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User: sylvandb

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  1. Re:Good! on The Billionaires Privatizing American Science · · Score: 1

    Don't like food stamp allowable lists? Forget food stamps then. There should just be a cafeteria where they can get food. Plain sustenance food, and plenty of it. Nobody should go hungry.

    And nobody should waste my sustenance. Absolutely there should be a list of allowed goods purchasable with food stamps. And the penalty for repeated violation should be no more food stamps - either as a recipient or as a store. If I'm helping somebody, I get to set the terms.

    And there should not be any school vouchers beyond what the non-local gov't would pay anyway. Non-local gov't has no business taking or providing money for school. You use my money? I get a voice. As long as they take my money I will fight just like any rational actor to leverage their action to my intended outcome as much as possible.

    Research? Sounds like it is finally getting back to normal after the distortions in the last half of the 20th century. If you pay for it, you can choose it. If YOU don't like what THEY spend THEIR money on, YOU should pay for what YOU like using YOUR money.

    If you want to give larger handouts, then you give them. As long as you force me to give them, you have to take what you get.

  2. Send them all away? on Embarrassing Stories Shed Light On US Officials' Technological Ignorance · · Score: 1

    Maybe we can just send them all to Antarctica until they learn better. All of them, from all over the world. All that bloviating will keep the windmills going even if it doesn't manage to thaw the icecap.

  3. Re:And the water practically disappears, right? on Meat Makes Our Planet Thirsty · · Score: 1

    Yes, that's nearly exactly what they believe. Of course they will mostly deny this, but have no explanation for their inability to follow their own claims to this logical conclusion.

    They suffer from cognitive defects that man is not an animal that clawed its way to the current pinnacle of evolution and because of that first defect they also fail to understand that man is not all-knowing and all-powerful. This causes them to assume that we know all the answers about what is supposedly right or wrong with the planet, and that everything wrong is caused by and can be fixed by man.

    A lot of these mental issues can be directly traced to malnutrition of the brain, caused by denial of the facts that eating meat was crucial for intellectual development and that without eating meat, it is far more expensive or even impossible to get all the nutrients required for a healthy brain.

  4. Re:Answer too long to fit in subject line on Ask Slashdot: How Do You Manage Your Passwords? · · Score: 2

    A text file, encrypted locally with a long password (something I can remember easily, but quite long) and then uploaded to Google Docs for easy access anywhere that I have the decryption software

    This. However s/password/passphrase/ and I don't use google docs but similar propagation.

    My text file also contains credit card account and phone numbers in case I need to cancel a card, routing and account numbers for if I need to set up direct deposit or other EFT, my kids social security numbers, and other similarly confidential reference information. I've even at times (not currently) kept a regularly needed signing cert in the file as my backup.

    I've tried many of the desktop password apps. But I've been doing my text file for about 20 years and nothing else is nearly as useful -- flexible and with ubiquitous availability.

    I recommend also to print a copy every now and then, with a date, sealing it up in an envelope or two, and keeping it with important "should I die or be incapacitated" papers (such as your will), replacing and shredding the older version.

    Write the date also on the envelope. The dates are so it is easy to tell which is the most recent in case multiple copies are found (e.g. a copy with your lawyer and a copy in the fireproof safe in the basement that is updated more frequently). The envelope(s) are to tell if someone has compromised the passwords so seal it up however makes you comfortable depending on who has access and how often you check (and update).

  5. Re:Standards on Google Planning To Remove CSS Regions From Blink · · Score: 1

    He who thinks "I thought standards were there to implement not argue with" obviously hasn't been around for very long...

    I was hoping for somebody to say that!

    Oh, where are mod points when I need them...

  6. Re:The Problem on Marc Andreessen On Why Bitcoin Matters (And A Critique) · · Score: 1

    They have no intrinsic value.

    Nothing, but nothing has intrinsic value. Not gold, diamonds, dollar bills, land or anything else. The only reason anything has value is because people want it.

    'want' is the source of value or sometimes can even be used synonymous with value.

    But that is not an argument against intrinsic value but rather proves intrinsic value. One subset or type of value is intrinsic value.

    Intrinsic value is that value or want of something for itself, rather than for its exchange value.

    Some people buy gold because they think it is pretty and they like to adorn themselves with it. Some people buy gold because it is a necessary component. Both are examples of the intrinsic value of gold.

