Slashdot Mirror


User: im_thatoneguy

im_thatoneguy's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
3,928
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 3,928

  1. Re:Short-Lived? on States That Raised Minimum Wage See No Slow-Down In Job Growth · · Score: 1

    I live in Washington and we've always had a high minimum wage. In fact it's currently tied to cost of living/inflation. Our job growth has been excellent prior to our latest min wage increase and I don't see any reason why our next wage increases won't continue to be associated with a long term quality job market.

    There is a lot of doom and gloom towards Seattle, WA's new $15 min wage proposal. But if Washington has proven anything over the last few decades it's that when you ignore the doomsayers about economic progress your state still prospers and the sky doesn't fall. Maybe Washington has lost out on some jobs, but you know what if Washington is an example of what happens when you raise the minimum wage then I'm more than happy with the result. Alabama can keep their "increasing change in growth", the fact still remains that while Washington's latest growth might be slowing, it's still higher.

    I don't know about the other 12 states, but you can draw conclusions about Washington over the long term because our Min wage has been higher for the long term. And over the long term we've prospered.

  2. Re:Plumber on Ask Slashdot: Future-Proof Jobs? · · Score: 1

    Yeah, I feel like guessing though is a total crap-shoot. I see people recommending being a doctor or radiologist even though IBM is leading the AI charge *in* healthcare so I would think being a doctor is a bad idea.

    The problem with trying to guess whether we need Electricians or Plumbers more than Lawyers or Doctors is the fact that we're about 2-3 major earth changing technological revolutions. It would be a bit like someone in 1850 speculating on what the best UI would be for a MMORPG. We already see that computers are generally very good at things we're very bad at (say long division in your head) while being very bad at things that we find effortless (vision). So things that we find hard (connecting random symptoms to an illness) will most likely be very easy to a computer we just don't know yet what's going to be hard. The only thing we can know for sure is that we'll need to be flexible and whatever we choose to learn it'll undoubtedly be temporary.

    My advice would be to do the exact opposite of trade school. Think for a minute about the psychology of the coming technological revolution. Who is it going to hurt first and hurt the most? Probably people who are replaceable. Who has benefited the most so far and will continue to benefit the most? Investors. I would say that there is going to be a long lag between society accepting a world of extreme unemployment and the reality of the labor market. We already see this. People who are unemployed are viewed as moochers and takers. People who have money and have lots of capital are viewed as morally superior.

    I would say, assume all jobs are going away. Money and power will be more valuable than ever. Get a degree in finance. Earn a shit ton of money and do everything in your power to at least be able to retire before the labor market collapses.

  3. Re:Failsafe? on Airbus Patents Windowless Cockpit That Would Increase Pilots' Field of View · · Score: 1

    The strongest category is CAT IIIc and the need for visibility is not existent. The so-called decision height for landing is also not existent. IIIc is not in use though, so I to IIIb are used.

    Yes, but per your very own article the only reason IIIc isn't used is because taxiing blind is impossible. There is only one situation that a plane would land IIIc without a windshield and that's if its cameras failed. If all of its cameras failed then it's an emergency landing situation anyway and they could clear a runway and tow the aircraft into the terminal like they often do with an emergency landing due to mechanical failure.

    In every other situation you would have at least visual and probably FLIR video.

  4. Re:Failsafe? on Airbus Patents Windowless Cockpit That Would Increase Pilots' Field of View · · Score: 1

    Only because of taxiing. You would only perform an ILS IIIc (blind) landing if all of your cameras somehow simultaneously failed.

  5. It's worse than that. The problem with these kids is that they are just smart enough to do something but too stupid to realize that their idea doesn't work. They either grow up to be fly by night scammy venture capitalists or else that pot head kid in highschool "Dude, I just came up with this great idea, why don't we just power cars with rare earth magnets! They would go forever without gasoline!"

