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User: radio4fan

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Comments · 259

  1. Re:Mr Apple... on Apple Launches Repair Program For Longstanding 2011 MacBook Pro GPU Problems · · Score: 4, Informative

    Not now he's bloody not.

    I used to run an Apple dealership, and back in those days (90s) stuff like this would have been the subject of a warranty extension program right away. I don't know when the policy changed, but it has clearly changed.

    They've been denying this is a manufacturing flaw since it first became obvious. I've had the motherboard replaced on mine, and it failed again within a year. I've been getting by by using gfxCardStatus to select the intel video for a couple of months while I decided what to do.

    I wasn't able to claim under European consumer laws as my proof of purchase is made out to my company (it only covers individual consumers, not business purchasers).

    I'm really doubtful I'm going to get another Mac, even though I've been a Mac user for over 20 years. I'll probably just go for Linux and run OSX in a VM so I can run the iOS simulator.

    I also have little faith that the new motherboard is going to work for any length of time.

  2. Good way to lose business... on LinkedIn Restricts API Usage · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Next time a client asks me to have a 'most recent post' from LinkedIn embedded on their web page (yes, this happens), I'll just be able to tell them that LinkedIn don't allow it.

    FTA:

    “It is typical for players in the new age tech economy to start with permissive and free access to gain share and users and then progressively curtail it to monetize the audience they have gained.”

    No, that's no typical at all. More typical would be to start charging for a previously free service. Cutting off access to a service which attracts people to your business is hardly a good way to "monetize the audience [you] have gained". It's more of a good way to lose business.

    This is the decision of a dim-witted suit, and no doubt once LinkedIn realise it's a stupid move he'll be long gone with his performance bonus securely trousered.

  3. Re:Always presume parallel construction on Silk Road 2.0 Deputy Arrested · · Score: 1

    That's why god invented VPN gateways running on VPSs and so forth, though.

    To email bomb threats?

    He certainly does move in mysterious ways.

  4. Re:Time for a UNION! on The Tech Industry's Legacy: Creating Disposable Employees · · Score: 4, Informative

    In other developed countries (France, Germany, Japan, etc) there are a lot more hoops to jump through to lay someone off, and the layoff packages are legally set to be much greater.

    I don't know about Japan, but these workers rights in France and Germany were largely the work of unions.

  5. Re:Muslims? on Anonymous Declares War Over Charlie Hebdo Attack · · Score: 1

    The same thing applies to Islam. It's just plain evil. It needs to be banned like Naziism. Just turn on your TV, and see what Islam is doing to the world today.

    Or try turning off your TV and actually meet some of the 1.6 billion muslims and you'll find that you're completely wrong.

    If you really think the solution to a few nutjobs is to wage existential war on 16% of the world population, you're a crazy as they are.

    Insightful, my arse.

  6. Re:Can we make fum on Jesus and jews? on Publications Divided On Self-Censorship After Terrorist Attack · · Score: 1

    the Christians, The Muslims and The Jews, the current largest in France

    Not really sure what this means, but for clarity, the religious demographics of France are something like:

    58% Christian
    31% No religion
    4% Islam
    1% Jewish
    1% Other
    4% Not stated

    Source

  7. Re:Failed state policies on In Breakthrough, US and Cuba To Resume Diplomatic Relations · · Score: 1

    1) Fidel Castro leaving the country for treatment actually happened, which is very obviously an option not available to the vast majority of Cubans, hence my quote from Animal Farm: "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others."

    Really, that actually happened? Or does famous izquierdista Doctor Jose Luis Garcia Sabrido just work in Cuba? That's certainly where he treated Chavez. I honestly don't know; google isn't helping.

    2) They could have the best healthcare system in the World and I still wouldn't want to live there. Nor would most people who value freedom and liberty...

    I completely agree with you.

  8. Re:Failed state policies on In Breakthrough, US and Cuba To Resume Diplomatic Relations · · Score: 1

    So what your saying is that if we took all the illegal -- uh "undocumented" immigrants from third-world countries that Obama lets in and dump them into the socialist paradise of Cuba that America's healthcare statistics will look massively better than Cuba's.

