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User: karlandtanya

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  1. Good for annoying your co-workers on Mechanical 'Clicky' Keyboards Still Have Followers (Video) · · Score: 1

    A 'C' in touch-typing in high school on an IBM Selectric has over some decades of practice become a fairly quick set of fingers.

    There are polite comments--"gee you type really fast". Sometimes people even walk over to make the observation.
    Folks are NOT impressed with typing speed. They're distracted by the racket from the next desk over. This with a 'regular' soft keyboard.

    We *do* have an original Model M in the lab. One of the Engineers brought it in along with an IBM AT so we could test some ancient programming hardware and software. It's sat idle since the tests were completed. One can only imagine that the purchase of a USB adapter would be followed shortly by a homicide.

  2. Not impressed. on UK High Court Orders Block On Popcorn Time · · Score: 1

    thetvdb.com, themoviedb.com, kat.ph, and eztv.ch pretty much got you covered.

  3. When we hired an H1-B from a neighboring country.. on Disney Replaces Longtime IT Staff With H-1B Workers · · Score: 1

    Our lawyer told us we needed to show that there were no qualified US Citizens available to do the job.
    We were doing our hiring via usenet (this was a while ago ;). To provide formal documentation, we took out a 30-day ad in a trade journal cited that, and stated that there were no responses (there weren't; I think trade journal job ads are pro forma for this purpose anyhow). Also the lawyer told us we had to state the wages were consistent with what we were paying similarly qualified US Citizens doing the same job.

    In our case it didn't matter; these requirements were just facts. But I'm curious why Disney doesn't seem bound by those same rules.
    Have the rules changed?
    Was our lawyer incorrect--Is H1-B meant to displace qualified US workers with cheaper foreign workers?

  4. We do not have fingers and/or toes... on Who Owns Pre-Embryos? · · Score: 1
  5. Eng is already meanigful; this touts glory work. on How To Increase the Number of Female Engineers · · Score: 1

    This sort of narcissism is insulting to anyone to whom it's directed. A child wants to easily complete the big showy job and garner the praise.

    If you can sleep well knowing you did the best you could do to make a contribution, that will bring you satisfaction. Praise from others is empty even if deserved it will never be enough by itself.

    My father's profession was at one time regarded as the 'save the world' kind of thing. But he just wanted to provide a service to those who needed it. Black, White, Rich, Poor, Pay me or don't--his duty was to serve and the respect he *earned* in the community over many decades was through service, not 'saving the world'. He never sought praise as fulfillment; outside of his work where it was required, he didn't put letters in front of his name.

    He taught me whatever I do I should do well. If I dig ditches for a living (great grandfather did), then I'd better be the best damned ditch digger I can.
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    And, by the way--if you are an Engineer, you're *supposed* to be working for the good of society:
    Google if you want the whole thing; here's the beginning:

    NSPE Code of Ethics for Engineers
    Preamble
    Engineering is an important and learned profession. As members of this profession, engineers are expected to exhibit the highest standards of honesty and integrity. Engineering has a direct and vital impact on the quality of life for all people. Accordingly, the services provided by engineers require honesty, impartiality, fairness, and equity, and must be dedicated to the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare. Engineers must perform under a standard of professional behavior that requires adherence to the highest principles of ethical conduct.

    I. Fundamental Canons
    Engineers, in the fulfillment of their professional duties, shall:

            Hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public.
            Perform services only in areas of their competence.
            Issue public statements only in an objective and truthful manner.
            Act for each employer or client as faithful agents or trustees.
            Avoid deceptive acts.
            Conduct themselves honorably, responsibly, ethically, and lawfully so as to enhance the honor, reputation, and usefulness of the profession.

  6. I've worked with these people on Using Adderall In the Office To Get Ahead · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Adderrall is speed. It works for a brief period, but the cost even for brief use is high. And, whether they call it "meth" or prescription drugs it's addictive as hell. I did a gig in an area and industry where this sort of prescription drug abuse is rampant. It was so bad we had a hard time finding people that could even pass a dope test. But the dope tests apparently can be beaten because half the folks that made it to the job were on adderrall. Probably they had a prescription.

