Slashdot Mirror


User: Almonday

Almonday's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
53
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 53

  1. All this means is that we got the crap scared out of us at various points in recent history (roughly 5 years after the end of the cold war and 9/11, respectively) and we ended up "recouping" some of the costs incurred by the original freakouts by sending the crap we bought for the defense department to local police departments in the hopes that it might be useful for something. Want a less militarized police force? Don't fund the military to the point of embarrassing overkill, folks.

  2. Re:They asked for more money... on "MythBusters" Drops Kari Byron, Grant Imahara, Tory Belleci · · Score: 1

    Maybe so, and perhaps we're all better off for it: your post reminded me that 1) not every young female viewer of Mythbusters is necessarily looking to Kari as a role model just because she has two X chromosomes, and 2) not every male viewer is necessarily panting over Kari's public presentation just because her boobs are more visible (but not necessarily less ample) than her brain. Booms are good. Positive female role models in the sciences are good. Paying people something roughly commensurate with their contributions over 10+ years? Also good.

  3. Re:They asked for more money... on "MythBusters" Drops Kari Byron, Grant Imahara, Tory Belleci · · Score: 1

    Good point...and after a moment's reflection, I think I agree. The show has gotten tired in recent years and if the three of them aren't already actually, tangibly banking on their contributions thus far, then yeah, it's time to move on for all involved. This move also opens up opportunities for Adam and Jamie to revamp the show with a new formula, which might be awesome...or not. Time will tell.

  4. Re:No Kari??? on "MythBusters" Drops Kari Byron, Grant Imahara, Tory Belleci · · Score: 2

    True, although I'd honestly prefer to see her in a more independent role and this split, however amicable (or not) might still provide that kind of opportunity for her. The last few seasons she's been playing up the eye-candy bits to the point where I can't tell what she's truly ok with and what some producer decided needed to happen, because you know...smart boobs, geeks with disposable time/income, etc.

    Fingers crossed.

  5. They asked for more money... on "MythBusters" Drops Kari Byron, Grant Imahara, Tory Belleci · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...and the show "went back to its roots." Nothing to see here, move along.*

  6. Re:Occams Scalpel on The Daily Harassment of Women In the Game Industry · · Score: 1

    Mod parent up, we need more adults on here. (Emotional, if not chronological.)

  7. Re:Not worth it on Three-Year Deal Nets Hulu Exclusive Rights To South Park · · Score: 2

    Yep, let's see...I pay my ISP for access to the Internet, then I pay Hulu for access to their content, then I pay Hulu AGAIN with my time whenever I'm forced to watch commercials, which are often the only content that loads reliably, which takes up even more of my time....

    Screw the biggest, most idiotic kind of that.

  8. Archives on Physical Media: Down, But Maybe Not Out · · Score: 1

    Not all physical (optical) media is devoted to entertainment; there are plenty of folks who have yet to be sold on "the cloud" for whatever reason but who still worry about bitrot and the ability to access content relatively quickly. Case in point, one of my immediate family members is a photography buff who has a large library of scanned negatives dating back to the 30s and he's been eyeing M-Discs for a while now. Still too expensive for regular use but like many amateur archivists, he's playing a long game.

  9. What timing... on Apple Makes Two-Factor Authentication Available For Apple IDs · · Score: 1

    ...considering the pretty serious security hold in the Apple ID system that was reported earlier today.

  10. Re:Guess where will it be cheapest to operate Baxt on A Humanoid Robot Named "Baxter" Could Revive US Manufacturing · · Score: 0, Redundant

    I am replying to this in order to wipe out a mistaken mod.

  11. Re:So Start Global Gardening Riots on Complex Systems Theorists Predict We're About One Year From Global Food Riots · · Score: 1

    The homeless folks who pilfer our recycling bin on a regular basis force me to suspect otherwise. Anything of sufficient economic value situated in an easily accessible location will eventually be exploited by those with favorable time:reward ratios.

  12. Throw half your budget at a Nexus 7... on Ask Slashdot: I Want To Read More. Should I Get an eBook Reader Or a Tablet? · · Score: 2

    ...and spend the rest on actual content via the Kindle, Nook and Play Store apps, among others. I've been really happy with mine over the past two months: The bezel widths are just about perfect for reading with one hand if I make an "L" with my thumb and index finger and use the other three fingers to brace the back, very similar to how I'm accustomed to holding paperback books. It's light enough that my arm doesn't get tired. Battery life is good. In terms of bang for the buck, you could do far, far worse.

  13. Obligatory Betteridge's Law Reference... on Is Siri Smarter Than Google? · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No.

