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User: gregduffy

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  1. Re:I Wouldn't Call Her a Luddite on Professor Bans Laptops from the Classroom · · Score: 0

    Ever heard of tuition? It's this thing college students pay to go to class. Without it, the school might not do so well. Students are customers, and one day schools may have to learn that.

    Why are students essentially made to retake their high school courses in college? That needs to go. Why attendance? Those who will learn will do so, those who will not will waste daddy's money. There's so much wrong with the model, I hope it gets fixed. Schools screw students these days, financially and otherwise, while (most of the time) providing a mediocre education to support a 9-5 desk job that will eventually be outsourced.

  2. Re:I Wouldn't Call Her a Luddite on Professor Bans Laptops from the Classroom · · Score: -1

    Seriously. I once had a class that had row-length desks. A guy at one end seemed like he always needed to go to the bathroom or something because he wiggled his leg against the end of the desk, causing the entire desk to shake (really annoying to put up with for an hour and a half each day).

    People shuffle papers. People shift and wiggle. People make noise. In fact, if the only noise people made was key tapping, I'd be a happy man. Further, if these people can't stop staring at the pretty colors of someone's screensaver, they need to take some friggin' Ritalin.

    As long as the person isn't being majorly disruptive, they should be able to do whatever the fuck they want at the college level. Further, professors who take attendance should be drawn and quartered. College students are not children. They should just teach, and realize that those who will learn will learn. Teach, no hand holding neccessary, give the tests, find a way to grade objectively, shutup, and get paid.

    And to all the idiots who say professors are just paid to research ... the research and the school itself are supported by this thing called "tuition". The service provided for tuition shouldn't be some bastardized form of high school all over again, it should be a college course for adults who can make education decisions for themselves.

  3. Re:Slashdot Effect Protection on 2005 Mobile Software Stats Released · · Score: 0, Informative

    Just remove the "&s=1" ... or click the full version link under the title.

  4. Re:Grammar on Digital Camera Failures · · Score: -1

    You are only partially right. I commonly see two errors involving this issue. The first is using "effect" as a verb when one should use "affect" instead. To affect something is to have an influence on it, so in this case the summary is CORRECT because the issue influences Sony cameras.

    However, a lot of people assume that "effect" can never be used as a verb. This is untrue, to effect something is to bring it about or produce it. E.g. "I effected a change in the development process."

  5. Re:Crap on Zimbra Collaboration Suite Launched · · Score: 0

    Like this?

  6. Re:DWR and JSON on Better Web Apps With Ajax · · Score: 0, Informative

    DWR integrates integrates nicely with the Spring Framework (see this blog entry for an example), which is why I've been using it in my apps lately. Very cool stuff!

  7. Re:Whew! on Blogging As A Form Of Therapy · · Score: 0, Interesting

    I'm just worried that venting through blogs will give people enough immediate relief to forget to stand up and change things. Could blogs be a pacifier? I know that I complain about stuff on my blog that I should instead be working to change (my university and how shitty it is, for instance).

  8. Re:Browser shmouser on Firefox Exploit Adds Fuel to Browser Security Feud · · Score: 0, Insightful

    So, I'm willing to venture that you have no real benchmarks or even enough general knowledge about the JVM to back this up. Care to take me up on that bet?

  9. Re:Not Likely on GoogleTV Coming Soon? · · Score: 0, Interesting

    That's true, when I interviewed there that was one of the first things people mentioned about the general environment. Smart people are very prone to the whole "NIH" thing, and there are many of them at Google.

  10. Isn't that the way ... on Skype Security and Privacy Concerns · · Score: 5, Insightful

    [since it] is closed source, we have no way of verifying this claim

    isn't that the way with all closed source software?

  11. Re:Danger, Will Robinson on Gmail Accounts Vulnerable to XSS Exploit · · Score: -1

    I don't trust timothy or cowboyneal, and I still click on the links they post sometimes ...

  12. Re:XSS isn't that big a deal on Gmail Accounts Vulnerable to XSS Exploit · · Score: -1

    Asshat. XSS is always a big deal. Stealing passwords, phishing, all kinds of things can be done with cross site scripting.

    How can it not be a vulnerability? Anything that compromises the security of any system is a vulnerability of that system.

  13. Re:Somebody will figure it out on Caller ID Spoofing for the Masses · · Score: -1

    Holy shit, mentioned in securityfocus and slashdot ... min $5 per person ... that's like $100,000s in one day!