    One guy just did it a couple of times--he got the job done by working about 30 hours straight. I didn't know he was high, but figured it out later. After his 30 hour work binge he was out "with the flu" for a day. When he got back after his day off, he still looked like he'd had the crap beaten out of him. This guy was a project leader and took it on himself to 'get it done no matter what'. Last I heard, he figured out that 'no matter what' was way too high a price and wasn't using. Boss agreed wholeheartedly--he'd rather explain failure to deliver than abuse his people. Good boss. When the abuse got too bad he walked us all off the job--you don't treat human beings that way and we were very lucky to have a boss that stood up for us.

    Another guy was a more experienced user, and looked like he could maintain. Unfortunately he had the attention span of a gnat. I was ordered by the boss to finish up some of the guys work and as I went through the job I could see where he'd started on one task, then just abandoned it before it was done and jumped into the next task. The whole job was like that. It was easier to scrap it and do it myself than to try to figure out what was done and not.

    A third guy just had no focus left at all. Also an experienced user. I'd give him a job to do, come back in a couple hours and he's gotten nothing done. I'd demonstrate the job again and return again; the only part that was completed was what I'd shown him. This guy was so burnt as to be inert. I suspect he was on a little more than just adderrall as he acted a little different.

  7. Re:Hasn't this been proven to be junk science? on A 2-Year-Old Has Become the Youngest Person Ever To Be Cryonically Frozen · · Score: 1

    So, what? Pi is irrational. But it's still Real.

  8. "This student is a potential rapist" on Can Online Reporting System Help Prevent Sexual Assaults On Campus? · · Score: 1

    When I was in college oh so many years ago, this was a problem; guess it's still going on now.

    Anyhow, some student activists (turned out to be just a couple of students with access to a photocopier and a stapler) put up posters around campus. The posters had a photo of a guy with prison bars clipart overlaid and the subject tagline below. Whether the photo was actually of a student currently enrolled was never revealed.

    Their argument was "he has a penis. therefore he is a *potential* rapist. no lie; no libel". Another point that was brought up was at that time rape was legally defined as sticking a penis into a woman without her permission. So, legally only men could rape, only women could be raped. That's actually been changed in the intervening years. To answer the objection that "It may not be libel in court, but you're still causing harm" their position was that "We are promoting a social good by 'raising awareness' about rape on campus.". After a week or so the signs were gone and didn't come back.

    I don't recall if they were officially forced to stop or they just figured out they had subverted a conversation about rape into one about free speech and harassment.

    Either way, they *did* raise some sort of awareness, but not the kind they wanted to. Unless they were just trying to get the law changed. Still didn't stop the raping apparently.

  9. To Puritans the offense is they're having fun on A Software Project Full of "Male Anatomy" Jokes Causes Controversy · · Score: 1

    The Puritanical mindset is that pleasure of any kind is immoral. As long as you're ashamed of what you're doing, you're in line with their morality. The fact you're not is a problem--you are a "shameless"...whatever it is you're doing. The act is not your crime--it's your failure to recognize that you're wrong that makes you the worst kind of person.

    "Everything is harassment" is a red herring:
    In the late '80s, the harassment trainer told us "whatever she (and it was explicitly she), says is harassment is harassment". My employer at the time was a multinational medical device manufacturer in the Forbes 60. It ain't like that anymore, and hasn't been for a long time.
    These days, you'll typically hear something like:
    "If somebody's doing something at work that makes it hard for your to get your job done, ask them nicely to quit it. If you don't want to talk to them directly, tell your supervisor and they will ask them to quit it. If they keep doing it, it's harassment. And, no, you can't say absurd things like 'they're breathing too loud and it's distracting me'. And, yes, if there's a dispute where one party is a member of a Protected Class and the other isn't, then all things being equal we're going to side with the one that is."

    The accusation here isn't harassment and it's never been. The accusation here is "offense", and not an "offense" as a tort or a crime with some sort of objective definition. This is the kind of "Offense" where someone "feels offended". For obvious reasons, feeling offended doesn't get you very far in front of a judge, but you can still convince stupid people of stupid things with enough pearl-clutching.