    Generally these kids come up with bad ideas that even a smart 16 year old could see the flaws in. The truly brilliant kids looked at the problem looked at possible drawbacks or obstacles and concluded "Hmm, no nevermind, that wouldn't work." meanwhile the somewhat smart but ultimately too dumb to see the ultimate failure of their idea power through on the local news before they finish the R&D.

  6. Re:The goal of 1st world countries on No Shortage In Tech Workers, Advocacy Groups Say · · Score: 1

    Yeah, if you try to explain to the average person how close we are to mass unemployment with just one breakthrough in AI they generally shrug or say "yeah, but a computer can't do my job."

    If our economy doesn't want to change, then I'm just going to be sure to make it "onto the ark". The global economy is not going to correct itself IMO. It would require such a large commitment to fundamental change from everybody that I expect the current trend to continue. If people don't want the system that oppresses them to change--I don't see a reason to be on the side of the oppressed.

  7. Re:Sue them for all they're worth on Microsoft Takes Down No-IP.com Domains · · Score: -1, Troll

    I blame the judge for making the right call. If you read Microsoft's position:

    [quote]Our research revealed that out of all Dynamic DNS providers, No-IP domains are used 93 percent of the time for Bladabindi-Jenxcus infections, which are the most prevalent among the 245 different types of malware currently exploiting No-IP domains. [/quote]

    If 93% of your domains are being used to host malware then you're clearly doing something very very wrong. No-IP claims they "responded to all takedown requests". I'm sorry but if you have a service that is predominantly malware and small minority (less than 10%) is actually a legitimate customer of your service then you have an obligation to at least try to improve your filter methodology to ensure someone isn't abusing your service.

  8. Re:Corporations vs People on U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Religious Objections To Contraception · · Score: 1

    When she's a W-2. At that point you're both just "employees" of the same one-person LLC but you have ownership.

    As soon as you incorporate and limit your liability you only own a controlling stake in the company but the company is no longer "you". The very definition of a corporation is that it's a separate legal entity from you. At that point it's a legal work of fiction, an amoral container for money and no longer has human emotions or rights it is a piece of paper. When creditors come calling and want your house you would point to your incorporation papers and say "Whoa there buddy, I don't owe you anything, I'm just a stock holder like you. The company owes you money, but that's my house!"

    If you pay someone out of pocket then you're paying them. If your employee is paid by the corporation then the corporation follows the laws of the state.

  9. Re:Show me the money! on Researchers Claim Wind Turbine Energy Payback In Less Than a Year · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It's an odd definition but it's a common one. People often complain (incorrectly) that solar cells take more electricity to manufacture than they produce in their lifetime.

    This is a study saying that they "pay back" the input resources in a small fraction of their life span. It's refuting all of the FUD around green energy that it's just taking Coal and Petroleum and storing it inefficiently in a wind turbine or solar panel to be slowly released over the course of several years.

  10. Re:I see a problem here... on New Chemical Process Could Make Ammonia a Practical Car Fuel · · Score: 1

    If you eliminated all of the tax-breaks, direct subsidies and petro-wars the price of a gallon would cost far more than it does now even with gas taxes etc.

  11. Re:No thanks... on The Simultaneous Rise and Decline of Battlefield · · Score: 1

    Yeah premium Battlefield 3 and 4 player here too. I give up. I kept thinking the next patch would make it playable. It never was/is.

    I don't care about EA, it's not EA's fault per say--EA owns Respawn and the launch of Titanfall was all around quite good. It's just the Battlefield team is incredibly terrible/lazy.

    I'm also definitely not buying Hardline seeing as I saw someone play the beta and it even uses all of the icons and sound effects from Battlefield 4. It is Battlefield 4 with a couple tweaks but a full game price. Screw that. If it was a $10 add-on or gift to premium customers who were cheated on BF4's unconscionable launch I would happily take it for a spin but not another dollar to the Battlefield team.

