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User: bengoerz

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  1. No Longer Tumbling on North Korea's Satellite Tumbling In Orbit · · Score: 4, Informative

    According to multiple sources, the satellite is no longer tumbling.

  2. Re:Why is this news? on ProxyBack Malware Turns Infected Computers into Internet Proxies (softpedia.com) · · Score: 3, Informative

    This method of monetizing a botnet by openly selling proxy access is rather unusual. It's a departure from the old standbys: clickfraud and randsomware.

  3. About $350 + Video on Czech Judge Cuts Deal With Software Pirate: Get 200K YouTube Views Or Pay Huge Fine · · Score: 2

    The going rate for YouTube Views on Fiverr is around $5 per 3000.

  4. I would love to see a company that would:
    1.Allow customers to make a single monthly payment, which would be distributed among participating websites according to some metric like pageviews or time-on-site
    2.Force participating websites to commit to a no-ads policy in order to participate in the revenue

    What will probably happen is that paid subscribers will continue to be served ads, especially from "acceptable" publishers.

  5. Re:Stupid people are stupid on 9th-Grader May Face Charges After Homemade Clock Mistaken For Bomb · · Score: 1

    I prefer to think that this - and the social media outcry that landed the story on the front of every major English-language news outlet - is how democracy works nowadays.

    It's a lot less bloody than the French Revolution.

  6. Re:How can you "steal" a bitcoiin? on Secret Service Agent Pleads Guilty In Bitcoin Theft · · Score: 1

    Fiat notes are just paper and ink, yet we still prosecute their theft.

  7. Beta... on DHI Group Inc. Announces Plans to Sell Slashdot Media · · Score: 5, Funny

    Even Dice hates it now.

  8. Re:Better than the Worst? on Charter Strikes $56B Deal For Time Warner Cable · · Score: 1

    The worst case is that Time Warner continues to gouge consumers and offer worse and worse service. A merger may be better than that.

    For reference, current business pricing is:
    $501.95/mo for 100/5 from Time Warner in Dallas
    $199/mo for 100/20 from Comcast (not in DFW)
    $99/mo for 100/7 from Charter in Ft Worth

    You can't have less competition in broadband unless you start with some.

  9. Better than the Worst? on Charter Strikes $56B Deal For Time Warner Cable · · Score: 2

    According to ASCI's 2014 poll of Internet Service Providers (see coverage by Ars), Time Warner had the lowest satisfaction of all broadband companies (54% and dropping faster than any other company). Comcast was 2nd-worst (57% and dropping 2nd-fastest), and Charter was 3rd-worst (and dropping 3rd fastest). So, this may lessen Time Warner's decline.

    Personally, I have used both companies for coax services in the DFW area, and I prefer Charter. Business services are similar, but Charter is much cheaper (currently $40/mo promo for 60M/4M versus Time Warner at over $300/mo for 50M/5M). Time Warner's aging infrastructure in Dallas definitely does not warrant the premium. Plus, Charter service is no-contract.

  10. Consider the source on British Pilots: Poll Data Says Public Wants Strict Rules For Drones · · Score: 1

    In other news, a survey of members of the American public conducted on behalf of the United Auto Workers Union reveals support among those surveyed for buying new American-made cars.

  11. No plans to do so on Hertz Puts Cameras In Its Rental Cars, Says It Has No Plans To Use Them · · Score: 4, Funny

    We had plans to launch the camera feature. At least, enough to actually bother paying for cameras to be installed. But (now that our intent has been covered in the media), we no longer have such plans.

  12. Re:Wow $100 Million on Tech Giants Donate $750 Million In Goods and Services To Underprivileged Schools · · Score: 1

    Companies are allowed to value donations are fair market value for tax purposes.

    Regulations 1.170A-1(c)(2) and (3) states:
    "The fair market value is the price at which the property would change hands between a willing buyer and a willing seller, neither being under any compulsion to buy or sell and both having reasonable knowledge of the relevant facts. If the contribution is made in property of a type which the taxpayer sells in the course of his business, the fair market value is the price which the taxpayer would have received if he had sold the contributed property and, in the case of a contribution of goods in quantity, in the quantity contributed. The usual market of a manufacturer or other producer consists of the wholesalers or other distributors to or through whom he customarily sells, but if he sells only at retail, the usual market consists of his retail customers."
    Source: http://www.nchv.org/images/upl...

