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User: FooAtWFU

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Comments · 3,258

  1. Re: In other words, ... on Google Suggests Separating Students With 'Some CS Knowledge' From Novices · · Score: 1
    Perhaps there's something to the pervasive media narrative about Silicon Valley after all. Not only do they have no ability to relate to the non-asian and non-white crowd but they also have no ability to relate to whites that aren't rich enough for east coast boarding schools either.

    Wait, boarding schools? I don't think that's Silicon Valley you're talking about, my friend. I could see Wall Street being accused of that, maybe...

  2. Re:So basically.. on French Cabbies Say They'll Block Paris Roads On Monday Over Uber · · Score: 2

    The taxi drivers feel like they own the customers. Not the whole customer, mind you (that'd be slavery). Just a little piece.

  3. Re:Fucking Hell, Harper needs to go! on Canada Waives Own Rules, Helps Microsoft Avoid US Visa Problems · · Score: -1, Flamebait
    "Canadian jobs"? Do Canadians own those jobs? Perhaps this should be better-codified, then! I mean, there are places in the world where people own jobs and are legally entitled to sell the job or pass it on to their children. Mexico teachers' unions come to mind. Of course, they're also a textbook case of dysfunction and an entitlement mentality trying to dignify itself with the trappings of leftism.

    Anyway. Essentially what I'd like to get at is that this is a hideously ugly form of nationalism which doesn't really deserve any of the dignity of the idealized socialist struggle (CS workers as the proletariat, ha!) and miserable economic policy to boot. (no nation in history has ever become prosperous by isolating itself from trade.)

    Of course, the real question is why the US needs to launder these workers through Canada and doesn't just let them in directly (we're clearly letting in plenty of unskilled workers, after all...)

  4. Re:So it's not Skynet vs humans on How the Pentagon's Robots Would Automate War · · Score: 2

    Why are people so quick to go to the sci-fi stories of the army of robots rising up to destroy humanity when there's still ample room for exploration of the robot's masters subjugating Earth to their will (a far likelier prospect, to boot?)

    Weak. Cliché.

  5. Re:Oh, boy! on Customers Creating Fake Amazon Pages To Get Cheap Electronics At Walmart · · Score: 1

    $10.69 in 2014 dollars, but it's worth noting that was at its peak and so a uniquely misleading selection if you're comparing the current minimum wage to historical norms.

  6. Re:Elections are Popularity Contests on How Facebook Is Influencing Who Will Win the Next Election · · Score: 1

    Because different faces, or parties for that matter, tend to pursue similar policies?

    Right! If we'd elected McCain instead of Obama in 2008, the Affordable Care Act as we know it today would still be more or less intact, we'd still have withdrawn American forces from Iraq on the same schedule, and we'd still be shaking hands with China over a miniature climate agreement. In smaller matters, the Keystone pipeline would still be in limbo (just because that's easier than killing it explicitly). Et cetera et cetera.

  7. Re:Uber is a Pump-n-Dump scheme on Uber Threatens To Do 'Opposition Research' On Journalists · · Score: 1, Interesting

    With all due disrespect to Uber's extant valuation projections, you've used airlines as an example. Besides the fact that people travel on the ground more than they travel through the air, airlines are notorious for having razor-thin margins, spotty track records of profitability and a tendency to go broke on short notice. Their capital stock is a double-edged sword. You may have heard a joke: "How do you become a millionaire in the airline industry? Well, you start out as a billionaire..."

    The real questions about Uber are how big the new market they want to build actually is, and why some competitor won't grab substantial portions of that market from them.

  8. Re:Nothing's gonna change. on Mayday PAC Goes 2 For 8 · · Score: 2

    Another thing about that spending, too -- election advertising this year ran about $3.7 billion overall. This is real cash, but it's about real issues and the future of our nation is at stake and many policy proposals could make a significant impact in the nation's $3 trillion-a-year economy. Proctor and Gamble spends about $5 billion a year advertising for the likes of laundry detergent, Nyquil, and diapers.

  9. Re:Lucky sods on Americans Rejoice At Lower Gas Prices · · Score: 2

    And about 90% of the difference is additional taxes that your government has placed on the substance -- so if you don't like it, whine to Parliament. :P

  10. Re:Meanwhile, in the U.S. on World War II Tech eLoran Deployed As GPS Backup In the UK · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Well, the US operates the GPS system itself, which is a distinct advantage in a time of worldwide military conflict.

