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Comments · 238

  1. Re:Cunning strategy on Sony Thinks You'll Pay $1200 For a Digital Walkman · · Score: 1

    And the resident audiophile idiots start to chime in.

    As far as speaker wire goes, neither Monster, nor cables costing thousands of dollars more are superior to 30 cent/ft. lamp Wire available at your local Radio Shack.

    Jesu, logged in just to say this. Thank you.

  2. Re:Send in the drones! on Russian Military Forces Have Now Invaded Ukraine · · Score: 0

    Best slashdot quote in ages:

    " France, consistent with its traditions, surrendered before the war began." --superwiz

    Dolla dolla bill yo!

    andy

  3. Re:But scarcity! on Verizon's Accidental Mea Culpa · · Score: 1

    No its exactly like that. Farenheit 451, basically. The parties are flipping a coin to decide who will be in power next, and their mindless supporters follow along. Ever see those scenes of the Middle East where they hold up giant pictures of "their guy"? Same deal here....

    "I voted last election, same as everyone, and I laid it on the line for President Noble. I think he's one of the nicest-looking men who ever became president."

    "Oh, but the man they ran against him!"

    "He wasn't much, was he? Kind of small and homely and he didn't shave too close or comb his hair very well."

    "What possessed the ‘Outs’ to run him? You just don't go running a little short man like that against a tall man. Besides, he mumbled. Half the time I couldn't hear a word he said. And the words I did hear I didn't understand!"

    "Fat, too, and didn't dress to hide it. No wonder the landslide was for Winston Noble. Even their names helped. Compare Winston Noble to Hubert Hoag for ten seconds and you can almost figure the results."

  4. Re:Wait for it... on Malaysian Passenger Plane Reportedly Shot Down Over Ukraine · · Score: 0

    I wonder if the pilot didn't get the memo about that region and used an old flight path? It certainly looks like the FA track deviates to avoid that region on the previous flights....

  5. Re: user error on People Who Claim To Worry About Climate Change Don't Cut Energy Use · · Score: 1

    His car is 12 years old, yours is 5. If you replace yours at twice the interval that he does, your net carbon footprint will be significantly larger. His car get a tank every month and a half, so 8 tanks a year. At 32 mpg, ~16 gal/tank (18.5 max, per http://www.edmunds.com/bmw/5-s...) he drives ~5000 miles/year. You drive 20,000 miles/year. So your fuel consumption is twice his per year, even if you get double the mieage. So not only is your car newer which implies you generate tons more carbon buying new cars, but you burn twice as much fuel as he does per year.

    And if you upgrade to that newer model, you will put tons more carbon into the atmosphere, before you ever drive it.

    Your best bet is a recycled (ie. used) Honda CRX HF, which gets the same fuel mileage as your Basic Marin Wheels but has already had its carbon burned.

    This would tie in well with the study that people who worry about carbon climate change are the ones who do the least to prevent it....

    andy

  6. Re:More government control, that's the ticket on Proton-M Rocket Carrying Russia's Most Advanced Satellite Crashes · · Score: 1

    Also, the US has a huge first generation immigrant population. That skews our national numbers pretty badly in things like life expectancy, child mortality, etc.

  7. Yeah, we're working on it. We have a system to correct this crap, hopefully we'll use it. In the meantime, make sure yours is just as transparent as you want ours to be. Maybe even show us the way. It would really help out, if you are indeed using the ideas our founders gave you....

    Oh, and the NSA et. al. also spy on all the US citizens. Its not like they really tried hard to avoid it. They can have any non-US entity do it for them and share the results. We're all sorta in this together, us humans.

    The Oligarchy in the US will get fixed eventually, we all hope for the better. It would be, you know, easier, if certain eurasian countries could stop invading their neighbors, and all. Have hope, humans are better than this.

  8. Re:It's not about wages on How Silicon Valley CEOs Conspired To Suppress Engineers' Wages · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You either have no idea how the engineering job market works or are being deliberately obtuse.

