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User: mspohr

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  1. Re:i'm thinking yet another linux distro on A New Homegrown OS For China Could Arrive By October · · Score: 2

    Much better to have just one choice and force everyone to use it.
    Easier to maintain.
    Easier to patch.
    Easier to harvest data.
    Easier to write malware for.
    Easier to infiltrate.
    Easier to monitor.
    For the users... not so great.

  2. Re:Hey, great idea here, guys... on Apple CarPlay Rollout Delayed By Some Carmakers · · Score: 1

    Most "modern" Android phones have USB host support and you an use a USB OTG plug for mass storage.

  3. Re:Hey, great idea here, guys... on Apple CarPlay Rollout Delayed By Some Carmakers · · Score: 1

    Or do like the Tesla does and install a 17" tablet that runs everything, uses Chrome browser, has a wireless connection and integrates with iPhone and Android.

  4. Re:Oh Nos! on Apple CarPlay Rollout Delayed By Some Carmakers · · Score: 3, Insightful

    All of the new cars I have bought in the last 15 years came with outdated technology. At least the older ones were easier to hack. On On the newer ones , it's just an expensive brick.

  5. Re:Larger Tor Isn't Necessarily Better on NSA Agents Leak Tor Bugs To Developers · · Score: 2

    Most companies with half a brain have figured out how to block "comment spam".
    (I'll give you one free clue: Blocking TOR has nothing to do with it.)

  6. I think the US middle class has already "landed" in a spot where they can't earn a living wage. Now that the rest of the world has "caught up" with us living on subsistence wages, we might see some jobs returning to the US. Of course, that doesn't mean that wages will rise in the US but at least people will have an opportunity to get a job.

  7. Re:So? Old news. on Experimental Drug Stops Ebola-like Infection · · Score: 1

    All we need is for white people to be at risk and the investment will be there:

    http://www.theonion.com/articl...

  8. Re:What kind of fish? on Fighting Invasive Fish With Forks and Knives · · Score: 1

    The answer is always sharks with lasers.

  9. Re:Stockholm syndrome on Ask Slashdot: How Dead Is Antivirus, Exactly? · · Score: 1

    I just don't understand why people keep using Windows... I understand the installed base problem but most Windows software has equivalents in other OSs and it's not that hard to learn a new OS.
    I've been running Linux and Mac OS for about 10 years on various computers and never installed anti-virus and never worried about virus and never had a problem. I know these are not "perfect" but they are so much better than Windows that I just don't see why people don't switch.

  10. Re:The question should be, what is causing delays? on Delays For SC Nuclear Plant Put Pressure On the Industry · · Score: 1

    I guess you didn't read the article (or the posts above) which said the delays are caused by manufacturers of structural components not delivering on time... or perhaps that doesn't fit into your ideological rant against "gummt regulation and the environmental weenies".

  11. Functional spec on Ask Slashdot: Should You Invest In Documentation, Or UX? · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Back in the very old days when I had a software company, we wrote detailed functional specs and used these as the basis for the documentation. It's much easier to go from a good functional spec to documentation than start from scratch. It's also a good test of whether or not the software works as intended.
    I don't know if people still do that. It seems most software these days either copies some other product exactly or it's just the whim of the programmer.

  12. Re:Don't take the bait! on California May Waive Environmental Rules For Tesla · · Score: 1

    I hate to break it to you but Tesla has its head office, design center and factory in California.
    SpaceX (another Musk venture) is also in California... not to mention that little company he sold a few years ago, PayPal.
    It seems that Musk is already heavily committed to California even if the battery factory goes elsewhere (Reno, Nevada is looking like a good option since they have already done site prep work there).

  13. Re:Should we really be worried? on Snowden: NSA Working On Autonomous Cyberwarfare Bot · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Incompetence is never good.
    Incompetence in collecting and acting on information just means that the wrong people will be targeted and the "bad guys" will be missed.
    A powerful, secretive, incompetent organization is the worst of all possible worlds.

  14. Re:I don't get it on Samsung Announces Galaxy Alpha Featuring Metal Frame and Rounded Corners · · Score: 1

    Most people put a plastic protector on their iPhones because metal gets permanent dents and the glass front and backs of iPhones break easily. The result is just like the plastic phones from everyone else.

  15. Yeah... why not something without "rounded corners" and a screen?
    Perhaps they could make it like a pill you swallow and then press on your stomach to make calls?

