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User: MoarSauce123

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  1. Why do we need more guns? on Connected Gun Lets Anyone Watch What Or Who You Are Shooting · · Score: 1

    Especially more guns that are even more accurate on long distance? Are there not enough people getting shot in this country? Guns for well-organized militias (aka police force) yes, for individuals, a clear NO! It appears as that some engineers have neither ethics nor morale nor responsibility.

  2. Not the young uns fault on Professor: Young People Are "Lost Generation" Who Can No Longer Fix Gadgets · · Score: 1

    The reason is that there really is nothing left to fix in a 2 cm microchip that contains everything. You cannot even replace just that chip because it is surface mounted and has pins so small that any soldering iron would destroy the board before getting the chip out. Also, the vast majority of manufacturers of any gadget no longer offer parts or do so only for a very limited time. And if they do, they charge for a handful of parts more than a new device would cost. And that all assumes that you can get your hand on service manuals. Just look how much they charge for service manuals for cars if they can be bought by consumers in the first place. There is still some 'tech' left that did not change or shrink into tiny packages. As MBGMorden writes, for those cases YouTube is golden. Using YT I learned how to fix my stairs, water heater, bath tub faucet, vinyl siding and a few more things I no longer recall.

  3. Why diss floppies? on US CTO Tries To Wean the White House Off Floppy Disks · · Score: 1

    Floppies will be a new trick in securing data since the majority of folks has no longer access to floppy drives. Heck, many governments even go back to purely mechanical typewriters because they cannot be spied on by US intelligence.

  4. Limited application on How We'll Program 1000 Cores - and Get Linus Ranting, Again · · Score: 1

    There is limited application for making processes faster through parallelism. It only works well for processes that do not rely on the results of any of the other processes. Unfortunately, many real world applications depend on sequential tasks and I/O. Leaves running multiple applications in parallel, but that is different than parallel programming and a task already accomplished quite well by current OS.

  5. Go back to the optometrist on Ask Slashdot: Are Progressive Glasses a Mistake For Computer Users? · · Score: 1

    I use progressive lenses and have no problems with them for anything from driving to working with two 21" monitors to reading ebooks or regular books. If the glasses do not work out for you go back to the optometrist and have her/him fix it. Glasses are like shoes, they need to fit and work right.

  6. High ticket prices for crap movies on Box Office 2014: Moviegoing Hits Two-Decade Low · · Score: 1

    The majority of movies published is of no interest to me and the few I might find interesting are not interesting enough to defend the insanely high ticket prices. Movies used to be cheap entertainment for a family of four, now it clocks in at 100 bucks with all the fixins like popcorn and soda included. At least around here.

  7. Re: Non-scientist at work on Vast Nazi Facility Uncovered In Austria; Purported A-Bomb Development Site · · Score: 1

    While around the same time, funding for Zuse's work was dismal and cut in the end while von Braun took on the opportunities available. In case of von Braun it was more a personal decision: either continue with the work he loved or quit and get sent to combat. Sure, he could have defected, but that would also have meant an end to his tests. Zuse tried to get more funding and material for his project, but the military leaders found no use for his computer. After the Z3 was destroyed in an allied bomb raid on Berlin he moved to various places and at the end of the war managed to salvage whatever computer parts he had left by making officials believe that the Z4 was part of a weapons system. Both were mainly interested in continuing their work. Zuse was a small light compared to the top ranked von Braun. I think von Braun would have had more opportunity to save prisoners from death than Zuse ever had. As to why von Braun did not do anything is something only he could have answered. For most Germans it was easier to just forget what happened after '45. My grandparents lived in Germany during that time and while my grandfather was quick to tell the story how he played dumb to not get sent to the front (he intentionally jammed his thumb in a grenade launcher during training and other things) my grandmother was telling us about the bomb raids and food shortage and how she had to take care of her three nephews because the parents died in a bomb raid. Did they ever mention deportations, burning synagogues, and Jewish businesses destroyed? No, not even when asked. And I didn't dare to ask them a lot about this topic. At that time many were complacent at first because living conditions improved for them, just to take a quick turn to making survival the only concern. Neither before the war nor during the war was politics and government actions something that most cared about or dared to speak out about as that meant immediate arrest and likely death. If the choice is between taking care of yourself and family or advocating for the rights of the oppressed many will opt for the self-serving way. Just look at today, how many speak out against the unconstitutional searches and arrests by the US intelligence agencies? The ones who did on a large scale were fired from their positions or in case of Snowden have to hide overseas. Instead the majority elected those back into power who passed most of the unconstitutional legislation. Looks as if it will take many more wrongful deaths and generations until we learn.

