Money (theregister.co.uk) · · Score: 5, Informative
    Per their financial statements, they're trying to build up an endowment (like a university and many other large non-profits) so they can support themselves off investment income, and not need to rely as much on direct donations. Those incremental donations after the fundraising goal is reached are even more valuable since they can go directly towards growing the endowment.

    During the year ended June 30, 2016, the Foundation entered into an agreement with the Tides Foundation to establish the Wikimedia Endowment as a Collective Action Fund to act as a permanent safekeeping fund to generate income to ensure a base level of support for the Wikimedia projects in perpetuity. The Endowment is independent from the Foundation. On June 29, 2016, the Foundation provided an irrevocable grant in the amount of $5 million to the Tides Foundation for the purpose of the Wikimedia Endowment. The amount is recorded in awards and grants expense.

    https://upload.wikimedia.org/w...

  7. Re:Will you be voting Hilary? on FBI: Review of New Emails Doesn't Change Conclusion on Clinton (cnn.com) · · Score: 1

    Your definition is not the political definition. There is no real conservative candidate running in this election- "Conservatives" are either voting Johnson, McMullin, or most realistically, staring sadly at the ballot wondering what went wrong. Whatever the result, we should expect to see a major shake up of the traditional "right" parties following this clown show of an election. The Republican party is no more conservative than the Democrats.

  8. Why would Spotify feature artists they're not making as much money on? Anyone who's surprised by this is probably the same sort of person who asks their waiter for a food recommendation at a restaurant (hint: it's whichever entree gets him the bigger tip). If you think any company's curated list of [product] is more than an excuse to push the products they make the most money off of, I've got a bridge to sell you.

    The claims that Spotify is intentionally manipulating their search results is just dumb.

  9. So what you're saying is that there should be bands of temperate zones sandwiched between these two extremes, which might be an excellent place to focus the search for life? Possibly with very interesting life indeed, due to the adaptations needed to cope with the extreme radiation, along with the increased likelihood of genetic mutation from the same. This guy is optimistic

  10. Re:Hahahahaha FANTASTIC on Microsoft Removes the 'X' From Windows 10 Update Leaving No Way Out (theregister.co.uk) · · Score: 1

    Skyrim is 5 years old. Civ 4 is 11 (!) years old (and Civ 5 has native Linux support). Not all, but MOST of the top titles from the past couple years have native Linux support. Many of those that don't can be run just fine using WINE or even a VM, especially older games. Anything built in Unity will have native support for Windows, Mac, and Linux without much extra effort by the developer, and as such Linux support is now the norm for most indie games as well.

    Here are some highlights with full native Linux support (SteamDB is helpful for this):
    * The Witcher 3 / Wild Hunt
    * Don't Starve
    * Terraria
    * Kerbal Space Program
    * Almost everything by Valve (Portal, Half Life 2, CS:GO)
    * Factorio
    * Torchlight
    * Xcom
    * L4D2
    * Borderlands 2
    * Stellaris

    As a gamer who just switched his main gaming rig from Windows to Ubuntu (in part because of this Windows 10 nonsense), while there are still some headaches, it's a better time than ever to make the switch. We're really reaching a tipping point.

  11. Highlights included in this release, for the lazy on Ubuntu Releases 13.04, Sticks To 6-Month Release Rhythm · · Score: 4, Informative

    Biggest client updates:

    -UbuntuGnome (featuring Gnome 3.6 by default) is now an official flavor

    -Unity 7

    -LibreOffice 4

    -Improved support for CUPS

    -Software Updater simplified

    -Friends service replaces Gwibber

  12. Re:First purchase on Ask Slashdot: Starting From Scratch After a Burglary? · · Score: 1

    I love me some Second Amendment as well, but I really hope you don't have kids living with you...

  13. Re:Should read, "Only part of Chelsea" on Google Wiring New York City's Chelsea For Free Wi-Fi · · Score: 3, Informative

    This. Their NYC offices are the in the old Port Authority building at 111 8th avenue. Apparently they bought that particular building because there's a major fiber line that runs through it.

    Source: I used to work out of the building before Google bought it.

  14. Re:Why the government? on The Privacy Illusion · · Score: 1

    Because I can easily opt out of not giving my data to Facebook or Google. If I feel that Microsoft has abused my privacy, I can switch to Apple, or to Linux. If Amazon sells my personal information, I can buy from Barnes and Noble or my local bookstore. It's (usually) an entirely voluntary relationship.

    My relationship with the federal government is not voluntary. When Congress passes a law I don't agree with, I can't take my business elsewhere without moving to a different country. I'm stuck with it. It's all well and good to believe that government is supposed to be representing the interests of the people, but they cannot be everything to everyone. Some percentage of people will necessarily be unhappy with the outcome, often a large percentage.

    That's why people like me are in favor of limiting its influence. That's obviously not always possible, which is why we also prefer those decisions that large percentages of people won't agree with to go to state and local governments. If my town bans gay marriage and I'm in favor of it, I can move to the next town over without disrupting my life too much. If my state's education department is awful, I can move somewhere with a better one. When you concentrate all that power in the federal government, we lose choice and freedom.

