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User: bluGill

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  1. Re:The Bible and Shakespeare on Why Doesn't Sci-Fi Hit the Bestseller Lists? · · Score: 2

    Yes the bible would be on Barnes and Noble's all time best seller list. It would probably never make the list for any given month, and probably not for a year. However the bible (as protestants use it) hasn't been changed in 1600 years or more. (thats longer than english as we know it has existed though old english was around) That is a lot of time to sell copies. Every book store that sells bibles and remains open for years will eventially find the bible on the best seller list.

  2. Re:Paperbacks? on Why Doesn't Sci-Fi Hit the Bestseller Lists? · · Score: 2

    I do the same thing. Except that I have a few books that I love, that were last published in hardcover before I was born. I can go to Borders and buy a new paperback (obviously I'm not the only one who loves those books, they still stock them) but hardcover it out.

    Please publishers, if a book proves popular print it in hardcover every once in a while. Preferiably in no-acid, archival quality paper. I know that I would buy a copy for my bookshelf.

  3. Which is the in shape uneducated one on White LEDs for a Brighter World · · Score: 4, Funny

    I can see it now: Some third world family of 12. Dad says to the 3rd kid "Okay, your the dumb one so the rest of us can learn. You get to spend the rest of your likfe riding the exercise bike while the rest of us learn to read."

    Don't feel bad for the "dumb kid" though, he will go on to win international biking compititions, while the rest of the family trys to compete in the rat race with millions of other people.

  4. Warning about illegal content and call police on P2P Programs on K-12 Networks? · · Score: 2

    I would make sure everyone knows that the major use for these programs is not only non-educational (and likely illegal for that reason) but copyright violations. Make it clear that you are monitoring the network for such violations and you will get the police involved if they are using the network for illegal purposes. Then do some monitoring.

    You only need to put one teacher (or administrator) in prison for the rest the get the point. You should have a policy of turning all evidence of something illegal over to the police when you get it, and make sure everyone uses it. No teach will complain about legal use of p2p programs being blocked because you are not doing that.

    Note that if you discover porn on the network, it might be legaly, but leak to the local press that someone is looking at porn at school and most communities will see to it those responsible are punished. (those who don't mind porn will generally stay silent while those who hate it will become vocal)

    Do not do anything without consulting with the school's lawyers! You now have many ideas of what you can do, get the lawyers to approve them before implimenting them.

  5. Re:How about repealing it? on Another DMCA Attack Looms · · Score: 2

    In all cases that I know of "burglar tools" are legal to have, but you always need to be prepared to explain why you need them if they suspet you might commit a crime.

    In other words if you own lock picks you should keep them at home and hidden except when you are dealing with a situation where you play to pick a lock (presumabily legally).

  6. Re:I just need one job, the rest don't count. on Fewer Jobs, Less Pay In The IT Industry · · Score: 2

    I have looked at what is there now. Not much. However I see things the way you do: Things are changing faster than my boss would like. I'm not gonna quit before I have an offer in hand, but I don't feel any need to stick around longer than that takes.

  7. Re:Illegal to Have That Much On Hand on Microsoft's $40 Billion On Hand · · Score: 3, Informative

    Stock splits are NOT dividends. When a stock splits, they take away every share of stock you own, and give you 2 (or 3), each sort half as much. The net is zero. Investers don't like shares of stock going much over 100/share because it becomes difficult to deal with. Check out BRK though for a counter example of that.

    Dividends are different. Companies don't like to pay them because investors don't like them anymore. They are taxed twice from some points of view. They come out of earnings, so the company pays income tax on dividends, and then the investor pays taxes on the dividend. (Unless you are investing in a tax free account like an IRA) Thus most investors prefer their companies to take the dividend money and invest it in growing the company. A company has two choices for spending profit, they can give it to the owners, or they can build the buisness.

  8. I just need one job, the rest don't count. on Fewer Jobs, Less Pay In The IT Industry · · Score: 2

    I can only hold down one job at a time (well I could do more, but it isn't easy, and doesn't fit in with what I call my life) I don't care about fewer jobs, so long as there is one job that needs someone with my exact qualifications.

    Unfortunatly my boss informs me that I'm already in that job, and have very little chance of finding a different one in todays market (But at least you have a job, unlike a lot of people you know), so he can treat my like dirt.

  9. don't insult the users intelligence. on Training Hundreds of Users in Many Different Sites? · · Score: 2

    I've been required to take comptuer based training before. Most such programs start with required lession one: how to use a mouse, lesson two: how to close the program. (And you better use the X button the first time, file->quit next, don't try the control-q trick or you will fail.) Needless to say nobody enjoyed it, and nothing was learned.

