The article wasn't posted to the main slashdot page. Apparently it was only posted to the politics.slashdot.org page (or whatever section has that american flag). A lot of dupes could be avoided if all stories were posted front page, I think. That, or eds reading through their own site.
Re:Mixed feeling
on
HIV Vaccine
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
No, drugs are more expensive in the US because of the FDA. The FDA requires far more extensive trials and re-trials of drugs than other Western countries. Clinical trials are horrendously expensive. It costs ~$800 million over ~15 years for a typical US pharmaceutical to develop a single treatment (e.g. celebrex, viagra, etc.).
Just wanted to correct: for a high-volume, low-margin business model (wal-mart and other similar grocers, gas stations, etc), 3.3% is an ENORMOUS profit margin. Most grocery stores make 1 cent on the dollar, if that. They produce profits by volume, not margin. I worked at a grocery store for two years who typically pulled 2.5 cents on the dollar, and they are considered a 'pricey' store. For walmart to have a 3.3% profit margin, that's huge.
On the other hand, for a low-volume, high-margin business model (convenience stores, clothing retailers) a profit margin of 10% is low. 30% is a reasonable profit margin for that type of business model.
I feel those two things you mentioned are very valid with respect to nearly every industry, with one major exception. The field of teaching. The press has reported over the last few years how much the population will grow for public schools (growth). They have also reported how there is a huge lack of teachers, esp in urban school systems (not enough workers). Yet we see neither the money, the people, nor the brains going to public education.
Re:Kinda gives a new meaning to '1337 hAx0r2'.
on
Ready, Aim, HACK!
·
· Score: 1
I have to somewhat agree with the parent. Maybe not with their actually statement, but seriously . . . how does this give new meaning to 1337 h4x0r2? If you can explain it to me, I'll give you a cookie.
I recently did my first DIY build. I waited until all the parts I needed had arrived, then one Friday afternoon (got off work at noon . . . summer hours), I went at it. First problem: dripped thermal grease on the motherboard. Wiped it up with a paper towel. Second problem, heard a horrible buzzing sound as I inserted the graphics card (this turned out not to be a problem . . . just the scraping sound of insertion). The system booted OK. Then I wanted to put my thermal probe closer to the CPU, so I started taking the HSF off, and I heard a big RIP. Pulled the CPU right out of its sockets. I had to pry the CPU off the bottom of the HSF with a knife. Then, when I was cleaning off the old thermal grease, I poured about 20 mL of isopropyl alcohol on the mobo. I blew on it a lot, reinstalled the CPU and HSF, and it still worked.
Also, at the beginning of the summer, I was trying to make use of an old Compaq (circa 1995) to use as a backup/file server for my Mom. The power outlet on the PSU was horrible plastic, and chipped. At some point it broke off entirely. I had the plug plugged into a power strip, and as I was trying to get it plugged into the PSU nice and snug, one of the wires contacted the metal of the PSU and boy were there some pretty fireworks!! A wire that was soldered had popped, and I didn't have any soldering tools. I didn't even have electrical tape. I ended up using black friction tape (used for the tape on hockey sticks) to put the two wire ends back in contact with one another, plugged it in, and the thing worked fine.
I don't think it would be all that difficult to employ without corruption. Actually, it's a great idea for a double-check:
Joe Sixpack presses onscreen button for Candidate X and gets a printed receipt of his vote. He reads it, makes sure that it says Candidate X and not Candidate W (not so subtle, I know). Then presses the, "Yes, that is my final answer" button and then he deposits his receipt (e.g. via a mechanism similar to check deposits) back into the machine. That way you have the e-votes PLUS the paper trail.
Well, one way would be to hack the HardCano 12 fan control unit from my box to monitor that stuff. The alarm on that thing is so fscking annoying it would wake any driver instantly.
But then you'd probably have to deal with a lot more instances of road rage . . .
Yes, consumer research has shown that people associate the amount of lather created with the extent to which the shampoo is cleaning your hair, so Clairol (for one) has patented the ratio of various surfactants (lauryl sulfate, laureth sulfate, etc) used in shampoos, thus giving them the exclusive rights to produce the most-lathering shampoo, even though it may not work the best.
SCO maintains that it has been a paragon of virtue and transparency throughout
Maybe a paragon of Corporate Virtue and Transparency . . . an oxymoronic (or simply moronic) statement in itself. But most definitely that group has been anything BUT virtuous or transparent.
Yeah, RBC did bail, in a way. Baystar paid RBC their $20 M or so for the right to RBC's preferred shares. That way, Baystar had an even greater stake in SCO.
I agree, though, that they are not a wise investment. In fact, mutual funds can't carry SCOX as part of their portfolio because they are trading below $5.