  7. Re:The Problem on Marc Andreessen On Why Bitcoin Matters (And A Critique) · · Score: 1

    The purpose of money should be to encourage the exchange of labor,

    Exchange of labor is one purpose.

    More generally that purpose is for any exchange in general, thus avoiding problems caused by missing coincidence of wants.

    Another purpose is to store value, such as from my labor now to protect myself against a future time when I am unable to labor.

    Another purpose is as an aid in accounting, such as in determining the relative value of various labors I might perform, directly useful in determining if I would rather have someone to do a job for me or do it myself. Or in simple bookkeeping, money being one of those revolutionary ideas along with double-entry accounting which revolutionized business record keeping. Both of those are key factors enabling specialization, a certain amount of which is highly beneficial for all of society as well as individuals.

    Those three purposes are essentially all concerned with the 'now' uses of money. The fourth is as a standard of value over time, to enable comparison and choice not only between items now but between now and the past or the future.

    A little ditty that used to be taught to help children remember the purpose of money: "Money is a matter of functions four: a medium, a measure, a standard, a store." Meaning a medium for the exchange of value, a measure of value, a standard of value, and a store of value.

  8. Re:Making Direct Deposit Easier on T-Mobile Jumping Into the Check-Cashing Industry · · Score: 2

    setting up direct deposit is a pain in the ass: fill out a paper form, search around for routing and account numbers. The payroll department ...
    Couldn't all of this be taken care of with a single, one-time, QR code, generated on-demand by you (or, actually, by you bank's online or mobile access application) and given directly to HR, who then simply passes it on to the payroll processor?

    If only!

    When setting up new job direct deposit in 2008 and another in 2012 they BOTH insisted not only on a paper form, but on a voided paper check attached to it! Uh, I use a bill pay service, I don't write my own checks. I don't know if it was HR/payroll department requirement or the payroll processor (don't remember who it was for the 2008 company, but currently it is ADP, talk about stuck in the dark ages...).

    I'm just glad that everything else will accept my routing and account numbers without the paper check. For example, on a mortgage refi closing they offered me an annual rebate if I agreed to let them direct draft payments from my account. They wanted a paper check. When I didn't have one, they told me I could wait until the closing was processed and the mortgage showed up on the website, and I could sign up there for automatic payments.

    But I am getting heartily sick of having to sign and return paper forms! A few places allow fax, and a very few allow scan and email for anything with legal implications. Where is my legally recognized digital signature???

    Hello, 1.5 decades ago was the turn of the 21st century, not the 20th...

  9. Re:I hope this fixes my black screen on boot on Linux 3.13 Released · · Score: 1

    On your fanless PC, if you have a keyboard you can probably to bring up a text console. Might be easier than coming via ssh from another system, and works even without a live network. Sometimes also and etc. Note that distro's can and some do disable that text console in favor of X, but most will leave at least one console on F1.

    You could also disable X from auto-starting.

  10. Good luck with that on Ask Slashdot: How Do You Convince an ISP To Bury Cable In Your Neighborhood? · · Score: 1

    I've been trying for over 10 years to get the cable company to hook me up. Right after the Comcast acquisition AT&T pamphletted the neighborhood and solicited pre-orders but didn't ever install.

    AT&T traded my area off to CableOne and CableOne wouldn't do it.

    I'm less than 400ft by right-of-way from the CableOne pedestal. One other property in between. They won't do it.

    CableOne sent me a flyer early last year with an offer to sign up but wouldn't take my order, "please contact our sales office." I did, they said they couldn't do it.

    They took my order and my money last fall, then the day before the scheduled install they called and cancelled. They couldn't do it.

    I've even offered to run the cable myself if they will hook it up. They won't do it.

    Just before Thanksgiving I signed up for 20Mb/s DSL instead.

    On Jan 18th I received another flyer in the mail from CableOne wanting me to sign up. Think they'll do it now?

    I don't. I won't believe they will run cable 400 feet to hook me up until I see action.

    Getting them to run cable thru an entire neighborhood?

    Good luck with that.

  11. Re:They foraged for 2-3 hours per day on Extinct Species of Early Human Survived On Grass Bulbs, Not Meat · · Score: 1

    They survived 1,000,000 years.

    That span is not necessarily how long they were around, but rather the uncertainty about when they were around.