    A related example:
    Several years ago I'm working in the US a crew of guys, one who was from Canada. My friend sees a sign for a "Hooters" restaurant and asks if that means what he thinks it does. I explained what it's about and the whole crew went there for lunch. My friend explained that this would be absolutely impossible in Canada. The feminists' there would would consider it incredibly offensive and they would picket and sue until it was gone. We happened to be working in an auto plant, so everyone there had worked in Detroit, and everyone there had also been to Windsor. When I pointed out that we all knew that at least one city in Canada was filled up with titty bars my friend explained it to me:
    "Titty bars are dark and shameful. You're supposed to be embarrassed to be a customer and humiliated to be an employee. But Hooters is fun. People bring their families there (yes, there was a man, wife, and kids when we ate there...). THAT's the problem. Sex is supposed to be guilty; you're making it fun."

    A couple years later I sent him a picture of me standing on a street in Toronto in front of a Hooters sign and the CN tower in the background. ;)

  10. Re:Terminator at gun shop... on Laser Takes Out Truck Engine From a Mile Away · · Score: 1

    Forty watt range

  11. VPN is not useful for avoiding accountability on Iran Allows VPNs To Make Millions In Profit · · Score: 1

    Gov't locks down everything so the only way you can get to where you want to go is by VPN.
    Pay for it and you say "Ha! I got around your firewall".
    Govt supplies it for free and you say "WTF?! You're issuing internet licenses and spying on me!"

    VPN's have useful purposes--getting past (some) firewalls, pretending you're somewhere you're not, protecting your privacy from a *casual* snoop.
    As long as you don't *really* care about getting caught doing whatever it is you're doing, a VPN is just fine.
    If what you're doing can get you put in the pokey for the next 20 years, you better find a different way to do it!

    Don't assume the people running the VPN server have your interests in at heart and don't assume you know who they are (or aren't).
    And you're helping pay for their operations!

    BTW, I'm using a vpn right now for the second purpose--to pretend i'm in the UK.
    For some reason, you can only get a website that sells certain bizzare chocolates (and bronze, glass, or silver items of the similar design) from within the UK. I showed it to my wife; she was NOT amused...

  12. logitech mx dark field on Ask Slashdot: Where Can You Get a Good 3-Button Mouse Today? · · Score: 1

    I bought a logitech mx dark field mouse because i've got a glass-topped desk.
    But it turns out it's got a little button in the middle behind the wheel; that's the third button.

  13. ABSOLUTELY CORRECT!!!
    If you're going to cheat then cheat. If you're going to be honest, then be honest. Mixing the two is a very bad idea.

    Note that their promise of no leniency to those who don't confess is still fulfilled if they also grant no leniency to those who do.

  14. you could be one of the first investors to cash in on Why America Won't Match Sweden's Cheap, Fast, Competitive Internet Services · · Score: 1

    Apparently Motley Fool is a Stock Pumping organization, and here I though they were just some folks that showed up on NPR once a week

    OK, let's watch the video. Turn off the sound; it's a powerpoint anyhow...
    Oh my fsm it's still going on will you get to the fscking point! Geez, I give up. Google for it. It's Sierra Wireless (SWIR).

    Apparently they make those little yellow balls-on-a-stick that Howard Tayler puts on all the smart devices over at schlockmercenary.com
    Oh, and when I try to leave the page, a script asks me "do you really want to...".

    Holy crap this reeks of scam. Never again click on motleyfool.com

  15. nas4free, raidz2, primary/secondary server, rsync on Ask Slashdot: What To Do After Digitizing VHS Tapes? · · Score: 2

    2 servers are set up raidz2 with 4 disks per server. So about 6-7 TiB of actual storage space.
    The servers do dns, mysql, and smb via plugins and a jail.
    the primary backs up to the secondary every evening.

    All the TVs in the house are really xbmc clients connecting to the SMB shares and mysql.

    The most expensive part of it is the 8ea 4T HDDs.
    Unless you have 10 people in your house watching different TVs at the same time, you can use real low end computers.
    disks are $150 ($120 if you get externals on sale from huevonuevo & open the box). Excellent computer for this is a Dell poweredge T20 ($300).
    These T20s have ECC RAM (you want this)
    Anyhow 8*150 + 2*300 + a hundred bucks for misc. cables, bootable memory stick, maybe a switch...
    Under 2 grand for the whole mess. Put one in your basement and one in your attic. Then you are protected from a flood or a tornado--but not both together.
    If your house burns down, though, you're hosed ;).

    Upgrade plan is to "destroy" (that's the command...) the zpool in the secondary then change it from raidz2 with 4 disks to raidz2 with 6 disks.
    let rsync do its thing, then swap the usb keys with the embedded OS.
    Repeat with the old primary which will now be the secondary.
    Already tried this once; works no problem. At any given moment I'm tolerant to at least 2 disk failures.

