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User: zrobotics

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  1. Re: Good for them on Having a Woman On Your Team Ruins Your Chances For VC Funding (theoutline.com) · · Score: 1

    Are we still doing that?

  2. Umm, usb c audio is exactly as 'analog' as audio from a 3.5mm jack. Straight from the dac to the jack. And there isn't any drm in the dongle either, they're exactly as complicated as a 3.5mm to 1/4" adapter.

  3. Re: Rust Belt on US Increases Number of H-2B Visas By 15,000 (arstechnica.com) · · Score: 2

    Because Cleveland and Detroit are definitely what I would call rural areas

  4. Re: subsidies on Here's Elon Musk's Plan To Power the US on Solar Energy (inverse.com) · · Score: 1

    Going on 12 years for an off-road installation in Wyoming, with all the wind and hail that implies. Batteries have lost some capacity but are still functional for at least another few years, panels themselves (Panasonic) have only dropped to 95% of their average output when first installed. Sure, the warranty won't cover wind/tornado/lightning damage, but that is what homeowners insurance is for. Considering it would have cost 14k just to bring power to the corner of the property, the off-grid solution has already paid itself off, and that takes into consideration the upcoming battery replacement.

  5. Re: Looks more like intermediate to me on New Interactive Basic Electronics Textbook Launched Online (circuitlab.com) · · Score: 1

    While I agree that the math is essential, Forrest Mims managed to write some very excellent beginner textbooks that didn't require any high level math, and they were almost entirely analog circuits as well. For a beginner course, there is little need for calculus. I looked it over, and it seems like it would just scare off a beginner rather than pique their interest. Granted, if you want to go any further than the bare basics you will need some math, but for a course that seems aimed at the hobbyist or student it just looks too intimidating.

  6. You do know that the barometer doesn't add any volume in nearly all cases, right? It's not a separate discrete chip, it's included with the accelerometer in many cases, and an accelerometer is absolutely a requirement for a smartphone.

  7. Re:no on Slashdot Asks: Would You Like Early Access To Movies And Stop Going To Theatres? · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Then why are you even commenting? According to you, you wouldn't be consuming the media in any fashion, regardless of release schedule or format. I might be able to go and comment on a NFL discussion, but I won't have anything of value to add.

  8. Re:What's the big deal? on Drupal Event Apologizes For Giving Out Copies Of Playboy (drupalcamp.de) · · Score: 1

    Considering that it isn't that terribly uncommon to see a Chinese man 'relieving himself' in semi-public, I'd say that culturally it is a done thing. AFAIK, the big reason it's even an issue now is that, like spitting, it's becoming an imported cultural hangup. Oh, and traditional Japanese bathhouse are also semi+public, but are also falling out of favor. Seems we Americans have to really try to export the worst parts of our culture.

  9. They didn't have caps, but I was billed per minute. Ah, the joys of rural living, paying exorbitant amounts of money for a 56k connection that in reality was closer to 14kbps. Oh, and the line was such poor quality that it would fry modems and cordless phones regularly. We never were able to get that fixed, I just kept a spare modem around, and we went back to basic analog phones that would likely survive a nuke blast. Dial-up tones cause my eye to twitch to this day.

  10. Personally, I think I had already seen that joke 640k times by the mid 2000s.

  11. Re:How will you tell? on Samsung to Customers: Stop Using Note 7, Then Wait For Replacements (samsung.com) · · Score: 0

    Oh no, he expects every unit to undergo thorough testing. And not any piddly flying probe type crap, oh no, every unit should be stress tested for hours while the senior greybeard stares at it sagely. It does cost several hundred dollars, surely they can work that into their margins. After all, automobiles cost tens of thousands, and there is never a safety defect on a single car that leaves the factory. Hell, manufacturing is easy. Children do it every day in sweatshops all around the third world, and look at the quality wares they produce...

  12. Re:Only the tip of the iceberg on CPSC: Stop Using The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 (techcrunch.com) · · Score: 1

    They certainly have problems, but my dad has been living with lead acid batteries for his solar array, as lithium was too expensive at the time. The batteries will need replaced soon, but lead acid still looks like the way to go. The memory affect sucks, and power density is horrible, but they are pretty darn safe. I wouldn't want to short the system, but if you dropped a wrench on the output terminals it wouldn't be nearly as serious as doing the same on a lithium system, provided the protection circuitry failed. He may go lithium, but if so those batteries are getting moved into a pit external to the house, the potential failure mode is too ugly to have that bank inside the garage. I wouldn't want any portable device with lead acid, that's for damn sure, but they are still pretty darn viable for stationary use.

  13. Re:So many things wrong on University of California's Outsourcing Is Wrong, Says US Lawmaker (computerworld.com) · · Score: 1

    Because no mechanical engineer has ever released a product that was defective in any way, no siree... And I'm sure the software running the power grid and every modern form of transportation is completely unnecessary. These things happen in every field of engineering, the CS guys just release more faulty products into the wild. In their defense, a respin for software is a hell of a lot cheaper than making new molds or changing a product mid-run.