Well, they don't quite have their $50 M anymore, more like $20 M. Baystar put $30 in, and got preferred stock. Then they asked for it back. In the agreement, SCO bought it back for $13 and then issued 2.1 M shares of stock to cover the difference (I assume Baystar accepted this as most ventures have high risk involved, so the 2.1 M shares wouldn't work out to $17, but with the expectation that the price go up). So, to reiterate: SCO gets +$30M (BS) +$20M (RBC) BS buys out RBC's share SCO loses -$13M SCO issues 2.1M shares of C.S. =SCO has an extra $37M in cash with an extra 2.1 M C.S. shares outstanding. BS no longer has preferred stock, so when SCO goes belly-up, they will have no rights to any remaining assets beyond what their percentage stake in the company is based on C.S. holdings.
While I would love to rejoice as much as the next Slashdotter, isn't anyone worried about appeals? Remember that we are talking about SCO. They will drag things out, it's their M.O. Don't forget they have that $50 M to play with. IANAL, of course, so maybe appeals aren't possible in this case. Could someone that knows fill us in?
I believe that the odor associated with flatulence is mostly associated with sulfur-containing compounds rather than methane. IIRC, methane by itself is odorless.
Actually, the hole will produce the same effect (diffraction). You will get spreading. What you need is a better (more expensive) laser that produces a more coherent pulse.
If the vests respond to the typical red laser, I would say just use laser pointers instead, since their spread is fairly decent (gotta be less than 30 ft diameter at 50 yards).
Except that in Ben's time people weren't flying airplanes into skyscrapers...
I don't know why everyone is so hung up on airplanes. I doubt the Next Major Terrorist Attack(TM) will involve destruction with airplanes.
Also, the "War on Terror" should not be fought in the Middle East. If anything, it should be fought in our own backyards. School shootings, bombings, etc. have all been performed by good ol' US citizens, born and raised. It's about time we got off our ethnocentric white horse.
The US government is like a bloated system. They've done too many 'make && make install'. Except Congress don't do dependency checking, so you have the overloaded Judicial system to resolve dependencies. And we are in serious need of an updated kernel. I think it's time to reformat and move to Canada . . .
Slashdot Mirror
The article wasn't posted to the main slashdot page. Apparently it was only posted to the politics.slashdot.org page (or whatever section has that american flag). A lot of dupes could be avoided if all stories were posted front page, I think. That, or eds reading through their own site.
No, drugs are more expensive in the US because of the FDA. The FDA requires far more extensive trials and re-trials of drugs than other Western countries. Clinical trials are horrendously expensive. It costs ~$800 million over ~15 years for a typical US pharmaceutical to develop a single treatment (e.g. celebrex, viagra, etc.).
Just wanted to correct: for a high-volume, low-margin business model (wal-mart and other similar grocers, gas stations, etc), 3.3% is an ENORMOUS profit margin. Most grocery stores make 1 cent on the dollar, if that. They produce profits by volume, not margin. I worked at a grocery store for two years who typically pulled 2.5 cents on the dollar, and they are considered a 'pricey' store. For walmart to have a 3.3% profit margin, that's huge.
On the other hand, for a low-volume, high-margin business model (convenience stores, clothing retailers) a profit margin of 10% is low. 30% is a reasonable profit margin for that type of business model.
Why is it that "stronger laser's are not that hard to come by" (emphasis added) but "having pilots wear . . . " (emphasis added).
How hard is it to realize when you are using the possessive and when you are simply trying to make a plural?
-Grammar Police
Cue all the, "Boy, I sure am glad I use IE" posts . . . er . . . I mean . . .
I feel those two things you mentioned are very valid with respect to nearly every industry, with one major exception. The field of teaching. The press has reported over the last few years how much the population will grow for public schools (growth). They have also reported how there is a huge lack of teachers, esp in urban school systems (not enough workers). Yet we see neither the money, the people, nor the brains going to public education.
I have to somewhat agree with the parent. Maybe not with their actually statement, but seriously . . . how does this give new meaning to 1337 h4x0r2? If you can explain it to me, I'll give you a cookie.
are no where near the level of their Windows counterparts. They are close
/nitpick
So, which one is it? Close, or nowhere (one word) near?
If you read the first line as:
Top Ten SIGS That Make You A VAX Geek
Doubt much anyone will read this, but here we go:
I recently did my first DIY build. I waited until all the parts I needed had arrived, then one Friday afternoon (got off work at noon . . . summer hours), I went at it. First problem: dripped thermal grease on the motherboard. Wiped it up with a paper towel. Second problem, heard a horrible buzzing sound as I inserted the graphics card (this turned out not to be a problem . . . just the scraping sound of insertion). The system booted OK. Then I wanted to put my thermal probe closer to the CPU, so I started taking the HSF off, and I heard a big RIP. Pulled the CPU right out of its sockets. I had to pry the CPU off the bottom of the HSF with a knife. Then, when I was cleaning off the old thermal grease, I poured about 20 mL of isopropyl alcohol on the mobo. I blew on it a lot, reinstalled the CPU and HSF, and it still worked.