  12. Re:Tech's Gender and Race Gap Starts In High Schoo on Tech's Gender and Race Gap Starts In High School · · Score: 1

    How many other parents do that? Why are frilly pink things what see for sale? Boys get guns girls get dolls, Think about it, you know, without the defensive attitude.

    Because that really is what most little girls choose.

    I have boys (now ages 11 to 20). Then got a little girl (now age 4.25). The little girl is and always has been very different from the boys. She started picking out clothes she liked before she could walk. None of my boys cared until much later. The girl chose pink clothes even tho she had almost none since she outgrew the "new baby" gifts (most of which were neutral yellow and white). My wife is not a "pink, frilly" type, but my little girl is. We had to buy more pink and frilly stuff.

    Christmas 2012 at age 3, my little girl "adopted" a particular wrapping paper (pastel, blue field with white angels and some other minor colors) and came to tears when a package with that paper was not for her, and refused to have anything to do with packages wrapped in a color she particularly disliked that year. My boys never cared about the paper and certainly never turned down the chance to open any present.

    My wife is not a "let's go shopping" type. My little girl is. She wants to go shopping for shoes, or for dresses, something my mother-in-law still has to drag my wife out to do. At age 3 she didn't much care for dolls. She did like stuffed toy cats but her favorite toy was a green john deere tractor (sit on and kick it around it size). Last summer my little girl noticed an older cousin had painted fingernails and wanted it on her own fingers. My wife never wears nail polish (and seldom makeup). My little girl has started taking care of a "baby doll," but last november when a friend just wanted to play with barbie dolls, after less than 10 minutes of that came the response, "I'm not a barbie kind of girl" (as reported in shock by the mother of the other girl).

    My little boys played with blocks. They made roads that cars would drive on. They made buildings and towers to knock them down. My little girl plays with blocks. She makes houses where people (and animals) live. She makes roads so the people can visit each other. She makes towers so the people can be on top and see each other. The little girl makes forts with blankets and boxes. They are places where people live and she brings all her stuffed animals in with her and they eat and play together. The boys made forts with blankets and boxes. They were hideouts, and the associated play had monsters and missiles, traps and battles.

    And little boys will make a gun or a car or a plane or a bomb out of anything.

  13. Re:Girls "grow up" faster than boys on Tech's Gender and Race Gap Starts In High School · · Score: 1

    Unlike boys that continue to be attracted by shiny toys until much later in their education cycle...

    What do you mean "until much later" ? :)

    Just to make your point a bit more clearly in case anyone does not get it...

    I have four boys from 11 to 20. I work with "boys" ranging in age early 20's thru mid-60's. My father in law will be 69 this year and my father will be 80. There is not a single one of those "boys" that is not "attracted by shiny toys."

    I draped a roll of RGB LEDs over my desk in December. Guys stopped by to ask details about it every day. None of the passing women stopped except one that said, "those look nice."

    I bought some closeout LED decorative lights on New Years Eve. I was checking them out and all the guys in the extended family gathered around to see what was going on, what the lights could do, and etc. I could not get any of the women interested. Maybe next Christmas when they are decorating...

  14. Re:here we go again... on Tech's Gender and Race Gap Starts In High School · · Score: 1

    I got asked by the teacher why did I want to go for [A] instead of [B]. ... How many boys got asked stupid questions like that?

    A lot.

    After multiple confrontations with the teacher in 8th grade science then nearly flunking 9th grade science, when starting 10th grade I did not want to take Biology, I wanted to take Physics. The questions started with "Why" (because I like physics) and went thru "There will not be any other sophomores in the class", "physics is a much harder class" and "It's too hard for sophomores" to "Every sophomore takes Biology" and "You have to take Biology" (the requirements did NOT say that), ending with "It may set you back, but you can take it if you get the teacher's permission." I got the teacher's permission, was the only sophomore in the class, got an 'A', and never did take high school Biology.

    Now if a female gets asked "why" and does not have a good answer for herself, or chooses not to insist/persist, the real question is why did she give up? While the teacher may have been wrong, the problem did not begin with the teacher.

  15. Re:Wrong target on Federal Judge Rules Chicago's Ban On Licensed Gun Dealers Unconstitutional · · Score: 1

    I'm your wrong target.

