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User: DarkOx

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  1. Re:And change it for the better. on Focusing On Tech Alone, You Miss How Autonomous Driving Will Change Society · · Score: 1

    It seems far too many people have too low of self control to follow traffic laws and speed limits.

    Because far to many states, cities, and towns, have to little self control to use the rules for safety, rather than as revenue streams.

    My favorite is when the speed limit is reduced right at the bottom of a steep hill, usually with the woods being allowed to grow right up to the edge of the road to minimize the visibility of signs until you are practically on top of them.

    If they wanted you to be going 25MPH at the bottom of the hill, than they would post the new speed limit BEFORE the hill instead of leaving it 45 or 55. They don't want you going 25MPH at the bottom though, what they clearly want is to ticket you for still being at 35 10ft past the 25 speed limit sign because you elected not to send every object in your car flying thru the windscreen by slamming the breaks when the sign first became visible.

    Then there are all the 60MPH zones on 8 lane wide inner states in perfectly flat Northern Ohio where there are no visibility limitations or even really enough traffic to justify roads that large. The surrounding municipalities have things posted at 70 or even 75 in WV. Cleveland and Cuyahoga County know though nobody is going to do only 60 because there is no safety problem going 70 or 75, but hey its a nice revenue stream.

  2. April Fools on Coup in Arrakis Capitol Leaves Region in Flux · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I have always enjoyed April fools on Slashdot. Many have complained but in past years at least some of the gags were plausible or at least clever, like the evil bit drafted up as an RFC etc.

    Today its basically bad fanfic, which does not really qualify as an April fool's prank. Its like watching a bunch of 3rd graders who think they have mastered stand up comedy tell fart jokes.

  3. Re:Way too many humanities majors on Why America's Obsession With STEM Education Is Dangerous · · Score: 2

    The reason for the focus on "get a degree, any degree" is that for some time, that was necessary not for the specific training it provided, but because it showed "I am educated, I can function on this level, I can learn what you need me to learn" to employers. These days, it's not enough, because everyone wants you to already have experience or training.

    I know this absolutely correct, the number of HR droids that reject any resume that does not list a degree is proof of that. I suspect though one of the reasons every once people who already have experience is that the old method using a degree as evidence a person can learn, following instructions, and see a complex project requiring some independent thought through to completion stopped working. The overhead of hiring is around 20% most places, you can't afford to bring people on who don't have a pretty high probability of "working out". As so many institutions shifted to being diploma mills, the degrees stopped meaning anything. The solution was just hire people who already have a track record of doing the job.

    I don't see how you can avoid the same problems with STEM degrees. The plan is the same push people toward STEM the same way it was push everyone toward college before. The same perverse incentives will exist. I don't see how the result will be different.

  4. Re:Way too many humanities majors on Why America's Obsession With STEM Education Is Dangerous · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Which they all did not because they had any real interest in furthering art, philosophy, or the advancement of culture and ideas but because a they were propagandized in thinking that university education makes sense for 'everyone'.

    I am on what might be considered the leading edge of the millennials (I was born in the early 80s). I got out of school mostly before everyone started shouting "STEM STEM STEM" in my day the mantra was "college prep, college prep.." if you were a kid and even suggested to anyone anywhere you had thoughts about your future that did not include a 4 year degree, they immediately would launch into this diatribe about how you'd never get beyond sweeping the floors anywhere if you did not do so. Plenty of people worked your parents over pretty good too, encase they entertained any while notions about letting you find your own path.

    So we ended up with a ton of people in colleges who really had not business being there. They got humanities degrees because those are largely subjective; you can award a degree and not worry about things reflecting poorly on your institution as much. I am sure some will disagree but the fact is that it at least at the undergrad level it is easier to walk out with degree in religious studies or ethics, than mathematics. Lets not forget college is expensive and thanks to the student loan bubble and the need to chase those dollars; I believe, can't prove, that many institutions felt a lot of pressure to issue degrees one way or anything so their graduations rates looked decent. So likely we have tons of humanities and business degree holders out there that were probably never good college candidates in the first place.

    Its no surprise these degrees are not valued highly in the market place now. So the solution is to repeat the problem by pushing people into degree programs that are still considered valuable. The result will if anything will be to devalue these degrees.

  5. Re:The future is now. on Ask Slashdot: Who's Going To Win the Malware Arms Race? · · Score: 1

    Isn't this complaint similar to someone in the 1800's complaining about how the big industrial machines make it so that hobbyists who craft a small engine in their barn are no longer competitive

    I think this is different, or maybe i just see it that way being closer to it. Big industrial engines did not replace small barn built engines, the supplemented them. The farmer still needed a crude well pump and could not afford to have some 2 ton lump of iron shipped from back east. Similarly that barn mechanic could find a place servicing those big industrial engines in the field, they were not designed to lock him out.