  14. Re:Get a job in Marketing on Ask Slashdot: Life After Software Development? · · Score: 1

    But man, talk about having to constantly reiterate basic concepts...don't get me wrong, sales engineers can serve as fantastic bridges between tech reality and business demands, but this sounds like exactly what the submitter is trying to avoid.

  15. Why, Santorum really is patriotic! on French Court Frowns On Autocomplete, Tells Google To Remove Searches · · Score: 1

    No, not like that.*

    *Well, maybe.

  16. Re:They don't really look like that, do they? on Hubble Captures the Violent Birth of a Star · · Score: 2, Interesting

    To continue the christmas tree analogy, what Hubble does for our eyes is a little like what some enterprising pixel-slinger might do for a person with some form of color blindness; sure, the viewer might not be able to distinguish between red and green (or blue and yellow) lights on the tree, but they can still be rendered using the available spectrum into something which conveys the beauty and complexity of the overall display.

  17. It looks like someone threw jello at a fridge... on Slashdot Launches Re-Design · · Score: 1

    ...but I'm sure I'll get used to it.

  18. Big Ass Strobe Light on Fun To Be Had With a 10-Foot Satellite Dish? · · Score: 1

    Cover it in foil and mount a strobe to the receiver....result: Big Ass Strobe Light. :-)

  19. Re:Did you actually read the article? on Pope Rails Against the Internet and Transparency · · Score: 1

    "The times in which we living knows a huge widening of the frontiers of communication," he said (according to our Italian fixer/producer) and the new media of this new age points to a more "egalitarian and pluralistic" forum. But, he went on to say, it also opens a new hole, the "digital divide" between haves and have-nots. Even more ominous, he said, it exacerbates tensions between nations and within nations themselves. And it increases the "dangers of ... intellectual and moral..."

  20. Misleading Headline and Summary.... on Pope Rails Against the Internet and Transparency · · Score: 1
    The full quote from TFA:

    "The times in which we living knows a huge widening of the frontiers of communication," he said (according to our Italian fixer/producer) and the new media of this new age points to a more "egalitarian and pluralistic" forum. But, he went on to say, it also opens a new hole, the "digital divide" between haves and have-nots. Even more ominous, he said, it exacerbates tensions between nations and within nations themselves. And it increases the "dangers of ... intellectual and moral relativism," which can lead to "multiple forms of degradation and humiliation" of the essence of a person, and to the "pollution of the spirit." All in all, it seemed a pretty grim view of the wide open communication parameters being demanded by the Internet age.

    It seems to me that His Popeliness is simply pointing out that the explosive growth of information technology over the past few decades is not automatically an unmitigated good, but that it has conferred both beneficial and deleterious effects on the lives of human beings. I personally doubt that he and I agree on precisely which effects fall into which column, but c'mon folks, this is hardly an example of the dude "Rail[ing] against the Internet and Transparency."

  21. Re:Bullshit. on China Warns Google To Obey Or Leave · · Score: 1

    It's not even the Central party they'd be criticizing; many Chinese adore Grandpa Hu and Grandpa Wen. The local party officials are another thing altogether, especially in rural areas.

    Interesting that we have (almost) the reverse attitude here in the states: Everyone hates Congress, but our own local representatives are just peachy.

  22. Re:I'm pretty sure on Google, Apple Call Workers' Race & Gender Trade Secrets · · Score: 1

    Your argument is as idiotic as saying "watr" isn't wet, due to misspelling.

    Yeah, sort of like saying that "Republicans" aren't in power, because they're misspelled "Democrats."

  23. Re:Criteria on Google Nexus One Hands-On, Video, and Impressions · · Score: 1

    Hear Hear! While I've been pleasantly surprised with the progress of touch-screen keyboards over the last few years, the lack of a physical keyboard is (and will likely remain) a dealbreaker for me for a very simple reason: any screen area which is devoted to displaying keys is screen area that isn't devoted to displaying text, and I want to see as much text as possible when I write. So my phone is a little thicker as a result...so what?

  24. Re:Not this again on Google CEO Says Privacy Worries Are For Wrongdoers · · Score: 1

    Being well and truly debunked tends to have precious little effect on the persistence of a meme. That said, GWU law prof Daniel Solove did a fairly decent job with I've Got Nothing to Hide and Other Misunderstandings of Privacy.

  25. Re:Can't see why this would matter. on Do You Hate Being Called an "IT Guy?" · · Score: 3, Funny

    Way to keep it weird. ;-)

    As a native Texan (now living in Berkeley) I have to admit that my childhood conception of New England included every state north of Georgia.