People who do small side jobs (including myself occasionally) often aim for cash payment to avoid government reporting (especially so-called "self-employment" taxes); it's been called "working under the table" forever. Or if you do regular contract work (which I also do), you get an LLC, go the 1099 route and bury as many expenses you can against the LLC to avoid reporting much of a profit (because profit=taxes). Both routes are common and well-accepted.
>> dependent contractor
Please [diety], no. We just got done with this fight. If you define the terms of success and let me pick how it's done within certain standards of quality, I'm a contractor, and I'll take cash. If you ALSO want me to behave like an employee, controlling my hours, sitting through useless HR presentations, and acting like an agent of a corporation, then I'm an employee and I want the full benefit package. It's pretty black-and-white and has never really been an issue in the dozens of contracts I've been involved in.
Since so much of the food and other aid gets siphoned off long before it actually helps the people it was aimed at, how about a cheap, hard-to-detect, hard-to-destroy, hard-to-forge, harmless if eaten/smashed aid tracking device, like a rice-grain sized sensor in each bag of rice. Or fitbit-style biometric-tied glucose monitors to track which people are actually getting food.
>> Should scientists be more responsible for communicating their results directly to the public? Or should this role be left to science journalists?
At major research universities dependent on grants this role is often part of the public relations arm of the funding coordinators (or university itself). The reason is simple and profit-motivated: the more that constituents and politicians know and hear about scientists' findings and discoveries, the more likely future grants are.
>> helicopters had to deliver modular data centers in three minutes or less, lest the choppers be targeted by Taliban rockets
There's something Brian Williams-y about this story. It seems like anything within visual range of rockets would also be within visual range of mortars. Why try to shoot the helicopters when everyone's on high alert? Why not just target whatever they dropped when things have settled down a bit?
This strikes me as yet another case of a politician pretending to be a voice of the people while out of office. We already fell for that with Obama.
Then again, Obama is one of many politicians who said “I believe that marriage is the union between a man and a woman” in 2008 but flip-flopped once he saw the winds of change blowing in the opposite direction, so there's hope he could flip-flop on Snowden too before he completes his lame-duck tour.
>> So once these and others like them gobble up all the matter in the universe and then they start to work on each other, will we eventually end up with something akin to the makings of another Big Bang? >> Could this be an explanation of the missing mass we currently attribute to dark matter?
No. No. They "found" these things right in the middle of galaxies, right where everyone else assumed there must be black holes (but couldn't observe directly).
>>...expecting smart things out of a people they intentionally made stupid over generations...application of mind control...
Huh? The team that couldn't get in was the Chinese (http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-33045713), and likely as not there was some kind of Chinese/US diplomatic pissing contest going on behind the scenes that WAS on everyone's minds.
While we're at it, notice that my link is from the BBC - if that's not mainstream enough for the OP, I don't know what is.
Bingo. I usually do that for a couple of years at a time (while coding side projects under the table), then switch back to corporate coding at a local innovator to stay somewhat fresh on emerging technologies, build trends, etc.
If you're adding a treadmill, you'd better be ready to spend more than a grand.
>> Have You Tried a Standing Desk?
Only when I've had to mash something into a console at a server rack. My solution to the whole "not sitting around" bit has been to avoid long stints in heads-down dev roles. Instead, I walk around a lot talking to people, go for walks/runs/bikes, park a good half-mile or more away from the office, etc.
>> people can start translating the comments in the source code from Italian to English!
Really, you can't follow the code without English comments?
>> will this help bona fide security researchers with their work on fighting exploits on all platforms?
It gives us a couple more signatures to look for. I'm really getting sick of the "fake driver" vector though; it's 2015 and still trivial to get Windows platforms to cough up anything you'd want. As long as AV vendors ignore things like this (e.g., https://www.google.com/webhp?s...) it will continue to be easy for nearly anyone to write their own "advanced persistent threat."
>> We have some different ideas around monetisation in the pipeline, but for now we are just focussed on building a community around live education
Translation: we are going to be ad-free to grab as many users as possible until we finalize the sale of the company to an appropriate advertiser. (That's pretty much how these start-ups work.)
>> It is sort of sad that the woman in Drudge's "Obama phone" video has no idea that her free cell phone has nothing to do with Obama.
