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User: Stargoat

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Comments · 921

  1. Indulgences on eBay Bans the Sale of Spells and Magic Items · · Score: 2

    There goes my plan to sell indulgences. I was looking forward to being able to forgive sins by proxy. There is a long tradition in western culture of fiscal forgiveness. I fail to see why E-Bay gets to decide what is right or wrong. They nailed a 95 Theses into the door of my plans for material success.

    And I am firmly of the opinion that black indulgences is an underdeveloped market. Why limit yourself to merely helping people? With a black, or anti-indulgence, you can take the battle to your enemies. Surely, he who laughs last laughs best, and what could be better than to see your foe's unshrivened soul burning with sins he didn't even know he possessed.

  2. Re:Google+ probably does same on Three Arrests In China Over Baidu Post-Deleting Services · · Score: 1

    That's a joke, I say, that's a joke, son. That moderator's about as sharp as a pound of wet liver.

  3. Re:One Word on Jack Daniels Shows How To Write a Cease and Desist Letter · · Score: 1

    The site seems to be slashdotted. Would some kind kharmawhore put up the article please?

  4. Re:Easy answer for non-americans on Ask Slashdot: How Does Your Company Evaluate Your Performance? · · Score: 3, Insightful

    There also has to be some strong blame pointed at HR as well. HR budgets for certain amounts of raises (rises) and firings. They do not care what it does for productivity and employee morale so long as they stay within their budget.

  5. Van Art on Ask Slashdot: How To Add New Tech To Old Van? · · Score: 5, Funny

    Adding new tech to a van is OK, if you're into that kind of thing. (Which I am.) But of far more importance is what kind of art you put on your van. Be it a wizard summoning a space unicorn to be ridden by a hot babe, a barbarian protecting hot babes, or an interstellar wizard summoning hot babes for nefarious purposes, van art is what takes your van and gives it that certain je ne sais pas which says, "I am awesome."

    In this case, I think you need to consider the technological contents of your van and create a motif based around that. For example, you can have a wizard summoning hot technological Linux cyborg babes. That would be cool. And when you drove down the street, people would be like, "that's cool." And isn't that the real purpose of owning a van?

  6. Re:you what? on Game of Thrones: Bush's Head Gets a Makeover · · Score: 0

    There was a cause to the recession, which is the passage of the 1999 Gramm Leach and Bliley Act signed by Bill Clinton. (Messrs Gramm Leach and Bliley are GOP, but it had bi-partisan support in the house. Almost the entire democrat Senate was opposed.) 1999 GLBA overturned the 1933 Glass-Steagall. It means that mainstreet banks, insurance companies, mortgage companies, investment banks, and commercial banks were allowed to all become the same institution. There was no real check on the banking system, because the banks that were "too-large-to-fail" knew that there was no incentive for security, moral hazard. Instead, short-term profits were the only motivation.

    These government created corporations acted without restraint in search of profit, because the environment they operated allowed this. It was only natural. The consequences were (and are) inevitable - collapse of large banks. (This has not been fixed yet. Another recession WILL be caused by this. It's only a matter of time. The foolish regulations imposed by the Obama administration have only proved effective at shutting down credit unions and small community banks by increasing the costs of banking, all without making us any safer.)

    But the recession became a depression because of the cost of student loans. The average student loan debt for graduating seniors is about $23000. When two of these student loans gets married, they have a household debt of about $46000 then. AKA - a mortgage. The average college student is graduating college with a small mortgage.

    It gets worse. The people who should be doing the real production for the economy are those graduating with Masters and PhDs. Their student loan debt is higher, as they have to pay for undergraduate school, and then graduate school. Yes, graduate school is typically not as expensive as undergraduate school. But the typical graduate school student still needs loans. And they still have undergraduate school interest accumulating.

    So basically, the top ten percent of the generation who should be driving most of the economic growth cannot afford to do so, because they already have a not-so-small mortgage.

    Now we are in a depression. It's no longer a recession, because other economic environment conditions have stalled the necessary recovery. We can get out of it, but the nation needs to stop spending money foolishly. The Federal and State governments need to stop with the atrocious regulations like the last round of ADA. Instead, we should focus on improving the real infrastructure of the nation, namely its citizens - creating needless regulation to force companies to spend does not stimulate the economy, it is a broken window fallacy.

    (1) Start with free community and state colleges - eliminate the need for student loans for an undergraduate degree. (2) A WPA style program should be created to let college students work off their existing debt, one that is not so onerous as requiring a sacrifice of income potential (or life) from working in inner-city schools or the military. (3) Much like alcohol was legalized during the Great Depression, so should marijuana be legalized now - leave its legal status up to the several states. (4) Fix immigration and bring in productive student immigrants - stop kicking out PhDs and masters.

  7. Re:The ADA sucks on ADA May Force Netflix To Provide Closed Captioning On Content · · Score: 1

    ATMs used to be mostly OS2 under the hood. It's this ADA update that is putting the final nail into OS2's coffin.

  8. Re:Easy enough on Ask Slashdot: Low Cost Way To Maximize SQL Server Uptime? · · Score: 1

    Cusco, good call on the USB drive for backup purposes. I was just thinking of the risks associated with them from viruses, student papers, etc. That's a really good idea for a low-cost rather bullet proof backup option.

  9. Re:Easy enough on Ask Slashdot: Low Cost Way To Maximize SQL Server Uptime? · · Score: 1

    Good suggestion on keeping the server far from grease, etc. Spot on.