  16. Re:Thanks for the feedback on Federal Judge Rules Chicago's Ban On Licensed Gun Dealers Unconstitutional · · Score: 1

    I use the Slashdot feedback system as a metric to tell what works and what doesn't. Getting a +5 tells me that the post is not particularly trollish, and was favourably accepted by most of the readers. I've put my views in front of a host of readers, with little or no push-back. That's a success.

    Ahh, the politician method -- popularity over principle.

  17. Re:AR-15 is NOT fully automatic on Federal Judge Rules Chicago's Ban On Licensed Gun Dealers Unconstitutional · · Score: 1

    If you were wanting to walk into an elementary school with the intent of shooting as many children as possible, a weapon like the Thompson submachine gun or an HK MP5 or an Uzi or any number of FULLY AUTOMATIC firearms would be an ideal weapon.

    No, they aren't.

    Spray and pray only works in movies, and even then only for comedic effect.

  18. Re:Gun control on Federal Judge Rules Chicago's Ban On Licensed Gun Dealers Unconstitutional · · Score: 1

    Zero. Gun control measures at anything but the federal level are utterly worthless, as there's no border control between states. The most lax controls of anywhere in the country are the de facto controls for the entire country.

    Which is why the War on [some] Drugs has been such a resounding success at eliminating drug availability and use in the entire country.

  19. Re:Simple solution on Federal Judge Rules Chicago's Ban On Licensed Gun Dealers Unconstitutional · · Score: 1

    Impose a tax on firearms sold in the city and use the funds raised to compensate victims of crime. That would probably stand up to a constitutional challenge.

    I like it. As soon as the court rules that taxing constitutionally guaranteed rights is A-Okay, we should require proof of firearm proficiency to be presented before voting.

  20. Re:some facts on Federal Judge Rules Chicago's Ban On Licensed Gun Dealers Unconstitutional · · Score: 1

    The USA has yet to grow out of its frontier attitude.

    I rarely go there any more. Those people are just fucking crazy.

    Don't forget to close the door as you leave.

  21. Re:Wrong target on Federal Judge Rules Chicago's Ban On Licensed Gun Dealers Unconstitutional · · Score: 1

    It doesn't matter if the 2nd amendment makes it harder to govern.

    Some would say that is a good thing. I bet it would have been much easier in the 1770's for the British to govern the colonies if the colonists had no guns. One of the reasons behind the right to bear arms is to be able to bring down a despotic government.

    And the British realized they'd left open the barn, so they tried to close it. Too late. Yes, it was threat of gun control that started the shooting part of the American revolution.

  22. Re:Wrong target on Federal Judge Rules Chicago's Ban On Licensed Gun Dealers Unconstitutional · · Score: 1

    it is painfully easy with that many guns out there circulating to get one of those legal guns and have it become an illegal gun. And so far, no one has come up with an even modestly effective means of stopping that conversion process so people naturally look to the next thing up the chain which actually could be enforced if it weren't for a certain amendment.

    That is an incredibly naive viewpoint.

    Of course all guns were legal at one point. And if you go far enough back, all guns were made by hand at one point. And if you pass a law outlawing all guns you just turned all legal guns into illegal guns.

    Everything was legal at one point. But one day the remaining members of the community got together and decided to outlaw a lot of it.

    I hope the remaining members of the community grow more intelligent, but that hope is dwindling. Because no matter what political division you choose, you will never eliminate guns unless you make them obsolete with something much, much better.

  23. Re:Its counter productive on Federal Judge Rules Chicago's Ban On Licensed Gun Dealers Unconstitutional · · Score: 1

    Totally bogus "work" that has no right to claim being a "study."

    And those are not PREVIOUS work, as a simple glance at the dates would tell you.

  24. Re:Its counter productive on Federal Judge Rules Chicago's Ban On Licensed Gun Dealers Unconstitutional · · Score: 1

    Neither more or less guns are going to fix the problem in Chicago.

    If you live south side Chicago, do you want a gun?

    If you do, why should any peaceful citizen not be allowed to have a gun?

    If you do not, you are a fool.

  25. Re:Its counter productive on Federal Judge Rules Chicago's Ban On Licensed Gun Dealers Unconstitutional · · Score: 1

    Do you really think flooding the south side with handguns would actually lower the murder rate?

    Do you really think that allowing only the murderers on the south side to have guns lowers the murder rate?