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User: pr0nbot

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  1. Re:Yes to Brexit on Bank of England Accidentally E-mails Top-Secret "Brexit" Plan To the Guardian · · Score: 1

    The EU referendum is a proxy for a vote on immigration. If limits could be placed on the right to live anywhere in Europe, people would be completely fine with the EU and would likely be swayed by arguments like the need for unity in the face of neighbouring dictators, free trade, energy policy, climate etc. There are other issues with the EU, around sovereignty, democratic deficit, two-speed Europe, etc, but I don't think the average person really cares about those, they're too abstract.

    In principle I think if it could be shown that the current rate of overall population growth (about 450K per year, the bulk of which is net immigration) is sustainable, that might have been enough, but in practice people perceive social systems to be overwhelmed and in crisis, or at the very least that government forecasting and planning is woefully inept.

    I suspect if there is a referendum, people will vote to stay in, mainly because no one will paint a realistic picture of what it would mean to leave (the fact that the leaked document was intended to remain secret whereas the governor of the Bank has not been secretive about the case for staying in Europe, is a case in point), so all that will be heard is horror stories about how the UK will become Zimbabwe if it leaves.

    Nevertheless I predict it will be a closeish vote, rather like the Scots referendum, 55%-45% or so on a highish turnout.

  2. Re:Not as easy to read as Python though on The Reason For Java's Staying Power: It's Easy To Read · · Score: 1

    I frequently find myself digging into some Python library for some reason, only to be surprised at how little code there actually is. Python somehow seems to be concise and expressive. I can't say the same for the Java code I've looked at.

  3. Re:A computer monitor is too small on Why Apple Ditched Its Plan To Build a Television · · Score: 1

    People normally reference Seiki at this point: http://seiki.com/company/how-w...

  4. Re:Fuck this bullshit. on Australia: Your Digital Games (and Movies!) Could Be About to Jump In Price · · Score: 4, Informative

    The shop down the road can't avoid sales tax.
    The online shop based in Australia can't avoid sales tax.
    The online shop based outside Australia can avoid sales tax.

    This puts Australian businesses at a disadvantage, i.e., the tax regime fucks your own people.

    So the choices are:

    * level the playing field by abolishing sales taxes (the market fundamentalist/tax haven model)
    * level the playing field by requiring individuals to declare and pay the sales tax (the US model)
    * level the playing field by requiring foreign companies to collect and pay tax

    Most governments go for the latter.

  5. Re:Oh, yeah? on Debian GNU/Hurd 2015 Released · · Score: 1

    M-x editctl

  6. Re:I had no idea on Qt Creator 3.4.0 Released · · Score: 1

    Reminds me of a skate magazine I read in the 80s where people would write in to say they still hadn't received the free Nelson Mandela advertised on a previous issue's cover.

  7. Re:Evolution on Did Natural Selection Make the Dutch the Tallest People On the Planet? · · Score: 2

    Don't dress up your sarcasm in floury language.

  8. Re:Too many pixels = slooooooow on LG Accidentally Leaks Apple iMac 8K Is Coming Later This Year · · Score: 2

    The true videophiles will be buying vintage 1024x768 TFT screens from 1997 because only over VGA can you really capture the warmth and vibrancy of the signal.

  9. Re:So a the cars are the same model? on At the Track With Formula E, the First e-Racing Series · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I've actually been watching the Formula E races, because I'm into Formula 1 and there are a bunch of B-list ex-F1 drivers in there.

    As far as I can tell, there's a fairly strong emphasis on it being entertainment rather than sport. For example, drivers get a boost button they can use during the race if they're the "fan favourite" before the race. There are also some gimmicks like bonus points for fastest lap and pole position. In the pre-season trailers, one of the key talking points was the DJ that was going to be guesting for each race.

    The races themselves are fairly laughable - short, with a fairly hilarious car swap when they run out of juice (the driver hops out of one car and does a little dash to the other car), and the cars themselves are fugly as hell and all the bits are wobbly (so... a bit like me I guess). The coverage is completely ghetto, minimum-budget stuff -- it's on ITV4 in the UK, which tells you everything you need to know.

    However, it's a a new series, and the drivers at least are for real, so I'm giving it time to grow.

  10. Re:Subject is an imperialist term anyway on Finland's Education System Supersedes "Subjects" With "Topics" · · Score: 1

    Please guys let's stay on topic

  11. Re:Why does Microsoft even need a browser? on Microsoft Is Killing Off the Internet Explorer Brand · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I would guess it's because Google and Apple make the other browsers (apart from Firefox) and will begin to integrate their cloud services into the browser, which could potentially lock Microsoft out.