  13. Re:Wow $100 Million on Tech Giants Donate $750 Million In Goods and Services To Underprivileged Schools · · Score: 1

    It should be possible for Apple to actually make money from these donations.

    In 2013, IHS estimateed Apple's costs to produce an iPad were between $274 and $361. Current retail price on an iPad Air w/ cellular is $829. Add in high-margin accessories and software, and it is quite possible that Apple could write-off a donation of around $1000 per device against $350 in cost. This $650 reduction in taxable income could save Apple about $227.50 in taxes... if they actually paid a typical 35% corporate tax rate.

  14. Following in Lexington's Footsteps on Worcester Mass. City Council Votes To Keep Comcast From Entering the Area · · Score: 3, Informative

    This is on the heels of the City Council in Lexington, KY voting recently to oppose the Comcast/Time Warner merger.

    Story on Ars: http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/10/kentucky-city-threatens-to-block-comcasttime-warner-cable-merger/

  15. If only... on Ask Slashdot: Good Technology Conferences To Attend? · · Score: 1, Informative

    Perhaps there is a way to find ideas for this on the interwebs?
    Ah yes! https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=information+technology+conference

  16. Common? on Ask Slashdot: Is Running Mission-Critical Servers Without a Firewall Common? · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Is stupidity common? Yes. Yes it is.

    In my experience, the stupid people tend to get fired eventually. But the mess they leave behind can be tremendous.

  17. Re:Perception of Necessity on Ask Slashdot: Unattended Maintenance Windows? · · Score: 1

    My point is not that you should never automate things. Rather, when you automate things, you should make sure your managers know (1) that you were smart enough to improve processes and are therefore valuable to future projects and (2) that the things you automate could one day break (process changes, etc.).

    At very least, the poster should be able to articulate a better reason for automation than "I wanted to sleep in".

  18. Perception of Necessity on Ask Slashdot: Unattended Maintenance Windows? · · Score: 1

    By proving that your job can be largely automated, you are eroding the reasons to keep you employed.

    Sure, we all know it's a bad idea to set things on autopilot because eventually something will break badly. But do your managers know that?

  19. Re:Why not limit them to one per customer? on Oculus Suspends Oculus Rift Dev Kit Sales In China · · Score: 1

    Limiting the supply will just push up the black market price. Oculus just gave a boon to the first-mover scalpers.

  20. Re:Beats? BEATS? on Apple Confirms Purchase of Beats For $3 Billion · · Score: 1

    The markup in Beats puts iHome to shame.

    Beats takes analog audio hardware that hasn't changed since the 70s, sprinkles fairy design dust on it, and sells it for big money. What better model for Apple's transistor & software business?

  21. With TCP, Throttling = Dropping Packets on FCC Chairman Will Reportedly Revise Broadband Proposal · · Score: 2

    The design of TCP is such that the way you throttle a connection is to drop packets. Therefore, isn't throttling just a measured block?

  22. What is the value? on Ask Team Trying To Return 36-Year-Old Spacecraft From Space About Their Project · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Other than the sentimentality, what are the real benefit of bringing ISEE-3 home? If the benefit is the data, what is the evidence that the "data that ISEE-3 could generate would have real value"? If the benefit is educational, which institutions have committed to taking part?

  23. Meanwhile, in the Media... on Intentional Backdoor In Consumer Routers Found · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...US tech firms blame Snowden for failing confidence in the safety of using US tech companies: The 'Snowden Effect' Is Crushing US Tech Firms In China

    Pot, meet Kettle.

  24. Re:So Netflix wants to change how it connects on Netflix Gets What It Pays For: Comcast Streaming Speeds Skyrocket · · Score: 1

    Bullshit. This wasn't a business decision about improving service. This was extortion. Comcast got all the upside (gained revenue from Netflix, plus reduced peering traffic) and Netflix almost broke even (loses payments to Comcast, saves on hosting costs elsewhere).

    Customers pay Comcast to be connected to the internet at a given speed. They deserve to get the speed they pay for, regardless of where the traffic comes from.

  25. Re:We need IT unions now and better training on Justice Department Slaps IBM Over H-1B Hiring Practices · · Score: 1

    What we need is IT unions IN OTHER COUNTRIES.

    It would raise prices abroad, and narrow the disparity in standard of living (thereby eroding one of the main reasons H1B applicants want to come to the US).