  10. The ADA sucks on ADA May Force Netflix To Provide Closed Captioning On Content · · Score: 0

    The ADA is screwing up my life. This year, my small credit union had to spend half a million dollars replacing perfectly good ATMs so that a headphone jack can be plugged into them. My condo is spending a minimum of 10000 dollars to install a swimming pool lift. And now my Netflix subscription will need to rise in order for sub-titles.

    This is too much. The ADA should be limited to insuring there is total access to government buildings and government projects. Otherwise, they should leave us alone.

  11. Easy enough on Ask Slashdot: Low Cost Way To Maximize SQL Server Uptime? · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Get a decent server, maybe an HP. Dual CPUs, Dual HDDs, Dual Power supplies. Get a UPS.

    Install Windows, SQL, and UPS controlling software. Install AV, but be certain to exclude AV scanning the SQL directory and SQL DBs and logs. You don't want AV killing your SQL server by accident. You might want to consider putting a firewall on the box and blocking all non-SQL traffic.

    Patch as needed.

    Install nothing else. No mine-sweeper, no restaurant food ordering software, no adobe. Nothing will kill a server faster than turning it into a desktop. Don't try to do anything on it. Just let it be a server running SQL and you'll be fine. Don't plug USB drives into it.

    You should be able to back up the SQL db every so often stopping SQL and then starting it. Try to do this around the monthly patch cycle. Don't patch immediately upon one becoming available, but rather wait a week. This will give Microsoft time to correct any patch issues they have. You'll be much more vulnerable to patch issues than you will from viruses if you follow the "don't turn it into a desktop" suggestion.

  12. Re:Not surprising on Aussie Telco Lays New Fiber For Microsecond Trading Boost · · Score: 1

    There also needs to be a discussion about the collusion that takes place among major firms to keep salaries down. For example, you cannot apply to certain departments at Citibank without informing your HR team at your current employer first.

  13. Re:Not surprising on Aussie Telco Lays New Fiber For Microsecond Trading Boost · · Score: 1

    Only $250k for that work? Ridiculous. These people can make the company billions of safe reliable dollars. They aren't out there with the kind of risks that come from other forms of investment. Good technologists should be seeing the kind of money that traders make. Not what amounts to minimum wage in the most expensive city on the planet.

  14. Re:We're still /. on European Scientists Make a Case For a Return To the Moon · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Slashdot was once the gold standard of IT information websites. The community was vibrant and rambunctious. It was interesting, funny, and frustrating. I'm not entire sure what happened. Maybe the Internet grew up around us. Like the Old West, someone fenced the cowboys away. Maybe we got rid of the goofs that were our necessary yeast. Dunno. But it's not the same Slashdot it was a decade ago.

  15. Nah on Ask Slashdot: Getting a Tech Job With Skills But No Formal Degree? · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Certs are good for non-IT degree folks. Heck, certs are good for everyone. Yes, there are people running around with certs that cannot problem solve their way out of a cardboard box while holding a knife. But mostly, they make you look better. Definitely go for them.

  16. Re:This Can't Be Happening!!!!! on Will IBM's Watson Kill Your Career? · · Score: 3, Funny

    In all likelihood, they'll re-evolve eventually. I for one welcome our new re-evolved insect overlords.

  17. Re:In Skynet Russia on Will IBM's Watson Kill Your Career? · · Score: 4, Funny

    Probably. I expect that's why we'll all be executed.

  18. In Skynet Russia on Will IBM's Watson Kill Your Career? · · Score: -1

    In Skynet Russia, IBM's Watson kills you!

    Skynet everywhere else for that matter too...

  19. Depends on the industry on Ask Slashdot: How Long Should Devs Support Software Written For Clients? · · Score: 2

    There's so many different software industries, you cannot just ask "how long?"

    For example, ATMs need to be supported for about 15 to 20 years. But a web hosting app? Maybe 5 to 7.

    Basically, if your clients are paying you, you support them. If you no longer want to support them, you better be damn sure you have a robust, tested, and thoroughly vetted (and preferably heavily used) replacement product.

  20. Re:Shepard's Golf Ball on NASA To Future Lunar Explorers: Don't Mess With Our Moon Stuff · · Score: 1

    Dagnabit, bakin tweneetree wees all wen up tu da moon. By gumbo itas ard werk, fertyet hurs at ah time cuz oxi were so pensi. Bud di we moan an cari abo like fancy dago footballers? Hell na, we tweneetrees donna go in fer yer wumenee hands. We wurk like gooduns, den and na.

  21. Re:Or what? on NASA To Future Lunar Explorers: Don't Mess With Our Moon Stuff · · Score: 0

    Else we're gonna be really really mad, screw up our faces and cry. Then you'll be sorry.

    Also, we'll send you to Gitmo.

  22. It's easy on WHMCS Data Compromised By Good Old Social Engineering · · Score: 2

    Amateurs target systems, professionals target people. The weakest part of any IT system is the users. We know all this. For example, Mondays have the most downtime, as they are associated with changes made over the week. A user that installs a gotoassist to 'help' the IT department. Etc etc.

  23. Re:Congratulations. on Maryland Teen Wins World's Largest Science Fair · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's one thing to pull yourself up from the bootstraps if you're born uppermiddle class. It's another if you're born lower class. There's a strong argument that it's easier today to move up the social ladder in Europe than the United States. This is appalling.

  24. Re:Evolution on Did a Genome Copying Mistake Lead To Human Intelligence? · · Score: 1

    Or a theologian.

  25. Re:Evolution on Did a Genome Copying Mistake Lead To Human Intelligence? · · Score: 1

    By that definition, all evolution comes from mistakes. Except for man-made evolution. That is to say, when men deliberately splice genomes, say in corn for example, to improve a life form, that is not a mistake.

    This begs the question then, is it evolution when men deliberately evolve life around them?