  12. Re:A Language With No Rules... on Why There Is No Such Thing as 'Proper English' · · Score: 4, Funny

    From the z in apologize I'd think we're dealing with an American troll.

    Your's,

    The Grammar Nasi

  13. Cortana on Is Microsoft Trying to Become "King of Search" With Cortana Strategy? · · Score: 5, Funny

    samzenpus: "Cortana - what is the difference between its and it's?"
    Cortana: "I'd tell you, but let's not pretend you care!"

  14. Re:Vizio P Series on Ask Slashdot: Affordable Large HD/UHD/4K "Stupid" Screens? · · Score: 1

    These appear to have wi-fi, so probably not as dumb as one would like.

  15. Re:Well considering that many of us have low T on Testosterone Increasingly Being Used To Fight Aging In Men · · Score: 2

    Dancing peck mussels was how I discovered I was allergic to seafood :(

  16. Opt-out on Google, Amazon, Microsoft Reportedly Paid AdBlock Plus To Unblock · · Score: 5, Informative

    I'd assume (without further info) that this is about the "allow some non-intrusive advertising" checkbox you get in the filter options. It's on by default, but when you install adblock (as I did a few days ago) it one of the things you go through when the configuration dialog pops up.

    It links to: https://adblockplus.org/en/acc...

    It's not perfect in that it's on by default, but it's easy enough to disable. Perhaps they could improve it by tying this checkbox to your "do not track" preference?

  17. Re:Government Intervention on Ask Slashdot: When and How Did Europe Leapfrog the US For Internet Access? · · Score: 1

    Where I live (a stone's throw from Canary Wharf, London's other major financial centre and where the fat internet pipes come into the UK) there's no fibre, no LTE, and the exchange is miles away. 2MB down has been the best I've been able to get for the last decade, with no change in sight. I blame Thatcher!

  18. FreeBSD? on OpenBSD's Kernel Gets W^X Treatment On Amd64 · · Score: 1

    I wasn't aware the BSDs have different kernels. Do OpenBSD kernel changes also end up in the other BSDs?

    (I guess it might not be worth it as I recently saw confirmation that *BSD is dying.)

  19. What is doxing? on Doxing -- Something To Expect More of In 2015 · · Score: 4, Informative

    For those too lazy to google:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

  20. Re:Frameworks on MIT Unifies Web Development In Single, Speedy New Language · · Score: 1

    I recommend Django to you. It seems to be written by clueful folk who care about things like backwards compatibility and fixing the small broken things rather than throwing it all away for the next version. As a bonus, it's not PHP.

  21. Re:A decade of not using and now I have to. on French Publishers Prepare Lawsuit Against Adblock Plus · · Score: 1

    I consider AdBlock a form of antivirus, in that ad positions are an attack vector (for random third party code injected into the page from behind some stack of brokers).

    For the same reason, I don't install free phone apps if they're ad-supported.

  22. Re:I'll just wait for 6G on How the Rollout of 5G Will Change Everything · · Score: 4, Funny

    Digital comms is soulless and overrated anyway. It doesn't have the warmth, vibrancy or resonance of analogue. I use a solid granite radio phone with a golden antenna so I can really capture the subtleties of my interlocutor's voice.

  23. Re:Simple... on Ask Slashdot: IT Career Path After 35? · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I think I'd advise the reverse, at least in terms of company size. A small company is more likely to value you for what you do, rather than want to replace you because your salary has become "too high". The small company I work for has a family feel to it, with zero office politics, but possibly not the same career advancement possibilities you'd get at a megacorp.

    Perhaps startups are a special case; an established small company will be more stable. Or at least, your future is tied more to the performance of the company than the whims of those above you.

  24. Re:I'm torn on UK Announces Hybrid Work/Study Undergraduate Program To Fill Digital Gap · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I disagree. Churning out a Wordpress brochure site requires some non-zero level of IT skills, but it's not the same level as, say, designing a data processing algorithm to run on MapReduce.

  25. Re:In Reverse on Extreme Shrimp May Hold Clues To Alien Life On Europa · · Score: 2

    Surely "mild" and "harsh" are subjective? From the point of view of a molecule, what constitutes "harsh"?

    Perhaps evolving life in high temperatures turns out to be easier than at room temperature, e.g. because there's more free energy around.