Also, at the beginning of the summer, I was trying to make use of an old Compaq (circa 1995) to use as a backup/file server for my Mom. The power outlet on the PSU was horrible plastic, and chipped. At some point it broke off entirely. I had the plug plugged into a power strip, and as I was trying to get it plugged into the PSU nice and snug, one of the wires contacted the metal of the PSU and boy were there some pretty fireworks!! A wire that was soldered had popped, and I didn't have any soldering tools. I didn't even have electrical tape. I ended up using black friction tape (used for the tape on hockey sticks) to put the two wire ends back in contact with one another, plugged it in, and the thing worked fine.
I don't think it would be all that difficult to employ without corruption. Actually, it's a great idea for a double-check:
Joe Sixpack presses onscreen button for Candidate X and gets a printed receipt of his vote. He reads it, makes sure that it says Candidate X and not Candidate W (not so subtle, I know). Then presses the, "Yes, that is my final answer" button and then he deposits his receipt (e.g. via a mechanism similar to check deposits) back into the machine. That way you have the e-votes PLUS the paper trail.
Well, one way would be to hack the HardCano 12 fan control unit from my box to monitor that stuff. The alarm on that thing is so fscking annoying it would wake any driver instantly.
But then you'd probably have to deal with a lot more instances of road rage . . .
Yes, consumer research has shown that people associate the amount of lather created with the extent to which the shampoo is cleaning your hair, so Clairol (for one) has patented the ratio of various surfactants (lauryl sulfate, laureth sulfate, etc) used in shampoos, thus giving them the exclusive rights to produce the most-lathering shampoo, even though it may not work the best.
I am using Firefox 0.9.2 right now and am continuing to get 503 errors on google. I believe that this is an ISP-to-ISP issue, for whatever reason.
I'll take the -1 OffTopic to relate: Whenever I see ATM, I always think, "Why would they need money for . . . oh, right."
Yeah, I've been getting a 503, too.
From the second article:
SCO maintains that it has been a paragon of virtue and transparency throughout
Maybe a paragon of Corporate Virtue and Transparency . . . an oxymoronic (or simply moronic) statement in itself. But most definitely that group has been anything BUT virtuous or transparent.
On that note, anyone got a mirror?
Yeah, RBC did bail, in a way. Baystar paid RBC their $20 M or so for the right to RBC's preferred shares. That way, Baystar had an even greater stake in SCO.
I agree, though, that they are not a wise investment. In fact, mutual funds can't carry SCOX as part of their portfolio because they are trading below $5.
Well, they don't quite have their $50 M anymore, more like $20 M. Baystar put $30 in, and got preferred stock. Then they asked for it back. In the agreement, SCO bought it back for $13 and then issued 2.1 M shares of stock to cover the difference (I assume Baystar accepted this as most ventures have high risk involved, so the 2.1 M shares wouldn't work out to $17, but with the expectation that the price go up). So, to reiterate:
SCO gets +$30M (BS) +$20M (RBC)
BS buys out RBC's share
SCO loses -$13M
SCO issues 2.1M shares of C.S.
=SCO has an extra $37M in cash with an extra 2.1 M C.S. shares outstanding.
BS no longer has preferred stock, so when SCO goes belly-up, they will have no rights to any remaining assets beyond what their percentage stake in the company is based on C.S. holdings.
While I would love to rejoice as much as the next Slashdotter, isn't anyone worried about appeals? Remember that we are talking about SCO. They will drag things out, it's their M.O. Don't forget they have that $50 M to play with. IANAL, of course, so maybe appeals aren't possible in this case. Could someone that knows fill us in?
I believe that the odor associated with flatulence is mostly associated with sulfur-containing compounds rather than methane. IIRC, methane by itself is odorless.
Actually, the hole will produce the same effect (diffraction). You will get spreading. What you need is a better (more expensive) laser that produces a more coherent pulse.
If the vests respond to the typical red laser, I would say just use laser pointers instead, since their spread is fairly decent (gotta be less than 30 ft diameter at 50 yards).
Except that in Ben's time people weren't flying airplanes into skyscrapers...
I don't know why everyone is so hung up on airplanes. I doubt the Next Major Terrorist Attack(TM) will involve destruction with airplanes.
Also, the "War on Terror" should not be fought in the Middle East. If anything, it should be fought in our own backyards. School shootings, bombings, etc. have all been performed by good ol' US citizens, born and raised. It's about time we got off our ethnocentric white horse.
The US government is like a bloated system. They've done too many 'make && make install'. Except Congress don't do dependency checking, so you have the overloaded Judicial system to resolve dependencies. And we are in serious need of an updated kernel. I think it's time to reformat and move to Canada . . .