    /me wishes he thought of it instead of my one in a million chance at voteornot. :(

  14. Re:ID cards = bad idea on Blunkett Backs Down on UK ID Cards · · Score: 0, Funny

    I think it's plain wrong that they require kids to have cars in Germany. Can everyone there afford cars for their kids?

    I think not.

  15. Re:This doesn't seem like a new conclusion on Blunkett Backs Down on UK ID Cards · · Score: -1

    Another show that is ahead of the times: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

    Sadly, well-pointed satire has always been a bee without a stinger.

    Of course, there will always be something to make fun of ... but it'd be nice if it weren't always so easy.

  16. Re:For those fellow Maya fans ... on Can't Draw? You Need The Inkulator 9000. · · Score: 0

    Also, from TFWS:

    The fundamental difference between the Inkulator and other systems is that the user determines which planes of an object are lit, rather than having the physics of a lighting model make the choice. The user is in control, not the computer, and can make choices based on dramatic effect rather than settling for what the machine gives him.

  17. Re:I haven't seen this mentioned... on 19th Century Airship Technology for Port Security · · Score: -1

    Let's use the Goodyear blimp as an example, as they have a few stats available on their site.

    Goodyear Blimp

    Weight: 5,824 kg, Length of car: 6.9342 m

    Volume: 5,739.8248 m^3, Buoyant Force of Helium: 1.1 kg/m3, Buoyancy of Blimp: 5739.8248 m^3 * 1.1 kg/m^3 = 6313.80728 kg

    Guessed width of car: 3 m, Guessed height of car: 2 m, Guessed thickness of walls: 3cm

    Density of Aluminum (material of car): 2700 kg/m^3 Guessed weight of car: 2* (6.9342 m) * (3 m) * (2 cm) * (2700 kg/m^3) + 2 * (6.9342 m) * (2 m) * (2 cm) * (2700 kg/m^3) + 2 * (3 m) * (2 m) * (2 cm) * (2700 kg/m^3) = 4,392.468 kg (in actuality probably more due to conservative estimates, the fact that some steel is used, and)

    Approximate weight of engines: 2 * 181.436948 kg = 362.873896 kg

    Approximate total weight of balloon part: 5,824 kg-4,392.468 kg-362.873896 kg = 1,068.6581 kg

    If we assume that the blimp is about the surface area of a cylinder of length 45.72 m and radius 12.192 m (actually it is non-cylindrical length 192, width 50, height 59.5) then:

    Surface Area: 2 * (pi * (12.192 m)^2) + (2 * pi * 12.192 m)*(45.72 m) = 4,436.32532 m^2

    Approximate weight of balloon material: 0.241 kg/m^2

    Weight added by adding largest possible vertical compartment separator: (pi * (12.192 m)^2) * 0.241 kg/m^2 = 112.542569 kg

    So, leftover buoyant force of helium at 6313.80728 kg minus weight of blimp at 5,824 kg would allow for a few separators (note that any other separators would be lighter as you go to the extremities) ... and if you lighten the material a bit and use a balloon that is five times the size (like the one in TFA), you could add many more. Also, due to my conservative estimates, the material is probably lighter. There would probably be a critical number that would allow a couple to be pierced and still maintain buoyancy or nearly so.

    So, in conclusion, I don't think it is impossible.

    Just my estimates, but IANABE (I am not a blimp engineer).

    Sources: Goodyear blimp

  18. Re:I may not know much about physics, on The Greatest And The Luckiest Of Mortals · · Score: -1

    Actually, Newton's methods work very well at speeds that aren't near the speed of light. They are specific cases of the more general theories that Einstein discovered.

    Newton made innumerable contributions to the areas of math and physics. Science is a cumulative process, and most every new discovery is made by standing on the shoulders of other discoveries.

    Pythagoras thought that all things were composed of elemental three-dimensional objects, but does that mean we should invalidate all of the work he did? And your example, Einstein, thought quantum theory was B.S.

    So no, you don't really have a good point.

  19. Re:800lb Gorilla on Gates on Spyware and OS Competition · · Score: -1

    Oh and I'd also like to point out that MSN Ads alone is a $1.5 billion business. I actually got to do important stuff (until I began to kick back), or don't you have faith in your own company to attract interns of a high caliber? I got through the stupid interview and half the internship just fine.

