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User: Casualposter

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  1. Re:And The Arms Race Continues..... on Google Chrome Will No Longer Autoplay Content With Sound In January 2018 (venturebeat.com) · · Score: 1

    And I don't browse the site. The people who think that their article surrounded by screaming advertisements for stuff I don't want and wouldn't buy is something I NEED, have vastly oversold that idea to themselves. I just click somewhere else. Vital information has more than one source. Everything else is entertainment and I can find something else to entertain me.

  2. Re:Whodathunkit? on The New Corporate Recruitment Pool: Workers In Dead-End Jobs (msn.com) · · Score: 1

    Making $90,000 sounds like a lot of money until you try to live in one of those high cost cities. So tossing the salary part without the geography isn't very informative. That salary in one of the poor countries in the world would allow you to live like a king. In San Francisco, not so much.

  3. How can I use this as a weapon? on Why AI Won't Take Over The Earth (ssrn.com) · · Score: 1

    Humans have asked this questions about everything that they have encountered, thought up, built, or invented: How can I use this as a weapon? We laugh when Riddick tells the men that he will kill them with his tea cup, but no one really considered that he couldn't do it - no one considered that there was something inherent in the existence of that tea cup that prevented it from being a murderous weapon. Everything can be used as a weapon to kill other humans. AI would be used in this way as well, and the blundering behemoth of stupid naivete states: only if you program it to do so. Well, someone will. Just as surely as someone has already thought about it.

  4. Same shit different decade. on Microsoft Blamed Intel For Its Own Bad Surface Drivers (thurrott.com) · · Score: 1

    Microsoft has been writing shitty software and blaming everyone else since its inception. By now it is so ingrained in their culture that they obviously don't bother to consider that their software is the reason the device doesn't work.

  5. Re:Legitimate concerns on Google Cancels Town Hall To Discuss Diversity In Its Ranks (nbcnews.com) · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Since when is being wrong a "different perspective?" The facts about gender based discrimination and males with misogynist viewpoints creating an unpleasant workforce for those they view dimly, have been well studied, found to be based in prejudice and anecdotal incidents rather than science, and prohibited by law. Claiming that women are different and therefore incapable of some intellectual endeavor is factually inaccurate, and has been known to be factually inaccurate for decades. Fragile indeed is the ego that clings to the ignorant viewpoint in the face of data - which is a place best left to religions and not technical fields. Frankly, if decisions about who is to participate in a project is based upon faith and belief rather than data, I'd rather the decision maker joined a monastic religious organization of the appropriate gender.

  6. Re:Look, women are fine at engineering on Google Cancels Town Hall To Discuss Diversity In Its Ranks (nbcnews.com) · · Score: 1

    Since the Canadians defeated the US both times the US invaded Canada, I would take their martial skills seriously. They have participated in many of the international conflicts of the last century. And despite not being the focus of the US news, they have performed well.

  7. My own experience on Ask Slashdot: What Is the 'Special Appeal' of Apple Products? · · Score: 1

    Ok. I've used Windows in every version since it began. I've owned and used Apple computers since the Apple IIe. I have used and owned systems running Linux as well (Ubuntu, and SuSE with various user interfaces). My hardware ranges from what ever Apple put out, to a Hackintosh, and I've built both Linux and Windows systems. Work runs Windows. Home runs Apple and Windows.

    Apple computer systems have always worked well. I can count on one hand the number of times the OS ate itself causing me to lose data. It is a similar tale for the applications that run on Apple platforms. These machines run well, run for long periods of time, and seldom break. That's been my experience over the last 34 years of using Apple computers. The software is usually consistent from version to version - iTunes being a notable and aggravating exception - I've certainly cursed iTunes for moving the repeat one song many times button around with every damn version. Yeah. I hate that. But for the most part, the UI stays the same so if you learned a decade ago, it's probably still working the same way.

    Windows: I have a long list of times when Windows has crashed and I've lost data. I've had Windows update and take out my entire lab. I've had Windows or Windows applications stop working in the middle of a routine, repetitive operation, for no apparent reason, and require a reboot or two. Windows based systems regularly fail and lose data or require operations to be repeated. The hardware varies when using windows, and the cheaper solutions are usually the first to fail some within months of purchase. Windows and windows applications - especially the ubiquitous Office, love to change the way things work - redesigning the user interface with every iteration regardless of the fact that no user I know really appreciates all of the changes to the locations and functions of windows. Trying to solve a printer connection issue for instance greatly depends upon which version of Windows you have just to figure out where to start looking. Trying to figure out how to connect a printer on Windows 8 after using Windows 7 was like an episode of Dexter's lab: What does this button do? Only far less entertaining.

