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User: dingleberrie

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Comments · 158

  1. really... on Carbon Dating Shows Koran May Predate Muhammad · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Some scholars believe, however, that Muhammad did not receive the Quran from heaven, as he claimed during his lifetime..."

    My brain died a little bit just from reading that.

  2. the logic of analogies on Currently Quantum Computers Might Be Where Rockets Were At the Time of Goddard · · Score: 1

    Currently EM Propulsion is also in early development like Quantum Computers, so EM Drives Might Be Where Rockets Were At the Time of Goddard, but we currently use rockets instead of EM drives, so... umm... the Time of Goddard is now?

  3. There's still lots of improvement opportunity on Police Use DNA To Generate a Suspect's Face · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Because it searches for correlation between faces and DNA, and it's getting arguably discernible results already. I'm expecting it to improve as it gets more sample data, more processing power, and more researchers identifying distinguishing facial characteristics for it to attempt a DNA correlation to. Further, when they find out how to show examples at different milestone ages, then that would lead to even more interesting applications. Imagine knowing what your baby will look like before they are born... and the societal questions that that brings.

  4. I don't see how this is a bad thing on AT&T Patents System To "Fast-Lane" File-Sharing Traffic · · Score: 1

    If it's about limiting consumer freedoms, I'm glad they're patenting it.
    It exposes their ideas and it restricts others from doing it freely.

  5. I always felt frustrated paying over 50 bucks for tax software.
    I went to Taxact 8 years ago because of price (22 bucks or so for deluxe state and federal and federal efile, $19 if you buy early). I had tried turbotax and H&R block. They are all roughly equivalent.
    The only negative is that they don't seem to import my stocks directly from one of my brokerages.
    But it's well worth the avoided hassle of the big names, though.

    I'm not avid over tax software, but I like these guys because I think they charge a fair price and don't try to screw you.
    (I have no affiliations)

  6. mindblowing on The Strangest Moon In the Solar System · · Score: 4, Funny

    Dude... Do you think that when Pink Floyd sang about the Dark side of the moon, they were really talking about Iapetus?

  7. Re:Europa on Obama's 2016 NASA Budget Status Quo, Funds Europa Mission · · Score: 1

    As my granddad used to say "If everybody liked the same thing, then we'd all run after your grandma."

    (ok, well, not my granddad, but you get the idea).

  8. Re:I wish they'd fix the missing functionality on LibreOffice Gets a Streamlined Makeover With 4.4 Release · · Score: 1

    Things I use LibreOffice Calc for because Excel does them poorly or not at all.
    1) An independent window per spreadsheet without having to start a new excel program and then load the file for each one.
    2) Diff or compare documents. Libreoffice is awesome at this one, highlighting the cell and showing a list of all changes.
    3) importing some CSVs with carriage returns. I can't remember the details, but Excell won't import cells with carriage returns and Calc will.

    That said, Excel has its own advantages too.

  9. Re:Fifth amendment zone of lawlessness on Justice Department: Default Encryption Has Created a 'Zone of Lawlessness' · · Score: 1

    Supporting and using encryption is my form of protest. It seems that marching and voting for any of the options put in front of me has little effect.

  10. feeling swindled on Comcast Pays Overdue Fees, Offers Freebies For TWC Merger Approval · · Score: 4, Informative

    I know, as a cartel-based geographically-monopolistic corporation it may look like I think I can do what I want and ignore these fees. But here I am trying to be a good upstanding corporation. I'll even give you a cut. Make me bigger and I'll promise... It'll all work out.

  11. Sound's like fun for other uses on Microsoft Researchers Use Light Beams To Charge Smartphones · · Score: 1

    And he said: "Phone, Where art thou?".
    Whereupon a light emerged; shining upon it like a divine revelation.
    And he saw that it was charging.

  12. Re:Just hire a CPA on Intuit Charges More For Previously Offered TurboTax Features, Users Livid · · Score: 1

    I hired a CPA for a couple of years. I did the taxes by hand and compared it to their results (for several reasons, including that I'm a geek).
    Each year, he said that I would get back a much larger refund than I calculated. When I'd put the two results side-by-side, I'd find deductions from him that I'd ask him about and he'd acknowledge that those aren't right... it was a mistake or oversight. One year, he depreciated my rental house by 2% instead of 1%, but I only learned about that one the next year.

    After 3 years, I had the same life-events year to year, so I stopped using him.

    I have the impression that some CPAs make 'adjustments' based on how much the assumptions can bend. It's a gamble. You have to get caught and there are likely things that are able to be justified as likely mistakes or barely detectable in an audit. I have the impression that this is one way that some CPAs get much better results than tax programs. I don't know about the legality. It could be illegal in the same way that speeding is illegal but I still exceed that posted limit.