  8. How long will it take? on When FISA Court Rejects a Surveillance Request, the FBI Issues a NSL Instead · · Score: 1

    How long will it take until Congress fixes this? This search and seizure without any publicly elected court weighing in needs to stop. Is there really nobody in the House or Senate who thinks this is wrong? Apparently not and with the right-wingers running the country now I expect no change, more likely that bills will be passed that require the three letter agencies to not even send a letter. They can just barge in and take your stuff. Shame on everyone who still calls this a democracy and freedom!

  9. WordPress / Drupal extra? on Over 78% of All PHP Installs Are Insecure · · Score: 1

    WordPress and Drupal are listed separately...as if both are not using PHP! Looks as if someone cooked up the stats just to blame PHP. I don't get why PHP is always used as whipping boy often using bogus arguments.

  10. Make patching easier! on Over 78% of All PHP Installs Are Insecure · · Score: 1

    The problem is that PHP is just one piece in the entire stack. Updating PHP will often require fixing the ini file. Updating the web server will require fixing the web server config files. Updating the database might require fixing PHP's ini and fixing the database config. And if there are any other parts in the mix it will be even worse. What is missing is a simple means to update the entire stack and transfer the customizations in the configuration files. Even experts like Apachefriends all but abandoned the option of upgrades. What the XAMPP stacks are missing is a unified and simple patch/update procedure. The other stacks are not any better as far as security goes, but it is a heckuva lot easier to update/patch IIS/ASP/MSSQL...often on a monthly basis. As soon as folks can't be lazy they tend to not do the necessary work. Make patching XAMPP easier and the problems with unsecure installs will go down.

  11. Give the Twitters a break! on Twitter Bug Locks Out Many Users · · Score: 1

    After all, dealing with date and time is such a radically new concept, mishaps are to be expected. Time is cutting edge technology, we didn't used to have that until recently.

  12. More great programmers coming would be OK... on Paul Graham: Let the Other 95% of Great Programmers In · · Score: 1

    ....but the current industry controlled immigration banks on low to mid level developers who do mundane work for low wages. Exceptional programmers know what they can do and surely won't work for pennies. So even if immigration would be expanded the corporations would not sponsor the excellent developers. There is also the question if we need more than the 5% of awesome developers to reside in the US. Further, how about 'farming' more excellent developers right here? That will not only be faster and cheaper, it will also cut out unproductive (political) discussions.

  13. Spend money on preventing wars on Newest Stealth Fighter's Ground Attack Sensors 10 Years Behind Older Jets' · · Score: 1

    Governments are better advised to spend money on preventing wars. Train diplomats and come to better solutions than wasting money on weapons. Even if they are top of the line today they will be hopelessly outdated within a few years, way before the end of the operation span. Besides that, the modern wars are not fought with fighter planes and tanks. Look at the fight against IS, the bombing campaigns are basically without any effect other than destroying important infrastructure that eventually needs to be rebuild at high cost. Places like Iraq or Afghanistan are no better off than they were 10 years ago, in many cases it got even worse. How about spending money on figuring out how to prevent that?

  14. More of a bad thing does not make it better on Boston Elementary, Middle Schools To Get a Longer Day · · Score: 1

    More is not always better. A long school day only makes sense if the more contains a quality product. Not just in Boston, but in other districts as well school curricula are littered with useless stuff like assemblies, citizenship classes, and plenty of other dumb and useless stuff. How come that in other countries or in home schools students spend way less time in school yet are getting better grades and progress faster through course work? If US schools would reduce waste and increase quality of teachers, curricula, and the overall system (mainly having teachers teach the same kids over several school years) they could cut school time by 40 minutes each day and still get better results and spend less money.

  15. Other reasons on GCHQ Warns It Is Losing Track of Serious Criminals · · Score: 1

    GCHQ as well as the US three letter agencies are so hell bent on snooping on everyone that they are totally overwhelmed by useless data. They need to find the needle in the hay stack and with all the warrantless spying they only make the hay stack bigger. It is this self-serving ineptitude that leads to these colossal failures. But sure, it is all Snowden's fault, how easy!

