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User: dantotheman

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Comments · 51

  1. Re:Bubbles on Inside the Facebook Algorithm Most Users Don't Even Know Exists · · Score: 1

    No conspiracy necessary: happy people pay more attention to ads( citation available if anyone cares ), they try to make us happy, trying to make us happy keeps us dumb, and it all serves everyone's short term interests, and no ones' long term interests.

    Just curious; did it take longer to write that than to just provide a copy/paste of the link you had in mind?

  2. Re:Snake Oil on How Facebook Sold You Krill Oil · · Score: 1

    A problem is, for all of the data that they have available, at least among the group of people that I have discussed this with, Facebook is not doing a very good job at analyzing that data. For example, they grouped a friend into the "Politics (US Conservative) audience" despite the fact that he scored 90+% Green and Democratic Party (and under 15% Republican) on the "I Side With ..." FB application.

    And where did you go abouts verifying what group Facebook put your friend in? Maybe they just grouped him into the "asshats that flood facebook with political rants" category. In that case, they probably analyzed the data perfectly.

  3. Re:should have gone with a browser... on 95% of ATMs Worldwide Are Still Using Windows XP · · Score: 3, Funny

    Maybe they do now, but the ATMs in question are so old they are running a 12 year old OS. Do you happen to remember the state of HTML and web browsers 12 years ago? I'll give you a hint. They certainly didn't support SVG then.

    HTML/SVG tend to be sandboxed to some extent... ditto for JavaScript... how do you propose your HTML based ATM interact with the card reader, cash dispenser, receipt printer or deposit slot?

    ATMs are more than just a touch screen with a UI.

    ActiveX controls running in IE 7

    shiver...

  4. Re:Efficiency. on Who Is Liable When a Self-Driving Car Crashes? · · Score: 1

    There are any number of fuzzy logic problems that the computer will never be better at solving as fast and correctly as a human is, simply because the data will be missing. Everyone who claims that the new robotic car overlords will be better and safer at doing everything for us are hopelessly naive.

    Mostly agreed with what you were saying, but you seem to be forgetting that the data is missing for humans as well. We are just already adapted to look for the warning signs. Nothing says that a computer can not also be adapted to look for them, though I agree that AI technology is not quite there yet. Considering how unimaginable/intangible something like Google Glass was 25 years ago. It would be naive to say we can predict how crazy technology will progress 25 years from now.

  5. You mean that up til now it has been widely believed that a super volcano required an external "trigger" before it erupted? I'm no vulcanologist, but I've been intrigued with super volcanoes for over ten years now, and in everything I've read or seen I don't recall anyone saying that some sort of external trigger was needed to "light the fuse", so to speak.

    I'm no vulcanologist either, but I can still "live long and prosper."

  6. Re:So high in Fiber, You'll crap rainbows! on Some Londoners Cut Off As Failed Copper Thieves Take Fiber · · Score: 1

    Yeah, but he was only allowed to use a flat head screwdriver and some duct tape.

  7. Re:giving 1 million to your buddies on Salesforce.com To Review Controversial Hackathon Win · · Score: 1

    Wow, Liu cracked the code. I enjoyed reading the first part. Contests are a way for big companies to get work done ridiculously cheap, and exploit technical people.

    I don't know if I would call the $1 million prize "ridiculously cheap"...

  8. Re:The Rest on 23% of IT Workers Spend Thanksgiving With Coworkers · · Score: 1

    Where are my mod points today?!

    This works everytime. Sometimes its even followed by a "Lin-what?"

  9. Re: Welcome to the rest of the world on Battlefield 4 DRM Locking Out Part of North America Until EU Release · · Score: 1

    Obviously Joe Schmoe only has friends in different countries. I also heard he only uses AIM to chat with them...

  10. Give me the written word and STFU.

    ftfy.

    Haven't you seen the new "and is better than or" commercials yet....

  11. Re:IT support on Edward Snowden's New Job: Tech Support · · Score: 1

    Because the excuse was "War on Terror" and I don't know for sure, but I don't think Merkel has any ties to Al Qaeda... again, I don't know, just guessing here...

    Isn't this the line of reasoning the NSA is using to spy on everyone

  12. Its starting. on Apple Maps Flaw Sends Drivers Across Airport Runway · · Score: 1

    Is this the first sign of the technological singularity? What better way to start picking off the puny human race than to lead them into dangerous situations....

    I for one, welcome our new robot overlords.

  13. Re:Airplane Mode on FAA May Let You Use Electronic Devices During Airplane Takeoff and Landing Soon · · Score: 1

    Finally! A use for the "airplane mode", except "I want to play and not be disturbed".

    Or "my battery is about to die and I'm still 3 hours away from a charger."

  14. Re:Question: multi-layer encryption on Most Tor Keys May Be Vulnerable To NSA Cracking · · Score: 4, Informative

    Depending on the encryption method, doing it twice might make it easier to crack...

    **This message has been encrypted twice with the ROT13 method**

  15. Re:Same happens with politics on 'Half' of 2012's Extreme Weather Impacted By Climate Change · · Score: 1

    Extreme weather is what we crave.

    Brawndo, its got electrolytes. Its what plants crave...

  16. Re: pen and paper on Ask Slashdot: Best Software For Med-School Note-Taking? · · Score: 1

    What kind of debate would be complete without a coding marathon and beers!

  17. Re:pen and paper on Ask Slashdot: Best Software For Med-School Note-Taking? · · Score: 1

    Not refuting that (though I have my doubts). Just pointing out this isn't really that strong of an AI problem if you let a human sort through the most probable tags and make the final decision.

  18. Re:pen and paper on Ask Slashdot: Best Software For Med-School Note-Taking? · · Score: 1

    Sure, if you treat the note-taking process as a "write it and never handle that data again" process.

    Wouldn't trying to "find" something in a stack of papers be the opposite of never handling the data again? Thats the whole reason for trying retrieve it.

    The modern pen technology mentioned here actually looks quite interesting. However, considering that you need either a special pen/paper (sometimes both) for them to work, a lot of the original flexibility is lost.

  19. Re:pen and paper on Ask Slashdot: Best Software For Med-School Note-Taking? · · Score: 1

    True, but that's why they would be presented as suggestions to the user rather than silently tagging in the background.

    May not be entirely automatic, but sure beats having the user free-form type tags into a textbox.

  20. Re:pen and paper on Ask Slashdot: Best Software For Med-School Note-Taking? · · Score: 1

    Unfortunately, pen and paper lacks the benefit of the "find" function.

    I can't tell you how many times I've yearned for ctrl+F while sorting through a stack of tree pulp.

  21. Re: Thanks for the ad on How To Build a Simple Open Source Server Monitoring Solution With Mobile Support · · Score: 2

    Just because he has a kid that crys over needles, doesn't mean he deserves a +1.

    Ohhhh, you meant the other kind of "parent"....

  22. Re:I have a hard time on Are We At the Limit of Screen Resolution Improvements? · · Score: 1

    Electrolytes?

  23. Re:I know what I am doing when I get home on Google Pressure Cookers and Backpacks: Get a Visit From the Feds · · Score: 1

    although, to be fair, this is a good question.

  24. Re:I know what I am doing when I get home on Google Pressure Cookers and Backpacks: Get a Visit From the Feds · · Score: 1

    I love when the programmer version of a grammar nazi comes out to play.

  25. Re:Anyone know who operates airport subways? on Full-Size Remote Control Cars · · Score: 1

    Probably has to do with the lack of cross-traffic at an airport versus a whole city's worth of subways trying to go in different directions.