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  1. Hitting the nail on the head on Are Quirky Developers Brilliant Or Dangerous? · · Score: 1
    If you rely on a Josh you're fucked!

    Sure, it is handy to have a Josh that miraculously saves your project, but the fact that you needed that Josh in the first place says that you don't have the right staff/skill sets. Needing Josh is a sign to management that there are some serious shortages that need addressing.

    Sure, all companies sometimes need firefighting, but the REAL firefighters are those that not just put out fires, but help to prevent there being other fire call outs. Really effective fire-fighters help mentor others and, in essence, make themselves redundant. [Aside, firefighters (of the thermal sort) actually spend a lot of their time doing fire safety inspections etc for this very reason].

    Those Joshes that code so cryptically that they are needed forever are essentially blackmailers and saboteurs. They force you into a position where you have to put up with them to keep functioning. Make a plan to dump them and replace them.

    I've worked with a few Joshes in my time. The one was brilliant, but it took the next three most productive engineers to clean up after him and quite a few almost as clever people just quit because they could not work with him. When you realised that the cost of having him around was not just his remuneration, but also the opportunity cost of the next three engineers too, then he didn't look as valuable.

  2. WinCE was not a complete rewrite on OLPC Set To Dump x86 For Arm Chips In XO 2 · · Score: 1
    Most of it was, but that was not because of ARM.

    I've done WinCE diriver/OS work since WinCE1.0 days. In the beginning there was **no** ARM support, just MIPS, x86 and SH3. PowerPC came along a bit later and then ARM.

    Some of the PowerPC code was directly lifted off the NT PowerPC porting effort (that got shelved).

    WinCE has very little CPU-specific code - no more than Linux - but most of the rewrite was done to fit into a small system (few MB) where the traditional Windows bloatware just would not work.

  3. Probably trolling for Intel and MS funding on OLPC Set To Dump x86 For Arm Chips In XO 2 · · Score: 1
    A move to ARM would indeed cut OLPC from mainstream Windows (though daresay Windows could be built for ARM - like Windows CE is).

    Technically, moving to ARM is a great choice. These CPUs are far cheaper. They also require far less power meaning that batteries and power circuitry can be smaller, cheaper, lighter and the handcrank give more page loads per crank. Also no need for cooling fans etc.

    Given the way OLPC and similar projects move, the skeptic in me wonders whether this will actually happen. OLPC could just be "inviting" Microsoft/Intel to offer some good deal to keep them on x86.

  4. Serving curry might be your future job on Smart Immigrants Going Home · · Score: 1
    Burger flipping for American consumers makes money when Americans have money.

    In the future you might find yourself serving curry to Indians or sushi to Japanese, or whatever, depending on who has the money and is prepared to offer a pathetic Westerner such as yourself a menial service job.

    Times change and those that don't realize that are going to struggle.

  5. Re:Your definition of touch-screen would be annoyi on First Touch-Screen, Bendable E-Paper Developed · · Score: 1
    You're trying to weasel my words.

    The primary sucky point with a stylus is that they are easy to lose. You can generally find an easy back up for a passive stylus by using a retracted ball point pen or the back of a pencil or such. A magnetic stylus is a specialized item.

  6. Not such a fire hazard on LEDs Lighting Up the African Darkness · · Score: 1
    As a child I spent a lot of time in rural Africa using kerosene lamps etc. We just grew up knowing to be careful.

    They were plenty light to read by. So long as you are not trying to be wasteful (lighting your driveway or water features etc - which Africa tends to lack anyway) then low lighting is adequate.

  7. Nothing new here on Company Makes Paper Out Of Wombat Poo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This is as old as paper making. Fibrous shit from grazers and browsers makes wonderful paper and saves pulping the wood. In Africa I've seen paper made from elephant, rhino, giraffe and zebra shit. In New Zealand I've seen sheep and horse.

  8. Magnetic stylus != touch screen on First Touch-Screen, Bendable E-Paper Developed · · Score: 3, Informative

    There is a growing perception that touch means touch - using your finger. Using an inert stylus (like Windows Mobile devices) is a very poor second. But having to use a special purpose magnetic stylus is a FAIL.

  9. You miss the point on Google Dev Phone 1 Banned From Paid Apps · · Score: 1

    It might be possible to crack the protection but Google should still not leave the barn door open and support piracy. If they do then they will kill the commercial side of the App Store or will at least get sued by App Store developers: "We wrote this cool app, but Google just made it easy for pirates".

  10. Some are bug fixes, not new features on Microsoft Brings 36 New Features To Windows 7 · · Score: 2, Informative
    eg. Improved headphone experience. Fixes a bug or improves an existing feature, but is not a new feature.

    But hell, 36 specific features more in an overloaded interface does not improve ease of use for most customers.

  11. The special skill they want on Microsoft Unveils "Elevate America" · · Score: 1
    MS needs people that can understand how to help foreigners fill out H1B Visas.

    No point in getting skilled up in regular skills if they're just going to replace you with cheaper emplyees later.