    Even today while the hobbyist isn't generally machining his own cylinder header any kid can still get started and make a buck learning to fix the neighborhood law mowers, at least that builds enough familiarity with the type and character of the work for someone can make a decision if they want to peruse the training to become a mechanic as a profession.

    The same can be said with your other examples. What I think is somewhat unique in our digital world is that people can be pretty effectively designed against. Sure engine builders have done things like try to design in ways that require special tools, but usually that isn't terribly effective. The manufacture of my car would love for me to shell out for many of their 'factory' task specific tools they charge $100s for, or give up and head to the dealership; usually you can make something instead. Not so long ago I had to go purchase a 13mm socket to cut a notch in one side of, weld to length of re-bar onto the end of it, and weld a hex head bold to the end of that so I could turn it.

    By contrast good luck defeating the locked boot loader on your smart phone or tablet. Yes sometimes someone gets lucky and finds a workable exploit. Unlike the engine situation though that isn't something a person of median intellect and a willingness to read and be persistent can count on success at. The ones who do succeed frequently have the benefit of some insider knowledge too.
     

  6. These are the classified voyages on X-37B To Fly Again · · Score: 4, Funny

    Earth orbit: the not so final frontier
    These are the classified voyages of the X-37B
    Its two-year mission: to proxy for penis size, to consume massive wealth, and create bold new deficits, to quietly go where many have gone before.

  7. Re:The future is now. on Ask Slashdot: Who's Going To Win the Malware Arms Race? · · Score: 2

    I think you are correct but I hope you are wrong. The trouble with software not coming from the wild is it means there era of the hobbyist programmer is over. Which I think will in many ways also mean the end of innovation. Right now the app stores are full because there are enough people who already had the skills to create apps. They have those skills because they obtained them in a time where the barrier to entry was low. They had a PC and it was programmable and programmer friendly. So if folks that were interested got a chance to learn, its only a small leap to writing for another device.

    If we end up in a world with programmer unfriendly devices and one where most don't have PCs because their tablet or Chromebook is 'good enough' than only the folks with direct exposure to programming via someone they know who does it to become interested. There won't be that PC sitting in their home to just tinker with, a person would have to go out and buy one just to see if its something they want to get into. I am not a fan of the teach everyone to code whether they care to or not movement but IOS and ChromeOS are barriers to entry could easily get in the way of people who do care. Part of the fun at the beginner level is being able to share your stuff with others that is harder to do when you have to get through some app store approval process and you are just starting out.

    That said I think malware arms race is 'winable' the concept of least privilege is getting integrated into mostly single user desktop platforms, Windows, technology like ASLR, DEP, stack protection, and canaries, have virtually killed the buffer overflow as anything more than DOS vector in 64-bit software. Now most 'exploits' really depend on some sort of fundamental algorithmic or logic error; that or attacking some legacy 32-bit or 16-bit binary. People do now largely know better to run random executable from people they don't know, etc. Security in the PC world is 'getting there' hopefully that will stem the tide of the 'app store' paradigm.

  8. Re: Christian Theocracy on Apple's Tim Cook Calls Out "Religious Freedom" Laws As Discriminatory · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I think Tim Cook misses the point. There is a world of difference between the government discriminating by not letting homosexual couples say file a joint tax return and Jane's Wedding Cake emporium refusing to put two groom cake toppers on their baked goods.

    Civil rights laws that try and force a private business to serve all customers should be considered unconstitutional. We have the freedom of association under the first amendment that implies a freedom to disassociate from others or other groups in order to have any meaning at all, and if you won't accept that argument than refusing service or entry could also be viewed as kind of speech.

    Personally I can't understand why any business would ever do this. To mean one person's dollars are as good as the nexts. I don't care what color, or gender passing them across the counter to me happens to be. I also don't really care about the religious ideas or sexual desires the mind governing that might hold, only that its willing to freely offer me dollars in exchange for whatever good or service I happen to be proffering. Same goes for hiring, I just want the person who will do the best job for lowest cost.

    I don't think its right to deny someone based on race,color,creed, sexual orientation etc, but as strongly as I feel that is wrong, so do I feel about forcing someone to act against their will or conviction. So the baker who wont sell a wedding cake to the nice gay couple is a prick, he will loose their business and mine, because I'd prefer to do business which someone I think well of.

    Ultimately the market prevails, you can the relative economic success of places across the world, and you find with a few exceptions that happen to be sitting on huge oil reserves, the wealthy places are the ones that don't have serious problems with race, or gender discrimination. I suspect that correlation is no accident.

    Our economy is large enough that minority groups who face discrimination probably can find another employer or another shop who will treat them fairly. I don't think that is a problem, for one thing nobody can tell much about who or what you are behind a web form. I think we should err on the side of individual freedoms here.

