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  1. Perhaps a typo on Microsoft Bounty Program Offers Larger Rewards For Bug Hunters (betanews.com) · · Score: 1

    " it is increasing the payouts it makes and the time it takes to push the payments."

    Probably more accurate to say "increasing the payouts and DECREASING the time it takes to push the payments."

  2. Re:because latin is SO much more useful than math on Nancy Grace Roman, 'Mother Of Hubble' Space Telescope, Has Died, At Age 93 (npr.org) · · Score: 1

    Don't forget that she was probably in high school in the late 1930's / early 1940's (bio says she was 93 years old). Thanks to people like her, twisting counselors' arms in the 1930's, the question is not "I don't understand what teachers or councilors like that *are* thinking". The question is "what teachers or councilors like that *were* thinking". Remember, having women working in auto and airplane production was a huge cultural leap. Women in science? Practically undheard of.

    I haven't had business with a high school in a long time. I'd like to think that the counselors now are much more aware of the fact that men are not the only ones possessing brains capable of STEM work.

  3. Good scientist, nice gal on Nancy Grace Roman, 'Mother Of Hubble' Space Telescope, Has Died, At Age 93 (npr.org) · · Score: 4, Informative

    I had the pleasure of interning with Nancy Roman's staff back in the '70's. She was always good with her staff, always approachable, even for a peon like myself. RIP Nancy, it was a pleasure to work for you.

  4. And all this time I thought it was spelled Chode...

    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0315081/characters/nm0740535?ref_=tt_cl_t1

  5. I don't see any part of this machine that looks 30 inches long. What, and how, were they measuring?

  6. I'm sure Ella Minnow Pea was consulted. https://www.amazon.com/Ella-Mi...

  7. Re:Same Ol' Argument...*still* proving itself true on It's So Cold Outside That Sharks Are Actually Freezing to Death (vice.com) · · Score: 1

    So this is because each 'trend has been "adjusted"', you say?

    Well, I suggest that if you dig back to the early days of climatology, you'll find that in fact a report issued 50 years ago regarding global climate has proven to be spot-on. And this is the original report, not an "adjusted" report. You can dig up a 50-year-old issue of the Journal of Atmospheric Sciences and check the (printed on paper, no White-Out applied) original.

    https://sputniknews.com/society/201711131059037711-climate-change-report-exactly-right/

  8. Do they hate Perl or something else? on Perl is the Most Hated Programming Language, Developers Say (theregister.co.uk) · · Score: 2

    I write a lot of Perl, and almost all of it has regexes throughout (monitoring Oracle logs, data mining, etc.) The last time I heard, Perl and Java had the most comprehensive implementation of the Regular Expression engine of all languages. It's well known for its data munging abilities. So I wonder if it's Perl that people hate, or the regexes that Perl is supporting?

    https://www.regular-expression...

  9. Nice cultural reference on This Machine Kills Captchas (vice.com) · · Score: 1

    Woodie would be proud, I suspect, of anything that reduced regulation.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

  10. Die Broke on The Quitting Economy (aeon.co) · · Score: 1

    "Die Broke" by Stephen Pollan, back in 1998, recommended job-hopping as a strategy. He drew the analogy that all of us need to think like pro sports athletes: go where the money is. If your employer cuts you, they'll tell you "it's nothing personal, it's just a business decision". The employees need to feel and act the same way with their employers: "it's just my business decision to leave, it's nothing personal."

  11. I second Pandora on Ask Slashdot: Your Favorite Subscription Services? · · Score: 1

    It's constantly changing tunes while I'm exercising. Lots of variety, and surprises every now and then.

  12. What makes an engineer in the US? on Ask Slashdot: What Are Some Lies Programmers Tell Themselves? · · Score: 3, Interesting

    In the US, if you want to be a mechanical, or civil, or electrical, or plumbing engineer, these are the rules you generally have to follow.

    - you go to school and eventually graduate

    - you may have to serve as an apprentice (in my state, electricians serve a 5 year apprenticeship)

    - you take an exam that's created and run by the state government in which you want to practice (not by a vendor)

    - if you pass the exam, then you ask the state, not the vendor, for a license (probably some money involved here too)

    - once you're licensed, then you're an engineer, unless

    - the state finds out that you aren't following the state's (electrical / civil etc.) code regulations and pulls your license. Then you're no longer an engineer. And by the way, good luck finding your next job.

    So whether you're an engineer or not depends on the state government, not a vendor or a school. This also provides more global skills. For example, a plumbing engineer can spec out either a Moen or a Delta faucet for a design. Could a Cisco engineer spec out a Juniper switch? Maybe...or maybe not.

    When I was getting my degree (90's) the ACM wrote about the issue of whether software could truly be called "engineering" or not. Two things that they pointed out were that (1) in a couple of US states, it was illegal to call yourself a software engineer because you weren't licensed by the state, and (2) a lot of mechanical etc. engineers are pretty PO'd at the software industry because any fool can call himself / herself a software engineer without having skills, practices or state certs to back it up. Both point to a level of respect and trust in the skills of the person who puts "engineer" in their title. Would you go to a doctor who didn't have a state license? Or use a lawyer who wasn't a member of the state's bar? Probably not, because you don't know if you can trust their skills. A state's "engineer" stamp is a similar scenario: "this person is trustworthy in their trade and their opinions deserve respect."

