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User: taj

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Comments · 159

  1. Video of French drones in flight. on France Becomes First Federal Postal Service To Use Drones To Deliver Mail (vice.com) · · Score: 0

    Fascinating technology.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

  2. systemd is just a step. on Is It Time To Split Linux Distros In Two? · · Score: 1

    Looks like the submitter has trolled everything from windows to java to systemd.

    systemd is a large experiment many hope goes poorly. But its there because there was a gap that applies to servers as well as desktops. Do better and you can kill systemd.

    The days of pure desktops are coming to an end but it's issues are actually much like those that servers run into. systemd is objectionable but not because of desktop vs server.

  3. Re:Also bird brains on Did Snakes Help Build the Primate Brain? · · Score: 3, Informative

    Horses are no fun to be on while around snakes either. You don't have to train them to avoid snakes. So horses would not have evolved to eat grass and have eyes on the side of their head without snakes?

  4. monetisation or other exploitation of ... rights on Antigua Looks Closer To Legal "Piracy" of US-Copyrighted Works · · Score: 1

    property/not property... we don't need to go there.

    Rights? Isn't this about the revocation of rights?

  5. Re:That's awesome on NSA Chief Built Star Trek Like Command Center · · Score: 1

    Or they think it's all about image.

  6. Re:Not that bad on Boulder's Tech Workers Cope With Historic Flood · · Score: 1

    I'm not in Colorado now but I was there in the 70's when they had the Big Thompson flood which oddly enough was the 'other' 100 year flood that took almost 150 lives not 4. They are starting to have quit a few 100 year floods :) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Thompson_River#Big_Thompson_Canyon_Flooding_of_1976

    Mountains are neat to visit but if you don't respect them, they can take you out in many ways. It's not Disney world.

    But the nature of the floods is much different than say the Mississippi or other areas away from the mountains. What happens is you get significant rainfall in a mountain valley that comes down the valley as a wall of liquid concrete taking out roads bridges, houses and anything else in the way with incredible force. Impressive and dangerous. But it passes in a couple days without more rain. The towns like Boulder, Colorado springs, Lyons and fort Collins just see high water levels for a short period of time. There is no drainage problem at 1 mile above the sea.

  7. Re:Complete Failure on TSA Reminds You Not To Travel With Hand Grenades · · Score: 1

    You are right but it's not worth it. Let us take our guns on the air ship and watch terrorist go away. An armed society shows respect to each other. An unarmed society shows fear of each other.

  8. Sounds good, But! on Microsoft Cuts Surface Pro Price By $100 · · Score: 2

    Does it run Linux?

  9. Nice technology, bad laws on Monsanto Executive Wins World Food Prize · · Score: 2

    The technology is great stuff. The real valid reason Europe and others complain goes back to the laws around these innovations - it really is innovation not round corners on a dumbed down interface.

    Lets say the innovation results in a 20% increase in production. A farmer producing crops by traditional technology becomes a cash loss as prices decline. A farmer producing with the new technology does not own the seed and perhaps the product as they sign contracts to work for monsanto. The IP owner dictates what the cash crop worker does, how much they are paid and if they get to be viable next year.

    That's markets, right? more efficient things come and less efficient things go. The measure of success of the market is the price we pay for food.

    So we move to a contract mentality and family farms go away. You get short term goals with no concern about the productivity of the land from one generation to the next. Land does not work that way. You can do a decades worth of damage very quickly.

    But what stake does Monsanto have in this game? So total productivity drops 30% due to short term corporate farming practices. It applies to farms moving back to traditional technology as well and Monsanto has a 20% advantage. Small farmers go away. Monsanto wins. We lose.

    I have no fear of eating GMO agricultural products other than the damage it does to our future.

  10. Re:Sheryl who? on Sheryl Sandberg: Facebook's Home App Needs Some Work · · Score: 1

    OK. I read the wikipedia article on her. She has done some nice stuff representing women in business. But that's about as close as her background gets to geeks. From what I can see she's crunching customers and a path to a win in a sad virtual game I deleted years ago.

