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User: pnutjam

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  1. Re:Rose the tide in other industry. Buy my book, g on How Amazon's Ebook Subscriptions Are Changing the Writing Industry · · Score: 1

    whiny and wrong. Amazon can easily tell if a book is read for one page or ten pages or the entire book. The kindle has all of this information available, it's a bit terrifying, but this service would probably now work without that part in place.

  2. Re:This guy is a (sic)moreon..... on How Amazon's Ebook Subscriptions Are Changing the Writing Industry · · Score: 1

    money is finite, this just moves the accounting from bought the book to read the book.

  3. Re:Rubbish on How Amazon's Ebook Subscriptions Are Changing the Writing Industry · · Score: 1

    Amazon can track the bad reads. If someone only gets people to read a few pages of their books, Amazon will see that and reward them less then someone where people read their entire book. With this sort of model, I can try out authors I would not wast time on if i have to pay for the book up front.

  4. Re:Freedom on How Amazon's Ebook Subscriptions Are Changing the Writing Industry · · Score: 1

    I think this model will prove excellent for independent writers. It will be detrimental to the Stephan King and Tom Clancy types who put out a lot of books on name recognition alone. I would be much more likely to take a chance on an author if I could dump the book after a chapter or two without any financial penalty. I see this increasing the number of books available as more authors can get themselves in front of readers.

    It seems to be a more direct attack on big publishing.

  5. Re:Irony. on How Amazon's Ebook Subscriptions Are Changing the Writing Industry · · Score: 2

    I'm not sure I agree. All you can eat books is probably 4 or 5 books a month to me, but I know alot of people that will read 1 or 2 in that same period. I'm betting their algorithm takes into account people who read a chapter or two and then dump the book.

    In the normal payment model, I bought that book, so I might as well power through. Especially if I'm an avid reader and I am worried about running out of things to read. With this model I can sample a bunch of crappy books and move on until I find a good one at no cost. That would seem to reward good writing and allow the chaff to sink more quickly.

    I can see how this would be scary to big name authors who can churn out a bunch of crappy novels that people buy on name recognition. I would be much more likely to take a chance on an author under this system. It sounds like a boon to good writing to me.

  6. Re:Yahoo and HP on Ask Slashdot: What Tech Companies Won't Be Around In 10 Years? · · Score: 3, Funny

    Peter, is that you? Are your TPS reports done?

  7. Re:Stone Age diet ? he wants to live all 20 years? on How Venture Capitalist Peter Thiel Plans To Live 120 Years · · Score: 1

    Official enough for you. Doesn't make for a good talking point in an article, but it's out there and it's in common use by those who actually do things.

  8. Re:Stone Age diet ? he wants to live all 20 years? on How Venture Capitalist Peter Thiel Plans To Live 120 Years · · Score: 1

    There are actuarial tables that show life expectancy for people at different ages.

  9. Re:Another paleo-wanker... on How Venture Capitalist Peter Thiel Plans To Live 120 Years · · Score: 2

    I'm not sure how one can give up sugar and drink red wine?

  10. Re:Hahahahahahahahaha LOL on How Venture Capitalist Peter Thiel Plans To Live 120 Years · · Score: 1

    Yeah, say the Paleo diet adds 15 years to your life, you still have to take them at the end...

  11. Re:And who will collect the trash? on How Venture Capitalist Peter Thiel Plans To Live 120 Years · · Score: 1

    So, Metro City, the movie version.

  12. Re:Stone Age diet ? he wants to live all 20 years? on How Venture Capitalist Peter Thiel Plans To Live 120 Years · · Score: 2, Informative

    That's silly, people lived well into their 40's, 50's, and 60's. Most 60 year old adults are not invalids. Life expectancy of a 20 year old was not vastly different from today, now life expectancy of an infant is another story.

  13. Re:Does the job still get done? on Economists Say Newest AI Technology Destroys More Jobs Than It Creates · · Score: 1

    We have at least a cultural instinct, possibly a genetic instinct, to think that people who work a lot deserve to have a lot of possessions and status, while people who work a little or don't work at all deserve nothing.

    I disagree. We are trained to think that those who have a lot of possessions or a high status do more work then us. This is almost never true. They might not be doing nothing (might), but they aren't working harder then us.

    Sometimes you can see this in new wealthy, or newly promoted. They think they should be working harder, so they make a bunch of decisions they don't know anything about and micromanage people around them. They usually learn better after awhile.