  13. Game of Thrones on What's the Best Book You Read This Year? · · Score: 1

    Yes, I'm reading it. I've never watched it on TV or DVD. I started reading it in June (?) and am now about halfway through the 5th novel. Each one runs right about 1000 pages, apparently regardless of book format (I have Book 4 in small paperback and Book 5 in supersize / trade paperback, and both clock in at something north of 1000 pages).

    Needless to say, I'm an avid reader.

    Also needless to say, it was a shock to my system when I was finishing up the 4th book, bought the 5th, and *then* found out that there will be 2 more books before this saga wraps up. They've all been really good reads, and Martin weaves a very complex and entertaining tale. I simply didn't realize that I was committing to *not* reading anything else until I get through this. The writing is compelling, and the characters are as good as (e.g.) Tolstoy's - and just as numerous.

  14. Re: Rule of thumb on Kentucky's Shotgun 'Drone Slayer' Gets Sued Again (yahoo.com) · · Score: 1

    They may fly out pizza by flying over the road network.

    I doubt that they'd use the road network. They'd probably prefer to use the Food Network.

  15. Re:Internet of things on Interviews: Ask Security Expert Mikko Hypponen A Question · · Score: 1

    One division of my employer is in the business of testing cell phones for compatibility with the various cell switches, prior to the phone's release to the market. Part of my paycheck is funded by the work we do for these companies. NotInHere's comments are true: the consumer is at the mercy of the manufacturer (and probably the cell phone provider too) in terms of receiving updates.

    The question should stand, imho.

  16. Re:What is a valid use case for this? on Maru OS Exits Private Beta, Lets You Use an Android Phone As a Linux Desktop (liliputing.com) · · Score: 2

    People probably asked Steven Sasson the same thing back in 1975. He ignored them, and his work resulted in changes to the world. For one thing, he opened up the doors for small projects that would go on to become Facebook, Twitter...I'm sure Sasson didn't picture them when he was working on his invention, but others took it and ran with it very successfully. The same could happen here.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_photography

    Just because you don't see this as useful to you, right now, doesn't mean that it doesn't have huge implications for the future.

  17. Re:This was _outlawed_ in the USA? on Federal Law Now Says Kids Can Walk To School Alone (fastcoexist.com) · · Score: 1

    Because MightyYar loves his kids, and in the US we have too many nasty men around who are overly interested in children - especially girls? Although imho one child molester is too many.

  18. For does not equal With on Mimic, the Evil Script That Will Drive Programmers To Insanity (github.com) · · Score: 1

    "substitutes common ASCII characters for obscure homoglyphs"

    I believe the post reversed the logic here. It substitutes obscure homoglyphs for common ASCII characters. Otherwise we'd all have to be coding with obscure Greek question marks every day. Only then would substituting common ASCII for homoglyphs be a problem.

  19. Re:As an option, OK. As mandatory, NO. on Towards Public-Friendly Open Science: YouTube Alongside Journal Articles? · · Score: 1

    That's why I said "average intelligence and background." Neither one is sufficient. If you dumb it down too far then there's no difference between your presentation and that of dozens of others working in your same field. If you don't dumb it down - and it's not groundbreaking results, and obviously so - then many, perhaps most, people will lose interest within a minute or so.

    Frankly, what I was afraid of is that sponsors of research would start making such presentations a requirement of funding. I still am afraid of that, all the above comments notwithstanding.

    btw: my BS was in astrophysics, and I'm working in the tech industry now. I'm not someone afraid of science.

  20. As an option, OK. As mandatory, NO. on Towards Public-Friendly Open Science: YouTube Alongside Journal Articles? · · Score: 1

    Too often the subject will be at such a low level that it's unrealistic to try to explain it to someone of an average intelligence and background.

  21. Tom Kyte on Ask Slashdot: Which Expert Bloggers Do You Read? · · Score: 2

    asktom.oracle.com is one of the best sources for Oracle tips, tricks and shared adventures. He builds examples to prove just about everything he says - no speculation, no guesses.

  22. Re:Anything... on Ask Slashdot: Choosing a Laptop To Support Physics Research? · · Score: 1

    Absolutely right. n-body gravity simulations aren't going to be a lot different from weather simulations. Also, as someone else mentioned, find out what her colleagues / instructors are using. They've already either found a good combo, or can advise what not to get.

  23. Bill Nye's already done this on NFL Asks Columbia University For Help With Deflate-Gate · · Score: 1

    Bill Nye put a video out last week discussing deflategate.

    http://www.cnn.com/videos/entertainment/2015/01/29/funny-or-die-bill-nye.funny-or-die

  24. Re:How did microsoft let apple buy Primesense? on Apple Awarded Gesture-Control Patent · · Score: 1

    Agreed. If nothing else, you'd think that the Microsoft lawyers would've asked "is this thing patented, and if so who holds the patent?" when they started using third party software.

  25. Swap to bifocals on Ask Slashdot: Are Progressive Glasses a Mistake For Computer Users? · · Score: 1

    When my ophthalmologist suggested progressives instead of my usual trifocals, I tried them. Major fail, same sort of things that you're experiencing. My ophthalmologist advised me that the opticians I used (not associated with ophthalmologist's practice) guarantee the progressives. I told the opticians that they weren't working, and the opticians cheerfully made a set of trifocals at no charge. You didn't say how long you've had these progressives, though. If it's been more than a month or two, you might get a different answer.