  16. Re:Grinch is not a flaw - has no CVE!!! on Grinch Vulnerability Could Put a Hole In Your Linux Stocking · · Score: 1

    It all comes down to what quality assurance would define as "bug": A bug is anything that negatively impacts the user experience. In this case I can clearly make the case that with the default configuration a negative user experience exists. I quite irked that developers (or in this case RedHat) just state "this is not a bug" when in fact it is from a user perspective. Even more, this behavior is controlled through a configuration setting and thus can be easily fixed by updating the default behavior...as it was in place in previous RH releases. The fact that there is no CVE means absolutely nothing! The argument that a vulnerability does not exist because nobody made an entry into a vulnerability tracking database is just flawed. There are plenty of vulnerabilities in existence that do not have a CVE. Are you suggesting that due to the missing tracking record they simply do not exist? I wish it were that easy...we could destroy all CVEs and have totally secure software. I come across this type of discussion frequently with developers. I state "this is a bug" and the response I get is "this is not a bug, because I designed it to do this". OK, so there is no incorrect code, but flawed design. That only changes the cause, but not the effect and definitely not the fact that a fix is needed. What is even worse, the time it takes to debate this is typically more than is needed for fixing, testing, and deploying a patch that satisfy the users' needs.

  17. I wish they still had paper ledgers on Small Bank In Kansas Creates the Bank Account of the Future · · Score: 1

    How many times did I go to my bank asking for my money and they outright rejected to give it to me because "the computers are down". So?? That is when you grab the ledger and start making handwritten notes in the ledger how banks did for centuries. Banks in Europe do exactly that, but I guess US banks are behind the times in that regards as well. Also, in Europe there are no more checks, too expensive to process and too easy to forge. I wonder how long it will take US banks to understand that.

  18. Ad overload on French Publishers Prepare Lawsuit Against Adblock Plus · · Score: 1

    The problem with online advertising is that on most pages 80% is ads and 20% is content. And not just 80% placed around the edges and at the bottom, no, it is constantly right in your face, over and over again. Online advertisers need to drastically change their approach to be welcome by web users. Put the ads on the right side of a page or at the bottom, or alternatively show me an ad upfront that I can close at will. Above all, show me something that is actually worthwhile looking at or clicking on.

  19. Re:America, land of the free... on Ask Slashdot: Can a Felon Work In IT? · · Score: 1

    I agree with that, but same happened in the US. Connecticut had an excellent system of reintegrating ex-cons into normal life. The rate of excons falling back to crime was dismal. Until the Republicans cut the funding for this program. I guess their buddies make more money with building prisons and selling illegal weapons to criminals at the factory gates than folks who opt for a decent job.

  20. Re:America, land of the free... on Ask Slashdot: Can a Felon Work In IT? · · Score: 1

    There is a constitutional right to bear arms to form a well-regulated militia. We do have well-regulated militias that are called "Police" these days. I still don't get why that amendment supposedly means that any Dick and Joe can have assault rifles, rocket launchers, and stockpiles of ammo at home. Besides that, people with guns are more likely to get shot than those without, the cases of successful self-defense pale compared to the number of accidental injury or death from firearms in homes, plus households with firearms have a much higher rate of domestic violence and violent neighborhood disputes. And no, I also don't think that any rifle will stop special units with military grade gear. If they come for you they will get you and your friends and then some. Sorry...I digress.

