Slashdot Mirror


User: GuB-42

GuB-42's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
2,150
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 2,150

  1. Driving licence on Ask Slashdot: Are Any Certifications Worth Going For? · · Score: 1

    Well, you probably have one. But if you don't, seriously, it's important even if you don't have a car.
    The reasons :
    - It's a good all-around test : smart enough to understand traffic laws, good enough motor skills, minimum amount of common sense, etc... Basically shows that you are not crippled.
    - Your employer may ask you to drive someday (buiseness trip, rental car...)

  2. Re:Simple USA fix on New Effort To Grant Legal Rights To Chimpanzees Fails · · Score: 1

    Just declare chimps as corporations, THEN they'll have rights.

    But liquidation will be a bit messy...

  3. Re:I call BS on The Cost of the "S" In HTTPS · · Score: 1

    2. are you sure in-network value-added services does not really mean cookies and tracking, etc.?

    Cookies and tracking work perfectly in https. Conversely, a proxy that blocks cookies and tracking before they even reach your browser is an "in-network value-added service".

  4. I don't think so on Is a "Wikipedia For News" Feasible? · · Score: 1

    News are short lived and should be delivered as fast as possible, it is not something that is refined over time like a Wikipedia article.
    Moreover, news are very personal. Are you interested in sports ? what sport ? what team ? and fashion ? and video games ? It's nice to have a listing of what most "editors" think are important news but I don't necessarily have the same interests. There are systems that can help you getting the most relevant news for you but that's more a Google-like job than a Wikipedia-like job.
    And it's not like community-based news sites are a new thing : digg, reddit and even the *chans... Except these look not at all like a wiki.

  5. Re:Slander? on UK Police To Publicly Shame Drunk Drivers On Twitter This Christmas · · Score: 1

    I believe that you can claim damage if you are wrongfully accused. And there are usually laws protecting people from being treated as criminals before they are declared guilty by a court of law.
    How effective these mechanism are, I don't know, but they exist.

  6. Doesn't surprise me but... on In UK Study, Girls Best Boys At Making Computer Games · · Score: 1

    That girls end up better at game design won't surprise me. They typically have a better understanding of human psychology and I believe that as tools become better, it will become more important than technical skills. 1
    But this study say nothing about what will happen when these kids reach adulthood, or even high school. Girls start puberty about 1 year earlier than boys, with all the associated physical and mental changes. At 12-13, the difference in maturity between boys and girls is huge. Boys start to catch up only at about 16 or so.

  7. Re:What about long-term data integrity? on How Intel and Micron May Finally Kill the Hard Disk Drive · · Score: 1

    The write count is not a problem : write count exceeded, change drive, copy data, done. It's not like the drive will explode once the threshold is exceeded. And chances are that you will never encounter this problem unless you have a *very* intensive usage.

    Perhaps more problematic is fading. Flash cells lose charge over time, and the more you write, the more "leaky" the cells become. That's why we say that the number of writes is limited, because past a certain point, the manufacturer cannot guarantee that the data will stay for more than X amount of time. FYI, X = 1 year for the Intel 520. Note that that's 1 year powered off. If the drive is on, the cells will be periodically refreshed, making the actual duration much longer.
    But SSDs are not the only kind of storage medium that lose data over time. Magnetic storage is slowly erased by the earth magnetic field, reflective layers on CDs oxydize, etc... It means that the only way to ensure long-term data integrity is to actively maintain backups, or, if it not possible, use special archival grade storage media. Archival media can be of any kind : (EE)PROM, magnetic, optical, paper, ... but optimized for long-term storage at the expense of other things like storage density.

  8. Re:is Microsoft behind it? on The People Who Are Branding Vulnerabilities · · Score: 1

    - Linux has a greater market share in critical systems
    - Linux is expected to be more secure than Windows
    - Being a closed system, there isn't much you can do in Windows beside waiting the patch from MS. Linux is community based and more attention results in faster response.
    - Vulnerabilities like heartbleed are not linux-specific. OpenSSL may be used on many OSes including Windows.

  9. $10000/gram is about... on Conglomerate Rock From Mars: (Much) More Precious Than Gold · · Score: 1

    - 2.5 times more expensive that weapon grade plutonium
    - twice cheaper than Soliris (medical drug)
    - 3 times cheaper than tritium

    LSD and diamonds can also be in this price range but this is a bit more complicated to estimate.

  10. Re:Big woop on What Happens When Nobody Proofreads an Academic Paper · · Score: 1

    I think the point is that standards and professionalism are slipping, even in science.

    No, the point is that standards and professionalism are low. To show that they are "slipping" would require showing that they were higher at some point in the past. Crappy, poorly edited papers are nothing new.

    In this study, we have used (insert statistical method here) to show that the quality of papers was declining.