OK, I'll bite. Yes, one part of the conservative complaint is that the federal government shouldn't be in the business of providing free cell phone service*. However, the larger part of the complaint is that local political operatives DO advertise government perks like this as Democrat largesse. In other words, when the woman said that her phone was an "Obamaphone" she was probably just simplifying a version of this well-worn campaign slogan:
"Vote for [Democrat Leader] (Obama) and other Democrats and you will continue to get free or reduced price stuff (like this phone). Don't vote for Republicans because they will cut off your stuff."
>> conservatives...are...more cruel...
Yep, it looks like you're on the same page.
* = Conservatives are mixed on whether A) there should be NO subsidy, or B) a subsidy is OK but it should come as part of one cash handout, which has the duel advantage of teaching people to budget with real money and reducing the number of bureaucrats needed to "manage" these programs. (I'm a "B.")
>> While most Slashdot readers probably enjoy the latest and greatest smartphones and heavy-use data plans, millions of Americans use low-cost, prepaid featurephones
I'm on a low-cost prepaid plan along with my family. We currently have 3x sub-$100 Android phones and pay about $60 a month (total, not each) for about 600 voice minutes (which we never completely use), 500 texts (ditto) and about 3GB of data (which is mostly me streaming music between wireless zones at my home and office).
Though I've been into computers my entire life I really don't understand why anyone would pay $500 (or more) for a phone and then dump $50 (or more) per line per month down the drain - and yet I'm surrounded by friends and relatives who do. What am I missing?
Slashdot Mirror
People who do small side jobs (including myself occasionally) often aim for cash payment to avoid government reporting (especially so-called "self-employment" taxes); it's been called "working under the table" forever. Or if you do regular contract work (which I also do), you get an LLC, go the 1099 route and bury as many expenses you can against the LLC to avoid reporting much of a profit (because profit=taxes). Both routes are common and well-accepted.
>> dependent contractor
Please [diety], no. We just got done with this fight. If you define the terms of success and let me pick how it's done within certain standards of quality, I'm a contractor, and I'll take cash. If you ALSO want me to behave like an employee, controlling my hours, sitting through useless HR presentations, and acting like an agent of a corporation, then I'm an employee and I want the full benefit package. It's pretty black-and-white and has never really been an issue in the dozens of contracts I've been involved in.
Since so much of the food and other aid gets siphoned off long before it actually helps the people it was aimed at, how about a cheap, hard-to-detect, hard-to-destroy, hard-to-forge, harmless if eaten/smashed aid tracking device, like a rice-grain sized sensor in each bag of rice. Or fitbit-style biometric-tied glucose monitors to track which people are actually getting food.
>> Should scientists be more responsible for communicating their results directly to the public? Or should this role be left to science journalists?
At major research universities dependent on grants this role is often part of the public relations arm of the funding coordinators (or university itself). The reason is simple and profit-motivated: the more that constituents and politicians know and hear about scientists' findings and discoveries, the more likely future grants are.
Hey editors - did you mean an "X.509 certificate?"
>> I do have this weird itching between my toes. Think it's China?
It depends. Can you describe the masseuse you hired last week?
>> running the entire town administration and public services using Twitter...a third of the 3,800 residents have Twitter accounts
So...the government is accessible to a full third of all citizens? (And probably not the elderly who need the most services.) What's the win, exactly?
>> helicopters had to deliver modular data centers in three minutes or less, lest the choppers be targeted by Taliban rockets
There's something Brian Williams-y about this story. It seems like anything within visual range of rockets would also be within visual range of mortars. Why try to shoot the helicopters when everyone's on high alert? Why not just target whatever they dropped when things have settled down a bit?
This strikes me as yet another case of a politician pretending to be a voice of the people while out of office. We already fell for that with Obama.
Then again, Obama is one of many politicians who said “I believe that marriage is the union between a man and a woman” in 2008 but flip-flopped once he saw the winds of change blowing in the opposite direction, so there's hope he could flip-flop on Snowden too before he completes his lame-duck tour.
>> So once these and others like them gobble up all the matter in the universe and then they start to work on each other, will we eventually end up with something akin to the makings of another Big Bang?
>> Could this be an explanation of the missing mass we currently attribute to dark matter?
No. No. They "found" these things right in the middle of galaxies, right where everyone else assumed there must be black holes (but couldn't observe directly).
>> Astrophysicists?
Or, you could just RTFA.
>> ...expecting smart things out of a people they intentionally made stupid over generations...application of mind control...