    I've also worked in IT and development since I was 14, I've held 9-5 jobs, and I'm paying for my own college.

    I shouldn't let you piss me off, but you did. Thanks. I'll remember you (think posting as AC helps) when I'm rich someday because I didn't THINK like you.

  20. Re:800lb Gorilla on Gates on Spyware and OS Competition · · Score: -1

    Yeah this is exactly one of my gripes -- you have no idea what was going on behind the scenes.

    If you really have access, take a look at my midpoint review and report back. You'll see a marked difference between that and my final review.

    Guess why? Between my midpoint review and my final review, I got really bitchy about the B.S. I was being put through.

    Hence, my final review didn't turn out so well. However, I was told that I would be made an offer (behind a closed door, literally) before I started complaining about things. Then, just because I was questioning the system, I went from a motivated, intelligent worker to someone who "couldn't work under stress".

    That's all I'll say on this. And I won't be working for MS ever because of crappy bureaucrats like you.

  21. Re:800lb Gorilla on Gates on Spyware and OS Competition · · Score: -1

    Proof #1
    Proof #2

    Fair enough?

  22. Re:800lb Gorilla on Gates on Spyware and OS Competition · · Score: -1, Informative

    Before I worked at Microsoft as an intern last summer (I'm a college student), I was under the same impression about the amount of brainpower they had.

    I worked specifically for MSN Ads, and everywhere I looked (I also talked to my friends in other departments) I found sloppy coding practices, FUD, and general CYA-motivated B.S.

    9/10 people I met didn't know what they were doing, but they were too good at political maneuvering for it to matter. The people that knew what they were doing were extremely cynical and didn't think things could change. Oh how I wish I could comment on specifics. Damn NDA.

    I was really hoping Microsoft would be a cool place to work, but I was severely disappointed. Behind closed doors, I couldn't find a SINGLE person who would actually recommend taking a job there.

    When they made me an offer to join after my senior year (this year), I turned it down. I just can't deal with companies that are too laden in management and politics to even attempt agility and quality of work. Maybe it's just the idealism of youth, and I'll learn my lesson the hard way some day.

    I'm sure there are specific people and groups in Microsoft that do a bang-up job, but I think they are much fewer in numbers than they were 20 years ago (before I was born).

    I think spyware exists (mainly) because of a flaw in the architecture of Windows and the development methodology employed by Microsoft in general. I sincerely doubt they will be able to address the problem-space of spyware. They can't just turn on a dime anymore. At least, the Microsoft I know can't.

    Probably it will just turn out to be a technologically half-assed job that the phenomenal Microsoft marketing team turns into the next revolution of computing. </sincerity>

  23. Re:800lb Gorilla on Gates on Spyware and OS Competition · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Before I worked at Microsoft as an intern last summer (I'm a college student), I was under the same impression about the amount of brainpower they had.

    I worked specifically for MSN Ads, and everywhere I looked (I also talked to my friends in other departments) I found sloppy coding practices, FUD, and general CYA-motivated B.S.

    9/10 people I met didn't know what they were doing, but they were too good at political maneuvering for it to matter. The people that knew what they were doing were extremely cynical and didn't think things could change. Oh how I wish I could comment on specifics. Damn NDA.

    I was really hoping Microsoft would be a cool place to work, but I was severely disappointed. Behind closed doors, I couldn't find a SINGLE person who would actually recommend taking a job there.

    When they made me an offer to join after my senior year (this year), I turned it down. I just can't deal with companies that are too laden in management and politics to even attempt agility and quality of work. Maybe it's just the idealism of youth, and I'll learn my lesson the hard way some day.

    I'm sure there are specific people and groups in Microsoft that do a bang-up job, but I think they are much fewer in numbers than they were 20 years ago (before I was born).

    g

  24. Re:Forgive a curmudgeon, but... on HP iPAQ hx4705 Reviewed · · Score: -1

    I actually use my Dell Axim to keep track of course schedules and assignments at my university.

    It's saved my ass many times from "get to class and remember there is an exam" syndrome.

    Also good for using my school's WiFi for e-mail and PocketPutty for SSH access to my server.

  25. It isn't OSS, but ... on Slashback: Echo, Lunchbox, Questions · · Score: -1

    what about Bindows?

    It is fairly compatible, has a great look and feel, and doesn't do those annoying reloads.