  16. Re:still the same galaxy. dont worry. on Samsung Announces Galaxy Alpha Featuring Metal Frame and Rounded Corners · · Score: 2

    If you're not totally clueless, you can turn these off. My phone even offers an easy way to turn them off with every alert.
    Severe weather is not "rain". Severe weather is something like this... https://www.youtube.com/watch?... where you might want to have an alert if you value your life.

  17. This might be better... on Open-Source Gear For Making Mind-Controlled Gadgets · · Score: 1

    This one looks like it's more complete (includes headset)... plus, it seems to be cheaper.
    Not sure about how "open" it is, though.

    https://www.kickstarter.com/pr...

  18. Re:Spoiler Alert: FTA on Toxic Algae Threatens Florida's Gulf Coast · · Score: 1

    The Cleveland toxic algae bloom was due to farm phosphorous runoff. It seems that the restrictions on phosphorous in laundry detergent worked for a while but the farmers found a way around the regulations and dumped too much shit (literally) into the lake.
    Clearly a need for more government regulation. I don't think the "free market" can take care of this...

  19. Re:Government in the U.S. is extremely corrupt. on Floridian (and Southern) Governmental Regulations Are Unfriendly To Solar Power · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Corporations have "captured" the government. They have discovered that by "investing" a relatively small amount of money in politicians, they can gain a high return in getting laws and regulations passed with protect their monopolies, enabling them to charge high rent.
    This takes place in most (?all) governments but the dollar amount of this return on investment in the US is probably the highest or any country in the world.

  20. Re:Finally!! on Brookings Study Calls Solar, Wind Power the Most Expensive Fossil Alternatives · · Score: 4, Informative

    I'm installing solar this month.
    The ROI calculators show a first year 7% ROI (of course, this will increase as electricity prices increase).
    It's hard to find another investment which will give me 7% return on my investment and where the return will increase by 3-5% per year for the next 25 years.
    This is a no-brainer.

  21. Re:This probably ignores cost of decommissioning on Brookings Study Calls Solar, Wind Power the Most Expensive Fossil Alternatives · · Score: 1

    Except for the nuclear waste which is sitting in pools on site or in casks waiting to be trucked to some future disposal site which in spite of lots of money being spent still don't function.

  22. Re:So.. what? on TEPCO: Nearly All Nuclear Fuel Melted At Fukushima No. 3 Reactor · · Score: 1

    Nuclear is dying because it is just too expensive... not from FUD. Even if there was no opposition from environmentalists or fear in the general population, people wouldn't invest in nuclear power.
    New nuclear plants cost about $10,000 / kw and their appears to be a negative learning curve so they get more expensive over time.
    Solar and wind plants cost less than half that and are getting much cheaper very quickly... plus free "fuel" for the life of the plant and minimal decommissioning costs.
    Add in nuclear fuel costs and decommissioning costs and the occasional $500 billion disaster (covered by federal insurance - ie. taxpayers) and nuclear is just too expensive.

  23. Re:Panama Canal took 33 years, 4 countries on With Chinese Investment, Nicaraguan Passage Could Dwarf Panama Canal · · Score: 1

    Yes, Yellow Fever was also a big problem. It's hard to argue which was "worse". The mosquito control programs targeted both. Yellow Fever was eradicated early on but malaria continued throughout the canal building (and continues to be a problem today).

  24. I can predict better than 90% on Algorithm Predicts US Supreme Court Decisions 70% of Time · · Score: 1, Insightful

    The Supreme Court is dominated by a bunch of fanatic right wing corporate toadies.
    So, the decision comes down in favor of corporations (on economic issues) or social conservatives (on social issues).
    The Constitution has nothing to do with it.
    The Supreme Court is the ultimate cheerleader for our fascist state.

  25. Re:Panama Canal took 33 years, 4 countries on With Chinese Investment, Nicaraguan Passage Could Dwarf Panama Canal · · Score: 1

    The early construction of the canal was greatly hampered by malaria. The final success of the canal was really only possible once malaria was controlled. From the CDC website:
    "The result of this malaria program was eradication of yellow fever and a dramatic decrease in malaria deaths. The death rate due to malaria in employees dropped from 11.59 per 1,000 in November 1906 to 1.23 per 1,000 in December 1909. It reduced the deaths from malaria in the total population from a maximum of 16.21 per 1,000 in July 1906 to 2.58 per 1,000 in December 1909."
    "The Panama Canal was the construction miracle of the beginning of the 20th century. It also was a great demonstration of malaria control based on an integrated mosquito control program enforced by the military. Malaria was not eliminated. However, under these most trying conditions, the disease was controlled to the extent that the construction work could be completed."