Huh? The team that couldn't get in was the Chinese (http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-33045713), and likely as not there was some kind of Chinese/US diplomatic pissing contest going on behind the scenes that WAS on everyone's minds.
While we're at it, notice that my link is from the BBC - if that's not mainstream enough for the OP, I don't know what is.
>> whole team was not able to attend because they couldn't get their visa in time
Next time, just fly into Tamaulipas and hop on a northbound fruit truck. Visa shmisa.
>> titanic armored robots...roughly 4 meters tall
I think you dropped a trailing zero there. Godzilla-threatening, otherwise we're not interested.
>> This is a hard limit — drivers can give no more than two rides per day.
That's not carpooling in the sense that many carpoolers give 3+ people a ride to somewhere.
>> So... you became a manager?
Bingo. I usually do that for a couple of years at a time (while coding side projects under the table), then switch back to corporate coding at a local innovator to stay somewhat fresh on emerging technologies, build trends, etc.
If you're adding a treadmill, you'd better be ready to spend more than a grand.
>> Have You Tried a Standing Desk?
Only when I've had to mash something into a console at a server rack. My solution to the whole "not sitting around" bit has been to avoid long stints in heads-down dev roles. Instead, I walk around a lot talking to people, go for walks/runs/bikes, park a good half-mile or more away from the office, etc.
>> 5 members, 1 government employee, 2 academics, and 2 from business
>> President continues to appoint the government chair
So...three from business then? (Result: exploit will never be published.)
If we start banning content because it could be a violation of INTERNATIONAL export...cue the Great US Firewall.
I always take a shot when someone uses the word "anomaly" in a space story. The legacy of STTNG continues.
>> Surely if it needed comments in the first place then it implies that the code isn't easy to follow
(facepalm)
>> people can start translating the comments in the source code from Italian to English!
Really, you can't follow the code without English comments?
>> will this help bona fide security researchers with their work on fighting exploits on all platforms?
It gives us a couple more signatures to look for. I'm really getting sick of the "fake driver" vector though; it's 2015 and still trivial to get Windows platforms to cough up anything you'd want. As long as AV vendors ignore things like this (e.g., https://www.google.com/webhp?s...) it will continue to be easy for nearly anyone to write their own "advanced persistent threat."
>> https://github.com/hackedteam/...
>> https://github.com/hackedteam/...
ndisk, eh? With a couple of components to collect, report and transmit?
This thing kind of looks like the kit used in Shamoon, Sony, Icefog/Korea, etc.
>> We have some different ideas around monetisation in the pipeline, but for now we are just focussed on building a community around live education
Translation: we are going to be ad-free to grab as many users as possible until we finalize the sale of the company to an appropriate advertiser. (That's pretty much how these start-ups work.)
Was it wearing a brown shirt?
>> It is sort of sad that the woman in Drudge's "Obama phone" video has no idea that her free cell phone has nothing to do with Obama.
OK, I'll bite. Yes, one part of the conservative complaint is that the federal government shouldn't be in the business of providing free cell phone service*. However, the larger part of the complaint is that local political operatives DO advertise government perks like this as Democrat largesse. In other words, when the woman said that her phone was an "Obamaphone" she was probably just simplifying a version of this well-worn campaign slogan:
"Vote for [Democrat Leader] (Obama) and other Democrats and you will continue to get free or reduced price stuff (like this phone). Don't vote for Republicans because they will cut off your stuff."
>> conservatives...are...more cruel...
Yep, it looks like you're on the same page.
* = Conservatives are mixed on whether A) there should be NO subsidy, or B) a subsidy is OK but it should come as part of one cash handout, which has the duel advantage of teaching people to budget with real money and reducing the number of bureaucrats needed to "manage" these programs. (I'm a "B.")
>> While most Slashdot readers probably enjoy the latest and greatest smartphones and heavy-use data plans, millions of Americans use low-cost, prepaid featurephones
I'm on a low-cost prepaid plan along with my family. We currently have 3x sub-$100 Android phones and pay about $60 a month (total, not each) for about 600 voice minutes (which we never completely use), 500 texts (ditto) and about 3GB of data (which is mostly me streaming music between wireless zones at my home and office).
Though I've been into computers my entire life I really don't understand why anyone would pay $500 (or more) for a phone and then dump $50 (or more) per line per month down the drain - and yet I'm surrounded by friends and relatives who do. What am I missing?