  12. Re:not a record on NOAA: Earth Smashed A Record For Heat In May 2014, Effects To Worsen · · Score: 1

    All this silly "Volcano Warning" FUD. Why, 100,000 years ago, this whole land was covered in Ash and lava from a giant super volcano. Why should I evacuate or worry about this "volcano warning"? Billions of dollars on Volcano Warning systems when people used to co-exist just fine with volcanos without freaking out every few decades about "imminent death". /s

  13. Re:Various Dropbox promotions on Microsoft's Cloud Storage Service OneDrive Now Offers 15GB For Free · · Score: 1

    The problem with Dropbox and the reason I refuse to use it whenever possible is because they're a pyramid data scam. If I share a file with someone (say 10GB of footage from a photo shoot) and they want to accept it, the 10GB I shared with them fills up their entire capacity unless they want to buy more space themselves.

    If I have 1TB of OneDrive footage and I share 1TB of data the other person has 0TB taken up of their own space.

    DropBox seriously needs to drop their double, triple and quadruple + dipping of data limits.

  14. Re:Nice to see. on Toyota's Fuel Cell Car To Launch In Japan Next March · · Score: 1

    The argument for Electric cars though is that we already have a huge interest in improving battery technology. From phones, to transportation to laptops etc. Developing and advancing the state of the art hydrogen technology doesn't have nearly as wide-reaching application.

  15. Re:The relevant part on Mass. Supreme Court Says Defendant Can Be Compelled To Decrypt Data · · Score: 1

    It's the center of the case. The 5th protects you from self incrimination but you can be compelled to offer up a key to a safe. (And why wouldn't they). The gray area is a safe they find buried in your back yard. If you admit to knowing the combinations then you are taking ownership of the safe and the evidence within. If you say I never knew there was a safe buried there then you aren't liable for the gun contained within.

    It's less of a gray area though if they dig up a safe and the police ask you "Is this your safe?" "Yes" "Can you open it?" "yes". You've admitted to having the key/combination. You've admitted the evidence that they found is yours. Similarly once a police officer suspects you of a crime and gets a warrant he can force you to unlock your door and let them in. They can't force you to unlock someone else's door and let you in if it's not established that it's your house.

  16. Re:New OS? on HP Unveils 'The Machine,' a New Computer Architecture · · Score: 1

    According to the article they're also developing a more traditional fork of *nix. However these aren't being shopped around to Windows Shops or someone wanting a faster LAMP stack, this will undoubtedly be sold to special purpose built computing customers who are more than happy to write-to-the-platform if it means more performance.

    Super computer programming already is kind of off in its own playground. This will just be another option.

  17. Re:Wow... this is actually pretty big on Pixar To Give Away 3D RenderMan Software · · Score: 1

    There was essentially no small-scale commercial use because PRMan is terrible for pretty much anyone whose name isn't ILM, Weta or Pixar. For the sorts of work that pretty much everyone does the sacrifices PRMan forces you to accept don't really give you anything in return over VRay or now Arnold.

  18. Re:Wow... this is actually pretty big on Pixar To Give Away 3D RenderMan Software · · Score: 1

    PRMan doesn't care whether you feed it polygons or NURBS. It will microtesellate whatever comes in.

  19. Re:there is some evil in this on Pixar To Give Away 3D RenderMan Software · · Score: 1

    Considering most people need about 5-10 licenses per employee it's less of a discount compared to Photoshop.

  20. Re:#notallgeekyguys on Misogyny, Entitlement, and Nerds · · Score: 1

    Correct, it had essentially nothing to do with environmentalism at all, the Unibomber's Manifesto as reduced to its simplest thesis is: technology necessitates regulation and conformity, as a result technology necessitates increased levels of control over people. With increased technology we will require increased control to the point where we will be automatons controlled by a central authority in order for society to continue functioning. The Unibomber Manifesto is incredibly well written I recommend everybody reading it. I expected it to be a crazy person rant but it is extremely lucid and he sets up his arguments well with assumptions and conclusions from those assumptions. For the most part his conclusions seem to be sound--the problem generally comes down to whether or not you accept his stated assumption that technology inevitably leads to increased dependence on society/authority.

