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User: GregEschbacher

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  1. The Bitterwood fantasy novels on Slashdot Asks: What Books Are You Reading This Month? · · Score: 1

    Based on the descriptions, you'd think they're pretty silly. But this series of books (5) are my favorite non-GRRM, non-Tolkien books. Great action, great characters, each book is a bit different and self-contained.

  2. Great use-case for comparing mean v median v mode on iPhone Owners in US Spent $40 Each on Apps in 2016 (cnet.com) · · Score: 2

    Not to turn in Captain Killjoy Statistics Man, but this is a prime use-case for comparing mean vs median vs mode. What if the vast majority of folks spend $0, but there's a few Clash and Clans and Pokemon Go whales out there skewing everything? Recently, we saw how few people actually paid for Super Mario Run (something like 10%?) Seeing the median value as compared to the mean would go a long way to describing the actual spending habits of iPhone users, rather than this semi-meaningless statistic. (Except that it shows Apple makes a large amount of money)

  3. Increased efficiency != decreased consumption on California To Adopt First US Energy-Saving Rules For Computers (reuters.com) · · Score: 2

    A few articles have pointed out this paradox, including an episode of Freakonomics. It's been noted by various historians and economists that as efficiency improves, consumption tends to increase. This known as the Jevons Paradox.

    The most famous example of this was 19th century locomotives. As engines became more efficient, it made the use of locomotives more economical and spurred an increase in the use of locomotives, leading to ever-higher consumption of coal.

  4. Lenovo is at fault, not MS (per the article) on Microsoft Signature PC Requirements Now Blocks Linux Installation: Reports · · Score: 5, Informative

    The article more accurately summarizes things than the biased snippet: "On first blush this seems to be an issue relating to how Lenovo has configured the systems. I can't find any evidence to suggest that Microsoft is trying to "lock" Signature Edition PCs to Windows 10, or making any moves to shut the door on Linux users" This seems to be about Lenovo's use of proprietary drivers for RAID, not MS system requirements. And a reminder that corporate tech support folks have no clue what they're talking about, so quoting a forum post by one does not establish insidious contractual obligations for Lenovo by Microsoft.