    Where we need to be careful though is all the places government is involved, if we don't make sure our tax policy, family law policies, education, civil services, law enforcement behavior, etc are equal for all citizens than we are failing as a free society. The 'system' should work for everyone.

  9. Re:Social scientists on Experts: Aim of 2 Degrees Climate Goal Insufficient · · Score: 1

    That is is paralysis by analysis. Its trick the intellectually bankrupt resort to when they want to seem insightful or somehow smart.

    Different people are going to tolerate levels of adverse consequences differently is obvious. That goes for the short term and the long term. In the end that fact is inconsequential what matters is what is acceptable for most people or what matters for the people in a position to affect outcomes.

    That fact the 1.2 degrees might destroy the economy of some island group someplace when most of us think we will be okay at 2 degrees and the short term consequence of action is more acute. Means that tiny minority just does not matter. In the end they won't get their way, so I say they really are not worth thinking about.

  10. Wait what question? on German Auto Firms Face Roadblock In Testing Driverless Car Software · · Score: 1

    For example when faced with the decision to crash into a pedestrian or another vehicle carrying a family

    Um there is no question for several reasons.

    First if the situation is so immediate your only two options are hit a vehicle or hit a person its highly unlikely you have time to peer into the other vehicle and count its occupants.

    Second most vehicles on the road today have lots of safety features; if they are being used, seat belts fastened airbags not disabled etc, most crashes are highly survivable; most pedestrian vehicle crashes far far less so for the pedestrian (excepting very low speed nudged someone in a parking lot cases).

    Finally while your liability insurance should most likely be on the hook in any situation I can image you finding yourself faced with such a choice another driver is more likely to have supplemental coverage that will ensure they are taken if your insurer dicks out and tries to screw them.

    I really can't image a situation, most things being held equal, ( I know you could contrive a situation where you will be nearly at a complete stop before you hit the pedestrian vs hitting the other vehicle at high speed ) where it would ever be appropriate to choose to hit the pedestrian.

  11. Re:it could have been an accident on Germanwings Plane Crash Was No Accident · · Score: 2

    The violence policy center estimates 674 murder suicides per year for the US alone. I would say this qualifies a murder suicide, if it wasn't done for political / religious reasons that would make it terrorism.

    If we exclude acts done in hot zones like Iraq, Yemen, Syria, etc that are more military in nature, how many terrorist attacks were there last year? I don't know but I'd guess less than 674.

  12. Re:Same Thing Almost Happened to Me on Comcast's Incompetence, Lack of Broadband May Force Developer To Sell Home · · Score: 1

    Yes you can put anything you want in a purchase contract, I did exactly that. I work from home so I have to have connectivity.

    Now an offer on one property I made was refused because they were unwilling to accept that condition; but that's their right. Just like it is my right not offer to buy something unless I can determine its suitable. Either both parties can accept the terms or not. That is how transactions happen in a free society.

    I have no sympathy for this guy he should have taken some steps to protect himself; and no asking a sales drone in a Comcast polo shirt is not due diligence. A two second conversation with his realtor should have resulted in him being told we can put whatever you want in the offer contract. He could write that himself if comfortable or do what I did an pay for one hour of a lawyers time to draft up 6 sentence paragraph.

  13. Re:it always amazes me on Feds Attempt To Censor Parts of a New Book About the Hydrogen Bomb · · Score: 1

    Correct, Iran is a hostile power and rapidly gaining control of the region. They are Shiite though and AQAP and ISIS/Dash are Suni.

    We can't fight Iran because like we decided we could not invade Japan at the end of WWII the cost in blood would be to high, and you are correct it would likely create an unstoppable backlash against Western Europe and Israel.

    The obvious solution is to let someone willing to pay in blood destroy them. Honestly we ought to let ISIS/Dash run wild, if Syria falls entirely and Iraq falls to ISIS, Iran will have two boarders to try and control against an equally tenacious enemy. They won't have time or resources to worry about Israel let alone interfering with anything we are trying to effect.

    By the same token Iran has been the more effective force is actually slowing ISIS so maybe they could keep ISIS busy for us too.

  14. Re:Are the CAs that do this revoked? on Chinese CA Issues Certificates To Impersonate Google · · Score: 2

    Yes its a To big to Fail problem, just in another form. If your browser throws errors on just about ever site you visit pretty soon "many" people will start using another browsers. So no we won't revoke Verisign's root pretty much no matter what.

    Maybe an independent like Mozilla might would drop them, if the entire Verisign organization was discovered by an NSA front run by vampires with pedophilia it could happen but even then its only a maybe at best.

  15. Re:I'm disappointed in Canada on Leaked Snowden Docs Show Canada's "False Flag" Operations · · Score: 2

    No a false flag operation is pretty much any operation where one of its principle objectives is the miss-attribution of the action to another party.