  16. the hawks and the falcons are dropping like flies on Solar Plant Sets Birds On Fire As They Fly Overhead · · Score: 1

    Oh, give me a locus where the gravitons focus,
    Where the three-body problem is solved.
    Where microwaves play down at three degrees K
    and the cold virus never evolved.

    Home, Home on Lagrange
    Where the space debris always collects
    We possess, so it seems two of man's greatest dreams
    Solar power and zero-gee sex ...

  17. Make sure you turn the lights on first on New Watson-Style AI Called Viv Seeks To Be the First 'Global Brain' · · Score: 1

    Or you will be eaten by a Grue.

  18. Re:Any bets on how long before the plug is pulled? on New Car Heads-Up Display To Be Controlled By Hand Gestures, Voice Commands · · Score: 1

    Integrating into the vehicle implies that the mfr puts it there--not that a really good installer did a beautiful install.
    It has to first pass a bunch of quality, safety, and regulatory gates before the mfr will put it in there.

    Those quality and regulatory gates may not be so high as some people would like, but at least you get some input as they're negotiated among mfr's, regulators, and users. It's (generally) going to be a lot safer than whatever Bubba & Earl's Car Audio and Bait Shop orders from amazon and installs on Tuesday after Bubba gets back from his day job.

  19. Re:Humans Can Not on US Navy Wants Smart Robots With Morals, Ethics · · Score: 1

    Killer robots are worse than landmines and should be banned and any country making them should be completely embargoed.

    No.
    Landmines are killer robots. And we're inventing much better killer robots.

  20. Yes. That's the zeroth law on US Navy Wants Smart Robots With Morals, Ethics · · Score: 2

    The problem is not putting morality into machines. The problem is letting these machines execute this "morality" in a complex environment with life-or-death stakes.

    I program protective systems in factories. A guy opens a monitored gate and walks into a conveyor area. If the conveyor runs while he's in there, he will have a messy and painful death. The conveyor "knows" it's "wrong" to move under those conditions.
    We don't use the word "morality", we say "safety". When auditing the software that lets the conveyor run I find a potential for exposure. Hang a lock and shut it down until it's fixed. The first law. In all except one case over 20 years I have received full support from production for similar decisions. That's precedence of the first law over the second law.

    We know what's "right", and we try to teach that to the machines. Industrial safety operates with a very limited set of variables, and exception handling is simple--just STOP. Immediately stop moving and disconnect all power.

    This idea that we can "program" morality and justice is not problematic. Of course we can; we write code for those things all the time. Heck, it's even called "code". Here's some. Here's some more. The execution engine for this code is a group of complex elements (people) from which emerges an even more complex "society". This "morality" execution engine constantly goes hideously and indefensibly wrong.

    Now we want to create far simpler code and execute it with a far simpler machine. But with the same stakes and in the same environment. And the source of this simplified code and execution engine is the existing society, particularly the part of it most directly involved in many of the atrocities.

    It's wise they're starting with autonomous "good" machine--search and rescue, first responder, etc. Maybe they'll learn something before humanity starts building autonomous "bad" robots. Thankfully, those exist only far into the future...

  21. They could be doing *anything* with that "money"! on US Government To Study Bitcoin As Possible Terrorist Threat · · Score: 2

    The basic concepts of "freedom" and "privacy" are the perceived threats here.
    The fundamental concept that anyone could be doing anything without first getting permission is the threat here.

  22. Need motivates Fear inhibits Trust mitigates fear on Why the Sharing Economy Is About Desperation, Not Trust · · Score: 1

    Trust can never be the primary motivator; there is no intrinsic value to trust. Trust reduces the perceived risk; decisions influence by trust can result in better or worse outcome--depending on who we trust.

    The inhibitor is emotionally fear, or rationally an expectation that doing something gives another person an opportunity to take action against me. Emotionaly, trust removes that inhibitor--or, again in a rational sense I know another person (or community, or machine) well enough that I can predict the behavior--and predict the person/people/machine or whatever will NOT take some action which will hurt me.