    Linux: Compatible hardware can be tricky to get - but that got better as time went on. SuSE ran the back end of an entire company without complaint and despite the abuse of worn out infrastructure - hell lighting hit the server room and the only things that still worked were the two Linux based servers so I always get a chuckle out of that. Ubuntu is nice for a desktop that most people can't break. If you want something that will play nice with a company intranet and not be vulnerable to the late night Pr0n viruses, Ubuntu was a good choice - might still be, but I've not used it in a decade. Of course, with Linux you can really get into the minutia of the OS. If you want to.

  8. Re:People have workflows. on Ask Slashdot: How Do You Explain 'Don't Improve My Software Syndrome' Or DIMSS? · · Score: 2

    The clearest example of adding a new feature and wrecking a work flow that comes to mind is adding the Ribbon in Microsoft office. I had an office of older (nearing retirement age, who remember fondly the days of mechanical typewriters and carbon paper) employees who came to work one morning and got nothing done because they had been upgraded over night and couldn't figure out where anything was. What's this? How do I open my files. How do I print? The layout is wrong? Great day that was.

  9. Re:There's plenty of good reasons No There's not on Ask Slashdot: How Do You Explain 'Don't Improve My Software Syndrome' Or DIMSS? · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You're going to change how the software interacts with the user because you got a nifty tool kit upgrade? Because you went from Programing Language Not Currently in Vogue to Programing Language De Jour? You think the software should work on a desktop bolted to a desk at a shipping department just like it works on your child's IPAD? The latest iteration of homo-sapiens isn't fawning over the fully functioning design? You should get out of programming and move into a more useful career: Ocean water garbage removal. Sure, it might seem like a good idea for the UI to be changed so that some feature can better fit in to the latest UI concept, or even be cool to the latest crop of budding consumers just entering college, but changing how something works is a huge deal - not for you programmers, but for the millions of people that actually use the software to get things done.

    Software is a tool, not an art project to stick in your effing portfolio. First off, UI design must be functional and then elegant. It matters not one wit if the UI is pretty or even if it wins awards for its looks if the thing doesn't effectively and efficiently do the damn job its supposed to do. Changing the UI design, especially deleting functions or moving them around is equivalent to breaking the software. It doesn't work like it did yesterday and NOW it is neither effective nor efficient. Now it requires learning, and then re-learning, and if used often will require UNLEARNING the old way -- something humans don't really do well at all. If you can't make the changes you need to the code to both improve the underlying performance, add a feature, appeal to the "youts of 'murica", and still keep the old stuff where it was and working as it was, then get out of programming. Just quit. Save me the time and aggravation of figuring out what is going through that two cell based life form you call a brain while I have a multi-million dollar project idling because the people working on it can't figure out where those vital features are now located or worse deprecated, a fancy word for too fucking lazy to keep a feature working.

    And don't get me started on the "what we changed in the latest upgrade" document. I get better change logs in World of Warcraft patches than any other piece of recently "upgraded" software. Hiring some stoner you met at the Weed Works to write "We changed stuff" and hide it in a PDF buried more effectively than landslide victims in Washington State, isn't sufficient so mitigate the change chaos. SO stop lying to yourself about how it's really okay and people will get over it. No THEY WON'T. We don't get over being blamed for the consequences of some anonymous jackass programmer's design changes. We get to SUFFER because of it. And that is NEVER going away. We remember it because you're the reason the budget was blown, the system failed, we missed a deadline because the software got upgraded. We didn't get new training because we had to spend the training budget on teaching folks how to use the upgrade instead of something that might actually get our productivity up. Yeah, change that UI, will ya? We need more stress and aggravation.

    Remember when Microsoft moved the print function in office? That little bitty change was a juggernaut of wasted time and effort trying to first, figure out where this common function had be re-located, and then passing that knowledge on to people who really only want to print documents as a part of their job. That's right, printing documents was the core piece of their job and one night it got upgraded into some other part of the software. Brilliant. Now we have employees approaching retirement age who already hate computers and software trying to figure out how to print documents so that they can ship product to customers while the trucks are idling outside the office at $200/hour demurage causing the shipping department to watch their quarterly bonus vanish as they struggled to figure out how to PRINT. Yeah that was a great move. I'm sure those guys w

  10. The president can type up all the proclamations he wants. Some things he can do. Lots of things he can't. Re-writing law on the fly from his office isn't one of them. If changing laws to suit the whims of the president were simply a matter of signing a typed out document in front of cameras, congress would have been out on the streets looking for employment centuries ago.