  15. You're not thinking like Mom on Toys R Us Unveils Android Tablet For Kids · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As a nerd, but also as someone in the mobile games business, I'd say there's definitely potential here. All they need is a big sticker saying "No accidental app purchases!"

    Mobile games on an iPad run the risk of Junior buying $500 worth of virtual currency. The same moms who aren't tech-savvy enough to disable that feature are the same ones who'd more than happily spend $150 on a kid-proof Tabeo. There's also a dollar value on the fact that Mom doesn't need to spend any time or energy ensuring Junior doesn't download anything objectionable.

    Those are just two examples- there are plenty of others.

  16. Re:Content control by the previous owners? on NBC Purchases MSNBC Rights From Microsoft · · Score: 2

    So, if I read this correctly, NBC is its own owner again, and therefore also in charge of its own contents. Independence is important for a news provider.

    Hope the OP was aiming for a "funny" mod.

    NBC, MSNBC, and CNBC are all owned by NBCUniversal (as in Universal Studios; the two merged in 2004), which is in turn owned by GE and Comcast.

    CNN is owned by Turner, which is in turn owned by Time Warner.

    ABC is owned by Disney

    Fox is owned by Fox Entertainment Group, owned by News Corp

    Independence doesn't exist in modern media- at least not in the television space.

  17. What else is there to say? on Supreme Court Orders Do-Over On Key Software Patents · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This nonsense is crushing innovation. It's one more in a long line of examples of how we need to reevaluate how we govern ourselves.

  18. Re:Any word on effects on Stanford Bioengineers Create Rewritable Digital Data Storage In DNA · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Not if they're non-coding strings of DNA that aren't involved with gene expression.

  19. Any engine technicians around to translate? on Diesel-Like Engine Could Boost Fuel Economy By 50% · · Score: 1

    Where exactly do the efficiency increases from tradition -> diesel -> Delphi engine come from? The article mentions the ignition process but I'm having a hard time understanding exactly what about this drives a 40-50% improvement. What's so great about diesel, and what makes this engine so much better?

  20. Re:Prediction on 'Inexact' Chips Save Power By Fudging the Math · · Score: 0

    My computer makes it a +4.7 funny.

    More like +/- 4.7 funny.

  21. Re:Yes, it will raise prices on U.S. Imposes Tariffs On Chinese Solar Cells · · Score: 1

    And then when they jack up the prices again, what's to stop anyone from re-entering the market? Do you think there are significant barriers to manufacturing something as simple as solar cells?

    Even assuming they bankrupt all competitors and then raise their prices, new competitors will come out of the woodwork to eat their lunch. It's not a sustainable long-term strategy.

    This is a ridiculous argument.

  22. Re:Yes, it will raise prices on U.S. Imposes Tariffs On Chinese Solar Cells · · Score: 2

    And they'll be able to sell them no higher than the market rate, which will be higher than cost plus a slim profit margin, just like any other product on earth. Raise the price too much and China's comparative advantage is lost, and Vietnam or India or maybe even the USA swoops in and sells them for less. Eventually we settle on the truest, cheapest realistic price for the product.

    Guys, this is basic economics.

  23. Re:Yes, it will raise prices on U.S. Imposes Tariffs On Chinese Solar Cells · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As always seems to happen during debates around trade tariffs and regulation, you're considering only one side of the equation (American workers) and not the other (American consumers). The majority of us who are not workers manufacturing solar cells benefit greatly from having a supply of cheap, foreign-made solar cells rather than expensive, domestic-made cells, which on the whole balances out the negative impact on American workers.

    Our first world living standard is exactly because of these kinds of arrangements, not despite them.

    You are correct in pointing out that "dumping" (selling solar cells below the cost of manufacturing them) is a true market distortion and should generally be discouraged, but I think it's naive to pretend that these tariffs are based on economics and not political pressures.

  24. Re:Thank god! on The Pirate Bay Returns, Anonymous Hater Takes Credit For DDoS · · Score: 1

    Picard's crazy, Geordi can see, and everything is Q's fault.

  25. The Old Marketing Adage Applies Double for GM on General Motors: "Facebook Ads Aren't Worth It" · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "I know that 50% of my ads are effective, I just don't know which 50%"

    Attributing conversions (ie, purchase of a new car) to ads is tricky for any business, let alone one like GM where the eventual purchase takes place offline. You can track leads from Facebook ads to your website, but how can you be sure the ads contributed to a purchase down the road? And even if you ask someone who comes into a car dealership "Did you see our ad on Facebook?" or give them a coupon to print and bring with them, how can you be sure how much of that purchase was driven by that ad vs the ads she saw on TV vs the radio vs print?

    Facebook ads command a hefty premium over more mainstream online ads because of the ability to finely target specific types of people (ie, people who have "Liked" GM, people who have listed "cars" as an interest, people who have mentioned the Chevy Volt in a conversation...). It's a big problem for Facebook if brands can't attribute this premium ad spend to a measurable increase in sales.