    In order to replace a sensor I need to climb inside of a machine which can easily crush me. Where do I hang my lock? Do I trust that mechanical blocking device? Do I trust that software-based safety lockout system? The fact that I have a heavy steel blocking device that very reliably protects me from injury doesn't motivate me to go inside the machine.
    I have very high trust I will not be injured if I go in the machine, but if I don't need to replace the sensor (or have some other business in there); I'm not going to do it.

    The bleak tone of the headline suggests that not finding trust as a primary motivator implies that trust isn't present in the commons. If you look for trust as a primary motive, you wont' find it because that's not where trust lives. The conclusion that trust is not present or not important is an artifact of the observer's method--not a property of the commons.

  23. They should put it at L5 on How Japan Plans To Build Orbital Solar Power Stations · · Score: 4, Funny

    Words: Bill Higgins and Barry Gehm c. 1978
    Music: "Home on the Range"

    Oh, give me a locus where the gravitons focus
    And the three-body problem is solved,
    Where the microwaves play down at three degrees K
    And the cold virus never evolved.

    CHORUS: Home, home on LaGrange,
    Where the space debris always collects.
    We possess, so it seems, two of man's greatest dreams:
    Solar power and zero-gee sex.

    We eat algae pie, our vacuum is high,
    Our ball bearings are perfectly round.
    Our horizon is curved, our warheads are MIRVed,
    And a kilogram weighs half a pound. CHORUS

    You don't need no oil, nor a tokamak coil,
    Solar stations provide Earth with juice.
    Power beams are sublime, so nobody will mind
    If we cook an occasional goose.

    INTERLUDE (to Oh, What A Beautiful Morning)
    All the cattle are standing like statues.
    All the cattle are standing like statues.
    They smell of roast beef every time I ride by,
    And the hawks and the falcons are dropping like flies...

    I've been feeling quite blue since the crystals I grew
    Became too big to fit through the door.
    But from slices I sold, Hewlett-Packard, I'm told,
    Made a chip that was seven foot four. CHORUS

    If we run out of space for our burgeoning race
    No more Lebensraum left for the Mensch,
    When we're ready to start, we can take Mars apart
    If we just find a big enough wrench. CHORUS

    I'm sick of this place, it's just McDonald's in space
    And living up here is a bore.
    Tell the shiggies "Don't cry," they can kiss me goodby,
    'Cause I'm moving next week to L4!

  24. You can't "inspect in" quality on Bug Bounties Don't Help If Bugs Never Run Out · · Score: 1

    If we take a less-than-good-enough-quality product and iteratively inspect and rework/repair each defect, we will produce a good-enough product. Intuition seems to suggest that this *should* work! Can't you polish a rough piece of metal until it shines? Heck, mythbusters proved you actually can polish a terd.

    The manufacturing industry figured out a long time ago that you can't inspect in quailty. Your process has to produce a product-that-meets-customer-requirements, and if it doesn't you have to fix your process.

    Oh, and the terd? It was shiny, but it still stank. And they don't last very long, anyhow.

  25. When Harlie Played One on Fifty Years Ago IBM 'Bet the Company' On the 360 Series Mainframe · · Score: 1

    I learned this one at Genericon, but it's older than that:

    Music: "The Children's Marching Song"
    Robert Osband, c.1974
    This machine, it played one.
    It pushed start and program run.
    It's an IBM 360/85;
    This computer came alive.

    This machine, it played two.
    Overloaded voltage to the CPU.
    It's an IBM 360/85;
    This computer came alive.

    This machine, it played three.
    Designed its memory to 1 IC.
    It's an IBM 360/85;
    This computer came alive.

    This machine, it played four.
    Changed its logic from AND to OR.
    It's an IBM 360/85;
    This computer came alive.

    This machine, it played five.
    Memorized data from tape drive.
    It's an IBM 360/85;
    This computer came alive.

    This machine, it played six.
    Told the CE what to fix.
    It's an IBM 360/85;
    This computer came alive.

    This machine, it played seven.
    Printed out the road to Heaven.
    It's an IBM 360/85;
    This computer came alive.

    This machine, it played eight.
    Shipped itself to Rome, Air Freight.
    It's an IBM 360/85;
    This computer came alive.

    This machine, it played nine.
    Told the Pope it was divine.
    It's an IBM 360/85;
    This computer came alive.

    This machine, it played ten.
    To sing once more push start again.
    It's an IBM 360/85;
    We computers are alive.