    These companies set the price for engineering hires throughout the valley. If they collude to keep salaries down, all other companies vying for engineering talent will not have to pay the market rate. In effect, they are guaranteeing themselves access to engineers at depressed wages by market manipulation.

    And in the real world, you retain talent by paying for it. It doesn't work for free. If the talent is so freaking important, then pay for it. It will stay if you are paying as much or more than is available on the outside. If you are a business, and you have critical folks, you should be paying them like they are critical, not limiting their job options.

    You would care about this if you were the talent in question, getting underpaid and reported for applying to another job. Imagine how many careers have been derailed in the valley by these HR departments reporting job seekers to their employers.

    You would also care about this if you were a shareholder or current employee at one of the cartel companies, given that all who have applied for a job from one of these cartel companies to the other and been rejected now are a pain free class action waiting to happen. All who have had their wages depressed are a class action waiting to happen.

    And in the end, everyone loses except the CxOs with their golden parachutes and the Blood Sucking Lawyers.

    That's why this is fscking stupid and wrong. You can resume speculating about their motives, as though that means a gd damn thing.

    andy

  9. Re:It's not about wages on How Silicon Valley CEOs Conspired To Suppress Engineers' Wages · · Score: 2

    It is completely about wages! Did you miss the part about keeping employee pay within narrow bands? The sharing of compensation data with competitors? They prevented their engineers getting hired at other major employers, then kept these same emploees from making a market wage, ie. the wage they would receive if free to go to another job! If these engineers are so critical, maybe, they should be paid like it? And in doing so, raise the pay for all engineers? These CEOs, who made the deals here, are worth Billions, with a B. They are the 0.1%. They are the reason there aren't "enough" engineers in the US; there aren't enough engineers who will work for the artificially low wages they are offering. This behavior is dispicable; imagine if the engineers got together and artificially capped the compensation of senior management! They sign up for that too? I think not.

    andy

  10. Re:Uh? on Short Notice: LogMeIn To Discontinue Free Access · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yeah I dunno man, I have pretty much switched to reddit. Their comment sorting makes most of the losers disappear, or something. /. used to cater to people like you, who make excellent posts. Now you are yelled at by trolls. I don't understand it. You even posted the command for fscks sake!

    Don't go too far, some of us still appreciate informed posts.

    andy

  11. Re:Biased Media Coverage on SpaceX Launch Achieves Geostationary Transfer Orbit · · Score: 1

    SpaceX didn't go hiring a bunch of ULA engineers to build the Falcon series of rockets; there's a quote floating around that it was like 5% came from existing rocket related enterprises. It turns out that rocket science and engineering is just science and engineering; anyone can do it.

    And yeah, if you're an engineer and working for a company that employs 4 guys who keep a chair warm, 2 guys who create make work for everyone else, 1 guy who is a drooling moron, and you, and you're consequently spending 10 engineers worth of time to do 1 engineers worth of work, and you don't notice or care that its the case, you're fscking mediocre.
    Good engineers pay attention, collect data, do metrics; if you don't do that, you're mediocre.
    You work for ULA/ESA-Ariane/SLS, and you don't see the writing on the wall? You're mediocre.
    In fact, you're the definition of mediocre.

    Christ, its not even close; the majors have been in this business for almost 70 YEARS. I mean, how in the fsck do you have to charge 10X what your competitor charges when they just started doing, heavy industry, like this century, ferchissakes? I mean, ULA/ESA should be able to FART faster better cheaper rockets than SpaceX. The fact that they can't, and aren't even trying, tells you all you need to know not just about the companies/alliances themselves, but ALSO the people who work there.