    No, that must be the voices in your head. Try increasing (or decreasing) your dosage.

    Oh, and that infant mortality statistic is complete B.S. In Cuba, they just let the premature babies die and it never counts as a live birth to mess up the statistics. In the U.S. they bend over backwards to save babies but since they aren't always successful, the statistics get skewed.

    OK. So they let premature babies die in Switzerland, France, Sweden etc. Right.

  9. Re:Failed state policies on In Breakthrough, US and Cuba To Resume Diplomatic Relations · · Score: 1

    Here's a list of countries with even better infant mortality rates that don't control the media or oppress free speech:

    So what? Non-sequitur of the thread. Bet those countries rate higher on Maseratis per head too.

    Cuba sucks, but their healthcare doesn't suck as bad as it ought to and that's not "Michael Moore fapping".

  10. Re:Failed state policies on In Breakthrough, US and Cuba To Resume Diplomatic Relations · · Score: 5, Informative

    There's exactly one fact that actually counts about Cuba's "universal healthcare": When Comrade Fidel gets a cold, the doctors that treat him are flown in from Spain via charter jet.

    Here are some other facts that actually count:

    CIA World Factbook Infant mortality rates:

    Cuba: 4.76 / 1000 live births
    USA: 5.2 / 1000 live births

    The rest is a bunch of empty Michael Moore fapping.

    CIA being a well-known source of Michael Moore types.

    How about life expectancy?

    Life expectancy at birth (years), UN World Population Prospects 2010:

    Cuba: 78.50 (rank 37)
    USA: 77.97 (rank 40)

    World Health Organization has USA ranked 34 and Cuba 36, FWIW. Close in any case.

  11. Re:There is no vaccine for the worst diseases on Time To Remove 'Philosophical' Exemption From Vaccine Requirements? · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I never put salt in my food because it contains a dangerously reactive metal and a poisonous gas.

  12. Re:German autobahn is not an example for you guys on Montana Lawmakers Propose 85 Mph Speed Limit On Interstates · · Score: 1

    Yeah, but on the autobahn there is no speed limit.

    Raising it to 80 would only bring it inline with autoroutes in France: 130km/h (80mph) and 110km/h (69mph) in rain.

    The French are (statistically) terrible drivers, but the autoroutes are the places you're least likely to see accidents (in my experience anyway).

  13. Re:Thats science for you .... on Doubling Saturated Fat In Diet Does Not Increase It In Blood · · Score: 1

    carbs are, traditionally, the bedrock of human consumption. Hell, we look at the start of society by farming of a carbohydrate source.

    Humans appeared about 200,000 years ago, and agriculture about 12,000 years ago.

    Society didn't appear with the development of agriculture; humans lived in social groups from their first appearance. Humans evolved for immediate-return foraging (like our closest relatives, chimpanzees and bonobos), not for agriculture.

  14. Re:Eurozone... on Too Much Privacy: Finnish Police Want Big Euro Notes Taken Out of Circulation · · Score: 1

    Many? I thought it was only Holland and Finland.

    And 1 and 2 cent coins are still legal tender in those two countries, they just don't issue them (or have prices which are not divisible by 5 cents).

  15. Re:Hey Britons! on Brits Must Trade Digital Freedoms For Safety, Says Crime Agency Boss · · Score: 1

    Yes, Britain should be more like the US, where there is no mass snooping of email and call data.

  16. Re:No trends to be scared of ! on Hundreds of Thousands Turn Out For People's Climate March In New York City · · Score: 0

    Phew! I can now relax, knowing that AGW is not real, and that they vast, vast majority of climatologists are just lying for some unknown reason.

    And all thanks to an anonymous person on the internet who makes a bunch of assertions without citations.

  17. Re:Doesn't CSS Already Solve This? on New HTML Picture Element To Make Future Web Faster · · Score: 1

    The problem here is the separation of content and style.

