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User: bayankaran

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  1. The gain for Ireland? on How Ireland Got Apple's $9 Billion Australian Profit · · Score: 2

    What's the gain for Ireland?
    I am sure they don't see much of the offloaded offshore profits.
    So what does Ireland gain - other than may be few employees manning a registered office and may be a miniscule percent of the funds?
    Is it a case of something is better than nothing?

  2. What happens next? on Bitcoin Exchange Flexcoin Wiped Out By Theft · · Score: 1

    How will the protocol handle stolen bitcoins?
    How do you identify the stolen coins and remove them from circulation/flag it/return to the rightful owner? If not, how will a merchant/buyer/seller can successfully handle a transaction?
    Answer to the above will also give a clue if the exchange owners themselves stole the coins.

  3. The issue with whole foods... on Whole Foods: America's Temple of Pseudoscience · · Score: 1

    The issue with Whole Foods and organic food movement can be seen with the idea behind veganism and other related lifestyle choices.

    I asked a vegan friend when he was coming to my home if he will eat eggs. He replied 'yes' provided if the hen are kept free range and ethically treated. Yes, they are...but what if I kill and eat the birds after you are gone (which is what will happen to most of the birds - some hippie ecologist may plan for proper burial and cemetery service, but that's an exception.)

    There are many foods/food items which do not deserve the organic label and/or should not be militant about such classification. I have seen "organic coconut powder" in Whole Foods. This is ridiculous - there is no "inorganic coconut powder". Its impossible for any coconut farmer not to use fertilizers, and coconut trees do not need insecticides - so such classification is pure money grabbing operation.

    The above are examples - no ideology should be taken to the extreme, and organic food movement is no exception.

  4. Re:Google top honchos are strategic masters on Microsoft Said To Cut Windows Price 70% For Low Cost Devices · · Score: 1

    Some of what you write is true, the rest pure bollocks!
    Whatsapp does not work on most feature phones - the Nokia Asha series is an exception. Its used primarily on Smartphones - even in India. On a Smartphone there is no reason to text message...that part is true.
    Heavy text message users - in India and other countries - still use text messages. A basic 2G/3G package will cost Rs 100 a month - plus the added cost of the smart phone - for most users.

  5. I use Whatsapp... on How Jan Koum Steered WhatsApp Into $16B Facebook Deal · · Score: 1

    I use Whatsapp. Its useful - especially when you don't have to block ads.
    Facebook gets an address book and can mine whatever the user types into Whatsapp to generate sophisticated profiles of their users. At some stage your profile will be sharper than your friends/relatives know about you, even you about yourself. This can be used for showing ads.
    Here is the issue...where will you show ads?
    Mobile has a serious real estate issue. A decent text ad - like the GMAIL ads - will not work as you cannot cram many characters into a small space. What will work is annoying flashy ads, which irritate everyone.
    Showing ads on websites...we are at a saturation point. And Facebook will have to compete with Google - the biggest ad agency in this planet.
    Whatsapp and Tumblr were seriously overpriced. I hope the founders will use some of the proceeds for altruistic causes, that's what the world needs...not more ads.

  6. The money quote on Death By Metadata: The NSA's Secret Role In the US Drone Strike Program · · Score: 1

    From the TFA...
    Obama once reportedly told his aides that it âoeturns out Iâ(TM)m really good at killing people.â The president added, âoeDidnâ(TM)t know that was gonna be a strong suit of mine.â
    I don't think even Mitt Romney will be this callous and arrogant.

  7. Here is the solution America... on Can Commercial Storage Services Handle the NSA's Metadata? · · Score: 1

    America should go for Mongo DB...its web scale. And in addition its "high performance" and supports sharding.

  8. Outsourcing... on Big Pharma Presses US To Quash Cheap Drug Production In India · · Score: 2

    Corporates have no problem when outsourcing is cheaper to their bottom line...the same drug companies which want US to take punitive action against India will have the their IT operations outsourced to India as its cheaper.
    They want it both ways...pure psychopathic behavior.
    Here is the exact quote from Bayer CEO Marijn Dekkers...âoeWe did not develop this product (Nexavar) for the Indian market, letâ(TM)s be honest. We developed this product for western patients who can afford this product, quite honestly, it is an expensive product.â
    Poor Indians should die. If this is not psychopathic behavior I don't know what is! This guy needs help.
    And don't tell me "it costs a lot to develop these drugs". Yes, it does and the costs are recovered with sufficient profit margin from the first world.

