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User: robkill

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  1. Another victim of an LBO on Largest US Radio Company iHeartMedia Files For Bankruptcy (reuters.com) · · Score: 1

    Just like Toys 'R' Us was bought out by KKR and Bain in 2005, ClearChannel was bought by Bain and Thomas H Lee in an LBO in 2008. In both cases the company was saddled with more debt than they could pay off and had to file for Chapter 11.

  2. Re:Worst possible ruling for businesses and worker on Supreme Court Declines To Broaden Whistleblower Protections (reuters.com) · · Score: 1

    Don't blame the ruling, blame the companies that put profit over ethics. If a company actually rewarded employees for whistleblowing, instead of punishing them by firing them, then the company should not be worried about the fiscal incentive to report to the SEC instead of internally. A company willing to fire an employee rather than fix internal criminal activity isn't worried about the incentive effect of it's behavior on other companies' employees.

    As another poster commented, most companies have internal anonymous tip lines, to ensure an employee isn't retaliated against. An employee seeking to be rewarded may go directly to the SEC, but that reward is predicated on the company being found guilty of illegal actions that were reported. That is a long time to wait for a reward. Even with whistleblower protection in that case, things won't be pleasant for the whistleblower at that company.

    Company retaliation is despicable, but if an employee reports criminal activity internally, how can the SEC know a dismissed employee was a whistleblower who was retaliated against? The SEC still knows nothing about the activity or who reported it.

  3. I believe the critics. on Turkey Rolls Out Domestic Rival To WhatsApp, Raising Surveillance Concerns (reuters.com) · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Almost 20 years ago, my company gave a brief presentation to visitors from the Turkish National Police. They wanted network traffic monitoring tools to expose people visiting "illegal websites". I'm sure the mindset hasn't changed since then.

  4. Mulvaney took $5K from Equifax's PAC on US Consumer Protection Official Puts Equifax Probe on Ice (reuters.com) · · Score: 5, Informative

    Not surprisingly, Mulvaney has been taking money from Equifax, Experian, and other entities the CPFB has been investigating, and has delayed, or ended investigations against them.

    https://www.commondreams.org/n...

    Then again what else do you expect when the appointed leader of a government organization believes that organization shouldn't exist. (e.g. Rick Perry, Ryan Zinke, Scott Pruitt etc.) Dismantling of government oversight, de facto bribery (not de jure only due to only ridiculously strict interpretations of the bribery law, explicit quid pro quo situations being prosecuted, and seldom even then.)

  5. Re:Dumb fashion trends on 'No One Wants Your Used Clothes Anymore' (bloomberg.com) · · Score: 1

    If my friends buy my clothes (judgement optional), then I don't need to donate them. Problem solved!

  6. Re:yea right on Unreleased 1963 Beatles Tracks On Sale To Preserve Copyright · · Score: 2

    Since that song is a cover, originally a hit for Barrett Strong, songwriter royalties for it would go to Berry Gordy. Strong was initially listed as a songwriter, but was later removed. Gordy claimed Strong's inclusion as songwriter was a "clerical error."

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_(That's_What_I_Want)

  7. Re:WRT54GL? on Remote Linksys 0-Day Root Exploit Uncovered · · Score: 1
  8. Non-fiction on Ask Slashdot: Mathematical Fiction? · · Score: 1

    Simon Singh's book "Fermat's Enigma" on Andrew Wiles' proof of Fermat's Last Theorem.
    http://www.amazon.com/Fermats-Enigma-Greatest-Mathematical-Problem/dp/0385493622

    Morris Kline' s book "Mathematics, the Loss of Certainty" on how the discovery of geometries where perpendicular lines intersect in more than one point (ellipsoidal and hyperbolic) led to the efforts to determine whether Mathematics as we know it is consistent. Leads up to Goedel's Incompleteness Theorem.
    http://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Loss-Certainty-Galaxy-Books/dp/0195030850/

  9. While this phrase may date to 1880 or so... on The History of 'Correlation Does Not Imply Causation' · · Score: 1

    The argument is "Cum Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc" as described in Latin. The similar phrase "Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc" or "after this therefore because of this" dates back to 1704, according to Merriam Webster. I would assume "Cum Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc" is of similar age and origin.