    CPAs, feel free to chime in and tell me I'm wrong and that I misunderstood.

  13. slow-clap on Fluxbox 1.3.6 Released · · Score: 1

    What a well-written summary.
    It told me what Fluxbox was, why it was important, why this announcement was important, and didn't make me feel stupid for not knowing about it already (since I'm not a linux geek). I'd wish more announcements would follow this pattern.

  14. Re:And that's still too long on Happy Public Domain Day: Works That Copyright Extension Stole From Us In 2015 · · Score: 1

    Obviously not someone who's ever worked at a startup.

    That's what I was thinking. And can you imagine having this risk you took protected by patents for 75+ years?
    Having over 50 patents myself, I'm pretty sure it costs more to get a patent than it does to copyright a work. Lawyers are involved.

    I think the difference is that the movie or song is often not seen as holding back societal progress if it becomes unlicensed.
    It would be nice for my children and grandchildren to be able to collect licence fees from my patents long after I'm dead, but I'd rather live in a society that doesn't do that and instead assigns a reasonable duration to patents.

  15. Re:Kind of disappointed in him. on Neil DeGrasse Tyson Explains His Christmas Tweet · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It is, arguably, rather interesting that he provoked a minor firestorm just by talking about someone else. It's a commonplace that some anti-jesus flamebait spread in the right areas would have caused a moderate shitstorm, and so nothing would be proven except one's own somewhat juvenile sense of humor by doing so;

    About 2000 years ago, there lived a man that may have agreed with you. I'm sure you have heard of him, you may even recognize him by his initials, JC, as everyone still talks about him today. We know that he was born unlike most men. And as he matured, he had many followers, but also had those who were afraid of the would-be-king, so they put him to death. Yes, Julius Caesar left a legacy that influenced generations. Anyway, what was your point?

  16. Not sure what my brain read on Argentine Court Rules Orangutan Is a "Non-Human Person" · · Score: 1

    Orangutina?
    Aorangutina?
    Argengutanga?

    Ah, nevermind.

  17. It's fixing the wrong thing on RFID-Blocking Blazer and Jeans Could Stop Wireless Identity Theft · · Score: 1

    If the card companies are depending on the cardholder's pants for improving security, then their system is broken.

  18. ad infinitum on Rosetta Results: Comets "Did Not Bring Water To Earth" · · Score: 2

    ... and... where did the asteroid get the water? Smaller asteroids?
    Without doing any research on the topic, yet smug in my own opinion (hello slashdot family!) I don't know why we'd ascribe a smaller rock-like mass as responsible for delivering simple molecules to a bigger rock-like mass.

  19. Zombie apocolypse on Scientists Discover a Virus That Changes the Brain To "Make Humans More Stupid" · · Score: 1

    Could this be how it starts?
    They don't want brains to eat, just to augment their depreciated functionality... like asking for water.

  20. Re:not a repost on Early Childhood Neglect Associated With Altered Brain Structure, ADHD · · Score: 1

    Oops, this was a repost. I meant to post this comment in an alternate thread.
    http://science.slashdot.org/st...

  21. not a repost on Scanning Embryos For Super-Intelligent Kids Is On the Horizon · · Score: 1

    So environment has a bigger influence that what we've measured in the Genome.
    If only we tackled the less expensive solutions first.

    http://science.slashdot.org/st...

  22. not a repost on Early Childhood Neglect Associated With Altered Brain Structure, ADHD · · Score: 1

    So environment has a bigger influence that what we've measured in the Genome.
    If only we tackled the less expensive solutions first.

    http://science.slashdot.org/st...

  23. Finally! on End of an Era: After a 30 Year Run, IBM Drops Support For Lotus 1-2-3 · · Score: 2

    I can't wait for Michael Bay to make a movie about it.

  24. Something new on Blood For Extra Credit Points Offer Raises Eyebrows In Test-Mad China · · Score: 4, Funny

    Finally! A form of bribery that almost anyone can afford.

  25. keep the passwords locked up but easy to get to on Ask Slashdot: How To Keep Students' Passwords Secure? · · Score: 1

    Use Dropbox (or any cloud service that sync local files) and Keepass 2 (open source) to keep them in an encrypted file that is shared among anyone. You can also do group file sharing in dropbox, though I don't do that with my passwords file.

    The keepass file is encrypted.
    I've done this for several years. It's awesome. It allows you to change your password for the same site without depending on some algorithm to lock you into only one possible password for that site.
    You can add and edit the file and it synchronizes. I can even use mini-keepass on my iphone, also with dropbox, so if I'm ever needing info without my PC, I can grab the password.

    I keep credit card info (easier to cut and paste when ordering online) and game and website login info.