Slashdot Mirror


User: MagusSlurpy

MagusSlurpy's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
957
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 957

  1. Re:Use some logic, dude. on Facebook Home Flagship Phone, HTC First, May Be Discontinued · · Score: 1

    Everybody hates it and everybody uses it? That doesn't make any sense.

    Really? Because everybody hates driving in rush hour traffic, and pretty much everybody has to.

    (Yes, I'm being Amerocentric)

  2. Re:Serious crime? on Smartphones Driving Violent Crime Across US · · Score: 1

    Manhunt? Hahahaha. Police are too busy arresting high school honor students making Drano bombs in empty fields to be bothered with petty criminals.

  3. Re:living in america :( on How Colleges Are Pushing Out the Poor To Court the Rich · · Score: 1

    Actually, it's the same food.

  4. Re:confused on The Days of Cheap, Subsidized Phones May Be Numbered · · Score: 1

    I thought about doing this. But the days of free wifi are dwindling. At home or at work, sure it's easy - but you're also next to a PC, so the smartphone is pointless. When a smartphone is actually useful is when you do NOT have access to a PC, if you are out at a park and decide you want to see Iron Man 3 and need to look up showtimes, or at a bookstore and want to look up a review, or at a bar and need to settle a point of contention with Wikipedia.

    This is just anecdotal evidence of course, but it seems to me that since the advent of smartphones more places are doing away with customer wifi than are adding it.

  5. Re:Serious crime? on Smartphones Driving Violent Crime Across US · · Score: 1

    4. Cop pulls cell phone out of your car and starts writing up your citation.
    5. Pull out backup cellphone, blow up cop, drive away. No ticket!

  6. Re:Thats great.. on Injured Man Is First Person Saved By a Police Drone In Canada · · Score: 1

    Quit FUDing! Drones just saved their first life! And after only nine years of CIA drones spying and blowing people up.

    Clearly they are the greatest boon to public health since penicillin.

  7. Re:Because it's valuable, duh. on Why Is Science Behind a Paywall? · · Score: 2

    Well, the universities are (partially) funded by taxes, but most research-producing profs teach at or near the same rate as non-researching profs (typically 3/4 teaching load is considered the ideal situation), so the taxpayers are getting their money's-worth - actually, when you figure in how many graduate students teach for a fraction of what profs are paid, research-producing profs and their groups are actually a better value.

    Now, research is rarely funded by the university itself, about 90-95% of research funding comes from outside sources - and the "internal" sources are still from university foundations and endowments, not taxpayer funds or tuition.

    You can say, "But the university provides facilities for the research!" and this is true. But remember each research group typically saves about $100K in professor salaries annually, not to mention making the university more attractive to undergrads, thus increasing the university's appeal and allowing it to charge more for tuition.

    Anyway, my point here is that saying "But the taxpayers paid for this research through university funds!" is by no means a clear-cut argument.

  8. Re:Because it's valuable, duh. on Why Is Science Behind a Paywall? · · Score: 2

    Congress just recently passed legislation saying that any papers produced and at least partially funded by the NIH must be made public within one year of publication. This, of course, is dependent upon the NIH making an actual database for this, and Cthulhu only knows how long that will take.

    http://publicaccess.nih.gov/

  9. Re:or... on New Device Sniffs Out Black Powder Explosives · · Score: 1

    Or for any place that has a restaurant serving onions or garlic.

  10. Re:Warranty vs Insurance on Is Buying an Extended Warranty Ever a Good Idea? · · Score: 1

    Until last year, I have about a ten-year history of two Sanyo phones. Both have been dropped in water (one in a pond when I took a tumble hiking, the other took two spills into the tub thanks to my damn cat pushing it off the edge). Both continued to function admirably, not even needing to be dried out.

  11. Re:It depends on Is Buying an Extended Warranty Ever a Good Idea? · · Score: 1

    Can't speak for the GP, but I bought my 1st-gen Nexus 7 from Staples when the new models came out and they were clearing out the old stock ($150), and I'm pretty sure I got the accidental damage plan for 10% ($15), specifically because it was going in my DnD bag and getting thrown around with a bunch of big-ass books.

    One of only two plans I have ever purchased, and haven't had to use either, but I am still pleased with both decisions.