  10. Re:Citation? on In Nuclear Power, Size Matters · · Score: 1

    Given all the environmental problems with the Savannah River Site, and the fight to prevent it being used as a storage facility for nuclear waste, how can you possibly expect the area to have a favorable response to a new nuclear power plant?

  11. Re:Copyright Infringement on Beautifully Rendered Music Notation With HTML5 · · Score: 1

    The agency in question is Harry Fox Agency. They represent the majority of music publishers, and were responsible for bringing down the Online Guitar Archive (OLGA) back in the 90's for publishing infringement for posting tablature.

    http://itlaw.wikia.com/wiki/Harry_Fox_Agency

  12. Re:New corporate slogan on Adobe Calls Out Apple With Ads In NY Times, WSJ · · Score: 1

    Adobe: We Bitch and Moan until we Get Our Way(TM)

    Since when has Adobe stopped at bitching and moaning?
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_v._ElcomSoft_Sklyarov

  13. Re:have you tried going outside? on Open Source Alternative To Google Earth? · · Score: 1

    it's free (as in beer AND speech)

    Except for all those pesky "No Trespassing!" signs.

  14. Open Geospatial Consortium on Open Source Alternative To Google Earth? · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Google Earth is essentially a Web Map Server (WMS) The OGC http://www.opengeospatial.org/ has all the specifications for Web Map Severs and Clients. As others have mentioned, NASA WorldWind is a good example.

    A blog to follow would be http://freegeographytools.com/

  15. Re:It's a shame, but I'm ok with it on How Artificial Intelligence Is Changing Music · · Score: 1

    It's no worse than Fantasy records suing John Fogerty when he recorded "The Old Man Down the Road" for sounding too much like Creedence Clearwater Revival.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fogerty_v._Fantasy

  16. Re:Size matters on Why Is a Laptop's Battery Dearer Than a Lawnmower's? · · Score: 4, Informative

    This was mentioned in the article, but not as size, but weight. The power to weight ratio is more important. Density of the individual battery cells, and continuous use vs. burst usage also come into play.

  17. This needs to be shared on Americans Don't Want Targeted Ads · · Score: 1

    How about a "targeted" email of the results of this study to all online advertisers. Certainly it's important enough that they won't mind receiving 2 or 3 copies since it's "business relevant". We do want to make sure these people are inconvenienced, er I mean informed.

  18. Re:Enough is enough - Time to amend the Constituti on ASCAP Says Apple Should Pay For 30-sec. Song Samples · · Score: 1

    Good luck. The first hurdle in creating an amendment to the Constitution is that it has to be passed by a 2/3 majority of Congress. If the **AA's can get over %50 to pass the Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act, then they can easily get over %33 to stall an amendment.

  19. What do former Champions players think? on Review: Champions Online · · Score: 1

    I'd be curious to hear what players of the old pen and paper RPG version of Champions think. The best part of the game was the separation of game mechanics from character type. It sounds like CO got that part right. The differences between normal, killing, no normal defense, and ego/psi attacks also made for interesting character variety. Combat in the original RPG was somewhat tedious and arithmetic-intensive. The review mentions "killing" henchmen. One of the hallmarks of the RPG were characters with "Code Vs. Killing" psychological limitations. What world would accept superheroes who casually walk into a fight and kill their enemies?

  20. Re:Court first then cut. on Do We Want ISPs Penalizing Music Fans? · · Score: 1

    One problem that the music and movie industries have created for themselves with consolidation, is that the large overhead of the consolidated organizations has exacerbated the need for a multi-platinum CD or a blockbuster movie bringing in $500 million in order to be profitable. In a feast-or-famine sink-or-swim environment there is little opportunity for independent artists (film-makers or bands) to develop. The *AA only see immediate return on investment.