    So when trumpity trump trump drags the photographer and a few suits into the office to sign off on another one of his paper tweets - er executive orders, to proclaim how he's just done something like eliminate laws or increase the size of the military or fired the EPA, he's wasting paper. No matter the bluster and pomp of the bullshit, this county is not and never has been run by executive orders. The congress, the courts, the states are all partners and they don't have to go along with the trumpity trump trump.

    Congress passes the law. The Courts interpret the law. The executive branch enforces the interpretation. It's not one guy making statements and singing papers.

    He wants you to THINK he's doing this stuff because it plays well to his base, and is way easier than actually doing some thing.

  11. Bill'em on CNET Editor Rails Against Non-Consensual Windows Updates (cnet.com) · · Score: 1

    Gather the hours that the reboot cost you in time. Apply you standard consultant rate for your field. That's how much money the update is worth to you. Bill Microsoft or take them to small claims court. If they don't send a representative, they will lose. Then send them the requirement that they for the judgement. If enough people do this, then they will stop behaving this way. It's death by a million cuts. The time and effort it takes to deal with each tiny lawsuit against them for taking over your computer while you were using it will add up and that will get the attention of the business people.

  12. You have to do both. The cities are where the products are going. So a truck has to be able to navigate New York City as well as I70 through western Kansas.

  13. With Uber's complete disrespect for the law and their unwillingness to abide by licensing and regulation in mind, I wonder how long they will last under the iron fist of the US DOT. The rules for freight make the rules around taxis rather simplistic. Freight isn't simple. It's not like letters where the most you can worry about is the occasional envelope filled with poison or box bomb and for the most part paper is getting moved from one spot to the next. Freight has restrictions. Some things are temperature controlled. Some are not. Some things are incompatible with other things. Some things are poisonous or corrosive, or both. It's a lot more complicated than simply showing up at Joe's Warehouse with a couple of buddies and a U-haul. There is a lot more to freight and logistics than having a truck and driver in the right spot at the right time. And when things are done wrong, the results can wind up on the news - in a bad way. I'm not sure that a robot can provide the proper information to first responders when the truck has an accident. And the driver has to be commercially licensed - not just some dude who shows up with his pickup truck. I really think that Uber trying to disrupt the freight industry in the same way they disrupted the taxi industry is a disaster for Uber, and for the unfortunate fatalities to come.

    Of course, this could be Uber management scamming investors with vaporware.

  14. No effect really on Twitter Blocks Government 'Spy Centers' From Accessing User Data (theguardian.com) · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The agencies will simply create a corporation and have it do all of the data mining and then sell the information to the government for a fee. Not going to stop this behavior at all.

  15. Probably have an "innovation" where the H1B visas will be sold on QVC under some sort of Trump Branding.

  16. Re:And furthermore.... on High Schoolers Use Homemade Nuclear Fusion Reactor To Dominate Science Fairs (us.com) · · Score: 1

    Well, if you think that ignorance or liberal arts will pay your way to living somewhere besides the homeless shelter, go for it. Technical fields are the only ones that still have jobs available.

  17. Re: They want people to pay for backround music on on The Music Industry Is Begging the US Government To Change Its Copyright Laws (theverge.com) · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Sorry, these are NOT capitalists. They are monopolists. Their whole business model is based around a government granted monopoly on the production and distribution of creative materials - and in NO WAY reflects any of the principles of capitalism. What they want is for their monopoly to be complete and without recourse by a public forced to purchase their wares at what ever rate and pricing scheme they have dreamt up in some drug induced haze in sleazy Thai brothel. There is not one ounce of competitive spirit within these organizations and never has been. They have fought against every technological advancement since the invention of the printing press (which is how we were saddled with copyright in the first place) and have waged a centuries long campaign to convince everyone that our very language, music, and art should be owned by someone - usually a king or giant company.

    Capitalist have their own problems, but these are not capitalists.

  18. Not going towork on Bill Introduced To Require ID When Purchasing "Burner Phones" (house.gov) · · Score: 1

    Remember when pseudofed was over the counter? Now you have to stand in line, present ID, and have records kept. It's how we wiped the meth epidemic out. I mean once you had those registration requirements, the whole meth problem went away! Why, addiction to meth went down the very next day and has been virtually eradicated all by that one simple legislative trick! So now we'll just apply that problem to terrorism! Instant! presto-chango! Pass a law and poof! No more problem.

    This is like throwing bacon at a wall. Sure it makes a slapping sound and sticks to the wall for a while, but in the end, the wall gets a greasy stain and the bacon is plain wasted.

  19. So maybe this is not about anything more than intergovernmental agency bullshit politics? The Pres can have one, but the State Dept can't because the NSA don't like them this week? I mean the last 16 years have been a buffet of petty bullshit politics from the enormous hogs at the public tax trough. So it would figure that cooperation between agencies might not be high on the priority list.