    And I didn't say anything about CalTech/JPL; we are talking about SpaceX competitors here. JPL might do theory, design, and testing, but I don't think they've built an EELV class launch vehicle lately. In any case there is no evidence they are mediocre since nobody else has built a planetary rover, deployed it, and done equivalent science with it for better than 1/10th the cost.

    andy

  12. Re:Biased Media Coverage on SpaceX Launch Achieves Geostationary Transfer Orbit · · Score: 1

    Do you work in the defense aerospace industry? Because the part I worked for boasted that it was white collar welfare. In the specific instance, what do you call an industry that is getting paid 10X what it should cost (as defined by what cost someone else to do it) to deliver something? I mean, if you paid fast food cashiers 72.50$/hr (10X minimum wage) simply becuase they work in a niche industry using revolving door lobbyists to gather no competition govt contracts, what would you call that? What if you paid market rate to 10X as many engineers as you should (using the definition of should, above) for the same reason? What if your "competition" and "you" were allowed to "merge" into an "alliance" (ULA) and then you jacked up the price on a mature, delivered product, what would you call that?

    At least he didn't call it racketeering, or extortion, or bribery...which one could also argue....

    He called it welfare.

    As to the mediocre part, who in the fsck would ever work in a place like that? That's right, engineers who couldn't/can't get another job. As in, mediocre ones.

    andy

  13. Re:SpaceX is so cheap on SpaceX Launch Achieves Geostationary Transfer Orbit · · Score: 1

    So, do you work for Orbital, Boring, or Lockmart? ESA? Major sub? Trying to do SLS? Even work(ed) in Aerospace?

    This is a mature Delta II launch:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsVzpE7ltb8

    A Titan 34D (carying a 1B$ KH-x spy satellite, no less):
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXBl03wVHOY

    Early failures:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13qeX98tAS8

    All of these were funded ENTIRELY by the US Federal Government on a Cost Plus Fixed Fee basis, meaning even when they failed we paid costs AND profit to the contractors. SpaceX hasn't failed like this buddy, not by the order of magnitude less that they cost.

    You're either deliberately obtuse or a moron. I'm not a fanboi, I'm just glad to see a prime not fleece the Feds out of my tax dollars; I'm a huge fan of that.

    I tried to find "Wagon Train to the Stars" for the obligatorily accurate portrayal of NASA also, but my google-fu was not so good.

    Anyone, who thinks the status quo pre-SpaceX was better than the current situation is the one with their head in the sand.

    andy

  14. Re:SpaceX is so cheap on SpaceX Launch Achieves Geostationary Transfer Orbit · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Poor track record? How so? They haven't popped one on the pad, as all the majors did getting to this point. They built an EELV class launcher for less than ULA charges to keep the manufacturing base available for DeltaIV/Atlas V.

    These posts are so three years ago. SpaceX is bi-coastal and in business. All legacy launch companies are done. SLS? Done. It will go to the real commercial world for 3B$ instead of 30+. Lockmart and Boring cannot compete in any non rigged contest (CPFF what?). No more white collar welfare in the launch business.

    Oh, and birds don't have to be 1/4B$ if launch costs drop by an order of magnitude. You don't have to be that careful. You can afford to lose a few. And, you can afford to use technologies developed this century as a bonus. "Flight Proven" == 1960's tech.

    And we might get humans living off this rock this century, as a bonus. Or we can keep paying the tards to keep tarding.

    andy

  15. Re:I read this on Techdirt: on Edward Snowden Leaks Could Help Paedophiles Escape Police, Says UK Government · · Score: 1

    I agree. I am far more likely to be harmed by my own government at this point than any other. I fear my own government more than any other. We need to address the factions in our government and make it for the people again.

    andy

  16. Re:Isn't it time we take back our own country ? on Are the NIST Standard Elliptic Curves Back-doored? · · Score: 1

    My take on the solution, feel free to critique it. Its my current plan.
    http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=4056347&cid=44485435

  17. Re:Not entirely fair comparison on Magellan II's Adaptive Optics Top Hubble's Resolution · · Score: 1

    Hubble size was limited because the Prime Contractor (Lockheed) already had some engineering and hardware to support the 2.4m size. They had developed it for another project looking down, not up.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KH-11_Kennan#Design

    andy

  18. Re:Changing for the worse on Obama, Romney Data Scientists Strike Out On Their Own · · Score: 1

    Fsck come on now, the Federal Budget is going ever higher. Arguing over Federal Employees vs government contractors wholly responsible to Federal Employees is pedantic. They are spending more money they are in control of more people. End of story.

    andy

  19. Re:Changing for the worse on Obama, Romney Data Scientists Strike Out On Their Own · · Score: 1

    Horrible car analogy. 1000 HP and 50 MPG are engineering extremes (current tech, gas, etc.).

