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User: markdavis

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  1. Re:Bill $10K up front and 50K a year on Ask Slashdot: Bulletproof Video Conferencing For Alzheimers Home? · · Score: 1

    >"Have a full time tech on site with that and bill each patient health insurance a monthly or daily or per use fee. That is how most things healthcare marketplace work."

    I work in healthcare, and no insurance company is going to cover such things unless it was legitimately part of a communications rehab program or something (supervised by a speech pathologist).

    >"Well we just bulk bill it as some other thing or change the home and they deal with the billing."

    That sounds remarkably like fraud which can lead to fines, closed businesses, and people thrown in jail.

  2. Re:Viaduct?? on Fixing a 7,000-Ton Drill · · Score: 1

    >" What if they dig the tunnel, then build a lifted "bridge" viaduct inside this tunnel? WHERE IS YOUR GOD NOW?"

    UG!!!! I can't handle such a possibility!

  3. part of the job on Ask Slashdot: IT Personnel As Ostriches? · · Score: 1

    First, I wouldn't say a "50ish" people company is "mid-sized" :) But that isn't really your question.

    I can only speak for myself- I can and do see things that are confidential. It is pretty much impossible for me not to. I deal with it by focusing only on my work. Most of the time I don't even really "see" what it is I am looking at... intentionally glancing away or closing things that are not part of the scope of my assistance. Unfortunately that doesn't always work and am exposed to things that get "registered" in my mind. Sometimes I see things that are disappointing or disturbing... but it is my job to retain confidentiality; that is part of being a professional.

    The hard parts come when/if I see something that is:

    1) Against our IT policies (mostly security practices)
    2) Against company policy
    3) Against the law
    4) Immoral

    Thankfully, after doing this for 27+ years, I have yet to consciously run into anything illegal or immoral. I have run into things against policy and there have been times I had to report it or deal with it... just depends on how severe it was.

    Think of it this way- it could be MUCH worse... you could be a defense lawyer.

  4. Viaduct?? on Fixing a 7,000-Ton Drill · · Score: 5, Informative

    >"During an effort to drill a viaduct beneath downtown Seattle"

    Viaduct? How is digging/drilling a tunnel a viaduct? "A viaduct is a bridge composed of several small spans for crossing a valley or a gorge." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V... You cannot drill a viaduct.

    They are digging a TUNNEL under Seattle for a car highway as an alternative to an old, damaged viaduct.
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12...

  5. Security and freedom are not convenient on Ask Slashdot: Should I Fight Against Online Voting In Our Municipality? · · Score: 1

    This is a classic case of people valuing convenience over everything else:

    * Responsibility
    * Anonymity
    * Security
    * Reliability
    * Accountability
    * Accuracy

    Electronic voting machines and on-line voting severely erode or completely disregard one or more of the above concepts. Voting is part of the democratic process, which equates to freedom. Freedom is neither free nor easy.... neither is security.

  6. Please NO on French Provider Free Could Buy US Branch of T-Mobile · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Please everyone just leave T-Mobile alone. They are doing great the last few years. I don't want them ruined by Sprint or Iliad or Dish or anyone else!

    Competition is good and T-Mobile is proof of it. Even if you don't use T-Mobile and never will, you have STILL BENEFITED from many of the things they have done lately which have been forcing other carriers to make changes.

    Just today:
    "T-Mobile posted its second quarter earnings today, and the carrier is continuing momentum as far as customer acquisition is concerned. The Uncarrier managed to add an additional 1.5 million customers in the second quarter, which makes it the fifth consecutive quarter in which the carrier added more than 1 million subscribers. The influx of new customers meant that T-Mobile's revenue rose by 15.4 percent to $7.2 billion. 50 million total subscribers now."

  7. Article has nothing to do with safety on Are Tethers the Answer To the Safety Issues of Follow-Me Drone Technology? · · Score: 1

    Perhaps I missed something, but the linked article (and also the Fotokite product/site) has absolutely nothing to do with safety. It talks about privacy/transparency.

    A tether to a person on the ground only makes the devices even more unsafe, as they now get tangled with each other and other environmental hazards. Perhaps it would limit its range (which is not mentioned in the article), but a heavy device falling is a heavy device falling.

    One thing that would increase drone safety would be an automatic parachute so when they do collide or lose power or go ape crazy, it can more softly return to earth.