  21. Re:America, land of the free... on Ask Slashdot: Can a Felon Work In IT? · · Score: 1

    So are legal and many illegal immigrants who are not citizens. I pay the exact same taxes like my neighbor, he can vote, but I cannot...simply because I do not have a US passport. Taxation without representation does not only apply to felons. Do I ask to join in at presidential elections? No, I think that would be going too far...although my home country will take my voting rights away after living 20 years abroad until I have an acceptable stake such as receiving pension payments (for me there will be about 10 years between where I am a persona non grata when it comes to elections). Then again, my home country grants local and state election rights to all those foreigners who live in the country for more than seven years. I have no idea why it is seven years and not three or ten, but that's not the point. The point is that if someone lives for such a long time in a foreign country they de facto made it their home country and thus are affected by local and regional politics the exact same way as a citizen. Now to the question of the OP...it all comes down to the company, the field of IT, and the crimes committed. Was is it drunk driving or wire fraud? Smoking pot or burglary with firearms? I do not ask for the answer to this question, but it will make a difference to the companies hiring. Companies may not want to hire someone with a wire fraud conviction to be in charge of IT for their financial systems, not so much that they do not believe you can do the task, but anyone from business partners, insurance companies, customers, and law enforcement might consider that too much of a liability. I don't say it is right, but I can follow the concerns. Contrary, if IT means fixing computers and fighting fierce paper jams in the copier it is probably irrelevant what mistakes you made. Likewise for drunken driving. I worked at a place where the support manager had his driving license revoked and was fined quite a bit for repeated drunk driving. While I would not have him take me home after a night at the bar he is a mighty fine support manager. A career change is an option and other types of employment are more open to ex-felons. Hospitality industry comes to mind, plenty of places would hire you as dishwasher or prep cook because they are not really dealing with secrets there and it is generally a business with high turnover. As far as pay goes, IT is definitely the better option. My advice is to be honest about it and get plenty of references that can attest that you cleaned up your act. You might want to see if your life experience might even be helpful. Computer security companies commonly hire convicted hackers who swapped sides. Who else to ask if something is easy or hard to break than someone who already did it. Keep the faith and keep trying. When I started out as a young engineer I did not have such a burden to carry and still had only one measly offer after writing over 80 resumes and going through over 30 interviews. That was back in my home country. When I came to the US I had a salaried engineering position within two weeks. That said, toy with the idea of relocating if you find that in other regions of the country you might have a better chance.

  22. Re:There are issues to resolve... on Obama Offers Funding For 50,000 Police Body Cameras · · Score: 1

    Another issue is that it requires the officers to start the video recording. If they do not press the button there is no recording. Also, plenty of requested recordings were either never made, are missing, or corrupted. Would be nice if the devices would record the entire time and instantly upload the footage to an independent third party that responds equally to police departments, courts, etc.

  23. Bitcoins?? on Big Banks Will Vie For Your Attention With Cardless ATMs and VR · · Score: 1

    About 90% of bitcoins are used to bankroll illegal activities...not sure anyone should support that system.

  24. Arrogant or unresponsive people - with exceptions on Ask Slashdot: Non-Coders, Why Aren't You Contributing To Open Source? · · Score: 1

    Tried to work with the Mozilla folks, but their developers are the most arrogant and meanest people I ever came across. A simple factual discussion is not possible, any contributions are downed, any proposal is met with obnoxious remarks, and overall they spend an excessive amount of effort to tell people to "go away!" Would be nice if they spent just 1% of that effort on fixing bugs like memory leaks that are common since v1.0. No wonder why their browser sucks! That project is run by a bunch of self-centered egomaniacs with an abrasive temper who ignore any alternatives or suggestions unless they are their own - and I bet even then they find the time to bash them. Tried to work with OpenOffice and found that they are generally unresponsive. Suggestion, inquiries, bug reports...they all go into a system and maybe two or three years later someone sets them to abandoned/removed/won't fix although the exact same issue still exists and plenty of others over the years chimed in. Contrary, the folks who run the PaleMoon browser project. Even when I have an opposing opinion they are all nice, responsive, explain their point of view - even when I object three times in a row. Additionally, any suggestions or bugs are quickly vetted and processed and often enough either fixed or a workaround is suggested. They are a prime example on how to interact with an audience (customers) that is even far beyond what commercial business provide.

  25. Cost and war on Ask Slashdot: Why Is the Power Grid So Crummy In So Many Places? · · Score: 1

    I once asked the same question to a local power company making the comparison with western Europe where power outages are generally a rare occurrence. At the place in Europe I lived in for 27 years we had one power outage and that only because a guy with the steam shovel ripped the cables out of the sidewalk by accident. In the US the main reason that power grids are still constructed like in Edison's times is cost and the fact that the US was not devastated by wars in the past century. It is cheaper to nail cables to poles as opposed to run them underground. Underground cabling is more expensive to put it, but it really is only impacted by heavy flooding (as are poles). I could not find any comparison of cost between spaghetti wiring and doing it the right way, it might just be that fixing it after every breeze is cheaper in the long run. And any infrastructure run by for profit businesses in the US is banking on cheap = better.... for shareholders that is. So unless the entire mindset of maximizing profits against the greater good gets changed the best investment is in gas powered generators and battery backups. Sad, but true. In return you can enjoy rather low electricity prices in the US. In Europe electricity costs way more, but you rarely get outages...although even that is changing now because the infrastructure put in place right after the war is now EOL.