    What he's asking for is for his Federal politicians in the US to actually uphold the 2nd Amendment and the 10th Amendment. Or any of the other ones. Or have a party whose platform doesn't consist of the opposite of the other party's platform.

    Parent, all we can do is vote third party (pick one, doesn't matter). Until any third party has a viable chance no reasonable candidates will run, no politicians will heed the will of the people.

    andy

  20. Re:When you don't want a reference on Ask Slashdot: When Is It OK To Not Give Notice? · · Score: 1

    AFAIK, in California firing you immediately after you give two weeks notice means you are entitled to two weeks pay plus qualifies you for unemployment until you get another job or it runs out (just like being laid off would). This is important for those times where you dont have another job lined up or are starting your own business.

    I wish my previous employer had done this, would have been worth almost six figures to me, at the time....

    andy

  21. Re:How much!?! You made my day. on Crunching the Numbers On Shared Cellphone Contracts · · Score: 1

    What do you pay for international? US plans are for the whole country; that's like UK to Eastern Europe, Scandanavia to the Med.... I can fly 2500 miles across the continent, drive a 2000 mile loop once I'm there, and everything just works. Over 300 million people. Unlimited voice text and data (500 GB at 4G/HSPA+). All for $50 USD/month. Is there a plan that matches that?

    andy

  22. Re:Security professionals generally missing the po on TOR Wants You To Stop Using Windows, Disable JavaScript · · Score: 1

    Are you kidding me? Why in hell would you even say something like this....

    Linus wouldn't fill out the 17 forms required to get a check from the feds, much less submit the monthly progress reports or sign the forms, in triplicate, each month to receive the paper check to be deposited. Goddamn 7 digits, no understanding of the system at all...

    Much less participate in a system he would find grossly inefficient and horribly flawed. The man respects greatness, not whatever this is.

    You are an idiot. If this was a joke its not funny, even once.

    andy

  23. Re:but mathematically, 3rd party is always worse on Administration Seeks To Make Unauthorized Streaming A Felony · · Score: 1

    Americans like me just have to:

    1. Vote "None of the Above" if possible in all elections until candidates that agree with your political position run.

    2. Vote any third party candidate possible. If enough of the vote is third party, a third party that represents us will appear.

    3. Do not vote for any candidate other than these.

    Eight years later we will start getting better candidates and the parties will start to crumble. The two parties are our problem, they have staked out nonsensical platforms by playing the opposite game. We spend trillions of dollars a year for this useless crap. Spying, prisoning, drug war, fill in the fscking blank.

    If you identify as a Republican or a Democrat you are the reason this stuff keeps happening.

    andy

  24. Re:Captain Wi Tu Low is at it again on Second SFO Disaster Avoided Seconds Before Crash · · Score: 1

    priceless!

    andy

  25. Re:Spread Awareness on Fake "Speed Enforced By Drones" Signs On California Freeways · · Score: 1

    I always thought the opposite. I hate being passed by rigs at 80mph, only to have to pass them once the road climbs, traffic slows, there's a funny looking bird on the tree, or whatever else slows traffic momentarily. Ad nauseum. Slower trucks means they dont feel the need to pass anyone, since seeing that would be an instant speed ticket, so they stay over in the right lane(s) where they belong. The right lane(s) in CA becomes the lane for merging, old people, and trucks. Trucks moving with traffic means they are all over the place and clog traffic continuously. Also, nothing like a truck tailgating you because he can move with traffic and drive like the rest of the death wishers. Keeping them slow takes most of the bad truck driver behavior away; I am always suprised by bad truck driver behavior in other states....

    andy