  11. Sheryl who? on Sheryl Sandberg: Facebook's Home App Needs Some Work · · Score: 1

    Do we have a track record on this one?

  12. Police interceptors driving tourists on Mayor Bloomberg Battles Fleet Owners Over NYC 'Taxi of Tomorrow' · · Score: 1

    I've not got a strong opinion about Bloomberg but there is something wrong with the taxi business and its close relationship to retiring police cars. Other than some hardened suspension components, there is nothing about a police car that makes a good cab vehicle.

  13. Am I misunderstanding a couple basic concepts here?

              A person did nothing illegal but did expressed views some consider abnormal.
              A person was detained for expressing what was considered abnormal views.

    How many opinions on /. are considered society norms? There are some crazy posts here but who do they harm?

  14. "Misleading headline is misleading"

              News at 5.

  15. on what scale is this issue? on Data Center Managers Weary of Whittling Cooling Costs · · Score: 4, Insightful

    For instance, I suspect we waste more energy moving tap water in plastic bottles between cities.

  16. Re:Competition is often complex. on Bill Gates Opens Up About Steve Jobs · · Score: 1

    Partnering with office was defensive. It wasn't going to make Microsoft money but it would prevent the killer doc application starting on Apple. Look at graphic editing for example in which softie didn't preempt competition well.

  17. Re:Coming soon! on Bill Gates Opens Up About Steve Jobs · · Score: 1

    it has round corners now.

  18. Just checking on IRS Admits Targeting Conservative Groups During 2012 Election · · Score: 1

    This isn't a party issue its far more fundamental.

    So some low level employees flagged several organizations for ... What checks are in place to make sure this did not happen and who is ultimately responsible for these checks? Are those people still there?

  19. game on on Windows 8.1 May Restore Boot-To-Desktop, Start Button · · Score: 1

    Not more to say. But thats a good thing

  20. Re:Natural vs artificial on Will the Supreme Court End Human Gene Patents? · · Score: 1

    .
    Most genes are on the order of a thousand base pairs. While not insignificant in number, why not just patent all combinations? Whats preventing an organization from patenting all possible 100 base pair combinations? If someone adds a thousand basepairs onto one of your sequences, you can claim they violate your rights.

  21. Not that many bites. on Ask Slashdot: Mac To Linux Return Flow? · · Score: 1

    There was a time when a post like this would get 800 fish on the hook.

    Thing is, people don't care as much about the desktop - especially the younger readers.

    [Sent from my Amiga phone]

  22. Re:WRONG! on Spinning Black Hole's Edge Rotates At Nearly the Speed of Light · · Score: 1

    Objects in Mirror are closer than they appear.

  23. If it's this widespread, who is liable? on Six-Strikes System Starts In U.S. · · Score: 1

    Since this agreement transcends corporations, can a class action suite be filed when not if abuse of citizens legally using paid for services is exposed in this cabal?

    Who is liable?

  24. So Colorado is safe? on The Panic Over Fukushima · · Score: 1

    Why are Leukemia, prostrate and ovary cancer happening at a significantly (measurable) higher rate in Colorado? It's not a fair question just as the original post's strawman is invalid. The level in Colorado isn't safe because it's natural. Given the slightly better lifestyles measurable in lower obesity rates, one would 'expect' Colorado to be slightly better than average except for melanoma because of the thinner atmosphere/UV radiation.

    http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/pp/cccr/1997-2007/CIC9707%20First%20Half%20(web).pdf

    Would media covering bad places to live ever of that nature be tolerated excluding political motivation or a disaster event? There is a consistency in how information is filtered. There is a natural tendency for the media to keep a wet finger in the air to know which way the wind is blowing. The blowback from standing against the wind and being wrong is far riskier than standing with the wind and the wind being wrong.

  25. Re:RMS supports file sharing???? on RMS Responds To NPR File-Sharer's Blog · · Score: 1

    It sometimes help to substitute the word 'music' which people assumes means the $1 paid for concept on their ipad presorted by large corporations with the word 'culture' which is a part of the fabric of their community.

    If you really look at it, that's what is at stake.