  9. Beta vs Classic Slashdot... on The Bitcoin Death Star: KnC Plans 10 Megawatt Data Center In Sweden · · Score: 1

    What are the ways this community can keep alive the classic Slashdot...if not today, tomorrow some sort of 'improvement' will be forced up on the site and it will be too late.
    What about a new website following open source ideals? Or what about a fund to buy Slashdot from Dice? Or bribe the managers and PHBs so that they keep the classic version alive?
    There should be a way out.

  10. National Grid and bordering states... on India To Build World's Largest Solar Plant · · Score: 2

    Even 8 hours would be too short, because you'll need 2 or 3 factories working in parallel for 8 hours a day to produce as much as a single factory can in 16 or 24 hours.

    India recently announced a National Electricity Grid with southern grid joining, the north, east and west. So its a single grid which is supposed to do all sort of wonders (which I don't know much about, but sounds good anyway.)
    Plus Rajasthan borders Delhi and Gujarat...two of the most industrially developed states which will consume any electricity thrown at it, and Madhya Pradesh - one of the backward states - think of Appalachia - where your contention "what air-conditioning in India" rings somewhat true.
    So me thinks the people behind the planning and execution are on to something...and definitely they know better about the local conditions than we on Slashdot.

  11. Re:Its people with addictive personalities on How the Web Makes a Real-Life Breaking Bad Possible · · Score: 1

    How do you define "highly addictive"? Are you reading stories of people sucking dick for caffeine?

    Ban coffee and make brewing coffee a felony and you might actually see such behavior!

  12. Exposure is not... on How the Web Makes a Real-Life Breaking Bad Possible · · Score: 1

    Exposure is an important predictor of misuse in a population.

    I don't think so. Exposure does not mean an automatic path to misuse or addiction.
    The percent of the population who are truly alcoholics will remain the same whether alcohol is banned or available. If alcohol prohibition does not work, how do you expect banning/prohibiting drugs will work? Banning/prohibiting will help only the criminals and the LEO types who get their paycheck from 'drug war'...not anyone else.

  13. Re:Sadly on Congressmen Say Clapper Lied To Congress, Ask Obama To Remove Him · · Score: 1

    L word? You mean Clapper is a lying Lesbian?

  14. Facebook is not going to die... on Facebook Mocks 'Infection' Study, Predicts Princeton's Demise · · Score: 0

    Whether useful or not, or evil or not, Facebook is a technically solid platform and they have created an ecosystem around its content. Its far far more advanced than MySpace (which I believe was some sort of band-aid using ColdFusion), its like Google compared to Yahoo.
    The sophistication of Facebook I see whenever I buy ads on the site...I can pinpoint ads to a narrow user-base, and this will be more on the spot than Google AdWords/AdSense.
    Facebook is a decent platform for a group discussion or following a specific topic and so on. I agree 99% of the content is someone's children's stupid photos.
    And Facebook is needed to counter Google. Else Google will be the only evil corporation, you need more evil corporations battling each other so that they will leave the proletariat in peace.
    Will Facebook die? Probably not as its useful. But it may not be worth the crazy valuations and inflated stock prices.

  15. Too harsh... on Lenovo To Buy IBM's Server Business For $2.3 Billion · · Score: 2

    I think you are too harsh on Lenovo.
    I am using the Thinkpad X series and T series for the last 12 years...from the IBM days to the current iteration. I am yet to see a significant drop in quality on those two lines after Lenovo started rebranding. I am not sure about their entry models though.

  16. Re:$2.3 Billion on Lenovo To Buy IBM's Server Business For $2.3 Billion · · Score: 1

    So basically Lenovo got a server manufacturer for almost $1Billion less than Snapchat is worth.

    Me thinks it was a backhanded plan by Snapchat founders/promoters to get someone interested in the company. Then it did not work as they wanted...they probably expected a bidding war.

  17. Tricky situation... on AMC Theaters Allegedly Calls FBI to Interrogate a Google Glass Wearer · · Score: 1, Troll

    No one likes glassholes, FBI or AMC. And to top it, this glasshole goes to watch 'Jack Ryan, Shadow Recruit'!
    May be its punishment for choosing to watch that picture.