  11. Re:Friendly AI on Elon Musk Warns Against Unleashing Artificial Intelligence "Demon" · · Score: 1

    Why would it be different? I don't know, maybe because mammalian brains' learning mechanisms and the way they react to stimuli are shaped by a series of useful heuristics that arise from the bio-chemical structure of their brains, and it's not at all clear that there would be direct analogues in an artificial brain?

  12. Re:Time for a revolution on Law Lets IRS Seize Accounts On Suspicion, No Crime Required · · Score: 2

    Whoa, whoa, slow down. I think you're a little off-base here. Be reasonable!

    ... It's probably going to be more like "you owe us $80 million for the $100,000 you hid in bitcoin".

  13. Re:What privacy concerns? on Austin Airport Tracks Cell Phones To Measure Security Line Wait · · Score: 1

    The real danger to your privacy comes once you've joined the network, giving it your real MAC address, and start sending a bunch of data around that isn't encrypted end-to-end (like web browsing).

  14. Well, it sorta-does. They have first dibs on over a third of earnings, which I suspect is far more than the single biggest shareholder gets. Doesn't come with all the bells and whistles like voting in board members, mind you...

  15. Re:How on earth? on IBM Pays GlobalFoundries $1.5 Billion To Shed Its Chip Division · · Score: 2

    At a guess: the sale may come with contractual obligations -- e.g. if IBM has agreed to design and manufacture chips for a certain third party for a certain length of time.

  16. Re:Bigger fuckup than John Akers on IBM Pays GlobalFoundries $1.5 Billion To Shed Its Chip Division · · Score: 4, Insightful

    THAT's better than simply taking that money and investing it into the division?

    I don't know, that could just be throwing good money after bad. This isn't a software division, it's not even like their server hardware division, it's chipmaking. It's kind of a go-big-or-go-home game where your competitors -- well-funded types like, say, Intel -- can easily pour many billions of dollars into next-generation fabrication processes and equipment which will readily put any half-assed investment to shame. I don't think IBM's chip business has the customer base to make "go big" profitable, or any reasonable plan to acquire new customers, so "go home" makes a lot of sense here.

    Now, the wisdom / folly of gutting the rest of IBM's various divisions is left as an exercise to the reader.

  17. Re:Questiona re a bit sexists on Statisticians Uncover What Makes For a Stable Marriage · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    I think a premise that people go to a church to inculcate themselves with a certain set of values that place marriage and God on the same page is a little bit stronger than your vaguely-implied "religious people are sheep whose convictions are substantially a function of the local popular opinion". But trust Slashdotters to discard informed rational thought concerning irrational behavior like religious belief...

  18. Let's get our priorities straight here! on PETA Is Not Happy That Google Used a Camel To Get a Desert "StreetView" · · Score: 3, Funny

    Google feeds their employees dead cows and chickens on a regular basis. They should have used plants. These days, quinoa is in common use in foodservice, as are beans and eggplants, and lentils could also have been easily used instead. Google should leave beef out of its activities altogether.

    :b

  19. Re:Questiona re a bit sexists on Statisticians Uncover What Makes For a Stable Marriage · · Score: 4, Informative

    Forget the stigma of divorce. In some places there are still different social values involved. These people aren't spineless or mere slaves to the apparent popular opinion of the local population (which would be a fragile situation circular, since they are the local population); they believe that marriage is a holy, sacramental bond which does things to your soul. If present, this conviction is a far stronger reason to avoid divorce than social pressure.

  20. Re:Driverless on the deep level tube is pointless on London Unveils New Driverless Subway Trains · · Score: 1

    Even supposing this to be true, it means that a train could be safely and efficiently operated by someone who hasn't expended months or years of their life being taught and practicing how to drive a train.

  21. Re:Where my points? on Blood For Extra Credit Points Offer Raises Eyebrows In Test-Mad China · · Score: 2

    You could just suggest paying blood donors. It would simplify a variety of things.

  22. Re:In America on IT Job Hiring Slumps · · Score: 1

    Possibly that's because they're advertising for things like "minimum 5+ years experience with Java" or PHP.

  23. Re:In America on IT Job Hiring Slumps · · Score: 1

    A meaningful distinction, but have you tried getting hired in Europe as an American? It's kind of intense. I'm still working on it. :b

    (Still, certain it's far better than the other way around).

  24. Re:Pick your poison on Microsoft Surface Drowning? · · Score: 1

    I'm holding out for the next generation of the Cintiq Companion (which currently stands at a whopping 4lbs, keyboard not included.)

  25. Re:History on Rand Paul Suggests Backing Bitcoin With Stocks · · Score: 1

    I don't know about that. You could say that final goods and services (e.g. food, massages) have intrinsic value too.