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User: tomhath

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  1. Re:Is playing a game Artificial Intelligence? on Poker Pros Win Against AI, But Experts Peg Match As Statistical Draw · · Score: 1

    So what you're saying is that it's AI if we call it AI.

  2. This used to be pretty common on Ask Slashdot: How To Own the Rights To Software Developed At Work? · · Score: 1

    A business I worked for a few years ago was started by someone who did essentially what OP is suggesting. The programmer developed an accounting system for a healthcare related business (which is not an easy task, medical billing in the US is a quagmire). The application actually worked pretty well, and he knew other businesses could use it. So without telling his employer, he stole the source code and partnered with an unrelated business to sell it. The guy ended up quite well off when he retired.

    Of course what he did was completely illegal, but this was before the internet so his original employer had no practical way to catch him, nor any incentive to do so since they still had the working application for themselves.

  3. Is playing a game Artificial Intelligence? on Poker Pros Win Against AI, But Experts Peg Match As Statistical Draw · · Score: 0

    Seems more like applied statistics to me.

  4. Re:"Hacking" goes a little far here.. on Photobucket Hackers Nabbed, Face Serious Charges From US Authorities · · Score: 1

    Trespassing means entering without the owner's permission; whether it was done intentionally or not doesn't matter.

    So GP's logic is correct.

  5. Re:"Hacking" goes a little far here.. on Photobucket Hackers Nabbed, Face Serious Charges From US Authorities · · Score: 1

    Property laws ate irrelevant. If a page is publicly available then it is public.

    If I can break the window of your car and pop the trunk open, does that make your laptop "publicly available" for me to take?

  6. Re:They're right you bunch of freetards on FWD.us To Laid-Off Southern California Edison Workers: Boo-Hoo · · Score: 1

    The legal concept of a corporation has been around since at least the Roman Empire. Don't expect it to go away any time soon.

    And the revolution you're predicting? There aren't any people starving.

  7. Re:How useful is this? on Interactive Map Exposes the World's Most Murderous Places · · Score: 3, Informative

    Many Arctic communities have high murder and suicide rates. Also very high rates of depression and alcoholism.

  8. Then become an H-1B on Ask Slashdot: Moving To an Offshore-Proof Career? · · Score: 4, Funny

    And move back to the US

  9. yes, and people from other countries too on WHO Declares Liberian Ebola Outbreak Over · · Score: 1

    Liberians stepped up, but don't leave out other medical professionals from all over the world who also contributed.

  10. Re:Of course, there's this on MIT Report Says Current Tech Enables Future Terawatt-Scale Solar Power Systems · · Score: 1

    A glance at the curve reveals that it only considers the manufacturing cost of the PV cells, which (according to the MIT paper) is roughly 15% of the total cost of an installation. So...ECONOMICS.

  11. Overly done graphic on Interactive Map Exposes the World's Most Murderous Places · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Aside from the gaping holes in the data for many countries, the use of a spinning globe is a nuisance. Just display a map, it doesn't have to move around.

  12. Re:As a resident of NY... on Critics Say It's Time To Close La Guardia Airport · · Score: 1

    Most of the money goes to the well paid (union) employees.

  13. Re:"water, making landing difficult and hazardous" on Critics Say It's Time To Close La Guardia Airport · · Score: 1

    As opposed to what other flight that hit the ground before it reached the runway?

  14. Re:Cost of solar on MIT Report Says Current Tech Enables Future Terawatt-Scale Solar Power Systems · · Score: 1

    since solar makes less sense there, it has to be subsidized more.

    Why not use hamsters running on wheels to generate electricity? That makes even less sense, so according to your logic it should be subsidized even more.

  15. Re:Of course, there's this on MIT Report Says Current Tech Enables Future Terawatt-Scale Solar Power Systems · · Score: 1

    You need to follow a few layers of links to find the actual "subsidies" he claims. What you find are pretty much normal business expenses being treated as business expenses for tax purposes; depreciation, capital gains, R&D expenses, etc. Those can't honestly be called a subsidy.

  16. Cost of doing business on From Commune To Sharing Economy Startup · · Score: 1

    I've rented a couple of different apartments over the years; always paid the rent on time and kept the place clean and in good repair. My ex-landlords have been happy to give me a good reference - which meant I never had trouble renting somewhere else when I needed to. I also rent cars a few times a years, the customer service rep knows me and gives me the nicest car available.

    If you rent to any John Q. Public you will have problems, and if a renter abuses the property he or she will have problems renting again. The business has to benefit both parties.

  17. Junk science on Is IT Work Getting More Stressful, Or Is It the Millennials? · · Score: 4, Informative

    The survey, which started in 2012, just released its 2015 report, and found that of 78% of the IT workers surveyed consider their job stressful. That's up just 1% from 2014, but in 2013 the figure was 57% and in 2012, 67%.

    Their numbers are jumping all over the place. I also don't see how they can jump to any conclusions regarding Millennials in the workplace after only four years with such a small sample, and they don't break it out by age group.

    Someone needed to fill a column with some words - so here are some words. Come back next week for more words in this column

  18. The more we learn about viruses... on Ebola Lurked In Cured Patient's Eye · · Score: 4, Insightful

    All the research related to HIV taught us a lot, but this kind of thing makes it obvious that we don't know nearly as much about viruses as we thought.

  19. Re:Amplitude not Height on Subsurface Ocean Waves Can Be More Than 500 Meters High · · Score: 1

    As I read it, 500 meters is the height; but they move slowly, only a few centimeters per second.

  20. Money is in Kickstarter campaigns on $9 Open Source Computer Blows Past Crowdfunding Goal · · Score: 2
    FTFA:

    Chip is near reality. There is a working prototype

    I'll believe the $9 price tag after they actually go to market.

  21. Re:Garbage on NASA Gets Its Marching Orders: Look Up! Look Out! · · Score: 1

    NASA's primary mission has always been to support the collection of military intelligence. Even the pictures of Eisenhower looking at "scientific experiments" were just a cover for the film containing pictures of Russia, China, and North Korea that were returned by the capsule.

  22. Re:More like to his own parents on Bill Gates Owes His Career To Steven Spielberg's Dad; You May, Too · · Score: 4, Informative

    Kindall was bitter because he screwed up. IBM approached him first and wanted to buy CP/M, but Kindall didn't make the sale. Why that happened is lost in the mists of time, but Gates saw the value in the deal and made it happen.

  23. Re:Assumptions on Hacking the US Prescription System · · Score: 1

    Pay close attention to the "Privacy Statement" you are required to sign when you fill the prescription. There's a chance it could contain something about sharing your data; if I ever saw that I would let the pharmacy know that they lost a customer. I haven't had that problem with the neighbor hood pharmacy I use though.

  24. Re:Not exactly a hack on Hacking the US Prescription System · · Score: 1

    While in theory, EMR's can do a lot of good by providing any doctor instant critical info

    That's not just a theory, it's a fact. EMRs aren't perfect but they're getting better, and the security issue will be addressed.

    That said, my wife and I both have gotten prescriptions for things that would be obvious if that information was leaked to a spammer, but it hasn't happened.

  25. Unless they charge him as an adult, which could happen. So he does (possibly) face five felonies.