  12. How much proof is enough? on Court Reinstates Proof-of-Age Requirement For Nude Ads · · Score: 1
    The clerk or owner at the store where underage kids buy beer does not really care whether they are under age or not. All he cares about is whether they can show ID so he doesn't get into trouble.

    Pretty much same deal in the porn industry. All the owner really cares about is that the model produces enough ID that he can use the model without getting arrested.

    The legal system probably also doesn't really care that much, so long as they can say that they've done their bit to pacify the puritans.

  13. No, it proves there is water vapor on Strange Globs Could Signal Water On Mars · · Score: 3, Informative

    That condensed on the metal parts of the rover. Assuming of course that those globs are water and not Martian spit or something else.

  14. The format is the least important issue on Freeing and Forgetting Data With Science Commons · · Score: 1
    It is an almost trivial exercise to convert one format to another.

    What is a lot harder is knowing how the data sets were measured and whether it is valid to combine them with data sets measured in other ways.

    At least half the Global Warming bun-fight is about the validity of comparison between different data sets and the same goes for pretty much any non-trivial data sets.

  15. Exactly right on Don't Like EULAs? Get Your Cat To Agree To Them · · Score: 1
    If she really wants the cat to be doing a random act then she needs to leave the mouse clicking apparatus there the whole time allowing the cats to perform other random acts such as clicking the mouse while she's trying to drive Photoshop.

    I bet she's disabling the device at other times making it not-so-random.

  16. Give us a call in 9 years on Student Arrested For Classroom Texting · · Score: 1
    I agree with your main points, but it is a lot easier to be all idealistic when your kid is only 5. Things are going to change for you quite a bit by the time she's 14 and you will find those nice black and white points of view will all turn into shades of gray.

    A teacher will get ito all kinds of shit if (s)he puts his/her hand into a kid's pants - for any reason. Far better to get law enforcement to do this.

    Hopefully this will send a message to the stroppy teen.

  17. I don't know what is sadder on One Broken Router Takes Out Half the Internet? · · Score: 0
    Spelling Nazi getting feathers out of place over bailing vs baling.

    That there is a Wikipedia article on baling wire.

  18. Halloween on Robotic Prostheses For Human Faces · · Score: 1

    Such a long time to wait...

  19. "Anyone have a Nokia" is not enough on EU Commissioner Wants Standard For Mobile Phone Connectors · · Score: 3, Informative
    Apart from different connectors, different models of phone also need different voltages and current ratings. I have 3 Nokias that don't interoperate with each other's chargers.

    Same deal here. The connector isn't enough. There has to be standardised voltages and currents to make the scheme work.

  20. Economics of light on Spiraling Skyscraper Farms For a Future Manhattan · · Score: 1
    The light is still 2D, so going vertical doesn't make any more. If you can see the sun from where you live, then that is sunlight that is not being farmed.

    It is very unlikely to be self sufficient because the modern American diet is so inefficient, particularly feedlot meat production which requires around an acre of grain/corn/soy raising to feed an American with meat.

  21. You don't undertstand orbital physics on Collided Satellite Debris Coming Down? · · Score: 3, Informative

    Staying in orbit requires a the right velocity. The results of a collision will have different velocities and some of that will de-orbit.

  22. Wrong, it is the capitalism on High Tech Misery In China · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Who the hell is supporting this? Dell, IBM, Microsoft... and by extension their customers (you and me).

    Blaming this on the Chinese while still exploiting things is bullshit.

  23. No accountability in GPL on Open Source Study Included In US Stimulus Package · · Score: 1
    Health care loves accountability and professional liability insurance etc. The GPL very definitely goes against that with: "THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE PROGRAM, ...."

    If a patient dies while the software is running then the health provider IT manager will get it in the neck.

    Sure, you could start with GPL and add a testing service/wrapper to that but unless there is a good way to insulate the IT manager from the risk then this just won't happen.

  24. Cats kill rats just fine on How To Keep Rats From Eating My Cables? · · Score: 5, Informative
    Our cats kill rats in the barn and house just fine. They started doing this as kittens (4 months old or so). The adult cats will even kill rabbits.

    These are just regular sized cats with no ninja training.

    Rats will happily rip a hole through drywall so don't really care if you block up holes. I blocked up some holes with chew-proof material and the bastards just ripped another hole.

    If you have rats inside, then the chances are that they are an overflow population from somewhere else. We didn't have rats in the house until the population built up in the barn and the "turf wars" pushed some of the rats into the house. As soon as we killed a lot of the rats in the barn they disappeared from the house.

  25. Plus all the WinCE versions on MS To Offer Free Windows 7 Upgrade To Vista Users · · Score: 1
    In my quick guess of 12 I tallied the stuff I've used:

    DOS1,2,3,5; Windows 2,3; NT, XP, 95, 98, WinCE, Windows Mobile.

    I didn't count all the stuff I had not used (Vista, Bob, and various other releases and point release [3.11 vs 3]).