    Suppose Bob hates Alice, and Bob also hates Ted who does not care about Alice one way or the other but similarly despises Bob. Ted might attack Bob under the flag of Alice, in hopes Bob will go to war with Alice. Bob will consume his resources fighting with Alice; perhaps to Ted's economic advantage or maybe so Ted can attack a further weakened Bob later.

  16. Re:Animal House on A Software Project Full of "Male Anatomy" Jokes Causes Controversy · · Score: 1

    You I think there is a certain type of individual that is attracted to technical/mechanical work. I don't care if its software architects or actual architects planning out a sky scraper. The sort of person who wants and likes to think about details, consider behaviors across large input domains be they the length of a string or a snow load and work through problems in highly structured procedural ways tend to exhibit certain personality characteristics.

    This goes for males and females. Just about everyone I have ever met who is successful fields of this type tends toward this sort of off color humor. Probably because they see ( correctly IMHO ) that in most case our interactions with one another are rather scripted and predictable. Humor pretty much means violating expectations but in a way the logical connection between the subjects is immediately apparent in retrospect. Sex jokes are simply easy to construct and lets face it whether certain groups of people care to admit tend to be reliably funny. Just look at the sheer number of "Sex/LateNight Comedies" Hollywood turns out. It may not be the avant guard of humor but it works.

    Technical people and engineers don't generally seek to make things harder than they need to be. If the reaction they want is a chuckle from their peers, an a sex joke is the easiest way to get it. A sex joke they will use.

  17. Re:turn-about isn't just fair-play, it's PROPER pl on A Software Project Full of "Male Anatomy" Jokes Causes Controversy · · Score: 1

    I would like to propose a new software defined network application.

    CUNTS common underlying network tunneling service.

  18. Re:Hardware is trusted on LightEater Malware Attack Places Millions of Unpatched BIOSes At Risk · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Not sold. Sticking with something like BIOS does not mean sticking with BIOS. Its time to drop the legacy support, sure. Sticking with a small amount of boot code to fire up the storage controller and jump to boot loader, set some memory timings etc is going to more secure than a massive interactive application that UEFI is.

    Fewer inputs mean fewer inputs to sanitize and less opportunity to screw it up.

  19. Re:Hardware is trusted on LightEater Malware Attack Places Millions of Unpatched BIOSes At Risk · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It would be easy to prevent such attacks by KISS as well. Sticking with something a lot more like BIOS instead of a multi-Megabyte EFI mess.

  20. Wait on Government Spies Admit That Cyber Armageddon Is Unlikely · · Score: 1

    According to government spies the likelihood of a cyber Armageddon is "remote." And this raises some unsettling questions about our ability to trust government officials and why they might be tempted to fall back on such blatant hyperbole.

    So I am confused are we happy an official finally offered a reasonable and likely accurate description of the risks we face, and correct identification of the problem, attribution, or not?

  21. Re:I'm all for this on Scientists: It's Time To Resolve the Ethics of Editing Human Genome · · Score: 2, Interesting

    There are a number of diseases like this, sickle cell comes to mind as well. Watch out though sickle cell does confer +1 malaria resistance and given the warming trends...

  22. Re:I choose MS SQL Server on Why I Choose PostgreSQL Over MySQL/MariaDB · · Score: 4, Informative

    Was the last version of SQL Server you used 7.0 or something. I love to dump on Microsoft as much as the next guy, but honestly SQL Sever 2000 on is pretty damn good. As far as falling over when hit with significant load, I was running a 60TB database on the first Itanium versions of SQL 2000 back in '04 and it never 'fell over'.

    The project was big enough and cost enough Microsoft was willing to send people out to help us tweak and tune. That is all we did though nothing exotic like a custom build or anything. Just end user tuneables and guidance on schema around partition views and like.

    So really there are plenty of legitimate criticisms of the Microsoft platform family but SQL Server falling over ain't one of them.

  23. Re:Internal on Gabe Newell Understands Half-Life Fans, Not Promising Any Sequels · · Score: 2

    I think he is saying we don't want to just make "another game" that happens to have the same characters and genre with a new subtitle. It has to really be good so we don't spoil the franchise. In order to make sure it is good we need to know why the first one was really such a big hit.

    What was truly unique, what was the special sauce that made all the other ingredients truly integrate? If they can't confidently answer that they won't do it.

  24. Please assume I'm stubborn and absolutely dead-set on putting it in the crawlspace to avoid the discussion devolving into the 'best' place to put a media machine."

    Why do expect us to help you if you start out by saying and let me paraphrase "I insist on doing it wrong"

  25. Re:One question: on Full-Duplex Radio Integrated Circuit Could Double Radio Frequency Data Capacity · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Is the spectrum that crowded that we need this?

    The parts of the spectrum that have bandwidth enough for most of today's applications AND good signal propagation characteristics certainly are.