  11. Useless on US School Installs 'Shooter Detection' System · · Score: 1

    First of all, school shootings are not that common but more importantly, as described, I am not sure this system will be able to save even a single kid.
    This can make arrest easier but by the time the police arrive, even if it is ready and positioned right next to the school, the criminal would have already unloaded his weapon. Arresting criminals is a good thing but it won't get anyone back to life.
    Perhaps, if this system helps getting faster medical assistance, it may save a few lives but it would cost a disproportionate amount of money. When we talk about safety, a human life is valued at about $7M in the US, it means that if deploying this system on a large scale costs $700M, it has to save at least 100 lives to be considered money well spent. Otherwise, there are better things to do with it, like improving road safety.

  12. Re:Trying to wrap my head around this on Terrorists Used False DMCA Claims To Get Personal Data of Anti-Islamic Youtuber · · Score: 1

    They didn't "disclose" anything, they just followed the legal procedure which is :
    - the "copyright holder" (FirstCrist, Copyright) sends a DMCA takedown notice to the provider (YouTube)
    - the provider blocks the content and forwards the notice to the subscriber (Al Hayat TV)
    - if the subscriber wants his content back, he sends back a counter-notice to the provider, this notice needs to mention the real name and address of the subscriber or of his agent
    - the provider forwards the counter-notice to the "copyright holder"
    - the "copyright holder" has 10 days to sue the subscriber, if he doesn't, the content is restored

    Legally speaking I'm pretty sure that Google is totally clean, the only wrongdoers are the ones who filed the bogus claim. Ethically, it is more complicated.
    Anyways, I think that the YouTuber should have used a attorney. It wouldn't have fixed the ethical issues but at least, he would have been safe.

  13. Re:Can We Install Apps To The SD Card? on Android 5.0 Makes SD Cards Great Again · · Score: 2

    It was a PITA and very user unfriendly. I'm glad I don't have to mess with this like I did when I had a Nexus One (~256 MB total storage).
    Problems are :
    - SD cards are expected to be removable, and when you remove your card, apps are in a half-installed state : you can't use it and you can't uninstall it completely.
    - SD cards are usually FAT32 formatted. And FAT32 lacks important features like users and mode bits (permissions).
    - SD cards are often slower than internal memory
    As a result, moveToSd features were often incomplete, mistake-prone, or both.

    Also you can put a truckload of apps in 3GB. If you need more than that, you are a power user and probably have a phone with 16+GB of internal storage... or you know how to root.

  14. Made up problems ? on The Other Side of Diversity In Tech · · Score: 1

    I work with women, blacks, arabs, etc... And everything is fine for everyone.
    Of course, a few of them were unhappy with their situation but it happens with white males too. These people tend to blame everything but themselves.

    The women I work with are usually a lot more tech inclined than the average women, which is to be expected when working in tech. So yeah, they may readily talk about computers, video games and cars, but it doesn't prevent them from being feminine. They just have the culture that matches their jobs. Likewise, you should expect people working in libraries to read books and people making dog food to own pets.
    Whether or not our minority coworkers get along is not about about accepting offensive jokes but rather a simple matter of social skills. If you show that you bring more fun to a group than racist or sexist jokes, people will want you in, even if you don't accept these jokes.

  15. Re:WiFi in France on Study: There's a Wi-Fi Hotspot For Every 150 People In the World · · Score: 2

    Exactly, also you have no control over that hotspot, the company uses your payed line to make more money, as they sell this to others as a service and on top of everything, you have no control to your router whatsoever, you have to login to the company's website and see what limited options they provide you.
    Also, in France I had terrible problems with latencies and ofc with Youtube

    I think you are talking about Free.
    The router is indeed completely controlled by the ISP and you use the company's website for settings. However, it not as bad as it may seem because :
    - The public hotspot is independent from your home connection. The IP is different and you are not liable if something bad is done with it.
    - You can disable the hotspot feature (but you lose access to others hotspots), you can also turn off WiFi completely.
    - QoS is used to prioritize connections. The order is : VoIP, TV, Home internet, Public hotspot. As you see the public hotspot has the lowest priority so it is unlikely to impact you.
    - If you want control over your internet connection you have "bridge mode", which I think is the best compromise between features and control. In this mode, you get a public, internet-facing IP so that you can connect your own router behind it and manage things like DHCP, DNS, NAT, port forwarding, etc... yourself and you still get to keep VoIP, TV and hotspot. You can't control QoS effectively though.
    - It is possible to take full control of your line by replacing the ISP's router with your own modem. A bit tricky though, and frankly, not worth it for the vast majority of people.

    You are right about Youtube and the global quality of their backbone though. It has improved a bit but Free still has one of the worst connectivity. If it is a problem to you, I recommend OVH (if it is available). As an ISP, it is geared mostly towards small businesses and has a very good peering.

