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User: IANAAC

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  1. Re: I have a feeling that on Apple's First Android App, Move To iOS, Is Getting Killed With One-Star Reviews · · Score: 1

    I have an honest question that you, as an iOS user maybe can answer: Is there a decent database app available? Something similar to Memento for android? I use that app heavily and would have a hard time finding a replacement for it, even on android. Some of my friends that use iOS have liked what they've seen in the app and would like to use something like it, but I have no idea what to recommend.

  2. Re: Parts are cheap, keep pushing the prices down on Amazon Reportedly Aiming For the Low End With a Loss-Leader $50 Tablet · · Score: 1

    So are some name brands. I bought an HP G2 for 60 bucks that has served me well, and still does.

  3. Re: "Are" or "could be"? on 79% of Airbnb Listings In Barcelona Are Illegal · · Score: 1
    I suppose I agree, but in the article itself, it does explain why it's difficult to get an accurate figure.

    Since most of these places aren't registered as tourist rentals, it's hard to come to a concrete number. The article also explains that AirBnB doesn't actually give exact addresses until the transaction is completed, making outside tracking difficult.

  4. Re: Simplistic on Future of Employment: How Susceptible Are Jobs To Computerization? · · Score: 1

    More likely, we will just have better tools for certain jobs making them more higher level â" it can let them get stuff done easier - so they can do more.

    This has already happened in my field (translation) a good decade ago. The problem with it though is that if a translator is working through and agency and not a direct client, the agency will demand a discount for repeated words, which makes no sense for anything that actually needs to be readable.

    If anything, I spend just as much time going over the automated translation and fixing mistakes as I would just translating from the beginning. I don't see this ever changing, as language shifts too quickly for translation memories (TMs) to keep up with current usage.

  5. Re: Open to All? on Google Prepares To Enter Wireless Market As an MVNO · · Score: 1
    I imagine it would be no different than any other MVNO, in that they are usually restricted in some form by the bigger networks (throttling, etc.)

    I doubt phones would be a problem, since most MVNOs now offer LTE (throttled).

  6. Not only that... on Why It's Important That the New Ubuntu Phone Won't Rely On Apps · · Score: 1
    The one feature that would have truly set this phone apart from anything else has been dropped - that is, Desktop mode when docked.

    This phone is nothing but your run-of-the-mill low-to-mid range phone.

  7. Re:Seems fine to me on Tracking Down How Many (Or How Few) People Actively Use Google+ · · Score: 1
    I use G+ every day. I rarely post publicly in my own feed/timeline. It's almost always in a community, which I keep from being shown on mt profile.

    That can't be an atypical way to use the service, and I don't know how they could realistically measure that.

  8. Re: Quebec Language Police on What Language Will the World Speak In 2115? · · Score: 1

    Television is télévision. Telephone is téléphone. Electricity is électricité. Etc.

    I think in the case of words like these (and many other technology words), we have to consider when they came into being. When Telephones, TVs and electricity were invented (and more importantly, mass-marketed), the modern industrial world was heavily influenced by Western Europe, namely France - it was still the language of culture, and English due to the industrial revolution. It was only natural that these terms were coined from Latin and Greek. Greek had a lot of influence on Latin, which in turn had a lot of influence on Romance languages, which through French had quite a lot of influence on English vocabulary.

  9. Re: For wealthy gadabouts perhaps on Peter Diamandis: Technology Is Dissolving National Borders · · Score: 2

    Translation: translate.google.com works as well as anything. The only real limitation is that technical jargon in German doesn't pass through to an equivalent US English expression. But that is the same thing that happens when German people speak English. They have very good grammar and accent in English, but they are not taught our technical words or colloquialisms. So technical documents have a lot of instances of "Module", "Technology", etc. referring to different things using the same words when there were more specific words that meant something in German.

    Disclaimer: I'm a translator by trade.

    That said, I think for basic, oral communication, a lot can already be done, but for anything beyond that, anything out there right now fails miserably.

    It's not just about translating words. Consider, say, translating a legal document from any language to English. Which English, exactly? Not only are legal terms different depending on country, but so are legal concepts. Even within the same region, you'll find variation of speech that currently can't be handled at all with automatic translation. Ever read the transcript of a message left on Google Voice by a non-standard American English speaker? It's laughable. Translation knows nothing about these differences.

    We're going to need humans specialised in specific concepts and regions for a long time.

  10. Re: I hate it on The Open Office Is Destroying the Workplace · · Score: 2

    So I take it your employer gives you equal time out of the office to accomplish this? If not, it doesn't sound like a solution, just more of a time-suck.

  11. Re: No group "owns" any day on the calendar. on Neil DeGrasse Tyson Explains His Christmas Tweet · · Score: 1

    Epiphany is Jan 6, 12 days after Christmas.

  12. He didn't care enough to edit it, apparently on Facebook Apologizes For 'Year In Review' Photos · · Score: -1, Redundant
    Did he not know that he could choose the background image? Or that he could edit it? It came out the way it did because he just clicked away without thinking.

    Sorry for his daughter's death, but he could have influenced the final result or, better yet, elected to not participate in it at all.

  13. Re: Oh yeah, it's "bombing" in the US alright... on The Interview Bombs In US, Kills In China, Threatens N. Korea · · Score: 1
    I'm not sure how much "Selma" and "American Sniper" cost to produce/market/release, but there's been a lot of news blurbs stating that "The Interview" cost around 80 million to put out, around 30 million of that just on marketing.

    They still have a long way to go to break even, even with Hollywood's underhanded accounting.