    I'm sure there is a way around this, but I don't know what it would be if you must do comptuer based training.

    Remember above all that different people learn best in different ways. My prefered way to learn is point the program to some live but bogus data and play around to see what happens. (In a well designed system this should be enough). For complex tasks I will revert to a manual. I know others who like to read a book in the bathtub at home, and others who like lectures best. I'm sure I've forgotten several different styles of learning in the above list. You should try to accomindate all.

    I recomend what whatever you do that you train one "expert" at each site who knows all the advanced features and can then help the rest of the site through the hard tasks that they rarely do.

  10. Re:Not really a bug though... on Debug your Code, or Else! · · Score: 2

    Works as designed is the excuse for a LARGE number of bugs. Just because it was desgined that way doesn't mean it isn't a bug, just that the bug goes deeper than software, into the design.

  11. Starband? on Satellite Email via GPS? · · Score: 2

    See a recient ./ question about starband. Seems like the costs are only slightly more, but you get a true internet connection, and it has been around longer.

  12. Re:As comps and phones collide, who's # Pad wins? on The Ultimate Phone/PDA? · · Score: 2

    According to Donald Norman's Design of Everyday Things (great book, you should read it!), when AT&T designed the first touch tone phone they looked at keyboards for comptuers, and asked WHY, and were horrified to discover that there was no reason. AT&T then spent a lot of money to figgure out the best arrangement for the number keys and put that on the phone.

  13. Go for it! on Company Paid Training? · · Score: 2

    Have have to respectively disagree with most comments. Go for this. However remember what you are getting into.

    There is a chance that you will have to pay this off yourself, so make sure that you keep the cost in mind. Look at it as a student loan, with a bonus for using it at work.

    Now decide what training to get. I don't know what your goals are, nor do I know what your level is. however you can go to your local university and take some good classes to full your needs. You should take them.

    The worst case is you quit your job and have to pay $50,000, but if you took the right classes you would not have got that new job without the class so you are better off with them.

    Note that my advice is not to use up the $50,000 allowance just because you have it, but to take the classes you need to improve your marketabiliy. If you have to pay this off latter, just remember that you wouldn't have gotten as good a job without the classes.

    You might want to ask a banker if you can get a student load on short notice if you decide to leave to pay what is left off. It is an odd situation, but nobody can come up with $50,000 on short notice, but you should be able to get some sort of loan.

    Lastly, if you do decide to take a job elsewhere, remember when talking salery that you can negociate this point too. If they will not give you as much as you want (or after you got as much as you want, but suspect you might be able to get more), bring this up as a concern. They might be willing to paying part of your "loan" as a signing bonus.

  14. Several, rotate often on Recommendations for Third Party Security Audits? · · Score: 5, Informative

    Security is a mindset and process at least as much as an implimentation. Therefore you don't just need a good aduit, but you need continuing aduits.

    Counterpane and Bruce Schneir are the best known names in cyrptography consulting today, but I don't expect them to know much about much about virus attacks.

    You probably need several different audits (or maybe an extensive IBM audit) just to get started. However never allow the same auditors in more than two years in a row. (The first year to find problems, then second to find problems in the fixes) People who know what is going on in detail should be working for you, you want an outside, untainted by prior knowledge and and hard work.

    Make it a policy that you hire auditors on a two year contract, and make it clear that it is NOT renewable, and they cannot get further buisness in this audit for two years.

    Try everyone. Once all the big guys have been through and given you a stamp of approveal you should allow the common theif to see your entire procedures, and get his recomendataions. (Don't nessicarly follow them of course). Try small companies and big ones. Small companies tend to cover one area very well, big ones broad areas not as deep. You need both.

    This isn't an overnight fix. It took openBSD several years to become secure. Today they have a well earned reputation as least breakable system. If I remember right they had to go over the same code 3-6 times before they got most of the secuirty problems out. They were not even looking at security, they were looking for things that were wrong.

    If you buy closed source code (nothing wrong with it), make sure you vender works for security. You can't fix the holes in a sieve with confidence that the fix will hold. Open source is a little better, but you might have to pay someone to fix those.

    Remember that external audits are an assurance. Most of the work is internal. So make sure management is giving everyone enough time to fix the bugs in their own code/implimentation.

  15. Check out Lindsay's books on Making Casings for Prototype Electronic Devices? · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Check out Lindsay books. Make sure you get a dead tree catalog, not all their books are online. They have books on how to do a lot of cool things that you can apply. Glass, sheet metal, poured metal, pottery, Plastic (injection or vacuum) molding. All on a dot it yourself from scraps. Most of their books are from the early 1900's, so they are obsolete compared to modern mythods, but still useful. Note that you would have to be crazy to do some of what they will tell you how to do. It would still be fun to do it though.