  8. Re:Job Hopping on Ask Slashdot: How Often Should You Change Jobs? · · Score: 1

    This is a reply not just to you, but to several similar posts at once:

    1) I don't have trouble maintaining employees, and it is precisely because I am careful to hire someone that won't quickly leave.

    2) We don't have the best pay nor all that much room for positional growth, but it is a great environment and very stable. I am careful to disclose as much as possible about the goods and bads of the position so there are no unreasonable expectations.

    3) I don't count contract work as job hopping. It is not the same thing, and it is usually apparent based on the resume.

    4) The type of positions I am hiring for are not project oriented as many posts have assumed. It is departmental management, training, systems administration, and support.

    5) I agree that people should be moving on if they are stagnating, but I can't have that be every 1 to 2 years, we simply don't have the resources to deal with that type of turnover in a small company.

  9. Job Hopping on Ask Slashdot: How Often Should You Change Jobs? · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I can tell you now than when I am hiring and looking at resumes and see 1 year, 2 years, 1.5 years, 9 months, I label it is a "job hopper" and throw it in the "least likely to consider" pile. And a CRAPLOAD of the resumes are that way, regardless of the position. Many things come to mind when I see that "hopping"- maybe they are just using each job as a stepping stone to get more money or experience, maybe there is something wrong with them and they can't keep a job, or perhaps they are too easily bored.

    As an employer, hiring a new employee is a HUGE amount of time and financial drain on my department. Regardless of what somebody does know or thinks they know, I rarely get full productivity from someone until perhaps a year (sometimes less, sometimes more). If they are looking for such temporary employment, I need them to just look elsewhere.... I need some reasonable return on my investment.

    I don't expect people to stay at a job for decades anymore (although there is nothing wrong with that... I have 25 years now with the same company) and I know sometimes a job is just not a good fit. But turnover in a small department can be devastating. If I were to see the same resume with 5 years, 3 years, 6 years, that looks FAR more attractive.

  10. Re:define "minority" on Google Is Offering Free Coding Lessons To Women and Minorities · · Score: 1

    Nonsense. "White" is not a dirty word, nor is "Black", they are just terms. But if people are going to describe people's "race" based on a continent/huge region of origin, then "European American" is no different than "Asian American", "African American", "Latin American", etc.

    If you are Black, I am White.
    If you are Negro, I am Caucasian.
    If you are African American, I am European American.

    I believe strongly in *EQUALITY*.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H...

  11. define "minority" on Google Is Offering Free Coding Lessons To Women and Minorities · · Score: 1

    So, since we are into discrimination and punishing...

    In my city, European Americans *are* the minority (to African Americans; there are very few of any other race). So would THEY be eligible for free preferential treatment from Google?

    Or does "minority" just mean anyone who is not European American?

  12. Desperate for sure on Microsoft Wants You To Trade Your MacBook Air In For a Surface Pro 3 · · Score: 0

    Microsoft must be really desperate.

    No thanks.... oh, and no thanks on that Air thing either... love my Nexus 10 tablet. :)

  13. Re:Dead on arrival on Harley-Davidson Unveils Their First Electric Motorcycle · · Score: 1

    >" That's a Japanese sport touring bike with a big crotch rocket engine. It's reasonable quiet until you get onto the freeway and wind it up."

    I *have* a 1.4 liter Japanese sport touring bike with huge performance. And like all other factory Japanese bikes, it is not loud at all, regardless of how much I "wind it up". Why? Because I didn't replace the stock, legal, quality, perfectly appropriate muffler with some loud, annoying aftermarket thing that serves no purpose except to scream "look at me" (or "listen to me, whether you want to or not") and pretend that it does something for performance (which they do not).

    Loud is not performance. Loud is not safer. Loud is just annoying.
    http://www.noiseoff.org/pipes/

  14. Re:Dangerous on Harley-Davidson Unveils Their First Electric Motorcycle · · Score: 1

    But it doesn't need to be *LOUD* to accomplish that. It certainly needs to be no louder than a modern, quiet car.

    I wish people with loud vehicles would be ticketed to death... and that especially holds for boom-box cars.

    http://www.southparkstudios.co...