  14. Re: cable is not over the air waves on FCC Chief To Unveil Revised Plan To Eliminate Cable Boxes (fortune.com) · · Score: 1

    Actually, rail is heavily regulated. So while the FCC doesn't regulate it, the Dot is happily telling them how their track must be constructed and applying safety standards to rolling stock and engines. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Railroad_Administration/

  15. Re:False equivilency on ITT Tech Is Officially Closing (gizmodo.com) · · Score: 1

    While that's true, there are only a few prototypes made for each product. What of all the machinists who used to crank out production parts? Those jobs are gone forever, so are the motor machinists who used to rebuild your motor every 50k miles. Manufacturing is almost all CNC now, and consumer products are either non-repairable or last longer than they used to. Nobody overhauls their car engines anymore, and nobody fixes televisions. I wouldn't go back, but there are a lot of formerly promising careers that don't exist now.

  16. Re:False equivilency on ITT Tech Is Officially Closing (gizmodo.com) · · Score: 4, Insightful

    While you can't outsource blue collar work, look at the way many of the trades have changed in the last quarter century. While plumbing, electrical, and HVAC are still great money-makers, many other trades are nowhere near as good as they once were. Craftsmanship isn't valued, customers don't know or care how shoddily their mcmansions are built. Additionally, it's hard to find Americans (of any race) who are willing and able to do the work. Anyone with a work ethic and half a brain has been convinced they need college and an office job. Technology has also eliminated many blue collar jobs, mainly in manufacturing. This is happening worldwide; a machinist friend is one of only two machinists employed at his plant. 15 years ago this company employed 14 machinists and machine operators, and the business has grown since then. While the trades are safer than programming jobs, they aren't immune or safe by any measure.

  17. Re:Universities aren't completely honest either on ITT Tech Is Officially Closing (gizmodo.com) · · Score: 0

    Now now, he did go to ITT Tech. Hey may not be quite as challenged as our esteemed editors, but writing a script might be a bit much to expect.

  18. Re:Aircraft? on World's Largest Aircraft Crashes Its Second Flight (theverge.com) · · Score: 1

    Aircraft is an apt description, as helicopters also qualify as aircraft. What it isn't is an airplane, but they are not trying to call it one.

  19. If you've ever been through Wyoming on I-80,theyve taken this into account. All the speed limit signs are electronic, and the speed varies with conditions. That way, people trying to drive 70mph during a blizzard can get rightly ticketed, even if they are doing 5 under the normal speed limit. Unfortunately, they didn't increase the max speed up to 80mph like they did elsewhere.

  20. Re: If they didn't want unlimited use on Verizon To Disconnect Unlimited Data Customers Who Use Over 100GB/Month · · Score: 1

    Really? Link me to a current Verizon ad that claims unlimited mobile data. They used to advertise that, and they honored those contracts. However, all of those contracts have expired, and anyone with an unlimited plan is now month-to-month. Which means that both parties can cancel the plan each month. Forcing Verizon to offer this plan in perpetuity opens the legal possibility of Verizon forcing the consumer to continue a month-to-month plan in perpetuity as well. Personally, I think it's a good thing they can't do that, or else they'd be taking full advantage of that.

  21. But if you truly believe that all governments are illegitimate, then the concept of buying a plot of land is also impossible. Without government, how exactly does one own a plot of land? Sure, you can defend yourself and force others off of that land, but what stops a better armed group from occupying 'your' land? Without government, the concept of private property becomes fiction, ownership is a merely temporary matter determined by whomever currently has possession.

  22. Re:kinda sad on Japan Will Make Its Last-Ever VCR This Month (mentalfloss.com) · · Score: 1

    And as we all know, Amazon has been a deeply troubled company on the verge of folding for many years now. How silly, investing in growing the business...

  23. Re:I hate it when companies decide what's good for on Starbucks and McDonald's Announce Porn Blocks On Their Wi-Fi Networks (cnn.com) · · Score: 1

    I really wonder about that argument, though. Historically, privacy among a family is a relatively recent development. It used to be the norm for a dwelling to be a single room, and also common for parents and children to share the same mattress. I will agree with you that exposing modern children to pornography is much more likely to shock them than violent imagery, but that is only true for our culture. Children from sometime as recent as the settlement of the American West would likely be much more traumatized by watching die hard than watching porn. I suspect this change has a lot to due with cultural mores during the development of mass media: even radio programs directed at children (silver shadow, the lone ranger) had no compunctions featuring violence, but were very sexual repressive. Prohibition may be related, but that's just a WAG.

  24. Re:Save often, make backups on Google Deletes Artist's Blog and a Decade Of His Work Along With It (fusion.net) · · Score: 1

    He was writing a GIF novel, so the reasons for deletion aren't entirely unknown. In fact, I think Google is doing a public service here

  25. Re:Yeah.... on DMCA Notices Remove 8,268 Projects On Github In 2015 (torrentfreak.com) · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Come on though, when I want the hottest new Hollywood movies or the freshest warez the first place I turn is github. Seriously, this is some weapons grade bullshit, I've never run into pirating on that site. I may have seen something that was patented, but I'm not sure that 20: print "Hello World" isn't covered by someone's patent anyway. If I sand round corners onto a block of wood, do I owe apple money?