    Yahoo has a group of Hobbicast If you are interested in metal casting (my personal interest). I'm sure there are other groups for those interested in other materials.

    Have fun!

  16. Re:My first thought was the snow. on Segway Getting Real-Life Tests · · Score: 2

    Not sure about Milwaukee, but in Minneapolis you have to shovel the sidewalk in front of your house (the city does not do this) within 24 hours. There is a fine for not doing that, but it appearently isn't enforced, when I lived in Minneapolis many sidewalks were not shoveled.

    The disabled and out of town are expected to hire this out. There are normally plenty of kids looking for a few bucks. And the elderly/disabled generally get free service from their neighbors.

  17. Re:Mass transit is best for tourists on Vegas: Monorails v. Gridlock · · Score: 2

    Yep, and I do walk. Problem is there are exactly two stores within 2 miles of my house, and both a gas station convience stores. So when I go there is means I need gas, and may as well pick something else up. (driving to a store 5 miles away is cheaper than walking to a gas station if you need more than one item, the store 5 miles away sells everything for much less than the gas station)

    I however have to deal with bad weather often. Northern Us and southern Europe are about the same latitude, but northern US weather is generally worse than northern Europe. (northern europe gets colder in some parts, but we get a lot more snow and ice)

  18. Retailers do not exempt themselves on Worst Buy · · Score: 2

    I suppose you are right that retailers are not required to honor a price that was misprinted. Legally anyway.

    However practilly, most retailers will honor the listed price if possibal. I know several people who got a $60 phone for $30 when a $40 phone was on sale, but they put the wrong picture in the ad. Just the picture of the more epensive phone (the text listed the model # and features of the cheaper phone) was enough that they would take the loss on the more expensive phone.

  19. Re:Protection illegal? on Canadian High Court Rules on Copyright · · Score: 2

    The definition of State is country. I live in the United States, that is a bunch of countries that agreed to work togather. Today it doesn't look that way, but the early history of my country shows that the States really did at like individual countries. They soon realised that war with each other (which did happen), and a non-common currency were hurting them, so they agreed to work togather.

  20. Re:Too low tech on Vegas: Monorails v. Gridlock · · Score: 2

    Like my dad always says: "I can give you ideas, but good ideas cost money."

  21. Re:potential sales on First Folding-Screen e-Book Reader · · Score: 2

    Their assembly line can only make 24,973 units a year, running 24x7.

  22. Re:Existing system works - why change? on VoIP at $15 a Pop · · Score: 2

    The existing system works well, but as we say in math: for some definition of works well. Typically that ment something that was obviously true, but the class wasn't ready for a formal proff yet. And typically when we accually were ready for the formal proff we discovered that there were serious limitations to what we all thought obviously true.

    In the case of POTs, it works well for some things even when the power goes out you normally an use the phone). However it costs a lot of money to maintain all the copper in the ground, and it requires a lot of extra, unused capacity. And most importantly, you are tied to one monopoly provider in most areas like it or not. If the local telco donates to some abortion cause, and you are on the other side of the issue, you cannot boycot them.

  23. Re:Right. Let's make an example of someone on Hardball Tactics For The Geek Lobby · · Score: 2

    It is illegal for a non-american to influence american goverment. You could concieveably support something bad for the US, which we have enough of without you. Someone who doesn't live in the US isn't affected should a law pass that all women must concent to sex with any man at any time. Just to give an extreem example.

    Fix your problems in your own country, keep your nose out of our buisness. (that would be good advice for a lot of americans too)

    EFF and FSF are not political orginizations so they can accept your money.

  24. Re:Excellent Point on Hardball Tactics For The Geek Lobby · · Score: 2

    Remember that a freshman gets very little done in todays congress. (that would change if everyone followed my policy of Never voting for an incumbant). That and your one evil congressman still has to get a majority of 500+ others to let his evilness slide. (435 house, 99 senate, any tie breaker votes, and the president)

    So If I don't like the republocrat incumbant enough to want to assure his loss I will vote the other party. Otherwise, if they are both equally bad (the normal case where the chalanger is pretty bad) I just vote for a third party.

  25. Re:Wrong Impression! on IEEE Building Automotive Black-Box Standard · · Score: 2

    No no no, it isn't the civial engineers, they design a perfectly good system. Then some politition decideds he can get more votes next election by forcing a stupid re-design in.

    In Minneapolis we have I35W and crosstown (5 lanes of major freeway that come down to 3 at the intersection) because of this. And that is one example, there are many others where polititions forced a bad design down for short term gain.