  18. Dual boot OS, not virtualization... on Ask Slashdot: Configuring Development Environment On a Shared Workstation? · · Score: 1

    I share the machine (Win 8.1, 2.7 dual core pentium something or other...

    Do not go the Virtualbox/virtual OS path. Even if you have a good amount of RAM, your machine is not fast enough to seamlessly run two operating systems side by side, and use it for serious development.
    Partition the HDD and install the OS in the new partition, and install the apps/servers/IDEs.
    Do you have an SSD? if not buy a 64 GB cheap SSD...its worth the upgrade and install the OS/apps/IDE on the SSD.

  19. Genuises don't care about the vultures... on What Makes a Genius? · · Score: 1

    Invariably, we also see throughout history that these laser focused artists and creators are preyed upon by the vultures.

    Geniuses, or the really talented and focused artists and creators do not care about the vultures. For the last few centuries vultures - aka 'agents' - were needed, without them it was difficult to propagate your work. At least in the field of arts (except for cinema) it has changed with internet. You do not need an 'agent' anymore to propagate your work. But the flip side - even in 2014, without an agent, your work may not achieve the acclaim it deserves.
    But then Geniuses are not concerned with material rewards. I don't think a real genius cares too much about the square feet/number of bedrooms in their house, or the car they drive. As long as these basic necessities are taken care off, they will be happy in their environment. An 'agent' will increase your revenue, they won't better your output, and mostly they will be a distraction. As such a majority of 'agents' are glorified pimps.
    A genius will never talk about their work, they will let their work talk.

  20. Google is to blame... on Adware Vendors Buying Chrome Extensions, Injecting Ads · · Score: 1, Informative

    Have you ever tried to disable Chrome / Chromium auto-update? I had to find the 'task' and make sure it does not run, there is no other way to block. This is beyond the capability of a majority of users. It seems Google wants the auto-update to run no matter what.
    Other than 'feature bloat' - and may be closing few security issues - there are no great advantages to a newer browser anymore, at least on the desktops.

  21. FUD... on Cheerios To Go GMO-Free · · Score: 5, Informative

    Quite contrarily, GMO seeds have been repeatedly used for market domination through legislative bullying, most infamously ending in the suicide of farmers in india due to non-affordable seed prices after Monsanto cleared the market from other companies by undercutting and legal bullying before rising the cost.

    I have been following farmer suicides in India for a long time. The reasons are complex. They include crop failure at an inopportune time, non-seasonal and extended droughts, and inability to pay debts from unscrupulous moneylenders and so on. Monsanto or its pricey or unaffordable seeds directly causing a farmer to suicide - you might be able to find one or two examples, but that's not the norm.
    Monsanto is famous (or infamous) in India for their GMO Bt Cotton https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bt_cotton. But Bt Cotton is only cultivated in the state of Maharashtra...suicides happen in many other states too. And given the options for cotton seeds, BT Cotton may not be that bad an idea.
    I agree Monsanto is borderline evil and creepy. There are valid reasons to argue genetically modified crops are a bad idea (or a good idea), but you should not add Indian farmer suicides to make a point. That's FUD.

  22. This is a problem... on Bill Nye To Debate Creationist Museum Founder Ken Ham · · Score: 1

    This is a problem the world over. Probably smaller Scandinavian countries and few smaller European nations are immune. Some form of nonsensical religious puritanism exists all over the world. Even Buddhists - the generally gentle crowd - are not immune, they are going ape in Sri Lanka and Myanmar (former Burma.)
    The good development in 2013 is Pope Francis. He might change the discourse of Catholic church and the rest of the world will get some ideas.

  23. Re:Snowden was a dumb moment in tech? on The Year's Dumbest Moments in Tech · · Score: 1

    Spot on. They are all bad versions of each other. They don't realize that, that's all.

  24. Re:It has always worked for me on Brain Function "Boosted For Days After Reading a Novel" · · Score: 1

    Even more interesting is that the effect measured only applies to paper books. When the same book is read from an e-format, there is no lasting effect.

    Research or not the above is bullshit. I am reading Don Quixote right now - on an E Reader. I don't think my brain or me cares about how I read it.

  25. Re:Boosted For Days After... on Brain Function "Boosted For Days After Reading a Novel" · · Score: 4, Funny

    Better...beautiful comment needs no code.