  14. I'm much more interested in what Jolla may come out with. Their OS interests me, and for those android apps I'd need (none of them need Google Play), I'd imagine they'll have it ready to run them.

    From their crowdfunding promo that I saw a month or so ago, it looks like it'll be expensive, though.

  15. Re: Can't wait to replace CenturyLink on US Internet Offers 10Gbps Fiber In Minneapolis · · Score: 1
    I'm just over the border in Wisconsin and CenturyLink is my only wired choice too. They supposedly give us a 2M down/768K up connection, but I never have seen it. And they keep telling us that upgrades will be coming soon. They're actually not taking any more subscribers right now, due to saturation.

    So I ended up getting rid of CL and just using a small hotspot for casual browsing. My neighbor does let me still use his CL connection via WiFi when I want to do anything big (like ISOs, and videos) though. Otherwise, my little 3G hotspot is actually faster than CenturyLink.

  16. Re:Get a Zaurus... on Ask Slashdot: Best Software To Revive PocketPCs With Windows Mobile 5-6? · · Score: 1
    Or better yet, get something like a Viliv or a BenQ. They have relatively modern Intel processors, so you can install most any Linux on them, provided you can find the drivers.

    I have a BenQ. I have Opera 12 running on it, and just recently installed Softmaker Office (they recently released their 2012 suite as free) so I have a very capable office suite. With a foldable BT keyboard, it' s WAY more useful than any smartphone is, although if I could find a decent enough office suite for Android, I' d opt for a cheap tablet.

  17. So I'll suggest something I've not seen yet... on Ask Slashdot: Can a Felon Work In IT? · · Score: 1
    in the comments.

    Do you have an indian reservation nearby? I have two near me and I've seen the same IT positions (a DB admin and a sys admin) available for the last two years for one place.

    Now, I can't speak with any authority, but reservations around here operate as sovereign territory and don't play by the same local/state/national rules. So it could be that a past felony might be OK. It's also entirely possible that they would reject you because of your felony, but it's an option worth checking.

  18. Re:Really? on Florida-Based Magic Leap Builds Its Team With Bay Area Hires · · Score: 1

    The breed of crazy that will shoot you dead for walking home at night from a convenience store.

    Or on a Bart platform.

  19. Re:Do any of us know how much we really use? on Hungary's Plans For Internet Tax On Hold After Protests · · Score: 1
    I try to keep a decent handle on what I use, at least when it comes to a cellular hotspot I use.

    One tool I use with a laptop (but it could easily be installed on a Linux or BSD-based router, is VNStat - humdi.net/vnstat/

    It can monitor and report hourly, daily, monthly, etc and you can easily chose what interface to report (it monitors all active interfaces). There's also some graphics reporting capability, too, but I just use the command line output and awk-parse what I need.

  20. Re:News for Nerds? on Tim Cook: "I'm Proud To Be Gay" · · Score: 1

    But considering just how straight white male oriented the tech industry is

    Have you actually been to Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Seattle or Vancouver? Very few industries or cities are more accepting of homosexuality. I bet the tech industry is very close to being "aligned with the general population."

    I lived in SF for decades, most of my adult life, in fact.

    I'm not talking about acceptance. I'm talking about actual leadership. It's quite rare that an open homosexual is a CEO of a successful multinational corporation. In fact, I don't know of another, certainly not in the tech world.

  21. Re:News for Nerds? on Tim Cook: "I'm Proud To Be Gay" · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Gays are equal to straights and should have the same rights. I find it sad that announcements like this still make headlines. It shouldn't matter nor should anyone really care (unless they are looking to hook up).

    True enough. But considering just how straight white male oriented the tech industry is, it's good to point out that occasionally we have other possibilities.

    It truly won't be an issue when the tech industry is more aligned with the general population. We're not there yet.

  22. Re:They tried to raise prices 20% unnanounced on Cutting the Cord? Time Warner Loses 184,000 TV Subscribers In One Quarter · · Score: 1

    But is there a single show that you can watch over the Internet for the rest of the month after you get to your 10 GB cap?

    I don't watch video over the internet in HD. A gig will provide me with about 4-4/12 hours of standard definition shows.

  23. Re:They tried to raise prices 20% unnanounced on Cutting the Cord? Time Warner Loses 184,000 TV Subscribers In One Quarter · · Score: 1

    I would welcome alternatives to Cable in Rural areas.

    I'm in an extremely rural area. Cable is not an option. It's either satellite or a huge antenna that's capable of getting signals from over 100 miles away.

    While it's expensive, I rely on cellular internet for everything and wireless connect through a router. There's not a single show I can't watch (that I want to, anyway) over the internet. Plus, sine I don't have a remote, I'm sort of forced to actively choose what it is I want to watch, rather than mindlessly clicking from channel to channel.

    I don't miss cable at all.

  24. Re:StraighTalk on Ask Slashdot: Unlimited Data Plan For Seniors? · · Score: 1

    I am pretty sure speed is an issue

    3G speeds are not bad. I use Straight Talk's 3G hockey puck hotspot (Umax U240C), which is 3G-only, and can do everything I need to on it, including stream Netflix.

    Also, I usually get the 4Gig/40 dollar card, which is good for 60 days. It's about as good as it gets price-wise, for pre-paid at least.

  25. Re:This was no AP. on LAX To London Flight Delayed Over "Al-Quida" Wi-Fi Name · · Score: 1

    Yes, there's leeway, but depending on which English-speaking country is talking about them, their respective government (and to a lesser extent, media) have settled on an established spelling. In the US, it's usually defined by a three-letter organization.