    I think historically that is true. In order to live in a city you need to rely on its sewage system. In order to use a computer you need electricity. In order to get electricity you have to tie yourself to a large grid and buy electricity. In order to use the internet you have to adhere to the standards and interfaces. In order to live in the city you have to buy your food. In order to not piss off your neighbors you need to control your impulses and desires to avoid offense and promote harmony among cohabitants. In order to manage those who don't self manage we need police. In order to travel and co-exist in society we need transportation which necessitates a large government run transportation network or owning a vehicle. Owning a vehicle or using a transportation network requires regulation of roads for traffic laws and emission standards etc etc etc.

    If we did extrapolate that out I would agree that we might need to consider destroying technology and regressing. But I would disagree that it's the case. What we have seen is that we've all been wired for telephones--but now we're moving to wireless. We all are connected to the grid but Solar and Geothermal is rapidly reducing or eliminating that. Our dependence on all showing up to a factory is evaporating. Technology both enslaves us but it's a bell curve--go far enough down that technological curve to magic and it frees us to live where we want, it frees us from reliance on large government/corporate entities for basic services. If we achieved a Star Trek level replicator society or a Matrixesque virtual reality where our physical location was irrelevant we could be free of consideration or dependence on others without the Unibomber's dystopian world of drugs and oppression. The weakest point though is that in his manifesto he acknowledges that it's pretty much impossible to technologically regress and that it would require 100% buy-in from the population to sustain. Ultimately I felt like he just wanted it out there so that if his predicted apocalypse occurred he would get credit for predicting it--it didn't read as if he actually had any hope of his goals being achieved. In that regard he is very much like the California Shooter, it was a final act of despair with no real hope of changing the world--just self gratification.

  21. Re:From the article... on The Singularity Is Sci-Fi's Faith-Based Initiative · · Score: 1

    I view that as fear mongering. I minimum wage employee costs :

    $7.50 an hour
    * 40 hours
    * 52 weeks
    -----------------
    $15,600 in wages x2 overhead = $31,200 a year.
    * Let's say leasing a machine for 3 years = $100,000

    That's already very expensive. You can get a pretty fancy machine for $100,000 today. The *moment* the technology is there to replace a worker those workers are gone. There isn't someone going "Hmmm, well the machine costs $130,000 over 3 years and the person costs $100,000... but if we increase minimum wage then we should buy the machine instead!" It's purely a technological problem today. The technology isn't ready to replace most fast food workers. The cost of the machinery to replace them is already lower. You can buy an industrial robot and a very high quality lidar system for $100,000 today. The component costs are *already* less than a minimum wage employee.

  22. Re: Fishy on TrueCrypt Website Says To Switch To BitLocker · · Score: 1

    4. I'm pretty much certain that the DOD uses bitlocker to secure all of their systems--even in warzones. If the NSA was pressuring them to add a backdoor I imagine Microsoft would knock on a senior DOD officer's door and go "Hey, uhhh, the NSA over there wants us to open up your data to possible breach. Go talk some sense into them."

  23. Multiplatform? on 30-Day Status Update On LibreSSL · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I had read early on that most of the code they had stripped out was code supporting Windows and OSX. Is that true or was that just the initial pass? Dumping hundreds of thousands of lines of code is impressive--but if it comes at the cost of multiplatform support it's not surprising.

  24. Re:Ignore these naysayers on OCZ RevoDrive 350 PCIe SSD Hits 1.8GB/sec With Standard Toshiba MLC NAND · · Score: 0

    It sounds like it's an incompatibility with Ext4.

    I've got 10 drives and haven't had any trouble with mine or anyone I know. But here we have at least 4 instances on slashdot of Ext4 failures. Maybe the controller freaks out with Ext4 somehow.

  25. Re:you've got male on You've Got Male: Amazon's Growth Impacting Seattle Dating Scene · · Score: 1

    Oh the Irony of someone who claims to have strong social skills missing an obvious sociological/cultural argument, not a personal argument.