  14. Re:Does the job still get done? on Economists Say Newest AI Technology Destroys More Jobs Than It Creates · · Score: 1

    If only...
    Power will always be attractive. If you are working, you are making decisions that affect people.

  15. Re: This is not the problem on Economists Say Newest AI Technology Destroys More Jobs Than It Creates · · Score: 1

    100k is well off anywhere in the country. It's enough money that you can choose to live in an expensive area and make do with less. I guarantee there are people in that same area getting by on $8 - $10 / hour.

    When i say well off, I mean historically. I'm talking about someone who can afford to buy a new car, take a vacation, and come up with a couple grand if an emergency comes up.
    That's out of reach for a wide swath of the "middle class".

  16. Re:In IT, remember to wash your hands on In IT, Beware of Fad Versus Functional · · Score: 1

    Depends on the minivan. Mileage is not worse then CUV's, it's better in most cases. The ones I've been i are much roomier internally and way easier to get in and out of when you have multiple people. CUV's seem like getting a bunch of people in and out is an afterthought, not purpose designed...

    I have one that handles like a car and one that handles more like a small truck, with an incredibly tight turn radius.

  17. Re:Hilarious! on Last Three Years the Quietest For Tornadoes Ever · · Score: 1

    Well, three years is not a really long stretch of time. If you read the article you'll note that casualties from tornadoes have remained stable around 50 per year, down from the over 500 in 2011. So it sounds like there was increased activity in 2011, but we've had afew slow years.

    It's moronic to equate that to, "so much for climate change..."

  18. Re:Fucking Hell, Harper needs to go! on Canada Waives Own Rules, Helps Microsoft Avoid US Visa Problems · · Score: 1

    I was pondering this very topic during my morning shower. How easy it is for someone to say, skip lunch, don't get cable, live on beans and rice, walk to work, etc...

    It's simple to make a temporary sacrifice, when you can see the light at the end of the tunnel and your probably coming off a pretty nice existence.
    It's not so simple to make a sacrifice that leave's you treading water, in the same miserable existence. Human nature makes it seem better to enjoy yourself while you can.

  19. Re:Fire all the officers? on Once Again, Baltimore Police Arrest a Person For Recording Them · · Score: 1

    Yeah, they'll be sure to satisfy them. They'll have personal service, with cops watching their house at all hours. Their level on police interaction will be so extensive they will definitely be too pleased to complain further.

  20. Re:Comcast Business Class on Comcast Sued For Turning Home Wi-Fi Routers Into Public Hotspots · · Score: 1

    at least around here, that's flipped. AT&T has made huge strides in customer service.

    If only they would have better upstream.

    If anyone from AT&T is reading this, we want faster upstream speeds!

  21. Re:No on Should IT Professionals Be Exempt From Overtime Regulations? · · Score: 1

    That's not true, plenty of places pay the same salary and don't expect more then 40 hours. I know that's something I ask up front when I interview.

  22. Re:"Working hours: Get a life" at economist.com on Should IT Professionals Be Exempt From Overtime Regulations? · · Score: 1

    Your flat out wrong. If you had read the article, you would see that profits are up, as a percentage of GDP, almost the exact amount that wages are down, as a percentage of GDP. Your calculations are perfect if you are in a vacuum and they make sense to a functional moron (sorry to break it to you).

    To put it in simple terms, your bosses are keeping more money and giving you less. Companies are hoarding cash they could easily be paying to employees, and corporations are paying shareholders, or propping up their share price, at the expense of employees.

  23. Re: When we give money to the schools ... on FBI Seizes Los Angeles Schools' iPad Documents · · Score: 1

    Not less capable, but might understand spoken english much better then written. Might also not have had the same opportunity to learn, even though they are just as capable.

    i challenge you to volunteer in an inner city poor school. Those kids are just as interested as wealthy and middle class kids. They also have alot more obstacles to learning. Often, they surmount those obstacle. Sometimes they don't.

    Kids love to learn, sometimes they are too busy learning how to avoid a beating, or how to get a meal. This prevents them from learning math and reading.

  24. Re: When we give money to the schools ... on FBI Seizes Los Angeles Schools' iPad Documents · · Score: 1

    yes, private school is something you pay for if you so choose. You pay for your own public school education whether you want it or not.

  25. Re:When we give money to the schools ... on FBI Seizes Los Angeles Schools' iPad Documents · · Score: 1

    To be fair, the donate time and supplies breaks down over a larger deployment. It's a nice fantasy though.