  16. Re:Thanks for ruining youtube, google on YouTube Considering an Ad-Free, Subscription-Based Version · · Score: 1

    How is it worse ? There is plenty of high quality contents made by professionals. YouTube is not just for cat videos anymore.
    Of course, for these people to make a living, they need to monetize and it means you have to give something in return as neither producers nor Google are charities. It may be a bit of your person (that's what ads are for) or money. Google now considers the second option, which I think is a good one.

    As for the time before YouTube was bought by Google, it was only better because there were plenty of unchecked piracy. Content owners didn't sue YouTube because it was a small company and there wasn't money to be made. The picture changed when Google, with its very deep pockets, bought it. But in this case, Google's only fault was to have money. Even if YouTube had stayed independent, copyright holders would have attacked as soon as it had became profitable, requiring similar changes.

  17. Re:This whole CurrentC thing is reminding me of Di on Apple Pay Competitor CurrentC Breached · · Score: 1

    In this case, I am waiting for CurrentC ;-)

  18. The big bang theory matches creationism perfectly on Pope Francis Declares Evolution and Big Bang Theory Are Right · · Score: 1

    The universe growing from a singularity, the fact that we don't know what happened before. I am an atheist but I think may be the scientific theory that is the most compatible with the idea of a creator.

  19. Re:This was no AP. on LAX To London Flight Delayed Over "Al-Quida" Wi-Fi Name · · Score: 1

    And real terrorists would broadcast they are in the vicinity by stating so loudly, of course.

    Yes !
    Terrorists, by definition, terrorize. Killings are just a mean to an end. As such, loudly announcing their presence before they attack may be an effective strategy. The goal would be to make people panic at the slightest hoax by making a few hoax-like events real.

  20. Re:As has been posted before on The Problem With Positive Thinking · · Score: 1

    pluss +++++++++ PLUS PLUSS 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

    I Hate positive people.

    I see what you did there... I think.

  21. Re:When did "Global Warming" become "Climate chang on EU Sets Goal To Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions 40% By 2030 · · Score: 1

    They changed the name from "Global warming" to "Climate change" for PR reasons, the underlying principles are still the same.
    Global warming means the average temperature of the globe raises by a small amount. And people would assume that the only thing that would change is that temperatures will raise by a few degrees. Except that it may not match local observations (hey, this winter is colder than the previous one) and even if it was, it would be mostly viewed as something desirable (who likes freezing cold winters ?).
    In reality, global warming would result in more extreme weather, sea level rise, a redistribution of local cold and hot areas rather than a steady raise in temperatures everywhere. Hence "climate change".

  22. A good start for a Lovecraftian story on Century Old Antarctic Expedition Notebook Found Underneath Ice · · Score: 1

    An expedition to Antarctica that didn't end well, a notebook left behind. It's all too easy to make parallels with The Mountains of Madness.
    And just in time for Halloween too.

  23. Re:/. is getting more and more unbelievable !! on Mark Zuckerberg Speaks Mandarin At Tsinghua University In Beijing · · Score: 1

    ... a notoriously difficult language to learn and particularly, to speak

    If the Chinese language is really such a notoriously difficult language to learn (and to speak) there ought to be no one using it anymore, right?

    I believe it meant difficult for westerners like Zuckerberg.
    I don't know Mandarin but I did a bit of Japanese and while the language itself isn't that difficult, the differences are what makes the learning hard. If, for example, English and French have 60% in common and English and Mandarin have only 20% in common, it will make learning Mandarin much harder for an English speaker, even if, in absolute terms, French may be harder than Mandarin.

  24. Re:Goolge is helping... on Assange: Google Is Not What It Seems · · Score: 0

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    How ironic... You tell us that Google is evil because of the way the data they collect might be used and yet, you point us to the one site that we should avoid the most according to your description.
    And it's not only ironic, it's also a bad move if you really believe in what you have written. You see, imagine that Google and friends want to keep us stupid and that you, by the way of videos want to enlighten us. By pointing us to youtube, you allow Google to analyse the profile of the people you want to enlighten and, by manipulating the "related videos" and subtly filtering the comments, make an effective counter.

  25. Re:Coding leads to a life of poverty on Microsoft, Facebook Declare European Kids Clueless About Coding, Too · · Score: 1

    And how about letting them do what they want ? As long as it is realistic of course.
    Once you got past the basic necessities, like food and shelter and a bit of spare for simple pleasures, earning more money doesn't add that much to your quality of life. OTOH, you spend a huge part of your life working, so it's better be something you like.
    If your kids really are that bright, it means that they have the rare chance of being able to do practically anything and make a living of it. I include coding of course but also much more competitive fields like acting, arts, gaming, etc...