    In the music industry especially, the larger labels will add in contractual obligations to spend %X of the advance on recording, using a pre-approved list of producers and studios. Of course the label has a financial interest in these studios/producers, and by having these stipulations in the contract, get to squeeze more profit from the artist by essentially being paid twice, once when the artist uses his/her advance, and again when the label recoups the advance from royalties.

    Indie bands, singer-songwriters and other artists that don't get much airplay, and rely on touring to survive, have found it much easier to be profitable off smaller sales volume by either recording for an independent label, or forming their own label. The artist then controls his/her costs, rather than suffer the label inflating the costs to compensate for not selling X million copies.

  21. Re:Who's Next? on ASCAP Starts To Act Like the RIAA · · Score: 1, Informative

    No, for several reasons.

    1.) Having recorded for nearly 30 years, Al knows the ins and outs of what's legal, what he can easily fight, and what he can't.

    2.) The original songwriter is credited on all parodies (and polka medleys) meaning Al pays royalties to the original songwriter on all songs recorded on CD or receiving airplay. ASCAP and the original artist are making money from Al.

    3.) Al gets permission from the artist before recording a parody, even though it isn't legally necessary. In the case of parodying James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" (as "You're Pitiful") the label (not the artist) withheld permission after recording, so instead of releasing it on the "Straight out of Lynwood" CD, he put out an mp3 from his website. Other parodies for which he doesn't have artist permission, he will perform live in concert, but will not record.

    More details at his Wikipedia page.

  22. Re:Compuware's "Optimal Advisor"... on Borland Being Purchased By Micro Focus · · Score: 1

    Compuware had 3 essential tools for mainframe development (IBM 370)

    Abend-Aid - automated dump solver for when you program core-dumped.

    File-Aid - Easily the best file browser for the mainframe. I'd love to see a similar tool on Windows or Linux that allowed you to create customized text and binary file formats for viewing file innards.

    Xpediter - mainframe debugger.

  23. Re:Who is Micro Focus? on Borland Being Purchased By Micro Focus · · Score: 4, Informative

    Actually, Micro Focus made a great deal of cash in the nineties by providing COBOL development on the PC. COBOL programmers who were maintaining applications on a mainframe were no longer tied to an 8-color terminal connected at 9600 baud, or by using a terminal-emulation program that was just as bad. Compuware also put out a number of mainframe tools that were heavily used. I wonder if Micro Focus got those as well?

  24. After Looking at the CNET article on Proposed Peer-To-Peer Law Sparks Animosity · · Score: 5, Informative

    Bill is sponsored by Rep. Mary Bono. Big surprise. She was behind the 1998 Sunny Bono Copyright Extension Act and has worked very closely with the RIAA and MPAA in the past.

    From the CNET article:

    Bono's Informed P2P User Act says that it will be "unlawful" for P2P software to cause files to be made available unless two rules are followed. First, the utility's installation process must provide "clear and conspicuous notice" of its features and obtain the user's "informed consent." Second, the program must step through that notice-and-consent process every time it runs.

    In other words: a "This gun shoots bullets, which may be lethal." notice every time the program is used, made further annoying by a list of all files that would be shared.

    Should a user have a way of finding out exactly what the software they are using is doing, and an easy way to configure it correctly? Absolutely. Should it provide a way for me to view the configuration and what it will share? Hopefully, and I'd look for software that does. Does that mean all software should be dumbed down, and force me to go through such a notice every time I use it? Absolutely not. Of course the end result will be no different than what users currently do with EULA notices during software installation.

    All in all a law requireing a bad and onerous implementation of what a good program should do anyway, and potentially the thin end of a wedge to add more restrictions to P2P software. The law could be used to go after some forms of spyware, but I'd much rather see a law carefully crafted for that purpose.

  25. Re:Dear Bruce... on Let's Rename Swine Flu As "Colbert Flu" · · Score: 2, Funny

    Perhaps, but Perens Pox would probably work even better