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User: tomhath

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Comments · 4,582

  1. Re:can we think bigger picture? on NASA Looks To Volcanic Rocks As Target For Next Mars Rover · · Score: 2

    What will they do once a base is established that a rover can't do?

  2. Re:Dear google, we love sdcards , idiot CEOs on Why Cheap Smartphones Are Going To Upset the Industry · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Nobody (except maybe you) wants 3 SD cards in their phone. CEOs know what they're doing.

  3. Re:Fake Security Gurus on 30-Day Status Update On LibreSSL · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The assertion in the OP is that OpenSSL is run for profit by guys who don't necessarily know security. My own experience with security gurus is the same as GP's; they talk in jargon and blow a lot of smoke.

  4. Re:Campaign contributions != payments on Congressmen Who Lobbied FCC Against Net Neutrality & Received Payoff · · Score: 1

    The distinction here is that opposing Net Neutrality isn't illegal.

    If congressmen want to support it and their constituents continue to reelect them, then the congressmen are fulfilling their duty as elected representatives.

  5. Re:We should also put out bait cars on Robbery Suspect Tracked By GPS and Killed · · Score: 1

    The pill bottle didn't hurt the guy.

  6. Re:Another casualty of the War on Drugs on Robbery Suspect Tracked By GPS and Killed · · Score: 1

    This high-speed chase and shooting wouldn't have happened without the ridiculous requirement to have a prescription for certain things people willingly choose to ingest.

    Read a bit of history. Before the late 19th century there were no restrictions on drugs. Opium dens were commonplace and the resulting damage to people who used those drugs was enough to bring about the laws restricting their use.

  7. Re:ANOTHER DEAD BODY! SWEET JUSTICE! on Robbery Suspect Tracked By GPS and Killed · · Score: 1

    Well, except for the dozens of witnesses.

  8. Re:Skipping mere "technical problems" on US Navy Wants Smart Robots With Morals, Ethics · · Score: 1

    1 - A robot may not harm a human being, or through inaction allow a human being to come to harm.

    The contradiction in that sentence makes whole rule worthless. Suppose the robot knows an aircraft has been hijacked and is being flown toward a building full of people. It can't shoot down the aircraft, but not shooting it down means other people are harmed. This was a real life scenario on 9/11, the fourth plane was headed toward Washington, but it would not get there because an armed fighter jet was already on the way to intercept it.

  9. Re:I need to know something on Pentagon Document Lays Out Battle Plan Against Zombies · · Score: 2
    RTFA

    "The document is identified as a training tool used in an in-house training exercise where students learn about the basic concepts of military plans and order development through a fictional training scenario,"

  10. Re:Ithaco Space Systems made the wheels that faile on NASA's Broken Planet-hunter Spacecraft Given Second Life · · Score: 1

    They didn't scrimp on testing the mirror; grinding, polishing, and testing was done completely to spec - they thought. The problem was that the instrument used to measure the curvature malfunctioned during the polishing step, resulting in the aberration.

  11. Re:probabilities? on Gen. Keith Alexander On Metadata, Snowden, and the NSA: "We're At Greater Risk" · · Score: 1

    I don't understand why people keep using the Boston bombings as an example of the system failing. The US had no reason to arrest or deport them. No amount of security will ever stop two brothers from setting off pressure cookers full of 4th of July fireworks in a crowd.

    I think a better topic for discussion is the killing of al-Awlaki. Was he trying to organize attacks against Western targets? Was killing him wrong?

  12. Re:Closed in 2012/2013 on NASA's Broken Planet-hunter Spacecraft Given Second Life · · Score: 1

    They didn't have enough work to keep the people employed. I wouldn't call that slinking away from responsibility.

  13. Cloud vs stick on $7 USB Stick Aims To Bring Thousands of Poor People Online · · Score: 0

    It's not clear to me that a thumbdrive is a better alternative than a Google account. But I applaud their effort.

  14. Re:In other words... on Why Scientists Are Still Using FORTRAN in 2014 · · Score: 2

    If it ain't broke - don't fix it.

    No, it goes beyond that. Scientific calculations are just that - calculations. You don't need services, facades, annotations, etc. that mostly obscure what the code is doing. You just need a sequence of calculations.

  15. Re:Thanks for nothing. on Former NSA Director: 'We Kill People Based On Metadata' · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Democrats have ruled for 14 of the past 22 years. How much time do they need?

  16. Visibility - you don't want it on Ask Slashdot: How Do You Tell a Compelling Story About IT Infrastructure? · · Score: 1

    As others have said, the less visibility you have the better. Mention things like how your system is not vulnerable to something like Heartbleed when the execs read headlines, then go back to playing minesweeper.

  17. OMPC on A 32-bit Development System For $2 · · Score: 1

    One Microcontroller Per Child. At $2 a pop they could give one to every kid in the world.

  18. Next time... on SpaceX Injunction Dissolved · · Score: 1

    If SpaceX does win the contract next time it's competed (which is likely, given how much NASA is helping them) I wonder how they'll react when some other upstart jumps in and wants their contract voided.

  19. Re:1.5 Billion? on Court Orders Marvell To Pay Carnegie Mellon $1.5B For Patent Infringement · · Score: 1

    They better not spend it just yet.

  20. Re:They will keep trying until they get a judge th on Court: Oracle Entitled To Copyright Protection Over Some Parts of Java · · Score: 2

    This is about copyright, not patents

  21. Copyrighted buy who cares? on Court: Oracle Entitled To Copyright Protection Over Some Parts of Java · · Score: 3, Informative

    Federal Circuit Judge Kathleen O'Malley wrote. "On this record, however, we find that the district court failed to distinguish between the threshold question of what is copyrightable — which presents a low bar — and the scope of conduct that constitutes infringing activity."

    Does this mean that even though Oracle can copyright something (not sure what), Google might still be able to use it without infringing? That's what it sounds like to me. And it took a whole lot of wasted money for Oracle to barely make it over the "low bar".

  22. Re:The important take-away is.... on The Mere Promise of Google Fiber Sends Rivals Scrambling · · Score: 1

    No, they're subsidizing it with revenue from their other broadband markets.

  23. Re:Sounds like the rest of the world on How Dumb Policies Scare Tech Giants Away From Federal Projects · · Score: 1

    I wish I had some mod points for you.

    Another big part of the problem is that nobody wants to accept limitations in their shiny soon-to-be-built new system. The 80/20 rule always applies, but trying to convince creative architects to accept 80% of their dream at only 20% of the cost is impossible.

  24. Re:Complete restructure??? on How Dumb Policies Scare Tech Giants Away From Federal Projects · · Score: 1

    What? And destroy the current lucrative system of kickbacks, cronyism, and propping up otherwise unprofitable, unaffordable, unworkable systems and businesses?

    Nobody said a restructuring would replace that.

  25. Apps don't violate DMCA, people do.