  15. loud = fast NOT on Harley-Davidson Unveils Their First Electric Motorcycle · · Score: 1

    >"with the electric Harley able to go from 0 to 60 mph in four seconds."

    Wow, so that makes it only twice as slow as my old gas Kawasaki. Extreme noise (because people think loud = performance, which it does not) and vibration (along with poor handling and old tech) are Harley trademarks... I can't imagine why they would be interested in producing such a model.

  16. Re:Democrats voted on House Majority Leader Defeated In Primary · · Score: 1

    >"The party system itself is the issue"

    BINGO.

    *NOTHING* is really going to change until the voting public actually has some real choices- and that means more candidates and more parties and with a sane voting framework. The current system will simply not allow another other party to win, because people can't vote how they REALLY want to vote....

    The solution is that we need to be able to use some type of instant runoff voting system that lets us rank candidates so we can vote our conscience without fear of wasting votes. Once that happens, other parties have a chance and new parties will start forming.

  17. This is the result on America 'Has Become a War Zone' · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This is the result of the militarization of the police:
    http://www.cato.org/raidmap

  18. Re:State on Virginia DMV Cracks Down On Uber, Lyft · · Score: 1

    1) I guarantee if you say "Virginia State shooting" to any of the many millions of people around here, every single one will immediately assume you mean "a shooting at Virginia State University" and not "a shooting in the Commonwealth of Virginia" or "a shooting in the State of Virginia". And it would hold true for countless millions of people NOT around here, too.

    2) I never suggested using "bare Virginia". I said to use "Virginia DMV" which is quite precise, domestic or international.

    3) And "Commonwealth of Virginia" is certainly not "little known", it is on all kinds of documents and signs and materials. But I suppose everything is relative. Even so, my statements were and still are correct. http://www.virginia.gov/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

  19. State on Virginia DMV Cracks Down On Uber, Lyft · · Score: 0

    >"Virginia State Cracks Down On Uber, Lyft"

    Virginia State is a university and Virginia is a Commonwealth. Sometimes these abbreviated topic lines really are bad.

    Couldn't it just say Virginia DMV? It is actually *FEWER* characters.

  20. Yeah, right on Apple Says Many Users 'Bought an Android Phone By Mistake' · · Score: 1

    >" 'They had bought an Android phone by mistake, and then had sought a better experience and a better life.' "

    No, what they PROBABLY did was buy a piece of s***, low-end, low-cost Android phone and hated the experience. And that should surprise nobody.

    Had they bought a Nexus 5, a Samsung Galaxy S4/5, an HTC One, an LG G2/3, etc, those same people would likely not be dumping it for an iphone.

  21. Re:Great job David! on A Bike Taillight that Goes Beyond Mere Taillighting (Video) · · Score: 1

    I agree totally. It might get one seen, but it is distracting to the point it probably would be very dangerous for the wearer.

  22. Re:So... on Microsoft Is Paying Brazilian Users In Skype Credit To Switch to Bing · · Score: 1

    Thanks for the info

  23. Re:So... on Microsoft Is Paying Brazilian Users In Skype Credit To Switch to Bing · · Score: 1

    Not that it affects me (since I am in USA, use Linux, and would never use Bing) but I would love to know:

    1) How MS knows you actually switched anything in your browser, unless they built in spyware to watch what you are doing.

    2) If this applies to browsers other than IE.

    3) If it applies to platforms other than MS-Windows.

    4) As others said, what prevents you from immediately just switching back?

    5) Are they really THAT desperate to have people use their search engine/home page?? (Although I guess it really isn't going to cost MS anything to "pay" for this promotion).

  24. Re:Google.Facebook.No highly staffed CS call cente on Facebook Refuses To Share Employee Race and Gender Data · · Score: 0

    >"very few white people in a sea of African Americans"

    Or "very few European Americans in a sea of black people"

    If we are going to be PC, then term equality would be nice instead of having just one be "special".

  25. Try 8 on Average American Cable Subscriber Gets 189 Channels and Views 17 · · Score: 1

    >"Average American Cable Subscriber Gets 189 Channels and Views 17"

    I must be above average then (or perhaps below average), since I get something like 300+ channels and watch maybe 8?

    Ones I can get over the air (so I don't count those 6, of which I might even watch only 3)+
    History
    Science
    NatGeo
    SciFi
    AMC
    Epix
    Encore
    WGN