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User: dten

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Comments · 37

  1. Mass Transit on Bid On eBay To Speed Up Your Commute · · Score: 2, Insightful

    They can mess around with carpools, whatever... some day people are going to realize that mass transit is really the only viable long-term solution. And I don't mean busses, I mean subways/rail/monorail, something that runs every 10 minutes and doesn't get bogged down in traffic with all the other vehicles.

    But people don't realize that until all the companies have left because congestion was too bad, and then there isn't any funding, so... rinse and repeat.

    As a resident of the Seattle metro area, I can say that officials around here are notoriously short-sighted, but I think that could also be said of most American government and business -- especially when it comes to our beloved auto-mobiles.

  2. new form of pickpocketing on Contactless Credit Cards · · Score: 1

    Now thieves will only need to walk around waving readers over people's butts to snag their CC info...

  3. Re:Another reason to cancel landlines on Phone Companies Bill Public for Nonexistent Equipment · · Score: 1

    Agree, do it, provided you have adequate cell coverage at your home.
    My wife and I have exactly this setup and it's worked perfectly for 2 years.

  4. de-evolution in progress, how do we stop it? on The Rights of GM Humans · · Score: 1

    Every time we save someone's life with new medical treatments, and that person goes on to reproduce, we have just weakened the gene pool.

    With all the medicine we have today, natural evolution has stopped. Our bodies don't have to adapt because we stuff them with drugs.

    I'd even go so far as to say we are on the verge of de-evolution as genetic weaknesses get propogated throughout the pool.

    People object to genetic manipulation because they say it is tampering with nature. News flash, we've been tampering with nature for millenia, ever since we invented agriculture, selective breeding, medicine, etc.

    We now have two choices: stop, stagnate, and decay as a species, or continue mankind's eternal quest to better itself. If we've reached the limits of "natural" evolution, what's the next logical step?

  5. patent violation? on Building Your Own Glowing Cyber-Balls? · · Score: 1

    Could this project potentially violate this company's patents (assuming they have some)? Would that pose a challenge for openly distributing the results?

  6. don't be a wimp on Advice You Would Give to Your 12 Year-Old Self? · · Score: 4, Insightful

    1) Everyone has been, and will keep telling you, to turn the other cheek.
    Everyone is full of shit.
    Trust yourself and stand up for yourself--even if it gets you in trouble. Nobody else cares more about your life than they do about their own. Challenge everything, especially those who challenge you.

    2) Don't be afraid to piss people off.
    Not everyone understands the same concepts of right and wrong that you do; not everyone shares your goals or respects your rights to them. If you wait for handouts, you get leftovers; if you wait for respect, you get pity. Trust your heart to tell you what you want, and don't let other people's agendas impede your progress (this includes your family) (see #1).

    3) Everyone is bluffing. Nobody is really as cool or put-together or powerful as you think they are--or at the very least, you are a match for them. Never question your ability to compete.

    4) You should bluff, too. Act like you have a right to what you want, and people will believe you (most people don't realize #3). And if someone tries to call your bluff, never back down. Herein lies the power to do and be whatever you want in life. Try it, it works.

    5) Your parents are lousy role models or I wouldn't have to be telling you these things. You're going to have to go outside of your family to find the inspiration and support you need to be successful in life.

  7. refusing to cooperate on Going Cyberpunk · · Score: 1
    Quote from the article:

    However, just like lie detector tests, the technique requires the cooperation of the subject. A suspect could simply refuse to cooperate by closing his eyes and refusing to watch the prompts flashed on the screen before him.

    Can you say "A Clockwork Orange"?
  8. What about employer references? on Are Coders Exempt From California's Overtime Laws? · · Score: 2, Insightful

    There is a lot of talk in this thread about legally calling employers on their compensation bluffs.

    Maybe I'm naive, but I always thought that prior employee references is critical factor in getting a new job, especially for less experienced developers with less than a handful of work history entries. If I buck the system, I won't be able to get a good reference, right? Won't that hurt my ability to get a new job?

    Can less experienced developers afford to fight back against exploitation, or are we just stuck?

  9. Do you have to be hardcore to be good? on How Should You Interview a Programmer? · · Score: 1

    A lot of posts suggest asking about off-the-clock projects. The implication seems to be if you're not doing extra programming on your own time, on top of what you do at work, you don't have the passion to be a good programmer.

    What about the rest of us who go home and play music, or go hiking, or weave baskets? Those who think life is too short and too big to spend all your time doing just one type of thing? Does that mean we will never be considered good programmers, even though during the day we enjoy churning out good, fast code, just like the geeks?

  10. Automated Happiness Officer on Affective Computing: Teaching Machines About Emotion · · Score: 1

    First, employers screened emails. Now this...

    "Joe, your computer is reporting that you've been a little down for the past several weeks. Studies have proven that productivity slides when you're sad, so... I'm afraid we're going to have to let you go."

    Anyone ever play the old role-playing game "Paranoia"? Will computers be our automated Happiness Officers?

  11. it just might work on To The Pain · · Score: 1

    I can actually see, in the not-so-distant future, hardcore gamer kids voluntarily using this sort of device. If you really really want to be at the top of the ladder, anything that forces you to play a better game could be an advantage...

  12. the future is now on Treo, Combination Cellphone and PDA · · Score: 1

    anyone else notice how similar it looks to the old generation Star Trek communicators?