    Sometimes images are style (replace an H1 with an image), sometimes they're content ('Granny feeding the ducks at the park').

    The first example should be in the CSS, the second in the HTML.

    Putting content in the stylesheet is as bad as putting styles in the markup.

  18. Re:Wife on Duolingo is a Free, Crowdsourced Language Learning App (Video) · · Score: 1

    The thing is that that's not the most effective way to learn the basics of a second or third language.

    Second-language acquisition is a well-studied field, and at least some teaching in the learner's own language (or a language that they know well) is more effective than immersion.

    As an example, I can quickly teach you that almost all words that end in 'tion' in English are the same in French (pronunciation differs, of course), and they are all feminine, with the notable exception of 'translation'. And now you have hundreds of French words. Similarly for Spanish, except the endings are spelt 'ción' and there are a few more exceptions. Repeat with the suffix 'able'. It's the power of language transfer.

    information -> information -> información
    administration -> administration -> administración
    education -> éducation -> educación
    masturbation -> masturbation -> masturbación
    etc.

    The reason language schools promote teaching solely in the target language is because it's easier for them: they can teach students with many native languages in the same class.

  19. Re:Criminal scum on Torrentz.eu Domain Name Suspended · · Score: 2

    The City of London Police are abusing their power to enforce civil matters and shut down legitimate search engines.

    And what's really odd is that this domain is blocked in the UK by the big ISPs anyway. It was blocked along with a bunch of others back in October 2013.

    If I try to access it on my current ISP, I get redirected here: http://assets.virginmedia.com/site-blocked.html.

    So the City Police are trying to take down a domain that you can't even access directly in the UK.

  20. Re:what is really important.... on Teachers Union: Computers Can Negatively Impact Children's Ability To Learn · · Score: 1

    I'm just aware that the teacher's union really doesn't know much about teaching. They protect teachers and they do that regardless of what a teacher might have done. At the same time they spend the majority of their high dues on nice salaries for far too many administrators. This is a statement to try to support teachers, done badly, as I would expect from them.

    Really? You know all this about the ATL, a small teachers' union in the UK? Impressive.

    Do you have personal experience of the ATL, or are you just speculating wildly?

  21. Re:I want to become an American and move out of Eu on The US Vs. Europe: Freedom of Expression Vs. Privacy · · Score: 2

    Photography has become illegal in Europe due to misguided "privacy" laws. It's just ridiculous that I cannot do street photography in Europe because the European governments have decided that we photographers should ask people before we take their photo or publish it!

    While this is true in certain countries in certain circumstances (France and Spain come to mind) it is certainly not true in the UK.

    So this isn't a Europe-wide problem, and definitely isn't the fault of the EU.

  22. Re:They are still allowed 12 books in their cell on UK Bans Sending Books To Prisoners · · Score: 1

    Given the comment below about Islamic gangs it is probably about restricting the materials read. If this counts as some kind of censorship, then it seems to me to be an acceptable form, provided it is limited to prisons.

    The new ban includes underwear and stationery. It's not about restricting what inmates read, it's about enforcing the new 'earned privileges' regime.

    Books and magazines sent into UK prisons are already censored. For example, porn is now banned.

  23. Re:Google: Still being evil. on Gmail's 'Unsubscribe' Tool Comes Out of the Weeds · · Score: 1

    Google does have a way to report spam;

    Other than the bloody huge 'Report spam' button, the same size and right next to the 'delete' button, that is.

  24. Re: Sirens? on British Spies To Be Allowed To Break Speed Limit · · Score: 1

    no-one wears a bowler hat

    [citation needed]

    Ask, and you shall receive! ;-)

  25. Re:Egocentrism on How Weather Influences Global Warming Opinions · · Score: 1

    Just two off the top of my head:

    Tamil Tigers (yes, atheist suicide bombers, no less!)

    INLA

    I'm sure there are plenty of other (pretty much by definition atheist) Marxist-Leninist terrorist groups.