  12. Re:Warranty or insurance? on Is Buying an Extended Warranty Ever a Good Idea? · · Score: 1

    It definitely depends on the person/usage. As a rule, I don't buy accidental damage plans or extended warranties (and have never regretted this rule), but back when consumer GPSes were brand-new (2000 or so), I bought one for myself and for my brother specific for a backpacking trip in the Rockies, and got the accidental damage plan for both ($20 bucks on $200 units, I think) because, well, they aren't called the "Fluffy Pillow Mountains." Never had to use the plans, but it was great not having to worry overmuch about damaging brand-new GPS units during their first two weeks of ownership. $40 well spent just to be able to enjoy that trip in its fullest.

  13. Re:Warranty or insurance? on Is Buying an Extended Warranty Ever a Good Idea? · · Score: 1

    Think of it as hedging bets (because I really want to avoid using the car insurance analogy that would fit perfectly), you lose a little money to be sure that you don't lose a lot of money.

    Or you lose a little bit of money to be sure that you don't lose a lot of money when the government impounds your car because you didn't pay your government-mandated corporate extortion fee to privately-owned Geico and its stockholders.

  14. Re:hard drives on Is Buying an Extended Warranty Ever a Good Idea? · · Score: 1

    Of course he did. If they weren't capable of handling it, wouldn't they be called "soft drives" instead?

  15. Re:Not if it is for a computer on Is Buying an Extended Warranty Ever a Good Idea? · · Score: 2

    Most extended warranties these days take depreciation into account.

  16. Re:Public Domain? on Warner Bros. Sued By Meme Creators Over Copyright Infringement · · Score: 1
  17. Re:Copyright of IDEAS is ridiculous on Warner Bros. Sued By Meme Creators Over Copyright Infringement · · Score: 2

    Because only Scribblenauts Unlimited, which just came out a few months ago, uses Nyan Cat - presumably Torres was the instigator of this action, and is just bringing Keyboard Cat along for the ride.

  18. Re:A Taste of Your Own Medicine on Warner Bros. Sued By Meme Creators Over Copyright Infringement · · Score: 1

    Actually, they won't. The complaint gives a very humorous and TM-free description of Nyan Cat:

    NyanCat, a character with a cat's face and a body resembling a horizontal breakfast bar with pink frosting sprinkled with light red dots

  19. Re:He's not right on Terrible Advice From a Great Scientist · · Score: 1

    A synthetic organic chemist needs pretty much no mathematical ability beyond simple arithmetic and fractions. A challenging math day is one where you get to make a buffer, forcing you to hit the squared button on your calculator.

  20. Re:He's right on Terrible Advice From a Great Scientist · · Score: 3, Informative

    This is true. About three quarters of the time, the paper is written by a single grad student, utilizing mostly his/her research along with a dabbling of other group members' work (and on occasion a more significant amount of work performed but often not understood by an undergrad), and then edited by the PI. Everyone gets their name on the paper, and often everyone is given a copy of the final draft to review before it goes to print just as a double-check, but the first author is typically the one that did all the writing.

  21. Re:In the wake of the Boston Marathon Bombing on Ask Slashdot: What Planks Would You Want In a Platform of a Political Party? · · Score: 1

    Yeah! Only AMERICANS are allowed to kill and maim Americans! Goddamn immigrants and their contribution of 0.1% to the national murder rate! They're ruining Murrika!

  22. Re:Oy. on Google Fiber: Why Traditional ISPs Are Officially On Notice · · Score: 2

    I'm just pissed no one has figured out how to combine a roomba and a fleshlight yet. So close to the future, and yet so far away.

  23. Re:Oy. on Google Fiber: Why Traditional ISPs Are Officially On Notice · · Score: 1

    Probably the single biggest reason I chose my grad school over the other serious option was because Comcast has a monopoly in the town of the losing school.

  24. Re:Oy. on Google Fiber: Why Traditional ISPs Are Officially On Notice · · Score: 1

    The firearms industry.

  25. Re:Triple take on the name on RapLeaf Is Back and Bad As Ever · · Score: 1

    If it makes you feel any better, I had to read it three times to realize that it had nothing to do with mad urban beetz.