  20. Old news or Same S*** Different Day on Fast-Food CEO Invests In Machines Because Regulation Makes Them Cheaper Than Employees (yahoo.com) · · Score: 1

    This is a guy focused on the short term costs and not the customer. Paying for labor does two things - it allows for a better grade of employee and potentially more customers. This mentality is not new to business, but companies that focus on costs are often the ones that go out of business because all that time and energy spent on cost control is not spent on customer service and product quality. Every company that I can recall that has gone down this road has usually ended up with a bad reputation for service and quality and is ripe for losing their position in the market by someone who does focus on the customer and product quality.

  21. Re:Can't wait for the FBI to demand a kill switch on Within 6 Years, Most Vehicles Will Allow OTA Software Updates (computerworld.com) · · Score: 1

    I would rather you were driving than being entertained in the car. Besides, books, kindles, ipads etc can keep your passengers entertained with out compromising the security of the automobile. Furthermore, any software controlling the driving functions of a few thousand pounds of moving metal and plastic had better tested far better than today's Windows or IOS. This is mission critical stuff, like if it fails people die. That can't be held to the same "not guaranteed to even work" level to which most PC and console software is held. An over the air patch that accidentally kills a few thousand people is not going to be the same level of fuck up as a windows update that eats the data off a few thousand hard drives.

  22. NOPE! You will own the car. The software you will license and the data generated from your use of the software will be used to monitor your behavior and adjust your costs accordingly. Data on operations and locations of the vehicle will be shared with business partners to ensure that the car is operated in agreement with the terms and conditions of the license, insurance policies, and law enforcement. Should you breech the license agreement at any time, you can and will be stranded with out the use of the software. The hunk of metal and plastic, however, is yours to have towed to an appropriate recycling center. Should anything bad happen, you will agree as a part of the license, to indemnify the maker of the car and all associated partners in perpetuity. Should any breech in the UTRASSECURECAR(TM) software security occur, you agree to pay all damages and fees associated with the breech and hold the car maker and software maker harmless. The car may only be serviced by authorized technicians any breech of this license will terminate immediately your rights to use the software. The software is licensed to you AS IS and is not guaranteed to be suitable to operate a motor vehicle. Operations of a motor vehicle with this software is done strictly at the risk of the vehicle operator.

    It's a bleak future

  23. Re:Nice future on Within 6 Years, Most Vehicles Will Allow OTA Software Updates (computerworld.com) · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Send you payment information to XXX.XXX.XXX or the car won't start.

    Hi! Nice to see your kids driving now. Boy, wouldn't it be horrible if the steering went out on the free way? Act NOW to prevent this tragedy by sending a secure payment to us.

    Good morning Police Mayor! Please ensure that proper payment to us is made or all the cars in your city will stop working correctly.

    Just a few things that can be done with complete connected cars and their automatic updates.

  24. Re:Autonomous Driving on Within 6 Years, Most Vehicles Will Allow OTA Software Updates (computerworld.com) · · Score: 2

    I have NEVER had a software update on any of the vehicles that I have driven. NEVER. I have had regular maintenance that I have done myself for decades. There is no reason to have a software update for a car unless that car was defective to begin with. The information that we have so far indicates that these cars are unsecured and open to tampering from afar. The spying done by government and auto companies is bad enough, but foreign script kiddies wrecking cars for fun and profit is not a path we should go down.

  25. Hiding the Truth on A Proposal For Dealing With Terrorist Videos On the Internet (vortex.com) · · Score: 1

    When the first of the concentration camps in NAZI Germany were liberated, there was some doubt among those not present about the veracity of the reports. The sheet scale of the horror was hard to comprehend as it had never been done in modern history. Thousands of pictures and movies were made of the camps in order to preserve the evidence of just how bad humanity can be. Hiding the truth of those horrors does not prevent them from recurring.

    The truth about what terrorists say is important for people to hear and see. It is important for people to see the words and the faith twisted into violence and horror so that they will know what those people are doing. Some people will be afraid, but that will not stop the terrorist - nor will hiding those images from the weak willed benefit society. This is a struggle between what is good, human rights, and what is evil - killing people for a difference of religion, opinion, or in many cases sheer greed. Censoring knowledge because a few people might be upset by the images or descriptions is not a valid reason.

    WE have to accept that this violence, this evil, is a part of who we are as a species. Hiding from it will not allow us to learn to control it and keep the horror at bay. Honesty is the first step to becoming a better people. We have to face this terrorism and fight it with what ever means we have. Hiding from it will not stop it.